Derren said:
I'm back.
I won't comment on everyone, that would be too long.
-jaer
A nice writeup. Yes, that generally would be possible without magic. Although there are some points I am not completely satisfied with.
First, it all goes to well. There are too many opportunities for (N)PCs to screw up this plan to list them all, but please comment on the more obvious ones. What when the villages in the beginning are not so easily subjugated? What if someone finds out that Thomas is being bribed by unknown forces? Or simply that an ambitious guardsman has an eye on Thomas post? What if some nobles find out that he and the other nobles are being used like this?
And what would happen is some diviner uses divination on the Rot Grub or Scarlet Fangs?
Also some parts are not detailed enough. How does the communication between Ard and the operatives in the city happen? Especially as only the kobolds are allowed to know about Ard, the communication would be very slow. What would happen if there was an emergency?
Speaking of an emergency, what would happen if adventurers arrive? With level 15 they are easily able to dismantle all organizations in the city except maybe Thomas. What would happen if they come after Ard himself? How would he defend himself against them? And don't assume that the adventurers start at level 1 batteling the minions. That is ok for a campaign but I am more interested in the general possibility of this.
For it all going too well, I was working under the assumption that I was listing Ard's schemes that did work out. I could throw in four or five that did not, due to outside influence. In fact, were I running a campaign around this (which I am now working on building), there would be several other plots that the PCs would be called on to foil and that Thomas would actually facilitate in the foiling of via his command - he still does what he needs to do in his position, and some of those duties conflict with Ard. And some of the plots are created by Ard specifically to draw on eyes to one plot so that no one sees the other. Why work one scheme when you can work three? Potentially, Ard made moves on all the thieves guild, but the Rot Grubs where the ones that bit - being that they were the weakest and needed the most help. The other two guild masters were arrogant and had no desires to have some outsiders (the were-rats) suddenly join up; they didn't think they needed them.
Or, some schemes work out no matter the end result: the Grubs kidnap a noble's child/spouse in the hopes of extorting some ransom or simply getting some info or they are applying political pressure. Thomas, wanting to make sure things are done as best as they can be, personally leads the PCs in and they end up rescuing the person. Ard's plan to use the kidnapping for his own gain are foiled, but in the end, Thomas made an ally of that noble and now has a little more politcal power himself. Win-win.
By villages in the beginning, I assume you mean the orcs? It really does all depend on how you play orcs, but after beating the best of them (the chief), the orcs might have rallied and attacked Ard en masse. A tribe of orcs should be no problem for a dragon. After killing half the warriors, the rest might surrender. He might send in his kobolds (who one-to-one are more power than the orcs) to enslave the whole group. If he needs to raze one or two tribes to make the others fear him enough to get in line, he does so. If his hold on them is tenuous, he makes frequent visits to the tribes and keeps a larger force of kobolds there to guide them. Through shear force of will or force of might, he can conquer the lot of them. The size of his orc force and number of kobolds out in the field would vary depending on how the DM wanted to play the orcs - are they willing to turn on Ard if the PCs make it that far? That could make for an interesting plot device, but they still have no idea where Ard comes from, and could only lead the PCs to the kobolds.
In rethinking Thomas for my campaign, I don't think I would play him as bribed. Yes, he got his debts wiped by one bribe and his debters wiped out (but he never asked for it). I would have run him as someone who really did think the Scarlet Fangs were working for him. He would realize that they got some benefit from doing so (they could bring down their enemies through Thomas - report that some thieves were attempting a run at the Farlight Cathedral, and Thomas popsts some extra guards there. Fangs benefit from the enemy getting caught, Thomas benefits by being successful). They don't need to bribe him to work with him, and they only need to lie to him to get him to do what they want. They give him 95% the truth (which does require them to rat out their own henchmen: the bandits, the Rot Grubs, and the orc and hobgoblin raiders). But they make themselves trusted.
One scene I am currently crafting in the campaign would be to have Ard decide the PCs are getting a little too close or perhaps a little too powerful, so he has them framed for some crime (or tricks them into actually committing some crime). The Fangs might plant evidence and tell Thomas the PCs are at fault. But despite the evidence and the info from the Fangs, Thomas doesn't believe it, and he sets his reputation on the line to help the PCs. Role playing it out will see if the PCs are convicted (and Thomas's rise in the polical structure slowed), or if they are found innocent and Thomas now, for the first time, wonders about accuracy of the info he is being fed. The entire way I would play Thomas would be as someone who was fallible but wanted to do the right thing and mostly for the right reasons, but also out of desire to advance, to be wealthy and powerful. He's generally a good person, he just does not see that he is getting played by the info coming in to him.
As for ambious guardsman out for Thomas's job...with the Rot Grubs and the Fangs looking out for Thomas, Ard would no doubt plant some in the city guard (or find some guards that are bribable for info such as that). That one guardsman, if he looks like he is scheming, would be delt with. And Thomas, most likely never realizing there was plot against him, would go about seeking the murderer of one of his guards.
Thomas is being used, but he thinks it mutually beneficial (almost like Commissioner Gordon working with a vigilanty cause he knows it benefits the city). If he starts realizing he is being used, the Fangs would revert to a 100% truth scheme until they reached what they felt was an appropriate level of trust again.
What would happen if some diviners divined on the Rot Grubs or Scarlet Fangs? I have no idea...what divinations are they using and what questions are being asked? 3.5 divinations aren't known for being very useful unless you know which questions to ask. Contact other planes only gets "Yes" and "No" answers, Comune gets one word answers. Ask "Who controls the Rot Grubs" and you get a name: that name could easily be the guildmaster, who most directly and most often runs the guild and calls the shots. It's only when Ard needs something specfic done that he forces his power. I would 90% of the time, he is not involved with the spefics of the guild (or any opperation for that matter).
Also, I would think that most thieves guilds don't garner such attension as the need to divine on them...if so, they wouldn't last very long. But, in both the Fangs and Grubs, I would assume a mix of arcane and divine protections; lairs would be secured through magic as much as possible, and in the criminal underworld, there are probably some "freelance" clerics ans wizards who are willing to, for a hefty fee, ward certain places or things. Again, if played out, DM calls the shots on that. I would imagine the Rot Grubs range from 3rd level to 6th lvl, with a couple people lower and higher by a few levels. The Fangs would be in the 5th to 8th lvl range, with a few higher, maybe capping at 10th.
In a very high magic world were the captain of the guard would be privy to and even expected to have routine divinations done on the criminal element, guilds would need to be higher level to even exist for any length of time, so in such a case, I would recommend the DM bump Ard's age so that Ard's minions could all be a little higher level in order to protect themselves from powerful magic (I agree that in 3.5, for the most part, one needs magic to protect oneself from magic.) I typically don't run campaigns where magic is so common that the captain of the guard has a council of diviners in order to route out crime, and I am hoping 4e does tone down magic so that the 18th lvl cleric cann't trump any thieves guild with a couple spells.
Communication would be slow, yes. I imagine that there are several small sects of kobolds in the city. A few use magic to disguise themselves if they need be (they aren't living as citizens or anything; they are mostly hidden in small lairs or warehouses, in the Fang's base or in the homes with some of the were-rats. Some also stay with the orcs, bandits, and hobgoblins. The biggest concentration would be in a lair in the sewers. It would be easy (but not quick) to have this be the communication hub in the city. Info from the Fangs, from any other kobolds, and from Grubs could be funneled through here (some sort of note, message system that got the info to the kobolds without interacting directly from them).
Kobolds switch in an out on rotation every few weeks, bringing in fresh orders and complicated schems, maps, and plans for the next few weeks. It's mostly worked out before hand what is going to happen when. As needed, messages are sent out and back via a runner or two.
When a little more speed is needed, any sort of flying magic could be used (the various guilds and tribes most likely have the reasources to make one or two flying carpets, magic wings, or even a small supply of overland flight potions/scrolls). I like to add variety to my creatures, so as a DM, I might give some of the half kobolds wings (I dislike the rule that a half-dragon needs to me large to have viable wings) and these be the dedicated runners (scout, rogue, or ranger levels). But for DMs who go by the book, it is fairly easy to have a few dedicated runners have some magical items to allow flight. Animal Messenger is a low level spell for Bards, Druids, and Rangers that would allow for fairly quick message sending as well. A Silver Raven wonderous figure and Bird Feather Tokens would also be a good investment, and a wild shaping druid ally could also handle such a task.
I have also made use of magic items that work as an Animal Messenger spell, including a clockwork bird construct that had a secret compartment in which notes could be placed, and it would fly to a specifc place, and the compartment could be opened with the right password (or Disable Device to shut off the bird and disable the traps, and an Open Locks to open the compartment). Miore expensive versions of this construct had extra-dimensional space allowing for the transport of large orbjects, like a sword or something. But again, that's custom DMing there.
In the case of super quick comminucation, Ard has a decently leveled cleric and sorc in his camp for sendings. At any particular camp can have some sending scrolls (not a difficult spell craft roll to work these if the caster isn't high enough level), perhaps a sending potion or two (if DM allows for such a thing). There is enough wealth to buy these from magic stores in the city, and there are enough people in the various places to have someone able to pen these. The Fangs would have someone able to cast the Sending, and the Sewer Camp would have someone (a kobold or were-rat) able to cast the spell. The kobolds could contant Ard directly, but any other opperative would need a kobold contact person who would end up relaying the message to Ard.
When looking at a dragon's personal wealth as well as that accumulated through the Fangs, the Grubs, the bandits, and the raiders, Ard could have had a Crystal Ball with Telepathy purchased for his kobold shaman, and the head "runner" could also be sporting Boots of Telepathy. For the most part, however, rapid communication of every day events is unnecessary. Leaders of each camp are given orders for the month (or for the next few months) and are expected to execute them to the best of their ability. Clarification might be necessary, but it is hardly anything that requires immeditate clarification. Were some plan going out that did need such quick back-and-forth, Ard could probably reason out which plans those are and handle them thusly from the beginning.
If level 15 adventurers showed up in the city and went about dismanteling everything, they would need to ferret out a lot of info before they could even beginning to realize a dragon is in any way involved. We assume the adventures have some reason to tackle a low-level thieves guild, one that is handled smoothly and isn't on an all-out crime spree. Remember, Ard is not calling all the shots, but he would have someone who is running it the way he wants it run. The Grubs keep a low profile: they aren't out every night swiping anything not nailed down. Why are 15th lvl adventures hunting them? The city isn't full fo crime and corruption...not that anyone sees. There is little in Ard's opperation that would make high level company think they were needed here.
The Fangs handle the occasional assassination, but mainly they are information brokers. Perhaps they did nail someone that got adventures on their tails. 15th lvl adventures can figure out that the Fangs are the cause, but the Fangs also know the adventures are after them. If these are random jo-shmoes from no where, then the Fangs can enlist Thomas's. If Thomas has no loyalty to the adventures in question, it would be easy enough for the Fangs to 1) justify the killing of that nobel and 2) place some doubt on the adventures in some way enough for Thomas to not trust them or want them in the city.
It will take time for adventures to weed out the Fangs (after all, assuming they are coming in after everything is in place, not while Thomas is building power), some of the Fangs are now in the polical system, so adventures will need to make a case for weeding them out. This isn't a dungeon that they can just slaughter everything inside without anyone noticing. Using the Grubs and Fangs resources to keep the adventures confused as to who is what and where and why, they plant evidence and create doubt in the public eye. A few misleading pointers to the wrong people (or even accusing the right person but with the wrong evidence), can have the adventures locked up or kicked out of the city. Being a King's advisor, it would be pretty easy for Thomas to come up with some ways to have an adventuring party kicked out of a place.
"Sire, these miscreants have murdered some of my opperatives, weakening the information I have about the criminal element. They claim they are trying to rid the city of some of the organizations that have been at work, but all they have done is ruin years of work on my part to get people on the inside."
"The group in question say that the people they killed were working for some assassin group, the ones that killed Sir Douglas two weeks ago."
"Of course, sire. It took two years to get that man inside! He was working on finding out who hired the assassins to kill Sir Douglas in the first place, and at his last report, he told me that he was close, just a couple more days. Now I find out he is dead! I wonder what those adventures didn't want my opperative telling me...perhaps they are in league with the ones who hired the assassins in the first place. They cannot be allowed to continue to meddle in these affairs when we have no knowledge of their allegience."
After all, adventurers in the city are nothing but vigilanties, it's like stepping on the FBI's toes. That does not happen without punishment.
And what 15th lvl adventures are dealing with the small time road bandits or the occassional orc raid that the city guards are very capable and reknown for repelling swiftly and officianlty?
If you can give me a reason that a party of 15th lvl adventures would show up and start interfering with the opperations in the city, I'll come up with a counter to it. But nothing about the workings of the different groups indicates that a dragon is involved, so there is nothing there that would create interest for group of adventures. There is no one there to hire them to do anything against the opperations as constructed - no indication that the cities own police force is in any way unable or unwilling to handle the crime on it's own, since it is obvious that Thomas is getting things done.
