Re: Your advice over my BoG campaign

From: bryan_thx <bethexton_at_-PlIPIao51SMIv399DiTkwkgTU0ENmmR0HGckDNgaoSkVxo9YM2jZMty0ByhtXR2vF>
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:29:02 -0000

Just some quick thoughts.....

>

>
> After 25 games, and with the aim to close the Campaign in 6-7 more games, I am
> going to kill Prince Yorge. He's doomed. He'll go in Fay Jee's demesne to try to
> break it to his will and die. Then there will be the whole mess of succession to
> handle. At least that was the original plan.
>

Something for you to decide is whether Yorge thinks he is going to his death or not? That is, the quest is of course risky, but is he doing it in sincere hopes of succeeding (again), or is this a glorious way out of his situation?

If he believes he is going to his death, then no problem, he sends the heoes away on some errand to remove them from the city when he does this. This also gives the other parties seeking power after his death a chance to start putting their plans into play before the Will can be read. THEN the players can do their own quest** later on, to (hopefully) succeed and re-found the city and put a new ruler on a firm foundation. Possibly Yorge's quest was a partial success, leaving an important bonus to the players?

If he is planning this will all intention of succeeding, let the players convince him of why they should go….and then set the argument that it becomes apparent that they are in fact better suited to doing this quest than he is now, and he ends up asking them to perform the quest instead of him. However during the quest he will die (or be killed? Is the 'Far-Killer' still aiming for him?), disrupting the ceremonial support just when the quest was going so well. The players will be without some important ritual support, and the quest will start to veer away from the story they hoped to tell *. Being heroes they should manage to escape…but it will take some time. Again by the time they are actually back in the city other factions are already trying to grab power. They will probably have to go back and repeat the quest** at some point.

• for example, they were supposed to get a very large single contest bonus during the bargaining at a certain stage, and they don't get it due to the disruptions of the ceremony. The result is apt to be a much lower level of victory, or even a marginal defeat. So instead of paying a `modest' toll to cross the bridge of 99 999 bones, they end up having to agree to polish all of the bones, taking days to complete, or else they can't get permission to cross and have to go on a long and hazardous detour.
  • Or, possibly, it is not possible to quest to Fay Jee again so soon....or there is no point in questing too him, but they find the story behind the `other' demon that used to protect the city, and they have to quest to it? That is, there were once two towers, each with their own demon, but only one survived the collapse of the land. If Yorge does the first quest, maybe he manages to communicate that Fay Jee says what is asked is not within his power, that they need (the other demon). If the players do the first quest, they find this out themselves—and maybe in trade for his heart, Fay Jee gives them some key information? With the second demon also restored, the city will be in better balance, both in terms of magical defenses and in a more general sense, giving it better odds of thriving in the future.