D&D 5E Expanding a Bard's nemesis

[Princelucianus]

I'm the DM and a player in my campaign is a bard who's called Plunko.
He hates and is always overshadowwed by a rival called Plonko.

They have had 19 sessions in Barovia and the name Plonko came up a few times.
''Are you the famous Plonko'' or stuff similar like that.

The hatred of the bard for Plonko has grown more and more.
The group is now outside of Barovia and also here the name Plonko has been dropped.

I wonder if I can get more out of this story, leading to something (important/insignificant) around level 20.

Plonko is:
1- only ever seen by Plunko.
2- last seen by Plunko (before he was level 1) near the Sword coast. Never seen since.
3- a musician, using fringe musical instruments
4- loved by all who meet him (but have they?)
5- a name that the other characters in the group have also heard.
6- the writer of the book ''How to play the ukelele''

Maybe it's an imagination or something completely different.

If someone has a brilliant brainwave, I'd love to hear it.

 

[aco175]

Twin separated by birth. I was going to say split personality, but we have had several conversations about taking control away from players to fit the game.

 

[aco175]

You could tie something like a BBEG, maybe a lich, ofthe past trying to take over his body. A spirit from 500 years ago of another famous bard wants to come back to life and needs a body.

 

[Umbran]

If someone has a brilliant brainwave, I'd love to hear it.

Well, if he's been in Barovia... make Plonko a vampire - the charm ability helps explain how everyone who meets him loves him. He's using fringe musical instruments because they were actually the popular instruments in his land when he was alive.

 

[Oofta]

I'd turn the tables. Plonko is the "real" bard, while Plunko is just a clone or copy that will never quite measure up.

For fun as the campaign progresses they have a psychic link and Plonko can appear to Plunko to harass him, calling him an impostor and fake who's trying to leech off Plonko's well earned fame. To Plunko, Plonko feels like he's really there but of course nobody can see him.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Awesome stuff! The only thing I might add is that Plonko doesn't even know who Plunko is.

 

[Oofta]

Awesome stuff! The only thing I might add is that Plonko doesn't even know who Plunko is.

Yet.

 

[Princelucianus]

Thanks for all the brainstorming. It helped immensely and I have a small set up.

A small bit of extra info first:
Due to deaths in the group, the bard has taken 5 levels of rogue to help in the fighting.
And, always hearing that Plonko is so great, made him play less and less music (basically only songs of rest, he declined to play in a pub when Plunko's name was mentioned an hour before).
Plunko would kill Plonko on the spot.

So, how about this.

Some kind of creature (vamp/lich/other) has taken control of Plonko and uses his essence to regain his life. (Plonko might or might not be aware of this, think Psi vampire).
Both bards share the same muse (think twins) and get/got equal shares of the inspiration and virtuoso.
So, when one stops playing and conducting, the other receives more.
(Maybe they have to be within 100 miles of each other for this to work).
Knowing Plunko would kill Plonko, the creature needs to keep Plonko away from Plunko.
For this to work, Plonko needs to be clueless about Plunko's existence.
So maybe the creature needs Plonko to give up on being a bard completely to get all the essence and regain her/his life-force.


Future info:
Plunko receives news that he had several siblings he never knew he had.
Plonko's star rises while Plunko becomes more resilient to play.
The creature becomes more powerful and sends death squads to kill Plunko.
Plonko becomes aware of Plunko.

So, how could this end?

It needs a poetic ending worthy of a great bard in despair.....
(And then Plunko got killed two sessions later while accidentally cutting his head off while shaving*)

*Blackadder the second

 

[Eltab]

Artist in despair: Vincent Van Gogh committed suicide. Play the song "Starry Starry Night" in the background while you read the narrator text leading up to the Climactic Finale confrontation.

Other stuff:

• The villain could be a Harpie or other monster that attacks with sound.
• His bodyguard / pet is a Destrachan.
• Plunko learns of a bardic masterwork that has all the cantrips written into it (to enhance the performance). Villain wants it too, and will either (1) race the PCs to get it or (2) let the PCs find it but take it away when they get back outside, a la Indiana Jones at the beginning of Lost Ark.
• Countersong, works like Counterspell but vs the Verbal component of a spell.
• Unbeknownst to anybody, Villain is weak against a few special sonic spells (from 3e) such as Bonegrinder's Fiddle. Use them to kill him with Sonic damage; this will permanently destroy the otherwise self-re-raising undead.

Edited because the formatting did not do what I expected !

 

[Princelucianus]

Killing the villain with a song.
That would be a fitting end for a bard!