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khaldorgas
2017-11-01, 10:07 PM
I need elf blood on my campaign. Or dragon blood. We dont know where are the dragons. We dont know where are the elves.

We only know where the drows (dark elves on scenario) are.

Problem: Drows are enemies and so much stronger than us.

Solution i though: Negotiate. But i dont know how to roleplay it, (my char is a bluffer/diplomacer), but i dont know what to say on game.

Any ideas of roleplay?

ATHATH
2017-11-01, 10:22 PM
I need elf blood on my campaign. Or dragon blood. We dont know where are the dragons. We dont know where are the elves.

We only know where the drows (dark elves on scenario) are.

Problem: Drows are enemies and so much stronger than us.

Solution i though: Negotiate. But i dont know how to roleplay it, (my char is a bluffer/diplomacer), but i dont know what to say on game.

Any ideas of roleplay?
Uh... We're gonna need a bit more context than that.

Maybe try offering to help hunt down some Drow usurpers/raiders/rebels/etc. for whatever the main Drow governmental body is?

Lord Raziere
2017-11-01, 10:31 PM
No, everyone has something to offer. whether they want to offer it, and whether the person will accept it, is the question. even a naked man with no tools can offer to work hard from the sweat of his brow, the strength of his muscles and the skills he has learned.

but yes, more context is needed.

NichG
2017-11-01, 10:59 PM
You can always propose that the first thing to do is to gather information about what they need. You don't need to guess the right answer from scratch (and no skilled negotiator would go in blind like that if they could help it). So rather than imagining it as 'I go there and trade X for blood, but what is X?' imagine it as 'I go there and investigate the existing power structure in order to build my leverage for negotiation'.

Find an internal dispute, go to the weaker side and offer them an advantage. If you're overcoming the fact that they're your enemies, you need to look for desperation.

Or, find a radical faction that is being effectively suppressed so that the power in charge can focus on threats at it's level, wait for when the in-charge group is going all-in on their plans, support the radical group enough to cause trouble and then offer to the in power group to back off in exchange for the blood (e.g. blackmail)

A lot of this depends on how much advantage you can actually provide, and who you can get to listen to you. Which requires some groundwork investigation.

Mith
2017-11-02, 12:12 AM
My first thought without more information: If you just need elf blood, you could potentially assist a faction against another faction and ask for a prisoner as part of the bargain. If you need fresh elf blood, the prisoner can carry it to where you need it.

VoxRationis
2017-11-02, 02:54 AM
How much elf or dragon blood do you need, exactly, and why do you need it? The nice thing about blood is that it naturally comes back with time and calories. If you explain "Oh, I need X amount of blood for Y reason, which doesn't impact you negatively at all," it should be pretty trivial to set a price in labor (either mundane or adventure-type) sufficient to get them to just give it to you.

Now, in a fantasy world, I expect there's a greater amount of scrutiny applied to people asking for bits of people, even bits that are going to come back. But assuming that you just need "elf blood," not the blood of one particular elf, or even a sample of blood all coming from one elven individual, you can get small amounts from multiple individuals and mix them together, which should be sufficient to ruin most effects dependent on having a bit of someone. Even with the small amount of extra labor that implies, it should be simple to say to the elf king, "Hey, could you have 10 of your courtiers prick their fingers if we do you a favor first?"

LibraryOgre
2017-11-02, 01:12 PM
If you don't have anything you can think to offer, it's going to come down to what they want and what you're able to provide of that. As others have said, they might be willing to sell you a low-status drow (or even an elven prisoner, if they have any) for services rendered, but you're going to have to be able to provide them services (possibly, they want you because you're a deniable asset), and live through the initial encounter with them to get to make the negotiation.

Honest Tiefling
2017-11-02, 01:23 PM
If the drow are your enemies, they're likely the enemy of someone else. If they are not, you can easily make them the enemy of someone else with a bit of work. Annoy the drow and ask for sanctuary from the drow at their gates might work for certain types. Convincing others to show their strength or that they should get loot will be another lovely tactic.

Once that is done, explain to your new allies you need a bit of drow blood. You should probably pick your allies carefully, as some might object to necromantic rituals, the silly things. Getting time alone with the bodies otherwise might be a bit tricky!

Remember, drow are usually chaotic evil, so chances are high they'll try to swap the blood for slave blood or tamper with it somehow.

JeenLeen
2017-11-02, 02:12 PM
Are they low-grade enough enemies that you would have the chance to talk to them without combat occurring instantly?
Assuming 'yes' (meaning you can negotiate), you could offer a nebulous future favor for some blood. If the reason you need it isn't opposed to the drow, you can be honest about why you need it. If you are a good enough party face, you can even be lying about doing the future favor.

This isn't a strong position, as you are offering essentially nothing for something at least unpleasant for the drow to give. Assuming magic is common in this setting, blood can probably be an arcane focus for some things, so there is likely a reason drow would be reluctant to give blood.

If negotiation can't occur, could you possibly get a drow alone and capture it for blood?

Also, do you know that drow blood counts as elf blood for your purposes? It'd be a shame to waste time and resources on something that wouldn't work.

Hmm... maybe the drow could point you towards elves, if you say you plan to capture and kill one?

Mastikator
2017-11-02, 02:16 PM
But do they know you have nothing to offer?

Can you have something to offer by the time it's time to deliver?

Kaptin Keen
2017-11-03, 06:45 PM
1: Be a ranger
2: Tame stirges
3: Profit

RazorChain
2017-11-03, 10:13 PM
1: Be a ranger
2: Tame stirges
3: Profit

1) Be an adventurer
2) Capture Drows
3)Profit

Satinavian
2017-11-04, 01:41 AM
You could sell them slaves (pretty much any humanoid or monstrous humanoid or giant you fight anyway and usually would just kill)

You could sell them stuff they can't naturally get in their cave (herbs needing sunlight, food that is rare and exotic for them, fabrics, larger quantities of timber ...)

Kaptin Keen
2017-11-04, 04:01 AM
1) Be an adventurer
2) Capture Drows
3)Profit

But, and I quote:
Drows are enemies and so much stronger than us.

Stirges - I dare to hope - are not so much stronger =)

Lvl 2 Expert
2017-11-04, 04:39 AM
Get yourself captured. To get out, offer as a trade to perform a special magic ritual for them that will get them something they want. The ritual must take place at night, in the middle of the woods, around a big cauldron, and requires a bit of the blood of the willing target. The alchemical smoke bomb in the cauldron goes off, you make a run for it.

And if the plan fails at any point, well, you're now stuck in enemy territory as a prisoner of captors who know you've tried to con them before. Good luck.