Post CotCT AP Ideas (Or, Who's the new Monarch?)

[Shadowborn]

So my party is in the midst of "Crown of Fangs" and once that's done I get to put my player hat back on as we delve into the Runelords AP. Still, I'm a far cry from being done with the Heroes of Korvosa, so I'd like to keep things simmering on the back burners for an eventual return. I thought I'd see if any other DMs have any major plans for this. I've heard a few in DM Jeff's thread, but I'd like to start one here for the purpose of carrying on the adventure beyond the AP.

Examples:

Any plans on who will take the throne now that Ileosa has been deposed? Certainly all the remaining great houses will be vying to place one of their own upon the Crimson Throne. Who is your pick? Just getting a new King and/or Queen could be an adventure in itself, rife with political intrigue and maneuverings.

Any new baddies or old returning villains ready in the wings?

I'll leave any others to the rest of you.

[wspatterson]

Shadowborn wrote:

So my party is in the midst of "Crown of Fangs" and once that's done I get to put my player hat back on as we delve into the Runelords AP. Still, I'm a far cry from being done with the Heroes of Korvosa, so I'd like to keep things simmering on the back burners for an eventual return. I thought I'd see if any other DMs have any major plans for this. I've heard a few in DM Jeff's thread, but I'd like to start one here for the purpose of carrying on the adventure beyond the AP.

Examples:

Any plans on who will take the throne now that Ileosa has been deposed? Certainly all the remaining great houses will be vying to place one of their own upon the Crimson Throne. Who is your pick? Just getting a new King and/or Queen could be an adventure in itself, rife with political intrigue and maneuverings.

Any new baddies or old returning villains ready in the wings?

I'll leave any others to the rest of you.

In my campaign, Glorio Arkona is prepared to make his move for the throne, having established himself as a man of the people by bringing peace to Old Korvosa. He also has the endorsement of Blackjack. Doesn't really matter that Blackjack is a rakshasa in disguise at this point.

Rolth still lives, and he's made a better zombie plague. He will first unleash it on a goblin tribe, then direct them towards a hamlet for further trials. In a fit of paranoia, he will assume the party is out to get him and then smuggle in a small army of plague zombies to unleash on Korvosa.

Of course, this is all assuming that they manage to stop the rise of the dragon, which we haven't gotten to in Crown of Fangs.

[Mikaze]

I've got a few plans here and there.

The new king.

Spoiler:

I'm almost certainly going to make the orphaned fighter of my group a misplaced bastard son of King Eodred. The guy is charismatic, well-meaning, good hearted, and has leadership skills. He has a certain magnetism to him too.

Unfortunately, he's a bit people-dumb(he almost accidentally drove Grau Soldado to suicide when they first met, and not out of malice either!), he has some complications in his history(he's the founder of the Queen's Men movement among the common population...yes, he was completely won over by her), and one of his major romantic interests? A half-orc woman. The other half being Shoanti. You can imagine how well that's going to go over. Even if she is trying to become a paladin of Iomedae.

He would probably be good for Korvosa. The question is whether or not Korvosa will want him, or rather, which parts do and which parts don't?

And he's probably going to be the last one to find out too. He has a knack for that.

Recurring enemies:

Spoiler:

The Red Mantis are going to be a recurring problem until the PCs manage to take the fight to them somehow. I'm really thinking at a certain point Achaecek will make a short appearance to declare to his followers that their targets are worthy of being spared at a certain point, with the unspoken threat that "worthy" simply means they're hands-off for his followers, but eventually he might consider them valid targets himself. Still thinking this over, because honestly I don't want my PCs to be looking over their shoulders constantly after they make it through Crown of Fangs.

Rolth and Jolistina are almost certainly going to die, explosively and hilariously, during the retaking of Korvosa in Crown of Fangs. After that though, they're definitely coming back as undead, and I've got an ironic hell lined up for them if the PCs pay attention.(well, Rolth would consider it hell. Jolstina on the other hand...)

I don't think we'll be running with the race to collect all of Kazavon's artifacts, but I'm definitely going to have the church of Zon-Kuthon come back to haunt the PCs, using that hook involving Salvatore Scream suggested in Crown of Fangs.

I'm certainly going to use something involving Illeosa's (attempted?) escape from hell too.

I've got some long standing feuds going on between some PCs and members of the Acadamae as well, but they mostly involve NPCs specific to the PCs backstories rather than what can be found in the AP.

Almost my entire crew will be pushing for Citadel Vraid to be shut down permanently. What's uncertain is whether they'll attempt to have them removed by force or try to handle it through the courts.

[wspatterson]

I'm curious on what grounds would Citadel Vraid would be legally shut down. Of course, I also don't know what you had the Order of the Nail do. In my game, there would be no legal grounds for closing it down. As for force, well, I'd make that a very costy proposition for my group.

A couple of things I didn't think to menton before. I don't know if I'll have the Mantis Assassins come back. I'm kind of tired of them. My group did, however, manage to seriously alienate the followers of Zon-Kuthon, so they'll be running up against them.
I'm considering Sorshen rising.
And the cleric of Gorum in my group has this stupid idea in his head to build an army in Kaer Maga and then conquor the Varisian lowlands. Of course, so far he's pretty well disrespected the powers that be in Kaer Maga. He started a temple and left some low level followers there to guard the place. When he gets back he'll find the place burned down and his followers dead. Some people have an interest in keeping the cleric of the god of chaos, war, destruction and glory from gaining a foot-hold in the local powerbase.

[Shadowborn]

Hmm...well, tonight my party members got to draw from a certain powerful deck of cards. There were some interesting draws, some of which sparked ideas for future adventures after the AP is over with.

For example,

Spoiler:

The sorcerer first drew the Keep, gaining a castle that she plans on putting somewhere in or just outside of Korvosa. Then she drew the Empty Throne, giving her a noble title and 25k in gold. Since the rakshasas have been wiped out, I may make her the last living heir of House Arkona. Who knows, certain agencies in the city just might nominate her for the Crimson Throne...

[Mikaze]

wspatterson wrote:

I'm curious on what grounds would Citadel Vraid would be legally shut down. Of course, I also don't know what you had the Order of the Nail do. In my game, there would be no legal grounds for closing it down. As for force, well, I'd make that a very costy proposition for my group.

Spoiler:

IIRC, the Hellknights are pretty much in Varisia at the invitation of Queen Domina, Eodred's mother. I assumed this invitation included a land grant or somesuch. Whether they have embassy-status or are simply allowed to remain by Korvosa's continued good graces is something I'm still hashing out, but the Hellknights are definitely not popular with common populace of Korvosa, and most of the nobility want nothing to do with them(their actions were a PR nightmare, which ironically made the Grey Maidens an easier thing to sell to Korvosa).

It's still a very tangled issue though, because as much as many in Varisia would back such a move, especially the Shoanti, there are still those who have a vested interest in keeping them around, either because they're sympathetic to their cause or because they benefit from their presence. And then there's how Cheliax itself could take the news... Good times.

And my sympathies on the Gorum cleric. I mean seriously, did he really expect that people wouldn't get nervous about such a development? What are his fellow party members' opinions on his long-term goals?

[wspatterson]

Mikaze wrote:

wspatterson wrote:

I'm curious on what grounds would Citadel Vraid would be legally shut down. Of course, I also don't know what you had the Order of the Nail do. In my game, there would be no legal grounds for closing it down. As for force, well, I'd make that a very costy proposition for my group.

** spoiler omitted **

And my sympathies on the Gorum cleric. I mean seriously, did he really expect that people wouldn't get nervous about such a development? What are his fellow party members' opinions on his long-term goals?

The only reason Korvosa has all of its holdings is because the Order of the Nail participated in some instrumental battles that resulted in the Shoanti being pushed out into the Cinderlands. My impression is that Korvosa doesn't hold any authority or power over Citidal Vraid and its surroundings. Korvosa may have originally given them that land, but I got the impression that the Order of the Nail is the only authority over that citadel and the Order of the Nail. As for the Shoanti wanting to see them gone, no one in Korvosa would care.

And the cleric of Gorum doesn't deserve any sympathy. He's really become one of those "give him enough rope and he'll hand himself" types lately. There is a strong possibility that two of his fellow party members will kill him once they handle the Queen. Not something I really want to encourage, but given who they are and what he wants to do, it only makes sense.

[Mikaze]

wspatterson wrote:

The only reason Korvosa has all of its holdings is because the Order of the Nail participated in some instrumental battles that resulted in the Shoanti being pushed out into the Cinderlands.

Actually, the Order of the Nail hasn't even been around that long. They were invited into Varisia within the past several decades, and the last truly notable battle that Korvosa was involved in was the disastrous siege on Kaer Maga, a bit before Queen Domina's time. The last real war with the Shoanti happened before the Hellknights' arrival, IIRC.

wspatterson wrote:

My impression is that Korvosa doesn't hold any authority or power over Citidal Vraid and its surroundings. Korvosa may have originally given them that land, but I got the impression that the Order of the Nail is the only authority over that citadel and the Order of the Nail.

That's part of what I'm working out right now: Is the land Citadel Vraid is on concidered Korvosan land? Chelish? Strictly the Order of the Nail's? I don't believe it's ever explicitly stated in the Korvosa guide, so I've got some leeway to work with.

wspatterson wrote:

As for the Shoanti wanting to see them gone, no one in Korvosa would care.

Oh no, it's not that the Shoanti want them out would affect Korvosans wanting them gone, it's that the Shoanti would certainly back a play to have them removed by force if it came to it. The relationship between Korvosa and the displaced Shoanti is heading in some interesting directions so far with my group.

Spoiler:

Most Korvosans are going to absolutely hate the Hellknights after what's happened so far. Too many people know someone who lost someone because of their overzealousness during the riots, and their role in sealing off the city during the plague isn't going to endear them much more to the populace either. That and things are going to get worse for them in my game. I'm really having Illeosa consider them as useful tools, but they're also great fall guys to displace some of the populace's anger towards. She's managed to get some great PR so far in my campaign(and it's partially one of my player's fault!), so she'll keep using them that way until the Hellknights eventually pull back to Citadel Vraid or the queen simply stops caring whether the people trust her or not.

wspatterson wrote:

And the cleric of Gorum doesn't deserve any sympathy. He's really become one of those "give him enough rope and he'll hand himself" types lately. There is a strong possibility that two of his fellow party members will kill him once they handle the Queen. Not something I really want to encourage, but given who they are and what he wants to do, it only makes sense.

Nah, my sympathy was for you, not him. I've played alongside a couple of guys like that, though I've been lucky enough to have never GMed for one. Man, one guy got to the point that my character's plans began to depend on him being self-destructive.

[WormysQueue]

One of the PC in my campaign belongs to House Porphyria (a branch of the family hiding under a false name in Abken so far), and, depending on the course the campaign takes, he'll get the chance to take what his parents think should have belonged to them the whole time.

[Shadowborn]

WormysQueue wrote:

One of the PC in my campaign belongs to House Porphyria (a branch of the family hiding under a false name in Abken so far), and, depending on the course the campaign takes, he'll get the chance to take what his parents think should have belonged to them the whole time.

Interesting. What's the character's alignment?