How do you put a fresh spin on the "evil old kinda-hot-but-not-really queen" archetype?

>PC actively avoids couriers whenever possible to avoid receiving letters from his nagging mother

I like it.

> PC activelys avoids mother's (queen's) couriers
> fails due to the Queen's information network

She's an adventurer. She ran away to join a party as a little princess, then the king died and it was either run it herself or let the oligarchs eat themselves to death. Now she's stuck surrounded by court intrigues she has no patience for and hearing about you raiding all the tombs she marked on her map 20 years ago.

Sounds like at some point she'll probably arrange a small vacation and just be waiting at the tomb you and your party show up at. But of course half the Court comes along as well, with pavilions and manservants and the like.

Reminder that Meredith did nothing wrong. The Mages deserve no mercy.

She's backing the revolution against the royalists, who disowned her as the ruler.

>evil old really hot queen
fixed

Or her kids have grown up evil and spoiled to such an extent that they have given her perspective and sh'es trying to figure out how to fix them, herself and the kingdom.

She's backing a revolution against the monarchy. She wants the People to crown her Empress.

Nah she's not bone a party she just wants to be able to run her proxy merchant guilds she acquired trough evil guile without the burden of being a statesman. So she accursed the monarchist ways and the elites and took all the snotty nosed nobles who secretly funded the revolution and started the fight.

Currently the royalists are searching for old blood as the bitch queen assassinated all who could sit on the throne and both are in a race to find the last gods and fae blessed blood in the land.

Just don't make her evil, but instead just make her a dark and mrose figure who's had to make hardchoices but ultimately does everything she can for the good of the country, even if it means having to sell criminals as slaves to the local Fey Lords.

Also, have her secretly have low self-esteem as the reason why she hasn't remarried, since she doesn't think anyone would be truly interested in an old widow like here ara~ara~

Get out of my brain.

She's Queen (the band).

Sounds like quite the killer queen

She's actually pretty selfless but serves destructive ideals. She has no problem harming, destroying or shaming herself. She can afford to play second fiddle or make a strategic sacrifice if the need be because she's playing a very long game. Of course she probably won't let this on.

She was your magical waifu of the holy prophecy in her youth and grew up to be Paul Atreides.
And you're on the receiving end of jihad

Agreed. I played a mage and sided with Meredith and except where she went berzerk at the end she was extremely reasonable. Supposedly there were supposed to be two boss fights (you'd only fight the archmage if you sided with the templars and you'd only fight Meredith if you sided with the mages), but EA said they needed more boss fights. I wish I could have known what that game could have been without EA pushing it out the door before it was done.

Didn't know Liliana had a flower dress.

As for the actual question, have her have multiple personalities, each one with different quests and completion of each one makes the related personality stronger.

Then have one "real" personality from which all the others sprout and is really just a scared child

I really hate when this turns into (actually right.)

Well meaning is good if they actually are in the wrong.

Every day reminds her that thousands will die if she takes time away to personally have any fun. She still does, it's just not feasible to do often. Easy to get her to fund archaeology, though. Less easy to satisfy her expectation for frequent, detailed reports and she's experienced enough to know excuses when she hears them. And if you're working for her you're probably going to be sent to attack Nathan Drake at some point, like hell is she letting anyone find Ubar without her.

she's actually really hot

Why not make her evil but still competent, like a Sheeva Palpatine

Make her a batshit insane religious fanatic that is convinced she is on a god-given mission to slay infidels in the most bizarre and revolting ways imaginable.

Make her really hot

...

>evil young kinda-hot-but-not-really queen
>good old kinda-hot-but-not-really queen
>neutral looks-younger-than-her-age kinda-hot-but-not-really queen
>evil old ugly queen with a loyal evil old king as a husband (and they love each other)
>evil old kinda-hot but-not-really-queen
>evil old kinda-hot-but-not-really queer
>good young kinda-mediocre-but-not-really farmer's daughter

best girl of all time