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View Full Version : Stumped for a plothook.



Dust
2010-01-05, 03:35 AM
I'm GMing a high fantasy game in the same vein as DnD, but not the same system. Apologies in advance that this thread is poorly-written and probably needlessly complicated; jet lag is a wonderful thing.


Short Version: 'Evil' and wealthy noble family attempts to marry into the 'Good' and penniless family. Why would they do this? What would they gain?


Long Version: One of my PCs - hereafter referred to as Steve - is the last surviving son of the Voronwer dynasty, a powerful Elven house of merchants and shrewd businessmen. The character's life was ruined (in his eyes, anyway) by an arranged marriage to the Kazu Clan, samurai and swordsmen of the highest calibre.

So you can imagine the player's shock when the party is sent spiralling backwards in time several hundred years, into the middle of a war...and in a time when the PC's family, the Voronwers, are poor as dirt and the tables have turned. I need to get this PC motivated again, and his big red button involves the marriage that 'ruined his character's life.' I feel that the threat of having his great-grandfather go through the same thing should snap Steve out of his recent emo funk.

However, I still need a reason for the evil Kazu family to even approach the Voronwers with this offer. Ideally, they should stand to gain something immediate and tangible, with serious plot hook potential. It should also be fairly unusual. Perhaps the Voronwer family's wedding ring contains a stone that forms part of a powerful artifact instead of a diamond. Maybe the property the Voronwers own is chock-full of incredibly precious Unobtainium just a few hundred feet below the surface. Maybe the Kazu daughter is monstrously hideous and needs to be married within the month, or the entire family will suffer the effects of a curse. That sort of thing.


So, how would you handle this situation? What MacGuffins jump to mind?

Pharaoh's Fist
2010-01-05, 03:38 AM
Short Version: 'Evil' and wealthy noble family attempts to marry into the 'Good' and penniless family. Why would they do this? What would they gain?
PR. And a hot chick.

Hopeless
2010-01-05, 03:50 AM
I'm GMing a high fantasy game in the same vein as DnD, but not the same system. Apologies in advance that this thread is poorly-written and probably needlessly complicated; jet lag is a wonderful thing.
Short Version: 'Evil' and wealthy noble family attempts to marry into the 'Good' and penniless family. Why would they do this? What would they gain?

What details does this player have about the background of his character's family?

Supposing he's carrying a long overlooked family heirloom reputed to have been given to his family by a powerful ally who came to his family's need when it was most dire and arranged the marriage to restore their family fortune under the auspice of it being necessary because of a prophecy where because both families became involved would not only insure their future but aid their distant descendants in their time of need.

Please note he doesn't have to reveal he's their descendant and the need is so he can return to his present, but as long as he keeps it as truthful as possible just imagine how the Kazu would react to the fact he is actually telling the truth (as far as he's bothering to explain it) and its in their best interest to arrange this marriage.



Long Version: One of my PCs - hereafter referred to as Steve - is the last surviving son of the Voronwer dynasty, a powerful Elven house of merchants and shrewd businessmen. The character's life was ruined (in his eyes, anyway) by an arranged marriage to the Kazu Clan, samurai and swordsmen of the highest calibre.
So you can imagine the player's shock when the party is sent spiralling backwards in time several hundred years, into the middle of a war...and in a time when the PC's family, the Voronwers, are poor as dirt and the tables have turned. I need to get this PC motivated again, and his big red button involves the marriage that 'ruined his character's life.' I feel that the threat of having his great-grandfather go through the same thing should snap Steve out of his recent emo funk.
However, I still need a reason for the evil Kazu family to even approach the Voronwers with this offer. Ideally, they should stand to gain something immediate and tangible, with serious plot hook potential. It should also be fairly unusual. Perhaps the Voronwer family's wedding ring contains a stone that forms part of a powerful artifact instead of a diamond. Maybe the property the Voronwers own is chock-full of incredibly precious Unobtainium just a few hundred feet below the surface. Maybe the Kazu daughter is monstrously hideous and needs to be married within the month, or the entire family will suffer the effects of a curse. That sort of thing.

You know you could have him make untrained knowledge checks to remember (note ham up) what his character remembers of his family heritage under the guise of completing a quest to save the land and of course both families.


So, how would you handle this situation? What MacGuffins jump to mind?

1) How much has he revealed about his character's family history?

2) What if he's mistaken for a member of his (now) poor and downtrodden family and ends up having to get married again to restore his family fortune so he can return to his present?

3) What if he has to redeem the Kazu family so they can become the menace he knows in the future which they have to be if he's to get home?

4) Let's assume he finds someone who can explain why he's in the past and that to get home he has to complete the restoration of his family in the past as I noted above becoming some ancient legend where the family's fortune was secured with the aid of an unnamed ally who could persuade the Kazu family that it is in their best interest to marry into the otherwise unexceptional family.

Hmm any developments in the mean time?

DragonBaneDM
2010-01-05, 04:21 AM
Steve's powers have a lot to do with this.

For instance, if he's a sorcerer or something like that, this evil family could be trying to mix blood streams in the hopes of a powerful heir?

Or maybe unbeknownst to Steve he has royalty in his veins?

Rasman
2010-01-05, 04:35 AM
I've always been a fan of the whole "uncovered family relic" trope, but Steve, genetically, is the only person that can gain access to where it is held, or unlock it's powers even.

Dust
2010-01-05, 04:36 AM
I probably wasn't clear in my original post. The player will in fact be attempting to stop the marriage, rather than promote it. The person who will be forced into this forced liason is Steve's 10 year-old future great-grandfather.

The 'good' Voronwer family believes they have no choice but to marry into money, which is a situation that the PC can later rectify with his, er, unique skillset and talent for moneymaking. I simply lack a solid, logical reason the for 'evil' Kazu family to want to marry beneath themselves, and it feels like a situation where a plot item/story hook is just begging to be introduced.

When I refer to the Kazu house as evil, I mean it. They're mustache-twirling, mortgage-forclosing, tie-her-to-the-railroad-tracks, no-subtlety SINISTER. The Voronwers become wealthy far in the future due to their NOT taking the obviously evil path and marrying off, and in fact due to the PC's assistance (hopefully!) Which is why I'm hoping I can find a reason for the marriage that shows that this is not a 'grey' morality area - the Voronwer family would be selling their proverbial souls in exchange for money and survival, were this marriage to occur.

The character is a rather self-serving ***hole most of the time, and will probably avoid letting any of his ancestors know that he's related to them. I trust that he'll still do the right thing regardless.

It's funny, but Steve lacks useful powers. While the rest of the party consists of a Paladin, a rock star, a storm-controller and a long-dead spirit that inhabits a suit of armor and a cursed sword, Steve has declared himself to be the rock star's 'manager' and acts as the face of the party.

Dust
2010-01-05, 04:41 AM
And yes, I know it's a mindbogglingly wierd situation. This is why I'm stumped.

Crafty Cultist
2010-01-05, 05:00 AM
maybe the Voronwer bloodline has a place in a prophecy that will occur in a few generations time and the Kazu want the benifits that will be granted to the chosen one as a long term benifit to their clan.

this could also act as a plot hook for another adventure; trying to uncover what exactly the prophecy entails

Dust
2010-01-05, 05:04 AM
Aha. I like that.

Roc Ness
2010-01-05, 06:13 AM
maybe the Voronwer bloodline has a place in a prophecy that will occur in a few generations time and the Kazu want the benifits that will be granted to the chosen one as a long term benifit to their clan.

this could also act as a plot hook for another adventure; trying to uncover what exactly the prophecy entails

Hmmm. Maybe Steve's family has a Celestial Bloodline. It says that Aasimars may skip generations and might only appear every once in a while when the blood becomes particularly strong. Then maybe the Evil family can use this "bonus" as a way to infiltrate and infect the holy bastions of good? Raid the heavens to make it rain blood, stuff like that.

You could re-fluff it slightly to fit your different game format.


consists of a Paladin, a rock star, a storm-controller and a long-dead spirit that inhabits a suit of armor and a cursed sword, ... rock star's 'manager'

That brings back memories for me. Only the rock star was a mad scientist chaos ninja.

Triaxx
2010-01-05, 06:44 AM
What do they gain? Reputation. How better to hide mustache twirling sinister than beneath a veneer of angelic goodness? Why do they want it? Influence. A good king might be suspicious of mustache twirlers, but be swayed by angelic goodness peddlers. An evil king is going to suspect bad guys of betraying him, but not expect good guys to be smart enough to try it.

If your plot is too complicated, the only way to make it work is to make it more complicated. The more intricate and obscure the threads woven, the more plot hooks you can work into it. Perhaps if the marriage goes through, not only will the family not get rich, but perhaps may not even exist. If the character is self-serving, put his ass in danger and watch him scramble to rescue himself and his great-grandfather.

Here, reveal through back-handed source that evil chick is not great-granny, have evil family snatch great-granny, and hold her so that her family pressures the goodness peddlers into accepting the marriage to save the girl. Don't tell the family why the marriage is being pushed. Have the PC's find out why, and rescue great-granny so that they can swoop in just as the contracts are being signed with proof of the evil deeds.

If Steve needs convincing, remind him that if they don't get it on with the right people, Steve goes poof. A good self-serving character will begin formulating battle plans at this point.

JeminiZero
2010-01-05, 07:13 AM
I probably wasn't clear in my original post. The player will in fact be attempting to stop the marriage, rather than promote it. The person who will be forced into this forced liason is Steve's 10 year-old future great-grandfather.


I was going to suggest the simplest reason of all: Love (or hopeless infatuation), but thats highly unlikely between 10 years olds. (Wait, the bride is 10 years old too right?).

Extending from the prophecy idea, perhaps at some point in time, the team gets sent even further back in the past. There, they inadverdantly create the prophecy (e.g. Steve brags about how Vorowner will become fabulously rich). Fast forward to present, the Kazu have picked up on this and want to get in at the ground level, hence pushing for such a union.

Rhydeble
2010-01-05, 07:31 AM
Oh sure, the PC's family might not be rich right now, but truly evil mustache twirlers have ways of knowing that they will be later on.

better to marry one of your dozens of daughters right now then to have to use your firstborn son later on.

Runestar
2010-01-05, 09:29 AM
I had always thought that the poor family would typically marry into the rich family, meaning the Voronwer family's son would marry into the Kazu clan and take their name. It might be a bit easier to justify this - they need grooms (maybe they are cursed to produce only daughters or something). But for some reason, they don't want to marry into rich families.

Depending on how much maturity your campaign can tolerate, maybe their "research" shows that the grandfather would have made the "perfect" husband (whatever passes for perfect in their/your eyes), and they want to "groom" him while he is still young and...pliable.

Otherwise, if I were the Voronwer family, I would find it very suspicious if a rich and prominent (and notably evil) house suddenly turns up at my doorstep one day and offers to marry their daughter to us. Especially if the bride and groom do not really know or love each other.

Storm Bringer
2010-01-05, 09:47 AM
the villains are in the process of planning a coup d'état.

Long ago, they recived a prohesy that stated that, in X years form then (somewhat in the future form the time of the marridge), they would have a chance to Win Big or Fail Epicly. Now, that time is nearly at hand, and they think they have enough power and support to dethrone the current rulers. However, they are aware that this is not the only outcome, and, as an insurance policy, are spreading thier blood around to keep the line alive should it all go wrong, as well as garnering support for their coup.

historically (ie. form steves PC point of veiw), when they came to attempt thier coup, about 30 years after the attempted marridge, the other nobles all sided with the king and they were thrashed in short order, in no small part due to a warning passed on by Steves grandfather. Their lands and power were stripped form them and handed to the victors. Steves grandfather, though some very clever wheeling and dealing and, was able to aquire some prize theifs, and used these to build the family up to it's present hieght.

Now this and only happen if the Kazu clan goes down, and steves clan doesn't. If linked by marridge, they will have to support the doomed coup and would be wiped form the history books.

thus, steve must prevent the marridge to save his clan.