Paizo Top Nav Branding
Welcome, guest! | Sign In | My Account | My Subscriptions | My Downloads | My Wishlists | Shopping Cart   Shopping Cart | Help/FAQ
About Paizo   Messageboards   News   Paizo Blog   Help/FAQ  
Search
Links
Shop

Messageboards

Opalescent White Pyramid cracked Ioun Stone and guns., by Talonhawke

Quick question - summoning in mid air, by blackbloodtroll

Evocation optimization?, by Beebs

Instant Fortress - The most powerful "weapon" in pathfinder?, by Parka

Animal Companion for an Urban Ranger?, by Bongo BigBounce

My feelings about 5E D&D, by Finn K

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Distant Worlds (PFRPG), by Shem

Help with a rival party - creating and role-playing, by Douglas Muir 406

Help me protect my AC!!, by Joegoat

I statted myself out, so what am I? You should do it too!, by Eric Jarman

Bestiary 3: Ready for Release or needed rethinking?, by Kirth Gersen

Sin Magic: How does it work?, by Drejk

A compromise for friendly fire that should make EVERYONE happy, by Blaeringr

Augmented Eidelon Synthesist, by Oni_NZ

Class Submissions, by Drejk

Online Campaigns

The Pass of Thaldor Discussion Board, by Kip84

Dm Zyren's Heart of Runes, by Ailetha Aurcalam

Jade Regent: With a Single Step [Chapter 1: The Brinewall Legacy] Recruitment, by Diurn Selestro

Zoomackulas's Legacy of Fire, by DM Sardaukar

GM Fnord's PFS First Steps, by GM Fnord

Hunger and Darkness - Reclaiming Tar-Urkatha, by Padrym Steelribs

Tark's Council of Thieves: Rebels with a Cause, by TarkXT

DM Heathy's Saltmarsh Discussion Thread, by dungeonmaster heathy

Team Dwarf / Gnome in Elves vs Dwarves -- ELVES KEEP OUT, by Hon Semparatus

Tark's Council of Thieves: Nobles without a House, by TarkXT

Unbinding the Fetters - Disciples of Master Gond, by Frakdar Stonefist

Desna's Chosen, by Wren Chavali

SR Sport OOC, by Nеko

Jormungandr's Jade Regent, by Nostariel Lan

Shackled City AP Shackled Souls, by Barek Laigin

   RSS Recent Posts Facebook Twitter Email
Search
Search this Thread:

(Pathfinder Charter Superscriber)

One of my PCs has a contact who believes himself to be the rightful monarch. I could just make this guy a nutjob, but it would be fun to somehow tie things in with the plot. Sadly, the whole "Curse of the Crimson Throne" thing makes it actually pretty tough.

My options seem to be to make him a Porphyria who's in Korvosa on his own initiative, or a descendant from a bastard Cardraith fathered before ascending to the throne.

Any other ideas?


tbug wrote:
My options seem to be to make him a Porphyria who's in Korvosa on his own initiative

That dude would have a serious death wish. ;D

(Pathfinder Charter Superscriber)

Mike McArtor wrote:
tbug wrote:
My options seem to be to make him a Porphyria who's in Korvosa on his own initiative
That dude would have a serious death wish. ;D

What if he showed up after things started going south? Sure, Korvosa in peacetime might be hostile toward him, but the adventure path is rapidly dismantling the city. Maybe some people might be open to the idea that it's time for new leadership?

Okay, so if not him then who could have an even vaguely-plausible claim to the crown?

Taldor (Pathfinder Charter Superscriber; GameMastery Maps Subscriber)

tbug wrote:

One of my PCs has a contact who believes himself to be the rightful monarch. I could just make this guy a nutjob, but it would be fun to somehow tie things in with the plot. Sadly, the whole "Curse of the Crimson Throne" thing makes it actually pretty tough.

My options seem to be to make him a Porphyria who's in Korvosa on his own initiative, or a descendant from a bastard Cardraith fathered before ascending to the throne.

Any other ideas?

There's the

Spoiler:
'deformed relative' of the king locked in the tower it was stated on these boards somewhere that he is a tiefling... maybe he has a way to get out and interact with people, especially after his family member is killed..

tbug wrote:

What if he showed up after things started going south? Sure, Korvosa in peacetime might be hostile toward him, but the adventure path is rapidly dismantling the city. Maybe some people might be open to the idea that it's time for new leadership?

Okay, so if not him then who could have an even vaguely-plausible claim to the crown?

The thing is, the Arabastis became the royal family of Korvosa more from luck, skill, and guile than from any kind of divine mandate. Korvosa's monarchy was an invention of Korvosans, and the monarchy rules only because the people generally think the Arabastis do a good job.

Spoiler:

I think that after the end of this adventure path it's pretty clear that the Arabastis will no longer be in charge of Korvosa. Who takes up the mantle of leadership is up to you as the GM. In fact, Korvosa might be so disenfranchised with the whole tyranny thing that it might reject all future wannabe monarchs. On the other hand, Korvosa seems to really like monarchies, so there could be a number of claims to the throne, with some kind of crazy civil war following the death of the queen.

The most likely contenders for the throne would be the Great Houses, which don't get that title for nothing. Of course, the Arkonas get their asses handed to them by the PCs in PF9, and House Leroung is more interested in education than leadership, so a three-way battle for the throne seems most likely. And if the PCs don't kill Sabina, whichever House successfully gains her loyalty (even if her loyalty is bought) probably gains a huge advantage. And assuming Cressida survives the happenings, she would also be a great ally to gain.

So my recommendation is that the PC in question comes from House Jeggare, House Ornelos, or House Zenderholm.

(Pathfinder Charter Superscriber)

Mike McArtor wrote:
So my recommendation is that the PC in question comes from House Jeggare, House Ornelos, or House Zenderholm.

The PC in question is from House Ornelos, but it's her boyfriend who thinks he's the heir. Another PC is from House Jeggare, so maybe I'll make the nutcase who believes himself to be the true heir to the throne a member of House Zenderholm.

Thanks!

Qadira (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion, Tales Subscriber)

tbug wrote:

One of my PCs has a contact who believes himself to be the rightful monarch. I could just make this guy a nutjob, but it would be fun to somehow tie things in with the plot. Sadly, the whole "Curse of the Crimson Throne" thing makes it actually pretty tough.

My options seem to be to make him a Porphyria who's in Korvosa on his own initiative, or a descendant from a bastard Cardraith fathered before ascending to the throne.

Any other ideas?

One of my players, Marcellus von Liktenborn, actually is a member of House Porphyria. When the whole mess started in Korvosa, his branch of the House fled to Abken, where they succeeded in hiding under a false name (they were no important House members, after all).

The funny thing is, that while his father thinks that they should be the rightful rulers of Korvosa, Marcellus has not the least interest in becoming a king. When he found out that his father had a relationship to a Varisian beauty and more importantly, that a half-sister arose from this relationship, he decided to look for her in the hope that she could take the place in his father's plans he so dislikes.

Accidentally he already found his sister without knowing it. She is a dancer and part of the newfounded party going for Gaedren Lamm. She is unaware of this situation as well (in truth, both players know it but the rest of the group has no idea)and I'm really curious how this will develop over the course of the AP.


Long live King Vancaskerkin!


Hmm, don't have my Guide to Korvosa handy, but it might be worth looking at when and what age Eodred II took the throne.

After all, the curse doesn't take effect until he takes the throne, and he is known for his "appreciation" of women.

Maybe the guy is his son from liason before he became king. He could still be part of House Zenderholm as his mother could have been a lady of that house seduced by the young prince (or the one who seduced him specifically for this reason; the Zenderholms strike me as longterm planners).

In fact, maybe he seems "crazy" because there is no proof of his parentage...

Spoiler:
...because the Arkonas stole it. They had love letters and papers from Eodred proving the relationship, but an Arkona spy found out about it while the boy was young. They stole the papers and can be found by the PCs in Escape from Old Korvosa within the Arkona's "treasure."

Could be yet another reason to escape. If Ileosa finds out about him or the papers showing potential proof of his identity, their destruction becomes goal #1.


Paizo / Messageboards / Paizo Publishing / Pathfinder® / Pathfinder Adventure Path / Curse of the Crimson Throne / All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.

Recent threads in Curse of the Crimson Throne

Steev42's Conversions to Pathfinder
New GM running Curse of the Crimson Throne. Need Advice.
The fate of the Zon-Kuthon NPCs?
Escape from Old Korvosa (GM Reference)



©2002–2012 Paizo Publishing, LLC®. Need help? Email customer.service@paizo.com or call 425-250-0800 Monday–Friday, 10 AM–5 PM Pacific Time. View our privacy policy. Paizo Publishing, LLC, the Paizo golem logo, GameMastery, Pathfinder, Planet Stories, and Undefeated are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Pathfinder Adventure PathPathfinder Player Companion, Pathfinder Modules, Pathfinder Tales, Pathfinder Society, Pathfinder Battles, PaizoCon, RPG Superstar, The Golem's Got It, Titanic Games, the Titanic logo, and the Planet Stories planet logo are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC. Dungeons & Dragons, Dragon, Dungeon, and Polyhedron are registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and have been used by Paizo Publishing under license. Most product names are trademarks owned or used under license by the companies that publish those products; use of such names without mention of trademark status should not be construed as a challenge to such status.