Starting a new Campaign: Meta Plot [Archive] - Wizards Community

Starting a new Campaign: Meta Plot [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
jslade0
01-30-08, 03:52 AM I'm starting a new campaign at level one. But it seems so far, almost every part has something to do with the 'return' of some old evil. Suggestions? I want to create a meta plot that unites everything eventually, for one great epic quest. here is what I have so far.

1-5 Act One
Reestablish kingdom of X? Fend off Orcs, convince people to move there? Visit Orc city? Sold into slavery? Win freedom?
• Intro: A prophesy is told of how a new arrival in the city will be responsible for the resurrection of a great demon lord… The signs have been shown, and doom is inevitable. This drives a young cleric of the Empyrean Order mad, thinking that he is obviously the chosen one, and he steals a chest of gold that was to be used to fund a church. The players must find him, and recover the chest. He is currently worshiping Demons. Quaist, Dretch, Demonic Kobolds
• Arc One:
• Arc One:
• One Off:
• Arc Two:
• Arc Two:
• One Off: Inkling of Metaplot (villains are thwarted, but players sold into slavery)
• Arc Three: Gladiatorial Arena… Sold as slaves? Escape
• Arc Three: Gladiatorial Arena… Escape/Win Freedom
• Conclusion: Revenge/denouement; find who sold them into slavery and kill them. Also, wrap up, and hint of the next Act.

6-10 Act Two
Vampire Nobility- Free a province of the influence of Vampire counts. Establish ties to Y (Cursed city sent to hell). Vampire king is ancient vampire, from this city.
• One Off: Adventure into Orc city in wild.

11-15 Act Three
Return of an ancient wizard- Big War. Must retrieve an item before the villains do; it is the final artifact in the ritual to resurrect him, and will bring him back at full strength. Otherwise, he will return in a weakened state. He is resurrected by the wizards of a kingdom, and then he takes over the kingdom… and tries to bring back an ancient blood blood empire. (the last phase, his phase of blood magic and demonology) .

16-20 Act Four
Death of major demon. Adventure into Y.

21-25 Act Five
Who knows? Awakening of a Titan?
Orchomenos
01-30-08, 10:16 AM I recently tried something similar on a PbP. Unfortunately, PbP is far too slow-paced, the PC leveling up only once in a year of gameplay, so they were far from facing the BBEG or even know about him.
My campaign was about the Crawling Jungle (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20030414x), where some wild elves cultist attempt to revive an half-fiend T-Rex and change the country in a plane of the abyss.
Anuvrix
02-01-08, 12:58 PM THe return of Evils can be an underlying "coincidence"?
The people and creatures coming back are all highly important/powerful and are in some way related to eachother (not literally).

In the fourth act, the players realize the big plot and end up fighting an Abomination (ELH, unwanted child of a god), After the big battle, while standing over the corpse, another clue pops up, (some visible but far-off explosion, maybe) leading them to investigate. It turns out that the entire plot so far has been a distraction from the REAL threat, (insert secret evil cult/organization)'s plans have come to fruition while the PCs were off solving a riddle that they set up to divert them.

This Cult/Organization is planning some massive disasterous event, like the revival of an Evil God, the destruction of an entire race, the capture of the world, the destruction of (something big and important), or the summoning of some greater evil.

This last act, (No 5), should only last a few weeks/months in-game. Everything happening fast and out of their control, forcing them to act right away in a difficult situation.

This last act could last any where from one or two sessions (probably no more than 6, after that, it starts to lose the last bits of it's excitement)

Up till then, keep throwing extremely small hints and coincidences, not enough to clue the players in, but enough to show evidence of the behind the scenes evil working.

Make sure to punish any leads that they do not follow, if they dont trace the yuan-ti insignia to the evil cult, then the cult succeeds in summoning some big snake thingy and destroying the town they just left, or even are in.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
jslade0 01-30-08, 03:52 AM	I'm starting a new campaign at level one. But it seems so far, almost every part has something to do with the 'return' of some old evil. Suggestions? I want to create a meta plot that unites everything eventually, for one great epic quest. here is what I have so far. 1-5 Act One Reestablish kingdom of X? Fend off Orcs, convince people to move there? Visit Orc city? Sold into slavery? Win freedom? • Intro: A prophesy is told of how a new arrival in the city will be responsible for the resurrection of a great demon lord… The signs have been shown, and doom is inevitable. This drives a young cleric of the Empyrean Order mad, thinking that he is obviously the chosen one, and he steals a chest of gold that was to be used to fund a church. The players must find him, and recover the chest. He is currently worshiping Demons. Quaist, Dretch, Demonic Kobolds • Arc One: • Arc One: • One Off: • Arc Two: • Arc Two: • One Off: Inkling of Metaplot (villains are thwarted, but players sold into slavery) • Arc Three: Gladiatorial Arena… Sold as slaves? Escape • Arc Three: Gladiatorial Arena… Escape/Win Freedom • Conclusion: Revenge/denouement; find who sold them into slavery and kill them. Also, wrap up, and hint of the next Act. 6-10 Act Two Vampire Nobility- Free a province of the influence of Vampire counts. Establish ties to Y (Cursed city sent to hell). Vampire king is ancient vampire, from this city. • One Off: Adventure into Orc city in wild. 11-15 Act Three Return of an ancient wizard- Big War. Must retrieve an item before the villains do; it is the final artifact in the ritual to resurrect him, and will bring him back at full strength. Otherwise, he will return in a weakened state. He is resurrected by the wizards of a kingdom, and then he takes over the kingdom… and tries to bring back an ancient blood blood empire. (the last phase, his phase of blood magic and demonology) . 16-20 Act Four Death of major demon. Adventure into Y. 21-25 Act Five Who knows? Awakening of a Titan?
Orchomenos 01-30-08, 10:16 AM	I recently tried something similar on a PbP. Unfortunately, PbP is far too slow-paced, the PC leveling up only once in a year of gameplay, so they were far from facing the BBEG or even know about him. My campaign was about the Crawling Jungle (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20030414x), where some wild elves cultist attempt to revive an half-fiend T-Rex and change the country in a plane of the abyss.
Anuvrix 02-01-08, 12:58 PM	THe return of Evils can be an underlying "coincidence"? The people and creatures coming back are all highly important/powerful and are in some way related to eachother (not literally). In the fourth act, the players realize the big plot and end up fighting an Abomination (ELH, unwanted child of a god), After the big battle, while standing over the corpse, another clue pops up, (some visible but far-off explosion, maybe) leading them to investigate. It turns out that the entire plot so far has been a distraction from the REAL threat, (insert secret evil cult/organization)'s plans have come to fruition while the PCs were off solving a riddle that they set up to divert them. This Cult/Organization is planning some massive disasterous event, like the revival of an Evil God, the destruction of an entire race, the capture of the world, the destruction of (something big and important), or the summoning of some greater evil. This last act, (No 5), should only last a few weeks/months in-game. Everything happening fast and out of their control, forcing them to act right away in a difficult situation. This last act could last any where from one or two sessions (probably no more than 6, after that, it starts to lose the last bits of it's excitement) Up till then, keep throwing extremely small hints and coincidences, not enough to clue the players in, but enough to show evidence of the behind the scenes evil working. Make sure to punish any leads that they do not follow, if they dont trace the yuan-ti insignia to the evil cult, then the cult succeeds in summoning some big snake thingy and destroying the town they just left, or even are in.