So I’m in the process of making a campaign out of a one off I did a few weeks ago. My pcs wanted to take it further. The one off went like so. Two kingdoms end a war, during celebrations one king get murdered and pcs have to find who did it. During game they find and kill the group responsible. Turns out the other king ordered the murder. For the next part the pcs will have to kill the king of the other kingdom but I want there to be a usurped king from that kingdom possibly willing to help the pcs. Im not sure how to tie both of these together, any tips?
Well, the obvious way would be that the first kingdom hires them to kill the second king in revenge, that they hire them to have some deniability and that the first kingdom supports the usurped king because he is more likely to actually keep the peace treaty if the first kingdom supported his rise to power so they introduce him to the players.
So if I understand correctly, Kingdom A & B end the war. The PCs are in Kingdom A where King A is killed and they find the assassins and kill them...
Now PCs need to travel to Kingdom B and kill King B with help of usurped king.
The first thing that comes to mind is that the usurped king is already in Kingdom A because he is a prisoner of the war which was recently ended. Maybe he was dethroned partially because of false claims of crimes. He joined the fighting men thinking that the best way to restore his good name was to show his willingness to fight for his country. He's either in the dungeon or recently released but still in the city. He hears of the assassination and is even more irate at his usurper and will aid the PCs in any way he can to get back at King B.
This isn’t what you’re asking for, but here goes. The actual murderer was from a third kingdom who framed one king for the murder of another. They want to keep the first two kingdoms fighting and weakening each other, so they can swoop in and conquer everyone. PCs are sent for revenge, but uncover the plot, instead. They meet an agent from the third kingdom turns out to actually be a good guy. They need to unify all three kingdoms to have any chance of defeating the actual enemy, whatever that is. So, do the PCs help kingdom 3, or do they think that person is lying, and expose him, or take their chances with the actual enemy, or maybe just kill everyone and take power for themselves.
It seems the players liked the intrigue, so deepen it!
They are hired by king A to kill king B. Throw some old propaganda as foreshadowing mentioning a different king for kingdom A.
When they get to kingdom B they find that king B is in fact an imposter using magic to disguise himself, and is actually the older brother of king A, who tried (and believes to have succeeded) to have him assassinated when crossing the water. This is king C.
King C is a Warlock now, who traded his life for the power to take back Kingdom A and revenge himself on King A to Patron X. He used his powers to steal the throne of King B.
King B is now guarded in the lair of a dragon who seems to be also a warlock of Patron X, but later is revealed to be Patron X, having saved King C from drowning. A Skeleton with a crown is in the prison cell as well. The lair is full of shipwrecks, but no horde of gold.
Saving King B and returning to Kingdom B, they are intercepted by soldiers of Kingdom A who take King B prisoner, and separate themselves from the party by bringing down a bridge or something.
King A now has King B but doesn't know King C is alive and pretending to be King B. The party try to rescue King B from King A, and find out that King A is in fact the Dragon who is in fact Patron X.
The Dragon who was pretending to be King A and is Patron X is trying to start a war between Kingdom A and Kingdom B so that the ships and such will sink into his ocean and join his horde of ships. The crown on the skeleton in the dragons lair matched King A's, who was originally replaced by the Dragon, who then engineered King C's usurpery of King B.
The party now has to kill the dragon (King A) and return King B to Kingdom B, then try to either explain to King C that Kingdom A is his now, or overthrow him and return the real King B to the throne.
This will either result in Kingdom A becoming lawless or coming under the rule of a warlock who has lost his powers when his Patron (Dragon) was slain. Kingdom B will be ruled by King B again, who was peaceful enough. The players can leave with a headache, and a job well done.
So I’m in the process of making a campaign out of a one off I did a few weeks ago. My pcs wanted to take it further.
The one off went like so. Two kingdoms end a war, during celebrations one king get murdered and pcs have to find who did it. During game they find and kill the group responsible. Turns out the other king ordered the murder.
For the next part the pcs will have to kill the king of the other kingdom but I want there to be a usurped king from that kingdom possibly willing to help the pcs.
Im not sure how to tie both of these together, any tips?
Both kingdoms are separated by water.
Well, the obvious way would be that the first kingdom hires them to kill the second king in revenge, that they hire them to have some deniability and that the first kingdom supports the usurped king because he is more likely to actually keep the peace treaty if the first kingdom supported his rise to power so they introduce him to the players.
So if I understand correctly, Kingdom A & B end the war. The PCs are in Kingdom A where King A is killed and they find the assassins and kill them...
Now PCs need to travel to Kingdom B and kill King B with help of usurped king.
The first thing that comes to mind is that the usurped king is already in Kingdom A because he is a prisoner of the war which was recently ended. Maybe he was dethroned partially because of false claims of crimes. He joined the fighting men thinking that the best way to restore his good name was to show his willingness to fight for his country. He's either in the dungeon or recently released but still in the city. He hears of the assassination and is even more irate at his usurper and will aid the PCs in any way he can to get back at King B.
This isn’t what you’re asking for, but here goes.
The actual murderer was from a third kingdom who framed one king for the murder of another. They want to keep the first two kingdoms fighting and weakening each other, so they can swoop in and conquer everyone.
PCs are sent for revenge, but uncover the plot, instead. They meet an agent from the third kingdom turns out to actually be a good guy. They need to unify all three kingdoms to have any chance of defeating the actual enemy, whatever that is. So, do the PCs help kingdom 3, or do they think that person is lying, and expose him, or take their chances with the actual enemy, or maybe just kill everyone and take power for themselves.
Letter from an anonymous interested party?
It seems the players liked the intrigue, so deepen it!
They are hired by king A to kill king B. Throw some old propaganda as foreshadowing mentioning a different king for kingdom A.
When they get to kingdom B they find that king B is in fact an imposter using magic to disguise himself, and is actually the older brother of king A, who tried (and believes to have succeeded) to have him assassinated when crossing the water. This is king C.
King C is a Warlock now, who traded his life for the power to take back Kingdom A and revenge himself on King A to Patron X. He used his powers to steal the throne of King B.
King B is now guarded in the lair of a dragon who seems to be also a warlock of Patron X, but later is revealed to be Patron X, having saved King C from drowning. A Skeleton with a crown is in the prison cell as well. The lair is full of shipwrecks, but no horde of gold.
Saving King B and returning to Kingdom B, they are intercepted by soldiers of Kingdom A who take King B prisoner, and separate themselves from the party by bringing down a bridge or something.
King A now has King B but doesn't know King C is alive and pretending to be King B. The party try to rescue King B from King A, and find out that King A is in fact the Dragon who is in fact Patron X.
The Dragon who was pretending to be King A and is Patron X is trying to start a war between Kingdom A and Kingdom B so that the ships and such will sink into his ocean and join his horde of ships. The crown on the skeleton in the dragons lair matched King A's, who was originally replaced by the Dragon, who then engineered King C's usurpery of King B.
The party now has to kill the dragon (King A) and return King B to Kingdom B, then try to either explain to King C that Kingdom A is his now, or overthrow him and return the real King B to the throne.
This will either result in Kingdom A becoming lawless or coming under the rule of a warlock who has lost his powers when his Patron (Dragon) was slain. Kingdom B will be ruled by King B again, who was peaceful enough. The players can leave with a headache, and a job well done.
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