In this adventure, aimed squarely at characters who are as villainous as they come, a war-torn kingdom is led to peace by a mysterious paladin proclaiming himself as a long prophesied 'God-King'. Needless to say, not everyone is happy about this and a large price is placed on his head. Will the party take the contract?

The DM's Background provides a few more details, as well as a rival bunch of villains also after the money; and also suggests that if your party is of a good persuasion it's fairly easy to switch things around and have the self-styled God-King as the villain of the peace. Or - this is my thought - perhaps the party is hired to protect the God-King, who may be good or evil as you please, and face the choice of defending him or turning on him as they see fit. The possibilities are endless.

The opening scene lays it all out for the party, with a covert gathering of the discontented explaining what has happened over the past week - for the God-King's ascension to power is very recent - and ending with them hearing a very large price put up for the God-King's removal from power by whatever means can be found. It seems that although he is 'good' he's also quite totalitarian and many feel the weight of his boot on their necks. Put it this way, you even need a permit to leave the city and face gaol if caught sneaking out...

From here a bunch of options are explored: the one difficulty with running a game with an evil party is that they come up with plans to which you then have to react, rather than the more conventional way of you thinking up a plot and the party reacting to it. Still, most things they might come up with are covered and this gives you a starting point to shape your response. All-out attack or assassination might be the first thoughts, but what about blackmail, planting false evidence or even seeking to corrupt the fellow? Whatever they decide upon, it's likely they will end up visiting the temple in which the God-King dwells. A detailed description of the temple including map, room descriptions, occupants and their likely reactions follows. Finally the true nature of the God-King is revealed, along with a new magic item.

This adventure leaves a lot unsaid, but it provides an excellent framework on which you can hang your own plots. Provided you are willing to put in the work, there is great potential here for some epic adventuring.