So I'm about to start a kingmaker game for a couple of my guys (only two of them, using gestalt characters), but I'm only planning on using the first two books. I'm looking for some help on how to expand it from that point. Here's a rough campaign outline so far...
Book one is going to be run almost as-written, save that the hermit Bokken is going to be replaced by a dwarven wizard with a bit of political savvy. My players are a little new, but this is the game I want. This guy will make items for them, and offer them political advice when they want it.
Book 2 is, once again, almost the same - mostly about the PCs developing their kingdom. I'm replacing the bard, however, with a priest of Razmir who's come to convert the populace. The party doesn't know this yet, but he's supposed to be making a beachhead for a later invasion. I'm toying with the notion of having them find an artifact in this adventure (especially one Razmir would want), but I'm not sure exactly what I could give them that could help drive the story and give them a bump in power without breaking the game.
After book 2, it gets complicated. I'm scrapping the whole plotline with Nyrissia, and instead, the PCs are going to be encouraged to attend a meeting of lords in Daggermark, as their kingdom is growing large enough to at least merit their presence. Assuming they attend the meeting, they will hear reports that the activity of Razmir's faithful has been increasing, and they look to be getting ready to expand again. All of the river lords are asked to begin shoring up their defenses and to be ready to put aside petty grievances and march to war should Razmiran invade.
PCs get some time to deal with that as they will. Need some filler here.
Sure enough, Razmiran invades the River Kingdoms, using sleeper agents to swarm over Lambreth. PCs are called upon to participate in the war, but at the same time in Brevoy, Issia gets wind of what Restov is up to and starts cracking down. The Swordlords openly rebel in response, and cash in all favors, calling on the PCs to aid them. So now the players have to choose which war they want to fight, and how, or they might use the opportunity to hunker down and build up their own holdings.
I could really use some input on, like, anything. Any ideas on specific adventure sites, on arcs that could replace one of the Kingmaker books, other plot elements I'll need to consider, or where to go after the wars break out?
Having to choose... NICE! :D
Having to choose... NICE! :D
Ugh, NOT nice. Countries don't last long with two Major war fronts. I would spread those two out one after the other, with a way to deal with one or both diplomatically.
One with swords and spear, one with word and dagger.
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1. Unless you absolutely despise the Fey presence in this setting, I highly recommend injecting at least one Fey court that the party can end up allying with or turning to for aid. I think the fey presence in this game is part of what makes it special, so personally I would do everything I could to preserve at least a little of it.
The plus side as a GM is that if you play the fey as mysterious and close mouthed about everything (which traditionally they are, at least with humans), then you have the perfect method to give the party info any time you wish. If you accidently over-reach and are at the brink of crushing your party's kingdom due to no fault of their own, the Fey can step in and offer to render aid for a Favor to be named later. Fey favors should never come cheap btw... :)
2. Personally, if you are rolling things from the River Kingdoms up into the Stolen Lands more than you are dropping things from Brevoy down, I would start the party off in the River Kingdoms, maybe Mivon or start them even earlier with some exposure to Razmir and some of the River Freedoms.
Perhaps the PC ruler is the lost heir of Brevoy and your last book could be him uniting the River Kingdoms (or a portion of them) to mount an invasion of Brevoy for the crown. I confesss reading Kingmaker really made me want to run a River Kingdom and Brevoy centric campaign where the ruler is the lost heir of Choral who was overlooked by the curse, wish, whatever because he wears a protective amulet.
3. As far as having to choose, your PCs might not bother with the River Kingdoms, so you might need to make some adjustments if you truly want to trap them with two fronts. Here are some things to consider if you run things somewhat by canon:
A) RK are less organized and more cantankerous than Brevoy. Plus, I don't see how the PCs and their kingdom could really trust any of them very far. IMO, I wouldn't bother. Razmir invading the River Kingdoms will be a disaster for them. There are too many independent minded folk that would lead uprisings and guerilla warfare all day long. The priestess of Gyronna would swell their ranks against the false god and all hell would rain down upon them for a very long time. While they are busy in the River Kingdoms, Nirmathas might also get ideas.
B) most everything would have to come up the river from the River Kingdoms. If your PCs invested heavily in a navy, that should help their defense against the south immensely. If you add in making a self-defense pact with Mivon only, thats a pretty solid counter IMO. Swordlords are arrogant hot heads and not likely to suddenly lay down and start worshipping Razmir (a la the Brevic Swordlords thumbing their nose at Choral's army).
C) Brevoy on the other hand, has easy access to talk a morning stroll and end up in the PCs chartered area via the South Rostland Road. Here is where the real danger lies IMO. Add in Pitax and you have a mess up North that really demands most of your resources and efforts.
Probably more political mish-mash than you really wanted, but I thought I would throw a bunch of ideas to you in case you like any of them.