Assassination of mayor

[Ronnocius]

What would be some fair but not extreme consequences of assassinating the mayor of a town (approx 2,000 people)?

After inter-party fighting in the streets one of the players got into an altercation with the mayor and took revenge by assassinating him at night (killing a servant along the way). This character is neutral evil.

The mayor was very weak and easily manipulated, often accepting bribes of illicit drugs from the local criminals. He was a puppet of the criminals and wealthy citizens of the town and I was toying with the idea that they were unable to find another candidate they could all support leading to the election of the mayor's cousin who planned on cracking down on crime and forcing the baron of the region to lower taxes.

Does anybody have any ideas? Please note that I do not want to punish the player for assassinating the mayor but want reasonable consequences (mostly involving the power vacuum rather than trying to hunt down the killer as he did not leave any tracks).

[Wub]

Angry criminals that try to get revenge in the night? Though pretty much any faction that enjoyed dealings with the mayor would work for the role.

[dragoeniex]

It sounds like the mayor's cousin was actually going to be a much better leader for the town if he got elected. If that's right, then I would bring it to the forefront. Have the players run across a scenario or info that makes this evident, and maybe this guy could do a great job if-- whoops! Turns out he didn't get along great with his cousin, and with his strong resentment of the man and all the things he had to gain, now he's the main suspect for the murder.

Okay, team. Your potential ally and the best bet this place had for stabilization is going to be framed for something you did. What do?


Works better if your party enjoys helping NPCs, roleplaying, or gaining cool allies in minorly powerful positions. If the cousin was predisposed to getting along with them, this can hurt even better. Opportunities to creatively fix it would be neat.

If that's not the type of line they bite on, then general faction fights as criminal groups try to plant one of their own in the seat of power could be good. More dangerous to let your guard down walking around, certain stores ransacked or sabotaged by competing groups and unable to sell cool things, or even the drug dealing getting more prominent. The shady groups could get more aggressive trying to compensate for what was a pretty cushy deal for them.

[Corran]

The cousin of the mayor takes over. He is the exact opposite of the previous mayor. As you said, he wants to fight crime and look after his citizens. Presenting him in the completely opposite way than the previous mayor (that the party disliked I suppose) will help you make the party like him. To ensure that the party will like him (and since this is a small town), make him involve them in his efforts. He admits to them that the previous mayor was doing a bad job (despite the fact that he was a relative and recently deceased), but more importantly he tells them that he needs strong, focused and morale individuals like them (ie the party) if he is to succeed in getting things right. An NPC that makes your PC's feel important is most likely one that the plyers will like. Maybe have him hand them a brief quest that they will ace and he will praise and reward them so that you build up the relationship between this NPC and the PC's a little. All that is happening while the murder of the previous mayor has not been resolved (but there is a rumor that someone other than the actual killer did it; possibly planted by someone who wants to frame the so called culprit). When they finish their small quest and return to the town, and after the new mayor rewards them and butters them up, he tells them that it was proven (somehow, figure it out) that the person who was rumored to be the assassin of he previous mayor, was in fact innocent. Then he tells them that if he is serious about fighting crime and doing good, the least he could do is to have the assassin of his relative and previous mayor be brought to justice. And who better than the brave and decent PC's to see this task through? Throw them the ball and have them play it out. It's in their hands now, what do they do? Assuming the characters don't know who the assassin is, do they investigate all these criminals and corrupt wealthy influential people? Sounds like a good way to plan out some things related to this direction. And if they know IC that their buddy did it, do they say so (possibly leading to his death or at least imprisonment) or do they keep quiet and perhaps frame someone?

You can of course play the old ''well, you did a very horrible thing, but you will be pardoned if you do this oh so perilous quest for us'' card, but where's the fun in that?

[Unoriginal]

How about there is a criminal investigation, and if the PC didn't do a good enough job they get busted for murder?

[StoicLeaf]

Need more information.
What are your players like? As in, where are their interests? They might not be interested in local politics. Adding some examples:


optional branch that can be used for your purposes: Altercation with the mayor implies witnesses. The local police will likely want to talk to the player (who also happens to be the murderer. What an idiot). Depending on how prevalent magic is in your world, the local priest could cast zone of truth. At best the murderer-PC will become the prime suspect because he refuses to answer, at worst he confesses.
Players entirely uninterested by local politics: Roll a die and decide which "faction" gets their candidate in. The political landscape and power dynamics shift in an appropriate manner.
Players are selfish douche-nozzles that will do anything for favours/gold: the different criminal factions will approach them and ask for help in weakening the other factions' positions.
Players, except for the one, actually want to help: Protect the mayor's cousin! The criminals all agree that he can't become mayor. Perhaps use the optional branch mentioned above to force them into helping.

[Ronnocius]

How about there is a criminal investigation, and if the PC didn't do a good enough job they get busted for murder?

He is currently wanted within the barony but they are leaving town shortly after the murder as he has committed several crimes before.