Will you still love me, when I'm always going to be young and beautiful? (Campaign)

[atemu1234]

I'm working on a campaign for my group of PCs. I came up with this one after watching The Great Gatsby (the new one) and reading the book in short succession, so don't judge me.

A young duchess had an affair with a commoner (the social class, not the NPC class) and broke it off when he went off to war, was conscripted, etc. She got married, despite him continually sending letters from the front, and he only finds out about it after he'd returned from the war. Heartbroken, he thinks she never loved him because he was poor (that's were the gatsbyism comes in) and decides to make a name for himself. Long story short, he fell in with the wrong people, became a vampire (due to the war, I've made him a 12th level character- not sure which classes yet, part of the reason I'm posting this here) and is now seeking to make her fall in love with him again, so he can whisk her off to his castle, turn her into a vampire, and live happily for the rest of their (neverending) days. Problem being, she's happily married. With a kid. He, being a crazy vampire dude, is trying to kill her husband and child so they can be together, and she hires the PCs to help.

Anything you guys can think to add?

[Honest Tiefling]

Maybe instead of killing the child, claim it! It should have been his and he'll be an awesome, BETTER father anyway. (Also, it keeps things from getting overly dark should the PCs fail to rescue said child.) So the first two questions are, 1) How and why did he become a vampire and 2) what is the political situation of the kingdom the duchess is in? Someone out there might use creepy vampire previous lover to shame or kill the duchess and her husband, figuring that well, its a heck of a lot easier then actually saving them and a lot less dangerous.

[atemu1234]

I think I'll take that idea about him trying to turn the child. The fun part about this story is that he's gotten rich off mercenary work. He became a vampire on purpose, actually, and used it to make himself more rich. But that's a plot twist!

[Honest Tiefling]

So he's rich. What does he own? Land? Capital? Industry? Crazy luxurious house? (Not sure how close to source material you want to be)

[atemu1234]

Crazy luxury house and quite a bit of money besides.

[Honest Tiefling]

Again, not sure how close you wanted it, but a house does not generate money on its own. He could be tangled in some nefarious affairs to keep his coffers flowing. When you're immortal, you have to think long term! Anything to get the love of his life and the child he was denied, of course.

So why do the PCs want to help the Duchess? I mean, it isn't like real life nobility had the best track record of listening to complaints, after all. Are they possibly related to her, or minor nobles who serve her house? Maybe she is a patron of a church, and is building an awesome new temple for these people! Something that Vampire who made this guy might not want in their home turf.

And what the heck is her husband doing all this time? Hiring the PCs? Having an affair on the side with a more powerful, rich or pliable woman, so if the first one gets carried off, eh, whatevs. Does he have any class levels?

Does the antagonist intend to bite first, ask later, or actually re-woo the love of his life lead astray? If the later, what is his plan to convince her to embrace undeath and to ditch the loser and move on?

[Blackhawk748]

Well, he needs to be some sort of Martial character........ probably. I would recommend the Barbalde (a Warblade Bard if you've never heard of it) who PrCs into Warchanter to buff the bejeezus out of his minions. Toss in Snowflake Wardance and you have one scary Vamp lord.

[atemu1234]

Well, Bardblade sounds good. I'm thinking about giving him levels as a master vampire and giving him the vampire lord template.