HELP! George RRRRR Martin Stole My Red Wedding Idea!

[RobShanti]

Damn him! I have never read Game of Thrones nor have I ever seen an episode of the HBO Series or have any idea what goes on, except that Peter Dinklage and Captain Phasma are cast members.

That said, I am running an Ars Magica campaign set in the 1220s in Corsica, and was planning for yesterday's session to have the cousin of the Genoan Doge invite the Magi to the marriage ceremony of the Pisan Visconti family, whereupon I planned to have the Pisans slaughter every one of the Genoans before the PCs' eyes and take over Corsica.

About 1/2 hour into the session, one of the players joked that they were about to attend a "red wedding" -- which was my working title for the session...I had heard the expression before, but thought it was a reference to the scene in Kill Bill, where Bill shoots The Bride at her wedding.

But then the players all started describing exactly what I'd had planned for the session, explaining that it was apparently an episode of Game of Thrones entitled "Red Wedding."

Well goddammit!

I just threw my pencil down and cursed GRR Martin to the lowest hell.

(This happened to me in a Star Frontiers adventure back in the early '90s, too, where I had a child queen ruling White Light as it was invaded by a droid army that was collectively controlled by a single remote brain that the PCs took out. Fortunately for me, at least, in that game, I beat George Lucas to the punch by about three years.)

I managed to fill up the rest of the Ars Magica session with a throw-away scene with a minstrel and a long out-of-character discussion about long-term player goals. This bought me some time. I need to re-work the entire session concept. So...I'm asking for help.

What I have:

Corsica, ruled by the Genoan Zannaguzza family...only, historically, it *should* be run by the Pisans.

The PCs pulled off the near-impossible: ingratiating themselves with the ruling Genoan family, despite adversaries' attempts to turn the local Genoan lords against them. The big gag was: they ain't outta this one yet...the Genoans' rule of Corsica was to be ill-fated...the Genoans' greatest rivals, the Pisans, were going to take over Corsica in a bloody coup, and then the Magi would have to ingratiate themselves with the Pisans after all!

What I had, but now can't use:

I had planned to have the bloody coup take place at the planned wedding of the Genoan duke's cousin Gisella to the Pisan lord Marchese Visconti.

But since GRR Martin did this first, unbeknownst to me, this takes the wind out of my sails.

What I need:

I'm looking for an equally unexpected and dramatic plot twist to transfer power from the Genoans to the Pisans.

Can anyone come up with a good idea to replace my now defunct "red wedding" idea? Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Rune]

First of all, don't run away from your original plan; embrace the concept. The players will get to feel smart.

But give it a twist. Preferably something that makes your PCs personally involved.

Like, instead of publicly massacring their rival family, the Pisans hire doppelgänger mercenaries to infiltrate the Genoan family and destroy them from the inside. But, then, fearing infiltration of their own family, the Pisans turn to the PCs for help.

 

[RobShanti]

Rune, that's brilliant!

It's a subtle plan, though...the red wedding idea was grisly, sudden and action-packed. I'm not sure how to do that with the doppelganger scenario. Any ideas?

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Rune, that's brilliant!

It's a subtle plan, though...the red wedding idea was grisly, sudden and action-packed. I'm not sure how to do that with the doppelganger scenario. Any ideas?

Use the one to cover the other. These are nobles: wheels within wheels are their bread and butter. There's a terrible melee during the reception following the beautiful wedding. Hold it in an expansive garden, where numerous separate engagements can all rage simultaneously. From there? Surely, at least one (preferably two or three) of the Genoan family-members attending the wedding is...less-than-liked by their relatives? But the assassins' plans are foiled: the disliked Genoan was making a play for power, hoping to take out their internal family rivals in one fell swoop, but a brave and beloved family member has overcome this deplorable attack and slain the perpetrator--and an assassin, on whose body "incontrovertible" evidence of the plot is found.

But, in truth, both the beloved and disliked Genoans were slain, and only one was replaced with a doppelganger.

More or less, you're pulling a sort of "Sloan gambit," from the Deep Space Nine episode Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges. That is, people are made to think that one person was the real target, when in fact a different person was--and as a result, a highly well-placed mole will be able to exert heavy influence.

Then, if you want to get the Pisans to shake in their boots and worry that they've been double-crossed, set up a situation where the PCs will learn that the doppelgangers are playing both sides against the middle: in other words, steal the idea of Dune's Face Dancers rebelling against their Tleilaxu masters.

 

[RobShanti]

Very nice, Ezekiel! Thank you!

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Very nice, Ezekiel! Thank you!

My pleasure. I've never been a DM, but I like to think I can write now and then.