Endiness Don't read

[FaerieDrgn]

In a previous thread, I had asked for some advice on what to do in my situation, well, I think I've finally made up my mind: I want to start a rebellion.

Now I know there are many things that could go wrong with starting one. I'll give a little on my situation for those of you who didn't read my previous post.
Short version: My character has 'woken' from a 10 year 'sleep', finds herself the queen of a nation, married to a vamp king, and everyone is terrified of her. She has no memories of the past 10 yrs, but she is slowly learning what has happened. If the vamp husband finds out that she has 'woken', I'm pretty sure she is either dead or going to be put back to a 'sleep' and the evil part will come out again.

and about the group:
I quit the actual group due to rl issues, but the DM and I made a deal where I could continue on. The rest of the party (without their healer, me) ended up dying, because they don't think things through (the DM even said that I was the one keeping them alive for this long). So they are starting up again 10 yrs later, hence the 10 yr 'sleep' for me. So I'm left without a group to do this on my own...

My delimma now is: I don't know how to start a rebellion, especially against a country. I've never even thought of starting one, never even thought I would have to start one. And I would like advice.

Some of the possible resources I have are the exiled Paladins and senators, but they all know me as evil, and I really need to keep that face on for the King. I know they are trying to build up power, and are waiting for the right opportunity to strike. But the king has the people in the palm of his hand. He awards those that turns in his enemies with lots of gold.

I need to be really sneaky going about this, or else it's pretty much death. And I know it's going to be extremely hard to go about it being the queen, but I figure, if I can get something started, rumors/groups that want to go against the government, that a spark will fly and the fire will get started.

So, how does one start a rebellion against a government that you are the queen of?

(btw, I'm actual royal blood, and vamp isn't, but males hold all the power in this world)

[Kinsmarck]

Ohoho, this is my sort of situation. My DMs learned a long time ago not to give me political influence in their campaign worlds. <<

Knee-jerk reaction is to initiate a plot not unlike that of the first Star Wars: The Force Unleashed storyline. (Spoilers ahead!) You recruit an agent to foster a rebellion as a double-agent. This person (or persons) is working for you, is ultimately loyal to the current regime, and is meant to secretly foster a rebellion, organizing it against the vampire's forces. All of his boldest enemies will thus gather into one organized group, either physically or via traceable means, such as letters between them. They will lay the groundwork for you, especially if you allow your agent access to royal funds under the guise of him having stolen them.

All the while, you tell your lord that you are gathering his enemies for him, that he might smite them all in one fell strike. If he's crafty, he should like this plan, as long as you play it cold and cool.

Now, this is where it gets tricky and morally ambiguous. Your agent is either going to have to learn the truth of your intentions, approve of them, and carry on with the rebellion as your champion in earnest. OR, he's gotta die. If, by the time he's assembled a shadow army against your lord, he's still loyal to him, and truly believes that he's more or less lining these people up for public execution, he'll knock the bottom out of this house of cards. The other tricky part is letting the rebels in on your involvement. Odds are, they'll be skeptical at first, and rightly so. You'll want to make sure that only their highest members are aware of it once it is revealed, as the lower members will be undisciplined in their gossip. "Loose lips sink ships," and all that.

From there...well, it could go any number of directions. Hope I gave you some food for thought, at least. I'll mull over any other good ideas for fostering civil unrest. :P

[BRC]

1: what class are you?

2: Do you have any allies who are either Aware of your condition, or sycophantic enough to do what you say without question. If you can cast Sending, or get your hands on some Feather Token: Bird's, you can get messages to the exiled rebels and start passing them intelligence. Be sure to do this anonymously, since they won't trust you otherwise. Sign your notes with a pseudonym, or employ a specific code.

Then you arrange your own kidnapping. Arrange for yourself to be in a certain vulnerable location at a certain time, then make sure that the Rebels know this. Make sure the Rebels bring Paladins.

When they show up to Kidnap you, reveal that you were the source of the information all along, and tell them what's going on. They'll hit you with a Detect Evil, but may or may not believe it. You'll likely end up stewing in a prison cell for a few days while they wait for any Alignment hiding spells to wear off. As soon as you get captured, give them some key intelligence as a gesture of goodwill. Be sure to identify yourself with the pseudonym or the code you had been using in your earlier messages.
Now, once the Rebels trust you, the Fun begins.

First, change your face, this is easy enough using a Hat of Disguise. This will allow you to walk around freely. It is CRUCIAL that you minimize the number of people who know the truth. People WILL be captured and interrogated.

Second, send a message to the King saying "I have been captured by agents of [insert powerful neighboring country here], they are holding me in secret." Make sure the person bringing this to the King has no idea the message is faked. The best option would be to sneak the note into the neighboring country, then have somebody bring it to a border guard (coming from the other side of the border of course). The Guard, eager to earn a commendation, will take the note to the King. Depending on how Rash he is, he may start a war with the neighboring country. Or he may just start a massive search effort, either way you've distracted him.

Now, there are two options.
One: Once the rebellion gets enough strength, you reveal yourself to the public. Say that the King had you under an enchantment or something. The sight of the True Royal Blood should make the king appear illegitimate and support the rebellion.

Or Two: Be a Good Rebel by becoming a Terrible Queen. After a while, you can be "Rescued" by the King's forces and return to the palace to resume passing on information to the rebels. Be sure to have a convincing story (shouldn't be hard, since theoretically all you did was sit in a damp jail cell). If need be, you can say that the "Agents of [insert powerful neighboring country here] were just Bandits who impersonated soldiers of the neighboring country.

Now, here is the REALLY fun part. Once you get back, you are justifiably paranoid. Beg the King for some troops and funds to hunt down those involved with your kidnapping. Say that you won't have peace of mind unless you can take a personal hand in this operation, using men that you trust.
Once he agrees, open with a few brutal executions. That should convince him of your Evilness. It's risky, but you could let a few of your personal task force in on your secret. However, it's probably safer to play the paranoid psychopath and keep the Gold flowing.
The most effective way to help the Rebellion will be to turn yourself into a monster. Become "The Mad Queen", calling for executions and decapitations, all while passing information along to the rebels. Have some of the King's most skilled officers arrested for no reason. Let them stew in Prison for a while, then Arrange for the Rebels to rescue them, thus converting a good portion of the Millitary's Officer corps. If people ever start to question you, you may need to get a Volunteer (A Paladin maybe), to be Captured and Executed during one of your "Random Sweeps". Bringing in the head of a rebel leader should shut up most complaints.

OF course, the problem with this plan is that you don't get to assume the throne afterwards. You'll always be remembered as the Mad Queen. If the Rebels want their new government to be recognized, they will never be able to acknowledge your role in events. The best you can hope for when things die down is to get a new face and start a new life elsewhere. Then sit back and smile as the new government burns you in effigy.


The King's power is in his Wealth, you'll need to strike at that. Have the Rebels target pay shipments, especially for Soldiers and Constables. Keep up your disguise by ordering harsh punishments for the King's most competent and bloodthirsty ministers. The head of the Secret Police is getting close to catching the rebels? "Why, your majesty, he said the most OUTRAGEOUS things to me at the ball, with hand gestures." A bright young officer is up for promotion, send him off on a suicide mission to ensure some incompetent sycophant gets the job.

[FaerieDrgn]

I happen to be Healer lvl 9. I have a pretty good cha. (the healer class is tweeked from the miniatures handbook, much better) So violence really isn't my thing. I have yet to figure out what powers I have now, since during the 'sleep' I had different ones, so I have to figure out whether I still have healing powers or not. If not, then I don't know my class, haha

[BRC]

If possible, see if your DM will let you retrain to Rogue or Bard. You'll need the Bluff Checks.

[Chilingsworth]

I happen to be Healer lvl 9. I have a pretty good cha. (the healer class is tweeked from the miniatures handbook, much better) So violence really isn't my thing. I have yet to figure out what powers I have now, since during the 'sleep' I had different ones, so I have to figure out whether I still have healing powers or not. If not, then I don't know my class, haha

Hmm... well, if you are still a healer, you have a healer's companion. That might come in handy, except that it would be a dead giveaway to your goody-twoshoesness. If you still have it (it should be a celestial unicorn, iirc,) get it a hat of disguise to make it look like a nightmare, maybe?

Also, what sorts of spells and abilities do the king and his actually loyal advisors use? If they use things like true seeing often, magical disguises wont help you much.

[FaerieDrgn]

The version of the healer I am using doesn't have a companion. As for what I know about the king and his advisors and such, it's not much. My character has been awake for, by my guess, about 3 hours. From what I know before, encoutering the vamp in battle, he does have some tricks up his sleeve. He can use some magic, but i don't know what kind. And if it isn't his own magic, it's borrowed somehow from the demon lord that brought out the evil in me.

[GnomeGninjas]

Attack the vampire lord when he is alone and vulnerable. Kill him. Now you are in charge. Make new policies that aren't as evil, if people disagree with you execute them for treason. Eventually some of the other important vampires will get sick of you a try a coup. You will still have some loyal soldiers (probably) use them to fight the enemy vampires. Since there is a civil war and the government is week the people will probably take this as their chance to revolt, if they aren't proactive enough to revolt on there own meet with some of them and convince them. Be sure not to actively join with the rebel humans, if you do that your loyal vampires will probably leave you.

[Vaz]

Coup De Grace sleeping Vampire? Short and Sweet?

Are you morally opposed to harm, or do you agree to "ends justify the means"? If the latter, become an evil queen so that the populace rises up against you; get hubby to bite you. As you are a vampire, when they Marie Antoinette you, float away, polymorph into something Vampire Huntery, and Stake a Polymorphed and Dominated commoner; so that you become a hero of rebellion. Sorted; now hunt down your Vampire hubby. Become Queen of Sheba.

[Kobold Esq]

I tend to lean towards "bloody coup from within" myself.

[Phelix-Mu]

I'd work on discovering just who among the staff of the castle/military/church are on board with the last ten years' reign of evil. While ten years can be a long time for humans, I'm sure there are people who remember you from before and can be convinced that you were being manipulated/bewitched. This all depends on how much you and husband were into purging the dissidents during your evil spree.

Once you identify groups of people/organizations that are unhappy with the evil status quo, you need to prove that you've changed. This could certainly be managed by role play; perhaps you aid in the escape of some enemy of the regime from the dungeons, or perhaps you pass knowledge of security measures at the palace to the insurgents through a series of intermediaries. Always be cautious; even if you think someone is on your side, they could easily be dominated by mr. vampire and sent to spy on you.

Securing some kind of alter-ego/disguise is key, and perhaps you could incorporate this into some kind of rebuild, so that you exchange part of your healer levels or new levels gained in the ten years for some class that has abilities that your husband wouldn't know about. Beguiler would normally fit the bill quite well, but it is Int-based and a lot of the stuff won't fool a vampire (but will fool any of his living minions and spies in the palace). I would suggest Mountebank from the Dragon Magazine Compendium, since the flavor could easily be tied into your story (maybe even you make a new pact with the demon lord to allow you to overthrow your husband...not a wise choice, to be sure, but desperate times...). But I think I can already hear the comments about Mountebank and optimizing. Whatever you decide on focusing on in the future, you need to have some ability to deceive or inspire others to lie for you.

Good luck. I think I may have mentioned in the other thread, but this storyline is full of win. I hope your character manages to make some headway in accomplishing her goals.

[Laserlight]

My delimma now is: I don't know how to start a rebellion, especially against a country. I've never even thought of starting one, never even thought I would have to start one. And I would like advice.

Two basic approaches:
1: You can arrange a rebellion, which (if successful) will involve a large proportion of the populace and lead to civil war. Rebellions don't tend to succeed against rulers who have no qualms about oppressing people; it's the rulers who try to reform things who end up getting overthrown.

2: You can engineer a coup d'etat, with one power faction replacing another. If you arrange for the prime minister, duke, or boss general to do away with the king, that's a coup. The nice thing about this is that, if successful, you keep bloodshed to a minimum--ideally, just the king and his next couple of heirs. Marrying the winner helps legitimize him (reducing overall need for violence) and keep you alive.