Hello! This is my first time making a campaign, and I need some help with it. I haven't been working on it for very long, so it's akin to a bowl of dirt, but so far I have this:

• In the kingdom of Al'Demandra, there are five noble houses that uphold different virtues; wisdom, prosperity, courage, equity, and freedom. Each time the ruler dies, the chosen heir of each house fights? the others for possession of the throne. Because of this, the kingdom is unstable and constantly changing with its leader.

• Because of a particularly bad king that threw the kingdom into chaos, a group formed to uphold the laws that they believe should exist. They're like a band of superheroes, minus the cool powers. Unlike the kingdom, they stick to their beliefs, though they're secretive in enforcing them.

• (Here's where it gets rough) My players are that group of superheroes, and they've been contacted by a messenger of House Tyrndur, the one who values courage. They say that they've discovered a plot to assassinate the king, and they want their help to figure out who it is. They believe it's someone from the other houses because they'd be able to take the throne. 

• Plot twist!!!! It's actually House Tyrndur who wants to kill him; the heir can only fight with his right hand, but Al'Demandra worships a god with only a left hand, which doesn't work out for them. Because of this, they've enlisted the help of a lich, who has her own reasons for wanting to help house Tyrndur. She believes that with more souls, she can become more powerful, and cool and stuff. With them on the throne, she can direct them into war. With so many souls to claim, she can become the ultimate lich. 

• So far, she's getting her souls from a night hag, who instead of bringing them back to the underworld brings them to her. I was thinking this could be used as a way to somehow introduce my characters to the lich, and get them closer to solving the mystery. One of my players is younger, so I was gonna change up the hag so she isn't too scary. 

I don't think this makes much sense, and I still don't have many ideas for it, so anything is appreciated. Thank you! :)

Well the first thing I would wonder is how did such a system persist? I mean establishing a dynasty and a legacy is something people tend to yearn. Throughout the ages of history, there would be people who are short-sighted, greedy, wise, noble, just, etc who would support the then king, even if it meant losing that system for their own greed or because they see the lack of stability it generates or ...

The idea itself is quite interesting I think and full of potential. A question I would say you do need to answer still is how and why has this system lasted? Potentially you could use that Lich. Maybe they were some of Mage-king/queen in the distant past who used the conflict to generate souls for it (for survival, amusement, some big project) and therefore has used all their wiles and power to prevent and/or destroy alliances between the houses.

Another thing I would clarify is how long has this system been in effect? What are the rules surrounding it, or is it anything goes once the king is dead? How is stability preserved during a king's reign? If they could get a potential king by killing off the current one and re-starting the system, I don't see why some of them at least wouldn't.

A general question then would be, is this a uni-racial kingdom or multi-racial?

Why do the noble houses embody virtues? What's the significance of this to the world and the realm?

I quite like the idea of a group that tries to act as balance in the chaos. It's pretty cool and is quite a logical step. ... I'm not sure if it would work as the players per se. In my experience players tend to be rather eclectic bunches, going off in very wild directions and I'm not sure they'd bind themselves to a singular goal like that. It could also end up limiting game path options - however, that's something you should run by your players. Everyone is different after all.

You could run it as this great overarching group, rather than just as your players (again depending on how old the system is) that acts as a neutral party in these perpetual conflicts, protecting the people of the kingdom and not getting directly involved in the conflict over the throne. It would give you one more group to try and pull the party in different directions.

I'm not quite following the plot line. House Tymdur want to kill the king because their heir is disfigured in some way that prevents him from qualifying for the throne? If that were the case wouldn't they want to preserve the current king until they could find/give birth to and raise a suitable heir? Also what series of events have left them with only one heir? 

What's their deal with the Lich? How is she helping them and why? A concrete aim isn't 100% necessary at the start, unless it's something the party should encounter early. However, it will be more useful for you if you can figure out a reason for why the Lich is getting involved. Maybe she's trying to ascend to divinity.

What's the Night Hag's involvement in this? Why is she helping the Lich? Hags never do anything for free. So if the Lich gets souls, souls that the Night Hag has to work for and collect herself, what is getting out of the deal? Is she perhaps somehow feeding off the suffering in the kingdom? Is she being granted some kind of power? Is this an age-old alliance? You could perhaps make her some kind of matriarch of one of the families who constantly slays her descendants and takes on their form so no one realises who she actually is. Or perhaps she acts as the seneschal for the kings, every king (pretending the role is hereditary) and uses her position to manipulate and play the houses off each other.

The way I see it, you're prepping for a mystery-epic battle sort of campaign where the heroes must untangle the web of deceit and manipulation to discern the truth that is threatening the kingdom and then grow in power so they can challenge and overcome the evil that has gained control there.

You seem to have plenty of quest opportunities - at lower levels chaos means bandits and other troubles run unchecked. Perhaps the Noble Houses continual quest for power means they have neglected the kingdom, allowing the problems (monsters, beasts, criminals, etc) to run unchecked or somewhat unchecked. As the players grow in power and renown, opportunities can arise for all sides to put them to use for their own gains. I would suggest you don't have them start off as superheroes looking to save the kingdom, unless they're starting off quite high level. At low levels they wouldn't really have the strength to do that (and there would be the question of what motivates them to make this group). Perhaps instead they started off as a group that came together to protect a small community (or communities) or were mercenaries hired by locals to protect them and as they grow in strength they get pulled into the political struggle and the quests for various noble house and other more secret factions and they must face the question of what do they want to achieve.

(I would make at least one 'good' - probably more - group that seeks the characters' support or seeks to support them. If everyone is evil, it will get predictable and it would be harder on you). 

It's a really interesting idea I think. Political intrigue, moral quests, epic battles, mystery - it's got some great plot hooks. I think it will be a lot of fun. I hope some of this helps. If you liked it, I'll comment again if you post something new.

(Is something you're running now or will be starting soon?)

Thank you so much! This is incredibly useful -- half of this I hadn't even considered. 

Originally I was thinking the noble houses had always been in place, but would it make more sense for something like a civil war to send them scrambling for a new way to rule? Maybe even something caused by the Lich...

As for the rules of the system, I'm not too sure. Instead of a singular leader, maybe it's more like an oligarchy, with all of the nobles weighing in and making decisions, passed down through families. I suppose that would take away the whole point of wanting to kill the king, though. As for the virtues, they could represent different gods that they believe in? Or a single deity who has different requirements that the noble houses strive to meet? 

For the superhero group, that makes more sense. Would it make sense to make it like a secretive faction -- they can join in, but they have to build their way up through the ranks? Waiting for an heir also seems more logical (thank you again). Instead of turning to the Lich for assassination, could they be driven by to them by greed -- maybe to be the most powerful group, or earn their god's favor? I like the idea that the Lich was a once-powerful mage that's trying to become a god. I could fit all sorts of cool rituals in there!! The hag being part of the noble houses is awesome too. In exchange for her services, maybe the Lich has promised her a place in their court when they achieve divinity and something to tide her over in the meantime?

This was incredibly helpful, I thank you yet again :)

(Something I'm starting soon. I'm excited for it to start, but I'm glad I have time to plan it)

I think you could do either a civil war or say they'd been in place for a while (as far as living memory is concerned that might be always). The important thing for the long-time system is understanding how it lasted so long? What kept people from rebelling? Why were there so many generations of completely selfish people?

Or were they always selfish? Did some try to do good? What happened to them? Why did they fail? Maybe one of the rebellious groups is an offshoot from one of the noble families' ancestors who tried and failed to change the system, but barely escaped with their life. They then set up the organisation that has persisted all this time, seeking a chance to overthrow this terrible system (you could also make a completely separate group of commoners supported maybe by the wealthy middle class who has to bear the weight of the taxes - like in Revolutionary France - and wants to change the system, just to keep it interesting with more group).

Simply put I think the questions I'd want to ask myself is why this system? Why has it lasted? Who is benefitting from it? (the last one especially because that basically gives you your BBEG). Anything else is just for the purpose of fleshing things out.

I think the civil war idea is a good one whether use it in the game or as part of the history as to how this whole affair started.

An ongoing civil war in game raises all sorts of questions and challenges: how has it affected the heroes? Are they part of the war? Have they gotten tired of it? Is that where some of them met? Is the Civil War an ongoing thing? How does it affect the lives of this group of people who has ended up together? Or has it recently ended? What divisions still persist? How does it affect the characters or do they try to rise above it?

If it's over - when did it happen? What after-effects can be felt still today, if any? Is the country, though united on paper, still divided? Who suffered or suffers because of the civil war (think segregation in the US, if you want to use this)? Do the noble families/bbeg perpetuate these old divisions to prevent the country uniting against them?

Another thing you should consider is the surrounding countries (don't make too many, especially if this is your first time. I did that and while it's interesting and fun writing info about them, it does take a lot of time and effort and I still work on it between plotting sessions for my players ... maybe more trouble than it's worth, though as I say, I do enjoy it). I'd say three or four is plenty. If needs be you can always be introduce a bigger map later and say, yes these continents/countries/islands/etc exist across the ocean or beyond our furthest borders, but being simple commoners you had no reason to be aware of them (or if there's someone would know, just give them the info then). It's easier to go from smaller to bigger than the reverse.

Things you should consider are: what's their relationship with your civil-war country? Have they closed their borders to it? Or are they trade partners? Are they aware of the instability? Do they want to take advantage of it? Or do they not care? What about past relationships? Are they 'good' nations? Bad? Just ok? 

I mean, you'll probably want some kind of council or something, somehow aloof from the fights, so that there's someone to manage the kingdom during the succession fight. However, that seems difficult - why would they be aloof? Who would they be? How could they be trusted? ... they could noble elders with no chance for getting the throne, but I can't see them not trying to support their family. Or you could make them wealthy merchants/commoners, deliberately appointed after the king dies by the various families to run the country. It could lead into them being part of some rebel organisation - they get a taste of power every generation, but they're severely kept in check and they don't have the strength to hold onto it once the fighting ends and their cycle of suffering continues. 

Alternatively you could have no such system in place and just have the succession period by an event anticipated with trepidation from all the folk other than the families, when all they can do is batten down the hatches and hope to weather the storm. It would allow for more chaos. Both have potential.

I should clarify by rules, I was more actually talking about how the succession fight was settled: do they compete in some kind of tournament (I'm going to assume no, because it sounds too regulated for your chaotic world)? Or is it some kind of free for all where anything goes and only the last one standing becomes ruler? Do families stand together to make their heir king or does it even become sibling against sibling all fighting for the throne? 

Yes virtues of gods or a god is a great idea. Are these gods/god real? How does they feel about the current state of things? Are they displeased with their worshippers? Have they abandoned them? Are they dead? Are they aware of the true villain? Or do they blame their followers? What do they think of this villain's plans or are they unaware of the exact nature of the plans? Are they all-powerful (if so you'll want a reason why they remain aloof from the affairs. Or perhaps they don't but they don't get involved directly)? Or are they not and therefore dare not strike at the enemy for fear of exposing themselves to a devastating counterattack? Is there an organisation devoted to the god(s) who wish to re-establish the old systems?

If there are gods, what is the religion like in this world? How do the rulers feel about religion? Do they try to suppress it? Or do they manipulate it to their own advantage? Is the religion directly involved in the dispute? Or a neutral observer? Or an active, disproving antagonist of this system?

Another question though, is why do they represent such virtues when they are not at all virtuous? Is it an ancestral thing? Gods is another great possibility. It would have to be something located in the past, because they're not virtuous now. What is the relevance of these virtues nowadays then? Is there some secret court that seeks to re-strengthen such virtues and hold true to the founding ideals of the country? Were they virtues designed to help remind families of some ancient, evil legacy that was sealed within the kingdom? Perhaps this whole chaotic affair is being engineered deliberately to erode those values to free some ancient evil?

Definitely secretive. I can't see these families or the Lich or whoever stand for such groups being open. Potentially they could have acted openly at one point, but found that didn't work and so changed to acting secretly. Alternatively, there could be some group that does act openly (like an order of Paladins/religious people): how can they do that? What keeps them safe? What sort of power do they have? How do the people feel about them? How do the nobles attempt to interfere with or actively try to thwart this group/groups? And vice versa?

Building their way up through the ranks is very good. The DMG has a system on renown (I'm not sure exactly where in the book off the top of my head I'm afraid) which could be helpful.

I mean greed's a great motivation in many circumstances, especially these kind. Earning a gods favor is a good thought - maybe there's an evil god involved somehow (though be careful of using too many evil things - it could make your life more difficult and things more complicated than necessary)

Yeah divinity ascension is a classic, but it's still great. I love those ideas for the Hag. You've got some solid ideas there. 

Glad I was able to help. This is quite long this time again, but hopefully it's helpful again.