Hello!
I'm going to be starting a Kingmaker campaign in the next few weeks. I have decided to artificially increase the time that the module takes from ~6-8 years to ~70-80 years, allowing for some interesting gameplay and character development. Kingmaker takes place primarily in the Stolen Lands, where the characters carve out a plot of land to call home.
My specific question is: what do you think will happen in the River Kingdoms over the next century? Specifically dealing with Brevoy, Pitax, and Mivon.
If you could also point me to where I could find more information on what is currently going on in these areas, as well as find more information on the Aldori Swordlords (and possibly members/houses in the organization) it would be greatly appreciated!
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The Aldori Swordlord Prestige Class can be found in Paths of Prestige. I'm assuming you have the Guide to the River Kingdoms, too.
If it were me running this type of campaign, I'd be tempted to set it 80 years or so in Golarion's past (circa 4632AR) so you could play out some important regional historical events, or at least the repercussions of them, notably:
4638AR the Second Mendevian Crusade begins
4661AR Pitax and Corvenn are reunited; Razmiran established
4665AR the third Mendevian Crusade begins
4667AR the Red Revolution begins in Galt
4687AR Hostilities flare between Mivon and Pitax
4699AR the disappearance of House Rogarvia
Of course you'd have a few differences to put into play, like the status quo in Brevoy is now a nation unified under the rule of House Rogarvia, at least for the first 60+ years. With House Rogarvia disappearing near the expected end of such a campaign, it's much more fitting to have Choral show up to take back power right then and there (as shown in the Continuing the Campaign article in AP36).
I'm running a River Kingdoms campaign (currently on hiatus while we play Carrion Crown) set in 4708. I have (but have not thoroughly read) the Kingmaker AP so I don't know if it gives hints as to what happens in the distant future.
My campaign is centered around Liberthane (small town on border with Galt) and how the PCs help establish it as more of a player in the region by assisting Lord Parsall. Lord Parsall's goal is to end the chaos in Galt which will take years to succeed (if indeed it is possible to succeed). In the meantime the rest of the RK will continue to do what they do...namely squabble with each other and attempt to fend off incursions from the outside.
I see the biggest threat to the RK coming from Brevoy if Choral does indeed return or from Razmiran as the Living God continues to grow in power and his cult spreads east into the ripe-for-the-picking RK. There are precious few in the RK who can stop Razmir if he wanted to display his power. The fierce independence of the RK rulers and citizens would make it very difficult for Razmiran to take over, but his cultists could be a formidable force in their own right.
Don't forget the Kyonin elves, either. Perhaps they are able to eventually deal with Treerazer and can turn their attention to finally reclaim that which they seek in the RK.
In the end, make the timeline what you will. Many of the RK have been around for centuries, so assuming that things stay relatively the same over the next 100 years isn't too far out of bounds. Some lands may shift and merge (Pitax and Mivon, for example), but Daggermark will likely stay the most influential nation for the near future.
Good luck!
One of the things that is NOT covered in the side articles of the AP or the Guide to the River Kingdoms is the Stolen Lands proximity to Galt. I'd imagine that over the course of a century Galt will either stabilize or spill over into the neighboring lands.
Mivon and it's relationship to the PCs kingdom is never really discussed but the Mivon chapter of the Guide has some really good info on both the city and it's Aldori.
The AP covers both Brevoy and Pitax to varying degrees. So just read the whole thing in it's entirety. Especially the Continuing the Campaign section in the last installment.
When we were done with ours, which isn't really done since it's still running with the grand children of the original PCs. The time lapse had covered, I think, 36 years from the first encounter at Oleg's and the PCs return from 1000Screams. It went on as well. We had a war with Brevoy that left Restov and most of Southern Rostland under the PCs control. The Return of Choral and his defeat. And the annexation of the NW riverkingdoms. Now the heirs are at war with Galt.
There is alot of material in Kingmaker and it's related stuff.
My DM started the campaign one hundred years earlier
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What does or does not happen in Razmiran - given the founder's lack of immortality - may be be peripherally important. He would either become a god, finally, or fail, and die, and his nation implodes messily.
Considering the history of the River Kingdoms, the latter seems more likely. However, there are a number of options Razmir has aside from finding a way to achieve genuine godhood; he could become a Lich, for instance, or have himself reincarnated in a new, younger body periodically. Heck, if he gained one more level he could simply take the Wizard discovery that makes you immortal.
As for the Pitax, Mivon, and Brevoy...
Without getting into any of the material in the Kingmaker AP, King Castruccio Irovetti of Pitax is a bully and a buffoon, and is, in my opinion, certain to become just another footnote in the River Kingdoms' long history of failed tyrants. Without his patronage, the gaggle of sycophantic artists he's attracted are likely to disperse for greener pastures, and the city itself will probably sink deeper into decline.
Mivon seems to have remained relatively stable for the last few centuries despite (or perhaps because of) the presence of a faction of swordlords living in self-imposed exile. With the disappearance of House Rogarvia, however, they may decide to at last return to Rostland. Depending on how influential they are in the politics of Mivon, they might even agitate for the city-state to become a subject of Restov, especially considering that the swordlords are already trying to establish a vassal state in the Stolen Lands.
The biggest and most immediate changes are likely to be in Brevoy. The Surtovas are politically canny, but Issia is a poor and sparsely populated country compared to Rostland. Unless the regent can ensure the continued support of one or more of the major noble houses of Rostland, it seems inevitable that the swordlords will retake their ancient holdings, effectively splitting the kingdom in two. Of course, that assumes that the "return of Choral" alluded to by some of the other posters doesn't happen before the end of your Kingmaker campaign...
Of course, any or all of these events could easily be influenced by the actions of your players. That's half the fun of Kingmaker!
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As I don't want to derail the OPs thread, my question for them is below
Again, cool idea.
Other than that, I'd go with Shaun's suggestion.
If you want to avoid history, I'd suggest writing out the major points of a future history, and allow for variation based on your kingdom's actions. Zagnabbit's commentary on Galt is a great example. The country's chaos could spill over into the river kingdoms, or your new country could act as a stabilizing influence in the area.
Of all the post AP stuff, Galt has been the most fun. Also some of the hardest to do since their is almost no source material. If Paizo ever publishes a campaign book about Galt, the Aldori, Northern Casmaron or the Rogarvias it'll likely not mesh at all with the beast this campaign turned into.
I LOVE Kingmaker, but the last 2 years have been so demanding that I've retired from DM duties for the foreseeable future. The other GMs are already talking about a 4 th generation episode. That's one that'll be way out of "cannon" I think.
The PC's kingdom is so big now that the World Wound will have to be addressed at some point.
What I think I'm getting at is, you're kinda on your own at some point and just gonna have to make some stuff up. Just don't get upset when some sourcebook comes out in 2 years and contradicts all your made up stuff. Some people get crazy about Cannon, try to prep folks ahead of time for that.
An additional comment about Razmir I would make is I don't get the impression he is interested in conquering lands by force. He wants to "win the hearts and minds" of new followers and subvert them to his will rather than conquer them by force. I doubt he has the military to take over the RK by force, but if he can get some of the smaller leaders in line he might be able to start creating a force to be reckoned with (which would require PC intervention...could be a fun story arc).
In my own game, Pitax is going to get sacked by a force of frost giants coming out of the north during the next winter. PC intervention will save the city, but just barely. Then, the next spring Mivon will attack (tensions are high already in my game) and "conquer" Pitax for a year or two (or less if the PCs intervene).
EDIT to include a note about Galt. I can see Galt becoming more stable over the next few decades IF something can provide enough stability to the region. I think that requires an outside source. Hence, in my game, Parsall is eventually going to patch things up with Gralton and get an army of mercenaries together to drive out the chaotic forces in Galt and set up some form of democracy (with help from his contacts in Andoran).
As I don't want to derail the OPs thread, my question for them is below
** spoiler omitted **
Other than that, I'd go with Shaun's suggestion.
If you want to avoid history, I'd suggest writing out the major points of a future history, and allow for variation based on your kingdom's actions. Zagnabbit's commentary on Galt is a great example. The country's chaos could spill over into the river kingdoms, or your new country could act as a stabilizing influence in the area.
Well as of now, they've decided to go with a LN kingdom for the future (we are about to start in a couple weeks but I wanted them to pick the kingdom alignment first so they could design characters that would be fine with the kingdom's alignment). This will create some potential turmoil at first given the Seven River Freedoms, but could provide a stabilizing force across the River Kingdoms.
@Shining Fool: The party is aware this will be a near-century long campaign and were told if they wanted to stick with a single PC then to play something with an exceptionally long lifespan. Otherwise, they're given the opportunity to play a spouse, child, or friend of their original character. This will work in several ways to help them build deeper character stories, as well as promote more RP to build up their "arsenal" if they find an NPC they'd be interested in playing.
Thanks to all for the good suggestions: Guide to the River Kingdoms had some good gems. I think Razmiran, Galt, Pitax and Numeria are going to be the big challenges I throw at the party over the length of the campaign.. And Brevoy. We'll see how the Surtovas feel about the growing kingdom ;)