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Ideas to flesh out a web of intrigue
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<blockquote data-quote="Effinjay" data-source="post: 9272727" data-attributes="member: 7044895"><p>I need some ideas to flesh out a web of intrigue aspect of a semi dungeon crawl scenario. I'll try and keep all the context minimal but theres a lot of it which makes it difficult to keep this short.</p><p></p><p>The players are trying to foil cultists seeking 4 elemental relics. The PCs have retrieved the air relic and arrive at the earth temple to find an 'expedition' is already there. They arent obviously cultists though but a noble who has a scholar and his team and also the merchant thats is financing it, all with assorted lackeys. They are pretty sure either the noble, head scholar or merchant are probably not there for the reasons they pretend to be.</p><p></p><p>I need situations and events that could have the players suspecting one or other of the three factions to throw in while the PCs are exploring the complex and helping the expedition. (Ive already come up with a few but wont pad this even more adding them here)</p><p></p><p>The merchant is the cultist and some of his lackeys are in on it. Others are just hires. The merchant has also been forewarned about the PCs and he doesnt want to confront the air bearer yet. He needs to make sure they stick around. So he will suggest they are hired, as it so happens they do have relevant skills. (Perhaps that in itself is suspicious, maybe he coerces the noble to suggest it)</p><p></p><p>The merchant engineered everything including the noble learning where his father was buried. This was something planted in a sale he made to the scholar. If the players think he's just there out of greed then he's been successful in misleading them.</p><p></p><p>The noble wants an item in his father's tomb (not the earth relic) that will let him claim this region.Currently a no mans land between two nations. This area has been deliberately abandoned as it is known to some how dangerous these relics and other locations associated with them are. His lust for political power may seem like lust for another sort of power in the eyes of the PCs.</p><p></p><p>The scholar is just after the lore that lies here. Partly its about prestige, partly about a thirst for knowledge, partly about future funding from the noble. The merchant will try and deflect suspicions away from the noble and towards the scholar. The scholar knows something isn't quite right, isnt sure who to trust and definitely wont trust the PCs initialy. The hires dont all seem to be up to snuff, some of the gear is shoddy and not what he asked for, amongst other things. (such as???)</p><p></p><p>The noble is key to unlocking the shrine. The merchant knows his father's spirit is the tomb guardian. He's certain something the noble knows will help unlock the various shrines in the temple and activate the sequence to get at the heart of the temple. (It is and the PCs are the key to that due to an NPC they met previously) He also knows that being near the noble will protect him from harm as the spirit wont do anything to harm his son.</p><p></p><p>As far as the plot goes it'll get a bit derailed if the noble and PCs end up at odds. If anything occurs that might implicate the noble there needs to be a twist where blame can be shifted to the scholar.</p><p></p><p>I think that covers more or less everything that's relevant.</p><p></p><p>thanks <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Effinjay, post: 9272727, member: 7044895"] I need some ideas to flesh out a web of intrigue aspect of a semi dungeon crawl scenario. I'll try and keep all the context minimal but theres a lot of it which makes it difficult to keep this short. The players are trying to foil cultists seeking 4 elemental relics. The PCs have retrieved the air relic and arrive at the earth temple to find an 'expedition' is already there. They arent obviously cultists though but a noble who has a scholar and his team and also the merchant thats is financing it, all with assorted lackeys. They are pretty sure either the noble, head scholar or merchant are probably not there for the reasons they pretend to be. I need situations and events that could have the players suspecting one or other of the three factions to throw in while the PCs are exploring the complex and helping the expedition. (Ive already come up with a few but wont pad this even more adding them here) The merchant is the cultist and some of his lackeys are in on it. Others are just hires. The merchant has also been forewarned about the PCs and he doesnt want to confront the air bearer yet. He needs to make sure they stick around. So he will suggest they are hired, as it so happens they do have relevant skills. (Perhaps that in itself is suspicious, maybe he coerces the noble to suggest it) The merchant engineered everything including the noble learning where his father was buried. This was something planted in a sale he made to the scholar. If the players think he's just there out of greed then he's been successful in misleading them. The noble wants an item in his father's tomb (not the earth relic) that will let him claim this region.Currently a no mans land between two nations. This area has been deliberately abandoned as it is known to some how dangerous these relics and other locations associated with them are. His lust for political power may seem like lust for another sort of power in the eyes of the PCs. The scholar is just after the lore that lies here. Partly its about prestige, partly about a thirst for knowledge, partly about future funding from the noble. The merchant will try and deflect suspicions away from the noble and towards the scholar. The scholar knows something isn't quite right, isnt sure who to trust and definitely wont trust the PCs initialy. The hires dont all seem to be up to snuff, some of the gear is shoddy and not what he asked for, amongst other things. (such as???) The noble is key to unlocking the shrine. The merchant knows his father's spirit is the tomb guardian. He's certain something the noble knows will help unlock the various shrines in the temple and activate the sequence to get at the heart of the temple. (It is and the PCs are the key to that due to an NPC they met previously) He also knows that being near the noble will protect him from harm as the spirit wont do anything to harm his son. As far as the plot goes it'll get a bit derailed if the noble and PCs end up at odds. If anything occurs that might implicate the noble there needs to be a twist where blame can be shifted to the scholar. I think that covers more or less everything that's relevant. thanks :) [/QUOTE]
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