Help! Intrigue, conspiracy, France, Russia and steam tech!

I'm just looking to do some brainstorming, as I've created the bare bones of a setting but I'm a new-ish DM and feel like I'm barely treading water in the middle of a stormy ocean.

Setting: .ALT post-Renaissance Europe, specifically France. The Industrial Revolution is in it's infancy--foetal stages, really--and is occuring in secret. My major France-like country's military (Dementleiu if you've read Ravenloft, but minus the horror trappings) has secretly been developing guns and steam tech--specifically, steamjacks. The common man knows nothing about this. Pretend Russia lives right next door to France, in a nation named Khador.

Dementlieu has a thriving criminal element, a Guild based loosly on our real-world Mafia, which exerts considerable influence in governmental affairs--they have spies everywhere, and blackmail the snot outta the ruling classes in order to avoid...'punishment.'

My players, a thief, bard and dragon shaman--all 3rd level--are in the 'employ' of (read: 'being blackmailed by') the Guild.

Dementlieu's military has a rift: there is a splinter cell / shadow faction of the military which has sold the first prototypes to the neighboring country Khador. These Dementlieu military dissidents want to sell the guns to Khador because Khador is gearing up for war with yet another country. The guns will turn the tide of war to the Khadorites, a political and military friend to Dementlieu. The Guild discovered details of the arms sale (spies, remember?) and had the players pose as Khadorite military, buy the guns, and have the guns shipped back to the Guild.

(Confused yet? If it makes it easier to understand, just swap 'France' and 'Russia' for the fantasy names.)

Here's where I need help. Khador knows that Dementlieu is capable of manufacturing weapons. Dementlieu's military had a batch of prototype weapons stolen by dissidents in their own military a few weeks ago. The Guild now has the weapons (and the Dementlieu military has no idea, not even the dissidents).

Where do I go from here? This is ripe for conspiracy & intrigue, but I'm having a tough time seeing the opportunities, especially for my players to be involved. How can I play up the emerging steampunk technology?

As I see it, the options are this:

- The Dementlieu Guild covers up the gun sale by rubbing out the players--the players are the only 'wild card' in the situation, and if the players talk, the Guild takes the fall. If the players are 'removed' the Guild keeps the weapons and the conspiracy disappears. This sucks because 1) the Guild is ultra-powerful and will likely kill my heroes quickly & easily, 2) I enjoy that the players are 'working' for the Guild.

- The Dementlieu military pieces together the double-cross and crushes both the Guild and the players in the process. This sucks for the same as reason #1 above - the players will likely not survive against the entire Dementlieu military.

- The Khador military discovers the double-cross and we have the same situation.

...The only "out" that provides a challenge to my players without killing them is to have the dissidents in the Dementlieu military - the ones who sold the guns to the Khadorite govt in the first place - try to hunt them down.

option 4 - The Guide realizes the new weapons could/will dramatically shift the balance of power in favor of whomever controls them, and having the only working prototypes puts them far ahead of any official goverment presents them with previously undreamed of possiblities.
-- Therefore the PCs next mission is to "rescue' the developers from the French military.
-- Followed by a mission to explore a remote location for a possible place to manufacture and train the Guide's future militia.
-- a covert mission leading one of the first training squads against some rival faction to field-test the first production models
<etc>

Of course eventually the PC's will realize the Guide plans on overthrowing the legimate goverment and need to decide whether to go along in hopes of gaining positions of power in the new government -or- determine whom in the existing government are NOT guide informers AND would believe their amazing tale without arresting them for their role in the pendng coup?

I <3 you! Thanks, I'll see if that spin works.

Actually, the idea of the Guild hunting them down will also work for me, after I considered it, and may be better for the players.

jefgorbach said:

having the only working prototypes puts them far ahead of any official goverment

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Do you seriously believe that France's, err, Dementlieu's govt won't manufacture more pistols?

Yes, it will. Oh yes it will. Vive le Fracios!* MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA






* it's been 15 years since I took Frech in high school, so pardon moi if that's incorrect

Wraith Form said:

Quasi-Renaissance Europe
...
The Industrial Revolution is in it's infancy
...
steam tech

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Well... what exactly is the quasi-renaissance in that setting? Surely not the Industrial Revolution (which is 18th - 19th century) neither steam engine (late 17th /early 18th century).

I am not suggesting, that you can't mix these things, just make yourself more in touch with the true Renaissance stuff (cultural movement and assimilation of foreign knowledge and its impact on literature, philosophy, art, politics, science and religion). Think more about the whole setting and its movements and shifts and the "direct impact" on the game might appear naturally (or not ).

jefgorbach said:

Therefore the PCs next mission is to "rescue' the developers from the French military.

Click to expand...

The Guild might be a little unable to manage the resources for a full-scale military development program, even with their resources - they might want to put their own stooge in a position of power instead. Same with overthrowing the government - they'd probably rather have their people in charge rather than try to take over directly. I'm thinking that the son of a Guild leader might be a young up-and-coming politician with ambition. A Michael Corleone type, perhaps (before he was forced back into the Mafia).

The Guild might want to hunt and eliminate the PC's, but they might also want to continue using them as useful patsies. If they're going to hunt the PC's, you may need to have them find some sort of patron to protect them...

Alnag said:

Well... what exactly is the quasi-renaissance in that setting? Surely not the Industrial Revolution (which is 18th - 19th century) neither steam engine (late 17th /early 18th century).

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I edited the original post to help clarify this. "Steampunk" by definition indicates "advances in tech earlier or deviating from actual history."

First, this isn't *actual* Europe, so I can change & mutate events as I see fit. Technically, my 'setting' was once Greyhawk--but Greyhawk experienced a cataclysm...errr, no, more like transformation...(that I won't detail here unless needed) and changed into the current setting. I indicated Renaissance because this is very early in the development of gunpowder weapons & steam tech, roughly 1700s (think Three Musketeers), and hasn't quite reached the Victorian / Edwardian Age yet, not because I'm trying to reflect real-world history.

Second, regarding the development of tech, in my .ALT world, several brilliant inventors were given funding by wealthy patrons (think the Medicis), but the tech was kept contained within the military rather than being developed by 'independants.' These wealthy patrons are one of the things I'm yoinking directly from real-world Rennaisanace history, but they're more of a shadowy militant Illuminati than happy-go-lucky merchant-class.

Pistols and steamjacks (mechanical man-like forklifts, essentially) have been developed so far, and the players have seen both of these inventions.

Any suggestions for the next 'wave' of tech I should introduce? (I'm avoiding trains, as I don't want this to be an Ebarron clone.) I'm thinking a clockwork man or woman, and a computer. (I loved Gibson & Sterling's The Difference Engine!)

Oh, and thank you - EVERYONE - for trying to help.