Barbed Gifts, or Dirty Politics

[drnuncheon]

First of all, if your character's name starts with a 'D' and ends with either an 'i'Fier' or a 'ru' - that is to say, if you're one of my Freeport players - go somewhere else.

Second, if you're a reader of the Freeport Story Hour, and you don't want spoilers - go hang out with those two.

To avoid spoiler tagging an entire post, I'm just going to leave a lot of space here.








































Right.

As readers of my Story Hour know, one of the characters has inherited a barony from his late (unlamented, diabolist) uncle, and has been doing a credible job administering it, especially after the years of neglect and poor management it suffered under the previous baron.

Howver, being Baron Threehills means politics, and the people he's involved with are some of the craftiest and most ruthless around.

Recently, he's been tasked with making sure a certain set of negotiations succeeds - even though his liege lord is in charge (and is a blithering idiot), and his liege's father has deliberately set everything up for the negotiations to fail (while still covering himself from the fallout).

Right now, he's returned to the court of Count Fourstone, his liege's father, believing that the Cult of the Yellow Sign is influencing matters - he wants to investigate and turn up evidence so he can report to both the Duke and the Freeport Captain's Council. Naturally, the Count doesn't want him doing any such thing.

I'm considering having the Count summon him to court, congratulate him on doing such a good job with his barony and for being such a good friend to his son - and then saddling him with another domain. I'm looking for a way to make this a very barbed gift - basically the Count is combining a bribe (economic and political power) with a way to get this guy out of his hair (by giving him somethign with crises that need to be dealt with immediately).

So, with all of that leadup, any ideas?

Anyone whose ideas I use will be given a cameo in the Story Hour (people who have already been driven insane or given a messy death are ineligible).

 

[CCamfield]

Why would the Count give him more land? If he thinks he can't trust Baron Threehills, giving him MORE power is potentially shooting himself in the foot.

Is the Cult involved? If it isn't, letting the Baron waste time while the Count manufactures some other problem with the negotiations seems like an approach to take.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Could they cause problems in his current estate?

Perhaps send in some agents to ferment trouble...

Direct action is possible, although that could backfire and could be traced back to the count?

Possibly give the player financial troubles? An exacting audit or tax demand of some sort?

Perhaps they can sick a lawyer or two on the bylaws and make sure he's obeying every single last one of them? A city like Freeport is sure to have some strange and superstious laws?

Perhaps they can make his barony host a festival, sporting event or party of some sort... Preferably a really difficult one that inevitably devolves into violence.

Hopefully some of those might keep him busy! And wouldn't really give him as much to show for it as new estates?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

High magic?

Send him on an errand.

A Wand of Wall of Stone is of incredible utility for a reigning noble. The ability to create the framework for fortifications overnight is wonderful. The wand could create a solid barracks or silo in 50 villiages which would be a godsend for defense or farming (depeding on which way you go).

The Count could send the party on a quest to a dungeon or other remote location that is rumored to have such a thing. Or the Count could simply comisison the wand from a mage very far away. In either case, he gets the group out of his hair for a little while, if he gets lucky they might die, and if everything fails ... well, then he gets the wand and a lot of free simple structures that will endear him to his subjects.

 

[drnuncheon]

Why would the Count give him more land? If he thinks he can't trust Baron Threehills, giving him MORE power is potentially shooting himself in the foot.

Well, here's the thought. The Count is a very crafty, devious man, but he suffers from a problem that a lot of people like that have: he doesn't understand people who aren't that way. So in part, it's a bribe. He's trying to buy the Baron.

But on some level he's aware that not everyone can be bought (even if he doesn't understand it). So he also wants to give him something to distract him. Thus, the crisis. It's a real, existing crisis that someone has to take care of, so he's killing two birds with one stone here, because he's pretty sure that the Baron will feel obligated to take care of the crisis. I'm just not sure what the crisis (or crises!) should be.

From the Count's perspective, it's pretty much a win-win. If the Baron goes off to deal with the crisis, he's not investigating. If he deals with the crisis, it's solved. If he fails, the Count can remove him and he looks bad. If he ignores the crisis, same thing.

There may be even more reasons for this - he could be setting the Baron up to be a target for others of his underlings that were eying that particular fief (and title). I have no problem with the Baron coming out of this with new holdings - it's really the only way he'd be able to expand, considering the fact that the area around is relatively civilized, and he doesn't have any wilderness to conquer.

J

 

[JimAde]

Maybe the new lands come with enemies. If there was another noble who expected to be granted that land, and the count gives it to the PC instead, the PC could have a brand new enemy. Especially if the count spoke with the other noble and said something like, "I feel really terrible about this, but circumstances force my hand. Of course, if Baron Threehills fails to fulfill his duties, things could change..."

 

[omnimpotent]

Perhaps the land nominally belongs to the Count, but in reality it has been overrun by humanoids, monsters, bandits, rebels, or another political body. The Count would not be giving away a manor that was really worth anything to him, (as the land would not be paying him his taxes) but it may be enough of a distraction for the characters trying to reclaim their new territory to keep them out of his hair.

If they get killed trying to reclaim it, that's fine by the Count, as the territory probably reverts to him at that point.

If they reclaim the territory, as their liege lord, he stands to increase his revenue, and he can probably also claim a certain amount (preferable too much) of the credit for returning lost provinces to the realm. Also, if the territory was overrun with humanoids or monsters, there may be no tenants left, so now the characters have to somehow get the area settled if they want to see any profit from their venture. And if there are remaining human/demi-human tenants, perhaps they were fond of the old regime or see this vacuum of power as thier chance to become independent. These can be ongoing concerns for the characters, distracting them from spoiling the Count's plots. He can continue to steal credit for their victories and publicly berate them for failures.

If they don't try anything, he can reclaim his claim to the area, as the characters have obviously mismanaged the affair.

No real losing conditions for the Count, but it should keep the PC's with things to do in the wilderness.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

OK, I have not read your story hour (although I should check it out, sounds intriguing) so maybe none of this will work.

You need a reason for the Baron to want to take the lands beyond the fact that it is more land. If the count offers this land while it is overrun with creatures or the like, there is little incentive to take it on and it might be too obvious that the Count is trying to get him out of the way.

My idea is to place something valuable within that land. Perhaps a small iron mine that does not produce a high volume, but it does produce very high quality ore. The Count uses this ore to produce high quality weapons and armor which he gives as gifts and payments for other political favors. The mine has had a recent labor issue and the workers have gone on strike. Conditions in the mine are not acceptable - maybe bacause of an infestation by some kind of fun and nasty creatures. The Counts own negotiators are busy (probably working to set up the failure of the Baron's liege lord) and are not available to settle this dispute. If the Baron is willing to work to end this strike, the Count will title him with the lands around the mine. It becomes valuable to the Baron to gain his portion of the mine's revenue, in addition to the extra land. The Count gets the mine back in operation if the Baron succeeds, and the Baron will be tied up fixing the labor problems there so will be unable to investigate the other things the Count wants left alone. If the Baron fails, the Count has the chance to discredit the Baron, and the Baron will have still missed his chance to investigate. If the Baron turns down the lands, the Count can start stories of the Baron's cowardess or unwillingness to take on a challenge - perhaps he is not worthy of the title he already holds.

 

[Wrath of the Swarm]

Why would the Count give him more land? If he thinks he can't trust Baron Threehills, giving him MORE power is potentially shooting himself in the foot.

Sheesh. Haven't you ever read Dune? Among other matters, he's not just giving him more power, he's giving him more responsibility. If the responsibility outweighs the power...

 

[WayneLigon]

I'm considering having the Count summon him to court, congratulate him on doing such a good job with his barony and for being such a good friend to his son - and then saddling him with another domain. I'm looking for a way to make this a very barbed gift - basically the Count is combining a bribe (economic and political power) with a way to get this guy out of his hair (by giving him somethign with crises that need to be dealt with immediately).

So, with all of that leadup, any ideas?

Hmmm. Assuming the Count is involved in the Cult, maybe the Count can use this opportunity to clean house. Have him create a special force from those whom he wants to die, have them run into the adventurers and die. The count gets the incompetants out of his hair, and gives hero-boy a good congratulations on 'having expunged this evil from the land'. Now the smart servants can go about their duties almost unoppossed and unsuspected.