OK, here's the situation. My players are just starting Blood for Blood. I've swapped out most of the generic plotline in favor of Courts of the Shadow Fey. In this imagining, Mad Baron Drelev has made a treaty with the shadow fey so he could repulse the Tiger Lord Barbarians. My players will eventually get sucked into the Shadow Fey's court, and get quite a bit of backstory for module 6 out of the deal.
I've also introduced Castruccio Irovetti as a neighbor who's taken an interest in the players' kingdom. Therein lies my quandary. My players, being the trope-savvy folks they are, already believe that Castruccio Irovetti is evil and will probably stab them in the back someday.
I was originally going to run Irovetti as a semi-tragic figure, a ruthless monarch who cut a deal with devils to protect his kingdom from Nyrissa. But since my players suspect he's evil AND they expect some betrayal from him, I want to throw them a curveball. What if Irovetti wants some help ... because he's made a bad deal with the Technic League?
So here's my question. I'm looking at one of the Iron Gods modules, although I haven't purchased it yet. Might Palace of the Fallen Stars be modified to make this plot possible?
Parallel to this, I'm thinking of running a brief war with Brevoy factions in lieu of War of the River Kings.
I havent read the Iron Gods, so I can't suggest anything there unfortunately. However, I suggest buying the Numeria campaign book. I needed some side adventures there, and I discovered soooo many juicy ideas there in some of the regional descriptions that could easily be expanded into whole full blown adventures. Without knowing more details, it would be hard to point out specific items you may find interesting, but I recommend checking it out and seeing if it doesnt spark some great ideas. This book is as least as amazing as the River Kingdoms for spawning ideas.
Also, if your players obviously suspect Irovetti, then you might consider having Nyrissa use him as the stalking horse, and have her turn Mivon, one of the houses of Brevoy, or something similar to her side and have them be the dagger in the back while the party is aimed at Irovetti. At this point in the AP, it is suggested that she has been watching them as they advance so she is ready for them later on. You might have her "hidden dagger" make an alliance with the players' kingdom, even claiming concern over "the clear and present danger that Pitax represents".
To be fair to the players, you could slip their spymaster a few odd things that don't fit with the rest of the "hidden dagger" profile, giving them a chance to be surprised, yet not completely caught off guard when the time comes.
Hmmm ... some good ideas, RedCelt. I've actually set up an interesting dynamic with Brevoy and the Swordlords. I originally intended to have a Brevoy plot present as a red herring, but I could also see Nyrissa using a faction there. There's actually some bad blood between my recently independent players and the Swordlords of Restov right now ... I think there's some real potential there.
OK, here's the situation. My players are just starting Blood for Blood. I've swapped out most of the generic plotline in favor of Courts of the Shadow Fey. In this imagining, Mad Baron Drelev has made a treaty with the shadow fey so he could repulse the Tiger Lord Barbarians.
I can't offer any help, but I just wanted to say that I loved this idea. :D
OK, here's the situation. My players are just starting Blood for Blood. I've swapped out most of the generic plotline in favor of Courts of the Shadow Fey. In this imagining, Mad Baron Drelev has made a treaty with the shadow fey so he could repulse the Tiger Lord Barbarians.
I can't offer any help, but I just wanted to say that I loved this idea. :D
Oh, I've been having fun with Mad Lord Drelev, although he's been off-screen so far. Here's a letter he sent my players' treasurer:
A Letter from Lord Drelev:
To the Great Sapper, Treasurer of the Duchy of Inedania, I send my greetings.
Lake Hooktongue is nice and all. But you know what I could really use? Eels!! I hear you have some great-tasting eels in your Lake Silverstep, and I haven’t had any in ages. Could you send some to me whenever you get a chance?! They’re delicious with lemon and capers. Capers. Yum!!! Do you have any capers? I can’t stand eel without capers. They’re excellent. Great. Fabulous. Yes. Send me eels and capers. I have plenty of lemons. Too many lemons. They’re yellow and everything. But too sour without capers and eels.
And the Barony of Drelev is strong enough to repulse your plans to invade us. I saw what you did when Maegar Varn died, and I won’t have it happen here. I have allies, powerful allies who will keep me warm at night while you and your liege-lady cower in your castle, and your lord wizard putters about on his unholy island. If your bandit queen thinks to kill me in my sleep, or that her newfound horsey allies can trample all over me. She has another thing coming.
Dear me, I need some eels. Delicious, delicious eels.
To follow up above, here's what I'm thinking for Irovetti and War of the River Kings. My existing plot was this:
existing plot:
Irovetti knows Nyrissa is coming. He believe she threatens his lands, so he made a deal with a consortium of contract devils. They will provide his kingdom with troops to defend his kingdom, provided that he sacrifices another great kingdom (the PCs' kingdom) to the devils in exchange.
Under the new one, I think I want to change it a bit.
changed plot:
Perhaps Irovetti has discovered an out. He wants to recover a McGuffin from the Technic League and give it to the devils in lieu of the PCs' kingdom. In this formulation, he'll hold the Rushlight tournament as normal, but his armies will already be streaming toward the PCs borders. If the players agree to go to Numeria, he calls them off (although there may still be a Brevoy issue). If they don't go to Numeria, then he wages bloody war.
I think this can work. My players already suspect Irovetti is evil, but this gives them a direct say in the campaign's direction. What say you guys?
One last idea, and I think I have a winner. What if Irovetti is evil, but a practical sort, and not interested in pissing off the PCs? But we move up Nyrissa's plotting a bit and change things up. We give Nyrissa armies (maybe some of Irovetti's intended soldiers) in addition to the freaks and geeks in Sound of a Thousand Screams.
As Irovetti holds the Rushlight Tournament, Nyrissa moves her own mortal and immortal pawns into place in Pitax proper. After my players have their fun, the Rushlight Tournament dissolves into chaos as faeries attack the tournament. But they're really a diversion, as Nyrissa's main forces (perhaps acting through mortal catspaws) attack and conquer Pitax proper. Refugees from Pitax, led by Irovetti, retreat into the players' lands ... and the remainder of War of the River Kings unfolds with Castruccio Irovetti as an uneasy ally ... and one who's more ruthless than my players are.
Sounds like an excellent plan and a way to pull off the exact same events with a slightly changed villian. I suggest Dullahan or Cold Rider generals, just to add that spooky Sauron feel to the attack :)
I would also suggest making sure you don't give your PCs enough information to track Nyrissa down and go after her before you get to do the events in Thousand Screams. I know thats the first thing my group would do, armed with information from Communes, etc.
I would also suggest making sure you don't give your PCs enough information to track Nyrissa down and go after her before you get to do the events in Thousand Screams. I know thats the first thing my group would do, armed with information from Communes, etc.
A very good point. I also want to keep things on a slow boil with Brevoy and perhaps Mivon, just to keep my players a little off-balance.
Sounds like an excellent plan and a way to pull off the exact same events with a slightly changed villian. I suggest Dullahan or Cold Rider generals, just to add that spooky Sauron feel to the attack :)
I would also suggest making sure you don't give your PCs enough information to track Nyrissa down and go after her before you get to do the events in Thousand Screams. I know thats the first thing my group would do, armed with information from Communes, etc.
I just looked up the Dullahan and the Cold Rider. Those are some really, really fearsome creatures. I'd have to juice them a bit to challenge my players ... but holy s!&*, what beasts. My mind's eye:
An army of pegasi, each black as night, streak across the sky. At their head, a fearsome, headless knight in black armor is astride a white horse that gallops on air. They descend upon a city, spreading terror in their wake.
As Castruccio Irovetti is about to crown the champion of the Midnight Joust, a rider, bearing weapons of ice, rides his steed to the center of the field. "Your champion is false," he hisses, "for he has not faced Serrogrim, the champion of the Lady of Dreams." He lifts his blade above his head. At his signal, a dozen other riders, also bearing implements of ice, appear over the horizon.
And I think I've settled on a suitable proxy. An erlking, with a suitable retinue, ought to fit the bill. Given that I'm running a mythic game, I'd outfit him with some nature- or fey-themed mythic goodness.
The question is how he got to Pitax ... but I can fill that in later.
...And I think I've settled on a suitable proxy. An erlking, with a suitable retinue, ought to fit the bill. Given that I'm running a mythic game, I'd outfit him with some nature- or fey-themed mythic goodness.
The question is how he got to Pitax ... but I can fill that in later.
You could have Nyrissa offer him all of the fey in the Stolen Lands as his prize for assisting her...so he is here to bag and tag, beating on the party in the same way a old European safari might get native tribesmen out of the way so they can go after the tiger they want.
I'm thinking that he's there to hold Pitax, at least for a while, and to threaten the PCs. As a bonus, I'm thinking that IMC, Nyrissa attempted to turn Castruccio Irovetti to her side, but he specifically turned her down. Irovetti knows that Nyrissa is sending someone for him, and he plans to ask for the players' help at the Rushlight Tournament ... only for Nyrissa's proxy (the erlking) to strike ahead of when Irovetti expected. And the erlking's probably going to go for broke. I can almost imagine a twisted version of Pitax's capital, with trees and such overgrowing the city, and people herded around in cages, or hunted by the erlking's soldiers.
Hmmm .. I may even throw in this erlking as a supporting character in Court of the Shadow Fey.
