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Is the royal court magician has turned traitor? If not, I'd include a traitor.
I suggest having one or two obvious lackeys in the zoom meeting. They can refer to "my master" or something obvious. That way you can have a bit of mystery, and a "who is the baddy" subplot.
Yes, he has turned against his kingdom. I think he will be saying something like "this isnt how it was supposed to go! I only worked with you for ________ reasons!", so he will still be somewhat loyal to the kingdom. He will have the first plot hook for them to follow, and his collaborators will be out in the world for the party to either actively chase down or come across more coincidentally.
Lackeys aren't a bad idea! It would give me some flexibility and mystery with whom they are serving
he will be saying something like "this isnt how it was supposed to go! I only worked with you for ________ reasons!", so he will still be somewhat loyal to the kingdom
Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. That's a good antagonist.
Lackeys aren't a bad idea! It would give me some flexibility and mystery with whom they are serving
I like having the mystery. It gives the baddies a bit of context and provides a few side quests.
Tagging onto @sbv - why. Why is this kingdom being besieged? Is a local temple an actual focus for ley energies from creation itself? Is the local well off upstanding citizen actually harbouring deep grudges and just want it all to burn?
Depending on the why the who will fall into place.
The temple being a target could set up a nice religious conflict. Thanks for the inspiration!
Are there any particular hooks you want to drop? Why are they attacking?
Cannonise emperor palpatine
I'd pick one or two obviously bad guys, the rumoured / infamous necromancer said to live somewhere in the borderlands in a swampy place. Potentially a former battle field where there was some calamity wiping out both armies. The calamity was brought by the city in question. He survived the onslaught and swore revenge.
Maybe a misguided(?) protector of the forest, the town gets rich by exploiting the nearby hills and mountains for their natural resources and they back and slash away at the ancient forest to fuel the mines.
A local noble, was ousted from the city council, had titles revoked and is forced to live in exile. Maybe the noble deserved it maybe not, maybe the Nobel was framed for committing treason, since everyone thinks they are a traitor they might as well show the city what they could really do.
I would not make them all obviously bad guys that gives it more mystery.
Thanks, I think you're right not making them obvious, as it will give me more flexibility to adjust plans in addition to keeping it mysterious for the players
Sorry for the late replies! Thanksgiving week has been busy! Thank you for responses though!