No Regent Advisor

[Gawblin]

Hey, I went into this blind with no previous knowledge of the campaign, but I have a decent grasp on the Pathfinder system as a whole. I founded my Barony and now I'm appointing advisors, and there are no eligible Regent advisors in my Kingdom.

See, I'm playing through as Neutral Evil, so Valerie never came along with me in the beginning of the game. When I later found her, she said she'd return to Oleg's Trading Station, but she never came. So now I can't find her anywhere.

Second option is Octavia, but she was an optional character in the Technic League sidequest that I didn't know was timed. I missed the quest entirely as I started Act II. Even if I'd found her, she's chaotic good and a bad fit for my barony in general.

The only remaining option for a Regent is Lander during my coronation, but he seemed like a douche. I'm playing a half-orc, so I wanted another half-orc with me. So I picked Kassil.

I feel like the number of options when it comes to advisors are far too limited. There aren't even any Evil-aligned advisors who can fill the Regent spot. Am I just playing the game wrong? It feels like you can't play the game right without a guide at the moment, as I would've needed prior knowledge about the advisors to even plan for this.

Should I just restart the game with a good character? It feels like I broke the playthrough by not being to fill all Advisor spots.

[For_Science!]

Unless you explicitly told Valerie to go away, she should have joined you at Oleg's (or, if she was the last companion you rescued, she should have been recovered and ready to join you at the start of chapter 2.)

You don't need to be good-aligned -- hell,if anything I'd consider Val a bit on the evil side of Lawful Neutral -- but it sounds like either you misclicked a dialogue option, or you've got some weird bug on this playthrough. Is it possible that she was your chosen "sacrifice" to the Technic League, and then you didn't rescue her (or Reg or Octavia) in time?

Given that you're missing three companions, I would suggest restarting (or at least, reloading a hard save from before Chapter 2.) And without giving explicit spoilers...whenever possible, keep your companions around, even if you don't travel with them. You never know when you might need them.

(Also, Reg makes a surprisingly good general, so you may not need Kassil as much. But yes, Lander is a real ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.)

[Gawblin]

I specifically did not ask her to go away. I asked her to join (when I rescued her in the Sycamore Tree thing) and she said something about being tired, I think, and telling me we'd meet up at the trading post later. She never showed up though. I've retraced my steps in Act 2 and can't find her at the sycamore tree, the trading post or anywhere in the capital. She's just gone.

I didn't sacrifice anyone, as I actually won that initial fight. That's why I didn't feel the urgency to pursue them, and had no idea it was timed. So no Reg or Octavia, and didn't lose anyone to the slavers.

Ugh, I'm probably not gonna replay this anytime soon. This entire ordeal just tainted the experience.

[aramintai]

You sure Valerie didn't come back to Oleg's trading post? She should either be at southeastern guard ramp or, in your case, most likely sleeping on one of the beds on the second floor. If she's not there then it's a bug and you should report it in the game with F11.

In any case, there will be many more situations in the game where your decisions may ♥♥♥♥ up your kingdom, this campaign is hard and figuring out the best outcomes is part of the fun of replayability. But if you get discouraged so easily then perhaps this game is not for you.

Also, you don't have to roleplay so strictly and choose only one alignment option, often it's more advantageous to go with the flow and choose what seems best in the current situation. But keep in mind that alignment can shift in this game.

[Gawblin]

Yes, I am very sure. I've double and triple checked the sycamore tree, the trading station and the barony several times over the course of two hours this morning. She's gone.

[aramintai]

Originally posted by Gawblin:

Yes, I am very sure. I've double and triple checked the sycamore tree, the trading station and the barony several times over the course of two hours this morning. She's gone.

Well, report a bug and go rescue Octavia then. There are only 3 regents in the game, but I wouldn't recommend choosing Lander.
But better yet, start new playthrough with less strict roleplaying and pick up Valerie straight away.

[Gawblin]

I can't pick up Octavia. I'm in Act 2, and the quest is locked after Act 1, which I didn't know. I don't like that I'm forced to compromise the RP aspects of the campaign to appease the necessary mechanics.

[aramintai]

Originally posted by Gawblin:

I don't like that I'm forced to compromise the RP aspects of the campaign to appease the necessary mechanics.

Well, then as I've said before, if you don't wanna have a hard time with this game then you need to be more flexible with your roleplaying.

Also there are numerous time based pitfalls in the game, so be prepared to reload from earlier time quite often in your first playthrough.
Best thing to do for chapter one is to explore all available areas and do all side quests before going for the Stag Lord. In all the next chapters it's best to go do the main quest asap and then explore the available areas, do side quests and build your kingdom in remaining time.

[aramintai]

Originally posted by SoundofSilence:

You have to fill some advisor slots with neutral characters or you're screwed. I suppose it could be said that those who are too inflexible are doomed to fail, haha.

Exactly. And I don't see why when playing Neutral Evil everything has to be only evil and not neutral? Isn't this archetype a selfish unscupulous hero? I'm sure for his selfish benefit he can pretend to go along with differently aligned characters?

[Gawblin]

Sure, I could have a few neutral characters. But why isn't there even an option for an evil aligned character? Isn't there a single evil character in the entire world that would be suitable as regent? It feels lazy. It could be fixed by letting us appoint custom made characters to advisor spots, at the very least.

Having my 12+ hour session ruined has kinda burned me out, so I don't think I'll pick it up anytime soon. Thanks for the responses guys, but this hasn't really increased my confidence in a second playthrough. Appreciate the time though.

[aramintai]

Originally posted by Gawblin:

Sure, I could have a few neutral characters. But why isn't there even an option for an evil aligned character? Isn't there a single evil character in the entire world that would be suitable as regent? It feels lazy. It could be fixed by letting us appoint custom made characters to advisor spots, at the very least.

There is Lander, the 3d regent choice. You meet him at the banquet when you become baron, you can choose him as an envoy instead of other two choices. He's evil. But you may regret taking him later, because, well, he's evil.

Custom characters can't be advisors because they are dummies without opinions. Each advisor has their own unique set of dialogues written for their respective advisor roles.

[Gawblin]

Lander is described as being lawful neutral. But yeah, I guess he's an option. I just don't like him and saw no reason to pick him over any of the other options. In hindsight, I didn't really have much of a choice, I guess.

[aramintai]

Originally posted by Gawblin:

Lander is described as being lawful neutral. But yeah, I guess he's an option. I just don't like him and saw no reason to pick him over any of the other options. In hindsight, I didn't really have much of a choice, I guess.

Well, things he does as a regent are definetly evil...for your kingdom, lmao.
Seriously though, best regent is Valerie with her high charisma and Octavia is best as magister cuz of intelligence. Also, companion advisors are better than npc ones (at least until they are taught to be better) because their stats can be increased with items and that influences their chances of success as advisors.

[HTakara]

Originally posted by Gawblin:

I can't pick up Octavia. I'm in Act 2, and the quest is locked after Act 1, which I didn't know. I don't like that I'm forced to compromise the RP aspects of the campaign to appease the necessary mechanics.

she's gone if you didn't save her in the first part since she was being shipped back to Numeria.