What to do with Devargo?

[UnboltedAKTION]

Long story short my party made a real mess of things. They negotiated peacfully however do to some poor decisions a fight broke out anyway. The party managed to clear the room of the hopeful thugs and tied Devargo up before the rest of his enforcers surrounded them. The party bargened for their lives trading over Devargo.

Now Devargo is pissed. The PCs came into his place of business and thoroughly embarassed him. I want to make him a recurring character especially so he can try to get revenge. Are there any places further in the campaign that he'd fit into?

Anyone else have a similar situation they'd like to share?

[Owly]

Devargo is a great low-level villain. As such, he's useful to those in the government (and noble families) as they give him permission to run his little feifdom down at the dock, and he provides them with information and occasional vice. The constabulary love villains like him because they have someone they can hold accountable if crime ever gets out of hand. He's an "unofficial lord" as it were.

Let Devargo carry on his business, but getting captured by PC's is embarrassing to those in power, as they can't pretend to ignore him if too much public attention is drawn. He'd surely let the PC's know if debts got called-in and powerful sponsors don't want any more foul ups.

[Puna'chong]

I switched Pilts Swastel with Devargo in my Escape sessions. He also messed with the party by sending thugs to break into Zellara's house (their base of operations) and to rat them out to Red Mantis assassins. So he became a minor villain but the PCs couldn't do much against him, since he was still technically protected by Arkona. However, with the riots growing and the destruction of the bridges attached to Old Korvosa, Devargo felt like it was a perfect time to try to usurp Arkona's proxy rule over Old Korvosa. It was also much more satisfying for the players to finally get to off a dude who'd been messing with them so much, rather than some nobody they'd never heard of before.

I also played Arkona as a dude who knew Neolandus was trapped underground, but suspected/knew his "sister" had been supplanted by a Rakshasa. He agreed to help them get to Neolandus if the party would do a bit of a side mission and take out Devargo, to prove they've got what it takes to throw down with a Rakshasa. They ate it up. And, in exchange for helping them get Neolandus out safely and helping them relinquish the city from Ileosa's grasp, he requested that they talk the seneschal into crowning him the new king when Ileosa was deposed.

It was fun, and all because I kept Devargo around and used him as a douchenozzle the players really, really wanted to take down.

[Lakesidefantasy]

My players negotiated with Devargo and actually kind of admired him.

Anyway, he showed up again in Escape from Old Korvosa as an ally of Piltz Swastel. In the battle with Piltz, Devargo was actually killed by Majenko the psuedodragon.

[Askren]

This actually presents a great opportunity to use what I'm gonna be doing with Devargo, which is pair him up with the Arkona family.

Basically, things work like this: Gaedren has been buying Shiver in bulk for the last few months, secretly working on a special, more addictive version of the drug to make him lots of money. The players killed him, but only after he'd finished a version of the recipe.

The Arkona family, in their plotting, desires to overthrow the government, and so they see the drugs circulating Old Korvosa as a tool to help this by making the populace compliant (ironically, a plan Ileosa will mirror in book 2), so they acquire the recipe in secret. In order to get the plan moving, they strike a deal with Devargo, the Spider King as he's known, who in my game is one of the larger Shiver producers in the city. It can be a deal for whatever you want, but the Arkonas have money and influence, and seeming immunity to the law or even control over it, and Devargo has the drug-distributing infrastructure.

So the Arkonas, through Vimanda, incited a few guardsmen to rebel and act as puppets, patsies the Arkonas used to steal the ingredients needed to manufacture the drug during the riots (You can still use Verik and the All the World's Meat as normal, just have the players get there by investigating the heists), which would put the Arkonas in position to execute their plan.

Now, in your case, all this stuff is in the past, and Devargo is already dealt with(ish), but the concept is the same. Have him join with the Arkonas, who should already be keeping tabs on the party, and use their combined resources to have him enact revenge on them.

He could convince the Arkonas to exert some influence to frame the PCs for a major crime. See the players try and fight their way out of an arrest and indictment for something they didn't do, especially when the justice system has been rigged by money.

[UnboltedAKTION]

I like having Devargo showing up in book 3. Surprisingly my party hasn't killed anyone yet so Gaedren is actually alive and in custody. Maybe having those two team up in book Escape could prove to be interesting possibly if the party incurs the wreath of the Arkona family. I think it would be cool to have a team up of all the villians. A council of evil or something like that.

[Puna'chong]

Keep in mind, too, that Arkona is operating on a totally different level of evil from Devargo or Gaedren. Those two are sort of your common bosses, like a Tuco Salamanca or a Fagin. They're nasty and do nasty stuff, but at the end of the day they don't really have much desire or ability to play big.

Arkona is a Gus Fring.

Arkona is pure malevolence in backwards-handed tiger form.

He'd probably only use Devargo and/or Gaedren as long as they're useful. I'd imagine that seeing the unrest in the city and seeing heroes trying to stop it, he'd be on board with using them for his machinations, especially since they've already beaten back the two thug-bosses. He's playing the meta-game, and has no attachment to pawns that are less efficient or less capable. The book represents him a little weaker or a little less conniving than I think a rakshasa in that position would be (I think it also gives Ileosa the short shrift too, as a villain), and one of my favorite parts when I run the campaign is having the players get swept up in politics and these schemes that ancient creatures have had going for centuries.

That said, Devargo could have some ambition, and since he has some skill at running Eel's End there's also some ability there to back it up. He does, however, have to compete with a demon spawned for the sole purpose of doing long-term lawful evil. I just don't know if a creature like a rakshasa or a personality like Arkona would be all that miffed if Devargo ate it, especially if it means that his plans get to continue to flourish.

But! Devargo and Gaedren teaming up in Old Korvosa for book 3 would be awesome. I've never had a party that didn't want to murder Gaedren, and his brand of depravity would be fitting for what's going on.

[UnboltedAKTION]

I'm liking all the Breaking Bad references.
Giving me good ideas. I'm thinking possibly having the Arkona family wanting them to help get Gaedren back in power with the help of Devargo. That way they can control Lamm and Devargo to add to their power.

Give the PC's a moral quandary. Something like that. But I think I like where this is going.

[Diafanus]

Since Devargo is in Old Korvosa, I too decided he is under the control of the Arkona's. I plan on running this part soon, and the players will notice that Devargo has an ornamental knife similar to the one they took from Verik in all the world's meat!

[Askren]

If you read what I did, it involved playing the long game; Setting up Devargo as one piece of a larger puzzle. Arkonas wanted to use drugs to bring the city to it's knees (not knowing the Queen has a similar plan, albeit with plague instead), and Glorio played the hidden hand, the shadowy background figure watching the pieces move.

He directed the Cow Hammer Boys to rob shops for industrial quantities of raw materials, but when the players killed them and took Verik, nothing tied them directly to the shadow giving them orders.

He kept Gaedren sheltered, so he could invent the special drug in the background and then ship the formula before the players could arrive.

He funded Devargo, giving him instructions on tasks to set his underlings to (tasks Devargo would pass on to the players) which included securing one of the docks in Midlands for their private use to ship drugs into the city directly, retrieving an amulet Glorio lost years ago when he robbed the Acadamae in secret, and delivering the drug shipments past the guards.

All these things, on their own, seem like just crime. It's only when you put them together that the players see a hidden hand moving everything according to a plan. And then, when they discover it (after they've killed Devargo), Glorio can fade into the shadows and wait for Book 3 without the players really ever learning he was involved at all. Though, I had him send a taunting letter (his name not on it, obviously).

[Diafanus]

Well, my players decided to try and get a meeting with Devargo by suggesting that they've heard that Devargo deals in black-mail by letters, and that they have letters themselves. They gained audience with him, and rolled well enough for him to be entertained by them and admit he does have letters, but they laid it on so thick with how they have letters that he finally called them on the bluff. When they couldn't answer whose letters, or when they got them etc, he decided they were sent by the ambassador to retrieve the letters and told them to tell the ambassador it will now cost twice as much for the last two letters.
So they left, and decided to try and break in the next night. The climbed up the back of the ship after throwing some alchemist's fire mid-ship near the middle mast. They broke into the lower deck where Chittersnap is, and after being attacked by the spiders, and getting trapped by a noose-trap, they set the place on fire. So now there were two fires raging on the ship. They go up on the dock and pretend to be helping the bucket brigade, hoping to see Devargo carry out the letters or any other valuables they could steal. So I played up the visual of an imposing man carrying a chest through the fire, placing the chest on the dock and turning to watch his ship burn while giving orders to fight the fire. While one character went and got their row-boat ready, the other picked up the chest, said "Zoink." at a surprised Devargo, and ran to the boat. I let them get away as the guards were confused about fighting the fire, pushing the ship out into the river, and chasing the PC's. But again, I played up the visual as they rowed away, of Devargo silhouetted by the fire, standing on the dock watching them and swearing revenge! So, he lives, they got the letters and they burned just his ship. The rest of Eel's End survived. He definitely is coming back later in the AP.

[MrVergee]

That is actually a really nice development. You definitely created an interesting recurring villain here. Some people even use Devargo to replace the emperor in part 3. Something you might want to consider.

[Diafanus]

MrVergee wrote:

That is actually a really nice development. You definitely created an interesting recurring villain here. Some people even use Devargo to replace the emperor in part 3. Something you might want to consider.

Absolutely. That was where I was going with this. Trying to figure out if he gets a new ship (he lost his special cohort). I think he needs to figure prominently though, somehow.

[MrVergee]

If you want to keep using Devargo, you'll definitely have to give him a level boost. I'd have him look for revenge by going after allies, friends or family instead of the PCs themselves. You already have one perfect opportunity with Trinia. Devargo has the PCs followed to Zellara's shop and ransacks the place when they are absent. He discovers Trinia and delivers her to the queen, gaining some kind of favor in the process (maybe she gives him an old naval ship to replace the one he lost).

By having Devargo go after people the PCs care about, you'll feed their hatred of the man, fueling his impact as a recurring villain.

[Diafanus]

MrVergee wrote:

If you want to keep using Devargo, you'll definitely have to give him a level boost. I'd have him look for revenge by going after allies, friends or family instead of the PCs themselves. You already have one perfect opportunity with Trinia. Devargo has the PCs followed to Zellara's shop and ransacks the place when they are absent. He discovers Trinia and delivers her to the queen, gaining some kind of favor in the process (maybe she gives him an old naval ship to replace the one he lost).

By having Devargo go after people the PCs care about, you'll feed their hatred of the man, fueling his impact as a recurring villain.

Ooh, that's a good one. Thanks! They were worried about being followed by Devargo, and figured it wouldn't take him long to find out who they were.

[Diafanus]

So, my players are heading into the Dead Warrens at the end of EoA. They are about to meet what Rolth has been working on. I like that some of the DM's here have posted about making an effort to connect some of the badguys together. So taking some inspiration from that, since in my game Devargo lived, I decided he's the one who is paying Rolth for Rolth's current project, in order to loose it upon the PC's as a form of revenge!