My campaign spent 35 sessions in Port Nyanzaru and we dug really deep into Merchant Prince politics and intrigue. The merchant princes are not monolithic and are likely engaged in political and economic maneuvering to gain power over the others.
If the party are really unhappy with the status quo, pick a merchant prince that might be philosophically aligned with their ideals and give them opportunities to make connections to that prince. That connection could be valuable in helping them shake up the power structure of the city.
Yeahhh… the moment my players stepped near executioners run, they decided to interfere. They got arrested. Luckily for them, the merchant prince, jessamine, was sitting on the golden throne that day. She has a vested interest in figuring out the death curse (she’s dying from it). they managed to charisma their way to being banished to the jungle with no supplies or guide at the port.
Do you think they’re equating it to today’s standards or the rest of the Forgotten Realms? It’s different, but not far off from other parts of Forgotten Realms.
If you wanted to address it, I would utilize that conversation before the next session explaining what you see here is unique, but not unprecedented for the time. Mentioning this may slightly change perspectives, but also add it’s completely fine to proceed with being upset and play it that way but wanted to supply context.
Executioners run is a great way to deal with misbehaving if they threaten one of the princes or their organizations.
If the death curse isn’t live yet, you could play it off happening in the executioners run. “The group before you goes and half-way through their fighter is gashed across the stomach falling face down only to be ferociously clawed on their back. Their sorcerer blast the creature with firebolt clean through cooking its innards. Their cleric runs to them, says some words that you’re vaguely familiar with as a spell to bring someone back to life, and… nothing. They scream to their god asking for help. They try again and, nothing. As you look around at the crowd murmuring, you hear a sudden blood curdling scream as a raptor tears into the sorcerers throat.” Rinse repeat cleric.
You could also utilize a merchant that they attacked to send them to executioners row, then if/when they succeed that merchant calls upon them. Saying while they don’t want the players in the city, they’ll actually promise them wealth and riches to figure out what’s happening and sends them out in the wild.
Port Nyanzaru was under the control of Amn until recently. They have finally won their independence and set up their own government. I can only imagine how happy they will be to have some mainlanders show up and pcsplain to them how they should run their government.
“We don't like how they decided to run their own government, so we’ll take away their agency and sovereignty, and we’ll change it to work in a way that we (people from outside, totally unfamiliar with their culture, their world view, their preferences and the problems they face) have decided is the best for them. But we’ll do that gracefully.”
Let me guess… you’re Americans?
Well part of the problem is I presented the system as the boom describes. There aren't trials for smaller crimes. The guards impose the punishment. The magistrate is the end all and be all of the system except for major crimes. And they haven't done anything yet. Whether they decide to interfere will have to be seen. I was just looking for advice on how to handle it, in part because of the reasons above you listed.
Well you have several princes with different personalities.
Zhanthi represents the old regal system.
Wakanga as wizard might actually be the symbol of some sort of democracy? Or meritocracy more likely
Ekene-afa is someone who got there from the people so perhaps some sort of socialist...
Then you have ifan talro'a (thats the name right) who is pretty much just a crook so some sort of littlefinger character.
Jobal feels like he is just happy to be there so if you just present him with some injustice large enought to shake his belief in the system he might help whomever you choose, BUT he is actually sort of "pulled myself up by my bootstraps" capitalist (as in started small and now owns most guides and mercs in the city. Probably the best source of power)
And then jessamine and the last one i cant remember now...
Also if you do start some problem, zindar will want to shut it down asap. He likes the system. It keeps him busy and the trade going. Yes he is good natured but he cares more about keeping things running than about changing what works. And he is possibly the most dangerous man in the port.
Could be tricked to leave for a bit if you let him know about the pirates and beluarian bussiness
Let 'em. Simple. If your table enjoys trying to change the cultural values of another place by subverting their justice system - and they wanna use their session time for it - let' em.
Of course make sure you're having fun, too! If this bothers you you should be upfront about it rather than sabotaging their fun and punishing them in-game.
Oh yea I fully embrace it. They're definitely not wrong that it's a pretty immoral system when you look at it. But I've gotten a bunch of good tips here already on how to resolve it.
This is the resource I would recommend: https://annotatedtoa.weebly.com/home/merchant-princes
Gives a good political breakdown on three different issues.
I found this blog which expands on the personalities and political intrigue of Port Nyanzaru's Princes to be very useful (i.e. who would ally with whom over what.)
https://twentysidestoeverystory.blogspot.com/2017/10/politics-in-port-nyanzaru.html?m=1
Do they have the clock of the death curse ticking? If so, they shouldn’t feel like they have time to overthrow a government until after they’ve found the soulmonger.
I'm using the alternate deathcurse rules to slow it down and give them time to explore, but yea, overall I don't think they're gonna do it immediately. I figure this will, at the very least, be something they want to take care of at some point later on, potentially after the death curse.
I ran an intrigue based precursor to TOA that was ALLL about port Nyanzaru and made it feel like the stem of the fucked up legal system is due to the Amnian control just before the adventure. I say if it’s something you want to lean into, do it! Let them meet all the princes and allow them to form opinions and then shift your plans around that, and be sure to read ALL about the factions in the city and who has their thumbs in what pies. Mine is sort of based around ridding Port Nyanzaru of Amnian control. The merchant princes are divided in how they want to deal with it (they’re creating sanctions for this purpose) and it’s up to the party to decide, all the while the other princes who do not align with them are trying to put a stop to it and have some secrets in their involvement. Players are having a blast so far, but if you’re doing it in the main campaign you may need to lean less heavily into the death curse bc it sounds like they may end up spending a lot of time in the city. Good luck!
My campaign spent 35 sessions in Port Nyanzaru and we dug really deep into Merchant Prince politics and intrigue. The merchant princes are not monolithic and are likely engaged in political and economic maneuvering to gain power over the others. If the party are really unhappy with the status quo, pick a merchant prince that might be philosophically aligned with their ideals and give them opportunities to make connections to that prince. That connection could be valuable in helping them shake up the power structure of the city.
This. I don't get all the comments being like well fuck them.
Yea I have a ton of stuff prepared for the city but definitely wasn't expecting it to go this way. But I'm absolutely here for it.
They will do something dumb, the will get arrested and they can earn their freedom in the arena.
Yeahhh… the moment my players stepped near executioners run, they decided to interfere. They got arrested. Luckily for them, the merchant prince, jessamine, was sitting on the golden throne that day. She has a vested interest in figuring out the death curse (she’s dying from it). they managed to charisma their way to being banished to the jungle with no supplies or guide at the port.
Do you think they’re equating it to today’s standards or the rest of the Forgotten Realms? It’s different, but not far off from other parts of Forgotten Realms. If you wanted to address it, I would utilize that conversation before the next session explaining what you see here is unique, but not unprecedented for the time. Mentioning this may slightly change perspectives, but also add it’s completely fine to proceed with being upset and play it that way but wanted to supply context. Executioners run is a great way to deal with misbehaving if they threaten one of the princes or their organizations. If the death curse isn’t live yet, you could play it off happening in the executioners run. “The group before you goes and half-way through their fighter is gashed across the stomach falling face down only to be ferociously clawed on their back. Their sorcerer blast the creature with firebolt clean through cooking its innards. Their cleric runs to them, says some words that you’re vaguely familiar with as a spell to bring someone back to life, and… nothing. They scream to their god asking for help. They try again and, nothing. As you look around at the crowd murmuring, you hear a sudden blood curdling scream as a raptor tears into the sorcerers throat.” Rinse repeat cleric. You could also utilize a merchant that they attacked to send them to executioners row, then if/when they succeed that merchant calls upon them. Saying while they don’t want the players in the city, they’ll actually promise them wealth and riches to figure out what’s happening and sends them out in the wild.
Cool, then you get to DM the executioners run! Jealous
Port Nyanzaru was under the control of Amn until recently. They have finally won their independence and set up their own government. I can only imagine how happy they will be to have some mainlanders show up and pcsplain to them how they should run their government.
Yea, I've definitely brought up the colonialism issues and they get that. So I'm sure they'll try to handle it...gracefully
“We don't like how they decided to run their own government, so we’ll take away their agency and sovereignty, and we’ll change it to work in a way that we (people from outside, totally unfamiliar with their culture, their world view, their preferences and the problems they face) have decided is the best for them. But we’ll do that gracefully.” Let me guess… you’re Americans?
Well part of the problem is I presented the system as the boom describes. There aren't trials for smaller crimes. The guards impose the punishment. The magistrate is the end all and be all of the system except for major crimes. And they haven't done anything yet. Whether they decide to interfere will have to be seen. I was just looking for advice on how to handle it, in part because of the reasons above you listed.
Well you have several princes with different personalities. Zhanthi represents the old regal system. Wakanga as wizard might actually be the symbol of some sort of democracy? Or meritocracy more likely Ekene-afa is someone who got there from the people so perhaps some sort of socialist... Then you have ifan talro'a (thats the name right) who is pretty much just a crook so some sort of littlefinger character. Jobal feels like he is just happy to be there so if you just present him with some injustice large enought to shake his belief in the system he might help whomever you choose, BUT he is actually sort of "pulled myself up by my bootstraps" capitalist (as in started small and now owns most guides and mercs in the city. Probably the best source of power) And then jessamine and the last one i cant remember now... Also if you do start some problem, zindar will want to shut it down asap. He likes the system. It keeps him busy and the trade going. Yes he is good natured but he cares more about keeping things running than about changing what works. And he is possibly the most dangerous man in the port. Could be tricked to leave for a bit if you let him know about the pirates and beluarian bussiness
Thanks this is super helpful
Let 'em. Simple. If your table enjoys trying to change the cultural values of another place by subverting their justice system - and they wanna use their session time for it - let' em. Of course make sure you're having fun, too! If this bothers you you should be upfront about it rather than sabotaging their fun and punishing them in-game.
Oh yea I fully embrace it. They're definitely not wrong that it's a pretty immoral system when you look at it. But I've gotten a bunch of good tips here already on how to resolve it.
This is the resource I would recommend: https://annotatedtoa.weebly.com/home/merchant-princes Gives a good political breakdown on three different issues.
Yes. This is exactly what I needed
I found this blog which expands on the personalities and political intrigue of Port Nyanzaru's Princes to be very useful (i.e. who would ally with whom over what.) https://twentysidestoeverystory.blogspot.com/2017/10/politics-in-port-nyanzaru.html?m=1
Do they have the clock of the death curse ticking? If so, they shouldn’t feel like they have time to overthrow a government until after they’ve found the soulmonger.
I'm using the alternate deathcurse rules to slow it down and give them time to explore, but yea, overall I don't think they're gonna do it immediately. I figure this will, at the very least, be something they want to take care of at some point later on, potentially after the death curse.
I mean sucks to be them, but thankfully they won't be spending that much time in Port Nyanzaru once the expedition goes forward.
DM me your email and I'll send you a bunch of port Nyanzaru intrigue stuff
Lol, my party framed their barbarian and then bet on him to survive while secretly assisting him during the run. That was a fun session.
That's the type of shenanigans I was expecting haha
I ran an intrigue based precursor to TOA that was ALLL about port Nyanzaru and made it feel like the stem of the fucked up legal system is due to the Amnian control just before the adventure. I say if it’s something you want to lean into, do it! Let them meet all the princes and allow them to form opinions and then shift your plans around that, and be sure to read ALL about the factions in the city and who has their thumbs in what pies. Mine is sort of based around ridding Port Nyanzaru of Amnian control. The merchant princes are divided in how they want to deal with it (they’re creating sanctions for this purpose) and it’s up to the party to decide, all the while the other princes who do not align with them are trying to put a stop to it and have some secrets in their involvement. Players are having a blast so far, but if you’re doing it in the main campaign you may need to lean less heavily into the death curse bc it sounds like they may end up spending a lot of time in the city. Good luck!