PF: Creating Chaos, Destroying The Capital

[Angulimala]

Hello everyone! I been lurking around the forums for a while now but this is my first post, so lets hope I make a good first impression!

I am a GM with a single player, my stepbrother, and we have a heavy role playing campaign.

Before we started our campaign I conducted a character interview with my player, asking him various questions.

One of the questions I asked him was "what does you character fear?" He responded by saying "the breakdown of society and the rule of law"

Another question I asked him was "what does you character have nightmares about?" He responded "being consumed by my anger, and harming the innocent"

I want my campaign to put my character in a situation where he faces his worst fears, where society starts breaks down and he is required to kill the innocent to maintain order, even his friends and family.

I thought of a perfect way to do this. Terrorists blow up the royal palace, which kills the queen, the royal family, and all her advisers. A power vacuum occurs and different groups try to struggle for control. No one saw the terrorists, so naturally accusations start to be thrown around. Infighting occurs, the military, militia, the temples, the citizens all these groups accuse each other of being involved. Naturally negotiations fail, and soon sword and bows are drawn, every group that can bear arms fighting each other in the streets. While this is happening, chaos, looting, and riots are going on in the streets, and dark shadowy forces are moving into position, all while the capitol is slowly burning to the ground around them.

"Deep breathe" How does this sound? Is it a bit realistic, or does it feel artificial? Thoughts? Suggestions for improvement?

Thank you so much for your suggestions!

[Keneth]

It sounds fine, but answer me one thing: How come no one simply divines who did it? If it were me, the terrorists would be of the same race/subrace/nationality as the PC, fully bringing out the xenophobia in simple folk, who would proceed to harass the PC until he snaps or leaves society/country altogether.

[Angulimala]

It sounds fine, but answer me one thing: How come no one simply divines who did it? If it were me, the terrorists would be of the same race/subrace/nationality as the PC, fully bringing out the xenophobia in simple folk, who would proceed to harass the PC until he snaps or leaves society/country altogether.

Using commune is perfectly possible, but the PC can not use it (he is a warblade). It is possible that the PC could ask a high enough level cleric to commune with their deity, but there are maybe.... half a dozen people who can do that in the country?. Even if the PC had the 1000 gold to pay the cleric (he does not) why would the cleric cast this spell for a person not of their faith? So I see a lot of complications there RP wise.

Even if a high level cleric was going to do it on their own, I wonder how would the deity know that information if it is outside of their domain?

Thanks again for the help!

[Keneth]

I'm not saying the PC should figure out who did it, I'm saying someone else probably will as part of the investigation, which is bound to be large scale since killing the regent is no small business. There's probably gonna be inquisitors all over the place, likely making use of monocles of the investigator (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/m-p/monocle-of-the-investigator) and interrogating anyone remotely suspicious, and spellcasters using divination and necromancy spells to determine exactly what occured. It's unlikely the truth would stay hidden for very long, so the whole "no one saw the terrorists" seem a bit thin unless you're running a custom low-magic setting, with low-level officials, and the terrorists somehow left no trace.

[Slipperychicken]

Using commune is perfectly possible, but the PC can not use it (he is a warblade). It is possible that the PC could ask a high enough level cleric to commune with their deity, but there are maybe.... half a dozen people who can do that in the country?. Even if the PC had the 1000 gold to pay the cleric (he does not) why would the cleric cast this spell for a person not of their faith? So I see a lot of complications there RP wise.


If you can't get a Good-aligned, high-level Cleric to spend negligible resources to help restore stability to his own realm (which would absolutely help his congregation and other brothers-in-faith who live there) without paying him the value of a house, he doesn't deserve his alignment.

You could better your chances by going to a high-level Cleric of whichever faith the royal family patronized the most. Then you can guilt-trip him by mentioning that helping avenge (or just give closure for) the royalty, who were obviously favored by his deity/ideal, is part of his duties as a subject and clergy.

[FleshrakerAbuse]

That's a really good concept... yet, you may want to ask him firsthand if he would like to have his ideals challenged. Also, give him chances to not have to break such ideals if he effectively manages to manuever early on to find the identity of the murderers. Give him a decently high position so that he could have chances of logically influencing people.

Otherwise, your concept seems logical, although outright combat would be a bit odd. Maybe some pariahs, and shadow warfare, would work well for this instead of open conflict. Open conflict might occur later, if he himself spectacularly fails to remedy the situation.

If they can catch the terrorists, then you could still have (quite less aggressive) vying for the throne, except that there would not be as much warfare or strife.

Really, it's up to you whether you want it to turn into more violent-oriented or intrigue-oriented. Having either, still you want to add chances for the warblade to prove his valor.

[Slipperychicken]

The Revolution
Another campaign idea, for a PC supporting the status quo.

The rule of the law could be seriously threatened by anarchists capitalizing on a downtrodden working poor (they're overworked, underpaid, can't afford food, etc) who are fed up with the system in a time of economic collapse. The anarchists will try to incite riots, destroy infrastructure (farms, bridges, buildings, walls), and assassinate public officials to undermine the already-weak government. The higher-ups in the movement might even use corrupt daemonic rituals to augment their strength or gain evil powers. Stopping the anarchists, defeating their leaders (without martyring them!), defusing riots, and preventing their strikes at the government, will be our PC's goal.

Twist: Many of the anarchists are CG, neutral, or even Lawful. They strive for peaceful anarchy, in which people might thrive on their own intrinsically-good instincts without a government or laws telling them what to do. This is actually the ideal of real-life anarchists (rather than the random violent insanity it's usually portrayed as). This ideal allows them to gain support from people who feel that government has failed them.

Complication: The anarchists hide in plain sight as the poor, and don't wear a uniform, nor do they openly bear any symbols when "inactive". Truly a popular guerrilla movement, defeating them without harming the innocent is difficult at best. He may have to draw the leaders out, or track down their hidden meetings if he wants to bust them. Thankfully, sparing the innocent is also a good strategy, since every innocent harmed by the Defender of the Status Quo is just propaganda to recruit more anarchists.

One element of the movement may be more inclined toward lawful rule, so if the PC can help them maneuver to the top of the revolution, he can make it so the revolution wins, but creates a populist Republic instead of anarchy. The state will still be poor though, and such a republic would be unstable for many years afterward, possibly requiring defense against coups and intrigues.

[NamelessNPC]

It doesn't really matter who actually did it, if 10 different clerics from 10 different factions with 10 different hidden agendas tell you different things, who are you going to believe?

[Keneth]

Twist: Many of the anarchists are CG, neutral, or even Lawful.

I'm sorry, what? Order in a society without rulers? That is pure folly! :smallbiggrin: