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I ran the first three chapters of Kingmaker and had a blast, with characters like Kressle and the Stag Lord growing into allies of the PCs through much role-play and diplomacy. Now I find myself running it again with a mostly different group of players, and I've decided to shake things up and make some changes.
Among the guests when the PCs arrive will be a tall hunter in a cowl and his elderly father. They'll stay out of the way, keep to themselves, and pitch in when the PCs inevitably discover Oleg and Svetlana's treachery, maybe even supplying necessary information about the Bandits of Thorn River.
Happs and his boys will show up on schedule, but unbeknownst to the PCs, Happs is seeking revenge for the death of a brother who mysteriously vanished on his way to the Trading Post. Far from bandits, they're just locals.
The Thorn River bandits and the Stag Lord's bandits are in direct competition with each other. While the man who had been Stag Lord has not commanded his own men in some time, his position at Oleg's Trading Post and his renewed relationship with his father has helped him overcome his alcoholism. Now he wants back everything that was taken from him--the mantle of Stag Lord, secretly stolen by Akiros Ismort when the Stag Lord was too drunk to even stand, the Thorn River territory, now controlled by Kressle, who became a free agent when a sentimental Akiros forced her out to start a new life for herself--and he's willing to let the PCs do all the work for him.
