Help on Swashbuckling Idea (Richelieu, etc...)
 

Hello there,

I wondered whether you have ideas to flesh out the following vague adventure hook:

The game may be set somewhere in the 1620's in France, with the players being members of the kings' musketeers. The villain will be Richelieu, although the players know that he is surely better for France than a weak king.

So there should be a conspiracy. The Hapsburgs want to poison Louis. But they don't want him dead -- he will only go insane, and a (maybe forged) document will be found, that says he wants Anne of Austria will as his regent. They will kill/capture/whatever Richelieu first and then the Hapsburgs will reign in France.

The PCs will discover hints of a plot against the king. Somehow the evidence is put like Richelieu is plotting against the king, so the players will want to work against Richelieu at first. Then comes the twist and they discover that Richelieu was framed by the Hapsburgs and that they are the real plotters. Of course they don't want Richelieu to be removed and will make sure France is saved and the Hapsburgs are defeated.

All that, mixed with conspiring nobles, maybe Louis' mother, dark figures and Richelieu's spies, and served with a lot of panache and wits could be a nice evening or two.

Does anybody have any ideas or comments?

Andre

Re: Help on Swashbuckling Idea (Richelieu, etc...)
 

Sounds like fun, Andre.

My one comment is that if you have Richelieu, you clearly need to have d'Artagnan, Porthos, Athos, and Aramis. However, since you're apparently going for a little more historical realism than Dumas, you should have them appear in odd places, or with odd twists. For example, an Aramis who has actually become a priest and mantains his piety, rather than succumbing to the lures of the sword. Not only do you get easy to remember NPCs, but clever players get the reward of figuring out where your NPCs are coming from.

-DaR, who loves him some swashbuckling.

Re: Re: Help on Swashbuckling Idea (Richelieu, etc...)
 

You may use the historical D'Artagan, Porthos, Athos, and Aramis. Dumás based his characters in real historical figures, although adapted, slightly or heavily, for the novel. If you want, I can check my copy of Three Musketeers at home to give you more info. I think that D'Artagnan should a child, if already born at 1620 (the historical D'Artagnan had his adventures about 20 years latter). Still, I believe the others were already grown up at that time.

This sounds like a lot of fun and is much more than a vague hook. How are the Hapsburgs going to put their plot in motion? Who are their agents? You may want to construct a tree of opponents that leads from the foot soldiers, to the lieutenants, to the Big Bad that the party will take out, to the untouchable Hapsburg that is behind it all.

I have this great image of a priest that is working as a Hapsburg spy and angling for the Richelieu's job.

Good luck,

Jeb

Not yet Cardinal Mazarin might play a role (he was Richeliu's successor) Perhaps he plays the part of the mysterious agent who appears to the characters with proof that Richeliu is actually [gasp] innocent.
Entirely at Richeliu's behest of course.

How about making approximately one half of your PC's cardinal's musketeers that the king's musketeers must reluctantly ally with in order to solve the mystery and protect the throne?

Re: Help on Swashbuckling Idea (Richelieu, etc...)
 

If you haven't seen it already, watch "Devils" with Oliver Reed. It's set during the reign of Louis XIV and the good Cardinal, and would prove an interesting side adventure: a rogue town seeking independence, the corruption of the church, the hysteria of heresy.

Good movie.

~BA
pax

Thanks for your ideas so far!!

Yeah, maybe I should switch to 1630/31. The Three Musketeers are set in 1627 or something like that.

I just read something about the Chalais Conspiracy, but couldn't find anything on that in my books. Do you have more information?

Or do you have any other ideas for NPCs that could take a role in that conspiracy (I like the priest-idea above)?

Andre

Not a lot -- I've a ton of history books focusing on the Revolution (for obvious reasons) but I never focused particularly on the "Musketeer" period. I'll give you what I have out of the Britannica for it: