Help: Epic Underworld Campaign [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help: Epic Underworld Campaign [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Restless
10-04-05, 10:56 PM My players, a shifter scout1/fighter2, a shifter fighter3, kalshatar psion3 and a kalshatar soulknife3, after an extended stay in Droaamite slave gladiator pit have finally escaped and, via The Crimson Ship, have returned to Sharn.

The Shifters are freelance criminals, who were leaning toward joining the Boromar when they were captured and the Kalshatar are basically spies for the Kalshatar temple, supposed to infiltrate the Sharn underworld and serve as eyes and ears for the Kalshatar presence in Sharn.

Returning to Sharn they, and their Boromar enforcer companion find the city drastically changed. Seidan has been assassinated, along with his closest family members and advisors, by assassins hired by none other than his neice Fela ir'Boromar. Boromar split into 3 factions, Those that shifted their alligence to Fela, those loyal to Seidan and enraged by this trechery, led by Jask ir' Boromar, Seidan's second cousin, and lastly a group of mostly ex-Boromar non-Halflings led by Kal Asimos see this as the death of a gang that had grown weak and their golden oppertunity to create a new syndicate, that that still has it's 'claws'.

So, all the powers in Sharn are battling for power, with the Daask being the most present threat.

Now, my problem is, I want my PCs, who have been humiliated enough to experience some epic badass moments coming up in the Sharn crime scene. It looks like they'll ally with Jask. I want to have some awesome encounters and combats, not just GTA mission style stuff. Also, I'd like to create some cool new NPCs and memorable rivalries with enemies. But, I can't seem to come up with anything that isn't stupidly trite. I've been watching some crime movies(Snatch/Lock,Stock and Two Loaded Barrels/etc.) but am still at a loss.

So, if anyone has any cool ideas for Epic Underworld Action, it would be truly appreicated.
Save-vs-DM
10-05-05, 06:22 AM Tall, order. Let me see if I can't help just a little bit here.

First of all, you've got some good material with the split. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself.

Warning, Sharn: City of Towers Spoilers Ahoy!

Many city watch members are on the payroll of the Boromar clan. Now, these watch members have to be sweating bullets. Suddenly your PCs arn't really sure who's on the payroll and who isn't on the payroll. Your players may have to start finding out who's still loyal among the guards and then find a way to silence or buy off the ones who are not loyal. This could give you some good, meaty roleplay opportunities.

One idea might be actually having Fela be a mind seed of a Dreaming Dark agent. This is an excellent way to start destablizing Sharn from the inside out, as the crime family had kept things pretty stable. Perhaps the Dreaming Dark might also be influencing certain merchants to provide Daask with better weapons an armor, the better to take out the Bormars, the more stable influence. This would give your Kalashtar player some great stuff to work with.

Daask is going to smell blood in the water, but this doesn't have to lead to open conflict. They may start trying to recruit some of the non-halfling ex-boromars into thier fold, hoping to gain some insight. This might have to be stopped or the PCs could even "join" them and act as double-agents, playing a deadly game as they feed false information to Daask without getting caught.

That's about all I can wrangle from my brain at the moment. As for NPCs, I'm not really sure what you need, so I'm not much help for that.

Cheers,
Save vs DM
realdm
10-05-05, 06:45 AM in my campaign Saidan became a servant of Calderus, and is slowly turning its clan into undead.
the group split in two, (two parallel campaigns, some players play both, other just the one in the 5 nations), one group follows the Aerenal elf in his quest to retrieve a sword lost in the mournland which will kill Calderus, the other group stayed in Sharn.

the Sharn based group is trying to contrast Calderus.
the way I rewarded this group (which is much more apted to intrigue) is through several events
- the changeling working for the tyrants has been responsible to establish a temporary alliance among tarkanan, daask and tyrant to contrast the boromar
- ambush attacks by powerful enemies in their own houses
- new strange npcs such as Redo d'Phiarlan (master assassin who can control its own shadows), Veda d'Thuranni (nemesi of redo, control very long chains and use them to trap foes)
- strange encounters (aerial fights among skycoaches, or take inspiration from the dmg2)

the best way to turn Sharn into "epic" is to make a rise from the ashes. your pcs have been humiliated and wounded. make them rise to the top.
as they kill their foes (bruce willis style) new and more powerful enemies appear. the Boromar will be substituted by the Aurum and then by the Bov and then by the inspired--- and so on..
i have to do everything using intrigues and coup d'etat, but due to how your party is composed, just make them use violence.
Restless
10-05-05, 06:38 PM One idea might be actually having Fela be a mind seed of a Dreaming Dark agent. This is an excellent way to start destablizing Sharn from the inside out, as the crime family had kept things pretty stable. Perhaps the Dreaming Dark might also be influencing certain merchants to provide Daask with better weapons an armor, the better to take out the Bormars, the more stable influence. This would give your Kalashtar player some great stuff to work with.

Actually, I forgot to post that. I was thinking about doing that, since so far my Kalshatar players have only had one encounter with the Dreaming Dark so far.

They are relativly well known and hated among the Daask(Which was the ultimate reason they were sent to the slave pits in Drooam.), but the idea of dealing with the guards in various manners is sweet. That'll definitly give some flavor to things.

As for NPCs, I want to create a very diverse cast of characters for the PCs to interact with.

So far I have Jask (who is inspired by Bricktop from Snatch.) who, while being very loyal to the Boromar, is a merciless cutthroat. You can hardly approach the guy with out being at least threatened with torture and death. Heh, maybe he'll even keep a raptor farm to dispose of the bodies.

There is Fela, who aside from being infected with a mindseed, is a sensualist shadowdancer with a fetish for betrayal(maybe the reason she was mind seeded by the DD...) and a feirce addiction to Dreamlily.

Kal is probably the most sane of the three, an orphan taken in by a Boromar enforcer, he developed a taste for blood and power at a young age, and has watched what he sees as the Boromar growing fat, gorged on it's power in the City of Towers. He has a sort of weakness complex and obsessivly eliminates anyone that has seen him in any state of weakness.

The idea of the Daask being manipulated as well hadn't occured to me and may be coinsidered stolen, because I'm definitly using it now.

I think I'm going to arrange for a poorly outnumbered PC to be captured and have an attempt on his life. After he breaks his ropes and swims to the bank of the Daggerriver, surviving against all odds (w/ a little help, of course), I'll have a nice new rivalry for him, with his would-be assassins.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Restless 10-04-05, 10:56 PM	My players, a shifter scout1/fighter2, a shifter fighter3, kalshatar psion3 and a kalshatar soulknife3, after an extended stay in Droaamite slave gladiator pit have finally escaped and, via The Crimson Ship, have returned to Sharn. The Shifters are freelance criminals, who were leaning toward joining the Boromar when they were captured and the Kalshatar are basically spies for the Kalshatar temple, supposed to infiltrate the Sharn underworld and serve as eyes and ears for the Kalshatar presence in Sharn. Returning to Sharn they, and their Boromar enforcer companion find the city drastically changed. Seidan has been assassinated, along with his closest family members and advisors, by assassins hired by none other than his neice Fela ir'Boromar. Boromar split into 3 factions, Those that shifted their alligence to Fela, those loyal to Seidan and enraged by this trechery, led by Jask ir' Boromar, Seidan's second cousin, and lastly a group of mostly ex-Boromar non-Halflings led by Kal Asimos see this as the death of a gang that had grown weak and their golden oppertunity to create a new syndicate, that that still has it's 'claws'. So, all the powers in Sharn are battling for power, with the Daask being the most present threat. Now, my problem is, I want my PCs, who have been humiliated enough to experience some epic badass moments coming up in the Sharn crime scene. It looks like they'll ally with Jask. I want to have some awesome encounters and combats, not just GTA mission style stuff. Also, I'd like to create some cool new NPCs and memorable rivalries with enemies. But, I can't seem to come up with anything that isn't stupidly trite. I've been watching some crime movies(Snatch/Lock,Stock and Two Loaded Barrels/etc.) but am still at a loss. So, if anyone has any cool ideas for Epic Underworld Action, it would be truly appreicated.
Save-vs-DM 10-05-05, 06:22 AM	Tall, order. Let me see if I can't help just a little bit here. First of all, you've got some good material with the split. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself. Warning, Sharn: City of Towers Spoilers Ahoy! Many city watch members are on the payroll of the Boromar clan. Now, these watch members have to be sweating bullets. Suddenly your PCs arn't really sure who's on the payroll and who isn't on the payroll. Your players may have to start finding out who's still loyal among the guards and then find a way to silence or buy off the ones who are not loyal. This could give you some good, meaty roleplay opportunities. One idea might be actually having Fela be a mind seed of a Dreaming Dark agent. This is an excellent way to start destablizing Sharn from the inside out, as the crime family had kept things pretty stable. Perhaps the Dreaming Dark might also be influencing certain merchants to provide Daask with better weapons an armor, the better to take out the Bormars, the more stable influence. This would give your Kalashtar player some great stuff to work with. Daask is going to smell blood in the water, but this doesn't have to lead to open conflict. They may start trying to recruit some of the non-halfling ex-boromars into thier fold, hoping to gain some insight. This might have to be stopped or the PCs could even "join" them and act as double-agents, playing a deadly game as they feed false information to Daask without getting caught. That's about all I can wrangle from my brain at the moment. As for NPCs, I'm not really sure what you need, so I'm not much help for that. Cheers, Save vs DM
realdm 10-05-05, 06:45 AM	in my campaign Saidan became a servant of Calderus, and is slowly turning its clan into undead. the group split in two, (two parallel campaigns, some players play both, other just the one in the 5 nations), one group follows the Aerenal elf in his quest to retrieve a sword lost in the mournland which will kill Calderus, the other group stayed in Sharn. the Sharn based group is trying to contrast Calderus. the way I rewarded this group (which is much more apted to intrigue) is through several events - the changeling working for the tyrants has been responsible to establish a temporary alliance among tarkanan, daask and tyrant to contrast the boromar - ambush attacks by powerful enemies in their own houses - new strange npcs such as Redo d'Phiarlan (master assassin who can control its own shadows), Veda d'Thuranni (nemesi of redo, control very long chains and use them to trap foes) - strange encounters (aerial fights among skycoaches, or take inspiration from the dmg2) the best way to turn Sharn into "epic" is to make a rise from the ashes. your pcs have been humiliated and wounded. make them rise to the top. as they kill their foes (bruce willis style) new and more powerful enemies appear. the Boromar will be substituted by the Aurum and then by the Bov and then by the inspired--- and so on.. i have to do everything using intrigues and coup d'etat, but due to how your party is composed, just make them use violence.
Restless 10-05-05, 06:38 PM	One idea might be actually having Fela be a mind seed of a Dreaming Dark agent. This is an excellent way to start destablizing Sharn from the inside out, as the crime family had kept things pretty stable. Perhaps the Dreaming Dark might also be influencing certain merchants to provide Daask with better weapons an armor, the better to take out the Bormars, the more stable influence. This would give your Kalashtar player some great stuff to work with. Actually, I forgot to post that. I was thinking about doing that, since so far my Kalshatar players have only had one encounter with the Dreaming Dark so far. They are relativly well known and hated among the Daask(Which was the ultimate reason they were sent to the slave pits in Drooam.), but the idea of dealing with the guards in various manners is sweet. That'll definitly give some flavor to things. As for NPCs, I want to create a very diverse cast of characters for the PCs to interact with. So far I have Jask (who is inspired by Bricktop from Snatch.) who, while being very loyal to the Boromar, is a merciless cutthroat. You can hardly approach the guy with out being at least threatened with torture and death. Heh, maybe he'll even keep a raptor farm to dispose of the bodies. There is Fela, who aside from being infected with a mindseed, is a sensualist shadowdancer with a fetish for betrayal(maybe the reason she was mind seeded by the DD...) and a feirce addiction to Dreamlily. Kal is probably the most sane of the three, an orphan taken in by a Boromar enforcer, he developed a taste for blood and power at a young age, and has watched what he sees as the Boromar growing fat, gorged on it's power in the City of Towers. He has a sort of weakness complex and obsessivly eliminates anyone that has seen him in any state of weakness. The idea of the Daask being manipulated as well hadn't occured to me and may be coinsidered stolen, because I'm definitly using it now. I think I'm going to arrange for a poorly outnumbered PC to be captured and have an attempt on his life. After he breaks his ropes and swims to the bank of the Daggerriver, surviving against all odds (w/ a little help, of course), I'll have a nice new rivalry for him, with his would-be assassins.