What Might An Urban Kingmaker Look Like?

[Kaodi]

If you were to adapt the Kingmaker format to an urban campaign, what would be the position that you would adapt the game for?

A game of political intrigue, where exploration is to uncover various plots, factions, and alliances? Where the players rose to the top of a court to become a King through other means?

An game of mystery, where players are instead aiming to be the top gumshoes and troubleshooters? Exploration is uncovering unsolved crimes or mysteries, and of course, solving them.

A dungeon exploration game? The city has a vast networks of sewers, dungeons and ancient ruins that must be mapped and cleared out. The aim of the game is to found a top adventuring guild, or something similar.

The standard Kingmaker style game, but with city blocks instead of wilderness. A once abandoned city is being reclaimed, and with success comes title to it. Instead of building it is more rebuilding.

Any other ideas? Any thoughts? Do these sound like games you would want to play in?

 

[Stormonu]

Sounds somewhat like Phlan from Pool of Radiance. The city had been overtaken by various hostile forces and the PCs were troubleshooters making it safe for citizens to slowly reclaim the city.

Personally, I could also see something akin to a fantasy version of GTA3 working, though it would probably do best if the PCs were all members of some sort of guild or gang.

There's also Monte Cook's Ptoltus campaign and Goodmans Games Castle Whiterock campaign that deal with Urban/Undercity crawls.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

If you were to adapt the Kingmaker format to an urban campaign, what would be the position that you would adapt the game for?

Any other ideas? Any thoughts? Do these sound like games you would want to play in?

The over-arching theme of the Council of Thieves adventure path kind of reflects a facet of what you might be going for here; might be worth checking out. It is the PCs forming a rebellion of sorts to knock off the local non-performing rulers and dealing with the country's "King", with the PCs effectively replacing that non-performing hierarchy and becoming an important cog in the nations political and economic landscape.

From this point, I can see it going all Game of Thrones-like with the King meeting a particularly nasty fate and there being several factions looking to take advantage (with the PCs being one of these). At this point, you have a nation divided with the tools of diplomacy, politics and war at the PCs disposal. How they wield these tools becomes the sandbox with which they play in. Alliances will shift, dastardly deeds will be done and I can imagine the players having an absolute ball in the thick of it.

So yeah, sounds like a heap of fun to me.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Mark CMG]

What Might An Urban Kingmaker Look Like?

Did someone call for an urbane kingmaker?

Seriously, a quasi-"Three Muskateers" style campaign (with obvious plot and setting differences to make things more gray and complex) might be in order, where a hands-on group of duelists are constantly weighing if they are on the right side of history

 

[Jan van Leyden]

A game of political intrigue, where exploration is to uncover various plots, factions, and alliances? Where the players rose to the top of a court to become a King through other means?

This. Keep in mind that the Kingmaker adventure sites are pretty much isolated; the players could tackle each without unbalancing or fundamentally changing the picture. In a much denser urban environment with people and factions waiting for any error of you your actions would have more (direct) consequences. The whole situation is more volatile.

If one wants to do classic dungeon hopping in such a campaign, the PCs are probably better off as special agents to one person/party contending for the throne, escaping close scrutiny by the enemies and having more freedom to act.

 

[Mark CMG]

Dungeon crawling can take the form of prison rescues, uncovering a religious cult in a country mansion (that has some pawn in power politically), thwarting a smuggling ring that has a seaside cavern system (perhaps smuggling arms or important forreign agents), etc.

 

[Vespucci]

If I was going to write an Urban version of Kingmaker, I would make sure to drop the term "sandbox" into the module description fairly regularly.

[sblock=spoiler-ish explanation of that cryptic remark]I've only had a quick look at Kingmaker, but the repeated use of the term "sandbox" arouses suspicion. From a brief analysis, it seems that the module is almost as free as a six-level dungeon with just one path of progressing into its depths. Almost, in that the PCs aren't always free to dip down a level, decide it's a bit hard and come back up for some more of the prior floor.

It's not a sandbox by any substantial measure of the term.[/sblock]

If I wanted an urban setting which fairly easily accommodates PC explorations and interventions, Lankhmar, City of Adventure would be a better jumping-off point than Kingmaker.

 

[Quickleaf]

What about a campaign reclaiming or fighting for a city quarter by quarter? Where each quarter covers a certain level span, and organize it so each quarter connects with one equal level or lower, one higher, and one much harder.

It could be a plague quarantine scenario where a fanatic temple (or other "its for the greater good" group) rises to power and deals with the plague by taking over the city - all except for the ghetto/undercity where the PCs start.

Or an oppressive occupier who allow something like a free trade zone, which the players must seize while navigating foreign emissaries and the thieves guild which all have their own plans for the city.

Or a city that has just fallen to a monstrous siege and the players retreat with the ruling family and soldiers to the palace and barricade themselves within. They've got to mobilize the enslaved population, assassinate hobgoblin captains and demoralize the troops, engage in "terrorist" attacks, fighting the monsters tooth and nail.

Or a city torn apart by an interregnum, with hostile factions holding different quarters. The PCs start in a small neutral zone like a sacred city center, and get to choose which faction to support or use them against each other to rise to power themselves.


And to do an urban sandbox properly you've got to have a city supplement (Sigil, Worlds Largest City, City of Delights, Waterdeep boxed set, Freeport Companion, etc). That's as important as a good module. If it's homebrew then my best suggestion is to use Cityworks, Mongoose's Strongholds book, and Magical Medieval Society to build your city.

Oh, and a "floating" assassin encounter. Gotta have one of those.

 

[bouncyhead]

What about a campaign reclaiming or fighting for a city quarter by quarter?

I'd go for this, but as per the Kingmaker setup, I'd have rival groups fighting to establish control over individual areas of 'turf' - gangster style. One of these groups would be the party, the others would be rival crime families.

Or they could be clearing out the gangsters in an Untouchables themed campaign, with precinct against precinct.

Along the way you've got haunted houses, infested sewers, corrupt overlords, serial killers. The works.

Actually, scratch my first idea, I like that better.

 

[Nagol]

I'd be tempted to go the Romeo and Juliet route of warring noble houses and have the PCs working to unite the city and confront the external threats while coming into power themselves.