[Eberron: Treasures] Help Getting My Campaign Back On Track [Archive] - Wizards Community

[Eberron: Treasures] Help Getting My Campaign Back On Track [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
SwarthmoreDB
10-30-07, 12:34 PM NOTE: This involves some reading, so feel free to look at the TL;DR below if anything...

TL;DR: I Need help to get PCs back in the main story arc and away from a possibly major side quest.

Hey everyone! I am a new DM for a group running an Eberron campaign that goes from Lv. 1 to Lv. 6. Four of the PCs have now just hit Lv. 2. The PCs are as follows:

Riaan: Lyrandar d'marked Swashbuckler badass
Tyrian: d'marked Deneith foundling and zealot cleric of the Silver Flame
Padric: Changeling posing as a human finesse fighter (read, Rogue).
Omega: Warforged axe-fighter and adamantine tank

I made this custom story arc [Eberron: Treasures] such that the story is as follows (spoilers below):

The PCs have run into a half-elven woman in Callestan who carries a necklace that has a map that shows where a hoard of Syberis shards are located. The hoard is located somewhere in Xen'drik and the shards are worth approximately 1 million galifars. The PCs already have protected the woman from muggers that were trying to get her necklace, and the man who hired the muggers (the BBEG's 'liutenant') already fought them and nearly got potatOWNED (I figured that a 5th level bad-guy could stand up to them, but I had to teleport him out to prevent them from killing him).

Currently, one of the 'minor' side-stories is that the Daask are waging a larger guerrilla war against the Boromars, and my PCs have set up an ambush for the Daask in exchange for Boromar aid. I wish for them to do this, however, if they continue doing things for the Boromars, they are likely to make the gang war the main arc of the story and the treasure hunting part fade into the background. I don't mind doing so, but still...

My problem is this: How do I get the PCs back on track to the main story arc without railroading them too much?

I myself know what the big events are in order for the story line to continue, but not how to make them logically fit into one another. For example, I have invited them to the ir'Tain Gala in 2 in-game weeks, where they are going to run into the BBEG (unknownst to them)that wants to get his hands on the necklace map the NPC has. As stated earlier, the PCs have already run into his 'liutenant' and almost killed that recurring character.

So, any takers? I will post the ideas I have and the character motivations below if it will help...

P.S.: How do I hide things so I don't have to do spoiler blocks?
SwarthmoreDB
10-30-07, 12:50 PM Below are the motivations of the main NPCs in the story. I hope some of this may help, so here it goes (spoilers below):

The BBEG has two things motivating him: greed and revenge.

Greed: He has a lot of wealth, and simply wants to become richer. He also has plans to kill off a small half-elven family that is a member of the Sixty of Sharn so he can become more powerful and filthy rich. He is currently considered a 'friend' of theirs because he befriended them after their son ran off and he 'takes care' of them, the mother and father.

Revenge: The reason why he wants to kill off the family is because their son was a romantic rival of his for the affections of a half-elven woman he was in love with in his youth. She was in love with them both, but ultimately chose the other man and not the BBEG; they both fled after he wanted to kill them both. She also carried the BBEG's child (i.e., the woman the PCs are currently protecting and who has the map on the necklace), but he thinks that the child isn't his, and thus he wants to take out his vengeance on her and the family.

The BBEG plans to get the necklace and kill anyone who's come into contact with it (i.e., the half-elven woman and the PCs). With the money from the Syberis shards, he plans to split it up with his 'trusted son' (i.e., his 'liutenant'), and use some gold to get the Tarkanans to assassinate the family. He has some connection to the Tarkanans since his liutenant is an aberrant. The only one the BBEG trusts really is his liutenant, as he considers him a 'trusted son'. Finally, he plans on bribing or influencing the Boromars to use their influence to get himself listed as a member of the Sixty to replace the family he killed!

The liutenant has two motivations also: Greed and Power.

Greed: With his share of the shards, he'll either sell them or keep them to make the Tarkanans more powerful as a group. He's fairly loyal to both his 'adopted father', the BBEG and to Thora Tavin also, and thus would not betray her, but rather would like to be her personal acolyte and second in command.

Power: He wants to see the Tarkanans powerful enough to take vengeance, either on an economic level or a warrior level to be able to get vengeance on the D'marked houses. He wishes the houses to be laid low, either economically or just simply decimated.

So what do you guys think? I plan on the PCs facing the liutenant again sometime when they are level 4 (he'll bring a small army with him and his girlfriend with strange powers :D) and toss the underlings to them and hopefully near-TPK them and leave them for dead. The PCs will finally face him in the end near the treasure hoard when they are Level 6th with a crew from his group.
Kreistor2
11-01-07, 10:16 AM Well, it's fairly simple. After the ambush, the Boramar simply don't offer them another job. Thank them for their help, but "We can take it from here."

With nothing else to do, they will probably go off to Xen'drik.
yrogerg
11-01-07, 10:35 PM Alternately, let the Boromars intimate that they're in dire straits, and need a new stream of finances (for bribes, swords-for-hire, and the like) if they stand any chance of turning this gang war around. The Boromars should have their fingers in enough pies that their support -and the elimination of the Daask- is even more valuable to your party than the cash, less the finder's fee, and you could end up turning the Boromars in the the backers of this little outing.

Also, if your players are fixing for a gang war, it shouldn't be too difficult to turn this against them, as well. After their next task for the Boromars, let the Watch get word of their activities, or, better yet, let them catch the heat for a particularly brutal murder committed by the Daask. All of a sudden, both they and the Boromars will want them to get out of dodge for a while until the heat's off.

Eventually, though, you should probably aim to resolve both of these hanging threads at once.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SwarthmoreDB 10-30-07, 12:34 PM	NOTE: This involves some reading, so feel free to look at the TL;DR below if anything... TL;DR: I Need help to get PCs back in the main story arc and away from a possibly major side quest. Hey everyone! I am a new DM for a group running an Eberron campaign that goes from Lv. 1 to Lv. 6. Four of the PCs have now just hit Lv. 2. The PCs are as follows: Riaan: Lyrandar d'marked Swashbuckler badass Tyrian: d'marked Deneith foundling and zealot cleric of the Silver Flame Padric: Changeling posing as a human finesse fighter (read, Rogue). Omega: Warforged axe-fighter and adamantine tank I made this custom story arc [Eberron: Treasures] such that the story is as follows (spoilers below): The PCs have run into a half-elven woman in Callestan who carries a necklace that has a map that shows where a hoard of Syberis shards are located. The hoard is located somewhere in Xen'drik and the shards are worth approximately 1 million galifars. The PCs already have protected the woman from muggers that were trying to get her necklace, and the man who hired the muggers (the BBEG's 'liutenant') already fought them and nearly got potatOWNED (I figured that a 5th level bad-guy could stand up to them, but I had to teleport him out to prevent them from killing him). Currently, one of the 'minor' side-stories is that the Daask are waging a larger guerrilla war against the Boromars, and my PCs have set up an ambush for the Daask in exchange for Boromar aid. I wish for them to do this, however, if they continue doing things for the Boromars, they are likely to make the gang war the main arc of the story and the treasure hunting part fade into the background. I don't mind doing so, but still... My problem is this: How do I get the PCs back on track to the main story arc without railroading them too much? I myself know what the big events are in order for the story line to continue, but not how to make them logically fit into one another. For example, I have invited them to the ir'Tain Gala in 2 in-game weeks, where they are going to run into the BBEG (unknownst to them)that wants to get his hands on the necklace map the NPC has. As stated earlier, the PCs have already run into his 'liutenant' and almost killed that recurring character. So, any takers? I will post the ideas I have and the character motivations below if it will help... P.S.: How do I hide things so I don't have to do spoiler blocks?
SwarthmoreDB 10-30-07, 12:50 PM	Below are the motivations of the main NPCs in the story. I hope some of this may help, so here it goes (spoilers below): The BBEG has two things motivating him: greed and revenge. Greed: He has a lot of wealth, and simply wants to become richer. He also has plans to kill off a small half-elven family that is a member of the Sixty of Sharn so he can become more powerful and filthy rich. He is currently considered a 'friend' of theirs because he befriended them after their son ran off and he 'takes care' of them, the mother and father. Revenge: The reason why he wants to kill off the family is because their son was a romantic rival of his for the affections of a half-elven woman he was in love with in his youth. She was in love with them both, but ultimately chose the other man and not the BBEG; they both fled after he wanted to kill them both. She also carried the BBEG's child (i.e., the woman the PCs are currently protecting and who has the map on the necklace), but he thinks that the child isn't his, and thus he wants to take out his vengeance on her and the family. The BBEG plans to get the necklace and kill anyone who's come into contact with it (i.e., the half-elven woman and the PCs). With the money from the Syberis shards, he plans to split it up with his 'trusted son' (i.e., his 'liutenant'), and use some gold to get the Tarkanans to assassinate the family. He has some connection to the Tarkanans since his liutenant is an aberrant. The only one the BBEG trusts really is his liutenant, as he considers him a 'trusted son'. Finally, he plans on bribing or influencing the Boromars to use their influence to get himself listed as a member of the Sixty to replace the family he killed! The liutenant has two motivations also: Greed and Power. Greed: With his share of the shards, he'll either sell them or keep them to make the Tarkanans more powerful as a group. He's fairly loyal to both his 'adopted father', the BBEG and to Thora Tavin also, and thus would not betray her, but rather would like to be her personal acolyte and second in command. Power: He wants to see the Tarkanans powerful enough to take vengeance, either on an economic level or a warrior level to be able to get vengeance on the D'marked houses. He wishes the houses to be laid low, either economically or just simply decimated. So what do you guys think? I plan on the PCs facing the liutenant again sometime when they are level 4 (he'll bring a small army with him and his girlfriend with strange powers :D) and toss the underlings to them and hopefully near-TPK them and leave them for dead. The PCs will finally face him in the end near the treasure hoard when they are Level 6th with a crew from his group.
Kreistor2 11-01-07, 10:16 AM	Well, it's fairly simple. After the ambush, the Boramar simply don't offer them another job. Thank them for their help, but "We can take it from here." With nothing else to do, they will probably go off to Xen'drik.
yrogerg 11-01-07, 10:35 PM	Alternately, let the Boromars intimate that they're in dire straits, and need a new stream of finances (for bribes, swords-for-hire, and the like) if they stand any chance of turning this gang war around. The Boromars should have their fingers in enough pies that their support -and the elimination of the Daask- is even more valuable to your party than the cash, less the finder's fee, and you could end up turning the Boromars in the the backers of this little outing. Also, if your players are fixing for a gang war, it shouldn't be too difficult to turn this against them, as well. After their next task for the Boromars, let the Watch get word of their activities, or, better yet, let them catch the heat for a particularly brutal murder committed by the Daask. All of a sudden, both they and the Boromars will want them to get out of dodge for a while until the heat's off. Eventually, though, you should probably aim to resolve both of these hanging threads at once.