Good start to a campaign?

[JobsforFun]

I wanted to start writing a campaign and since I am a new DM I wanted some feedback on my starting idea.

"Players start out in a town and a festival is happening but the festival is attacked assuming that they are able to kill whatever attacks the festival they'll get a letter from the king asking them to join a dinner in their honor thanking them for finally getting rid of the trouble makers that the area was having to deal with. But a assassins guild hears about them getting the invitation and kid naps them in order to persuade them to killing the king.

I was thinking of having the king be secretly evil but not sure what he could be doing behind the scenes. Maybe he is involved in some kind of bigger plot to the campaign? But that is not taking into consideration the players don't kill the king and instead warn him of the plot."

[BDRook]

Well, it's good to know the players alignment before we can give advice, because it's very unlikely a good aligned party would agree to assassinate the king even if threatened. If anything they could lie and say they will, and then immediately ditch town or tell the king of the assassins plans.

[Falcon X]

There is a lot of good stuff going on here, but keep in mind that you don't want to bog the players down with railroaded plots or aimless pursuits.
I see a couple places it could fall flat:
- Festivals are where DMs like to break out minigames. You might have a few of these provided, but spending too much time in these can bog the game down.
Fix: Make a plot point happen during a minigame. You see an assassin going for someone important or you have to joust against the kings right-hand man which creates tension later on.
Maybe you could pull a tri-wizard tournament idea and have the prize teleport the players somewhere or open up a psychic communication with someone.
- Getting kidnapped so early on can feel really railroady. Make sure the players feel like they are making some solid decisions.
Fix: Instead of getting kidnapped, an agent of theirs meets you on a streetcorner and has you follow him into a private meeting room, if you want.
Or maybe they are attacked by the assassins who want to stop them from helping the king. This will only work if the players are the type to investigate into why they were being attacked, maybe by interrogating one of the attackers.

[JobsforFun]

Well, it's good to know the players alignment before we can give advice, because it's very unlikely a good aligned party would agree to assassinate the king even if threatened. If anything they could lie and say they will, and then immediately ditch town or tell the king of the assassins plans.

For right now this is only a theory of what I want, if I end up doing the campaign it'll be until sometime in 2017 while my friends wrap theirs up. But I understand your point, and I don't want to be the DM who wont allow certain alignments (unless them as a group don't want them of course). Usually only 1 of my friends has had good aligned characters Lawful Good, Neutral Good, and I think a Chaotic Good.

[JobsforFun]

There is a lot of good stuff going on here, but keep in mind that you don't want to bog the players down with railroaded plots or aimless pursuits.
I see a couple places it could fall flat:
- Festivals are where DMs like to break out minigames. You might have a few of these provided, but spending too much time in these can bog the game down.
Fix: Make a plot point happen during a minigame. You see an assassin going for someone important or you have to joust against the kings right-hand man which creates tension later on.
Maybe you could pull a tri-wizard tournament idea and have the prize teleport the players somewhere or open up a psychic communication with someone.
- Getting kidnapped so early on can feel really railroady. Make sure the players feel like they are making some solid decisions.
Fix: Instead of getting kidnapped, an agent of theirs meets you on a streetcorner and has you follow him into a private meeting room, if you want.
Or maybe they are attacked by the assassins who want to stop them from helping the king. This will only work if the players are the type to investigate into why they were being attacked, maybe by interrogating one of the attackers.

I like the idea of them meeting someone and being led into a privet meeting room. I want it to come off once they meet the group that the king is a pretty bad guy but everyone in the town is blind to it. Also not to mention I'm assuming they wouldn't of lived in the town beforehand so they wouldn't know the full extent of what the king has done. I was thinking about taking some aspects from OOTS because I enjoy the comic so much. (Obviously not to the point were players can read the comic and tell what is going to happen next in the campaign.

[BDRook]

it's still kind of a bad idea to assume the players will want to kill the king. Doing so would basically make them public enemy number one and make their life a living hell. Not sure what sort of reward would be worth going through that since they have no real stake in the matter.

What I personally would do is start them off working for the king. You can make him a pompous jackass, but he's hiring them to sniff out the assassins guild in town. He'd have his own guards do it, but he's pretty sure there's a mole and they'd be gone before a siege could be made, and that's why he's hiring able bodied strangers. There'd be a big reward in it for them, and the king of the land would owe them a favor.

Most good aligned characters wouldn't have an issue with this, as they'd be doing a good deed ridding the evil from the land. The neutral characters would also be okay, as the cash reward should satisfy them. But when the party gets into the city they see things may not be as black and white as they thought. The kings guards are going around bullying townsfolk, or shaking down shop owners for free stuff. Maybe the assassins guild steps in and stops a guard from killing a townsperson and that's how they set up the meeting. Then they can meet the "local resistance" and choose whether or not to go through with killing them, and then the assassins can tell them all about the king's injustices. Maybe they tell the king they refuse or couldn't find them and he has them arrested for incompetence, giving them a personal grudge against him.

Its very important thought to let the choice they make matter in this situation. Don't railroad them into killing whatever person you want to have killed, it takes away all the players feeling of choice and agency.

[JobsforFun]

it's still kind of a bad idea to assume the players will want to kill the king. Doing so would basically make them public enemy number one and make their life a living hell. Not sure what sort of reward would be worth going through that since they have no real stake in the matter.

What I personally would do is start them off working for the king. You can make him a pompous jackass, but he's hiring them to sniff out the assassins guild in town. He'd have his own guards do it, but he's pretty sure there's a mole and they'd be gone before a siege could be made, and that's why he's hiring able bodied strangers. There'd be a big reward in it for them, and the king of the land would owe them a favor.

Most good aligned characters wouldn't have an issue with this, as they'd be doing a good deed ridding the evil from the land. The neutral characters would also be okay, as the cash reward should satisfy them. But when the party gets into the city they see things may not be as black and white as they thought. The kings guards are going around bullying townsfolk, or shaking down shop owners for free stuff. Maybe the assassins guild steps in and stops a guard from killing a townsperson and that's how they set up the meeting. Then they can meet the "local resistance" and choose whether or not to go through with killing them, and then the assassins can tell them all about the king's injustices. Maybe they tell the king they refuse or couldn't find them and he has them arrested for incompetence, giving them a personal grudge against him.

Its very important thought to let the choice they make matter in this situation. Don't railroad them into killing whatever person you want to have killed, it takes away all the players feeling of choice and agency.

This is why I asked for some help, I really like your idea and I think I might use this having the King be LE would fit in this I assume. I can see you're far more experienced with DMing than me! Only thing is after they decided if they should kill him or not I am not sure where to go with the campaign. I really enjoy writing in general so I am sure I can come up with something but it might take a little while :p

[JeenLeen]

I think two things could help this work.

1) give some indications the king is evil. Maybe at the festival some guards are putting their weight around, winning unfairly at games but nobody says anything? And when the <whatever> attacks, the guards just worry about themselves or the nobles, leaving the peasants to die.

2) change the assassin's guild into a resistance movement. Maybe they are assassins hired by the resistance, but emphasize 'resistance' over 'assassin', so they get posed as the good guys. (Note that players may question if the resistance is lying to them, but groundwork of guard abuse would help.)
I also think having the players not be kidnapped is good. Either have a contact ask to meet them, or have freedom fighters attack them as supporters of the king. If the latter, make it clear via NPC pronouncements that they are being attacked as a sign to the king, with a way to enter dialogue. If the players win completely and kill them all with no investigation, have a resistance member contact them, apologizing for the zeal of that group but asking if the PCs would hear the resistance out.

Also, killing the king just sounds... overwhelming early in a campaign, especially if the idea is to assassinate at the dinner. If this is a one-shot game (or short campaign), probably okay, especially if not starting at level 1. If you want it to be longer, I could see having the resistance hire the party to work for the king for a mission or two to gain his trust, perhaps working as moles so the resistance can move folk around. The PCs do their jobs, but the resistance minimizes the harm it does to their organization or takes advantage of it.

For example, maybe the king wants the PCs to defeat a noble he can't openly attack due to court politics. The noble is another corrupt dude like the king, but is gathering support. The resistance would also like the guy dead, so that he's not a contender after the king is deposed. PCs are to pose as resistance members or just thugs robbing the place, paid with what they find and the king's favor.


EDIT: and do be open to the idea of the party being okay with being the king's enforcers. Maybe at the end they double-cross the resistance instead of assassinating the king, and then leave the realm as well-paid thugs and/or become the elite and secret guard.

[BDRook]

Welcome to the joys of being a DM :) You can have the most epic grandiose story planned out, and the rogue...and it IS usually the rogue... will find a way to mess it up for you. Best thing you can do is be adaptable and let it play out the way it does.

[JobsforFun]

I think two things could help this work.

1) give some indications the king is evil. Maybe at the festival some guards are putting their weight around, winning unfairly at games but nobody says anything? And when the <whatever> attacks, the guards just worry about themselves or the nobles, leaving the peasants to die.

2) change the assassin's guild into a resistance movement. Maybe they are assassins hired by the resistance, but emphasize 'resistance' over 'assassin', so they get posed as the good guys. (Note that players may question if the resistance is lying to them, but groundwork of guard abuse would help.)
I also think having the players not be kidnapped is good. Either have a contact ask to meet them, or have freedom fighters attack them as supporters of the king. If the latter, make it clear via NPC pronouncements that they are being attacked as a sign to the king, with a way to enter dialogue. If the players win completely and kill them all with no investigation, have a resistance member contact them, apologizing for the zeal of that group but asking if the PCs would hear the resistance out.

Also, killing the king just sounds... overwhelming early in a campaign, especially if the idea is to assassinate at the dinner. If this is a one-shot game (or short campaign), probably okay, especially if not starting at level 1. If you want it to be longer, I could see having the resistance hire the party to work for the king for a mission or two to gain his trust, perhaps working as moles so the resistance can move folk around. The PCs do their jobs, but the resistance minimizes the harm it does to their organization or takes advantage of it.

For example, maybe the king wants the PCs to defeat a noble he can't openly attack due to court politics. The noble is another corrupt dude like the king, but is gathering support. The resistance would also like the guy dead, so that he's not a contender after the king is deposed. PCs are to pose as resistance members or just thugs robbing the place, paid with what they find and the king's favor.


EDIT: and do be open to the idea of the party being okay with being the king's enforcers. Maybe at the end they double-cross the resistance instead of assassinating the king, and then leave the realm as well-paid thugs and/or become the elite and secret guard.

I like the idea of a resistance, I like the idea that was posted above. Maybe have goblins (or some monster) attack the fair, and when the PCs defeat said monster the king invites them to his castle and asks if they can do him a favor and retrieve a cart of weapons that was taken by goblins or maybe the resistance itself but the king doesn't mention that they're resistance members. And when the PCs go and try to retrieve the cart maybe that is when they meet the resistance and decided to work with them or not.

And if they work with the resistance it would make more sense to instead of out right killing the king to kill other members of his party because if they just out right kill him someone else more corrupt would just take his place. They can kill his keys to power and then kill the king.

If they end up working with the king maybe he'll eventually become open about his corruption and the PCs are asked to help take over a neighboring kingdom?

Although I am not sure how to make the guards seem like bullies, if I go with the above plan having the guards bullying townsfolk and the PCs attack said guard might ruin my plans (although I am expecting that to happen a lot). I see no problem with the guards cheating at games maybe if they loose they say the win and take the "prize" or whatever by force.

[JobsforFun]

Welcome to the joys of being a DM :) You can have the most epic grandiose story planned out, and the rogue...and it IS usually the rogue... will find a way to mess it up for you. Best thing you can do is be adaptable and let it play out the way it does.

First rule of DMing, expect everything to go wrong. My friends have done that a lot in the past so I am expecting them to do it in mine. Best thing I can do is to somewhat try to plan ahead if they go off the rails. Although I am excited about being a DM and controlling the world and writing a story my friends can go through. I saw some people saying that it is a bad idea to start with a homebrewed campaign but I am not a huge fan of the premade campaigns out there I would much prefer to write my own. Because after all, that is what makes DnD so great!

Example of things going wrong: Friend of mine recently started his own campaign and had us fight a boss in a field and there was supposed to be a smell that was so strong we would hallucinate and I am playing a Lizardfolk druid and Lizardfolk can hold their breath for 15 minutes and some of my other friends were playing races that had some sort of thing they didn't have to breath for a certain amount of minutes. Infact the only person that would've been affected passed the check with a natural 20...

[Fishybugs]

Also, not everything an evil king does has to seem evil. Maybe he can send the group around the countryside clearing it of evil monsters....who also just happen to be holed up in his biggest gold mine. He's having them cleared for his own selfish reasons, but he's masking it with protecting the citizens of his country.

[JeenLeen]

Although I am not sure how to make the guards seem like bullies, if I go with the above plan having the guards bullying townsfolk and the PCs attack said guard might ruin my plans (although I am expecting that to happen a lot). I see no problem with the guards cheating at games maybe if they loose they say the win and take the "prize" or whatever by force.

Yeah, I was thinking of PCs attacking the guard, too. Maybe the guards aren't really bullies (actively during the festival, at least), but just seem to make folk worried and, when goblins or whatever attack, the guards just protect themselves, or the PCs hear a remark like, "Hold back, men. It'll sound better in the report if we defeat monsters who've killed rather than just attacked."

Though if the PCs attack the guard but still save the day... well, the king doesn't necessarily need to hear about or care that it happened. The townsfolk would likely be quiet about it.

[Zorku]

They can kill his keys to power

Ah, so you like political structure, eh?
There was a goldmine of a post on reddit some months back,
The Insurgent's Handbook (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/4eihag/dnd_insurgent_handbook_part_1/)
Killing the king might just be the big showy display that convinces the public that this whole revolution thing might be a good idea, but then the party needs to secure some of their own keys to power, namely by doing whatever it takes to convince two neighboring kingdoms (both ruled by relatively close blood relations of the late king,) not to get involved in any peacekeeping while the (no-king)dom goes through a period of turmoil under the incompetent hand of the regency court.

Oh, look at me, already painting the movement's propaganda for them...


If your players are into this sort of thing it can easily become a whole campaign, if they aren't into quite so much political intrigue then it's mostly a prelude to supernatural forces threatening the land- like some old and near-forgotten prophecy the players stumble over. Whoops, maybe we should have thought more carefully about regicide...

[JobsforFun]

Ah, so you like political structure, eh?
There was a goldmine of a post on reddit some months back,
The Insurgent's Handbook (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/4eihag/dnd_insurgent_handbook_part_1/)
Killing the king might just be the big showy display that convinces the public that this whole revolution thing might be a good idea, but then the party needs to secure some of their own keys to power, namely by doing whatever it takes to convince two neighboring kingdoms (both ruled by relatively close blood relations of the late king,) not to get involved in any peacekeeping while the (no-king)dom goes through a period of turmoil under the incompetent hand of the regency court.

Oh, look at me, already painting the movement's propaganda for them...


If your players are into this sort of thing it can easily become a whole campaign, if they aren't into quite so much political intrigue then it's mostly a prelude to supernatural forces threatening the land- like some old and near-forgotten prophecy the players stumble over. Whoops, maybe we should have thought more carefully about regicide...

I'm not exactly sure if they'd be too extremely into it or not, I think its how entertaining I can make it if I follow through with this. I am not sure if the king thing should last for a while or it would just be a short little begging to the campaign.

[Zorku]

If you've got a good grasp on how those things work you could probably drop that plot into world events as soon as the players got tired of it. Since it's a gradual build into warfare stuff it's on a much longer time table than almost anything else the party would get involved with.

If they spend quite awhile in a particular town or city they'd probably just have a slight influx of riffraff and whatever criminal element that was already present would slowly turn its efforts towards working with the resistance, depending on distance from the primary territory and such.

[ruy343]

if it's the start of a campaign, perhaps start with small-time villains and work your way up.

Once they defeat the guard captain (idea: who staged the attacks on the festival so that he could attract more royal money to his precinct to pocket for himself), maybe find a letter written to him to give him instructions about how to carry this out and signed in a cryptic pen-name. The PCs begin tracking down this guy, taking them on a whirlwind adventure through several smaller villains, each time hinting at something larger, and finally culminating in the discovery that one of the king's most trusted advisors is a man from a neighboring power who served as an advisor to the king who hopes to bankrupt the kingdom and cause it to fall into chaos, giving the neighboring power the ability to move in and restore order.

You know... Maybe include something about a secret society in the mix... something about there being a large, ancient relic on this kingdom's side of the border that the other guys want to dig up (which is why they need to move troops in for an extended period under the guise of peace... bonus points if you can include a plot about Elder Gods or something...

[JobsforFun]

if it's the start of a campaign, perhaps start with small-time villains and work your way up.

Once they defeat the guard captain (idea: who staged the attacks on the festival so that he could attract more royal money to his precinct to pocket for himself), maybe find a letter written to him to give him instructions about how to carry this out and signed in a cryptic pen-name. The PCs begin tracking down this guy, taking them on a whirlwind adventure through several smaller villains, each time hinting at something larger, and finally culminating in the discovery that one of the king's most trusted advisors is a man from a neighboring power who served as an advisor to the king who hopes to bankrupt the kingdom and cause it to fall into chaos, giving the neighboring power the ability to move in and restore order.

You know... Maybe include something about a secret society in the mix... something about there being a large, ancient relic on this kingdom's side of the border that the other guys want to dig up (which is why they need to move troops in for an extended period under the guise of peace... bonus points if you can include a plot about Elder Gods or something...

I like the idea of the king leading to something bigger like a secret society quick question, if everyone starts at level 4 and I have them fight the leader of the guards he'd obviously be counted as a boss so what level would he be? Level 5/6 Fighter?

[ruy343]

He can be as high as you'd like, but I find that players can usually handle villains 3-5 levels higher than themselves, depending on how many lackeys they have with them during the final encounter.

But who says he has to be a fighter? How about a Barbarian who wears medium armor, and appears unfazed by any wound he receives from the players!

[JobsforFun]

He can be as high as you'd like, but I find that players can usually handle villains 3-5 levels higher than themselves, depending on how many lackeys they have with them during the final encounter.

But who says he has to be a fighter? How about a Barbarian who wears medium armor, and appears unfazed by any wound he receives from the players!

I'm open to either class really, gotta make sure I can start planning and I am definitely going to keep asking for advice on here

[Zorku]

I like the idea of the king leading to something bigger like a secret society quick question, if everyone starts at level 4 and I have them fight the leader of the guards he'd obviously be counted as a boss so what level would he be? Level 5/6 Fighter?

Most human opponents don't directly follow the rules for character creation. For a party of 4 level 4 characters you could go CR 5 or 6, depending on how effective you think the party would be. Alternatively having him be CR 4 with two CR 1/4 lackeys would be about as dangerous, while most likely leading to a more interesting fight.

Optionally, if you like the angrydm blog, you could model him as 2 CR 3 creatures, with a nice mid-fight transition and possibly a change in the way he fights thereafter.
http://theangrygm.com/return-of-the-son-of-the-dd-boss-fight-now-in-5e/

[dickerson76]

Some thoughts I had while reading it:
-King is evil, and will ultimately be the BBEG [what is his ultimate plot? he's already king, what more could he want?]

-People are generally safe, even if the king uses heavy-handed methods to keep them this way

-King is the one who hired/brought in the attackers on a fair: he needs an obvious enemy so that people won't grumble about the level of taxes he's levying to "keep them safe"

-King invites them to the dinner to size them up, but doesn't request anything of them in the short run
-King pulls them aside and says that he thinks there is a traitor in his council, but can't figure out who it is [basically plays the role of the victim for some sympathy/cover]
-If the party points out any brutality/corruption, the king acts shocked and talks about how isolated he is from day-to-day activities

-Resistance is trying to convince the party that the king is evil, but it's not immediately obvious

-party is hired to resistance to follow threads of corruption, rising higher and higher into the king's inner circle until they realize that the puppetmaster is the king himself
-perhaps the king is an illusionist wizard who plays several roles within his own cabinet
-cabinet would have to be large enough and/or with enough layers that there is never a time when everyone is present

-...but I keep coming back to, what is the ultimate plot?
-maybe the king is sucking the life of common folk in some ritual to become a lich
-maybe there are many small kingdoms, with kings getting unseated all the time and this is just his way of quashing rebellion
-maybe this is the only way he know how to run a kingdom; he's just really paranoid and sucks at being a king

[Kurt Kurageous]

I like a lot of these ideas. My 2cp...

Make it hard on the party to figure out who are the bad guy(s). It could be the king, it could be the captain of the guards who makes the king look bad, or it could be those rebels/heroic insurgents who are quietly contacting the party, or it could be an outside agent pulling the strings. Keep the question open for as long as you can. Watch which way they lean.

Keep planning vague clues that are almost but not quite decisive. Make all sides look good, then all sides look bad. Then set up a situation where they MUST decide who's right and who's wrong. Make their decision utterly irrevocable.

Then tell them either:
a) They chose the right side! Yay! Rewards!
b) They chose wrong! Trouble and travel comin' their way!

Let the decision seem like theirs, but it's really whatever serves the story best (your story). But make it LATER.

[Thrudd]

Plan who the important NPCs are in your scenario and what they want.
Who is the king, what is he like and what are his goals? Who are the people that want to kill him, why do they want that? Who is attacking the town during the festival and why are they doing that?

Plan different ways the players might find important information that will lead them to other parts of your adventure.

Then design the physical situation: the town, the surrounding country, the layout of the king's castle if you expect the players might be infiltrating, any other lairs or hideouts or dungeons that might be relevant.

Plan what the NPCs in your scenario will be trying to do.
Don't plan that the players will do anything specific, you don't know what they will try to do. Don't plan the results of any battles. Absolutely don't plan that the players will get captured. You can plan to have somebody try to capture them, and plan for both success and failure. You can't predict exactly what the players or the dice will do.

Because you want the players to get involved in the scenario, you will need to make sure they create the right sort of characters. Make sure they all have a reason to be in the town, at the festival. If you want them to care what happens to the king, they should have some reason to either want to help or resist the king or his regime.
Preferably, you should make sure the player characters have some relationship with each other at the start of the game, as well, so they will be a team/party right away.

[JobsforFun]

Plan who the important NPCs are in your scenario and what they want.
Who is the king, what is he like and what are his goals? Who are the people that want to kill him, why do they want that? Who is attacking the town during the festival and why are they doing that?

Plan different ways the players might find important information that will lead them to other parts of your adventure.

Then design the physical situation: the town, the surrounding country, the layout of the king's castle if you expect the players might be infiltrating, any other lairs or hideouts or dungeons that might be relevant.

Plan what the NPCs in your scenario will be trying to do.
Don't plan that the players will do anything specific, you don't know what they will try to do. Don't plan the results of any battles. Absolutely don't plan that the players will get captured. You can plan to have somebody try to capture them, and plan for both success and failure. You can't predict exactly what the players or the dice will do.

Because you want the players to get involved in the scenario, you will need to make sure they create the right sort of characters. Make sure they all have a reason to be in the town, at the festival. If you want them to care what happens to the king, they should have some reason to either want to help or resist the king or his regime.
Preferably, you should make sure the player characters have some relationship with each other at the start of the game, as well, so they will be a team/party right away.

Was thinking that the King's overall goal is to gain money without regard for the towns folk with hopes of becoming a Lich but no one knows the King is trying to do so. Resistance is trying to dethrone him to make the town better for everyone but even they don't know the King is trying to become a Linch. Was thinking maybe the guard Commander hired the bandits to attack the festival and hoped his guards would attack and win or even he would get the chance to attack and win and make himself look good to the king. Was thinking the resitance might hire the group to spy on the king? Or possibly kill other members of his cabinet to weaken his power? Ultimately leading up to them fighting the king as a Linch?

[Thrudd]

Was thinking that the King's overall goal is to gain money without regard for the towns folk with hopes of becoming a Lich but no one knows the King is trying to do so. Resistance is trying to dethrone him to make the town better for everyone but even they don't know the King is trying to become a Linch. Was thinking maybe the guard Commander hired the bandits to attack the festival and hoped his guards would attack and win or even he would get the chance to attack and win and make himself look good to the king. Was thinking the resitance might hire the group to spy on the king? Or possibly kill other members of his cabinet to weaken his power? Ultimately leading up to them fighting the king as a Linch?

Stuff to think about - you don't need to type out all the answers here, unless you want to. But angles to consider.

you need to decide - are the players new to this region and don't know anything about the king yet, or do they already know that he takes too many taxes and the people are not cared for?

Does anyone in town know who the player characters are? If they start at higher level, do they already have a reputation as adventurers or heroes of some kind? If people already know who they are, then it might make sense that the commander or the rebels would be trying to get their help. If they're unknowns, then they would not factor into anyone's plans.

the lich thing is obviously way down the line, the players won't be able to even think about facing a lich until they are in the teen levels. probably too far away to bother planning/thinking about. Only worry about what is going on for a couple game sessions at a time.

Why does the commander want to look good for the king? what does that get him? What does that have to do with the resistance and their plans?

Why would someone hire the PC's to spy on the king or kill people? Are they known as expert spies? Are they known assassins? You can totally do that, you just need to tell the players the game is going to be focused on spying and assassinating and they should make characters that will be good for those types of missions.

What if the players refuse the job they are offered? What reward are they being offered to do these very dangerous jobs? If they fail at one of the missions, what happens then? Why would the resistance want to keep hiring them? Are they just expected to be members of the resistance that want to overthrow the king, so they are doing it out of principle? If so, that is also something you'll need to tell them before they make their characters- that they need to all come up with reasons why their characters are members of the resistance that want to overthrow the king.

For the big picture, you need to think about what important choices you will place in front of the characters and how those choices will impact what is going on. What challenges will the players face, and what are the consequences if they fail. Overall, what sort of goals will there be for the players to pursue. Is it just a series of missions that NPCs give to the players? Do the players get to choose their missions, or do you give them one mission at a time, and they choose how to accomplish it? Or are they completely free to choose whatever they want to do, even if that means they don't care about the king and the resistance and all that, and are just mercenaries or treasure hunters or whatever?

[JobsforFun]

Stuff to think about - you don't need to type out all the answers here, unless you want to. But angles to consider.

you need to decide - are the players new to this region and don't know anything about the king yet, or do they already know that he takes too many taxes and the people are not cared for?

Does anyone in town know who the player characters are? If they start at higher level, do they already have a reputation as adventurers or heroes of some kind? If people already know who they are, then it might make sense that the commander or the rebels would be trying to get their help. If they're unknowns, then they would not factor into anyone's plans.

the lich thing is obviously way down the line, the players won't be able to even think about facing a lich until they are in the teen levels. probably too far away to bother planning/thinking about. Only worry about what is going on for a couple game sessions at a time.

Why does the commander want to look good for the king? what does that get him? What does that have to do with the resistance and their plans?

Why would someone hire the PC's to spy on the king or kill people? Are they known as expert spies? Are they known assassins? You can totally do that, you just need to tell the players the game is going to be focused on spying and assassinating and they should make characters that will be good for those types of missions.

What if the players refuse the job they are offered? What reward are they being offered to do these very dangerous jobs? If they fail at one of the missions, what happens then? Why would the resistance want to keep hiring them? Are they just expected to be members of the resistance that want to overthrow the king, so they are doing it out of principle? If so, that is also something you'll need to tell them before they make their characters- that they need to all come up with reasons why their characters are members of the resistance that want to overthrow the king.

For the big picture, you need to think about what important choices you will place in front of the characters and how those choices will impact what is going on. What challenges will the players face, and what are the consequences if they fail. Overall, what sort of goals will there be for the players to pursue. Is it just a series of missions that NPCs give to the players? Do the players get to choose their missions, or do you give them one mission at a time, and they choose how to accomplish it? Or are they completely free to choose whatever they want to do, even if that means they don't care about the king and the resistance and all that, and are just mercenaries or treasure hunters or whatever?

Thanks for some more insight onto how to run it :). Can't wait to start writing.

[Zorku]

Was thinking that the King's overall goal is to gain money without regard for the towns folk with hopes of becoming a Lich but no one knows the King is trying to do so. Resistance is trying to dethrone him to make the town better for everyone but even they don't know the King is trying to become a Linch. Was thinking maybe the guard Commander hired the bandits to attack the festival and hoped his guards would attack and win or even he would get the chance to attack and win and make himself look good to the king. Was thinking the resitance might hire the group to spy on the king? Or possibly kill other members of his cabinet to weaken his power? Ultimately leading up to them fighting the king as a Linch?
I'm not terribly familiar with the lich potion lore, but I know of at least one lich where somebody else had them drink the potion that's supposed to be the final step in the transformation. Maybe the king's got some bootleg version of the ritual and his potion didn't kill him outright, but has instead turned his life into a bit of a waking nightmare while depriving him of the ability to kill himself. He might have intentionally let a rebellion foment until they got antsy enough to try and kill him, and then hey, whaddayaknow- the potion still worked! Folks are a bit shocked when the king shows back up about a week later, and everyone that got a really solid confirmation of his death goes missing or is suddenly suspiciously quiet about that.

" 'ole Kingy looks a bit pale, but I suppose I would be as weel if I came tha' close ter death."
If left alone her slowly becomes reclusive and the few servants allowed near him are either horrified or magically charmed. Because a country can't run itself his most trusted advisor takes on most of the king's duties until whatever point the heir gets uppity enough to insist that something is wrong or at least that they should be given some more control over the kingdom.