Campaign Advice: Killing us only makes us stronger?

[Talakeal]

Ok, so I am going to be running an adventure this weekend.

The setup is that there is a magical kingdom A ruled by two princesses. One of them has innate ice magic, the other innate fire magic. Think Frozen but with Anna as an evoker with a fiery temper (both literally and figuratively).

The two princesses have been feuding, and their kingdom is in the middle of a long civil war with each trying to take the throne and trying to kill one another for past offenses; the elder sister was going to marry someone whom the younger sister thought dangerous and below her and arranged an accident to remove him from the picture. She was successful but her plot was uncovered.

The party are the minions of the Empress of a neighboring nation B which is currently at war with a third nation C.

Kingdom A is allied with Kingdom C. The goal of the party is to break this alliance up and if possible establish an alliance between nations A and B.

So the straightforward way to do this is for the party to side with one sister and then go kill or capture the other, and this is what I am expecting the party to do.

Here is the thing though, I want to make it possible for the party to take a more difficult path with greater risks and rewards that ends up with the sisters forgiving one another and uniting their kingdom.

The problem is I want this to be both more rewarding and more challenging. Simple diplomacy meets one of these objectives, but not the other, and will likely bore several players.

One way for me to do this is for the PCs to attack both of them and act like a bigger threat, forcing the sisters to work together or die against the united force; but I don't know how this can end up better for them, as now they will just have a united kingdom A who is more firmly allied against them with Kingdom C.

Can you think of any way in which the parties have to face both sisters, but end up allied with both at the end? I sure can't, but I am sure some of you out there are much more clever storytellers than I.


I am toying around with the idea of using magical or mundane disguises to make the party appear as agents of kingdom C. The problem with this is I want to have dialogue between the princesses and the PCs as themselves. Also, I have used this plot before, as unbeknownst to the PCs their whole war between kingdoms B and C was actually started by an illusionist in kingdom D tricking the armies of the two nations into fighting one another hoping it will end in mutually assured destruction for both and then he can sweep in and take over the region. I am afraid if the players go with this plot it will seem either repetitive or too obvious when that reveal happens, although if I do it right it might be a nice bit of foreshadowing.

Also, I know this seems a bit rail-roady. The final decision for what and how to do will rest in the players hands, but they are a group that suffers from analysis paralysis and I sometimes have trouble improving NPC reactions on the fly, so I like to have all possibilities prepared before hand.

[Kol Korran]

Hey Talakeal. Some thoughts:
1) While I currently run a set module, which has mostly scripted solutions to the problems (Usually killing what's in your way. ) My general approach is to create a problem, than have all kinds of incomplete hooks, leverages and complications, and let the party try to figure it out. I don't tell them how to solve a situation, just what is the desired goal, and let them come up with the plan. Brought some of the best roleplay and fun games I've had.

The key here is to make the situation more complex than just the problem, give the party all kind of fun things to explore, find, exploit and mess around with. I'll try to use your story as an example, pardon me if I get thigns wrong here:
Goal: ruler of nation B tells her most trusted agents (The PCs) that it needs country A on their side. Either with one of the sisters ruling, or preferably both united (And for a greater reward).
Course of action: Up to the PCs. now let start making a richer and more complicated scene, shall we?

• Fire sister uses some sort of elemental elixir in order to increase her powers. This works like a drug though, and has some sort of an effect on her- it's from demonic sources, so it may make her slowly more evil, or it makes her temper rage more, or maybe it's slowly killing her?
• The sister who had her lover killed, is making secret efforts to try and resurrect him, going to quite extremes to find a way. (Perhaps even against his own will?)
• Ice princess may have perfected a powerful spell/ ritual/ artifact/ weapon that makes great snow storms at areas.
• There is a third sibling. May be known or unknown to the rest.
• One of the princess falls in love with one of the PCs. How she pursues it depends on the nature of the princess, but I suggest to make her persistent, and doesn't take rejection well.
• The princesses may have other things they need/ require, but possibly no easy things: Get soem sort of a power source from a guarded place, possibly an heirloom of the Queen, which is kept safe guarded at the royal palace which is now out of limits to all and guarded by the elite royal guard, loyal to the last Queen's name? Maybe they want an alliance with some other force? (Dwarves, giants, a dragon?), maybe they want to "make an example", out of a settlement that chose to ally with the other side and is making great trouble, maybe they even want something from kingdom B, something special that the PCs' boss will not be ready to part with?
• There is a small ruling body that acts under the princesses, and is an advisory board, made out of the heads of 5 noble houses, the heads of the 9 guilds, and the high priest, high mage and high warden. Make a few of these people complications: most joined this or the other side, but can still meet, and have connections and spies. 3 might be suitors for oen of the princesses, 1 or two of them might be "worthy", while the last not. Some conspire to build up a power base and overthrow whomever comes winning from this problem, tired of the monarchy. The High warden Might be very protective, and wishes to bring the daughters together (An ally?), The High priest or magister acts as neutral but secretly support his favorite sister, and so on.
• There is some sort of belief or prophecy that all heirs to the realm develop the ice and fire power, complement each other, and depend on one another. If one should fall to the other, something really bad could happen (Civil unrest, return of an old evil, and so on) This might explain why the war haven't ended till now. It migth prove something the party could use to foster renewed alliance, but it's but superstition, and no one really believes it anymore... do they?
• There is a new folk hero, risen from the war, that protects a small region and claim independence from the "Two mad elements". This guy is quite liekd by the folks, and is very popular. Could prove a hindrance or useful.
• A cult from Country D is stirring the pot here, flaring the flames, making propaganda, maybe even small focused attacks on key locations or people, framing it on one side or the other.

Ok, enough for now. Not sure that it helps, but I hope it does. Throw in a lot of pieces that grant depth and an interesting play field, and let the party make the game itself. You can think up likely routes of action, just don't dwell or get fixated on them.

[Strigon]

Well, if your only problem is making them forgiving each other hard, perhaps make a way for them to uncover the truth about the husband? Have it hidden, or lost, and they must go through an abandoned fort that once belonged to an order of which the husband was a member, and they were trying to usurp the throne? They uncover the plot, share this news with one of the sisters, season with diplomacy and intrigue to taste, and serve to players!

[Raine_Sage]

Well, if your only problem is making them forgiving each other hard, perhaps make a way for them to uncover the truth about the husband? Have it hidden, or lost, and they must go through an abandoned fort that once belonged to an order of which the husband was a member, and they were trying to usurp the throne? They uncover the plot, share this news with one of the sisters, season with diplomacy and intrigue to taste, and serve to players!

Yeah I was just about to suggest this. The players are bound to hear about the reason the sisters are fighting at some point, so digging up the truth of the matter can be its own questline on top of whatever else they have to do to try and secure the war effort.

Ice sister thinks fire sister killed her fiance in a botched assassination attempt meant for her. Fire sister thought the fiance was the one plotting an assassination. The players have to figure out which one was right which could include digging up evidence, confronting the fiance's family members, maybe uncovering some previously unknown third faction that the sisters must then unite against with the help of the PCs.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

What if the party frames kingdom C as the aggressor that the sisters need to unite against?