D&D 5E Developing new plot line - Rebellion!

[Trit One-Ear]

Hey all,

Time to post the basic outline for my group's next adventure, looking for plot holes, areas to develop, or anything I may have forgotten. Positive comments are obviously welcome too.

So as part of transitioning to 5th, my group is going to roll up a new group of 1st level characters to try out some of the lower-level aspects before we convert our higher level heroes from our 4th campaign.

As such, I'm developing a plot line that happens in the same world (on the Material Plane), while the main party is on a quest in the Feywild.

The kingdom our heroes call home has been in a period of relative peace for decades now. This is largely in part due to the presence of Breward Efrik, the Immortal King. When the Kingdom was first united (5 large city states banded together to defeat a Dragonborn invasion), Efrik became king. After a few years, it became clear he was no longer aging. While no one knows why, he constantly remained in his late 40's/early 50's. Now, roughly 180 years old, he has retreated from the public eye, most of his actual ruling being done through his trusted advisor council.

The secret reason behind this is that finally, sadly, the king has died. For similarly mysterious reasons, the Immortal King has finally succumbed to his age, leaving his young son to inherit the throne. This has been kept secret from the kingdom for several reasons. A) The boy is not yet of an age at which he would normally be allowed to take the throne, and B) In a kingdom that has only known one King, there are some who are worried what will happen when the King's death becomes known. There are hostile neighboring kingdoms, not to mention power-hungry nobles within the kingdom itself.

Which is where our adventure begins. Knowledge of the King's death has made it's way to an Eladrin/High Elf noble, Davice Proudstar. Proudstar tried to seize independent power decades ago, and was defeated. Since then he has played nice. However, when word of the king's death reaches his ears, he puts a plan into action. Before the public are aware, he begins to rally allies around him. This time, however, he has learned to keep his intentions more concealed. His plan is to rally support around another high-ranking Noble (a Duke of one of the 5 powerful cities), using him almost as a puppet. Meanwhile, he will remain close to the King's Council, advising them. This way, if the rebellion succeeds, he can (after dealing with his dull-witted proxy Duke), assume a position of power. If the rebellion fails, he has remained loyal and loses nothing. (There is actually a third party he is treating with as well - the hostile kingdom to the East. If the rebellion taxes both sides too heavily, he has plans to entreat them to go to war, putting him on the throne as a new ally).

So. To sum up, High Elf noble knows the Immortal King has died, plans a secret rebellion under a Duke's name to attempt to wrest power first from the new young King, then from his puppet Duke. If this fails, and the kingdom is weakened due to infighting, he can entreat his allies in the hostile kingdom to the East to invade, placing him directly on the throne when they win.

Thoughts thus far? If people are interested I can get into the system of nobility I've built for my heroes to play around in, and how I'm directly going to get my players involved. But let's not get any more carried away with detail than I already have.

Trit

 

[Tormyr]

How old does the boy need to be? Dad is 180 years old, but his son is too young? Did he not bother to sire any kids that survived until he was 170?

 

[Trit One-Ear]

My thoughts on this have been that he's had several wives over the course of his life, several of which he had children with. However, he has outlived them all.
This child is from his most recent wife (who I've also been thinking has recently died, but I may change my mind on that), so it just happens a young teen when his father dies.

Imagine having a father who you've always been told is immortal. He's had several children before you, and has outlived them all, considerably. There was never any expectations for this boy to become king. And suddenly, he has this thrust at him. Thus, the King's Council tries to protect him for a few years, while they give him a crash-course on kingdom management.

Trit

 

[Quartz]

This seems a bit too big a plot for a group of first-level adventurers. However, it's a good plot.

How about creating a set of higher-level shadier (but still loyal to the Crown) characters who are sent to assassinate the patsy? At some point they find that Davice is the real villain and then the fun begins. Or maybe the group is in the service of the Eastern Kingdom who would rather a boy-king on the throne rather than the devious and competent Davice?

As a bonus, you can later use the party as a foil for your PCs!

 

[Trit One-Ear]

This is actually not far from what I have in mind for involving the party, though I want to start them as loyal to the king (my group tends to drift towards chaotic neutral, so having them play more good characters will be a nice change. They've been asking for something to make them care more about the world, besides their own wants and needs).

The heroes are hired by the King's Council (with Davice Proudstar present as well) to retrieve a certain heirloom from the tomb of one of the influential noble families (the dwarven clan Torunn). Rumors of a growing rebellion have reached the Council's ears, and they are looking to sway potential enemies into allies. The Torunns are a proud clan, and will almost certainly side with whomever can retrieve the shield of one of their elders from a tomb that has been overrun by undead.

The heroes are gathered because the Council has sent many of its more powerful allies to deal with what seems to be higher-level threats. It is possible, however, that the rebellion has also sent a party to retrieve the shield.

Adventure hook #1.

Trit

 

[Tormyr]

My thoughts on this have been that he's had several wives over the course of his life, several of which he had children with. However, he has outlived them all.
This child is from his most recent wife (who I've also been thinking has recently died, but I may change my mind on that), so it just happens a young teen when his father dies.

Imagine having a father who you've always been told is immortal. He's had several children before you, and has outlived them all, considerably. There was never any expectations for this boy to become king. And suddenly, he has this thrust at him. Thus, the King's Council tries to protect him for a few years, while they give him a crash-course on kingdom management.

Trit

Okay, I just find it strange that there would not be another older child who would have a claim on the throne. The gap between outliving all of his children except the newest one is quite large. It definitely sounds like an interesting plot, but it is a good background for a campaign.

 

[Voort]

Okay, I just find it strange that there would not be another older child who would have a claim on the throne. The gap between outliving all of his children except the newest one is quite large.

There could easily be a few of the king's daughters still living, but only a son could claim the throne. Or perhaps the other heir joined a religious order and gave up the family name. Heck, there could be great-grandchildren of the original king who were never acknowledged as royal heirs.

 

[Tormyr]

There could easily be a few of the king's daughters still living, but only a son could claim the throne. Or perhaps the other heir joined a religious order and gave up the family name. Heck, there could be great-grandchildren of the original king who were never acknowledged as royal heirs.

Hmmm. I actually find the concept of the only heir being a woman more compelling, especially if there were any women in the party.

 

[Brainwatch]

Even if there is only ONE surviving son in line for the throne, the King's long life may mean there are grandchildren or even great grand children who can claim blood ties to the throne. Since this was the first king, the are no past precedents to set succession.

Another possibility is that all of the King's previous children met untimely ends before they could themselves have children. Dark rumors could start floating around that these deaths were how the King was prolonging his life (whether they are true or not is up to the DM). These rumors could definitely be used to discredit the old king and the council.

 

[Derren]

Even if there is only ONE surviving son in line for the throne, the King's long life may mean there are grandchildren or even great grand children who can claim blood ties to the throne. Since this was the first king, the are no past precedents to set succession.

Yes but skipping a generation could at the very least serve as a official reason for the duke to dispute succession. Still the lack of direct descendants is rather coincidental.

It certainly is a interesting setting to adventure in, but I don't think that the best use would be to send the players on generic dungeon crawls to retrieve mcguffins.