Preparing for a Wedding - thats the game! (New Campaign brainstorming help)

[Tonguez]

Okay two Islands - son of local King has been betrothed to daughter of king of another island following the Annual Festival. PCs are either friends of the young Prince, escorts left by the other King or others appointed by the king as groomsmen.

The Game is going to be about getting ready - ie collecting a suitable dowry (this will serve to introduce the PCs to the setting) and then the journey to get to the other island.

I was thinking that maybe when they arrive they find that She has been kidnapped and so they have to go and save her etc etc.

Anyone got other ideas?

 

[Mr Fidgit]

there could be people who are interested in keeping the two island nations separate and divided who could...

plan on assassinating the bride or groom before (or during!) the ceremony

plan on assassinating the king before the ceremony and leaving evidence behind to blame the other kingdom

plan on stopping the PCs from aquiring or delivering the dowry (a serious insult to the parents of the groom) by attacking them directly

(and the PCs could find clues of these plans to try and stop the bad guys beforehand)




or use some other tactic to delay or stop the wedding, like...

(a third nation) starting a war

poisoning water supplies or releasing a disease to affect the general populus (and overwhelm the abilities of local churches to cure it)

using magic to cause a natural disaster (like an earthquake or tsunami)

or just your basic -- summon a bunch of demons to ruin the ceremony

 

[CCamfield]

There's always the old forbidden romance theme - the princess actually loves someone else, a commoner perhaps, and they arranged her own "kidnapping".

Of course it could turn out that her "love" is a scoundrel after all and in fact only wants to rob her. Or they have been "helped" by someone whose mission is (as Mr Fidget suggested) to cause war between the two nations.

 

[Tonguez]

Hows this sound

For sometime now the Princess has been courted by a young man from the hills and she beleives that she loves him.
This young man however is the son of Villain X who has plans to depose the current Kings and take over as ruler of the Islands.

He was encouraging the relationship between his son and the princess as an easy way to take over on that island but now that the betrothal to another has occured his plans must change - and he looks at the 'starting a war' angle.

Now what if his son actually does love the Princess, and kidnaps her so they can be together. He uses his own power/influence to try and stop the party reaching the Island by wedding day (summoning Tsunami etc).
However he has also inadvertently puts the princess in his father Villain X' hands?

This also leaves the issue of what to do with the Prince she has been betrothed to and has come all this way with his hard won dowry - does he get the girl, is he spurned (and the war started anyway) or does something else occur (eg a younger sister -lol)

And just who is Villain X?