So, I'm starting a new game soon.
The setting of the campaign is a broken northern (read Scandinavian) kingdom, which lost it's king and patron god centuries ago. By the end of the campaign, the players will reunite the kingdom, put a king on the throne and make a new god.
The game will be divided into three arcs. The first arc, Men Arc, will be about finding an ancient magic throne of the northern kings, which has been lost to time. This is essentially a set-up chapter - it will set up northern politics and factions, future antagonists and such. The stakes are not particulary high yet, so it will serve as the part where a party can reasonably take their time to do things that have no relation to the metaplot whatsoever without feeling guilty about it. The arc ends when the following conditions are met - they find the throne and bring it back to the capital, and they learn about the threat of a gathering orc-demon army that will wipe their civilization out.
The second arc, Kings Arc, will be will be mostly about electing a new king - the one who will lead the country against the coming threat. There are a lot of pretenders to the throne, and some of them have foreign allies, so it will be a political shitstorm. The players will also have an option to gather allies for the coming war, of course. The arc ends when a new king is crowned (they will have to eliminate or neutralize the opposition to ensure no civil war, and find a crown for him too), and they learn about an even more effective way to save the North - a new god.
The third arc, the Gods arc, will center around finding an object that can make a mortal a god. This is an arc where all plotlines collide and end. It resolves when the northern army - and their god - defeat the invaders - orcs, demons and their god, and they all live happily ever after. Or not.
So the way I think I'm gonna make it is, I'll create three distinct antagonists in each arc. Each much represent something unique, or oppose the party for their own reason.
The antagonists of the first arc will all be concerned about the throne.
1) Since this is pretty much Viking Indiana Jones adventure, the first antagonist will be an adventuring group of nazi archeologists. An extremely diverse Axis Powers group, in fact, with a teutonic knight, a samurai, an unreliable italian and a collaborator northman. They seek the throne for their own reasons - to claim it's magic powers, and since there is only one to spare, they will come to blows with the party sooner or later.
If they somehow, unlikely, survive the adventure, they will probably become recurring minor antagonists, like the Linear Guild.
2) The second will be a succubus, the spy of the orc/demon army, whose role is destabilizing the kingdom and keeping it weak. She's a trusted advisor to the Jarl (see second arc), so she has a lot of political influence to spare, and her mind influencing powers make her even more dangerous. Her motivation is keeping the throne hidden, since fractured kingdom is easier to defeat than a unified one. The moment she gets the information that the party is searching for the throne, she immediately tries to paint them as villains and renegades, who are working against the interests of whoever is listening, and are likely agents of foreign powers. Or even demons!
3) And the third one will be a barbarian king, who will be a full-on Holywood viking with a bare chest and might makes right attitude. He currently has the throne in his possession, though it's not a widely known fact, and he'll have problems with the party trying to take what's his.
Since the second arc will be about electing a king, then naturally the villains should be candidates for the throne.
1) The Jarl, who's largely a generic viking at the first impression (aside from rumors of him being a werewolf), but being a druid, he's far more knowledgable and powerful than he lets on. He's the deliberate aversion of the Hippie Druid trope - not only he's very involved in the civilized matters, being politically ambitious, he also wants to establish a kingdom where the druids rule, being the wisest and godliest men of the North. He represents the Church, or Piety, or divine right to the throne.
2) The second villain will be an autistic vampire, aristocratic Dracula twat, who just doesn't get the society he wants to rule. From his point of view, he's dealing with just another kingdom, and due to having royal blood in his veins, he's the rightful king of those savages, and he's really annoyed at why they don't understand it yet. Vampires can be viewed as a metaphor for blood-sucking aristocracy, so he'll be a perfect representation of Nobility, or claim to the throne through lineage.
3) The third villain will be a northman, but probably raised outside of the kingdom itself. He's a viking - but not a warrior and conqueror, he's a merchant and a trader. He intends to abandon the old ways and the old gods, because being an unwashed heathen is bad for profit. His allies, likewise, are mercenaries and foreigners, whose loyalty he bought with gold and promises. He represents Gold so much, he intends to buy the election.
And since the third arc will involve making a god out of a man, three villains must be people who want to become gods themselves. And here's when my imagination just doesn't work that well.
1) A kraken priest, who's a deliberate rip-off of Euron Greyjoy. He was a northman once, who was lost at sea, and while drifting his mind was touched by a kraken. He's an insane, but incredibly powerful warlock with a god complex, and I'll make it intentionally ambigious if he's even a person anymore, or if there's nothing left of him, but a human looking skinsuit that kraken uses to get support and achieve godhood for itself.
He'll have a gimmick, similiar to the Harbringer from Mass Effect, when he can possess his followers and act through them, massively empowering them as a side effect.
2) Since this is not-Scandinavia, I simply must use a giant of some kind. Probably a frost giant. But for it's motivations or character, I simply have no idea.
3) And for the third one, I have no clue at all. I'm really not sure what other monsters to use for this one, but I'm sure that I don't want to use any sort of a humanoid after the human-infested Second Arc.
But wait, there's more.
The setting of the campaign is a broken northern (read Scandinavian) kingdom, which lost it's king and patron god centuries ago. By the end of the campaign, the players will reunite the kingdom, put a king on the throne and make a new god.
The game will be divided into three arcs. The first arc, Men Arc, will be about finding an ancient magic throne of the northern kings, which has been lost to time. This is essentially a set-up chapter - it will set up northern politics and factions, future antagonists and such. The stakes are not particulary high yet, so it will serve as the part where a party can reasonably take their time to do things that have no relation to the metaplot whatsoever without feeling guilty about it. The arc ends when the following conditions are met - they find the throne and bring it back to the capital, and they learn about the threat of a gathering orc-demon army that will wipe their civilization out.
The second arc, Kings Arc, will be will be mostly about electing a new king - the one who will lead the country against the coming threat. There are a lot of pretenders to the throne, and some of them have foreign allies, so it will be a political shitstorm. The players will also have an option to gather allies for the coming war, of course. The arc ends when a new king is crowned (they will have to eliminate or neutralize the opposition to ensure no civil war, and find a crown for him too), and they learn about an even more effective way to save the North - a new god.
The third arc, the Gods arc, will center around finding an object that can make a mortal a god. This is an arc where all plotlines collide and end. It resolves when the northern army - and their god - defeat the invaders - orcs, demons and their god, and they all live happily ever after. Or not.
So the way I think I'm gonna make it is, I'll create three distinct antagonists in each arc. Each much represent something unique, or oppose the party for their own reason.
The antagonists of the first arc will all be concerned about the throne.
1) Since this is pretty much Viking Indiana Jones adventure, the first antagonist will be an adventuring group of nazi archeologists. An extremely diverse Axis Powers group, in fact, with a teutonic knight, a samurai, an unreliable italian and a collaborator northman. They seek the throne for their own reasons - to claim it's magic powers, and since there is only one to spare, they will come to blows with the party sooner or later.
If they somehow, unlikely, survive the adventure, they will probably become recurring minor antagonists, like the Linear Guild.
2) The second will be a succubus, the spy of the orc/demon army, whose role is destabilizing the kingdom and keeping it weak. She's a trusted advisor to the Jarl (see second arc), so she has a lot of political influence to spare, and her mind influencing powers make her even more dangerous. Her motivation is keeping the throne hidden, since fractured kingdom is easier to defeat than a unified one. The moment she gets the information that the party is searching for the throne, she immediately tries to paint them as villains and renegades, who are working against the interests of whoever is listening, and are likely agents of foreign powers. Or even demons!
3) And the third one will be a barbarian king, who will be a full-on Holywood viking with a bare chest and might makes right attitude. He currently has the throne in his possession, though it's not a widely known fact, and he'll have problems with the party trying to take what's his.
Since the second arc will be about electing a king, then naturally the villains should be candidates for the throne.
1) The Jarl, who's largely a generic viking at the first impression (aside from rumors of him being a werewolf), but being a druid, he's far more knowledgable and powerful than he lets on. He's the deliberate aversion of the Hippie Druid trope - not only he's very involved in the civilized matters, being politically ambitious, he also wants to establish a kingdom where the druids rule, being the wisest and godliest men of the North. He represents the Church, or Piety, or divine right to the throne.
2) The second villain will be an autistic vampire, aristocratic Dracula twat, who just doesn't get the society he wants to rule. From his point of view, he's dealing with just another kingdom, and due to having royal blood in his veins, he's the rightful king of those savages, and he's really annoyed at why they don't understand it yet. Vampires can be viewed as a metaphor for blood-sucking aristocracy, so he'll be a perfect representation of Nobility, or claim to the throne through lineage.
3) The third villain will be a northman, but probably raised outside of the kingdom itself. He's a viking - but not a warrior and conqueror, he's a merchant and a trader. He intends to abandon the old ways and the old gods, because being an unwashed heathen is bad for profit. His allies, likewise, are mercenaries and foreigners, whose loyalty he bought with gold and promises. He represents Gold so much, he intends to buy the election.
And since the third arc will involve making a god out of a man, three villains must be people who want to become gods themselves. And here's when my imagination just doesn't work that well.
1) A kraken priest, who's a deliberate rip-off of Euron Greyjoy. He was a northman once, who was lost at sea, and while drifting his mind was touched by a kraken. He's an insane, but incredibly powerful warlock with a god complex, and I'll make it intentionally ambigious if he's even a person anymore, or if there's nothing left of him, but a human looking skinsuit that kraken uses to get support and achieve godhood for itself.
He'll have a gimmick, similiar to the Harbringer from Mass Effect, when he can possess his followers and act through them, massively empowering them as a side effect.
2) Since this is not-Scandinavia, I simply must use a giant of some kind. Probably a frost giant. But for it's motivations or character, I simply have no idea.
3) And for the third one, I have no clue at all. I'm really not sure what other monsters to use for this one, but I'm sure that I don't want to use any sort of a humanoid after the human-infested Second Arc.
But wait, there's more.
