So my party just got to the Betrayers Rise and I’m playing for the inevitable meeting with the rivals at the prayer site. The issue I’m having, which I’m sure many have also had, is that the party has been friendly with the rivals up to this point. I really want the rivals to become actual rivals to the party but I’m struggling with how to do so.

My current idea is this: the rivals are skeptical of the visions that the party has talked about. They don’t know about the Jewel, so they think that the party is just following this visions without much thought, which my party has to an extent jumped into this with a very gung-ho attitude. I’m thinking the rivals will try to stop them more out of wanting to protect them than anything else. The rivals will also be traveling with Aloysia, so I’m probably going to have her twist their views of the party a bit.

I’m curious if anyone has any insight on ways to improve this idea? Or how you may have handled a similar situation in your games?