Reign of the Good King Skullfrost

[Dice4Hire]

I think there needs to be a good balance between the advisors and king

If the king is more powerful: I think you can play the king as a bit spoiled, agreeing to the situation as long as his needs are met. The advisors can stay in power as long as that keeps happening.

If the advisors are more powerful: They might be waiting for someone to grow up to take over the reins, or maybe th king's children are really worse.

Jsut a couple thoughts.

 

[DangerAbe]

I'm trying to write it as an entire campaign rather than just an adventure. I'm thinking that the first quest will involve one of the generals hiring the PCs to go to the neighboring kingdom, through the monster infested wilderness that lies on the border, to get a wagon of trade goods and return it to the general. The general will present these foreign goods to the king as plunder from the war. This quest will also test the trust-worthiness of the PCs.
The next quest will have the general hiring the PCs to return to the neighboring kingdom to steal a well-known, but not particularly powerful magic item, associated with the neighboring kingdom. The general plans to present the item to the king as "proof" of the successful "war."
After a few such quests, one of the rival noble families will try to convince the PCs that the general is evil and is trying to secretly start a war with the neighboring kingdom to further his ambition, but in actuality the general is stopping a war by continuing to dupe the king.

I still need more adventure ideas leading up to the revelation of what's actually been going on.

I really want to play up the "Wag the Dog" aspects of the situation. Also, I'm thinking that most of the spellcasters in the kingdom will be illusionists in order to add to the theme of appearances verses reality, which is going to be central to the entire campaign. I'm going to try to incorporate a lot of monsters with illusion-based powers, like displacer beasts, in order to add to the theme as well.

 

[jonesy]

Also, I'm thinking that most of the spellcasters in the kingdom will be illusionists in order to add to the theme of appearances verses reality, which is going to be central to the entire campaign. I'm going to try to incorporate a lot of monsters with illusion-based powers, like displacer beasts, in order to add to the theme as well.

Hey, that's excellent.

You could give the king an oracle, who shows him how the world is by way of 'holographic' imagery. Except it's not actually an oracle, just an illusionist with a vivid imagination who makes the stuff up.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Can there at least be a Castle Skullfrost? It's kind of a fun name.

Or how about a magic mace made from a frost giant's head?

 

[Dungeoneer]

I kind of agree with BriarMonkey. There needs to be something which makes it imperative that the king stay as the king. A reason for why it would be better to continue fooling him, instead of just outright getting rid of him.

And there's another problem. Wouldn't the PC's find out pretty quickly that killing the king is bad in the situation?

I don't actually see this as an insurmountable problem at all. Remember, in classic monarchy the king isn't just the guy who makes the laws and leads the armies. He represents the kingdom. He stands for it and all its people. He is a living symbol.

If the king is the latest in a long-lived and much revered dynasty, he'd certainly have to be pretty bad before the people considered throwing him out completely. And if his kingdom is the sort (quite common) where the monarch's power is not really absolute but in fact dependent on the good will of the nobility and the bureaucracy it's not at all inconceivable that those around the king could constrain his power.

Here's a plausible scenario:

The Mallozern family has ruled the Kingdom of Happyland ever since King Mallozern I, The Great Liberator, freed the people from the rule of the Evilbad Empire. Under their rule, the people of Happyland have enjoyed great personal freedom and economic prosperity. This is partly due to each King assembling cabinets of wise men and trusted advisors who run much of the day-to-day affairs of Happyland.

The trouble started at the end of the reign of Mallozern IV. King Mallozern IV had two sons. One of them, honest, generous and noble, sought to follow in his forebears footsteps. The other was... troubled. Of course King Mallozern IV chose the first to succeed him. But a few days before his death this son became deathly ill, and passed away not long after, leaving only the troubled son, known affectionately as Skullfrost.

Fortunatley Skullfrost was still a child, so his advisors were charged with running the kingdom until he came of age. As his predilections for evil and insanity became apparent, they developed a system of elaborate ruses designed to keep the young king's evil a secret from the outside world, while still keeping the Kingdom of Happyland running smoothly.

Of course it's not always possible to keep the king's true nature completely concealed. For instance, presumably he'd need to marry so he could produce an heir... and that might present some real challenges for his advisors!

Anyway, the real trick, as pointed out above, is how do you depose a monarch that everyone thinks is good and kind? Kill the king and the people will turn on you, believing you to be a traitor rather than a hero!

I think you should keep the name Skullfrost. It's so over-the-top it's hilarious!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Or how about a magic mace made from a frost giant's head?

That'd be a big topper for even a maul. Cool idea, though.

 

[Gilladian]

Not having read all the replies, here's my take;

The evil king is insane part of the time, and when he is insane he spends his time in mindless timewasting pursuits, which his advisors can use to direct him away from harming the kingdom. However, occasionally he has flashes of evil sanity, in which he realizes exactly what is being done to mislead him. In these times, he builds traps for his advisors, and lays plans to remove them from controlling him.

The advisors desperately NEED to keep the king "on the throne". He has no heir, and if his family loses the throne, then the nobility will erupt into civil war, and outside enemies will invade, and prophecy warns that a new age will begin as the old world falls, etc...

The advisors and the nobility should somehow be separate groups which hate each other or at the very least, the advisors are from one group of noble families and are opposed by other families. Some of these might know about the king, and others might not.

Hope some of this helps....