Public (OOC) > Setting and Lore Discussion

Replacing Port RVT with the Bellegarde Trading Consortium

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Dardonas:
So, I know this will come across as controversial, but I do not believe the Red Vardo Traders as a faction fits well in Port-a-Lucine, as someone who has played in the Port RVT on one of their PCs.  It strikes me as odd that there is, essentially, a Barovian thieves guild that tries to operate in Port-a-Lucine.  Among PCs and NPCs, the Red Vardo Traders branch has a known reputation for being thugs, thieves and killers and there are even IC books written and easily obtainable from the loot tables.

In Vallaki and Barovia, the Red Vardo Traders can act without impunity because there is no need for them to be discrete or "unthuggish" with exception to guidelines in the Tigan's Code.  If a PC talks trash to the Red Vardo (calling them thieves, murderers, ect.) in Barovia, they can give them the Don Corleone special.  In Port, however, they struggle to exist as every PC and NPC even knows what the Red Vardo Traders have a reputation for, but they struggle to do anything about because both the Tigan's Code and the Port branch itself focuses on discretion and subtly far more than the Vallaki branch. In often cases, it feels like your hands are tied in Port-a-Lucine as an RVT and trying to do anything thuggish likely gets you kicked out of the branch (or worse).

Let's also address the crux of the issue, being the RVT in Port-a-Lucine has an unsalvageable reputation in Port.  For as long as I've known the group in Port-a-Lucine, they have had an uphill battle between DM NPCs, PCs, and otherwise of trying to market themselves as anything but what they have become known for (assassinations, thievery, and mafioso plays).  Maybe it's intended by design, but it certainly makes it a stale faction to be in after a while because you know that trying to attain legitimacy in Dementlieu as an RVT just won't happen.  The RP becomes exclusionary by nature as well.  Perhaps it depends on the player base currently involved as well as DM attention, but when I played my RVT PC he was worse off when he joined the RVT than when he didn't.  It was to the point where people RP'd less with my PC after he put on the black and red than before he did, which is a shame as DM supported factions should enhance RP rather than detract from it.

I think a much better fit for the Dementlieu setting would be focusing on the Bellegarde Trading Consortium as a faction (I'll admit I have a horse in this race too, but even before I had a PC involved with the Bellegarde I thought this).  It is a homebrew designed by Arawn, but it realistically fits the setting much more than a backwater thieves' guild does.  Why does the RVT have a base in Port-a-Lucine at all?  It makes little sense to me that a Barovian organization would have an office across the known world. The Bellegarde Trading Consortium is a Dementliuse based organization that operates within the setting of Port-a-Lucine much more seamlessly than a Barovian mafia—and while granted there is a Bellegarde office in Krofburg, a Dementlieuse organization is much richer and makes more sense when it exploits poor workers in Krofburg.  Let alone the fact that there has been conflict between the RVT branches in the past, lest we forget the 2k bag turf wars taking place in Vallaki (it was a real thing).

Lastly, there is the issue of logs being shared between the two branches.  To my understanding, there are no other factions in game that share boards and logbooks with one another.  Without getting much into recent events, the Port branch and the Vallaki branch share forum access despite being worlds apart and it has even played a role in conflict and recent rule changes.  Even during DM plots where DMs have said that PCs don't see the other branch's logs, that relies on player integrity rather than shutting down access.  Alternatively to opening the Bellegarde up as an official faction, what we could do is just create a separate forum for each the Red Vardo Trader branches.

remnar:
I always thought the RVT being in port was kind of a silly idea.
Turning them into a non-lore (IE not from a book) faction allows for a lot of creative control in the hands of both players and overseeing DM's.

Only issues I would see with this is the existing roleplay of the RVT in port (could do an event or summat to explain why they left) and the fact that the Bellegarde have been kinda sorta dead for awhile and their creator DM isn't around anymore.

Separating the RVT forums is probably easier, though.

Glass Cannon:
Part of the reason for the Port RVT's activities and presence is to

Spoiler: showhighlight the RVT's conflict with the Boritsi, who already have a secure foothold with their man Palascu on the Council of Brilliance.

But I agree, the current situation for the RVT in Port is stale.

Dardonas:
Another point I'd like to bring up, and while people may say it's "IC," is that the main accomplishment of having shared logbooks between Port and Vallaki RVT these days seems to be poor and unfun conflict.  Conflict where important logs are just leaked, as well as doxxing any active ghosts in the RVT, by members of the opposing branch who are quitting or about to get kicked out.

Hallvor Hadiya:
Port-RVT has added a lot to the setting, I think Glasscanons own contribution and previous captains highlight the opportunity they offer. However, it also puts a spotlight on its suspension of disbelief as they exist almost as a contradiction within the Port-a-Lucine setting. Nobles openly discredit them and even go out of their way to threaten their members, and for an organization that is ostensibly the premier "Barvoain-Thieves Guild" they feel like a toothless tiger and the NPCs seldom do anything to dispel that notion.

People can think badly of them, they should. They can even bad mouth them behind closed doors, but openly? It seems like a bad joke that every noble fresh off the character creation room can bad-mouth them with near impunity. For a blood-thirsty gang they certainly lack the blood, and I don't think it's a player problem rather than a top-down one. There should be consequences for bad-mouthing them, shipments from your noble house going missing, monetary pressure. It doesn't need to be violence but for one of the largest mercantile consortiums, the only power they seem to have is the ability to retract magic bags.

To sum it up, I feel they need a change in their image to better reflect their archetype as gang lords or be pushed out of the domain by better fitting entities.

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