My Latest Idea: Au Service Especial de la Reine

Lady Chocolat and I watched "Shakespeare in Love" the other day, which remains one of very few romantic comedies that I actually enjoy (because it manages the dual feats of being both romantic and funny - very few films in the genre manage either). Anyway, while watching it, LC noted that she was never a huge fan of Marlowe... and then dropped a throwaway comment that he was a spy.

Wait, I thought, what?!

So, I duly looked up Wikipedia, and sure enough there is indeed a significant body of thought that Marlowe worked for the crown, quite possibly while using his travelling acting troupe as a cover.

Now, that's just too good an adventure premise to pass up! But how to do it - after all, the Elizabethan era really isn't one I know too well, and casting the PCs as actors, complete with Shakespearean dialogue, very tight tights, and all that goes with it could well fall flat very quickly.

But a bit of history that I do know quite well is France during the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV. Where there's all manner of plotting between Catholic France and Protestant England, between Cardinal Mazarin and the Queen Mother... and the time period between "The Three Musketeers" and "The Man in the Iron Mask".

Aha!

Oh, and very helpfully, the most recent "Three Musketeers" film (which I enjoyed in a "it's really stupid" kind of way) recast the musketeers as something of secret agents for the crown, so it's not a totally out there idea...

So...

Au Service Especial de la Reine

There is unease in France. In Paris, poverty and famine have turned grumblings into whispers of outright revolt. In the palace, insulated from this by wealth, luxury, and a total lack of empathy, a power struggle rages for influence over the young king. Agents of the Queen Mother have uncovered reports that Mazarin has arranged a meeting with representatives of the King of Spain regarding a marriage for the young Louis. Such a marriage Would spell the end of the influence enjoyed by the Queen Mother, and place Louis in the power of Mazarin. Further, these agents believe that the meetings have a second agenda: war with England - a war that France is ill-equipped to fight but that would strengthen the power of the cardinal.

The PCs are newly minted members of the King's Musketeers, placed on detached duty by their captain, D'Argtanian. Their task is to join a troupe of actors, the Cardinal's Men, and infiltrate the meetings at the Palace of Fontainbleau under their cover as the entertainment. Once there, they must determine the truth of these rumours of war, if possible sabotage the negotiations for marriage, and return with their report to D'Argtanian and the Queen Mother.

Naturally, the task will not be as easy as it seems. Along the way, the heroes will tussle with their rivals in the Cardinal's Guard, must juggle with distressed damsels and femmes fatales (who may be one and the same), and must no doubt engage in a hundred acts of derring do. And, of course, they must comport themselves at all times in a manner befitting musketeers: with wine, women, and song.