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Switch to Forum Live View Framing the PCs for the death of the King of Breland
1 year ago  ::  Apr 24, 2012 - 5:49PM #1
Orkbard
Date Joined: Mar 3, 2012
Posts: 508
Okay so I've been kicking this idea around for a little bit, haven't started the campaign yet but I've been building up ideas for what is going to happen, or at least what I want to try to get the players involved with.

One of these things is to have the PCs framed for the murder of the king of Breland. I have the idea that there are agents of the Dreaming Dark working through manipulating various groups in Khorvaire to start the Next War. They are doing this so that the Inspired can come in and "save" them once it's escalated to nearly cataclysmic levels. Taking over and "saving the savages from them selves."  I'm planning a Quori agent that is in charge of the operation and he/she, there are a number of prepared hosts for this agent scattered about, is handling the manipulations of groups. 
Now what I'm trying to figure out, and this is the reason for the thread, is what are some likely assassin groups that I could use to frame the party? Other than House Thuranni, I don't see them going for such a high profile target. 
Also, has anyone killed the king of Breland in their games, and if so who did it and why?
 
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1 year ago  ::  Apr 24, 2012 - 6:44PM #2
EnderXenocide0
Date Joined: Feb 20, 2012
Posts: 93
I don't know if they have assassins in their ranks, but the Cabinet of Faces would be perfectly suited to framing the party. A group of Dopplegangers looking like the party are seen killing Boranel and they disappear in the chase. Maybe the Cabinet itself had been infiltrated and members were Mind Seeded so they effectively are agents of the Dreaming Dark now.

I was actually thinking of starting a thread about how to destabilize the current post-war peace. The Dreaming Dark in my campaign is also trying to get the war started again  
Call me Ender.
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1 year ago  ::  Apr 24, 2012 - 8:09PM #3
Orkbard
Date Joined: Mar 3, 2012
Posts: 508

Apr 24, 2012 -- 6:44PM, EnderXenocide0 wrote:

I don't know if they have assassins in their ranks, but the Cabinet of Faces would be perfectly suited to framing the party. A group of Dopplegangers looking like the party are seen killing Boranel and they disappear in the chase. Maybe the Cabinet itself had been infiltrated and members were Mind Seeded so they effectively are agents of the Dreaming Dark now.

I was actually thinking of starting a thread about how to destabilize the current post-war peace. The Dreaming Dark in my campaign is also trying to get the war started again  



I like the doppelganger thing. As I read about the Dreaming Dark they just seem to be the most fun, IMHO, "bad guys"/antagonists. Since I intend the PCs to be former Cyran Military, nothing special rank wise, but had one big assignment together right before the Mourning then meeting up again in Sharn. So the Next War is kind of a major theme/undercurrent to the game. 
I also really like the Inspired coming to "help" the Five Nations in order to expand the power of Dal Quor. 
I'm even intending for the Inspired to employ the PCs in the name of keeping the peace. Wink 

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1 year ago  ::  Apr 24, 2012 - 8:35PM #4
EnderXenocide0
Date Joined: Feb 20, 2012
Posts: 93
One thing I really like about the Dreaming Dark is that they always have a number of plans running at the same time. If one fails, it's no real big deal to them.
Call me Ender.
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1 year ago  ::  Apr 25, 2012 - 3:44AM #5
Madfox11
  • LFR Global Admin
Date Joined: Dec 2, 2005
Posts: 4,441
It should be noted that the difficulty of framing somebody is highly depended on the resources of the person being framed and the eagerness of the authorities to find out the truth. It is also significantly easier to frame somebody in RL than in a fantasy setting like Eberron where magic rituals such as Object Reading, Speak with Dead are a known factor and everybody is aware of changelings and other chapechangers. High level adventurers are especially difficult to frame. Personally I have framed the PCs a couple of times, but never with the intent to make it stick. It was a ploy to distract the authorities long enough for the real culprits to either get away or finish their real task. Each time I was surprised how quickly the PCs managed to get themselves out of trouble.

One of things you need at a minimum for any framing to stick is to have enough people in charge support your atempt. They must have reasons not to dig too deeply, and it would be even better if they have reasons to actively oppose any (un)official investigation. Secondly, lower the credibility of anybody doing the investigations as well as the person you are framing. If your intended target already has a bad reputation, people are much more willing to accept things at face value. In case of adventurers this can be risky though. It is a long term operation which runs the risk of drawing unwanted attention and adventurers tend to have the resources and powers to learn a lot. Finally, make sure that the actual assassination deals with at the very least the lower level rituals/spells, and preferably more. Actually, the best way to frame somebody is to have commit the murder either by dominating him or even better by manipulating them into volluntarily performing the crime.

In all honesty, I would not set out from the start to frame the PCs. For one thing, you run the risk to start railroading the adventure too much. Secondly, in a setting like D&D you do not frame somebody on a whim. Why would the quori want to frame the PCs in the first place? There might very well be easier targets, especially if you take into consideration that murdering the king takes time and the PCs are unlikely to be enemies when the planning starts. Of course, when by the time the murder takes place the PCs have set them selves up through their behavior, all is fair game
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1 year ago  ::  Apr 25, 2012 - 10:12AM #6
Orkbard
Date Joined: Mar 3, 2012
Posts: 508
The big why of killing the King is to seriously destabilize the current peace of the Five Kingdoms. I intend that the PCs will interfere a couple of times to often with the Quori plans and they will set up a "kill two birds with one stone" plan. I'm not setting out from the start to frame the party. I rarely do things like that. The exception being when I straight up ripped off the "Curse of the Azure Bonds" by changing a couple of the groups involved and making the markings crimson instead of azure. 
I usually plan for the lower to mid-level spells/rituals when conducting plots like this. In previous games these players have saved rulers before so I want them to not save this ruler and in fact be held responsible for the crime. I'm curious to see how they handle the situation. If they run good, that's what I'm hoping they do. If the surrender and profess innocence then there will be a rushed trial with circumstantial evidence, false character witnesses, and that sort of thing. Along with a hurried execution time. 
Since I'm not going to let them just be executed, unless they want to for some bizarre reason, they will be freed by someone, probably some Kalashtar person who is actively working against the Dreaming Dark's plans to destabilize the peace. Though he will not last longer than I need to give the party some new clues as to what is going on.
And I jus came up with all of that as I wrote it. Laughing 
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1 year ago  ::  Apr 26, 2012 - 1:38AM #7
Madfox11
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Date Joined: Dec 2, 2005
Posts: 4,441
The reason for killing Boronel is obvious, I was asking about the reason on why you would want to frame the PCs  Framing the PCs might remove them from the picture, but it is much more likely it is just a roadbump for the PCs and makes them all the more likely to dig into the situation. You are effectively forcing the adventurers to learn the truth and mid-level adventurers tend to be dangerous and unpredictable. Of course, framing the PCs through half-hearted easy to disrupt attempts and then shifting the real blame to somebody else (preferably somebody the PCs already hate) would work perfectly. It would work even better if that somebody else is a force of stabilization. Adventurers tend to have a tendency not to look at the big picture after all. It wouldn't be the first time they make their findings public or even kill the culprit (especially if the culprit reacts aggesively) without thinking about what happens next, say when you remove the only other person able to keep Breland from invading Droaam. Of course, sometimes players do surprise you and they do think about the long term implications of their actions, but for me that would be all the more fun
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