Is it apparent what he was up to prior to the path beginning
I am thinking for potential prequel sessions and seeing if he has any reason to encounter any of the PCs. One of mine is an Opera fan so that might work
To what end? What will this accomplish for you that the opening scene doesn't?
Take a look at the flashbacks to his youth in book six. You could do a real background connection to a PC (if not a Kintargo native) or his/her extended family (if they are natives). Maybe a PC or a cousin came in contact with him in Egorian as a servant or a fellow Trainee of Asmodeus?
If you mean since hes arrived in Kintargo I'd highly suggest reading This Thread
(Hell, for that matter, I'd suggest reading that thread for anyone that's getting ready to run Hell's Rebels.)
I suppose you are right in asking to what end . Beyond perhaps trying to make it personal. But perhaps it is better if it isn’t
I like the villain being front and centre so am considering other ways of increasing this
But i suppose in general i was trying to get a better idea of his character. I have read the flashbacks but I am intrigued to know more. He seems both crazy and somewhat sympathetic from book 6. Which I really like and am sad that it seems unlikely that I will get a group that far !
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My 2¢:
Having him be an innate enemy of the PCs isn’t exactly what this AP is all about. He’s an enemy of the people and the PCs make him their enemy. One of the greatest things about this AP is how it has flipped the script in many ways. Obviously this is entirely up to you and your group, but having him interact with the PCs prior to the adventure might weaken the PCs rise to to power.
Just a thought.
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It's definitely possible that PCs might have briefly interacted with Barzillai - he was in Kintargo for a time, posing as "Trailblazer Huni," and working with the Order of Archivists to get access to the Book of Vile Darkness. Heck, I'd be cool with one PC knowing that name, just so the whole "Tom Marvolo Riddle/I Am Lord Voldemort" reveal is even on the party radar. I don't believe it ever came up when I ran through that part.
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Hello, i've some ideas for you.
(What follows are spoilers, but i cannot make the format text work today)
First and Foremost, Barzillai is a Thrune and as such he's of "royal blood" in the sense that someone in his familiy line should have been, at one time, king - so basically look up the emperors of cheliax and find one that is Barzillai's uncle or grampa. Remember that the typical lifespan of a cheliax monarch is between 10 and 20 years, and that is Barzillai does is job well, he might actually aspire to become one, or at least make your players should believe this: fighting a would be emperor is more rewarding that putting down a mayor;
2) B is an inquisitor and a very experienced one. He's done his stuff, and should be (a bit) famous for it. If you are an inquisitor in Cheliax you either locate and massacre the members of good faiths of face the horrors of the lovecraftians forcers that try to spread in many corners of the empire. He could have well saved Kintargo a few years ago before even contemplating his plans;
3) weave B history with his minions. How does he know them, and when? Maybe Tiarize Izoni was - at some point - member of Barzillai's hunting party or an expert he called upon in studying dimensional magic. what about Ekodyre: did Barzillai worked with an hellknight order before coming to Kintargo? Is he an honorary member of something? Does Coristian Grivenner actually like to have a bigger fish than him in the city as an asmodean cardinal? Do they know/respect/fear each other?
4) weave your history with what is given to you. The order of archivists was discovered by B. a few years ago. Why didn't B attacked it after getting the book? Does that means that Barzilllai tolerated its existence or, as an inquisitor, was that some kind of violation of his job? Who knew Trailbrazer while he was in the city?
He's an example of my Barzillai's history.
He's from the branch of Empress Carellia, which was his aunt (the same branch of Lucien). He's not from Kintargo but has been visiting the city for a few years as a resting place after a few "diplomatic missions" in Nidal, which have also got the interests of lady Aluceda. In his travels as an inquisitor, he worked tirelessly with the Order of the Rack in order to promote the "truth" of house Thrune, but also with the Order of the Glyph (see Hell's Vengeance 5). It was during this time that he realized how simple was to "erase" someone from history, and considerate how himself would have been simply a footnote in the chronicles of his family, ready to be removed when needed. He was originally sympathetic to the endeavors of the Archivist's Order and, for that, he didn't raid/denounce them at that time after gaining the Book of Damned. If was however after getting said book - and learning that even hell's history is in a flux of constant change by the archdevils wills - that he lost any faith in the idea of any "truth".
He's faced a few big troubles - like rogue desnian priests, abyssal assassins, good dragons and most recently the treat of whisperwood detailed in Cheliax infernal empire. After that troubled experience (were he lost many of his companions, except Izoni), he basically gained the right in her cousins eyes to stop questing, "retire" as an inquisitor and live the rest of his days in Kintargo as a "non threatening para-count", taking a few friends with him.
He's got, obviously, other plans, but since he's also a Thrune, he's trying to ALSO get Kintargo in a position were he'll be "forced to ask his cousin" the right to make himself "Arch-Duke of Ravounel" in order to stop a revolt of the nobel houses, hidden behind the facade of the "so called Silver Ravens".