The PC ruler of the kingdom in my game recently celebrated his birthday where several women courted him and he ended up with a fiancee. Unbeknownst to him though is that she is actually a spy from Pitax. What I'm wondering though, is what should she do?
So that's where you guys come in. Any suggestions? I don't want her to completely screw up the kingdom, that won't be fun for the players. But some subtle, small sabotages could be fun. I'm also thinking she might be playing a long con, and wait until the war with Pitax to inform on troop movements or something like that (they are currently investigating Varnhold, so that will likely be a couple of years).
Right now they are actually too busy out of the country to make it back in time for the kingdom phase, and they figured she would work as a temporary regent while the Duke is away :D
Any ideas?
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Well, the first question is, are any of the party going to be back in time for the Kingdom Phase? There are some pretty hefty penalties for not fulfilling your duties each month, and I imagine all of them hold some leadership role in the government (unless they all hold roles that don't carry a vacancy penaly). Regardless, the Kingdom doesn't get their ability score benefits that turn, which lowers their Stability, Economy, and Loyalty checks.
If you've played the fiancee as an airhead, you could just have her dither and not do anything for the Kingdom Building step except make the mandatory checks. Without the PC bonuses, they are very likely to fail one or two. If you roll a negative Kingdom encounter, they'll come back to find it hasn't been dealt with, and has been causing all sorts of problems (increase Unrest).
Alternatively, you could play her up as incredibly capable - she does a brilliant job of handling the Kingdom Building turn on her own, making the PCs feel more comfortable leaving her in charge when they go adventuring. This allows her to amass herself a strong power base, and eventually you could have her start siphoning from the treasury (take BP and convert to Gold). Eventyally, you could have her spend a ton of BP on a large, expensive project as a gift to her husband-to-be, resulting in the PCs struggling to cover the costs of maintaining an army large enough to fight off Pitax.
Play her up to her personality, and whether it's important she insinuate herself into the PC's confidence or not.
With a position like that, she HAS to go for the long game, whether or not she was doing it before!
Build up her own power base, get other members of the Council on her side, and undermine the defenses as much as possible. Place trusted friends in command of some of the army units, so they will flip sides to Pitax whenever the River War kicks off.
Come to think of it, she should make sure she makes it back to the Capitol before the PCs do, when Pitax makes its move as the PC ruler is at the Games. Oh, even better, she shouldn't be at the Games at all-- a well-timed illness (or pregnancy!)-- real or magically faked-- could keep her at home, able to seize control when the ruler is offed.
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As a complete alternative, if the PC in question roleplays the relationship well over the years, you could have her second-guessing and actually falling in love with him, revealing her true colours and warning him just in time before Pitax betrays them at the Rushlight Tournament.
Yes, they are aware of the penalties for their absence. Their Economy and Loyalty checks are pretty low when they're gone, but their Stability is OK (bit better than 50% chance to make the check), and that check really is the only one that they have to roll, barring any random events (I'm using Ultimate Campaign rules, so they will get income from the Economy check, regardless, even if it's a bit less than when they are present). Also, to make things simpler, I just ruled that there will be no expansion of borders or new buildings while they're gone.
The fiancee has presented herself as a minor noble from Brevoy, where she's the only child and have been taking care of her father's finances.
I like the idea of turning other members of the council to her side, but I also don't want her to do too much permanent damage, as the PCs might feel that is taking away their agency over their kingdom.
Also like the idea of staying home for the Games, and getting ready to take over.
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Out of curiosity, apart from the Ruler, what roles do your PCs have in the Kingdom?
Lee Hanna's idea is a good one. Choose two or three of the other council members for her to flip to her side to benefit Pitax, and choose a couple of their army units to flip over to Pitax once the war starts. I don't think you have to worry about your PCs complaining about you taking away their agency over their Kingdom.
Picture it: They're at the Rushlight Tournament when they get a message (maybe via Sending?) from one of the loyal Council members that a Pitaxian army is marching on their western-most city, and that the commanders of the 3rd Infantry Corps and 2nd Cavalry Regiment have betrayed the Kingdom, and are leading their forces against the same city - or have seized control of another city, if you choose a garrisoned unit. In addition, the Queen is accusing the PCs of being demon worshippers (or some other heinous crime in their Kingdom), thus having unlawful rule, and is backed by the two or three traitorous council members. They've imprisoned the other councilors for trumped up crimes against the throne, except for the one delivering the message, who managed to escape.
Now they have to foil the Queen's plans so they can re-solidify their hold on the Kingdom and recover from an attempted coup, all so they can fight off an invasion from Pitax and then lead an eventual counter-attack. Oh, and they may have to reclaim one or two of their cities as well. I suspect they'll find that story far more memorable than the fact you briefly took away the agency of their Kingdom.
If you don't want to have any Council Members turn against them, she could just imprison all of the others on trumped up charges as she seizes control. Similar results, except maybe you can add a "rescue the Council" themed part to their attempt to reclaim their Kingdom.
Yeah, I really like that idea, actually :)
The PCs have the Ruler, Councilor, Grand Diplomat and Lord Marshall roles. In addition one of the PCs have the Leadership feat and his cohort is Lord Constable.
Jhod Kavken is High Priest, Elga Verniex (The Old Beldame) is the Magister, Kesten is Royal Enforcer/Assassin, Lily Teskerten is Spymaster and Oleg is Treasurer. We also have a PC who played the first few session, but is no longer actively playing, she is the General.
Okay - based on your NPC listing, here's how I'd look at breaking things down for the coup attempt if you want to include sitting council members:
Joining the Pitax Spy: Lily Teskertin and either the Old Beldame or Kesten (based purely on personalities and depending on the strength of relation with them).
Loyal and Imprisoned: Oleg, Jhod, and whichever of the Old Beldame or Kesten you didn't choose previously.
Loyal and in hiding: The former PC
Alternatively, you could have Jhod join her because she tricked him or used some kind of mental compulsion, only for him to apologize and turn back once her treachery is revealed. That would make for a nice twist, as well.
Did you choose a class for the Pitax spy? It could be a lot of fun to make her a Mesmerist - no way to tell for sure who's loyal and who was charmed.
Haven't really created her character as such yet, so a Mesmerist could be fun.
Thanks for the tips, I'll see what I can figure out :)
These are all great ideas! By the way, I too second the idea of having a chance that if the Ruler role plays accordingly, the spy actually does fall in love with him and warns him at the last instant. Obviously you can't be obvious about tracking it, but just pay attention to whatever role playing the PC in question does. Does he mention taking special time out of his day/week/month to dote on her? Do they have children and if so, what kind of father is he? Or does he just say "Cool, I got a wife." and pretty much ignore it thereafter?
Doing it this way really lets the players feel as though they had an impact on the game. If he more or less ignores her and simply uses her to run the kingdom when he's away, you can point to all those instances when he complains that he "should have had a chance to detect her treachery". Conversely, if he does end up doting on her, etc. her reveal at the end that she really was supposed to be working for Irovetti but that she just can't bring herself to do it anymore really pays off the role playing of the player. Either way, its showing that they really do have agency in the campaign.
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