Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DanjaNinja 02-18-06, 04:45 AM	First things first: Tim and Carp, stay out of this thread! I mean it.You can never be too cautious. That, and I love stacking sblocks. :P So, I'm going to be running the first session of my new campaign within a week. The players and I have discussed it, and they want an urban, intrigue and mystery game set in Sharn. By the by, I own and have read the Sharn: City of Towers sourcebook and I emphatically recommend it to anyone running a game in Sharn. I'm not too worried about long-term plans--I'm considering some sort of conflict with the Daelkyr in the end, but I've tried to design this first arc so that I can monitor what my players are thinking and plan according to that. Additionally, the characters have decided to play "shady" types, probably changelings. So, in a nutshell this is it: A strange disease has appeared in the Cogs and is slowly spreading all through Sharn despite strict quarantines. One of the PCs becomes infected, thus providing incentive to find out more. They discover various clues which lead them to believe someone--or something--is intentionally spreading it, and might even be the cause of it. The disease itself is fairly normal at first, if particularly virulent. It causes high fevers and discolored rashes. Victims are known to have hallucinations or even become violent. If they survive the onset, then they slowly begin to grow deformities and become increasingly violent and incoherent over a period of months. While I do intend to infect a PC, I will allow him to stave it off for the most part--it's mostly there to give an incentive to move along the plot and add a sense of urgency. I intend to start the session with a battle, to catch their attention. At this point, the disease has only just started to appear and there is no quarantine. The PCs are going to meet a contact in the Cogs, but they find that he's been attacked--and now the attacker has turned on them. The attacker is a misshapen and crazed humanoid. The players don't realize it at this point, but this guy is in the advanced stages of the disease. After the battle, I'll have them make Fortitude saves if they got hit. This will let them know something is up, and later that one of the PCs might be infected; in reality I don't intend to leave that to chance, I just want them to think I have. :devil: At this point, how the adventure advances depends on how they attempt to gather information. If they go out and collect it themselves, I've got a few different tables depending on where they make their Gather Information checks. If they decide to hire someone, or ask a contact, I'll give them a good sprinkling of things from this list. If the PCs don't feel motivated to do anything on their own, I've got a few patrons in mind. Gathering info in the Cogs is going to turn up a lot of rumors, but not any hard facts; the folk down here are suffering the most from but know the least about this plague. DC 15: I heard the plague started with the sewer-folk; maybe something unwholesome crawled out of Undersharn? Wouldn't be the first time... DC 20: My friend says there's something not right about them folk what have the illness... Some crazy gleam in their eyes. I think Khyber spat some curse up to us. Whatever it is, I know I wouldn't want to wander around alone these days... Not that I would have before, anyway. DC 25: The other day, I stumbled upon this gathering of people--that's not usual down here, by the way--and they were all just standing in a group, whispering to eachother. I snuck up all close-like, and well... they all had the disease. I could see the rashes and boils and the such. DC 30: There's some group of sewer people with the disease wandering around down here, and they're hiding something. I seen them once, from a distance; they were all gathered around this unnatural looking figure, and then one looked straight at me and yelled, so I bolted. Gathering info in Central Plateau will be difficult; it's the seat of government and the Dragonmarked houses, and presumably the PCs won't really have any connections to either. DC 20: The city guard has been on alert for a particular shifter; she's apparently been involved in several murders, in broad daylight! There's probably a reward for her head. DC 25: The shifter has apparently been identified as a Druid--leastways, she's cast a few spells that our own arcanists say only Druid's are capable of--and the Inquisitives say she's a winter's child or something. DC 30: This is not to be repeated, but... the Inquisitives say she's a Child of Winter--a sect of Druids dedicated to disease and death. And get this: she came into town just two days before the first case of the disease showed up! Gathering info in Dura should be relatively easy; there's a lot of inns and taverns, and it's also a hotbed of adventurers. It might even be the home ward of the PCs themselves. DC 15: A lot of new adventuring types have come in from the Eldeen lately. They've been really curious about the disease. One of them, some shifter woman, has been causing a lot of trouble, too. Murder and the such. It's giving the guards a big headache. DC 17: I was down in the Cogs before the quarantine, and something suspicious is going on down there; no, I mean even more suspicious than usual! I've seen stuff like it before; it reminds me of this one cult of Khyber I once dealt with over in the Shadow Marches. DC 20: I tell you one thing about this plague--it's definitely not any normal disease. I've been around Khorvaire a few times, and I've only ever seen anything like it at places you don't want to go to. I think something has crawled in, maybe from the Mournlands, or maybe even the Demon Wastes, and is causing trouble. DC 25: You know who I think it is? Promise not to laugh? Okay--I think it's Mordain the Fleshweaver. No, he's not just some scary fairy-tale, he's real and he's dangerous. If it's not him, then it's got to be some powerful spellcaster. Have you seen an advanced case of this disease? Only some dark magic could do that. Gathering info in Menthis Plateau should yield results from all over the place; it's got a lot of shops, the magic district, and several entertainment districts, so it's a confluence of both visitors and residents. It also has Morgrave University, so the educated type there might be able to shed some light on the issue. If the PCs Gather Info here, I'll give them choice bits from all the districts. Additionally, one response particular to Menthis (due to the University) is: DC 20: I'm a scholar of... shall we say "ancient history"? And, well, it's clear to me that there's something demonic about this plague. The signs are there--why just look at [scholarly rambling]. The other plateaus don't seem like particularly good places to search for information on this matter, so I haven't bothered making lists for them. Barring some exceptional roll, I'll just say the PCs didn't find anything and direct them to another section of town. Furthermore, the PCs will have some not-so-random encounters. Not diseased people (well, not only), but rather some other group. To be honest, I haven't yet decided which group, I just think it's good form to have a mysterious organization "interested" in the PCs. As for the poor infected PC, I won't make the disease crippling, but I also won't let him make much headway in a cure. Alchemical means will allow him to stave off the fevers and rashes, for the most part, but I have a few "hallucination encounters" planned. Strangely, divine spellcasters are unable to cure the disease with just remove disease. Again, I'm not really sure of the significance of this at this juncture, it's more to heighten the air of mystery. At any rate, the PCs should come out of their investigation with a few things in mind. 1) There's a group of strange individuals in the Cogs. 2) The Druids (specifically, Children of Winter) are somehow involved. 3) The disease is not normal. I really want to drive this point home, to put some fear into them. I should note at this point that the shifter Druid mentioned earlier is going to be a recurring NPC, named Edulfa. Her take on this is not entirely clear to me at this point--again, it rests on whether I want to make the Children of Winter the cause of the plague, or fighting against it, or something else. At any rate, Edulfa is a rogue element; she's not entirely in line with the Children, the PCs, or the force behind the plague. Right now, she really only knows a little more than the PCs. At any rate, it's possible the PCs will seek her out. Depending on how they approach, she'll offer temporary alliance, and if accepted she'll lead the PCs to the cult's hideout (more on that next). If the PCs decide to investigate the cult without seeking out Edulfa, they'll eventually find themselves at their headquarters in the sewers. Standard dungeon crawl ensues. I've got a few alternate ideas for the ultimate battle, depending on how I feel and what the players are thinking. At any rate, they're all low-level aberrations. The key story element comes in a few clues. The first is that the party encounters a Child of Winter leaving the hideout. Whether they immediately identify him as such depends on their knowledge skills or if Edulfa is with them, but even if they don't realize it immediately they'll somehow find out what he is. The second is some "loot" that will turn out to be significant to one of the Dragonmarked houses. Again, several alternates are in mind and ultimately it will depend on how the game is rolling. The key here is really to raise more questions for the second arc. The third is that the dungeon leads deeper into Undersharn, with signs of regular travel. And that's it for part one. What do you think? Any suggestions? Specifically, if you can think of a way to involve more power groups, I'd be all ears. The less clear-cut this is, the better.
Lurkalot 02-18-06, 09:17 AM	Hmmm. It seems fine to me. Some rail-roading, re: the infected PC, but that's acceptable for a first adventure, or else you'd never get anywhere. You've left quite a few loose ends, but you seem to be aware of them so perhaps not such a problem. Suggestions? You're using DM fiddle for the progression of the disease and players can pick up on that. In order to both have your cake (a virulent and horrible disease) and eat it (PC is infected but still playable and player not upset), how about an alchemical medicine that holds it off for a while. This can be either expensive, and so not an option for mass-curing, or limited in supply. In either case, the PCs can have a shadowy patron providing it to them to help stave off the illness. This even lets you progress the disease in the PC and recess it according to how steady their supply is. I can see the PC with the tentacle-buds on his scalp, felt wriggling amidst his hair, running through Sharn to the meeting with their patron saying "Gotta get more elixir, gotta get more elixir". Ditton for any psychological states if you want to play it that way. Deadline tension can be supplied by patron either running out of cure, refusing to supply more because they failed her or simply because it grows less effective as the disease progresses. You want more factions involved? Sharn was once decimated by a plague during the "War of the Mark". If this abberant plague mark has returned on someone, perhaps a Child of Winter, then you've got an instant hook into the mystery of the dragon marks, and the Chamber may have an observer on site. Could be your shadowy patron and would explain why she had access to a cure when the best minds of Morgrave are baffled. One thing about disease is that it's not a safe weapon. The release or the spread of it, could easily be accidental or beyond the perpetrator's intentions. If the culprits are the Children of Winter, then this is quite a powerful one for them. I'm not saying that they couldn't be responsible on their own, but suppose they'd had assistance from a "sympathetic ally", in reality a Lord of Dust or a Mind Flayer priest of a Daelkyr lord. Maybe the Children of Winter themselves have been betrayed. With the accidental release scenario, you open up less-villainous organisations to be the culprit - they could be both villains and (in an attempt to fix their mistakes before they're found out) the party patrons. You don't want to have too many factions directly involved in this. It is very difficult to make an emotive game with multiple master villains. However, you could have the Lord of Blade's agents sniffing around. After all, a disease like this could be a powerful weapon when you yourselves are immune. How about in addition to stopping the plague, the PCs have to catch the Lord of Blades agents escaping with vials of infected blood? I love to hit my players with a surprise second punch at the end. Hope some of this helps you. Remember, if you're inviting help, you're obliged to let us know how it went. ;) -K.
DanjaNinja 02-18-06, 02:08 PM	Edit: I sblocked this for good measure. Thanks very much for the critique, Lurkalot. You're using DM fiddle for the progression of the disease and players can pick up on that. I'm not quite sure what you mean by this; are you trying to say that the PCs will realize that the disease advances at rate to be determined by DM fiat? That's true, but I didn't think it would be much of a problem. The alchemical medicines are very much what I had in mind, though I originally intended to restrict it by cost alone. I like the idea of a shadowy patron (perhaps the Chamber?) much better. The aberrant plague mark is another good idea. I'd read about that in CoT, but for some reason it didn't occur to me for this. One thing about disease is that it's not a safe weapon. The release or the spread of it, could easily be accidental or beyond the perpetrator's intentions. If the culprits are the Children of Winter, then this is quite a powerful one for them. I'm not saying that they couldn't be responsible on their own, but suppose they'd had assistance from a "sympathetic ally", in reality a Lord of Dust or a Mind Flayer priest of a Daelkyr lord. Maybe the Children of Winter themselves have been betrayed. With the accidental release scenario, you open up less-villainous organisations to be the culprit - they could be both villains and (in an attempt to fix their mistakes before they're found out) the party patrons. You've been reading my mind, haven't you? :D All in all, I realize the danger of involving too many organizations. At this early point, I just want to have the potential for them there, so I don't cut myself off in later adventures.
MartM 02-18-06, 02:50 PM	My english is bad, so i'll do it quick Involved power group? -House Tarkanan, Searching for evidence of the return of the Lady of the Plague aberrant mark (or the lady herself?) -House Jorasco, fearing for epidemia, bringing the aformentioned alchemical medicine in exchange of the engagement of the PCs. -Children of Winter, this one might be really fun to involve. Since, as mentionned in the PGE, they are not monolithic. You could have your Edulfa working with the PCs, seeing this Disease as a unnatural manifestation. And you could put in a cabal of Children of Winter hoping to see the Disease spreading across Khorvaire. This could put your PCs to doubt the motive of Edulfa -Lord of the Blade is a cool choice too. Bringing a twist for your Warforged players. Disease could be THE weapon that the LoB is looking for is ultimate goal. -If your campaign involved a lot of aberration, the Gatekeeper is a easy fit. Like the Cult of the Dragon Below, on the other side. -The Chamber is a easy fit too, but, unless your player really like the draconic prophecy twist of Eberron, i'd make them not a important part of the campaign... Hope to help!
Lurkalot 02-18-06, 02:56 PM	Thanks very much for the critique, Lurkalot. I'm not quite sure what you mean by this; are you trying to say that the PCs will realize that the disease advances at rate to be determined by DM fiat? You're welcome. I don't have a game at the moment, so it's nice to contribute. :_( That is indeed exactly what I meant by a DM Fiddle. You sound like you know what you're doing, so it needn't be a problem. On the Web, no-one can see that they're talking to someone who's been DM'ing for 10 years. ;) That said, I try to avoid things like this because a DM must firstly never be impartial and secondly always appear so. I was just offering an "in-game" way of representing the DM fiat. You've been reading my mind, haven't you? :D Well you'll notice that I omitted the Dreaming Dark. Repeat after me, there is no such thing as the Dreaming Dark. :evillaugh: All in all, I realize the danger of involving too many organizations. At this early point, I just want to have the potential for them there, so I don't cut myself off in later adventures. Well for now you can keep everything shadowy, but some of the factions that are lower down the pyramid would be visible at this stage. Don't forget that Daask, proxy of the Daughters of Sora Kell, could well have a presence in the affected areas. Boramars may also be lurking around. As you want a noir sort of feel, these can be a source of aid to the PCs if they need it. It's never too early to start working morality themes into the story. How about if the upper city is barricading off infected areas and 'Burning Hand'ing infected escapees; that it is Daask and the other lower denizens that are faced with dealing with the threat up close and personal, as it were. It's going to put the PCs in an interesting position to make contacts and friends. And if you're going with the Chamber, then they're not going to care about what side of humanoid laws some group is. Sounds like this could be a good campaign you've got here. By the way, I've edited my last post and this one with spoiler tags. It doesn't do much good to conceal your questions from your players if the answers are shouted around the World. :D
DanjaNinja 02-19-06, 05:15 AM	So, a little update on my game. The players have decided to be "information dealers". Basically, the spy, the informant, the guy that knows how to get things, etc. This mostly plays into my hands very well; I can introduce shadowy patrons as clients and contacts. I do have a little trouble, however, in envisioning the interplay between the PCs and existing organizations. They have decided to be independent elements in the grand scheme of things--not really allied with any group but themselves. But how would, say, House Phiarlan and Thuranni respond to such dealings? My initial thoughts where that they would respond negatively to such "competition". But after mulling it over for a while, I came up with this: The PCs are probably working for an existing organization without even realizing it. The Tyrants (a Sharn-based changeling organization) seem a likely candidate, but either House P or House T could be doing it, too. Or maybe even all three of them. Think about it: deception and spying are what these people do, and what they have done for generations. Hiring out such "independents" could be a form of outsourcing, but more importantly it keeps them in check--the existing organizations know what the playing field is like because they control all the pieces. Does that seem mostly reasonable? Would you be shocked (in a negative way) if you as a player found out something like the above? Additionally, any comments on the original post are still welcome. Thanks. :)