Campaign for Newbie D&Ders [Archive] - Wizards Community

Campaign for Newbie D&Ders [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Saxaholic
05-31-07, 02:28 AM I'm starting a campaign for some new D&Ders, that think they'll be interested. I played in one group in the past, and one group currently - probably about a year's worth of meeting bi-weekly. The group will be small - probably thee gamers.

I want to throw them in the thick of it as soon as I can. I also wanted it to be more flamboyant and over-the-top, so I'm guessing Eberron is the key starting point. This will allow me to borrow from movies and such for the first session or two, so that they can feel included in inside jokes before they really get hooked into their character's development.

I've stolen (make that borrowed) from a few different threads here to get my storyline. After character generation, I'm going to ask each player to generate a backstory for what they did during the tail-end of the hundred-years war, and I'll work with them to build it into the setting (and then into the campaign, naturally).

My plan is as follows:

The PCs recieve a letter, much like the message Mr. Incredible recieved. The letter instructs them to meet at a fancy restaurant in-town, at a table reserved under the NPC's name. There they will meet to rally against an unknown dark power, with the promise of good pay and a chance to do the right thing.

Hello, Mr. Incredible. Yes, we know who you are. Rest assured, your secret is safe with us. My name is Mirage. We have something in common. According to the government, neither of us exist. Please pay attention, as this message is classified and will not be repeated. I represent a top secret division of the government, designing and testing experimental technology, and we have need of your unique abilities. Something has happened at our testing facility.

...it is contained within an isolated area, it threatens to
cause incalculable damage to itself and to our facilities, jeopardizing
hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment...

Because of its highly sensitive nature...

If you accept, your payment will be triple your current
annual salary. Call the number on the card. Voice-matching will be used to
ensure security. The supers aren't gone, Mr. Incredible. You're still here. You
can still do great things. Or...you can listen to police scanners. Your choice.
You have 24 hours to respond. Think about it.

..This Message Will Self Destruct...

Of course, the players meet, and the NPC doesn't show up. After an hour passes, the restaurant is robbed by a couple that is obviously inexperienced. (Lines are lifted almost straight from Pulp Fiction :))

Just as the players are getting grips on the robbery, however, the place goes up in flames! the Players have to make a mad-dash for the exit. This is probably where I'll end the first session, as character generation can take a while for new players. :)

As the PCs escape, they are left wondering:
- Who really requested them to be there?
- Why didn't he show up?

The NPC is actually an undead of some nature, who was killed right after the war ended as he was pushing his king to go against an evil cult residing in an opposing kingdom (who they were now on a shifty alliance with). His friends in Khorvair (forgive my spelling) raised him, and he went into hiding. He planned on creating a group to go after them, and the PCs are some of his first attempts at recruitment.

After learning there was an attack planned (the fire), he bailed on them - but not really. He never intended to show up, because he isn't ready to show that he's undead.

I'm looking for advice of all natures, but primarily - how to fit my plot into Eberron!

If it helps, the books I have are:
Player's Guide, DM's Guide, Monster Manual
Spell Compendium
Complete Arcane
Magic in Eberron
Eberron Explorer's Guide
Eberron Campaign Setting
The Dragonmark Book
Rechan
05-31-07, 03:46 AM Okay, the first thing that jumps out at me is:

The NPC is from Karnath, and is a loyal subject to King Kaius. The Blood of Vol/Emerald Claw are agents within Karnath that Kaius wants to boot out. Perhaps this NPC is working with Kaius to root out the Blood of Vol/Emerald Claw.

The NPC is from Thrane, and became aware of the cult that worships the Rajah's voice in the Flame. He was murdered before he could draw attention to it, and now as an undead creature, it's pretty much 'kill on sight' when it comes to the Silver Flame. And since he can't really hire anyone with a strong reputation to come against the Church, he needs people to help him dig the cult out at the roots. This will undoubtably raise the heads of the Lords of Dust, or at least their agents.

The NPC is from Cyre. The Cult is actually the Lord of Blades, who is more of a threat than he seems - he is/has access to (great power or plot dingus). But before the NPC could talk to anyone powerful enough to do anything, he was wacked, and then the Mourning happened, and now he's kind of stuck.

The NPC is from Breland. He was an inquisitive in Sharn or member of the Dark Lanterns. He became aware of Droaam using Daask to infiltrate (something) in Sharn, if not try to control it. However, his superiors or his colleague tricked him; he walked into a trap. Near dead, he escaped, but knowing he was about to die, fled to the lair of (some undead creature he knew) and begged to be Turned, so that he could continue his mission. He would use the PCs to battle the Daughters of Sora Kell.

The NPC is from (practically anywhere). He became aware of the Dreaming Dark, who are (doing practically anything).

The NPC is from Aundair and has become aware of rampant Daelkyr worship among the nobility (especially in Passage). Here, you could eventually port in The Speaker of Dreams, only tweaking it for Eberron.

I would advise you to ask the players to all have a reason to stick together with their party members. If they're lone wolves, that's not really going to fly in a group. They need to at least be willing to work together.
Saxaholic
05-31-07, 08:08 PM Thank you for the thoughtful reply. :)

I plan on building off of this one:

The NPC is from Thrane, and became aware of the cult that worships the Rajah's voice in the Flame. He was murdered before he could draw attention to it, and now as an undead creature, it's pretty much 'kill on sight' when it comes to the Silver Flame. And since he can't really hire anyone with a strong reputation to come against the Church, he needs people to help him dig the cult out at the roots. This will undoubtably raise the heads of the Lords of Dust, or at least their agents.

I like the thought of putting players up against the Church of the Silver Flame. I will also follow your idea and make the NPC undead due to a dark pact with a powerful undead being. This way, once they really start dealing with the church's corruption - and coming to terms with their undead NPC employer - an even darker force comes out of the woodwork to say, "You know that guy you've been working for? I know he's undead. And I know you can't trust him. Because he's working for me."

As for working together, I don't have much to worry about - the players themselves are pretty close-nit, and it being their first time, won't be thinking of going against the group too much. I'm also encouraging them to all play good characters, as this way they can band together against the forces of evil.

Tomorrow night I'm going to work everything together - at least enough to have a solid first session.
Rechan
05-31-07, 08:30 PM [QUOTE=Saxaholic;12568391]As for working together, I don't have much to worry about - the players themselves are pretty close-nit, and it being their first time, won't be thinking of going against the group too much. I'm also encouraging them to all play good characters, as this way they can band together against the forces of evil./QUOTE]

Some general thoughts.

This would be a great opportunity to introduce them to Eberron in that it's not al good and nice, clean cut Good versus Evil. They may run into bad guys who aren't bad, good guys who are corrupt, being backstabbed by allies or even protected by enemies.

Maybe one of the PCs is a paladin or cleric of the Silver Flame. And so when this cleric starts going up against the Church, the Church might hit back. Excommunicating them and thuslike. Moral quandries are fun if you think your party can handle it maturely.
Saxaholic
05-31-07, 11:04 PM This would be a great opportunity to introduce them to Eberron in that it's not al good and nice, clean cut Good versus Evil. They may run into bad guys who aren't bad, good guys who are corrupt, being backstabbed by allies or even protected by enemies.
...
Moral quandries are fun if you think your party can handle it maturely.

I definately am planning as many twists and turns as I can manage, but still keep the details somewhat light - I don't want to lose my players, who will be struggling to figure out what a beholder is, let alone the significance of it demanding to be given a chance to worship at the church of its choice.

I'm planning at throwing a high intrigue, high velocity campaign, where there are bad guys who do good things and good guys who do bad things and then monologue about them. :)
Rechan
05-31-07, 11:22 PM Throw a good old fashioned dungeon crawl in there (that's really exciting and such), just so they can experience Traditional(tm) Dungeons and Dragons.

Also, the DMG II, while kind've "Meh", has some typical Exciting Situations. Like being inside a burning building, a flooding dungeon, a fight in the Sky, etc etc.
Saxaholic
06-01-07, 02:36 AM I've made a draft of the letter, before I sleep. I'll post more tomorrow, after I've done my research on the Silver Flame and such.

---

Greetings. My name is Avehrn Ates. Please pay attention, as this message is highly sensitive in nature and cannot be read twice. A conspiracy has been uncovered, and it must be foiled, less the five nations slip into a peril worse then that seen in the last hundred years.

Nefarious forces have come to a position of great strength and trust. They cannot be opposed directly, and so I need your aid. This evil must not be left un-checked.

Even with the safegaurds I have in place, we must meet in person before details can be discussed. If you accept, you can expect payment triple that of your current salary.Request to be seated at my table at the Sparkling Serpant on the last day of this moon.

[The message bursts into flames in the PC's hands]

---
Avehrn Ates is not his real name - it is merely a scrambled "Save Thrane." (I don't expect the PCs to pick up on that - just a nice annecdote.)
Hopeless
06-01-07, 03:34 AM Okay how about this npc was part of a team which includes links to the other player's characters, the npc learned about them from the team as part of numerious missions from during the last war.

Their last mission however was one most of them were killed or left missing presumed dead with none of the pc's aware of what happened to them.

The npc knowing of this link to the pcs has chosen them specifically because they're more inclined to help him complete his mission if he can make them believe he's acting against the foe responsible for their death (which may not be the case).

For example one character's grandfather was slain as he was seen as a threat to Karrnath and Thrane as he was a Cyran Paladin who viewed Thrane's leadership as dangerous heretics.
Another would be the mother of one of the pc's who died during the last war was actually a spy for another nation and was killed betraying her host nation but the allegiance of her children isn't known thereby this test...
And so on.
Saxaholic
06-05-07, 02:08 AM Rechan - Thanks for all the great ideas! I hope you like what I've come up with, I've had a blast designing it so far.

Hopeless - my PCs haven't come up with characters or a backstory yet, and I don't really want to have to come up with a reason on the fly to tie everyone together.

The Backstory - Why Start Small?

"Whispers" from the demon in the flame caused the Silver Flame to build the doomsday device that turned Cyre into the Mournland.

Avehrn Ates was the master of spies for Cyre. He had many connections, but kept a low profile in the Cyre court. His informants told him of rumors of a doomsday device coming to Cyre, and went to Thrane personally to investigate. He was discovered, and mortally wounded. He contacted an agent in the Blood of Vol, and told them to relay to Vol that if he was animated, he would share valuable information (win-win for Vol). He gave Vol what information he had about the doomsday device when animated, and Vol let him free as promised (as a used doomsday device is not nearly as useful as an un-used one). Unfortunately for both Vol and Ates, Cyre blew up before he was able to get back to Cyre and stop the doomsday device. (The Lord of Blades intercepted the device on its way to Karrnath and activated it, and now intends to lay low and gather his forces).

Now Vol is searching the Mournland to recover whats left of the doomsday device via Ikar's Salvage, with hopes to turn around and use it against Thrane. Vol is now after Ates as well, as only he knows of her knowledge of the device. To this end, Vol is using the Emerald Claw to terrorize New Cyre, kidnapping or killing off anyone and everyone who knew of Ates. Vol is also framing Ates for anything she can.

Meanwhile, the Church of the Silver Flame is trying to make it appear that the doomsday device never existed. Those that lead the cult that follows the whispers in the flame would want Ates if he revealed himself to them.

The Start of the Adventure

Ates has been looking for a promising group of adventurers to destroy the doomsday device in Sharn. This leads to the PCs meeting at "Nodnol's Bridge" in Sharn, a high class joint run by Nodnol, themed to look like an airship. The restuarant is actually hanging as a link between two skyscrapers, which gives diners the illusion that they really are on an airship. The restaurant was a favorite of Ates when he would meet contacts in Sharn. The Bridge is relatively quiet on the day he chose, as its a weeknight, and so Nodnol lets in the unusual fair (PCs) hoping to make some profit on the night.

Nodnol's Bridge is robbed by two bandits and shortly after everyone arrive. Not too long after our dumb bandits start to try and rob the place and the PCs step up to deal with them, the links that hold the bridge in place are destroyed, and the place begins to freefall via a toned down version of the wonderful falling restaurant event that won the encounter competition. :) Assuming they survive the encounter, they are taken in for questioning by Sharn's City Watch, and are actually rewarded for dispatching the bandits. They are then sent on a quest to 'deal with' a shopkeep who has been trading with various criminals, as the City Watch has its hands full at the moment.

I'll then have them run around doing lower-level quests, bringing in bits and pieces of the greater picture in. Once the PCs start seeing what's going on (and they've gained some levels), I'll give them a long-distance speaking stone, with Ates on one end and them on the other - Ates radioing his missions in for them, via Charlies' Angels :)

Perhaps later, then, there will be an outright fight between Ates and some members of the Silver Flame, with Ates to believe that he is good and to get them to aid him.
Rechan
06-05-07, 09:47 AM I like that you're bringing in the Lord of Blades, the BoV and the Flame in on this. That establishes some long term villains.

You might want to integrate these guys in the low-level quests. Perhaps one of these organizations gets wind of what Ates is doing (because they are keeping tabs on him) and want to stop him. Alternatively, they could be agents that deal with what he's doing, but he doesn't know about them - they are somehow involved in the minor quests and in the bigger picture.

For instance, the LoB's agents have tracked down a powerful artificer who's drinking the LoB koolaid and have him do some tests on a piece of the Doomsday device, and while in town they execute another mission. Maybe instead of re-creating the Mourning, the Lord of Blades is looking to break Sharn's link with Synaria, thus causing every tower to fall, pretty much levelling Sharn.

Definitely have recurring villains tied with the various groups, if nothing else.

I also like the "Falling Restaurant" thing. :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Saxaholic 05-31-07, 02:28 AM	I'm starting a campaign for some new D&Ders, that think they'll be interested. I played in one group in the past, and one group currently - probably about a year's worth of meeting bi-weekly. The group will be small - probably thee gamers. I want to throw them in the thick of it as soon as I can. I also wanted it to be more flamboyant and over-the-top, so I'm guessing Eberron is the key starting point. This will allow me to borrow from movies and such for the first session or two, so that they can feel included in inside jokes before they really get hooked into their character's development. I've stolen (make that borrowed) from a few different threads here to get my storyline. After character generation, I'm going to ask each player to generate a backstory for what they did during the tail-end of the hundred-years war, and I'll work with them to build it into the setting (and then into the campaign, naturally). My plan is as follows: The PCs recieve a letter, much like the message Mr. Incredible recieved. The letter instructs them to meet at a fancy restaurant in-town, at a table reserved under the NPC's name. There they will meet to rally against an unknown dark power, with the promise of good pay and a chance to do the right thing. Hello, Mr. Incredible. Yes, we know who you are. Rest assured, your secret is safe with us. My name is Mirage. We have something in common. According to the government, neither of us exist. Please pay attention, as this message is classified and will not be repeated. I represent a top secret division of the government, designing and testing experimental technology, and we have need of your unique abilities. Something has happened at our testing facility. ...it is contained within an isolated area, it threatens to cause incalculable damage to itself and to our facilities, jeopardizing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment... Because of its highly sensitive nature... If you accept, your payment will be triple your current annual salary. Call the number on the card. Voice-matching will be used to ensure security. The supers aren't gone, Mr. Incredible. You're still here. You can still do great things. Or...you can listen to police scanners. Your choice. You have 24 hours to respond. Think about it. ..This Message Will Self Destruct... Of course, the players meet, and the NPC doesn't show up. After an hour passes, the restaurant is robbed by a couple that is obviously inexperienced. (Lines are lifted almost straight from Pulp Fiction :)) Just as the players are getting grips on the robbery, however, the place goes up in flames! the Players have to make a mad-dash for the exit. This is probably where I'll end the first session, as character generation can take a while for new players. :) As the PCs escape, they are left wondering: - Who really requested them to be there? - Why didn't he show up? The NPC is actually an undead of some nature, who was killed right after the war ended as he was pushing his king to go against an evil cult residing in an opposing kingdom (who they were now on a shifty alliance with). His friends in Khorvair (forgive my spelling) raised him, and he went into hiding. He planned on creating a group to go after them, and the PCs are some of his first attempts at recruitment. After learning there was an attack planned (the fire), he bailed on them - but not really. He never intended to show up, because he isn't ready to show that he's undead. I'm looking for advice of all natures, but primarily - how to fit my plot into Eberron! If it helps, the books I have are: Player's Guide, DM's Guide, Monster Manual Spell Compendium Complete Arcane Magic in Eberron Eberron Explorer's Guide Eberron Campaign Setting The Dragonmark Book
Rechan 05-31-07, 03:46 AM	Okay, the first thing that jumps out at me is: The NPC is from Karnath, and is a loyal subject to King Kaius. The Blood of Vol/Emerald Claw are agents within Karnath that Kaius wants to boot out. Perhaps this NPC is working with Kaius to root out the Blood of Vol/Emerald Claw. The NPC is from Thrane, and became aware of the cult that worships the Rajah's voice in the Flame. He was murdered before he could draw attention to it, and now as an undead creature, it's pretty much 'kill on sight' when it comes to the Silver Flame. And since he can't really hire anyone with a strong reputation to come against the Church, he needs people to help him dig the cult out at the roots. This will undoubtably raise the heads of the Lords of Dust, or at least their agents. The NPC is from Cyre. The Cult is actually the Lord of Blades, who is more of a threat than he seems - he is/has access to (great power or plot dingus). But before the NPC could talk to anyone powerful enough to do anything, he was wacked, and then the Mourning happened, and now he's kind of stuck. The NPC is from Breland. He was an inquisitive in Sharn or member of the Dark Lanterns. He became aware of Droaam using Daask to infiltrate (something) in Sharn, if not try to control it. However, his superiors or his colleague tricked him; he walked into a trap. Near dead, he escaped, but knowing he was about to die, fled to the lair of (some undead creature he knew) and begged to be Turned, so that he could continue his mission. He would use the PCs to battle the Daughters of Sora Kell. The NPC is from (practically anywhere). He became aware of the Dreaming Dark, who are (doing practically anything). The NPC is from Aundair and has become aware of rampant Daelkyr worship among the nobility (especially in Passage). Here, you could eventually port in The Speaker of Dreams, only tweaking it for Eberron. I would advise you to ask the players to all have a reason to stick together with their party members. If they're lone wolves, that's not really going to fly in a group. They need to at least be willing to work together.
Saxaholic 05-31-07, 08:08 PM	Thank you for the thoughtful reply. :) I plan on building off of this one: The NPC is from Thrane, and became aware of the cult that worships the Rajah's voice in the Flame. He was murdered before he could draw attention to it, and now as an undead creature, it's pretty much 'kill on sight' when it comes to the Silver Flame. And since he can't really hire anyone with a strong reputation to come against the Church, he needs people to help him dig the cult out at the roots. This will undoubtably raise the heads of the Lords of Dust, or at least their agents. I like the thought of putting players up against the Church of the Silver Flame. I will also follow your idea and make the NPC undead due to a dark pact with a powerful undead being. This way, once they really start dealing with the church's corruption - and coming to terms with their undead NPC employer - an even darker force comes out of the woodwork to say, "You know that guy you've been working for? I know he's undead. And I know you can't trust him. Because he's working for me." As for working together, I don't have much to worry about - the players themselves are pretty close-nit, and it being their first time, won't be thinking of going against the group too much. I'm also encouraging them to all play good characters, as this way they can band together against the forces of evil. Tomorrow night I'm going to work everything together - at least enough to have a solid first session.
Rechan 05-31-07, 08:30 PM	[QUOTE=Saxaholic;12568391]As for working together, I don't have much to worry about - the players themselves are pretty close-nit, and it being their first time, won't be thinking of going against the group too much. I'm also encouraging them to all play good characters, as this way they can band together against the forces of evil./QUOTE] Some general thoughts. This would be a great opportunity to introduce them to Eberron in that it's not al good and nice, clean cut Good versus Evil. They may run into bad guys who aren't bad, good guys who are corrupt, being backstabbed by allies or even protected by enemies. Maybe one of the PCs is a paladin or cleric of the Silver Flame. And so when this cleric starts going up against the Church, the Church might hit back. Excommunicating them and thuslike. Moral quandries are fun if you think your party can handle it maturely.
Saxaholic 05-31-07, 11:04 PM	This would be a great opportunity to introduce them to Eberron in that it's not al good and nice, clean cut Good versus Evil. They may run into bad guys who aren't bad, good guys who are corrupt, being backstabbed by allies or even protected by enemies. ... Moral quandries are fun if you think your party can handle it maturely. I definately am planning as many twists and turns as I can manage, but still keep the details somewhat light - I don't want to lose my players, who will be struggling to figure out what a beholder is, let alone the significance of it demanding to be given a chance to worship at the church of its choice. I'm planning at throwing a high intrigue, high velocity campaign, where there are bad guys who do good things and good guys who do bad things and then monologue about them. :)
Rechan 05-31-07, 11:22 PM	Throw a good old fashioned dungeon crawl in there (that's really exciting and such), just so they can experience Traditional(tm) Dungeons and Dragons. Also, the DMG II, while kind've "Meh", has some typical Exciting Situations. Like being inside a burning building, a flooding dungeon, a fight in the Sky, etc etc.
Saxaholic 06-01-07, 02:36 AM	I've made a draft of the letter, before I sleep. I'll post more tomorrow, after I've done my research on the Silver Flame and such. --- Greetings. My name is Avehrn Ates. Please pay attention, as this message is highly sensitive in nature and cannot be read twice. A conspiracy has been uncovered, and it must be foiled, less the five nations slip into a peril worse then that seen in the last hundred years. Nefarious forces have come to a position of great strength and trust. They cannot be opposed directly, and so I need your aid. This evil must not be left un-checked. Even with the safegaurds I have in place, we must meet in person before details can be discussed. If you accept, you can expect payment triple that of your current salary.Request to be seated at my table at the Sparkling Serpant on the last day of this moon. [The message bursts into flames in the PC's hands] --- Avehrn Ates is not his real name - it is merely a scrambled "Save Thrane." (I don't expect the PCs to pick up on that - just a nice annecdote.)
Hopeless 06-01-07, 03:34 AM	Okay how about this npc was part of a team which includes links to the other player's characters, the npc learned about them from the team as part of numerious missions from during the last war. Their last mission however was one most of them were killed or left missing presumed dead with none of the pc's aware of what happened to them. The npc knowing of this link to the pcs has chosen them specifically because they're more inclined to help him complete his mission if he can make them believe he's acting against the foe responsible for their death (which may not be the case). For example one character's grandfather was slain as he was seen as a threat to Karrnath and Thrane as he was a Cyran Paladin who viewed Thrane's leadership as dangerous heretics. Another would be the mother of one of the pc's who died during the last war was actually a spy for another nation and was killed betraying her host nation but the allegiance of her children isn't known thereby this test... And so on.
Saxaholic 06-05-07, 02:08 AM	Rechan - Thanks for all the great ideas! I hope you like what I've come up with, I've had a blast designing it so far. Hopeless - my PCs haven't come up with characters or a backstory yet, and I don't really want to have to come up with a reason on the fly to tie everyone together. The Backstory - Why Start Small? "Whispers" from the demon in the flame caused the Silver Flame to build the doomsday device that turned Cyre into the Mournland. Avehrn Ates was the master of spies for Cyre. He had many connections, but kept a low profile in the Cyre court. His informants told him of rumors of a doomsday device coming to Cyre, and went to Thrane personally to investigate. He was discovered, and mortally wounded. He contacted an agent in the Blood of Vol, and told them to relay to Vol that if he was animated, he would share valuable information (win-win for Vol). He gave Vol what information he had about the doomsday device when animated, and Vol let him free as promised (as a used doomsday device is not nearly as useful as an un-used one). Unfortunately for both Vol and Ates, Cyre blew up before he was able to get back to Cyre and stop the doomsday device. (The Lord of Blades intercepted the device on its way to Karrnath and activated it, and now intends to lay low and gather his forces). Now Vol is searching the Mournland to recover whats left of the doomsday device via Ikar's Salvage, with hopes to turn around and use it against Thrane. Vol is now after Ates as well, as only he knows of her knowledge of the device. To this end, Vol is using the Emerald Claw to terrorize New Cyre, kidnapping or killing off anyone and everyone who knew of Ates. Vol is also framing Ates for anything she can. Meanwhile, the Church of the Silver Flame is trying to make it appear that the doomsday device never existed. Those that lead the cult that follows the whispers in the flame would want Ates if he revealed himself to them. The Start of the Adventure Ates has been looking for a promising group of adventurers to destroy the doomsday device in Sharn. This leads to the PCs meeting at "Nodnol's Bridge" in Sharn, a high class joint run by Nodnol, themed to look like an airship. The restuarant is actually hanging as a link between two skyscrapers, which gives diners the illusion that they really are on an airship. The restaurant was a favorite of Ates when he would meet contacts in Sharn. The Bridge is relatively quiet on the day he chose, as its a weeknight, and so Nodnol lets in the unusual fair (PCs) hoping to make some profit on the night. Nodnol's Bridge is robbed by two bandits and shortly after everyone arrive. Not too long after our dumb bandits start to try and rob the place and the PCs step up to deal with them, the links that hold the bridge in place are destroyed, and the place begins to freefall via a toned down version of the wonderful falling restaurant event that won the encounter competition. :) Assuming they survive the encounter, they are taken in for questioning by Sharn's City Watch, and are actually rewarded for dispatching the bandits. They are then sent on a quest to 'deal with' a shopkeep who has been trading with various criminals, as the City Watch has its hands full at the moment. I'll then have them run around doing lower-level quests, bringing in bits and pieces of the greater picture in. Once the PCs start seeing what's going on (and they've gained some levels), I'll give them a long-distance speaking stone, with Ates on one end and them on the other - Ates radioing his missions in for them, via Charlies' Angels :) Perhaps later, then, there will be an outright fight between Ates and some members of the Silver Flame, with Ates to believe that he is good and to get them to aid him.
Rechan 06-05-07, 09:47 AM	I like that you're bringing in the Lord of Blades, the BoV and the Flame in on this. That establishes some long term villains. You might want to integrate these guys in the low-level quests. Perhaps one of these organizations gets wind of what Ates is doing (because they are keeping tabs on him) and want to stop him. Alternatively, they could be agents that deal with what he's doing, but he doesn't know about them - they are somehow involved in the minor quests and in the bigger picture. For instance, the LoB's agents have tracked down a powerful artificer who's drinking the LoB koolaid and have him do some tests on a piece of the Doomsday device, and while in town they execute another mission. Maybe instead of re-creating the Mourning, the Lord of Blades is looking to break Sharn's link with Synaria, thus causing every tower to fall, pretty much levelling Sharn. Definitely have recurring villains tied with the various groups, if nothing else. I also like the "Falling Restaurant" thing. :)