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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2013 23:19:32 GMT -8
I am running a Game of Thrones game that takes place at the beginning of Robert's Rebellion. The Starks and the Arryns have just called their banners in revolt. All of the other houses and many minor houses have not joined the rebellion and are ambivalent about what side they will fall on.
My group are all affiliated with house Arryn being nobles from Heart's Home. They had a run in with Lord Bolton's men during the initial chaos and decided to kill them all. Lord Bolton is dead and they injured and kidnapped his sons. The PC group should be allied with the Boltons in rebellion. They decided instead of joining their side to side with the Mad King given what they have done. They have fought and killed other men of the Vale instead of talking to them when asked to halt and explain themselves.
They are now riding with nobles from house Martell south from the Twins(The Red Viper and The Darkstar). They intend to deliver the Bolton's sons to the Mad King because they are bitter that Domeric killed his sister after they killed his father. You can see my other post in general for more details on how that went down.
They are now approaching Seaguard and Gregor Clegane has taking to burning and pillaging the Riverland in the name of the king because the Tullys have not yet made a clear declaration on which side they are on. The Martells are against these action but technically on the same side as Clegane.
So history has been messed up a bit and will never be the same. I am interested to see how this will play out and how far the PCs will take this path of revenge. Will they face Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon on the battle of the Trident?
I was looking for ideas from others who know about the setting. What would be interesting repercussions of these events. Who will be affected by these actions?
I am running this sandbox style and I have no clear path that they must arrive at. I was looking for some brainstorming help. Any thoughts are welcome.
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Post by The Northman on Jun 25, 2013 4:14:10 GMT -8
Er, HUGE GIGANTIC SPOILERS should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. I usually alter some sort of plot feature whenever I play in an established story like this or Star Wars, or start in a historically separate era so we're not quite so bound up by what the players already knokw. It makes it a lot easier to create a new story for the players. I don't usually go quite so far afield though, because it can create more work. Altering the Clegane and Martell stories has pretty big consequences on its own, not to mention the Lannister's having obviously declared for the crown already and allowing Roose Bolton to die. Basically you've assured that the Targs will stay in power and the Rebellion will fail, because the balance has been drastically tipped. The other option would be a prolonged civil war between northern and southern houses. It's going to be really messy, regardless, but could make for a fun departure. You've also probably altered things to the point where the metaplot surrounding prophecies and magic reborn into the world are going to be broken. Dany's not off finding dragon's eggs if she's safe in the Red Keep, and if Jon Snow is _________ Targaryen (assuming you believe the popular theory - he simply doesn't exist if you think he's just Ned's bastard) he's got no real role to play in things, either. Basically, your party has ensured that the Others will overrun the whole of the world and darkness will fall till the end of time. Assuming that isn't what George is planning, anyway... Regardless... Your main battles are still going to be the Battle of the Bells and the Trident. If Jon Connington finds the wounded Robert, maybe with the PCs help, the Rebellion could die there or at least stop advancing. Jon Arryn and Ned are doomed if they surrender, so they and their people will likely go down fighting. If the Trident still happens and there are Lannisters in the field it's likely a decisive victory for the crown. One person I'd spend some time on is your version of Tywin. He's acting a bit out of character by making some really bold moves before things are really settled, so he must have some motivation to push him in that direction. Figure out what those are - you've already lost your 'other,' best villain. What's done is done, but I wonder if the party set out to play villains? I would assume so, since it appears they're playing psychopaths. Jon Arryn is universally considered a good man, and it's a pretty big deal to not only -not- come when your banner lord calls but turn actively against him. They're likely not going to be trusted even if they end up being rewarded for helping the winning, and will have to make their way as a bit of a dishonored house. This isn't a very forgiving setting when it comes to breaking with tradition and custom; remember Jaime is still the Kingslayer - in derogatory fashion - despite having slain one of the worst villains in history because he broke an oath to do it. Your group are all assuredly oath breakers, and likely kinslayers at this point. I have a hard time with GoT in RPG form, because it feels like to do it any justice you have to really keep that background of rich setting and politics moving independently from the players. I set my campaign during the Blackfyre rebellion, and that helped a little, but it was still exhausting having the party tied directly into those big events.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2013 10:20:05 GMT -8
Wow, what a can of worms.
The Lannisters are not against the rebellion many are gathering their forces and trying to not declare a side. Clegane has used this as an excuse to raid and pillage against his liege lords orders. I wanted to leave them an opportunity to go after him if they wanted to. They seem to enjoy going after the biggest villains of the setting. I imagine that Tywin will not like what Clegane is doing.
If they are dishonored and defeated then I would give them the option to take the Black and that could alter the story greatly and be some fun. I might even accelerate some of the problems north of the wall. If the king wins perhaps Ned Stark and Roberrt Baratheon end up on the wall too (not likely if the King gets to decide).
I believe the John Snow theory, but he would be a Targeareon bastard, and not of too much importance if there are other heirs and the King is in power.
The party knows how mad the king is and do not like it. They have made comments to the effect of if only Rhaegar were king. I think part of what one PC wants to do is get close to King Areys and kill him as soon as possible. They are heading to Kings Landing with the Bolton prisoners to deliver. Though I am mulling over having the Martells they are riding with decide that their situation will be safer if they take the prisoners back to Sun Spear to use them as leverage instead of just serving them up to burn for the PCs revenge.
The Martells they are travelling with are not liking the kings actions but Oberyn's sister is Elia Targareon and he feels that he has no choice but to ride south and bring his army on the side of the king.
The group is going to end up in Seagard and from there they need to get some contact from home. A raven needs to tell them wtf?
The GOT theme of having to work with people who you do not like is tough for my PCs so they feel forced into their position. One PC released his squire to travel back on his own so that he will not be affiliated with his treasonous actions. They are not trying to be villains. They are on a quest for revenge.
I am thinking that they are going to enter a neutral Seagard and receive a lot of help and information. Then Seagard will fall in like with the rebellion when the Tully's raise their banners and we will get to see their response.
Thanks for the brainstorming help. I guess I should have written SPOILER all over this thread
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Post by The Northman on Jun 25, 2013 11:12:35 GMT -8
I hadn't considered Gregor acting on his own initiative - maybe a quest where the party helps The Hound take down his brother, on Tywin's orders, could be a neat arc. You don't need to worry about too much detail other than deciding what's going to happen with or without the characters and what they have a chance to influence. Otherwise it's "We've got a Raven..." I'm just too much of a nut for the setting to -not- flesh it all out. Taking the black or exile in the free cities are both great options for continuing the campaign if they lose. What were their motivations for becoming loyalists? That might help me think of more specific plot hooks, etc. They would have been working with plenty of 'good guys,' if they hadn't gone off the reservation.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2013 12:36:06 GMT -8
The first session there was a tourney in the Twins. Lyn Corbray one of the PCs was set to joust against a Domeric Bolton. Domeric fell ill mysteriously and his bastard brother Ramsey takes his spot in the tournament. Lyn Corbray explodes the damage dice and nearly kills Ramsey. Later it is found that the wound from the lance was laced in poison. Lord Bolton and his men go to confront the party and demand that they take the Corbray's maester for questioning and to search their belonging for signs of the poison. They refuse to allow their maester to be questioned (the party was innocent, someone else poisoned the lance). The conflict escalates when the Boltons attempt to use force and party draws arms when and kills Lord Bolton and his men.
News had come about the rebellion and the different groups at the tournament are taking sides and are trying to kill and capture members of the other side. The Lord of Heart's home sent them a letter to take no sides and return home with his sister immediately. His sister was to be given to the Boltons to marry Domeric and is currently with the Bolton's camp.
The Tullys have not yet taken a clear side. Lord Frey locked his gates and has given no sign as to his intentions. The group is stranded on the west side of the Fork.
More Bolton men arrive and see their lord dead and assume that Hearts Home now sides with the king. News spread fast among the chaos. THe Martell men are amongst the chaos and hear that the Corbrays are sided with the king. The Martells join in on killing off the rest of the Bolton group present and commend the group on their loyalty to the king.
Combined with the Martells the group attacks a camp of rebels full of North men in order to get Lyn Corbray's sister back. Domeric uses her as a hostage, they do not surrender and she is killed in the conflict.
The group is full of rage over this and want revenge. Taking the Bolton sons as prisoners they decide to ride south with the Martells. The Martells refuse to travel to kings landing until they rally their army given the instability of the king. The group wants to take the Bolton sons to king Areys for them to face the mad kings justice.
Traveling south they encounter a small group of men of the Vale (their mission would be to find and return the Corbrays after hearing what happened). The group does not halt when given the command and raises up lances and charges the small group. They slaughter the men of the Vale mercilessly (from Longbow Hall).
The player playing Lyn Cobray realizes that his squire is from another house of the Vale and will be implicated for riding with them and forces him to travel north alone so that he will not be seen as a traitor to his people. He does this without letting the Martells know, thinking that perhaps they would want the heir of another house of the Vale, now rebels, as a hostage.
The group is now coming across destruction caused by the rouge acting Gregor Clegane calling the Riverlands people cowards for not making taking sides immediately and is raping, burning, and pillaging the Riverlands just south of the party.
They group will soon come across Seagard and the Mallisters. The Tullys have not called their banners yet (This happens after Hoster Tully becomes loyal to the rebellion ans his daughters are to be married to house Stark and Arryn which should happen soon). I figure Jason Mallister will want their help in hunting Cleganes men but Clegane is acting in the name of the King.
The Ironmen of the Pyke have very little written about them during Roberts Rebellion. Perhaps the Greyjoy Rebellion might happen a little sooner when they realize the instability of the North.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2013 14:06:57 GMT -8
Running the session tomorrow. They will encounter Seagard and the Mallisters the rest is up in the air. Last chance for suggestions!
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Post by malifer on Jun 28, 2013 9:51:56 GMT -8
Just kill the PCs it's what George would do.
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Post by CreativeCowboy on Jun 28, 2013 11:23:17 GMT -8
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2013 12:09:12 GMT -8
I have to wait until they grow attached to their characters before I kill them off.
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