One of my players has a character who was orphaned as a young child when bandits burned down his home and murdered his family. He was spared only because his mother hid him in a hollow moments before she was butchered in front of him by a man with flaming red hair and a winged serpent tattoo.
The character became an adventurer so that he could grow strong, find the man responsible for his family's murder and the ruination of his childhood, and seek revenge.
...well...
The party, through their deeds and actions, have garnered the attention of the local king and will soon be going on missions on his behalf. I was thinking that, either on or shortly following one of these missions, the character will encounter a man with flaming red hair and a winged serpent tattoo--a man who identifies himself as a close servant to the king.
The player is a volatile CN sort and will most likely confront this person in a violent manner despite his station. At first the man will deny knowing anything and will use the full weight of his authority to punish the PC for "attacking a servant of the crown." Should the PC find a way to get the man under his mercy (and if I know the player well enough, this WILL happen at some point) then the red-haired man will confess that he had no choice but to murder the boy's family: It was a direct order from the king himself meant to cover some foul deed they were privy to.
I have little doubt in my mind that the player will murder the red-haired man at this point, immediately making him an outlaw and enemy of the state (if he hadn't become one already).
Further investigations and adventures will reveal that the altruistic King actually stepped on a great many people during his rise to power over 20 years ago. Since then he has taken drastic actions to hide his foul deeds (including murdering the PC's family) and has since acted as a most benevolent ruler who long ago became loved by the people (no need to be evil once you've obtained your goals).
The quandary is as follows: Let the king live, as he has done much good for the people, and the man who directly murdered the family has already been killed? Or get revenge on the King as well and let the kingdom suffer a civil war for the throne as a result?
I'm looking for ways to make this eventuality, this quandary come to fruition. What advice can you give to make this a truly memorable plot hook/story arc all the while having it not go too far off track?
I have no idea what you're asking for here?
Are you asking for ways to railroad the player into killing the tattoo guy? Or railroading him into killing/deposing the king?
Or are you just looking for ways to drop all the clues that will lead the player to realize all this stuff throughout your campaign?
If it's either of the former, well, it seems to me that those decisions should be made by the player. What he does or doesn't do with the info you provide is his choice, right? Your job is to give him the clues, let him put two and two together, and when he figures out what's what, he'll decide on his own what to do. Right? If we agree on that, then you don't need help with it, and if we don't, then I'm not the one who can help.
If it's the latter, then I'm not sure what you need. You've already outlined the plot (I hope he isn't reading this forum). Since you already have the outline, all you need is to throw in a few NPCs with sob-stories about the mean old prince and his mean old deeds before he became king. Maybe some witnesses, journals, wize old dragons with tales to tell, or maybe even a little jaunt through a time machine into the past so they can witness the prince's misdeeds themselves. Whatever you want. You have the outline already; finding ways to drop those details into the story should be a snap (besides which, the who and the how of it are minute details that would vary from campaign to campaign and even from session to session).
Or are you just looking for ways to drop all the clues that will lead the player to realize all this stuff throughout your campaign?
Mostly this. I have an outline and am hoping for help with the specifics.
Furthermore, I fear I've put myself in a logic trap. If the king took drastic measures to make sure the vile deeds of his youth remained hidden, how is the PC suddenly coming across clues in the first place?
And I don't approve of railroading. I simply have some assumptions as to what will happen based on the player's actions in past similar situations (every GM makes some assumptions about what their players might do).
Or are you just looking for ways to drop all the clues that will lead the player to realize all this stuff throughout your campaign?Mostly this. I have an outline and am hoping for help with the specifics.
Furthermore, I fear I've put myself in a logic trap. If the king took drastic measures to make sure the vile deeds of his youth remained hidden, how is the PC suddenly coming across clues in the first place?
And I don't approve of railroading. I simply have some assumptions as to what will happen based on the player's actions in past similar situations (every GM makes some assumptions about what their players might do).
Nobody can hide all clues. Nobody can bury all their secrets. Just ask Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, or even Tiger Woods - we found out about those guys and we never even had to use even one single Contact Other Plane spell to do it...
People have long memories. Elves have longer memories. And other stuff like dragons, angels, demons, etc., have way longer memories. Sometimes a witness in hiding sees something (heck, this player saw something when he was a kid, right?) - how many other hidden children, chambermaids, pages, stewards, lackeys, etc., might have seen other things?
What about confidants? The king trusted some guy to do something, but now, years later, on his deathbed, he has a confession... Or maybe he's already dead, but he told his wife. Or maybe the king asked him to do something horrible and he did it, but then he feared for his own life so he wrote out his confession "in case something happens to me" - and now it has (maybe the king assassinated this former agent to keep him quiet, but his conditional confession is going to surface now).
Maybe the PC encounters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward (google them if you're too young to recognize the names). OK, maybe not them exactly, but maybe someone else is investigating the king's past, and the PC meets this investigator. Maybe just before this investigator dies to suspicious causes (but not before he hid his notes/evidence somewhere that the PC will dig it up).
Maybe once the PC gets on the trail of the once-evil king, said king will send agents to eliminate the PC before he finds out too much. These agents might be captured rather than killed (if your players are too bloodthirsty, you might have them surrender before they die, offering to tell everything they know in exchange for their life). These agents might have performed other "eliminations" to squash other evidence, and they might have even kept some of that evidence as insurance "in case something happens to me"...
I would make the flaming red haired and a winged serpent tattooed man one of the King's sons. It is a lot easier to rationalize killing a 'loyal' servant than a future heir. That should really put the characters in a bind.
Also, I think there should be some build up before they actually meet the man that inclines them toward liking the guy. Can you see the look on their faces when they are all excited to finally meet Prince Benevolent only to realize he is the Six-Fingered Man™?
Want to make it even worse? The king had his must trusted wizard put a spell on Prince Benevolent so that the prince does not remember any of the atrocities he commited.
Want to make it even worse? Prince Benevolent didn't do it. It was an Doppelganger the king used to carry out his nasty work and serve as a decoy should anyone attack his heir.
Want to make it even worse? The PC's parents were actually involved in insurrection and a plot to kill the prince.
I would make the flaming red haired and a winged serpent tattooed man one of the King's sons. It is a lot easier to rationalize killing a 'loyal' servant than a future heir. That should really put the characters in a bind.
(1) Also, I think there should be some build up before they actually meet the man that inclines them toward liking the guy. Can you see the look on their faces when they are all excited to finally meet Prince Benevolent only to realize he is the Six-Fingered Man™?
(2) Want to make it even worse? The king had his must trusted wizard put a spell on Prince Benevolent so that the prince does not remember any of the atrocities he commited.
(3) Want to make it even worse? Prince Benevolent didn't do it. It was an Doppelganger the king used to carry out his nasty work and serve as a decoy should anyone attack his heir.
(4) Want to make it even worse? The PC's parents were actually involved in insurrection and a plot to kill the prince.
Numbered for MY convenience.
I think the problem with #1 is that, being the prince, the red-haired man (RHM from now on) would be readily identifiable. If I went with this route (which does sound awesome by the way) how is it that the PC hasn't figured it out in the last 20 years?
#2 just rocks. I'm all for moral dilemmas.
I don't much care for idea #3. Why would the doppelganger put the heir in jeopardy by using his form to commit some awful deed (this also doesn't help the king's goals either). What's more, it conflicts with some of your other awesome ideas.
I had already considered #4. Once the PC finds out that his family's deaths were at least partially their own fault, it creates an interesting morale dilemma.
It's relatively easy for a king to cover something up within his own country, but he has less control on people who have in some way removed themselves from society. Good sources of information about his past atrocities would be:
-Hermits.
-Sailors and other travelers who may have been gone for a long time.
-Foreign spymasters.
-Criminal bosses.
-Written records hidden somewhere.
-A scrying spell that misfires and views a location or person several decades earlier than intended.
-And of course, literal Outsiders who may have been involved in or opposed his actions.
Want to make it even worse? Start with #4 above, now, have the red haired man have seen the character hidden by his mother. Have the Red haired man defy the kings order by not killing the child along with the parents. Thus the reason that only the PC can identify the red haired man is because the PC represents a moment when the Red Haired man regretted his actions.
Furthermore, I fear I've put myself in a logic trap. If the king took drastic measures to make sure the vile deeds of his youth remained hidden, how is the PC suddenly coming across clues in the first place?
Well someone has to have assisted the King (such as the red haired man).
If it was ~10-15 years ago (depending on the PC's age then and now) and the King has been secure in his rule in that time, the time itself has lessened their guard. Vigilance slips, people age and become less careful. It is not longer as crucual to hide what he did since he IS now King.
As another suggestion to add to Courtfools great ones: Have the King truly regret what he did all those years ago. His entire rule has been an attempt to rid himself of his guilt and attempt to atone for what he did, but the memory of what he did haunts him every day.
And remember, there is no television of newspapers for the most part in Fantasy worlds. The actual likenesses of the rulership, unless you live where they live and are allowed close enough to see facial details, are not that easy to know. You could bump into a prince or princess and never know it if they were 'slumming', for example. This of course could be different if the realm stamps their coins with the likenesses of the royal family but if they don't it would be very easy to not know what the rulers of your country look like if your not important enough to be involved directly with them, so the possibility of the Prince being the killer is not THAT bad.
Want to make it even worse? Start with #4 above, now, have the red haired man have seen the character hidden by his mother. Have the Red haired man defy the kings order by not killing the child along with the parents. Thus the reason that only the PC can identify the red haired man is because the PC represents a moment when the Red Haired man regretted his actions.
*Steeples hands and begins contemplating with a mischievous grin*
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*Steeples hands and begins contemplating with a mischievous grin*
If you want to draw things out a little more and give the PCs a chance to figure out what is going and to work up the player in question. I would have them encounter someone who works for the King but all they see is someone committing a crime and low and behold he has a winged serpent tattoo. Not the guy who killed his parents but definitely someone associated. Then draw out the threads even more.
Further investigations and adventures will reveal that the altruistic King actually stepped on a great many people during his rise to power over 20 years ago.
If he did a lot of bad things to people, where are they now? If they're dead, they still might be useful from beyond the grave. In the traditional D&D sense, there are always the vengeful dead rising from the grave, and of course Speak with Dead. But also, maybe a few of his victims took a few secrets to the grave with them (literally!). Maybe some damning evidence was secretly buried with one of his victim's bodies?
Another approach to take is to look at who were indirectly affected by the king's actions. Each action a person does has a ripple effect, like a rock skipped across a body of water, that reverberates across society. People aren't often good at seeing that. If your PC stills lives with a grudge, there is bound to be others like him. As an example, perhaps a crazy soul similar to your player's CN PC could strike out against the kingdom seemingly in a random fashion. If the party investigates, it opens up all sorts of questions implicating the king's involvement in the various sundry evil deeds he ordered.
Another example of a person indirectly influenced by the king's past choices, what if an honest Inquisitor (or similar investigative class) got assigned to look into the crimes the king committed? But because he was looking for the truth, she became a disgraced pariah after the cover-up? The Inquisitor could have some potentially useful evidence implicating the king or his subordinates (but the evidence is inconclusive by itself). This could serve as a lead. Or perhaps if the King was smart enough to exile or kill the Inquisitor, perhaps a secret associate (a lover or protégé) could put the PCs on the right path to find a lead about the king. If the players make a fuss with the tattooed guy and cause the king openly declares them outlaws, others who are disgruntled by the king may approach them. Look at cop shows and mysteries; they can be filled with all of these sorts of plot twists.
One of my players has a character who was orphaned as a young child when bandits burned down his home and murdered his family.
*sigh*...
However, I do like the moral complexity of having the redhaired man unaware of his actions, or unwilling to kill the child, even if their parents were traitors to the king.
I offer the following advice only should you wish to continue considering my original proposals. There are some other really good ideas offered.
I think the problem with #1 is that, being the prince, the red-haired man (RHM from now on) would be readily identifiable.
If your PCs have met him. As Gilfalas pointed out, it is possible they have never met the Prince…depending on how involved they are in the court. They may have heard he has red hair, but current descriptions would likely be much different from the PC's childhood memories. Where is the tattoo? Would it be that difficult for the Prince to keep it covered most of the time?
I don't much care for idea #3. Why would the doppelganger put the heir in jeopardy by using his form to commit some awful deed (this also doesn't help the king's goals either). What's more, it conflicts with some of your other awesome ideas.
Very valid counter-points. One only has to look back to real history to find plenty of even more contrived schemes. The doppelganger's main order was to serve as a decoy should anyone attempt an assassination on the Prince. That explains why he takes the guise of the Prince. Perhaps the doppelganger is under a quest spell or perhaps the King saved his life. That could explain why the doppelganger would put himself in danger to protect the Prince. Perhaps the King had over extended himself in another region putting down insurrection and turned to the doppelganger as a last resort to take care of this small thorn in his side. Perhaps part of the quest or order is that the doppelganger can not change shape from the Prince.
I think the problem with #1 is that, being the prince, the red-haired man (RHM from now on) would be readily identifiable. If I went with this route (which does sound awesome by the way) how is it that the PC hasn't figured it out in the last 20 years?
The RHM has been taking care of a fort out on the border marches. Like, way away from the kingdom. Maybe he's been running the entire fort, the villages around the fort, the mines, pushing back monster assaults etc. all as a lesson in order to prepare him for ascending to the throne. Since he's 40 now, it would make sense for he himself to be either running the whole operation or a duke or baron of some kind, maybe?
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How about this twist - The red-haired man is part of a secret organization the king actually knows nothing about. The serpent tattoo is their symbol/icon.
The red-haired man, secretly working for this shadow organization, implicates the king as the party responsible for his family's death to the PC in order to sow doubt and chaos among the king's supporters, when in fact it was under the orders of the secret organization.
The red-haired main is actually one cog in an organization looking to depose the king and replace him with another ruler more suited to their goals (I leave the name of the organization, the name of their leader, and their ultimate goal up to you). When confronted, the king professes no knowledge of the PC's family's death (which is true). It is up to the PC to decide if he believes him or not. If he doesn't, it opens the door for the leader of the shadow organization to "help" the PC get his revenge...
This double-cross could lead to a variety of issues for the PC depending on what action he ends up taking...
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Want to make it even worse? Start with #4 above, now, have the red haired man have seen the character hidden by his mother. Have the Red haired man defy the kings order by not killing the child along with the parents. Thus the reason that only the PC can identify the red haired man is because the PC represents a moment when the Red Haired man regretted his actions.
Well, of course the red-haired man defied the king's order to 'kill them all,' because he shared a secret that only the character's mother knew as well, that 'daddy' wasn't the father...
A touch of magic, a spell only known to the red-haired man (and those of his bloodline) will reveal the tattoos, which are passed down magically to all of that bloodline, and he and the PCs mother magically concealed soon after the baby was born.
Why does the bloodline have magical tattoos, branding them and singling them out? Oh, that's a totally different story, involving a bloodline of whatever (I like sorcerers, personally) that the king only allowed to survive by magically cursing them to always bear the tattoos, so that everyone would recognize them. He compels the tattooed-men to work as his 'secret police,' doing things he wouldn't order a guardsman to do.
And the supposed father? A close friend of the tattooed man, who died not understanding why his best friend / near-brother would be attacking them (not knowing about the compulsion to serve whoever wears the Brazen Crown), and maybe or maybe not knowing about his 'son's' true parentage...
The crime of the parents? Trying to hide and / or shield the tattooed man from the king's control, and the king thought it was a hoot, once he captured the tattooed man, to send his new flunky to betray and kill the 'traitors' who were attempting to protect him from a lifetime bound to the king's wicked will. 'Cause the king's a dick like that.
Just don't do this if the PCs name is Luke. The temptation to quote Star Wars will ruin the mood. :)
After the big reveal;
Why are the bloodline tattooed? (To contain a demonic / etc. entity, that is divided up and bound to each of the tattooed men, as a source for their sorcerous potential.)
Can the tattoo be removed? (Remove Curse? Atonement? Limited Wish?)
What happens after the tattoo is removed, if anything? (The demon gets free! Or, a fraction of it, anyway, mindlessly causing bits of manifested havoc until another tattooed person encounters it, and speaks words of binding that cause it to twist and transform into yet more tattooed patterns on the tattooed person's skin.)
Why did the king not kill the tattooed bloodline, if he thought they were a threat to his power? ('Cause he has a tattoo, too!)
Why is the king nicer now than he was before? (He's found a way to purge the tattoos from himself, and force his tattooed flunky to absorb the demonic essence, draining away the evil impulses that ruled him for so long, and inflicting them on the red-haired man, who has grown increasingly evil because he's got demons running all through him, howling through his veins and shrieking in his skull.)
Not every villain enjoys the feel of the blood of innocent running down his face or the laments of the survivours. Perhaps the tattoo is less a mark of foul pride and more a binding mark, similar to a Mark of Justice?
"Go on boy, kill me, I deserve it. Avenge those poor people. All of them. Thirty years that Devil-spawned bastard sent me and my boys against our own people. Thirty years of being a prisoner in my own body, of cutting down the very people I swore an oath to his father to defend to my last breath." *laying down on the ground, clutching at his wounds, the man, his hair now greying with age at the temples and his face lined with worry-lines and old scars, stares at you with eyes full of sorrow and relief at the end of his pain*. "Gods know I deserve a coward's death, but I never wanted to kill your folks, boy. For the first, and last time, in thirty years of foul service to that madman, I alone out of hundreds of Coiled Servants was able to fight the King's commands. I was able to spare one life, yours. Promise me, boy, promise me you'll kill the King! He went mad with power years ago, and every year he adds more poor souls to the ranks of the Black Coutal, more damned souls like me."
I guess my first question is "How is the kingdom doing now?"
Literally never been better. And it is all legitimately due to the King's benevolent rule.
Beautiful thing about mideval settings. Armor. Heavy armor. The party first deals with the red-haired man in battle. He is in full armor, helm and all. He saves their lives. Dont even know he has red hair. Pulls of his helm, they see his face, but a chainmail cap means even then they are not aware of his hair color.
After a few more encounters. Let them know he has red hair, but dont show the tatoo. It is in a place normally concealed by clothing (arm for intance? Describe the redhaired man non-chalantly.
'An armored man, clearly a soldier in the kings armor walks up to you and removes his helm. He has chain over his head covering much of head and some of his face. "Hi I am steve, you guys ok?"' Etc.
Later 'a tall man wearing fine clothes with a sword at his hip, heavy leather boots, who has a grim face and red hair stands next to the king. It's Steve.'
Wait for a dramatic moment of fighting side by side with the party to reveal the tatoo.
"Steve is struck hard by the blow from the ogre chief. His armor is shattered, but the blow didnt kill him. He lays dazed on the floor, and you see on his exposed arm, a small tatoo, of a serpent."
Beautiful thing about mideval settings. Armor. Heavy armor. The party first deals with the red-haired man in battle. He is in full armor, helm and all. He saves their lives. Dont even know he has red hair. Pulls of his helm, they see his face, but a chainmail cap means even then they are not aware of his hair color.
After a few more encounters. Let them know he has red hair, but dont show the tatoo. It is in a place normally concealed by clothing (arm for intance? Describe the redhaired man non-chalantly.
'An armored man, clearly a soldier in the kings armor walks up to you and removes his helm. He has chain over his head covering much of head and some of his face. "Hi I am steve, you guys ok?"' Etc.
Later 'a tall man wearing fine clothes with a sword at his hip, heavy leather boots, who has a grim face and red hair stands next to the king. It's Steve.'
Wait for a dramatic moment of fighting side by side with the party to reveal the tatoo.
"Steve is struck hard by the blow from the ogre chief. His armor is shattered, but the blow didnt kill him. He lays dazed on the floor, and you see on his exposed arm, a small tatoo, of a serpent."
Nice!
Well, I think the red-haired man is now a grey-haired man....
Actually, redheads don't gray as easily as others. Their gingerness defies time itself.