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Okay, so my players have just finished the first book of Kingmaker, and everyone seems to be loving it so far. They barely scraped through the fight with the Stag lord and seem well on their way to establishing a violent, lawless society of vagabonds, miscreants, and villains. I've read ahead through the next few books, and skimmed the last book, and there's something that's been bothering me.
The Big Bad of the campaign seems almost invisible.
I like the bad guy in my campaigns to be a real force of evil, something that taunts them at every turn, and something that they can shake their fist at from the window of a distant tower. One of my favourite campaigns was an extended game of Castle Ravenloft. Where Count Strahd was an ever present madman, but always out of reach. Now, I might have skimmed over a few things, but it seems to me that it's entirely possible for the PCs to have absolutely no idea who Nyrissa is until the very last book. So far, the only way they could've discovered her vaguely to be pulling the strings of it all was the very slim possibility of using Speak With Dead on a random dead unicorn. They didn't have access to the spell at the time, nor do I think they would've bothered to use it. They just sorta molested the corpse for a while, and promptly moved on.
So here's my question:
Does this bother anyone else?
Have you figured out a way to make Nyrissa a more prominent, obvious evil? I understand that she is trying to be subtle about her influence, but I just don't think that's the approach I want to take in my game.
Is there anything I can do to foreshadow her as the great big nasty badness? And can I do it without being too sledgehammer obvious?
Heya,
Not sure of exactly where or how to link it if I could find them...but,
there are several threads on this forum already dedicated to exactly that.
If you search them, they will come...
Ahhh, yes. Thank you. It appears my Search Fu hath failed me, but I see it now.
After reading through some threads I have come up with a fairly demented idea. It will involve the grisly death of The Grim White Stag. Maybe they'll be a bit more curious about that unicorn, when they find the herald of a god killed for its antlers.MWUHAHAHA.
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In my campaign I find the foreshadowing and sense of impending dread easy to build: I keep talking about Brevic history, the weak grasp that Surtova has on the throne, the Valley of Fire, how House Rogavaria was the real power before the pretenders, how the heraldry came to be, how the Rostlanders were decimated, how the Vanishing dramatically up-ended the economy, how Mivon was founded, how there's so many dragons in the mountains...
Wait, we're still talking about the same BBEG, right? Choral the Conquerer, right?
In my campaign I find the foreshadowing and sense of impending dread easy to build: I keep talking about Brevic history, the weak grasp that Surtova has on the throne, the Valley of Fire, how House Rogavaria was the real power before the pretenders, how the heraldry came to be, how the Rostlanders were decimated, how the Vanishing dramatically up-ended the economy, how Mivon was founded, how there's so many dragons in the mountains...
Wait, we're still talking about the same BBEG, right? Choral the Conquerer, right?
Yeah, that sounds right to me.
After all, it's completely obvious that
. . .
Does this bother anyone else?
Have you figured out a way to make Nyrissa a more prominent, obvious evil? I understand that she is trying to be subtle about her influence, but I just don't think that's the approach I want to take in my game.
Is there anything I can do to foreshadow her as the great big nasty badness? And can I do it without being too sledgehammer obvious?
While I'm trying specifically not to foreshadow Nyrissa herself, I am trying to leave subtle clues that there's something larger than my players realize going on. I heavily played up the dead unicorn in book 1, and put a giant stone pillar in the lake there, which went down as far as they could dig though the lake bottom (just because they were investigating it - I made it up on the spot with the idea that it'd be a connection to the First World). They didn't find any useful information, but it creeped them out. I made sure to describe something of the Stag Lord's as having been made from what appears to be green thread or hair (I think it was his ring of protection). In and of themselves, these aren't significant. But they'll start to form a pattern eventually...
If you take Candlemere tower as a bastion of chaos (I used one of the expansions to it on this forum, which included lots of haunts and chaotic writings), and the occulus room in VV as a bastion of evil (since he's NE), then you just need two more to form a pattern - I'm planning on (retroactively) using the pillar I described above (which they were unable to even scratch) as the law site, and the island in the lake near Pitax (which is described as having rumors like candlemere, but just being home to a bunch of birds) as a exceptionally peaceful place (and be the bastion for good). I intend on using these as sites for the Blooms in book 6, although my justification for tying them together is a bit weak at the moment (I just pulled this all together in my mind this weekend).
As for the ring, there's going to be green-hair items with both end bosses of RRR (Harkulga and the owlbear), probably nothing in VV (since that's none of her doing), and with later bosses. The further they go in the adventure, the more they're going to expect finding green-hair-based magic items on their biggest enemies... but without them knowing who the hair belongs to. If they get as far as freeing Briar's guardian while still wearing items they looted, she's probably going to panic at the sight of them... And if they're still wearing them when facing Herself...
But it's definitely not an obvious evil.
If you want her to be more obvious, have the Stag Lord call out for her as he's dying, or have someone in the fort (Akiros is best, but any bandit that survives will do) tell them about the "Green haired woman" that the Stag Lord was obsessed with and turned to drinking to forget. Have the dryad in RRR tell the PCs that she thinks the monster tree was sent by a powerful fey. Use the Realm of the Fellnight Queen module. Etc.
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I´m planing to foreshadow her in a very sinister way. A way not every player would like cause it takes some of his control over his character.
I´m very inspired by the movie "Excalibur". I will let her sleep with one of the pc (favorably with the leader of the group and future king, our paladin). This will happen after book one, after the group received the new charta and a stream of settlers rush into the stolen lands.
The player will know this only through vivid dreams about her and their intercourse. She will give birth to this bastard son (has anyone seen a half-fey template?) and raise him in the First World (where she nurtures his hate toward his father). Like Morganna did with Mordred. She also speed up his aging (or does the feyblood) that he can confront his father.
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I´m planing to foreshadow her in a very sinister way. A way not every player would like cause it takes some of his control over his character.
I´m very inspired by the movie "Excalibur". I will let her sleep with one of the pc (favorably with the leader of the group and future king, our paladin). This will happen after book one, after the group received the new charta and a stream of settlers rush into the stolen lands.
The player will know this only through vivid dreams about her and their intercourse. She will give birth to this bastard son (has anyone seen a half-fey template?) and raise him in the First World (where she nurtures his hate toward his father). Like Morganna did with Mordred. She also speed up his aging (or does the feyblood) that he can confront his father.
That is seriously juicy! I may use that. Thank you!