I Need A Conspiracy!!!

[TheFamilarRaven]

Hello playground, as you might have gathered from m the title of this thread, I am in dire need of a good ol' fashioned conspiracy. You see, while I can slap on a few broad strokes and paint a big picture, the devil is in the details, as they say.

In common, I have a general idea of the overall scheme is and who some of the major players are. I am currently wracking my brain trying to come up with an in depth plot that will thicken over the course of the adventure. So let me lay out what I have so far, starting with the big details and moving down.

-My players have requested a roleplay heavy, intrigue adventure. Not my forte, but certainly not outside my capabilities
- The system we have decided to use is Pathfinder, the party will be starting at a low level (1-3, I am undecided as of now)
- I have chosen to use my usual homebrew world for the setting, most of my players are familiar with it.
- The campaign starts 32 years after a major, nation shattering world war.
- The adventure will take place in the metropolis of Solmnus, part of the Myzandian republic
- The game will be primarily play-by-post (don't know if relevant, but thought i'd best add that fact)

Spoiler: About Solmnus

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Solnmus is the largest city (by population) in the Myzandian republic, and is the capitol city of the Caliviae region, (just the region, not the whole republic). The races that make of the majority of the demographic are humans, Venmera (wood elves, if you will), Jomera (high elves, if you will), Emoc (gnomes), and other. The Caliviae region boasts a Mediterranean climate near the oceans, but gets more arid the further west/south-west you go. It is also home to some of the biggest slums in the country. Its primary exports are food, weapons and other metal goods. The city is situated near a mountain chain rich in mineral wealth (namely iron), and the valleys and fields north of the city are very fertile. Solmnus also has a large port, in which to trade across the oceans.

Due to said war happening 32 years ago, a flux of Venmeran , refugees have put down roots in Solmnus (and various other cities across the republic). Because of circumstances back in their home country, more and more Venmerans flee to the republic whenever they get the chance.

Most of the wealth that the exports generate go to the land/business owners, while the working class remains poor. The refugees have displaced many of the local workers, as the venmerans agree to much lower pay and harsher conditions just to keep themselves and there families fed. This has led to resentment towards the venmerans from the locals.

The Caliviae region is is governed over by an elected official, helped along by an elected council. Terms last for 8 years, with no limit on how many times an individual may run for office.

It's getting late so I'll speed things up

Spoiler: Big Picture

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Basically, my idea is to have a cult of Y'vos (Demonlord of Corruption) influence events in the city. Their ultimate goal is to destabilize the republic and sow chaos, because demons (more concrete reason to come). To do that they are going to have to be able to influence the politicians, the merchants and some of the gangs in the streets. They plan to ignite a race war that will weaken the republic, so that their enemy nations will gain an opportune time to strike.

My general map for how the PC's unravel the plot goes as follows

gang violence -> thieves guilds -> merchants guilds -> politicians -> Y'vos cult

Problem is that seems like a pretty straight path....

So what do I need?

- Any ideas for false leads
- What are obstacles that hinder the PC's investigation? (I've already checked off corrupt city guard).
- What are good ways to drop hints and clues as to whats really going on without the obvious "note off big bad" trope?
- any cool ideas for a character or scenario that might happen in such a city.
- Anything I might have missed because it's late, and, like I said, conspiracy plots are not my forte.

[Rift_Wolf]

The enemy nations will have spies and other agents within the city; while they could be antagonists (friend of my enemy), they could also be trying to stop the demon cult from igniting a war (enemy of my enemy that I don't know about yet). The spies would have their own agenda, which will probably be to the detriment of the PCs in the long term.

I'm gonna tread lightly on other topics regarding the elven situation, but I was thinking rather than general unrest being linked to thieves guilds, there's a lot of room for the charismatic Cultist to play a side; Rallying the natives against the newcomers or promising empowerment to the weak. The Cultist doesn't have to be part of the overall demon cult either; a passionate speech doesn't need a Balor to sell it. However for the sake of keeping fantasy fantastic, and avoiding real world examples, making the Charismatic Cultist a front for the demon cult could be a decent switch; the party might think they've tracked down and cleared out the Yvos cult early on thinking they were bush-league, and dismiss any further information on them as extraneous fluff. When it turns out that the cults far more subtle and powerful than a Jonah King wannabe, there'll be a scramble to reassess all the clues you dropped before.

[Everyl]

One thing to keep in mind is that, besides the 'faithful' cultists themselves, most of the people involved in the conspiracy wouldn't be interested in chaos for chaos' sake, or in serving whatever the demon's wishes are. They'll be cooperating, quite likely in only a limited fashion, because they expect some benefits to them and their own. Gangs, thieves' guilds, and other criminal organizations might get involved to get an edge over rival criminals, or to get corrupt law officials to overlook some of their activities, or any number of other reasons - it's quite likely that few, if any, would know that their activities promote the interests of a demon. Particularly on the street-gang level, the influx of poor, obviously-foreign elves would be likely to lead to the creation of immigrant gangs, if only to defend themselves against the established criminal element in the city - in other words, local gangs will be prone to xenophobia even without a conspiracy pushing them along.

In addition to the spies Rift_Wolf mentioned, a major city like that would also likely have diplomatic officials from friendly, neutral, and possibly even some hostile countries in it. As a regional capital rather than a national one, they would be consular officials rather than ambassadorial ones, with many of their duties involving local trade issues. Depending on the interests of the nations represented by the foreign consuls, their motivations could be vast and complex. Many of them would be interested in keeping international relations peaceful and positive, but some might also be happy to blame local problems on immigrants as long as those immigrants aren't from the country they represent. Others may be actively interested in turning local sentiment against their geopolitical rivals, which could be a motive for becoming involved in the conspiracy - causing chaos and blaming it on their enemies. This could even be a source of false leads - a foreign representative could be causing trouble locally without having any contact with any demonic conspirators.

[jqavins]

It's been said in specifics, but I'll say it in general: many, and probably most of the people stirring up trouble needn't know they are helping a demon, whoever they are and no matter their own reasons for doing so. So the PCs can find a human street gang who are sincerely anti-immigrant, then find that the gang is secretly backed by a politician who is also sincerely anti-immigrant, only to find that he is backed by a powerful business interest who is using all of them and their racism for commercial gain. Perhaps one member of the "board of directors" of the business interest is in on the real conspiracy, but he plays his part to the end. So, the players have uncovered a hidden conspiracy, and a secret reason for it all, but the wrong one.

Of course, some other gang faction will lead to the thieves' guild, just as you'd planned.

And then there are the law-and-order types, who want to crack down on the gangs. But some of the influential players in that faction are found to be using that as a pretext to put the populace in a martial mood, getting ready for a war against neighbors, which they want just for long-held hatred of the neighboring countries. Or for, once again, commercial interests. And, either way, most of the people involved have no idea there is a demon behind it all.

Neighboring countries are blamed for regional and local problems, stirring up local violence and sentiment for war. Word reaches the Royal ears, bringing national authority to the region to see what's going on and try to get matters "back under control." But this only inflames the regional patriotic movement, which can now blame the "far off king" for their troubles, so that some call for outright rebellion and separation. It makes no difference if they win or lose; it's just more chaos. And Y'vos's agents are, of course, pulling the separatists' strings, even while his other agents brought the national authorities down in the first place. Should the PCs find the demon influence in this, they think they're done, but it's only one of several plots.

A new religious movement is on the rise, claiming chaotic good alignment, and claiming that "Many things you've been told are evil really are not. You've been told that pleasure is bad; so why did the gods make us to enjoy things like rich foods, luxury, and sex so deeply?" Of course, it doesn't matter if other religious or secular authorities ever really said these things are wrong, as long as enough people buy it to fill the pews. Then later, "You've been told that it is wrong to make the poor and the weak work in your homes. But are you not putting roofs over their heads and food in their bellies? Are you not giving them more than what the gods saw fit to bless them with, thus sharing your blessings with them? And make no mistake: you are blessed above them, so it is only fitting that you should remain above them." And so on. It's amazing (and scary) what people will do, and still think they are good people, if a charismatic preacher (or other authority) tells them that it is OK. This need not be related directly to the rest of the plot, but sows seeds of chaos and evil that can be already in place when the main plot comes to fruition. Of course, the power behind it is a demon, but not Y'vos, so if the PCs get to the bottom of it and defeat the demon, they think they've uncovered and eliminated the demon threat, while the main plot goes on.

And so on. Have Y'vos's agents behind a bunch of different plots. Have some of those agents be cultists, and some be lesser demons. Have multiple plots overseen by the same middle management demon, so the PCs may follow multiple lines to the same common demonic source, giving them all the more reason to think they've got to the top, but Y'vos is still insulated and still running other plans. Eventually, they'll get so used to these feints that even when they get Y'vos they won't believe it's over, and they'll keep looking for the next demon up in line from him.

[TheFamilarRaven]

Thanks a lot you guys. everything that's been said has been extremely helpful.

[LnGrrrR]

I know I'm late to the party in responding, but something I did in a setting is have a local politician hire the PCs to take out bad guys. But the politician also hired the bad guys to take out the good guys, and set everything up so it would occur in a public place, causing a great deal of destruction and terrifying the townsfolk. He then used that as an impetus to take office himself, as he claimed that the current officeholder was weak on crime, and that he would prevent those kinds of events.

Then, when he was confronted by the PCs, he made it look as if they were trying to assassinate him, which made the people join to his side and treat the PCs as criminals. From there, just have the politician doing whatever shady stuff fits your story (for mine, his group of bad guys were a cult summoning demons). If you do it right, the PCs should be pretty motivated to take him down, but will have a hard time doing so. (Assuming your party isn't evil, that is... that opens its own can of worms.)