Having trouble figuring out a plot

[Morithias]

I'm kinda having writer's block, and can't think of any good ideas on how to make this plot work.

Basically there is this evil queen (The PC) who is overthrown by her good-aligned sister. She eventually get drugged at a mysterious tavern and her and her red dragon companion are turned back into children (her 9 and the dragon a wyrmling).

The basic plot is "Evil queen wants the throne back to return the land to a tyrannical rule".

But I'm having trouble figuring out how exactly she's going to pull that off. She's only a level 1 fighter (introducing a new player to the game), and our third player hasn't even made his character yet.

So I guess my question is...what would you do? What would be your master plan to getting your kingdom back and getting revenge on all those who wronged you? Cause I have no idea where to go from here.

[eggs]

It sounds like a situation where the players are going to be calling the opening shots.

Presumably, she'd try to scrounge up a magician to change her back, look up her former allies/associates or other power-wielding characters who would benefit from her reclaiming her position.

--The "magician" angle would open adventure-related plot-hooks to kick things off (involving some ritual or macguffin or whatever). From there, you could add some new mystery, some backstabbing, reintroduce the usurper as a meddler, etc., and the plot shouldn't have too much trouble taking off.

--The "former allies" angle doesn't have a whole lot of potential. If you wanted to do courtly intrigue without the rules getting in your way, you wouldn't be using this system. If she tries this, I'd redirect her to one of the other approaches and set up for excessive and completely unnecessary backstabbery (it's a genre staple).

--The "beneficiaries" angle would probably require the PC to earn the respect of whoever's help she appeals to - in the short-term, this could bait a short adventure, and in a broader sense, it could drag the PCs into whatever external conflicts the beneficiaries are entangled in.

And if the player tries to throw a curveball, the other approaches I could see a player taking are:

--An assassination attempt/infiltration - this opens a short adventure of its own, but I'm not seeing it kicking off a long-running plotline with either success or failure. If the players go this way, it could introduce something sinister happening behind the coup - a greater evil the sister was out to oppose, some organization that's backing her up, some newly-discovered wealth/exploration that the PCs could try to scoop the sister on, etc.

--And the other way I could see players spinning off on their own is a straight grab for personal power - an artifact, leverage over a deity or outsiders, something along those lines. That would be an easy springboard for a quick adventure; and stifling the results would be a strong hook for a longer-running campaign (again, introducing a greater power behind the uprising).

[Morithias]

If the players go this way, it could introduce something sinister happening behind the coup - a greater evil the sister was out to oppose, some organization that's backing her up, some newly-discovered wealth/exploration that the PCs could try to scoop the sister on, etc.


Well I promise there's nothing sinister behind the coup. Basically the plot is a parody of the classic DOS RPG plot. The land was a land of heavy taxes, strict laws, and poor citizens working as slaves for a rich greedy and tyrannical queen who locked her good-aligned sister away. The good-aligned sister escaped, rallied the people, and got the queen thrown out of power and she had to flee to avoid being killed. Now the land is a land of happy sunshine, compassion, and love.

...And we don't like it that way. Our goal is to return it to the hell on earth it's meant to be, only this time it's going to be WORSE! More brutal laws! More brutal punishment! People farms to breed slaves! And because we have that drug that was slipped to her, the queen will stay young forever, ensuring she never dies of old age and the land will remain a brutal, torturous, tyrannical hell hole for all eternity.

No I haven't been playing Ultima 1 and Dungeon Keeper 2 lately, why do you ask?

Basically when a lot of early RPGs was "Big bad evil, you hero, go kill!". This time it's "Big good good, you villain, go kill!"

For crying out loud the player playing the queen said her moat was filled with lava. (Which made me go "What are you a BOND VILLAIN!?")

[Mnemnosyne]

Well first, I'd...not be a Fighter. Really, you've got a new player and are introducing them as a Fighter? Are you trying to build bad habits here? Give them a halfway decent class. At the very least Barbarian, preferably a ToB class.

Beyond that, yes...first step would certainly be to change back into yourself...OR, even better...change into someone else (so that everyone doesn't immediately recognize you, and you can build up your power covertly).

Then, start taking over small border areas to build up a power base. Don't mistreat the peasants. Think evil, but beneficial overlord. This time around, make sure the peasants don't want to revolt and they like her as ruler. This story (http://www.e-reading.org.ua/chapter.php/143731/14/If_I_Were_an_Evil_Overlord.html) I recently was linked to shows a really good example of what I mean. I mean, sure, if someone really wants to go the super-evil route, they can do that...after conquering the entire world and having no possible opposition. But for the moment, she's weak, she needs support, and the best way to go about that is to be a new face and make the peasants like her.

[Mnemnosyne]

Well first, I'd...not be a Fighter. Really, you've got a new player and are introducing them as a Fighter? Are you trying to build bad habits here? Give them a halfway decent class. At the very least Barbarian, preferably a ToB class.

Beyond that, yes...first step would certainly be to change back into yourself...OR, even better...change into someone else (so that everyone doesn't immediately recognize you, and you can build up your power covertly).

Then, start taking over small border areas to build up a power base. Don't mistreat the peasants. Think evil, but beneficial overlord. This time around, make sure the peasants don't want to revolt and they like her as ruler. This story (http://www.e-reading.org.ua/chapter.php/143731/14/If_I_Were_an_Evil_Overlord.html) I recently was linked to shows a really good example of what I mean. I mean, sure, if someone really wants to go the super-evil route, they can do that...after conquering the entire world and having no possible opposition. But for the moment, she's weak, she needs support, and the best way to go about that is to be a new face and make the peasants like her.

[kharmakazy]

Well first, I'd...not be a Fighter. Really, you've got a new player and are introducing them as a Fighter? Are you trying to build bad habits here? Give them a halfway decent class. At the very least Barbarian, preferably a ToB class.

Beyond that, yes...first step would certainly be to change back into yourself...OR, even better...change into someone else (so that everyone doesn't immediately recognize you, and you can build up your power covertly).

Then, start taking over small border areas to build up a power base. Don't mistreat the peasants. Think evil, but beneficial overlord. This time around, make sure the peasants don't want to revolt and they like her as ruler. This story (http://www.e-reading.org.ua/chapter.php/143731/14/If_I_Were_an_Evil_Overlord.html) I recently was linked to shows a really good example of what I mean. I mean, sure, if someone really wants to go the super-evil route, they can do that...after conquering the entire world and having no possible opposition. But for the moment, she's weak, she needs support, and the best way to go about that is to be a new face and make the peasants like her.


Pretty much this. Warlock and DFA are good newbie classes in my opinion. They get to do things all day long. The Humanoid shapes invocation would probably go a long way towards not looking like a 9yo too.

How was a level 1 fighter an evil queen? Why would a dragon listen to her at all? Why was she drinking in a tavern? I don't even

[Morithias]

Pretty much this. Warlock and DFA are good newbie classes in my opinion. They get to do things all day long. The Humanoid shapes invocation would probably go a long way towards not looking like a 9yo too.

How was a level 1 fighter an evil queen? Why would a dragon listen to her at all? Why was she drinking in a tavern? I don't even

She wrote the backstory, I've learned not to question my girlfriend's insanity. There was also something about a "succubus maid".

She's kinda loopy. I have been reciting the MST3K Mantra A LOT while trying to figure out how to make this work.

[kharmakazy]

She wrote the backstory, I've learned not to question my girlfriend's insanity. There was also something about a "succubus maid".

She's kinda loopy. I have been reciting the MST3K Mantra A LOT while trying to figure out how to make this work.

Wait, so your gf wrote a story for you to DM and her to play? I don't even

Good luck buddy.

[Flickerdart]

Step 1 would be to look into getting a long life. Having an awesome dragon will really help, but you want the dragon to reach maturity some time before you're an old crone. Her youth also lets her bide her time, so acting rashly would be a huge mistake. In fact, most immortality methods will freeze you as you are, so it's best for her to wait until she's a Young Adult. If she can't wait, she can gain a level, bump herself off and then get a druid to Reincarnate her. This has the added advantage of being a foolproof disguise, though I wouldn't recommend it because the age thing plays into her hands quite well...

Step 2 is to weasel her way back into courtly life. As a fighter, her only hope of that is distinguishing herself in combat. She can spend a bunch of years training in secret, then once the current queen has a son, impress him by becoming known as a skilled warrior who is also a beautiful woman. Not many of those. Conquering a small duchy adjacent to the kingdom and then proposing a marriage for alliance would be a good move. If she can use the intervening time to cause a schism in the kingdom, all the better.

Step 3: Once the marriage goes through, bump off the unlucky husband (optionally waiting until you have a child from him) and now you own a kingdom. For bonus points, blame his death on a nearby nation (or the other faction if she caused the schism) and then make good on her warrior maiden reputation by hitting things with swords until everyone "forgets" that she basically usurped the royal line.

[kharmakazy]

Also, the evil queen was overthrown by her good sister. That sounds like a good place to end a campaign to me.

[The Redwolf]

Step 2 is to weasel her way back into courtly life. As a fighter, her only hope of that is distinguishing herself in combat. She can spend a bunch of years training in secret, then once the current queen has a son, impress him by becoming known as a skilled warrior who is also a beautiful woman. Not many of those. Conquering a small duchy adjacent to the kingdom and then proposing a marriage for alliance would be a good move. If she can use the intervening time to cause a schism in the kingdom, all the better.

Step 3: Once the marriage goes through, bump off the unlucky husband (optionally waiting until you have a child from him) and now you own a kingdom. For bonus points, blame his death on a nearby nation (or the other faction if she caused the schism) and then make good on her warrior maiden reputation by hitting things with swords until everyone "forgets" that she basically usurped the royal line.

The good queen was her sister, making the bolded parts incestuous, so I advise against that personally.

[kharmakazy]

The good queen was her sister, making the bolded parts incestuous, so I advise against that personally.

No way. How else is he going to roleplay the naughty deposed queen trying to seduce her nephewprince?

Besides, all evil/good sister situations are the result of adoption.

[Morithias]

Also, the evil queen was overthrown by her good sister. That sounds like a good place to end a campaign to me.

That is prologue. The evil queen is the PC. You can't end a campaign before it starts.

[The Redwolf]

No way. How else is he going to roleplay the naughty deposed queen trying to seduce her nephewprince?

Besides, all evil/good sister situations are the result of adoption.

Even if it's a roleplay that's a weird thing to roleplay, let's be honest, and I disagree with your second statement.

[Flickerdart]

The good queen was her sister, making the bolded parts incestuous, so I advise against that personally.
a) Reincarnating into a new body probably fixes that and
b) All the monarchies were inbred anyway, and also
c) It's a good way of supercharging whatever random demonic ancestry everyone seems to have.

[kharmakazy]

Even if it's a roleplay that's a weird thing to roleplay, let's be honest
That's why it was in italics baby.

[Tim Proctor]

I would think of as many birds with the least amount of stones...

I would form a coup (only admitting who I was to very trusted allies), with old allies but most importantly with enemies of the throne. There are a hundred ways to get a coup going on, but the easiest way is to mess with the economy, that is when you find people that are more than willing to commit regicide. Then I would also get enemy nations to help in the usurpation. Then I would take the throne, betray the domestic and foreign enemies (know that you know their secrets) and take back my throne as well as the throne of my enemies.

Either that or I would go about and do a bunch of good deeds and then after a bunch of good deeds come back and show the good sister that she learned her lesson (actions speak louder than words) and that she should get her rightful rule back now that she realized evil is not the way. Then kill the good sister and all her allies.

Depending on the type of evil the PC is, the incest thing is a way to go. Nefertiti had sex with her brothers, its common in royal bloodlines to do something similar.

[only1doug]

I'm kinda having writer's block, and can't think of any good ideas on how to make this plot work.

Basically there is this evil queen (The PC) who is overthrown by her good-aligned sister. She eventually get drugged at a mysterious tavern and her and her red dragon companion are turned back into children (her 9 and the dragon a wyrmling).

The basic plot is "Evil queen wants the throne back to return the land to a tyrannical rule".

But I'm having trouble figuring out how exactly she's going to pull that off. She's only a level 1 fighter (introducing a new player to the game), and our third player hasn't even made his character yet.

So I guess my question is...what would you do? What would be your master plan to getting your kingdom back and getting revenge on all those who wronged you? Cause I have no idea where to go from here.

First off, the plan to take bake the kingdom should be the PCs plan, not the GMs, The PC is the evil queen, she get to choose how to re-establish her rule. That said here are some ideas.

Stage 1: escape from notice, create new identity,

The old queen was hated, It would be better not to allow anyone to recognise that the PC used to be the queen.


Stage 2: Gather power

This covers a broad multitude of things but lets face it a party of L1 characters has no buisness plotting to take over a kingdom, go out there and level up, and get some nice loot.


Stage 3: gather allies

The Good queen will have a whole bunch of people supporting her, from allied kingdoms to local suport to loyal bodyguards, the evil queen needs to arrange herself a similar structure, this will probably involve doing favours for various evil enterprises (crime gangs, other kingdoms, powerful necromancers etc) the favours these people will want done could also be described as adventures...


Stage 4: create dissent

Once the evil queen has a few levels under her belt and a few allies to assist then its time to prepare for the coup, The good queen has the population on her side, so the evil queen needs to change their minds...

The biggest problem for the peasants were the heavy taxes and strict laws, now we need to teach the population that they were necessary.
Crime spree's galore (remember those criminal organisations we befriended earlier), lets get them all involved, for months. Sabotage of any policing efforts, rumour mills (this would never have happened under the old regime; at least the taxes paid for an effective police force; the old laws were tough, but fair (silence those who are old enough to remember better and vocally disagree)).


Stage 5: Coup.

One approach would be for the evil queen to work her way up in the police force gaining a reputation for being able to solve the problems (as the criminals are working for her anyway). Eventually she will be a powerful figure in the political world.
During the riots against the good queen (what riots? the ones the PCs stage manage of course) the naughty rioters will storm the palace and the police (Evil PCs) will capture or kill them but only after the tragic death of the good queen. During the turmoil that follows the Evil Queen becomes the logical replacement.

[ShadowPsyker]

Allies. If she's an evil ruler (Okay, former and hopefully future) then she needs allies. Some suggestions;

1) An old hag is known to lurk in the woods beyond the northern ridge, and she hates wholesome and/or holy things (can she turn the queen back? ... No, but if you retrieve a rare spell component for her she will introduce you to her ex-husband the "Warlock of fell dreams" himself. Upon completion she grants a letter of introduction and sends the PC's on their way). Travelling to the Warlock will lend adventure by random encounters (monsters & goody two shoes with detect evil spells).

2) The captain of the guard openly hates the new restrictions placed on him and his men. Can she help him out with more appropriate punishments for those he finds "guilty."

3) The head of the assassins guild knows who she really is. He offers an assassination if she can meet his price. Now all she needs is the huge sum of money, and he readily suggests taking some from the wealthy merchants in town. Pick three good "marks" with various benefits and risks.

[Togo]

What happened to all the old cronies and supporters of the old regieme? Somewhere out there is a host of evil soliders, corrupt merchants, evil priests etc. all of whom might have survived the coup. The old secret police should have made it for a start. So you make contact with them, but the queen has to prove that she's still actually going to able to pull off taking back the throne, by proving she's capable enough (i.e. quest), willing to help her old supporters in some of their aims, so they can build up power to help her (i.e. quest), demonstrating to the old general that she's still ruthless enough, and even convincing her old maid that she's depraved enough.

There's plenty of material here to make her go on almost any quest you fancy, negotiate with a long sucession of weird allies, potential allies, or people who might cause trouble but can be pursuaded to look the other way, and engage in some pretty intense roleplaying.

Examples
-help rebuild an old merchant allies fortunes by putting a rival out of business in such a way that people will start to fear him again
-Defeat the old general's champion in ritual combat. Of course, the champion is a rival of the old general, the general is using her and her dragon to kill him off, and the champion and his supporters are going to try and assasinate them or poison/injure/curse them before the combat, and cheat like mad during the actual contest. Your choice whether she faces her opponent in a group, or alone with the rest of the party openly battlling his supporters outside the ring in an effort to stop them interfering in the combat.
-Prove to the evil priesthood that you are still worthy to serve the dark gods by uncovering an ancient evil artefact. The good guys know about it too, and are racing through the ruinwith vastly superior numbers to get there first. (see the various Indianna Jones movies)
-Prove to her old succubus maid and any infernal affiliates that she's still depraved enough to rule. This is basically their chance to be 'evil for evil's sake', which is presumably a motive for chosing the characters in the first place. You're roleplaying with your girlfriend, so you might as well get something nice out of it. :smallwink:
-Some of her old supporters languish in durance vile. Rescue them, or at least kill them to stop them spilling the beans. Since they're being held in the queen's old torture chambers, she knows secret passages in and out. Horrify her with descriptions of how her old torture chamber has been cleaned up, cobwebs gone, nice pot plants and flowers everywhere, and maybe even some motivational posters? Paint the old iron maiden pink.
-A great and powerful evil dragon has died. Round up the hatchlings before the forces of good can catch and kill them. Maybe you have to trace where some of the eggs have be sold too.
-The old wyvern mounts of her old elite guard have escaped and settled in some nearby hills. They're now terrorising the countryside. The new regieme is hiring mercenary adventurers to go and kill them. She and the party sign up as annonymous mercenaries to go rescue them, but find themselves outnumbered by powerful adventurers. So they're on a wyvern hunt, surrounded by powerful adventurers who think they're here to kill wyverns, and it would be bad if they broke cover. Do they kill the wyverns, or try and rescue them for their new army? How do you 'rescue' a wyvern exactly? Can they sabotage the hunt without people noticing? How good is the evil queen and her dragon at pretending to be princess flower petal and her pet unicorn? What happens when they discover that some of the old stablehands and wyvern trainers are hiding out with the wyverns? These people are hideously bad in combat, and likely to get slaughtered by the adventurers. But they're also the only trained wyvern riders within a hundred miles...
-A tiamat-worshipping secret society believe against all evidence to the contrary that the old queen's mount survived, and are trying to trace him. The problem is that they have been infiltrated by an agent of the good guys (think harpers or similar), and so their entirely accurate and well-meaning attempts to bring back the bad old days are leading trouble to the PC's hideout. (make sure this society stays valuable as a source of espionage and plot hooks, so that the player playing the dragon isn't playing second fiddle to your girlfriend all the time.)

In short, there's lots of potential there.

There are also some.. personal considerations here.
It's going to important to keep the right feel here. You GF wants to play an ex-evil queen for a reason, and that reason is probably the kind of things she wants to roleplaying doing and being. You need to make sure the game has space for that. You need to work out whether she wants to play someone who is wears black armour and red lipstick and beats up the pompous and self-righteous, or whether she wants to wants to push the boundaries on self image, sexuality, power over others and being worshipped by bad boys. Prepping for one and ending up with the other is going to be a train wreck.

One clue may be in this succubus maid. If she was sending her out to do things she wouldn't do herself, then you're probably leaning towards the former. If she's treating her as a private plaything, then we're probably looking more towards the latter.

Obviously you need to cater to the other players as well, but catering to a dragon is usually easier - just make sure he can regularly soar majestically over foes, scattering them with the sheer fear of who he is.

[Morithias]

Obviously you need to cater to the other players as well, but catering to a dragon is usually easier - just make sure he can regularly soar majestically over foes, scattering them with the sheer fear of who he is.

All good points everyone, thank you.

Also the Dragon is the DMPC, cause if I didn't run one, we would only have two players, and I'm not running gestalt as her first game.

[only1doug]

All good points everyone, thank you.

Also the Dragon is the DMPC, cause if I didn't run one, we would only have two players, and I'm not running gestalt as her first game.

Just a thought, Say it this way: the dragon is a NPC.

DMPC= Dungeon Masters Player Character
NPC= Non-Player Character

The DM is not a player in the game, he is the DM. You don't get to have a PC but in compensation you can have infinite NPCs.

Why is this distinction important? Because if you think of the character as a DMPC you might want him to have his moments of awsome, and a DMs moments of awsome should be concentrated on the PCs, not on a DMPC.

If he's an NPC that the players come to love then they will drag him around on their adventures with them, if he's carrying them then they won't enjoy the game as much.

As a DM you have to be prepared for the NPC to die if that helps the plot, when you think of it as a DMPC you might become reluctant to let it die if it should.

[Morithias]

Just a thought, Say it this way: the dragon is a NPC.

DMPC= Dungeon Masters Player Character
NPC= Non-Player Character

The DM is not a player in the game, he is the DM. You don't get to have a PC but in compensation you can have infinite NPCs.

Why is this distinction important? Because if you think of the character as a DMPC you might want him to have his moments of awsome, and a DMs moments of awsome should be concentrated on the PCs, not on a DMPC.

If he's an NPC that the players come to love then they will drag him around on their adventures with them, if he's carrying them then they won't enjoy the game as much.

As a DM you have to be prepared for the NPC to die if that helps the plot, when you think of it as a DMPC you might become reluctant to let it die if it should.

Generally this is how I think of it.

NPC: Non-player character, a character not run by the players.
DMPC: A subset of NPC. An NPC I actually bother making a build for, and hence use "PC" classes as opposed to "NPC" classes.

[Kerilstrasz]

The "old evil queen" is now a 9 yo child... get her bluff sky high, get her to pretend a nice girl and "accidentally" meet the "good queen" ...
let the "good queen" be charmed by her, take her as a maid of honnor or a step daughter then have the "evil queen girl" assassinate her and claim the throne...

thats a general idea...
you may have the girl asks for her "friends" (other npc) to allowed live in the castle,so she has company(so she has accomplishes :P ) and have the campaign evolve as a midleage intrique movie :)