| Waven |
My main gripe with Kingmaker is that it never truly concludes the Brevoy politcal instability plot.
Since chapter 9 is more of a filler chapter and it's near the end of the campaign right before the tipping point, I had the idea of reworking it into a Brevoy civil war.
The issue is that I am not really good at planning campaigns (which is why I'm playing premades most of the time). So I'm asking your help to brainstorm ideas I could mold into a satisfying chapter.
The idea I had is that the chapter would start with the death of king Noleski Surtova.
Then queen Natala Surtova would officialize her ascention to the throne. This would be legitimate in her eyes since she was the one actually ruling for many years since her brother was not doing any of his official duties.
But some noble houses would be against this, either they want the throne for themselves, they suspect foul play in the death of the king or they simply do not think her claims legitimate.
With the kingdom so fractured, this is the perfect moment for lady Aldori to strike and take back Rostland's independance. She and the other swordlords would raise their troops and march toward the capital expecting the PCs to follow.
Here the PC would either follow Aldori's lead, support the queen or ally with other nobles to make their own faction.
At the end of the chapter, the PCs would become ruler of Brevoy. This would be the trigger for Nyrissa to launch her plan in Chapter 10.
So my questions are:
- Is this a good idea? Do you think this would make an interesting conclusion to the Brevoy plot line?
- Did you run a similar story in your campaign? If so how did it go?
- Do you have ideas to improve this story line?
- Did you run Chapter 9 as written and you think my players will be missing out if we don't play it? Should I play chapter 9 as written and have this Brevoy conclusion chapter as a bonus chapter that would only award Kingdom Xp?
| Kavlor |
I have some doubts that becoming the rulers of such a large state is a good idea. This will greatly shift the focus, and in some ways make early state creation insignificant, since it will only be a small part compared to the new territories.
My idea, which I can immediately propose in this situation, is to introduce Mivon into this conflict. Their troops will intend to help Restov, but the only way for them to the north runs through your territory. So you need to either agree to Restov's demands and let them pass, or enter into conflict with them at the request of the crown.
| Waven |
It's true I didn't think about of logistics of ruling Brevoy.
Even if it's right at the end of the campaign, there is still some months worth of kingdom turns left at this point.
With your idea, the players either refuse and fight Mivon + Aldori, accept and help them fight the crown or accept and do nothing more.
In the first case, this could potentially lead to big territory gains if the players don't just fight the armies and sue for peace as soon as possible.
In the second case it's almost like my original idea, but they don't gain the crown, which would solve your concerns. But then there is no trigger for chapter 10 since nothing changed in their situation. I would prefer if chapter 10 happened as a direct result of player actions.
In the third case, nothing happens and the chapter ends, which is pretty unsatisfying. I don't think my players would choose this but we never know.
But you're right, I think becoming rulers of Brevoy is too big. Maybe a better outcome to the chapter would be that the Kingdom of Brevoy would shatter into many Kingdoms? Issia, Rostland and the PC's Kingdom. This would trigger chapter 10 as the PC's would become the Kingdom of the stolen lands instead of only be a province of Brevoy.
| Kavlor |
Strictly speaking, you have never been a province. Restov has recognized you as an independent kingdom, but they are not the source of your power. In the River Kingdoms, states arise by right of the strong, which seizes some territory by defeating its previous owner, be it another kingdom, bandits, monsters or something else. You do not and never have needed to gain independence this way.
Also, if you think about it, even with this approach to the plot, you might still need to use the part of Chapter 9 that deals with Nyrissa and Briar.