Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Save-vs-DM 08-02-05, 11:24 PM	Well, started my new Sharn game and had a great first session...with one problem. I sort of set the bar a bit high with the first adventure. My players are all inquisitives working in Lower Tavicks Landing. Campaign Synopsis Here Background During the Last War an independent association of magewrights and artificers began working on a secret project for the nation of Breland. Officially labeled Project Overlord, this project was highly classified and very few people even knew the name of this project. Arcane and psionic researchers were attempting to create an Eldrich Machine of vast and terrible power to grant Breland an extra edge during the war. Project Overlord was conceived by one Alain Colworn, a Brelish artificer loyal to the crown and one Tamra d’Cannith, a powerful telepath and house excoriate who was excoriated for selling Cannith secrets to the Dark Lanterns. Tamra received her psionic powers during a strange lab accident that rendered her permanently insane due to a brush with Xoriat. The Eldrich Machine dubbed the Overlord was an extremely powerful beacon capable of mass mind control. Though it was never completed, according to the schema Overlord was capable of controlling thousands of humanoids at one time for a lengthy period of time. The thinking of the time was that this machine could be used to control enemy armies which could be used as double agents and expendable forces. The project was started in 988 YK and was near completion when the Treaty of Thronehold was signed. Alain, Tamra and their staff of nearly thirty magically and psionically adept workers were silently notified to cease work on the project, dismantle Overlord and never speak of the project again. Unfortunately, the secret arcane forge located far below Sharn was overrun by a local Cult of the Dragon Below who falsely believed the Eldrich Machine was a powerful war weapon (it was, but not as they thought). Led by the mind flayer Isk’Rit, the cult quickly killed most of the workers, save for Alain and Tamra, who used their magic to escape. Isk’Rit quickly discovered the true power of Overlord, though at this time is unsure of how to use the great machine. He knows that it is not completed and is searching for a way to complete it in order to expand his herd of thralls. Alain and Tamra both went to ground, fearing retribution by Isk’Rit and the Brelish crown for their failure. Alain started posing as a simple wood carver and took great pains to mask any magical talent. He managed to purchase fake identification papers and passed himself off as a simple Cyran refugee in search of a new home. Tamra managed to hide for a week until she was discovered by the Dreaming Dark. After a month of intense psychic interrogation the Dreaming Dark discovered the truth of Project Overlord. Led by the Inspired Tirashana, the local Dreaming Dark agents seek to root out Isk’Rit and his cult in order to use Overlord. Tamra was mind-seeded and extensive psychic surgery warped her flesh into a new visage. Using extensive training and high placed contacts, the Dreaming Dark managed to place Tamra as a minor noble of House Cannith, granting her the name Elaida d’Cannith. She has kept a low profile and is now a key agent for the Dreaming Dark in their scheme to procure the Overlord. Through Tamra the Dreaming Dark discovered that Isk’Rit controls the Overlord currently, the Overlord is unfinished and that the Dark Lanterns know of its existence. Tirashana has determined that the best course of action is using a third and neutral party to obtain the supplies needed to finish the Eldrich Machine, root out the Cult of the Dragon Below and take the fall for working on the machine. They know that Alain still lives and is needed to complete the machine, as he has the only surviving the schema. They plan to use Tamra as an agent to get the PCs involved in the project. They want her to hire the PCs to obtain the needed supplies, root out the Cult of the Dragon Below and hopefully flush Alain out of hiding. The Dreaming Dark has also been working to eliminate anyone who knew about the project, including one Ebra Bakker, a Half-Elf merchant who delivered two shipments to the arcane forge. He was told that the project involved Brelish security and nothing else. He was murdered in his sleep using a subtle poison. His friend, a freelance inquisitive named Brogan Murphy, was called in to investigate. Brogan was an older Khoravar who recently hired the PCs to help him with his business. Brogan was murdered after he uncovered evidence about Ebra’s work, though the files were taken from his residence before the PCs could discover them. The campaign begins one week after Brogan’s death. Tone Dreams of Darkness is a rather dark and moody campaign with occasional doses of black humor. The campaign is filled with heavy intrigue and features shady deals and untrustworthy contacts. The PCs are never quite sure who they can trust after the death of their mentor and are completely unaware of Project Overlord at the start of the campaign. Player Synopsis You never managed to get a break in your life, moving from one occupation to the next in the great city of Sharn. You thought that your life would be an endless series of bad luck and poor living conditions. All of this changed when you met Brogan Murphy, an older Khoravar inquisitive who ran a small inquisitive agency in Lower Tavick’s Landing. Brogan was a Cyran refugee who managed to build a small but successful inquisitive business in High Walls. He saw in you a spark of something great and lifted you from a life in the gutter. He taught you all that her knew and took you on as an apprentice. One week ago Brogan died in his sleep. While he was an old man you feel that perhaps something greater is going on than meets the eye. Brogan left you and your companions his business and what small savings he had. You are unsure what to do with yourself now, though you have a small business with a reputation for doing good work. You have a way to make a living and perhaps a way to discover what truly happened to your mentor. You now live and work in Sharn. You have the skills that Brogan taught you and the memory of the kind old Khoravar. You are unsure of what the future holds. You are an inquisitive in the greatest city of Khorvaire. This is your life and the beginning of a great adventure. Friendly Factions Alain Colworn: During his exile Alain has had time to think upon the project he started creating. After living in the slums of High Walls he has come to discover that such a terrible weapon will bring more harm than good to the world. He is terrified for his life and intends to erase his past mistakes though a third party. If the PCs can discover who he is, he might be able to help them destroy Project Overlord. Alain holds the only known copy of the schema used to create Project Overlord. Goals: Use the PCs to destroy Project Overlord without revealing his true purpose in the scheme of the project. Neutral Factions The Dark Lanterns: The Dark Lanterns have a vested interest in Project Overlord. They would either like to see it in the hands of the Brelish crown or to see it destroyed. They don’t care too much either way, so long as the general populace remains oblivious to the weapon. They have an inkling that something is wrong with the project and are keeping close tabs on any suspicious activity. One of their members, one Nebra Aggan, has been mind seeded. She has been passing information to the Dreaming Dark for months now and hopes to use the Dark Lanterns as a means to reclaim Project Overlord. She will take every advantage to set the PCs up as the ones who want to use Project Overlord for themselves. Goals: Dismantle or control Project Overlord though a third party. Nebra will attempt to use her position to aid the Dreaming Dark and to set the PCs up to take the blame. Dekmar the Twisted: At first glance Dekmar may seem a mortal enemy. He is part of the Cult of the Dragon Below led by Isk’Rit and has several aberration grants. He has recently grown weary of the Overlord and his old master and would prefer to take leadership himself. The PCs may be able to use him to destroy the Isk’Rit. Goals: Destroy Isk’Rit and assume leadership of the Cult of the Dragon Below for himself. Enemy Factions The Cults of the Dragon Below: Led by the mind flayer Isk’Rit, the Cults want to use the Overlord for simple domination and to expand their influence. They are unsure of how to complete the machine and Isk’Rit will true and bend the minds of anyone he thinks is knowledgeable about the machine to his end. There is some in-fighting in the cult and a hidden power struggle. The cult will most likely attempt to capture artificers and mage-wrights in an attempt to get the machine functioning, though without the schema they are bound to fail. None of the group has been mind seeded, though the Dreaming Dark has been keeping tabs on them and would prefer to simply eliminate the group with a third party. Goals: Use Project Overlord to expand the size of their cult and garner more thralls for Isk’Rit. They are unsure of how to finish the machine and will attempt to capture artificers and magewrights in order to gain some insight. The Dreaming Dark: The Dreaming Dark wishes to gain control of Project Overlord in order to expand their influence. Tirashana has discovered a way to use the machine to enhance and extend the range of her mind seed powers and feels that this machine would be an excellent way to start gaining control of Sharn. Her long term goals include mind seeding major leaders of Breland in order to start the Last War anew. To this end several characters have been mind seeded in order to help with this goal. Goals: Gain control of Project Overlord using a third party. Use Tamra to gather the needed materials to complete the project using a third party. Obtain the schema by flushing Alain out of hiding using a third party. Destroy the Cult of the Dragon Below using a third party in order to gain access to Project Overlord. Set the PCs up to take the fall for finding and completing Project Overlord using their mind seeded Dark Lantern. Player Goals The players have several goals throughout the course of this campaign. They must discover the truth behind Brogan’s death, that he was murdered because he had a clue about Project Overlord. They must root out the mind seeds placed by the Dreaming Dark and destroy the Cult of the Dragon Below seeking to control Project Overlord. They must destroy Project Overlord completely in order to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Discovering the truth about the project and rooting out the dreaming dark will be a rather large task. Eventually they will destroy Tirashana and Isk’Rit if they wish to destroy Project Overlord. Character Synopsis: http://evildm.datavortex.net/cc-characters.html I wanted to do a murder mystery type of deal based rather loosely on the Hitchcock film Rear Window, only with a twist. Basically a rather...unrespectable person starts using Absentia. During one of his uses he sees a murder take place, but never sees the killers features as he is perceiving the world through the killers eyes. I'm not sure who the killer is or who he has killed. This is where you friendly folks come in. Any suggestions? Cheers, Save vs DM
Paladin of the Lawful Naughty 08-03-05, 04:41 AM	What about a mindflayer mob-boss/shadow-politician with a gang of changlings as his mooks, and a kalashtar soleknife/ninja for a personal inforcer. Have one of the changlings mimick a "respectible" type as a front man for the flayer baiting the players into working for them as you weave your web of lies and deciet around them untill they are nose deep, knife blades dull, water soaked torch in a dark tunnel with no light in sight, screaming holy :censored: !!! It works for our DM all the time. Some how or another he allways manages to trick us at some point in the game that the bad guys are the good guys and the good guys are the bad guys, and the the neutral guys are trying to kill all of us because of one reason or another :smirk: . Just food for thought.
Radkres 08-03-05, 10:46 AM	The killer is Lady Jesel Tarra’az The victim was a male artificer who just left a brothel run by Order of Emerald Claw called the winking nymph. He let slip about working in Sharn on a secret project. Just enough information to peak the in house people to have him pumped. So they called Jesel to pick him up and find out the truth from him. She was in the covered skycab that was called for him because of the rain when he left the winking nymph. She dominated him too easily and began to pump him for information. She had gotten information leading to a secret pathway that leads down to the project. When the skycab in heavy night rain got into an accident throwing the victim out on to a skybridge were he recovered his mind and begins to run. The drug user comes in about the time she starts to leave the skycab and spots her prey. A chase with lots of leaping and climbing over stuff in pouring rain till he runs the wrong way into a locked gate and she easily follows till he tries one desperate leap and the wet ground makes him lose traction and over he goes and she leaps right after him nailing him about part way to the lower skybridge were she notices he is already dead from hitting his head against a stone rain gutter shaped like a griffin on his way down. She proceeds to loot his pockets and finish him off in a more natural death of a street crime. Now this gives you the ability to have her reflection in pools of water also some of her special abilities of climbing walls easily leaping large distances he gets to see her hands and arms what type of colors she is wearing. Also makes it hard to follow her with tracking after it rained and all that climbing and leaping and running. Anyway an idea.
Save-vs-DM 08-03-05, 05:41 PM	The killer is Lady Jesel Tarra’az The victim was a male artificer who just left a brothel run by Order of Emerald Claw called the winking nymph. He let slip about working in Sharn on a secret project. Just enough information to peak the in house people to have him pumped. So they called Jesel to pick him up and find out the truth from him. She was in the covered skycab that was called for him because of the rain when he left the winking nymph. She dominated him too easily and began to pump him for information. She had gotten information leading to a secret pathway that leads down to the project. When the skycab in heavy night rain got into an accident throwing the victim out on to a skybridge were he recovered his mind and begins to run. The drug user comes in about the time she starts to leave the skycab and spots her prey. A chase with lots of leaping and climbing over stuff in pouring rain till he runs the wrong way into a locked gate and she easily follows till he tries one desperate leap and the wet ground makes him lose traction and over he goes and she leaps right after him nailing him about part way to the lower skybridge were she notices he is already dead from hitting his head against a stone rain gutter shaped like a griffin on his way down. She proceeds to loot his pockets and finish him off in a more natural death of a street crime. Now this gives you the ability to have her reflection in pools of water also some of her special abilities of climbing walls easily leaping large distances he gets to see her hands and arms what type of colors she is wearing. Also makes it hard to follow her with tracking after it rained and all that climbing and leaping and running. Anyway an idea. Hey, this is better than what I was working on. This is great! Thanks for the help! Cheers, Save vs DM