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In my Dragon Heist campaign, the PCs ended up adopting the orphans. (Something which I have rather good reason to suspect is far from uncommon.) They also decided that they would, of course, have to make arrangements for their proper education, and so they began arranging apprenticeships and tutors for them.

JENKS wanted to become a cook. (He’d already been hanging out with the cooks the PCs had hired for Trollskull Manor and had been helping out in the kitchen.) His apprenticeship in my campaign was rather bespoke, as the PCs had acquired Frewn’s Brews (after driving Emmet Frewn out of town), converted it into a bakery, and made arrangements with the Baker’s Guild to sponsor an apprentice cook who was ready to become her own master. Thus was born Amara’s Bakery, and it was quite natural for Jenks to be apprenticed there.

NAT wanted to learn magic. Eltorchul Academy was an arcane academy founded by the Eltorchul family. (Detailed in the 3rd Edition City of Splendors sourcebook.) The current headmaster is Ambrulavage and Nat was placed under the immediate attention of Miss Ferolie.

SQUIDDLY, inspired by the party’s ranger, wanted to become an archer. He was apprenticed to the Fellowship of Bowyers and Fletchers. The guildmaster is Javan Riautar and Squiddly was apprenticed to Master Kennadr.

TUTORS

In addition to their apprenticeships, the PCs also arranged for additional tutors. I had four tutors respond to their advertisement, and the PCs ended up hiring several of them.

NALOLIR is a podrikey — a dwarven mining construct with the brain and spinal column of a kobold inside it. Nalolir escaped from Undermountain a hundred years go and now focuses on teaching history. He speaks with a somewhat robotic voice, but moves with a gentleness and precision somewhat belied by the sheer mass of metal being propelled.

FIREDROP is a pixie philosopher. She teaches the three philosophers — natural (the properties of the physical universe), moral (the study of sentient thought and ideology), and metaphysical (lore of the arcane and extraplanar). Physically, she is effervescent, always in flight and flitting here and there. Her speech is erudite, while also reflecting the endless, bubbling font of curiosity which is constantly driving her.

STARAI is a kenku scholar. His teaching method is extremely Socratic, almost ceaselessly echoing speech as a reflected question.

ETHLANDO is an elven scholar who was once a magi. Tragically, he suffered a curse which stripped his magic from him. (He does not hide his history as an arcanist or the curse which afflicts him, but he does not speak of why or how he came to be cursed.) His owl familiar, Bulbuena, remains loyal and is rarely far from his side.

I’m not sure how much general use these tutors might see, but I had mentioned them in a live chat and a number of patrons reached out to ask if I would share my notes on them. As you can see, they were not given an abundance of detail: The PCs’ arrangements for their adopted kids’ education were happening towards the end of the campaign, and even the ones they ended up hiring did not have much time for development.

You might consider calling upon them for any occasion where you might have need of a scholar.

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DISCUSSING
In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 31B: Vaults of Forgotten Evil

In the next cave they discovered the creature’s “larder”. A horrible stench permeated the air and the walls were slick with moisture. In a low spot near the center of the cave was assembled a grisly, bloody mess: The partially dismembered corpse of a goblin and a half-devoured corpse, greenish white with bloating and decay, that looked as if it might have once belonged to a man.

Tee was disgusted by the sight and wanted no part of it. But as she turned to leave, Agnarr stopped her. “Aren’t you going to search the cave?”

At this moment during the session, Tee (a PC) decided she was going to lie to Agnarr (another PC).

And I’m guessing that for quite a few GMs reading this, there alarm klaxons blaring.

But this interaction did not, in fact, blow up the entire campaign as the table melted down into tears and recriminations. Instead, it was a lighthearted little moment in which Tee pulled the wool over Agnarr’s eyes, but then the other PCs (who had succeeded on their Sense Motive checks) convinced Tee that she actually should search the bodies. Which, of course, baffled Agnarr, who had been convinced she already had.

Why did this work?

Well, there basically two parts to this.

First, there’s PC vs. PC conflict in general. (Which can be tetchy subject.)

Second, there are social skills aimed at PCs. (Also a tetchy subject.)

Let’s start with PC vs. PC conflict. I’ve found this is often frowned upon and openly banned at many tables. There can be very good reasons for that, but it tends not to be prohibited at my tables. In my experience, tension between the PCs — and even open hostilities — can often result in some of the most memorable and powerful moments at the gaming table.

But it can definitely be problematic. If you want to succeed with PC vs. PC conflict, in my experience, you need a couple of things.

First, and probably most importantly, a group that respects and trusts each other. That includes a healthy understanding that you are not your character, and neither is the other player. (I say “healthy” here because stuff like, “But it’s what my character can do!” seems superficially similar, but is often being used to cover up toxic behavior.)

Second, you have to be willing to lay aside the unspoken presumption that the PCs must go adventuring together just because they’re the PCs.

The problem with this unspoken presumption is that it can very easily turn your gaming session into an improvised production of Sartre’s No Exit: Artificially forcing people together (in this case the characters) who would not logically stay together is to create a living hell. We then try to route around this by layering on even more artificial social rules (e.g., “Thou shalt not conflict with another player character”).

But if you just jettison the presumption, the problems tend to evaporate: The problem is not that Ratface is picking the pockets of Tomlin the Paladin or slitting the throats of prisoners. The problem is that the logical outcome of that action would be Tomlin meting holy justice upon Ratface or, at the very least, expelling Ratface from the group. (Or Tomlin choosing to leave instead.)

(This doesn’t mean that Ratface’s player needs to be expelled from the group. This goes back to a healthy separation of player from character.)

So, long story short, the fact that there’s antagonism and conflict between Tee and Agnarr is not, fundamentally, a problem for this group.

Which brings us to the other side of this, which is a social skill being aimed at the PCs: The idea that Agnarr is being “forced” to believe Tee’s lie.

This sort of thing often results in social skills only being something that PCs are allowed to use on NPCs (and not vice versa). I tend to find that this is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and I’d rather not have mechanics that can only be used by one set of characters.

This is an issue that I discuss in much greater depth in Rulings in Practice: Social Skills, but in this specific case it mostly just boiled down to the skill check providing Agnarr with information: He believes that Tee is telling him the truth when she says that she searched the bodies. What he chooses to do with that information is ultimately up to the player; the social skill does not dictate action.

As a result, Agnarr’s player was able to take the check as a roleplaying prompt. By taking the mechanics as a cue pointing him in the direction of his character, Agnarr’s player was able to lean into this one and turn it into something ironic and funny for everyone at the table.

Campaign Journal: Session 31C – Running the Campaign: Let It Ride Interrogations
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index