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I've Gm'd myself into a corner and could use some advice.
Our regular group has been playing a homebrew world for quite some time now and the creators of this world needed a break from GMing. I offered to take the helm for a few weeks with a side adventure I had in mind set in this same homebrew world.
Everyone, including the creators of this world, are all playing as evil characters, mercenaries for hire, and they've had a lot of fun running around and doing odd heists for the big bad. What started out as just a few weeks has turned into a few months. We're now coming to the end of the adventures I had planned out and I'm at a crossroads in this side story arc. In our last adventure I had them finally meet their employer directly, not through the usual cutout, and on a lark I tossed out the idea of them returning to their homeland and challenging the existing ruler for control. They seemed to like that idea, but didn't mention it again. My thought at the time was that the group could decide to extend my tenure as GM with this side adventure, or return to the main story with the creators resuming their normal GM duties.
After the game I was running over the events and realized that if they decide to take up the challenge to take over their homeland there are going to be pitfalls that I am unaware of. As a fairly green GM I've never run a game wth this type of complexity before.
I think I can constructing the story, the characters, and the internal politics of their homeland. I don't need to worry about the complexities of raising an army and mass combat - it won't be that kind of takeover as we have established their homeland as a place where honor rules and challenges are common. I think this is going to be a situation where they will need to work the internal politics of the council of elders and build a coalition to stage a challenge.
My question is, has anyone ever run a game like this, what should I watch out for, and what kind of plot twists can I build into this to make it more interesting. It should all wind up culminating in a big fight with lots of backstabbing, just not sure what to generate to get from A to Z.
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for games leaning heavily into intrigue and politicking, I find really fleshing out all the NPCs in the scenario a must. Come up with their desires, motivations, resources, etc...then insert the scenario and have everyone act accordingly.
For example;
King Generic, the First, long may he rule; LN, desires peace at all costs, even should that cost require blood. He is ultimately a lazy ruler however, shirking more evenhanded policies that may require a more subtle approach for those that net quick results, even should the later consequences prove troublesome. He has a kingdom's worth of forces, allies, gold, etc...
Duke Mustache; LE, desires more power, but relies on station and order to achieve it. Those under him find him to be a fair ruler, if heavy-handed, levying high taxes to fund a robust garrison of talented mercenaries that keep "a peace" in his lands with brutal efficiency. Is loyal to King Generic as long as he proves capable and keeps the kingdom awash in mustache conditioner.
Cardinal Goody McGoodington, NG, high priest of the Church of Goody Two-Shoes, patron of wet blankets and joy-kills. Has a deep and abiding love for the downtrodden of the lands, but believes without a shred of doubt that he knows best for everyone and while he will never command his followers to violence to see what is best for everyone carried out, his more "zealous" followers have been known to get carried away from time to time. But a few hail Two-Shoes and a tithe to the church and all is forgiven.
etc...
so once you have a grasp on what everyone wants, and how they will react in most situations, you can just let the PCs go and have the NPCs react accordingly to the situations they create, given their motivations and resources.
Only pitfalls that really come to mind in that is letting it happen too easy. Even should the PCs come up with a near perfect conspiracy to take over their homelands, there needs to be more than a few hiccups; betrayals, bribes go missing, reinforcements are held up by weather, King Generic has a body-triple, etc...anything to throw a few monkey-wrenches into their plans, just make sure these are things that are a pain to overcome and not insurmountable. But also don't be afraid to crush the coup should they just do dumb stuff. Make them work for it and provide what should be a very challenging if not nigh-impossible scenario.
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And I see at least one problem that the players themselves would need to overcome. If they are typical evil PCs and haven't gone to too much trouble to hide their evil deeds, why would anyone support them over the existing regime? I think that question could prove to be the most interesting challenge for them.
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After the game I was running over the events and realized that if they decide to take up the challenge to take over their homeland there are going to be pitfalls that I am unaware of. As a fairly green GM I've never run a game wth this type of complexity before.
Do you actually want to GM such a situation at all? You are free to say "sorry people, that's nothing I want to deal with".
Apart from that, overwhelming problems usually can be solved by splitting them into smaller problems. Creating a personality and a stat block for the current ruler might be manageable tasks, for example. Then add a few nobles who show different attitudes toward the would-be new rulers. Add a few guards and safety mechanisms for the current ruler. Etc.. It's actually better if you don't plan everything out in detail - because then you are less prone to overwhelm your poor players with details.
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The main problem as I see things, is that while anyone can topple of destabilize a government, establishing a new one can prove to be an impossible task if the people aren't with you.
Look at the US occupation of Afghanistan. The government at the time was pretty quickly defeated, but the US spent (and is still there) 20 years trying to establish a new government. A task that has proven impossible because the US government isn't welcomed by large portions of the population that have been harmed in the crossfire and then radicalized.
The PCs might be able to topple the government, but their chances of successfully building one will depend on how the people feel about them. If they aren't better than the old government, the people will not support them. And while violence can make them compliant, you would get to a point of requiring military presence everywhere to get compliance.
They'd have to go full on North Korea.
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I have to agree with Claxon on this. Overthrowing the government is the easy part. Ruling a country is going to be very difficult for the typical evil adventuring party. If they are Lawful Evil they probably have a better chance if they are Chaotic Evil they are unlikely to do well. They also better have some very high CHA characters or their job got a whole lot tougher.
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If you have the money spare and don't mind spoilers there's a few AP's that deal with rebellions you could buy and look those over for ideas on how to handle things e.g. are they doing a Voldemort style campaing of terror attacking out of the night to kill their targets or are they doing a more starwars Palpatine villain style making allies and recruiting people to their cause on the one hand and the aforementioned campaign of terror on the other. The second ones more complex but you can destablize and discredit the current rulers as they can't stop these monsters slaughtering innocents, bonus points if you can get them to deny or look incompetent while doing so (by say targeting any competent opposition). While you eliminate useless minions and call for a strong, powerful response (under their groups guidance). At the end once they are in control of course they need to wipe out anyone who can tie them to the evil murdering forces, said forces themselves while being ushered in as the glorious heroes who saved the realm.
If said complex plot fails you just openly step up as head of the evil forces and say "Ok make me king/queen/oligarch or your kids die and your left with all your limbs severed, your nose cut off, your tounge and eyes ripped out and your ears intact so you can hear every exclamation of horror as people see you. Or maybe I'll kill you and do that to your kids we'll see how I feel on the day.".
Make sure someone who can tie them to the evil killers side survives so if you need to continue the campaign they must now deal with the rebels against their "just rule".
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You are all outstanding. Thank you so much for the great advice. I've got some thinking to do.
The biggest problem I have with this group is that they could literally do anything. They could murder hobo through all of the noble houses until there is no opposition. They could spend their significant treasure to buy loyalties. They could use their CHA PC to roll some ridiculously high Diplomacy on everyone. Or they could just barge into a Council meeting and challenge the current ruler. Or some combination thereof. I have had to do a lot of prep for this side adventure to prepare for any and all contingencies. I currently have Roll20 maps setup for random city marketplace battles, random manor house battles, castle battles, tavern battles, street battles, and the set piece catacomb battle which may or may not happen.
The last time I GMd the adventure was far too much on rails. I had a story to tell and they went along with it. I'm trying to make this far more open world, which means I have to be ready for anything. Which means that every week it keeps getting more and more insane. Please, do not get me wrong, and thank you for reading this far as I vent my spleen, but I really do love doing this. It has been invigorating to GM this adventure, it's just also been challenging, and making a cast of character - a High Council - each with their own motivations and relationships with all of the others, this will be the biggest challenge yet.
Come to think of it, if I do it right these murder hobos might actually have to pay attention to the plot hooks and character details. You know, that could be interesting if I set it up where each of the Council members has their own unique hook and if they ignore it and approach that member incorrectly the whole thing goes sideways on them. Add some last minute backstabbing and insert a NPC who knows what they did from last adventure and we might have something.
If you have the money spare and don't mind spoilers there's a few AP's that deal with rebellions you could buy and look those over for ideas on how to handle things
Which APs were you referring to?
My guess would be the Hell's Rebels adventure path; the free player's guide has the initial rules for running a rebellion. ;)
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If I go off the "track" with the story, I talk to the players at the end of the session what their next steps would be, so I can prepare for the next sessions accordingly.
If they would like to go to another city/country to find help, I can then read up on it. Find pictures and relevant music. Build some memorable NPC and some challenges.
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My guess would be the Hell's Rebels adventure path; the free player's guide has the initial rules for running a rebellion. ;)
That and book 5/6 of Jade Reagent where they're gathering up forces to retake the empire. Hells rebels is a more general option but the ideas can be adapted from Jade Reagent.
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Way of the Wicked book 6 is all about running your evil empire.