Barbed Gifts, or Dirty Politics

[Epametheus]

Maybe a Red Dragon has killed the previous owner of that land, and has claimed it as his own. That's a pretty serious (and potentially fatal) crisis right there, and as the new lord of that land Mr. Goody-Goody needs to go get rid of it.

Perhaps it's a border province with a rather greedy and expansionistic neighbor, and so the new lord's duties will involve holding the border.

Maybe an orc horde just moved in.

Maybe a demon or necromancer has just set up shop in the area.

Maybe all of the above.

There should be at least a few problems -- one or two of which are starkly visible, and a few more that will arise to bite Baron Threehills on the ass when he's in the middle of dealing with the readily visible ones.

There does need to be some sort of gesture of goodwill involved in this, or at least some indication that it isn't meant entirely to be a deathtrap -- or some way to oblidge the good Baron into consciously walking into a deathtrap.

 

[drnuncheon]

Sheesh. Haven't you ever read Dune? Among other matters, he's not just giving him more power, he's giving him more responsibility. If the responsibility outweighs the power...

Exactly. And you don't just turn down offers like this, either. 'No, I know you're my feudal lord and all, but I don't wanna.' 'Too bad.'

Great ideas, folks - some will fit, some won't - but since I need lots of crises, the more the better!

J

 

[ShawnLStroud]

I'm considering having the Count summon him to court, congratulate him on doing such a good job with his barony and for being such a good friend to his son - and then saddling him with another domain. I'm looking for a way to make this a very barbed gift - basically the Count is combining a bribe (economic and political power) with a way to get this guy out of his hair (by giving him somethign with crises that need to be dealt with immediately).

One way for this to be a barbed gift is for the gift to actually have some barbs. The land needs to represent a real economic advantadge for Di'Fier -- perhaps it's known for producing bountiful crops, or for the really productive Silver, Admantium or Iron mine located therein. This means that Di'Fier gets to be rich and powerful -- he'll have the wherewithal to accomplish any number of tasks; follow any number of plans... except for the small problem that he'll have to overcome, one way or another.

Taking our cue from Felaja, Iraq or one of the old Soviet client states: I submit that the Count will hand over the new land to Di'Fier because it's one big, hairy, pain in the posterior. The locals (mostly human, but you could use a different race if you wanted to be obvious) don't consider themselves part of the nation/state of which the Count is a part. They are bitter and feel enslaved -- that the fruits of their labor is being torn from them in return for nothing -- and have decided to wage guerilla war against their oppressors. Let's say that the Count's local representative has recently expired under less than admirable circumstances, and so the Count has a need for the land to be pacified. And DiFier is just the pacifier that the Count needs.

This could work for the Count in a number of ways, for if the guerillas are tough, clever and resourceful, they could well prove to be a real threat to our intrepid heros. If a beloved NPC or two should die in the troubles, then DiFier and/or Drusilla might well go on a rampage -- sullying their own reputations. Or, better yet, Di and Dru might well die; which, from the Count's point of view, might be even better.

From my reading of your story hour, it's been some time since DiFier and Dru faced entirely ordinary, motivated people who have a real beef. It might be an eye-opening experience.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Ok, again I haven't read the story hour, so this is going to be sort of vague. Basically, try to set up the second problem in a way so that solving it makes the first one more difficult.

For example, several people have mentioned having some sort of mine or other resource in the area. Let's say for argument's sake, this mine is the source of contention between the two parties in the negotiation (since I really have no idea what the negotiation is about). It is in contested land, is currently occupied by one noble and challenged by another, etc. The PC is given land near the mine, and will naturally end up trying to help with the problems there, but has to do so in a way that will avoid angering either side, or else the first negotiations are blow.

Meanwhile, if he just waffles and tries to let the negotiations take care of things, then the situation gets worse (as planned by the people behind the plot) and he's not getting his income, prestige, or whatever that he should be getting from his new holdings because of the problems in the land.

The beauty part of this is that the Count will have a ready-made excuse to be giving the Baron the land, since the PC is overseeing the negotiations and this is directly involved. When the PC comes crying to the Count about how delicate the situation is, the Count can just shrug and say "That's how politics work, why do you think we need someone overseeing things?"

Like I've said before, I have no idea what the negotiations actually entail, but I'm sure you can get the gist of what I mean.

 

[random user]

Random thoughts:

Maybe the new lands are "cursed." The rumor is that whoever the ruler is will die within a year (3 months, whatever timeframe you need) of taking the reins. Regardless of whether it is true or not, the last 3 appointees have all resigned before the time was up.

As a result, the commonfolk aren't too productive, as there has been a huge turnover in rulers, and they fully expect whoever to rule next proclaim a lot of changes and then be gone before even a third of them go through fully.

The "curse" doesn't really affect the lands, but the last baron appointed ended up having to be institutionalized for being paranoid and suffering from multiple personality disorder (he had been perfectly sane beforehand). The baron before simply disappeared, never to have been heard of. The baron before that one quit without stating a reason, and has refused to talk to anyone about it.

What is the curse actually? Well, it could be several things, most of which someone who knows the world better than I could suggest. However, so I don't just suggest something and then quit halfway, one possible scenario is thus:

The baron before the one just mentioned (the fourth one back) was a just and respected ruler of his people. For political reasons, his only son was kidnapped, though it was all kept quiet. The baron agreed to a ransom and a meeting place was agreed upon in the main court (as I said, it was a political kidnapping, and someone in the main court was involved) as a "safe" location.

The father arrived with the ransom ready to pay up. He flew into a rage and attempted to kill his sons' kidnappers when the kidnappers said that his son had been killed, but the main villain was too adept. As the baron lay dying, the main villain says something to the effect of "How ironic, tomorrow's rumor will be that you attempted to break into my castle and kidnap my only son. Luckily I was able to stop you, but was forced to mortally wound you. Because of my high standing in the court, my word will be trusted and there will be no inquiry. I'll suggest that my son (ooc who is of age to rule) will gain control of your lands, Your poor son is not actually dead, but will be raised as a slave (ooc: or servant etc) in my son's household."

Upon hearing these words, as he lay dying, he spat out a curse and vowed that his lands would never know peace again until the rightful ruler (ie his son) was acknowledged as the legitimate ruler.

Whether the villain's son actually took the barony or not is up to you. Either the villain's son could be the silent one who refuses to talk about it, or the villain could have been scared off and let someone else be appointed.

Since that day, whoever rules that land is haunted by nightmares, visions during waking hours, seems to be prone to more accidents, and have accidents happen around him, etc. The nightmares and visions (as well as perhaps some good information gathering) can give him clues to what really happened.

Like I said, that's only one possible idea, there are lots I'm sure. This gives you the flexibility to let your PC keep the land (and act as a reagent till the kid grows up) or have someone else appointed (perhaps the old baron's most trusted advisor) to be reagent.

As an added incentive to make him deal in some capacity, is there a rule that says if you give up barony of one land you have to give it up for all of your lands? If that is the case, that's quite an incentive to not fail.

 

[Matafuego]

First of all I haven't read your stroy hour, so I apologize if it doen't fit your campaign =(

I was thinking maybe the land had a forest that is in control of a very powerful (and neutral) group of Treants. I've learned that conflict with forces that don't understand any of your politics, not even your logic, is a tough one.

Hope it helps =\

 

[drnuncheon]

An update

Well, we did this last Friday. On the way to the Count's court, Dru and Di'Fier ran into a peasant woman that was also heading there - it seems that a band of brigands has begun raiding her town, and they haven't had much support since the local lord passed away. Turns out the brigands are descendants of the people who originally owned the land, back before the Empire moved in - they retreated into the mountains for a generation. (Unknown to everyone, the reason the raiders have moved this direction is because of pressure from a band of hill giants...)

Well, to Di'Fier's great surprise, the Count saddled him with the Viscounty of Wolfridge, which means that all of this is now his responsibility (and also making him the center of attention for both ambitious nobles like Viscount Cherryhill and embittered impoverished ones like the Marquis of Greythorn).

Like any good leader, the first thing he did was delegate - his cohort Romelio (who appears for the first time in Book 3) is now heading off with a small band of troops to assess the situation, and the new Viscount will scry him and teleport there once he reaches the problem spot.

Very clever, Mr. Anton. You've bought yourself some time. Now the Count has to keep him busy for a couple of weeks until he teleports away, while the Captain's Council stalls the negotiations in Freeport waiting for proof of the Count's suspected involvement with the Yellow Sign.

Meanwhile Dru has gotten herself in over her head, but you'll have to wait until I catch up in the story hour for that...

Everyone, thanks for the ideas! This was a great help. Now I need to figure out how the Count will keep Di'Fier busy for the next two weeks...and what the Count will do about it. Will he send another negotiator to try to wreck things while Di'Fier is out of the way? Is he willing to sacrifice his own son (even if he is an idiot) to ensure the failure of the negotiations? Just how committed is he to the idea of being in charge of Freeport? I'll have to decide.

ShawnLStroud, omnimpotent, JimAde, since I'm using your ideas, drop me a line (email's available through the link) and let me know your first name and your job, if you're interested.

J