In my current campaign the PCs have just learned that the githyanki are planning a full scale invasion of thier home land which is made up of
-3 capital cities
- several concentrations of each of the primary races
- one heavily used trade route
- a few independent power groups
So the PCs have the option to go and warn each of these groups while the early stages of the invasion unfold.Basically I anticipate this whole process taking several play sessions
I am looking for some interesting RP opportunies and challenges the PCs may face, such as:
-convincing the rulers that the invasion is real.
-convincing the cities, power groups, etc. to work together.
Neat idea. Do you have this worked out in some detail yet?
Random thought #1: the giths may already have sleeper agents in place. These may be githyanki in disguise or locals who have been bribed or blackmailed into cooperation.
Random thought #2: you should have at least one important actor -- a ruler or power group -- that believes the PCs, but doesn't help them because they think they can strike a deal with the giths. "Everyone despises us anyway. Let the invaders burn the kingdom down. We couldn't possibly be worse off, and at least we'll get to see our oppressors in chains beside us."
Random thought #3: possibly the giths aren't the final villain. They could be fleeing a major offensive by the mind flayers, or something equally nasty.
That's just it...they won't have much in the way of evidence, unless they manage to uncover gith sleeper agents...so they will really have to work to convince leaders.
I will be tracking thier success to determine how prepared or unprepared the world is when the first wave of the invasion force rolls in.
In my current campaign the PCs have just learned that the githyanki are planning a full scale invasion of thier home land which is made up of
-3 capital cities
- several concentrations of each of the primary races
- one heavily used trade route
- a few independent power groups
So the PCs have the option to go and warn each of these groups while the early stages of the invasion unfold.Basically I anticipate this whole process taking several play sessions
I am looking for some interesting RP opportunies and challenges the PCs may face, such as:
-convincing the rulers that the invasion is real.
-convincing the cities, power groups, etc. to work together.
Thoughts?
1) Mulder and Scully it up. There's three cities with three rulers, so I think it would be interesting if one ruler is very willing to believe the PCs, another thinks this is total crazy talk, and a third can be convinced.
2) Why is this the PCs' job? If they convince the ruler, doesn't it become the ruler's job? (I guess I'm saying the PCs may feel this is impossible and give up.)
Skill challenges have existed in D&D since long before 4e. (Alternity and d20 Modern have them as part of the core rules, and they're part of 3e and Pathfinder, but possibly hidden in the DMG somewhere or in non-core rules.)
Take a look at the Giant in the Playground Diplomacy system here: http://www.giantitp.com/articles/jFppYwv7OUkegKhONNF.html
For circumstance modifiers include these:
*Spending resources on something that might not materialize.
*Looking crazy for believing this stuff. ("Mulder" would consider this a minor risk, perhaps -2, and "Scully" considers this a major risk, -10. The other person might also consider this a -10, but could be shifted with successful Diplomacy checks, making later checks easier.)
*Non-Diplomacy skill checks that are relevant (eg anything connected to displaying evidence) enable non-talky PCs to play a role. Sense Motive helps too. Intimidate does not; rulers hate it when adventurers tell them what to do.
Well, they'd need some major evidence, as said before.
Random thought: Maybe there is a village idiot that expected the attack all along. No idea yet how he could help. But it could be fun rollplaying. (Especially if he has some other weird idea's that aren't true at all, and the players correcting him on what's true and what isn't.)
I personally dislike it when a party splits-up because it involves a lot of real time waiting.
The PCs are the only ones with advance knowledge of the invasion. They basically have been told by an ally "in the know" that without preperation thier homeland will fall to the gith in the invasion.
What they do with that knowledge will be up to them...but I am betting that they will visit the various powergroups to give them warning.
The party shouldn't split up as they have an airship to transport them as a group from city to city. Also I hope to have challenges within several locations that will convince them to stay together...
IE - assassins as the gith get tired of thier interference
- sleeper agents that work to convince the rulers that they PCs are just warmongering
Going off of what other people said about requiring proof:
If the rulers don't believe the pcs, maybe the working classes hear about the invasion, but don't see any preparations, so they put things in their own hands
-they kill suspected spies, may turn into genocide of some rare race
-they protest violently
-they capture a prison/fort/ armory and take up arms themselves (search Storming of The Bastille)
Don't forget to let racial and national bias come into play. Maybe the party has several elves, so let those needing to be convinced have some issues with the elves. Current or historical issues that the party may or may not know of that will complicate matters.
You know your players so try to come up with the right mix of belief/unbelief. Lean towards unbeleif as much as the party can stand, as it's terribly redeeming when the Gith burst forth and validate you after most called you crazy. However let them have enough belief so that they don't become disenchanted with the quest, and decide to blow it off and go become pirates.
I think the real gem here will be the moment when the party seriously considers falsifying evidence. Fabricating eyewitnesses with carefully planned illusions, manipulating markets to create conspicuous shortages of the sorts of materials conjurers need for planar bindings and gates, sewing nightmares in the minds of seers, circulating rumors of the sudden disappearance of red dragons in the area, reviving a cult of the dead god whose body this band of Githyanki are known to use as an astral base, forging cryptic messages written in Aklo that refer to "the invasion" to have intercepted, etc. Eventually political machinations in the court, instigating riots or even fomenting a coup might become part of the grand scheme to make sure the nation was focused and aware. All of this would tax the moral foundations of the PCs and therein lies some excellent roleplay, both among themselves and with their existing allies.
I think your templates should be the Mass Effect trilogy and the Dragon Age games. They also have their own problems and their own petty feuds. DA: O and ME3 probably exhausted the "fulfill a bunch of quests, then get an alliance with X" trope, but I think the overall concept is still sound. All of these factions -- the cities, the nobles, the guilds, and so forth -- have their own problems. They might not believe in the githyanki invasion. They might not want to believe in the githyanki invasion. And they're probably more concerned with their plots against each other.
But what are these plots?
It might be worth perusing some Shakespeare (or summaries thereof), particularly King Lear, Othello, The Templest, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth, for plot ideas related to the noble houses.
All of these might give you some ideas to start with. Star-crossed lovers. Children betraying their parents. Murder most foul. Every one of these noble families and power groups has its own story, and the PCs are about to meddle in those stories.
Even more fun: You can set things up so that "evil" groups -- the ones most prone to treachery or malice -- are also the ones that control some of the most valuable resources. If one of these groups is in conflict with a "nice" group that can't offer as many resources, do the PCs help the "good" guys or the "bad" guys?
But that's general. Here are some specific ideas:
Tunnels and Rivers:
The Bartweri Boatmen control the Bartweri River, which forms the main trade route through the realm. The Boatmen, over the past century, have negotiated with the noble families charters that grant them the exclusive right to shipping on the river "in perpetuity." In turn, the noble houses at each section of the river provide security.
Meanwhile, the Dwarves of Goldreach, who have long supplied the kingdom with hard metals, have chosen to repurpose one of their mining tunnels. At considerable expense, the Goldreach dwarves have dug a huge tunnel that runs parallel to the river, and they have secured the tunnel against underground nasties.
These tunnels are not mere walking affairs. If customers pay a premium above normal tolls, they may use a cunningly devised rail system (using elementals to push large carts) that carries cargo just as large as those carried on the Bartweri Barges.
The dwarves have offered this thoroughfare to many of their customers, and they are selling to other cities licenses to cut their own tunnels and connect it to the Goldreach network.
The Duskwer Merchants, an influential trade association, has long been impatient with the Bartweri river tolls. The Duskwer merchants have pressured the realm's cities to sign onto the Goldreach Network. Interestingly, the Goldreach Network has spawned quite an industry for halflings and gnomes, who manage inns, small snack shops, and similar conveniences in major transit centers within the Goldreach Network.
The Boatmen are furious at this. they claim that the dwarves, by opening a second convenient trade route, have infringed on their charter. The Boatmen have announced that they will refuse to carry goods to any city that signs onto the Goldreach Network. The dwarves, in turn, say that the underground is their rightful land, and that the Bartweris have no call to interfere in dwarvish commerce.
This is all a mess. The Bartweris are threatening to shut down river transit, which makes it difficult to move troops and materiel. Meanwhile, the Goldreach dwarves are threatening to cut off the rest of the realm from their mines' metals (gold, iron, silver, etc.) unless the Bartweris call off their trade war.
Love is in the Air:
Despite their alarums over the unlikely githyanki invasions, the PCs are still considered a power within the realm, and highly desirable allies. Several houses send their sons and daughters to seek the PCs' hands in marriage and political alliance. Each noble house (per your design) can give the PCs a unique advantage in preparing for the war: raw materials, unique troops, geographically desirable bases, and so forth. The problem is that relations between these houses are not cordial. If the PCs seem to favor one house in pursuit of marriage, then another house will be hostile to the PCs, and a third house might try to ally against another house to hamper the PCs in their efforts.
You can set up this phase by preparing notecards for your PCs. Each notecard should name the marriageable person, list off their attributes, and do the same for a couple other members of house, and detail the House's resources. You should also prepare a "Secret" for each house that the PCs can discover only through Diplomacy. These secrets could include such things as "Lord X is having an affair with Lady Y" or "Lords B and C used to be the best of friends, but now they hate each other. Nobody knows why.
There are a lot of solutions to this. Some of the PCs could get hitched, and thus alienate a noble house or two. Or the PCs could try to use their Diplomacy skills (and political pull) to arrange marriages between the houses, yielding up grudging (if not entirely happy) allies.
To Heir is Human:
Garth Willowsby has led the city of Rashta for nearly three decades. He is a wise, compassionate ruler, and his people love him. But Garth, at a healthy 83, shows no sign of dying anytime soon. Garth's three sons have died over the years, leaving his seven grandchildren as his heirs. Most of these grandchildren have their own businesses or lives as artisans, artists, merchants, and military commanders. For the most part, they take comfort in Garth's longevity and don't like to think about him passing on. But Bekka and Yasira, twin granddaughters, are eager for Garth to leave the rulership.
When the PCs present their case about the githyanki invasion, Garth politely hears them, then tells them he will bring their concerns to his advisory council. A Sense Motive check (DC 5) tells the PCs that he really doesn't take this seriously at all.
Enter Bekka and Yasira. These two tell the PCs (rightly or not) that they would be perfectly willing to assist in repelling the Githyanki invasion. Either of them, in fact, will gladly put the city's resources behind the PCs .... provided she is on the throne.
Bekka, a ruthless woman, implies that the PCs should arrange for Garth's untimely death. She wishes for the PCs to accompany her on an errand. While they are with her (providing an alibi), an assassin will do in Garth. Disposition: Bekka is ruthless, but she scrupulously honors the letter (if not the spirit) of her bargains.
Yasira, meanwhile, has uncovered "evidence" that Garth has maintained his youth through a bargain with an evil cult. He participates in rituals that transfer to another person the vicissitudes of his aged condition, and Garth himself remains young (but camouflages himself with a Hat of Disguise and an illusion to conceal its magical aura). Disposition: Yasira has a reputation for being very untrustworthy. But over the years, several of her political adversaries have fallen because of evidence of (seemingly) quite real plots involving infernal patrons and unholy magics.
The PCs could side with either of these sisters, or they could try to expose their plots. Yasira's evidence .... could be true. Or it could not be (that's up to the GM). But it is clear that both of these girls are ambitious.
If the PCs are successful in getting Garth eliminated or forcing him to abdicate in disgrace .... then both sisters will attempt to claim rulership. Meanwhile, the Garth's council of advisors will support a claim by Brantford, Garths' unambitious eldest grandson.
Crunchwise, you might want to borrow the Mass Effect War Readiness mechanic. Even if you don't show the numbers to the players, you should assign to each faction a number that represents the value of its resources. You may also assign bonus numbers for certain synergies. For example, the Brightleaf Elves' Houses of Enchantment might be worth 10 points and the Goldreach Dwarves' Great Smithies might be worth 10 points. But, if you can get both of them on your side, then they'll be worth 30 points (vice 20) because the dwarves make higher-quality weapons, that the elves then enchant.
So in case anyone is interested we have moved forward and I have a good plan for thier next move.
Thier first stop was to the dwarven kingdom where they were hardly believed and eventually suspected of murder due to a mole working for the githyanki...proving themselves innocent they moved on, but only after TWO days delay.
Now i have a tight timeline for the Githyanki invasion plan so the more the PCs are delayed the further the invasion will progress without thier influence....which is bad for the rest of the world.
Now they are on thier way to one of the major capital cities which with enough warning could greatly impact the invasion, however along the way they stopped at a tiny town that was recently attacked by an advance wave and told they needed to surrender within the next 24 hours...
SO the PCs will have to decide if they will stick around for a day to protect this little town or move on to warn the larger city and leave the town to it's fate...
this concept will continue throughout the invasion as they have to make tough choices...
