Hi, D&D Beyond.  I'm going to come out and say it:  I've never actually PLAYED D&D.  I played Savage Worlds back in High School, but that was over ten years ago, now, and I've been wanting to get back into gaming for a while.  Ever since COVID, I've started to get a hankering to give D&D a try, but I've been too nervous to actually try to find a group, especially because I wanted to be a GM... or DM as it's called.

Anyway, you're probably not here for my little personal life backstory, so I'm going to get to the point of why you clicked on this topic:  yeah, I don't know why, but I've kind of been kicking around parts of world-building for a campaign I'd like to do, and for some reason, making a plot hook based on the Trojan War was one that wouldn't leave my mind.  I even shared it in the comments of this YouTube Video:  

Anyway, someone at least seemed to like it, so I figured, if anybody else could give me their two bronze pieces (or just tell me straight up I'm being way too ambitious and to never waste your time again lest you somehow have me banned from this site), maybe I could probably run this scenario one day?  Like, after LMoP or another adventure like it?

EDIT:  Forgot to, in case the link doesn't work or you don't want to read the comment, actually copy and paste the idea.  My bad!

One of the seven MacGuffins the party would be seeking in a campaign-long quest would be locked in the treasure horde of a heavily fortified citadel that is currently under siege by a massive army by the time they get there. During their first encounter with the army, the party arrives just in time to see a major general on the invaders' side in a duel with the crown prince of the city, with the hand of a tiefling princess (I know, I'm not original by making this story's Helen a demon chick, don't kick my d**k in, yet) kidnapped by the crown prince being decided. It turns out the general was the one who suggested this simply because he just wants to rescue his love (who genuinely loves him and hates her situation, blaming herself and her curse we'll get to later for all that's happening) and isn't really interested in the plunder of the city like the soldiers under his command and even some of the fellow generals who are using the act of defending his honor as an excuse to sack the city since it's one of the richest kingdoms in the world.

Anyway, the general and the crown prince fight, and the general (so long as the PCs don't interfere because they're D&D players who haven't rolled lately) proceeds to beat the prince in combat, but instead of a killing blow, he offers the prince one final chance to return his love and have himself and his city spared. However, when the prince refuses, the prince is teleported out of the way of the killing blow (the party would later find out that this was thanks to the work of a sorcerer the prince had struck a deal with in exchange for the princess' younger sister to experiment upon). He would later send a mocking message to the army (via an arrow to another badass soldier's heel, thus killing the Achilles of the story that may have helped with a couple sidequests in the area at this point), claiming that fate will never allow him to taste defeat and they're "running out of time". At this point, the PCs, either of their own volition or just being confronted by the general, learn of the circumstances of WHY the army is so hellbent on breaking into the same place they're trying to break into.

When the tiefling princess was born, she was subjected to a curse by an archfey queen who was jealous she wasn't invited to the princess' parents' wedding. She was cursed with incredible beauty for a tiefling, but also specific guidelines: upon the full moon of her 21st birthday, she would be forced to wed the first person with whom she locked eyes with. So far, her parents tried every attempt to remove the curse save for killing the archfey who casted it in the first place (since she's been impossible to find... and they think she's a hag apart of a coven and they don't want to risk THAT potential mess) to no avail. Still, the daughter managed to grow up, and be beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that nobles across the kingdom have come for her hand when she started to come of age and were willing to kill each other for her, but one of these nobles (the Odysseus of the story) who sought the princess' younger sister's hand suggested the nobles simply agree to respect the king and the princess' decision and defend her chosen suitor's honor. The princess fell in love with the main general of this questline, and was set to wed him on her 21st birthday... only for the crown prince, having learned of the princess' curse, sought to take the kingdom for himself and kidnapped the princess and her sister (so she couldn't just inherit the crown, either) so he could one day rule two kingdoms.

Having caught the party up, the general explains that they only have a tenday left to somehow infiltrate the city's walls and rescue his future bride before her curse is enacted and she's forced into a marriage she doesn't want. One of the more ruthless generals suggests a full-frontal storming of the city's gate, believing the city's defenses can't stop them all, but it wastes time and costs the army a lot of men and has the high potential to get the sympathetic general and the Odysseus killed (the "I won at what cost" option), and would be too blinded by the glory of the rest of the treasure to care for the MacGuffin unless the party let slip its importance (and will have to be dealt with later should he learn since he'll try to betray the party to get it). The Odysseus of the setting, thankfully, has been working on a familiar plan to anyone who knows Greek myths: building a giant "wedding gift", pretending to admit defeat, but in actuality hiding soldiers inside to let the army in and invade (the "Trojan Horse" option). This will, of course, result in hundreds, if not thousands of casualties of both civilian and soldier alike, but the princesses will be rescued. He promises the party that they will be able to have the MacGuffin they were after in the first place should they support this plan, as well as any other loot they pick up during the inevitable bloodbath.

But after these options are presented, an old woman (the city's queen mother in disguise who has chosen the city's safety over her son's lust for power and beauty) approaches the party in secret at night (right before they can settle for a long rest), and begs for them to consider three other less kingdom-ending approaches to resolve this quest. The first is the "Roguish Rescue" option, where she reveals the location of a hidden access point to the city via underground that will allow them to sneak in, rescue the princesses, steal the MacGuffin, potentially kill the local BBEG the crown prince and his sorcerer assistant, and avert the inevitable bloodbath. The second is the "cut off the hydra's second head" option, revealing the lair of the sorcerer with the intent for the party to kill him while she convinces the general to challenge the prince again, this time without his fancy magical retreat and end the war that way, and she'd personally present them with the MacGuffin as thanks. The third option is defecting to the city's side and helping them repel the invasion (the "defection approach") long enough for the tenday to pass, and kill any remaining exhausted generals afterward, scattering the army, and she'd give them the MacGuffin.

Yeah, I wanted to present a lot of choices and gray morality here. While the prince and his sorcerer are unquestioningly evil, the prince's people are terrified at what the prince's actions have brought, his soldiers are doing their jobs, and his family members are reasonable people that are caught up in the mess that their horny, power-hungry prince regent has brought upon them. Meanwhile, the sympathetic general and the story's smart general are good people who are in love and want to be reunited with their lovers, but they're in the middle of a war and their allies are prepared to commit brutal war crimes attempting to "defend their honor", and the smart Oddesyus general knows his plan comes with a lot of bloodshed. It's up to the players how they approach the war.

So, I think the bare bones of this are perfectly fine and pretty engaging, but there's way too much stuff here that doesn't involve your players. It's fine for *you* to know all the backstory about the sorcerer and the princess's curse, but you shouldn't be telling it all to your players in a lump- just have your Odysseus answer the questions they ask about the situation. On a similar note, I wouldn't have the queen mother present them with three possible plans; just have her beg them to spare the city's civilians, say she's willing to help them put an end to the conflict, and see what plans they come up with. She can always make a suggestion if they get stuck.

I think 'there's a Macguffin in a city under siege, the players must find a way to end or circumvent the siege in order to get it' is a really strong plot hook you should definitely use. And it's fine for you to know a bunch of background about the conflict and the NPCs involved in it. Just bear in mind that D&D is a cooperative storytelling experience- your players should have real input into how things play out, not just a choice of plot lines you've already written for them.

Thanks for this advice.  I'll take it to heart, and let the players figure things out as they go along.  I was kind of thinking that I overprepared this a bit before I even had a group....

I cant find which video it was, but this instantly made me think of one of Matt Coleville's videos where he discusses the difference between a story and adventure. This feels like a story for the players to go along with rather than an adventure for them to go on. 

I'd agree with the previous post of not setting out any of the solutions for the players. 

I'd also try and avoid shoe horning in any of the famous set pieces from the story. As they are fun to read but not to be a spectator of. {This might not have been anything you were planning, just something that came to mind seeing the first fight between the princes mentioned}