Tancred

This is just a minor niggle of mine, but it's been a minor niggle for ages. I can't stand the way that you're just shoehorned into the whole Ust Natha section of the storyline, and I wish the writers had given it a little more thought.

SPOILERS
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As it is you're just 'recognised' as some people the Drow have been waiting for from another city to conduct a rescue mission. That... seems very unlikely, on the face of it, and perhaps needlessly so.

We already have the fighting pit in the tavern, and perhaps a better plot progression might be this: the party can ask around, pretending to be looking for employment by a House. This would naturally lead them to the answer that Phaere's house (I forget the name) is currently pre-eminent in Ust Natha, but that joining them isn't easy if you're an outsider with no credentials. Some might suggest to try fighting in the pits to see if you get noticed.

If you do go to the pits, one of two things can happen; either you see Lasonar (male duellist) fight and accept his mano-e-mano challenge, or you click on Chalinthra (female duellist) and accidentally spill her drink, leading her to demand satisfaction in a duel. Either way, if you beat one - Lasonar is a loyal skilled fighter in Chalinthra's service - the other is furious and is about to call you out when Solaufein and a Matron arrive, looking for Lasonar and Chalinthra to embark on the rescue mission to save Phaere. Upon seeing that half the team's already been killed, Solaufein is also furious, but the Matron reins him in, and opens the possibility of asking your group to help rescue Phaere. Time is short, there's no time to gather more warriors etc. Some judicious questioning on the part of the PC can reveal that the army of Ust Natha is 'out on maneuvers', a little fact that should fill some NPCs with foreboding.

From there, the plot proceeds as normal, with Phaere adopting the PC and his companions into her house and using them to orchestrate her schemes.

Just a little tweak - it wouldn't take much - and I feel the storyline would hang together much less incredulously. Other situations that could use this work in SOA and especially TOB come to mind, but I'll think on them before posting alternative rewrites - anyone got any pet hates in the plots they think deserve to be ironed out?