Ultimately, this game is about engaging players in a more complex and reactive world than most tabletop adventures. While Events, detailed more below, are driven by the GMs, players are welcome to propose their own objectives as well. In order to facilitate this, the most desired characters will be ones with personal goals that will drive them to pursue tasks beyond just the goals of Cerulean Council.
Combat: 1-2/5
The amount of combat will depend heavily on player’s choices for tackling the big picture objectives provided to them, but brute force will rarely be the most effective method of dealing with problems. Then again, sometimes a situation will develop so that combat with only way out.
Intrigue: 5/5
This game is all about immersion in the living city of Isarn and all the groups vying for power or their own slice the city. All character choices will impact future quests and interactions.
Lethality: 4/5
Death is cheap in Galt, and more so in Isarn. While in most of Golarion, people fear death, in Galt it is a greater kindness than ending up beneath a Final Blade. Enemies will be cunning and have their own specialties. Knowing which weaknesses to focus on will be critical. Not preparing for powerful players is likely to be perilous.
Players will not be tightly coupled and will have many instances where they must work alone. The event cycle (see below) is designed so characters can play up their individual strengths. This will often mean operating solo or in smaller groups. Your character should be self-sufficient.
In order to keep a coherent narrative and unite the PCs, there will be regular Events that will bring the players together to work on a common goal. Each Event cycle can be broken down into three phases: Meeting, Preparation, Execution.
Meeting: This is a meeting of the Cerulean Council to which the PCs have been summoned. The Council members will present a problem that needs solving and a limited time for solving the problem. They will present some simple options by which the players may choose to address the problem, however players are encouraged to come up with their own solutions. Next, players can choose to use those suggestions or concoct their own plan(s). This can include breaking up the members into as many groups or individuals as they see fit. Once a course of action is picked the GMs will select the groups to run for, creating threads as needed for the individual goals. We will allocate a real-world time limit for these threads to play out.
Preparation: Typically, problems presented in the Meeting, are too difficult to tackle head on. The Preparation phase is about giving the PCs an opportunity to gather influence or resources that will help make the final objective either easier, or even favorable. This can include setting up distractions, acquiring a useful magic item, bribing guards, securing invites to an event. Some forms of preparation will not take as long as others. If PCs have additional downtime, they can work on their own objectives or explore the city to try and discover more of its secrets.
Execution: Once all the Preparations are complete, the PCs will reunite to execute their plan together. It is possible some events might not have a Execution phase, though most will.
To provide and example of this structure:
Meeting (example): The first event will be stopping a public execution. Once the problem has been presented, a long with some details, the players decide it is safest to stop the execution by abducting the prisoner on his way to the Blade. Player 1 decides he'll head out and find some troublemakers to cause a distraction for those escorting the prisoners, at the same time, Players 2 and 3 will be setting up an ambush.
Preparation (example): Player 1 heads off and finds a distraction that will contain the guards in a specific location temporarily. Meanwhile, Players 2 and 3 set about securing an ambush, be it using magic or traps or alchemical items, the ambush location is studied and the PCs run through their plan.
Execution (example): The PCs run through the ambush they have been preparing for.
We plan to keep the game at about an R-rating. Isarn is a city with little infrastructure, education, or social order, and therefore high crime. There are opportunities for vicious crimes, however we don't want the game involve explicit content. In fact, of the the many crimes that DO plague Isarn, the large Calistrian presence acts as an ever-present threat to those looking to commit crimes of a sexual nature.
For PCs, interpersonal relationships with NPCs are fine and part of developing a full character life, we simply ask that players avoid any graphic details and simply "fade-to-black" in any explicit instances.