Meeting your long lost father - epic ideas?

[Harlot]

Hello again...

So the party I've been DM'ing for a year are about to meet their father ... and I don't know how to handle this encounter at all.

Backstory: The characters are in their teens, two twin sisters and a brother. They are orphans and only quite recently learned that their father is not only alive, he is the master strategist and leader of the armies of the Northern Kingdom. The siblings have lived in the southern Kingdom since infancy, have grown up in a family of poor farmers. The two countries are at war.
Because of their relation to this hitherto unknown father, the characters have been persecuted (only lately) by the government and finally driven from the south and are now in the borderlands. I plan for them to meet the father in the next session.

The thing is: I am an inexperienced DM. And I really want to make this meeting cool. The players have been working so hard to reach their father and just as people would be IRL they're REALLY looking forward to/anxious about this meeting.

I would really apreciate any ideas as how to play this. I REALLY don't want to disappoxint.

Thoughts:
The father can't be dead or dying.
The father loved and avenged their mother and has mourned his children, whom he believed were dead.
The father has heard recent rumors that they're alive. No confirmation has reached him though.
Their father has that 'aura of power' a truly great warrior/epic general ought to have. 'Awesome' in the true meaning of the word.
After the loss of his familily his sole focus has been revenge (fighting the southeners).
The son looks like a younger version of the father. Persons who have known the father in the past instantly realise the relation when they meet the son.
Thus the children should be able to recognise him when they see him.
The party is level 7 - rogue (F),wizard (F),fighter(M)

After their meeting the father will give them the final mission - BBEG - and the campaign is complete.


I am really nervous about this. Any help at all is really, truly appreciated.
Thank you so much in advance.
/Harlot

[Raezeman]

can you say more on how the father and children got separated, and why he thinks they are dead?

[SethoMarkus]

It sounds like you already have a clear idea of how to run the session, just by the guidelines that you have given us.

I would suggest maybe making the father reluctant to accept that these are his children; he believes them to be dead so strongly that he can't see the similarities between himself and his son. Maybe he thinks it is a trick from his enemies to throw him off guard, or maybe that they are imposters seeking his fortune and protection? Don't make it an instant auto-win, make the players convince their father that it really is them.

Or, you could go about it this way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L8b1zPE0-Y

[RMS Oceanic]

How about you tweak one of your encounters so after the level-appropriate challenge is finished, one of their opponents reveal they were a polymorphed ancient dragon or something, and the Father (with some soldiers?) makes a dynamic entry to save them?

Or is that too non-interactive?

[Harlot]

Hi again
The children and the mother were hostages in the South during a lull in the conflict and the father had highranking hostages from the South with him as some measure to balance sides and keep the peace. Suddenly the hostages, his family, disappeared and the South could not account for their whereabouts. So after some time he orders the southern hostages executed and the war starts again (some non-government force in the South arranged a kidnapping since they wanted the war to rage on. Both sides of the conflict being double crossed by some third party which should be in the next campaign.)


I do like the idea of them meeting during some battle or encounter. And I dont mind the father coming to save them in some way or another.

Laughs aside ... the idea of the father trying to force the children to the Dark side ... Nah... Never mind. Lol!

Thanks for helping. Sorry for typhos. Using an ipad set up for Danish. Sigh
/Harlot

[RMS Oceanic]

If you don't want it to feel like a cutscene for the PCs to watch, the quickest rescue would be that he has a Vorpal sword and snickersnacks the dragon's head off.

As for assuming they're dead, here's a question: Do any or all of the PCs have some sort of heirloom of their family? If they do you could say this third party had an anti-scrying spell placed upon it, so when Dad tries to find their living bodies, the spell fails and he assumes it's because they're dead.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Have him as both the father and the BBEG (either a clone, or dissociative personality disorder, whatever). Mainly for the awesomeness (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1fIH6GMIJg).

[Harlot]

Kinda important bonus info: low magic World so scrying is unheard of. Only oldfashioned rumors and hearsay.

Cant make him BBEG as they know who that is going to be already. But it would be very nice for daddy-o to be cruel and uncaring. Personalitydisorder. Maybe. Doppelganger maybe better. Not as I had pictured it but I like your ideas. I am a very friendly DM and the PCs would not expect their father to ... Well... Not be their father at all. Sidequest.

Thanks for helping! Very appreciated!

[Honest Tiefling]

Maybe instead of a dragon, they encounter a rival general to their father. He can see the similarities, and believes that if he captures the two, he might be able to get one up on that hoity-toity namby-pamby 'Oh, let's not kill and enslave these lesser people because I have honor' rival of his. He might be enslaving people from the south because well, they deserve it and they're probably better off as slaves anyway.

You could perhaps establish Daddy not by an epic duel, but by him rescuing his own children and probably figuring out what to do with that whole slave business (I assume their father is LN or LG, not LE). The PCs might react differently if instead of defeating the enemy, his entire army decide that they rather follow their Father because of his honor and skill in battle, not the wimp they're currently assigned to. He would only be killing a weak man, but the fact that no one stood up for him would probably speak of his skill.

It would also imply that others (perhaps tied to this third party, who could have people on both sides) would be willing to assassinate, mutiny or overthrow their father. So these kids would have to be quickly trained to defend both themselves and their father, should they decide to throw away their loyalty to the kingdom they were raised in. Sure, their Father isn't slaughtering noncombatants or enslaving people, but he's still killing people for a decision HE made.

[Krobar]

One word: Asmodeus.

[TheDarkDM]

If I might offer an alternative perspective, I think making the father antagonistic is the wrong move in this situation. Make him skeptical, certainly - putting the onus on the PC's to demonstrate that they are in fact his children should make for a fun social challenge. But once they've convinced him? Have him react as any good father would with the knowledge that his children are alive. A tearful reunion will provide a nice breather before they go after the big bad, and will hopefully make your players drop their guards for their father's assumption that they'll join him in burning the Southern Kingdom to the ground.

Now, this won't work if they have no attachment to the Southern Kingdom, but if the PC's have spent their entire lives living and working in the Southern Kingdom one would imagine that they'd have some objection to a brutal war of conquest. They'll try and convince their father not to do it, that there is a better way, but his hatred of the south is too ingrained for him to heed their words. Thus, once the big bad is defeated the characters have to face their conflicting loyalties - do they allow their father to lay waste to their home, or do they turn against their father to protect their adopted family?

[Harlot]

Thank you all for taking time out to guide me in this.

I like the idea of the unknown third party working in both countries, and would mix that with idea of a rival to their father causing them problems in some way. (honest Tiefling)

That would mix well with RMS Oceanics original idea of the father coming to the rescue OR it could be played so their father is initially suspicious of them as they are loosely associated with a rival of his when they turn up, and may fear some sort of conspiracy. I think making him a bit paranoid would spice things up a bit. (as SethoMarkus suggested)

I will probably go with TheDarkDMs idea of the father acting 'as would be expected from a loving father' but that his hate for the southeners, honed over the years, is so great that it becomes an issue later.
Actually I LOVE that idea and could already make it matter in the last session. For instance the father would not care one way or the other about civilians, and the childrens allies in the south most definately would.

Again: I am very grateful for your help, I am now in much better shape than when I first wrote, and thats all I could hope for. THANKS!!!!
/Harlot

P.S: Had to look up Asmodeus. Cool. Not going there!

[Red Fel]

Have you ever seen Into the Woods? It was a fantastic (and dark) Stephen Sondheim musical, and the story of the Baker's Father ran deep in the plot-behind-the-plot. Although it's old, I've spoilered it here.

In Into the Woods, the Baker and the Baker's Wife are confronted by their neighbor, the hideous old Witch, who cursed the Baker's family years ago. After the Baker's Father stole the Witch's magic beans, she cast a spell to ensure that his "family tree would always be a barren one." She then took the Baker's sister (who would grow up to be Rapunzel and have her own story), and the despair drove the Baker's mother to death and his father to abandon his son.

The Witch gives the Baker a mission to acquire several ingredients from the nearby Woods. He departs, pursued by the Baker's Wife, who doggedly insists on helping him, slowly reestablishing why they fell in love in the first place. He is also aided by a mysterious old madman ("When first I appear, I seem mysterious, but in fact I'm nothing serious,") who continually offers cryptic advice and then flees. Periodically, the Witch and the Old Man meet, and the former belittles the latter, reminding him that this is all his fault.

Ultimately, the Baker gathers the ingredients - the Cow as White as Milk (from a giant-slaying boy named Jack), the Cape as Red as Blood (from a forest-dwelling girl who was eaten by a Big Bad Wolf), the Hair as Yellow as Gold (from a girl the Witch kept in a tower), and the Slipper as Pure as Gold (from a maidservant who only wanted to attend the Prince's ball). As instructed by the Witch - who cannot touch the ingredients - the Baker feeds them to the cow, milking it for a potion - which has no effect on the Witch. She despairs when she realizes that the hair came from the girl she kept in the tower - hair she climbed regularly. The Old Man offered an ear of actual corn, which allowed the potion to work, turning the Witch into her true, young, and beautiful form - but stripping her of her power. The Old Man then reveals that he is in fact the Baker's Father, and undertook this entire manipulation to redeem himself, before he dies.

And there's an Act Two after that!

Why did I tell you that story? Because the entire plot was triggered by some half-known detail in the past, and was manipulated by the father.

The Father stole the beans, turning the Witch into an old crone, giving her motivation to curse the Baker's family and to seek the potion. She also took the Baker's sister, which made that ingredient (the Hair) both available and unavailable. The Baker sought the Cow, giving Jack motivation (and a bean!) to climb the beanstalk to find money to buy the cow back; the Baker sought the Cape, leading to Red finding her courage and losing her naive trust of the world; the Baker's Wife sought the Slipper, which gave Cinderella reason to abandon the other shoe on the palace steps. Throughout, the Baker received advice from the Old Man (his father), who ultimately provided the final ingredient necessary to perfect the potion. In short, the Father was the primary cause of the entire plot.

So, short version: Let them meet their father. Again and again and again. With no reveal. Let him come and go (like a karma chameleon). Let him be useful. And then reveal the father, not by revealing the character, but by revealing the impact of his actions. Have another character - either an antagonist or an employer of the PCs - shout him down for what he did, and in so doing reveal his identity.

[Particle_Man]

Their father has that 'aura of power' a truly great warrior/epic general ought to have. 'Awesome' in the true meaning of the word.

The party is level 7 - rogue (F),wizard (F),fighter(M)

As a class note, you might make the Father a White Raven/Devoted Spirit Crusader. This gives him some inspirational auras for the troops, and kinda sorta fills in the "cleric without cleric" missing piece of the 3 kids + father being the 4 basic classes.

Also, is the mother really dead? Is she dead beyond hope of (true) resurrection?

[Harlot]

Thanks for more help!

Red Fel: Thanks for the story, and the idea, which I do like.
Just googled 'Into the woods: Film release coming up soon! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2180411)

Unfortunately I've made it obvious throughout almost all of the game who the father is and what he looks like, so I find it hard to play him as you've suggested. However I should be able to use the overall idea of current events being closely but not obviously related to something the father did in the past.
Their father is maybe borderline evil(ish) and has done a great many things in the past (and maybe recently) that could cause people to harm him and his family.
I like the idea of them getting in trouble because of his actions (all over again!) and them finding it hard to become loyal/ remain loyal to a father who truly loves them, but is unkind to others.

Erm ... is the mother DEAD dead? Low magic world, so yes, I thought so.
But thinking about it, it does seem obvious to have a mission to locate her remains/save her later. Yup!

I like the father to be White raven crusader. Makes sense! Only I am not sure I will actively have him join them, but if he does, yes, a crusader would fit right in.

Thanks again!
/Harlot

[Kane0]

I could easily imagine this kind of man leading a ragtag bunch of veteran slldiers or misfits in a guerilla vendetta against the oppsing country. He could be found hiding away in contested or even secured lands terrorizing the locals (millitary or no) under the guise of a local bandit king, locked on his own revenge-driven world. The party could come across him (or be hired to deal with him) while travelling through said lands which would set up the meeting of the two.

He may or may not know of this, and may or may not have a grand scheme for the area. Depends on how cunning a general you want him to be.

Edit: alternatively, rip off some of the plot from Bioware's Jade Empire. Picturesque uncaring yet good 'father' right there.

[Harlot]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I will absolutely make their fathers need for revenge more of an issue. I can't have him barking mad, but mono-minded would fit right in.
I have no idea what Bioware's Jade Empire - research coming up!
Thanx
/Harlot