I'm running a campaign set in Wildemount and one of my players is going to try to find and kill a very important person within the criminal organization known as the Myriad. The PC made a promise to his father who has suffered greatly at the hands of this crime boss. I'm looking for some ideas for obstacles, missions, etc. that my group of 6 can run into as this part of the plot unfolds. It is definitely a side quest, but I want to give it some more time and attention than a one shot since it has meaning to the PC and his backstory. Any thoughts?
I’d go with the crime boss operating under an alias, so the party doesn’t know who they are looking for. Then give them some little hints. A paper signed with only a first initial. An overheard conversation where they get an idea of the person’s day job or where they live. An interrogation where someone gives up a whole first or last name. And that’s when the party is actually looking for something different, just the prisoner starts offering up whatever they think will get them out. You can dribble out the bits as quickly or slowly as you like to let them make progress, then when you’re ready for the fight, you give them the final piece to give them the target.
Carrying out a suffering father's vendetta seems like an intro to any number of different stories. Flesh this out for us. How are the characters situated now? What's your favorite crime movie?
No matter what the answer is, I'll just say that 6 guys is a lot of guys to go get revenge for one guy's father. Nobody shows up to talk with 5 other guys backing them up, so that'll naturally limit the kind of stories you can do.
Echoing what TimCurtin said, you want to make sure the other players are invested in this one PC's mission. So, like, Mass Effect or a dozen other RPG video games - make it so there's a camaraderie there. You can do that by dabbling out bits and pieces that your PC can use to connect the crime org's activity – ultimately leading to the big reveal as to who the boss is.
Side missions for that can be pretty straight-forward really, you just have to make sure the quests are loosely connected to Myriad and progressively indicative of leadership. Maybe a friendly noble or city guard or the like can task your PCs to do some off-the-books detective work that they can't do because of some reason (that reason? whatever you want to make it, for the boss to seem untouchable. Blackmail, ownership of local law enforcement and judges? IS a local judge or lord?). That could get them started into unraveling the network and incentivize a push towards taking down the head.
That gives opportunity for the PC to develop their own narrative too, and what their father's relationship was to the boss. Former partners in crime and sold out? A victim? And though it was a promise, does the PC really care or not? That may be on them, and you can test that out. Was the PC also part of Myriad too, when they were younger? Options abound to build their story and make it so going after the crime lord feels heavy, and risky, but also something they must do.
Great suggestions so far... I'll give some more info. The PCs have been traveling together for a few months in game and have already helped one PC's father who was ill and near death, so they may be willing to turn and help another member out with their family woes. The PC in question knows he is seeking out the "Debtkeeper" within the Myriad and the group as a whole has interacted (knowingly) with at least one other higher up within the organization. The PC's father took on debt years ago, could not repay it, the Debtkeeper's goons came to collect and took the PC as payment when he was just a 4 year old boy and sold into slavery. Fortunately he was "bought" by some dragonborn clerics of Bahamut and raised in a loving place. The point is, he is only now meeting his father and knows the Debtkeeper is the source of his kidnapping and the abduction of his mother years ago. The PC is very invested in doing right by his father and ultimately finding out what happened to his mother.
just out of curiosity, how old is the PC? if he was taken at 4 years old along with his mother, it might help to come up with some interesting plot for what happened to the mother and what she has been doing this whole time.
If the mother is alive, then "revenge" can turn into a rescue operation. The other players may not be invested in helping an old man get revenge, but I doubt they would pass up helping a party member rescue their mother.
You can also give the plot a darker twist (depending on the type of campaign you're running) and have the mother be an accomplice to the Debtkeeper, who was unhappy with the father's debts (gambling? bad business ventures? etc.) and sought help to escape her marriage and (maybe) her family obligations. This can come up after the "rescue" operation, and it would give the PC a serious moral dilemma to handle (e.g. what do I do with mom? do I tell dad the truth? etc.).
The PC's mother could also have been beautiful/talented enough to be taken into Chesia Wakiam's employ, and after all these years could be leading a double life and working as a spy (e.g. married to a politician or high society merchant, etc.). Exposing her espionage could lead to some significant ramifications for her and the PCs...
...OR...
Mom's dead, and this is a straight up Kill Bill scenario. If you've already determined that the Debtkeeper is the "BBEG" for this particular plot segment, then put some people in the way between him and the party to make it hard for them to accomplish their objective. Otherwise, the Debtkeeper could be a pawn in the bigger picture, leading the party into a bigger conspiracy related to the PC. the Pros: There's a lot to spin there, and plenty of ways to make the PC feel special (maybe the whole thing was a plot to separate him from his family, maybe the mother/PC figured prominently in some conspiracy against the throne because of her unknown royal lineage, etc.). Cons: careful you don't make your campaign a LOTR remake about this PC, and end up alienating the other folks in the party.
Just some ideas for you to ruminate on....Hope that's helpful!
You could make it to where it's a series of scenarios that chain together. The father could find a stranger who also seems to have a bone to pick with this organization, met over drinks in a bar. The mysterious man he met is financially wealthy, but his family met a violent end to this organization. Hearing the players dad talk up his character the man would be interested in the PC and see if he would help them get revenge. The first target is just getting a low level street thug, someone who is just running a protection racket in town. After dealing with him either through capturing or killing (with a friend looking for them afterwards to continue off this plot point) they will find out more information like "something big is about to go down."It turns out that the big boss of the organization your dad wants revenge on is doing a big trade, weaponry/bribery/trafficking. Something around those lines So you need to set up a sting.
Using this info and knowing a future date when it happens (maybe a month or two in game) the party can get things into position. This could culminate into a few options, after the fetch quest and build up. The stranger could be of honest intention and wants revenge, your group goes through with the original plan no surprises.
Alternate ending, the man is actually the second in command of the crime boss the dad swore revenge against. Instead of hindering his own gang, they are attacking a different gang or even a noble/government official. Everything they stole would just empower the gang. When the deed is done the mysterious man would kill/kidnap the dad and make it personal for the party.
Great ideas and plenty to ruminate on for sure. To answer your first question Beyodrae, PC was taken at 4 yrs old, about 10 years later mom was taken but another PC who was also forced into slavery within the Myriad was sent to help kidnap mom on his first mission. All he did was put dad and older brother to sleep while the goons did the rest.
PC was taken at 4 yrs old, about 10 years later mom was taken but another PC who was also forced into slavery within the Myriad was sent to help kidnap mom on his first mission.
So there are two active PCs currently involved in this arc? If so, that's awesome, and I think it gives you a ton to work with for plot development. Since your original question was regarding obstacles, side-missions, etc. I'll leave the big stuff alone and just suggest a few things to consider when connecting the big plot elements:
Ways to find the "important person" they're trying to kill:
A few prominent street gangs operate in a city. It is certain the Myriad has influence, but they've kept themselves incredibly well hidden. It is unclear which street gang is under Myriad control. The party can try to infiltrate a gang, create conflict between gangs, identify a corrupt official to extort, etc. to lure the Myriad's top agents in the city out of hiding. Once successful, the party discovers a path to the Debtkeeper: An agent was recently sent to the city to collect a debt from a high-ranking noblewoman with illicit dealings. If the gang prevents the transaction, they could get the Debtkeeper's attention. If they aid/complete the transaction, it might make it possible for them to get close to him...
The team could be hired by a noble who was defrauded by an antiquities dealer that sold him a counterfeit artifact. The noble hires "outside normal circles" because they want this kept quiet to preserve their reputation. They want the authentic artifact, and revenge on the dealer. The dealer turns out to be a low-level member of the syndicate, and offers to help them "get in" with the right people so they can get close to the Debtkeeper. This could spawn some "Ocean's Eleven"-ish type of stuff and quests if you want it to.
A couple hiccups for them to run into:
You can't get to the Debtkeeper in Deastok without first getting past Corshad Dumon, the local kingpin... If they want an audience, they'll need to earn it.
The Debtkeeper likes to keep a very low profile. So much so, that the first person they meet identified as "The Debtkeeper" is actually a stand-in. They think they found the guy, but it turns out they just caught a henchman and now the boss knows they're after him...
And a random plot twist or two:
It was specifically requested of the Debtkeeper that he take the PC as payment... it is unclear why this was the specific request. You could spin this into the PC's backstory with the Dragonborn clerics to make deeper and maybe darker, if you'd like. Or instead use this to explain why the mother was kidnapped, and maybe start a "sorry Mario, your princess is in another castle" situation.
The thing I said earlier about father/mother being "morally gray" in the transaction with the Debtkeeper
Hopefully the notes above give you some bardic inspiration. Congrats on a cool plot hook and I hope your PCs enjoy what you come up with!
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I'm running a campaign set in Wildemount and one of my players is going to try to find and kill a very important person within the criminal organization known as the Myriad. The PC made a promise to his father who has suffered greatly at the hands of this crime boss. I'm looking for some ideas for obstacles, missions, etc. that my group of 6 can run into as this part of the plot unfolds. It is definitely a side quest, but I want to give it some more time and attention than a one shot since it has meaning to the PC and his backstory. Any thoughts?
I’d go with the crime boss operating under an alias, so the party doesn’t know who they are looking for. Then give them some little hints. A paper signed with only a first initial. An overheard conversation where they get an idea of the person’s day job or where they live. An interrogation where someone gives up a whole first or last name. And that’s when the party is actually looking for something different, just the prisoner starts offering up whatever they think will get them out.
You can dribble out the bits as quickly or slowly as you like to let them make progress, then when you’re ready for the fight, you give them the final piece to give them the target.
Carrying out a suffering father's vendetta seems like an intro to any number of different stories. Flesh this out for us. How are the characters situated now? What's your favorite crime movie?
No matter what the answer is, I'll just say that 6 guys is a lot of guys to go get revenge for one guy's father. Nobody shows up to talk with 5 other guys backing them up, so that'll naturally limit the kind of stories you can do.
Echoing what TimCurtin said, you want to make sure the other players are invested in this one PC's mission. So, like, Mass Effect or a dozen other RPG video games - make it so there's a camaraderie there. You can do that by dabbling out bits and pieces that your PC can use to connect the crime org's activity – ultimately leading to the big reveal as to who the boss is.
Side missions for that can be pretty straight-forward really, you just have to make sure the quests are loosely connected to Myriad and progressively indicative of leadership. Maybe a friendly noble or city guard or the like can task your PCs to do some off-the-books detective work that they can't do because of some reason (that reason? whatever you want to make it, for the boss to seem untouchable. Blackmail, ownership of local law enforcement and judges? IS a local judge or lord?). That could get them started into unraveling the network and incentivize a push towards taking down the head.
That gives opportunity for the PC to develop their own narrative too, and what their father's relationship was to the boss. Former partners in crime and sold out? A victim? And though it was a promise, does the PC really care or not? That may be on them, and you can test that out. Was the PC also part of Myriad too, when they were younger? Options abound to build their story and make it so going after the crime lord feels heavy, and risky, but also something they must do.
Great suggestions so far... I'll give some more info. The PCs have been traveling together for a few months in game and have already helped one PC's father who was ill and near death, so they may be willing to turn and help another member out with their family woes. The PC in question knows he is seeking out the "Debtkeeper" within the Myriad and the group as a whole has interacted (knowingly) with at least one other higher up within the organization. The PC's father took on debt years ago, could not repay it, the Debtkeeper's goons came to collect and took the PC as payment when he was just a 4 year old boy and sold into slavery. Fortunately he was "bought" by some dragonborn clerics of Bahamut and raised in a loving place. The point is, he is only now meeting his father and knows the Debtkeeper is the source of his kidnapping and the abduction of his mother years ago. The PC is very invested in doing right by his father and ultimately finding out what happened to his mother.
just out of curiosity, how old is the PC? if he was taken at 4 years old along with his mother, it might help to come up with some interesting plot for what happened to the mother and what she has been doing this whole time.
If the mother is alive, then "revenge" can turn into a rescue operation. The other players may not be invested in helping an old man get revenge, but I doubt they would pass up helping a party member rescue their mother.
You can also give the plot a darker twist (depending on the type of campaign you're running) and have the mother be an accomplice to the Debtkeeper, who was unhappy with the father's debts (gambling? bad business ventures? etc.) and sought help to escape her marriage and (maybe) her family obligations. This can come up after the "rescue" operation, and it would give the PC a serious moral dilemma to handle (e.g. what do I do with mom? do I tell dad the truth? etc.).
The PC's mother could also have been beautiful/talented enough to be taken into Chesia Wakiam's employ, and after all these years could be leading a double life and working as a spy (e.g. married to a politician or high society merchant, etc.). Exposing her espionage could lead to some significant ramifications for her and the PCs...
...OR...
Mom's dead, and this is a straight up Kill Bill scenario. If you've already determined that the Debtkeeper is the "BBEG" for this particular plot segment, then put some people in the way between him and the party to make it hard for them to accomplish their objective. Otherwise, the Debtkeeper could be a pawn in the bigger picture, leading the party into a bigger conspiracy related to the PC. the Pros: There's a lot to spin there, and plenty of ways to make the PC feel special (maybe the whole thing was a plot to separate him from his family, maybe the mother/PC figured prominently in some conspiracy against the throne because of her unknown royal lineage, etc.). Cons: careful you don't make your campaign a LOTR remake about this PC, and end up alienating the other folks in the party.
Just some ideas for you to ruminate on....Hope that's helpful!
You could make it to where it's a series of scenarios that chain together. The father could find a stranger who also seems to have a bone to pick with this organization, met over drinks in a bar. The mysterious man he met is financially wealthy, but his family met a violent end to this organization. Hearing the players dad talk up his character the man would be interested in the PC and see if he would help them get revenge. The first target is just getting a low level street thug, someone who is just running a protection racket in town. After dealing with him either through capturing or killing (with a friend looking for them afterwards to continue off this plot point) they will find out more information like "something big is about to go down."It turns out that the big boss of the organization your dad wants revenge on is doing a big trade, weaponry/bribery/trafficking. Something around those lines So you need to set up a sting.
Using this info and knowing a future date when it happens (maybe a month or two in game) the party can get things into position. This could culminate into a few options, after the fetch quest and build up. The stranger could be of honest intention and wants revenge, your group goes through with the original plan no surprises.
Alternate ending, the man is actually the second in command of the crime boss the dad swore revenge against. Instead of hindering his own gang, they are attacking a different gang or even a noble/government official. Everything they stole would just empower the gang. When the deed is done the mysterious man would kill/kidnap the dad and make it personal for the party.
Great ideas and plenty to ruminate on for sure. To answer your first question Beyodrae, PC was taken at 4 yrs old, about 10 years later mom was taken but another PC who was also forced into slavery within the Myriad was sent to help kidnap mom on his first mission. All he did was put dad and older brother to sleep while the goons did the rest.
So there are two active PCs currently involved in this arc? If so, that's awesome, and I think it gives you a ton to work with for plot development. Since your original question was regarding obstacles, side-missions, etc. I'll leave the big stuff alone and just suggest a few things to consider when connecting the big plot elements:
Ways to find the "important person" they're trying to kill:
A couple hiccups for them to run into:
And a random plot twist or two:
Hopefully the notes above give you some bardic inspiration. Congrats on a cool plot hook and I hope your PCs enjoy what you come up with!