The last Hurrah [Archive] - Wizards Community

The last Hurrah [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
GoriceXII
02-17-08, 09:48 PM In the tired and weary but nearly triumphant Republic of New Edom, victory appears to be at hand. For the first time, a major expedition is planned which will invade the Great Kingdom of the Drenai--with the aid of Drenai themselves! Having built an alliance with the kingdoms of Cadwald and Courdewayne.

Link for the Celtic Great Kingdom(http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?39954)
Link for the Republic of New Edom
{http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?24252)

there is a general agreement that the Duchy of Deva and the Lords of the Haralaw Isles are the key enemies.

I'd appreciate any input or suggestions for the important elements and adventure path listed below, any requesting of details that might help me flesh out my ideas, criticisms or completely out of the box ideas. I should also add that my players at this stage have had a lot to do with advising the general plans.

Important Elements:
1. New Edom has a new High Lord named Crowl; a bitter but eloquent and shrewd man who lost a hand fighting hobgoblins on the border. It is his grand strategy that the new alliance is pursuing.

2. Two major thrusts of the planned military campaign: one is a land based one entirely which will move mainly forces of Courdewayne and Cadwald against the Duchy of Deva; the other will be supported by Yasg privateers and Cadwaldish ships but will mainly be New Edomites invading the Harlaw Isles.

The Adventure Path

1. The pcs (now at around 10th-11th level) will arrive at the city of Cordwin in Courdewayne (if someone can come up with a better name I'd be happy) and there are responsible for the safety and keeping of a disgruntled Harlaw claimant. Part of the plan is that this prince will accompany the invasion force and try to raise his people to his banner. (I'm trying to come up with an adventure for this but I thought something intriguish might be good)

2. The initial invasion calls for an attempt to get directly onto the main inhabited island. The best way is nevertheless difficult; a river entrance is guarded by a tribe of Sahuagin who are aligned with the current rulers of the Harlaw family. Once this underwater fortress is taken (by the pcs leading aquatic allies) longships can take the army up river inland.

3. The Harlaw prince (minded by the pcs) heads for his own lands to raise his personal forces. However it is discovered that they are terrified by an incursion of demonic forces sent by the Harlaw ruler to claim the lands.

4. The pcs and their ally attempt to rally certain of his clansmen to their banner; in so doing they have a chance to discover an heirloom weapon in a forgotten tomb that might give their prince the proper claim.

5. Meanwhile the rest of the army catches up (ideally helped along the way by now friendly locals) but by now the Harlaw ruler has rallied an army of powerful foes. Here a great battle is fought with magics, monsters and mighty heroes on both sides. The pcs have opportunities to discover much about enemy plans and the region to give their army an edge.

6. (Supposing victory) At the fortress-city of Harleigh the pcs are key to finding a way into the fortifications that will not involve a long costly siege or wasteful assault. In so doing they learn that this is the home of the lich that has been their true nemesis all along. They learn that for whatever reason the lich has prepared a powerful gate into another world to raise yet another force there. There are hints that they may find in this other world why the lich is the enemy of their people and what he truly has in store for them...
taradusis
02-17-08, 11:33 PM Consider killing off the campaign using a doomsday weapon? Any really tough city crunching monster will do. Maximum HD T-rex with the fiendish template. Collossal stone or iron golem carved to look like a samurai(giant magin). Great wyrm dragon. Gargantuan rust monster.Magical devices that explode causing 10% of population to fall dead and then rise as zombies.Something like lycanthropy or vampirism is spread quicker than normal,see the movie "Brotherhood of the Wolf". Yuan-ti spread the Ophidian curse? Cattle are infected with the Bullwere curse and it becomes impossible to raise cattle,they form savage man-eating herds.100,000's of rust monsters eat all the iron,civilization collapse. Drow plant hundreds of giant spider eggs in every town. A swarm of stirge bred to survive in temperate climes is released,carry a disease that is transmitted thru hemoglobin? Yuanti plant hundreds of serpent eggs of something like the dust asp,tiny in size,hard to spot,lie on paths or climb into beds for warmth. Gold beetles,a beetle that eats gold and looks like a gold coin,planted in national treasuries to destroy gold supplies.Something like a fast growing giant sundew plant is spread into thousands of areas by civilization-hating druids. Drow spread a fast growing shelf fungus that kills trees it grows on,Whole forests collapse,no wood for lumber,fungus releases poisonus fumes when burned,can't be used for firewood.Have you ever wondered why evil geniuses only unveil their world conquest plans one at a time and never repeat ideas that almost worked? Why don't the evil bad guys each work on a plan and release six Doomsday weapons at once and then argue over who gets to reshape the new world? I guess I'm reccomending destroying this world so thoroughly that the PCs are willing to escape to a new one.
GoriceXII
02-17-08, 11:39 PM Hm...your final point is a good one. I actually quite like that. I remember when reading "The Watchmen" that I quite liked that the villain had already enacted his plan.

What I think I might prefer is a big monster (I've already laid the seeds for a great wyrm dragon anyway) and the undead bomb, since as you can see that's already kind of part of my campaign. What I'm more thinking along the lines of is having the game go to higher levels since my players are very reluctant to give up their characters.
taradusis
02-17-08, 11:48 PM I've found that if you make your world come alive PCs get reluctant to move on. It's like the old cure for agoraphobia,burn down the house and they leave or die.
GoriceXII
02-17-08, 11:57 PM Actually I don't mind that much in this case; they've never played above like 8th level or something before so I don't mind the idea of going epic. I just want to end this particular war. What I'll probably do is have them go to the other world to hunt the lich down. What I had in mind for that was to make THAT place the zombie apocalypse.
taradusis
02-24-08, 09:39 AM I usually prefer skeletons to zombies. I used to own wind up Teeth and I would use them to simulate the teeth snapping of a skeleton warrior. If you've read my thinking on using an unlife bomb to cause a "Night of Bloody Bones" you've already got my atmospheric ideas?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
GoriceXII 02-17-08, 09:48 PM	In the tired and weary but nearly triumphant Republic of New Edom, victory appears to be at hand. For the first time, a major expedition is planned which will invade the Great Kingdom of the Drenai--with the aid of Drenai themselves! Having built an alliance with the kingdoms of Cadwald and Courdewayne. Link for the Celtic Great Kingdom(http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?39954) Link for the Republic of New Edom {http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?24252) there is a general agreement that the Duchy of Deva and the Lords of the Haralaw Isles are the key enemies. I'd appreciate any input or suggestions for the important elements and adventure path listed below, any requesting of details that might help me flesh out my ideas, criticisms or completely out of the box ideas. I should also add that my players at this stage have had a lot to do with advising the general plans. Important Elements: 1. New Edom has a new High Lord named Crowl; a bitter but eloquent and shrewd man who lost a hand fighting hobgoblins on the border. It is his grand strategy that the new alliance is pursuing. 2. Two major thrusts of the planned military campaign: one is a land based one entirely which will move mainly forces of Courdewayne and Cadwald against the Duchy of Deva; the other will be supported by Yasg privateers and Cadwaldish ships but will mainly be New Edomites invading the Harlaw Isles. The Adventure Path 1. The pcs (now at around 10th-11th level) will arrive at the city of Cordwin in Courdewayne (if someone can come up with a better name I'd be happy) and there are responsible for the safety and keeping of a disgruntled Harlaw claimant. Part of the plan is that this prince will accompany the invasion force and try to raise his people to his banner. (I'm trying to come up with an adventure for this but I thought something intriguish might be good) 2. The initial invasion calls for an attempt to get directly onto the main inhabited island. The best way is nevertheless difficult; a river entrance is guarded by a tribe of Sahuagin who are aligned with the current rulers of the Harlaw family. Once this underwater fortress is taken (by the pcs leading aquatic allies) longships can take the army up river inland. 3. The Harlaw prince (minded by the pcs) heads for his own lands to raise his personal forces. However it is discovered that they are terrified by an incursion of demonic forces sent by the Harlaw ruler to claim the lands. 4. The pcs and their ally attempt to rally certain of his clansmen to their banner; in so doing they have a chance to discover an heirloom weapon in a forgotten tomb that might give their prince the proper claim. 5. Meanwhile the rest of the army catches up (ideally helped along the way by now friendly locals) but by now the Harlaw ruler has rallied an army of powerful foes. Here a great battle is fought with magics, monsters and mighty heroes on both sides. The pcs have opportunities to discover much about enemy plans and the region to give their army an edge. 6. (Supposing victory) At the fortress-city of Harleigh the pcs are key to finding a way into the fortifications that will not involve a long costly siege or wasteful assault. In so doing they learn that this is the home of the lich that has been their true nemesis all along. They learn that for whatever reason the lich has prepared a powerful gate into another world to raise yet another force there. There are hints that they may find in this other world why the lich is the enemy of their people and what he truly has in store for them...
taradusis 02-17-08, 11:33 PM	Consider killing off the campaign using a doomsday weapon? Any really tough city crunching monster will do. Maximum HD T-rex with the fiendish template. Collossal stone or iron golem carved to look like a samurai(giant magin). Great wyrm dragon. Gargantuan rust monster.Magical devices that explode causing 10% of population to fall dead and then rise as zombies.Something like lycanthropy or vampirism is spread quicker than normal,see the movie "Brotherhood of the Wolf". Yuan-ti spread the Ophidian curse? Cattle are infected with the Bullwere curse and it becomes impossible to raise cattle,they form savage man-eating herds.100,000's of rust monsters eat all the iron,civilization collapse. Drow plant hundreds of giant spider eggs in every town. A swarm of stirge bred to survive in temperate climes is released,carry a disease that is transmitted thru hemoglobin? Yuanti plant hundreds of serpent eggs of something like the dust asp,tiny in size,hard to spot,lie on paths or climb into beds for warmth. Gold beetles,a beetle that eats gold and looks like a gold coin,planted in national treasuries to destroy gold supplies.Something like a fast growing giant sundew plant is spread into thousands of areas by civilization-hating druids. Drow spread a fast growing shelf fungus that kills trees it grows on,Whole forests collapse,no wood for lumber,fungus releases poisonus fumes when burned,can't be used for firewood.Have you ever wondered why evil geniuses only unveil their world conquest plans one at a time and never repeat ideas that almost worked? Why don't the evil bad guys each work on a plan and release six Doomsday weapons at once and then argue over who gets to reshape the new world? I guess I'm reccomending destroying this world so thoroughly that the PCs are willing to escape to a new one.
GoriceXII 02-17-08, 11:39 PM	Hm...your final point is a good one. I actually quite like that. I remember when reading "The Watchmen" that I quite liked that the villain had already enacted his plan. What I think I might prefer is a big monster (I've already laid the seeds for a great wyrm dragon anyway) and the undead bomb, since as you can see that's already kind of part of my campaign. What I'm more thinking along the lines of is having the game go to higher levels since my players are very reluctant to give up their characters.
taradusis 02-17-08, 11:48 PM	I've found that if you make your world come alive PCs get reluctant to move on. It's like the old cure for agoraphobia,burn down the house and they leave or die.
GoriceXII 02-17-08, 11:57 PM	Actually I don't mind that much in this case; they've never played above like 8th level or something before so I don't mind the idea of going epic. I just want to end this particular war. What I'll probably do is have them go to the other world to hunt the lich down. What I had in mind for that was to make THAT place the zombie apocalypse.
taradusis 02-24-08, 09:39 AM	I usually prefer skeletons to zombies. I used to own wind up Teeth and I would use them to simulate the teeth snapping of a skeleton warrior. If you've read my thinking on using an unlife bomb to cause a "Night of Bloody Bones" you've already got my atmospheric ideas?