help with adventure suggestions: BBEGs are quarreling ex-lovers.

[J.Quondam]

Looking for suggestions. Aim is for a short one-shot sword & sorc type adventure only.

The backstory of a tomb: It appears for a single night every 10-ish years or so, emerging from the sand at dusk and melting away at dawn. It is the tomb of a ruler and consort, who died hundreds of years ago, fiercely at odds with each other. Owing to their mutual love/hate relationship they somehow cursed to this existence of periodically reanimating for the one night to fight, flee, hate, love, scheme, or whatever they've been brooding about for the previous decade of entrapment.

So what are some suggestions of how these two BBEGs might have at each other during their brief animation?
And how might a party of mercenary PC's (who know nothing of the history, nor do they care) perceive all this (assuming they just happen upon the tomb by chance or rumor)?



* FWIW, the idea comes from the 1989 movie "War of the Roses", if those main characters were stuck with each other in the afterlife.

 

[aco175]

It seems that you have the two being able to scheme, plot, and be aware for the 10 years between visits. They would likely be plotting how to free themselves from the prison and rule the world, Pinky. This may mean a common goal for the two and they would work together, at least until the last minute when one would backstab the other to remain in the prison.

Another idea is from the 1985(ish) movie, Ladyhawke where one was a hawk in the day and the other a wolf at night, so the two lovers could not be together until the eclipse.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Depending on the level of hatred in the moment, one might be motivated to sabotage the other even if it harms them.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

So what are some suggestions of how these two BBEGs might have at each other during their brief animation?
And how might a party of mercenary PC's (who know nothing of the history, nor do they care) perceive all this (assuming they just happen upon the tomb by chance or rumor)?

They hate each other, War of the Roses way. They have TEN years to plan every little sweet details on how they will piss off the other. If it happened long enough, they might already know that their curse is to be prisonners of their passion, so maybe even killing the other one doesn't prevent the tomb from re-emerging the next decade, so they can get all-in on their goal. Expect a lot of fighting to annoy the other the most for the next 10 years... all planned in careful details (they both know the layout of the tombe like the back of their hand and they have a lot of time to prepare for their 12 hours of fighting).

Except the PCs happens to be there. It's the game changer.

Have them encounter, at the entrance of the tomb, ghosts wearing age-old equipment, obviously afraid, shouting in Old Common and running through them, only to be dissipated by the rays of the sun.

The BBEGS will both try to convince the PCs to help them, and to foil the other's attempt to enroll them at the same time. They are BBEGs, so they probably are unhappy with their current state of undeath, unable ot actually run a good evil scheme. They'll try to task the characters to (a) selectively get rid of their curse (b) awaken another of their servant that can actually be trusted to resurrect them (c) resume a millenia-old plan that was 95% completed at the time of their death.

The PCs would probably be wary of getting involved with two competing ghosts begging them for help in a suspicious tomb. But the reward might be worth it. After all, why shouldn't they help the rightful and honourable king that was betrayed by a skilled assassin disguised as his loving wife he had murdered hours before, and why shouldn't they help a poor servant that was seduced by a king with promise of everlasting love and got betrayed after he used her? In between their pleas, they're throwing Horrid Wiltings, Meteor Swarms and Mass Animate Chainsaws at each other, of course.

At some point the heroes might want to help one of them just to avoid collateral damage from their feud. They get warnings and pieces of the story on the way into the tomb (from murals and other decorative elements of the tomb, from the story of the servants that were killed when they died to serve them forever, from the diary of earlier adventurers that died decades or centuries ago trying to plunder the tomb...), and when they are at the bottom of it, they are noticed by the lovers. Will they reach the surface alive? Will they pledge themselves to one of the lover so that he accept to teleport them home safely after they swore to accomplish the BBEG's request? Or will they refuse to cooperate and risk suffering the dreaded Evard's Invasive Tentacles spell?

Do not hesitate to give your pair of BBEGs lair effects so they can alter the tomb on the way out: it would be too easy if the characters already know the perfect way to take, wouldn't it? Also, have several helpful, yet fragile, devices on the way in, like an elevator, that can easily be destroyed by a mistargetted Fireball.

A TPK would just have the characters' ghosts, 10 years later, try to escape the tomb before sunrise...

 

[J.Quondam]

This is some good stuff, thanks! I think I'm finally getting a handle on how to structure this.

The cardboard BBEGs' motivations aren't terribly important, imo, but helpful to frame things. They are obsessive and straight-up evil; that's why they've been cursed, after all. Their main concern, then, is probably just to "win" out of spite, rather than escape or reconcile. They are solidly in the "throwing dishes at each other" phase of their relationship.

Just to use specifics, lets say one is a king and the other his queen consort. They are fighting over control of their ancient nation and their legacy, including control of this monumental tomb (or a macuffin crown or something), which is why neither wants to leave it. Of course, each also wants to keep the loser around so the they can gloat. So... what does it mean for one to "win" over the other?* (Still working on that. Perhaps find and gain control of the other's phylactery or something?)

In life, assume Queen and King each murdered the other's favored sons, trusted advisors, secret lovers, or whatever, who now serve as lieutenants for them. Each BBEG and faction should also have some thematic distinction, e.g. the King has infernal powers (providing access to demonic minions) while Queen has necromantic connections (giving her undead minions), or something.**

Broad types of PC encounters could be:
- "The Usual" There probably some instances of random vermin, traps, and alarms, just because it's a tomb.***
- "Crossfire" This is meteor swarm type stuff, whereby each side attempts to destroy the other's minions and belongings. PCs find themselves just trying not to become collateral damage. This could include mean navigating through an ongoing skirmish, or stumbling into ambush or trap meant for one faction or the other.
- "Recruitment" A faction wants to convince the party (or even individual PCs) to work for them. A lot of this is probably involves social interaction. This could involve temptations (bribes, etc); appeals to mercy or reason; threats; and so forth.
- "Deceptions" A faction could try to trick the PCs into unintentionally doing something to harm the other side. This might or might not be social stuff involving staright up lies, but also could be illusions, etc. Aim could be to trip a trigger, acquire a key, divulge intel, etc.
- "The Big Score" This is the thing both BBEGs want, but can't have because of the curse. Perhaps BBEGs literally can't touch it until the other is defeated... but at the same time there's nothing preventing the PCs from taking it, aside from the fact that it's right between the two jealous BBEGs. Do the PCs sign on with one side or the other? Do they try to steal it while no one's looking? Or do they call it day and get away while the getting is still good?

Okay, I think that's enough conceptual stuff to start a little adventure outline.
Thank you for the input!





* And what if one wins, breaking the curse (or at least the obsession) only to realize that the kingdom they've been fighting over sank under the sands a thousand years ago? (Probably that works better if the BBEGs aren't aware during their decades between re-animations, so only a few months have passed from their perspective.)

** Or they could just wear different colored jerseys.

*** Heck, maybe it doesn't even have to be a tomb? It could just be a ghost castle destroyed in the fight. Now, a thousand years on, it just comes and goes with every sixth blood moon, like a phantom Brigadoon.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

The following is a big pile of free association. I hope some of it helps.

Are your players going to treat this as a dungeon crawl, or as a more roleplay heavy adventure? Three way battles in which the villains change targets every action could be funny.

Are the lovers (and their retinues) conscious during the 10 year interludes? I feel being conscious but unable to esacpe adds a certain hellishness to their damnation.

I think the lovers' main goal has to be escape and preventing their lover from doing so. Any real world goals beyond that should be so distant and vague as to be pointless. I mean, it's been millenia. Also, having some other goal distracts the story from the central action of the lovers' feud.

I would love to see the lovers host a dinner together for the PCs, as per the movie. (Don't eat the fish!) It'd be a great way to introduce the lovers and for the players to see their facade of civility crumble and fall away revealing the real drama.

I think a Danny DeVito character, that is someone who is more or less neutral and trying to mitigate some of the damage, could be useful. They could be the chief advisor to the royal couple. They act as a more or less safe person for the PCs to get info from.

I'd like to see the lovers be so hateful and spiteful that they will throw aside their own best interest just to hurt the other. Especially if it looks like the other one may escape.

Is there a macguffin/specific action that the PCs can find/do that will end the curse? If there is, it's a red herring because the thing that is really holding the lovers in place is themselves. But a macguffin gives the PCs something to quest for while they interact with the lovers and get to learn more about the tomb.

The macguffin is a thing that has to be given freely by one of the lovers to the other. It frees the one to whom it is given, but the one who gives it goes on to their eternal rest. And of course, neither lover would ever do this.

OR, there is a working macguffin. For some reason the lovers cannot access it or use it themselves. (Maybe something as simple as it's inimical to undead.) Simple possession of the macguffin is insufficient to free anyone. It needs to be put somewhere, perhaps one of 2 possible somewheres, one for each of the lovers, to free that lover. This gives the PCs a chase across the tomb with a macguffin, allowing for all types of capture the flag shenanigans.

The PCs' goal should of course be their own escape. And they've only got one night to do it or they get dragged down into the curse themelves. So maybe they also need the macguffin to be placed in one of the special macguffin places, it doesn't matter which one, to open the tomb doors.

 

[J.Quondam]

Making the macguffin the one thing neither will give up just to spite the other is brilliant! Initially I was thinking about the tomb/monument itself (analog to the house in the movie) in that capacity, as the rationale why neither is willing to leave. But making the curse-breaker into a specific object jealously held but that could be freely given makes it all a little more explicit. Also too, the "neutral arbiter" npc is a fine idea, especially as an agent to clarify the situation for the PCs in an adventure of limited time.

I initially envisioned the two BBEGs as "spiteful ex-lovers" mainly just to make a routine delve a little off-beat, but there's so much more potential. A whole Domain of Dread-type minisetting could spring from the concept: a never-ending nightmare of backstabbery, throwing dishes, screwy legalities, self-destructive sabotage, awkward dinner parties, "disappeared" pets, feigned overtures, and on and on.

Right now I'm aiming for a fairly simple, time-limited one-shot. But definitely have to put more thought into this, to do up something maybe more involved.

 

[Stormonu]

It could be the two are of different races/species that are in opposition to each other - imagine a Goblin King and Elf Queen at each other's throats with their minions caught in the middle battling each other comes to mind. Or Demons vs. Devils, Celestials vs. Fiends, Drow vs. High Elves, Githzerai vs. Githyanki, etc. It could also be a "class" thing - Necromancer vs. Cleric/Paladin, Martial vs. Magician, etc.

It could be the two are in separate planes of existence and the only time they can interact is when the tomb falls in place, connecting the two realms once again (Red Queen vs. White King from Alice in Wonderland?).