So, why is Syzzinar not Overlord now? What does the current Overlord, or the other crime lords, have that he doesn’t? A couple possible answers:

First, Syzzinar is as careless with coin as the other magi, and he doesn’t manage the actual business of his Guild well. He trades favors and secrets well, but not coin and goods.

Second, Syzzinar is notoriously smug about the supremacy of magic. To the point that he totally fails to notice that his “charmed” chambermaid is being blackmailed into spying on him, despite considering him her “best friend.” He consistently underestimates his mundane competition, and as such his personal household is riddled with spies and his schemes out in the city are often foiled because he can’t generate the same fear the other lords do.

Third, Syzzinar has no ships of his own, so the core economy of piracy is beyond him. He has to make do by skimming off others. This costs him respect, especially as filling his ranks with effete scholars instead of useful war wizards and sea witches doesn’t win him any points.

Fourth, Syzzinar has no respect for the local church, and more than once has been overheard making blasphemous or heretical comments in public. This turns the common man against him, and gives his enemies ample fodder to paint him as consorting with devils.

Individually, none of those are enough to significantly cripple his power. But, together, they mean that he is never on very firm footing when dealing with matters that can’t be solved with a simple spell. Fortunately, his general intelligence and ruthlessness are often enough to make up the gap. But the other lords are well aware that the gap is there, and do their best to exploit it.
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I’m going to scoop most of your other ideas too!

The gate is tricky because the campaign we’re ending right now is all about closing a gate to the Shadowfell the PCs let happen in adventure #1. Two campaigns about gates would be repetitive.

When I flesh out the other factions, though, there should be enough other hooks so it isn’t perceived this new campaign revolves around another gate, and the gate is just another source of adventure.

Thanks for the comments and ideas, Mike.

I need to scoot right now, but the others who have commented have great stuff I’m going to sccop as well. I’ll reply again here later on.

The next step in his story being well-discussed, here, the next thing to naturally consider is what happens – to the guild, to the pirates, even to the arch – once the secret is discovered.

(Also: I agree with Loz’ nota bene. Real-life examples abound.)

Solving this means adding a whole new chapter or three to your plots, which can easily encompass your desire for setbacks to Syzzinar’s career. What he needs to do to achieve the stated outcome is to present trumped-up charges of violating the Guild’s rules that lead to the withdrawing of Guild Protections, THEN he can kill them and blame one of the other Powers within the city.

Perhaps, if he had secretly infiltrated the command infrastructure of one of these other Powers, even on a limited basis, he could actually have that Power act on his behalf without even realising it at the time.

But a better solution would be to contrive an atmosphere of low-level hostility between the Guild and those other forces. Using illusions and enchantments, he could convince the Captains that they were under perpetual assault from inimical Powers from the far side of the gate that have been released by the Guild’s efforts. If Syzzinar can also convince them that the only hope of ever ending this threat is the Guild, a love-hate relationship with the Guild will emerge, and (within a generation or so) become entrenched. When the guild’s protections are withdrawn, this atmosphere would make the unprotected guild member a target for all the accumulated resentment, and the other factions of Riverport would actually do the eliminating, thus keeping Syzzinar’s hands pristine.

Under these circumstances, each of the Pirate Captains would seek to add a mage to their staffs; in some (even most) cases, these would be drawn from the Guild (giving Syzzinar unwitting spies within the ranks of his enemies/pawns), but some would not, and those would be protected by the political influance of their boss and not the Guild. A few of these might be mages that Syzzinar would not consider dangerous, but a few would be genuine dangers to the exposure of his entire plot.

Maintaining a level of security would therefore mean using lies, innuendo, and deception to turn the other Captains against a danger – something that’s hit-and-miss at the best of times. At the same time, those Captains who can be counted on only to get agressive when Syzzinar presents them with an opportunity should be surrepticiously maintained and strengthened, lest they be replaced by someone less tractable or less cowed. In effect, this means that Syzzinar would need to actively work to keep his enemies strong (but not too strong) – a difficult balance to achieve.

This would mean that Syzzinar has to work a lot harder to maintain his position, and would certainly not have it all his own way through the years, creating a vulnerability that the writeup you’ve provided is lacking.

Further, with the dirty work being done by someone else, there is also a much greater chance of a screw-up, someone believed killed as a threat who actually survives, mimicks Syzzinar’s actions by assuming a false identity, and begins orchestrating a threat to everything Syzzinar has built up (a significant rival). If (when?) Syzzinar discovers this threat, he will have to put everything on the line to end it – without blowing his cover (placing him at a significant disadvantage).

All this brings me to my next question – how will any PC mages fit into the plot? You will get quite different campaigns if a PC mage is another ’survivor’, or is a member of the Guild, or is part of the rival’s power structure. The last means that much of what you’ve written here would be known to the mage, the first would make the unmasking and downfall of Syzzinar a major ambition of the campaign. The middle option has the benefit of surprise (and can always be turned into the first with a botched assassination at some point in play).

Finally, you will need (if you havn’t already) to decide exactly what the Cypher Gate is. It would make for a great finish to the campaign for it to open, but in the meantime, its true nature should manifest, however subtly. You can’t have 100+ mages researching something for 80 years without a few clues emerging…

Either you have gone to truly extraordinary lengths to reach that punchline, or it was just a beautiful accident. Either way — I’m impressed! :)

Honestly, I think it’s a great story. I think it does need some more tension though. Perhaps the gang of 100 are actually going to unlock the secret, but that secret will expose something from Syzzinar’s past. Perhaps he has a ‘missing glyph’ or other hidden glyph key which is necessary to interpret the arch, which someone else uncovers or steals from under his watchful eye. The Syzzinar will need to stretch himself to track down whoever has stolen it and then recover the missing key, before the Overlord does.?

All of which would be highly obvious to a secret underground group of seperatist mages actively working against Syzzinar’s designs. Maybe it’s lead by one of the ousted alpha’s who was thought to be killed off … maybe it’s lead by a non-mage relative of a deceased alpha. Regardless, it has a bone to grind with the Syzzinar, and it knows more of the guild’s inner workings than Syzzinar is comfortable with.

This group may not be significant enough a force to oppose Syzzinar directly, but what it if learned of (one of) the Cyphergate’s secrets before the guild did? What if it could use this secret against the guild? Such undermining tactics are bread and butter for such groups …