I'm going to be starting a game soon of mixed nautical adventure and kingdom-building, and I need a little help finishing up the design of the encounter that will provide one of the PCs with his kingdom.
What I have so far: there's a tribe of Lirgen refugees (the game is starting about 60 years ago in the standard Golarion timeline) who swore after the death of all their previous rulers that no one of Lirgen blood was fit to be their ruler. So they acquired a king from outside, and through various events that title is now in the possession of a conman. Said conman is trying to ditch the contract before they realize he stole a significant portion of the royal treasury.
What I need is the fake reason the conman is trying to sell off the kingdom, that he will present to the PC. The PC in question is a Wis 10 Gnome, so the con doesn't have to be airtight, it just has to look good. The best idea I've been able to come up with so far is the conman claims he has a family curse that will activate if he can't get rid of the kingdom, but it seems to me that there should be a more elegant option. So I figured I'd ask for advice here.
Also, the established maximum level of silliness for this campaign is that one of the other PCs was raised by awakened Dire Parrots, so try not to cross that line.
|
Look, I'm in the ship building business; we build ships, not run kingdoms. Now, it's cool and all that I've got the resouces of kingdom in my pocket but, frankly, it's just bad business for me to try to run it.
On the other hand, if I sell my interests in the kingdom -- and part of the sale price may just be a guaranteed open ship-building contract -- I can quickly become the monopoly in my industry.
So, yeah, I'll negotiate a sale for the kingdom. Why, are you an interested buyer?
Well, here's how one man sold the Brooklyn Bridge: http://www.iboughtthebrooklynbridge.com/
Look, I'll be honest with you. We have had a few lean years and the tax coffers are lighter than they were. Being king is great and all, unless you are king of a handful of dirt poor farmers. I thought being king would be all opulence and pretty women.
It's not.
Now, a title will open some doors for you. And if you find yourself a good minister, you could probably get this little fiefdom to break even. It does have its perks, but I just do not have the money to keep running it.
Alternatively, why not go the Nigerian route
Someone not the king approaches the PC.
I am one of the barristers to his Majesty [insert name here]. While researching for another case, I stumbled upon some legal documents concerning the inheritance of this kingdom. [insert name here] is not the legal ruler. Here is where you come in. I give you these documents and you threaten to go public with them if the king does not declare you his heir. You are some bastard son from 20 years ago or some other such stuff. In return, you make me chief barrister when [insert name here] kicks the bucket and you take the throne.
If the PC sticks to the plan, the king reluctantly agrees to the plan and then fakes his own death. The barrister could even ask for up front money instead of a position, making a little bit more money out of this scheme.
Remember, always prey on their greed.
Thank you for the wonderful advice everyone! I'm most drawn to a variation on W E Ray's suggestion, because then the lack of a ship-builder later one once the conman runs off gives my a way to connect another loose end I was working on. Although I'm keeping Ironicdisaster's assassin suggestion on hand as a backup in case the PC starts to suspect something.