Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Identitystolen 06-24-07, 04:07 PM	Zero hour is coming quickly upon me and I need help fleshing out a quick filler adventure. Due to grandparents, sister's graduation, and ungodly amounts of overtime I had to put in this week my adventure went to the wayside. Anyhow, the PCs are in Athandra, Thrane to get some info on demons and devils from a Silver Flame sage. After completing the little side quests on the sages behalf (he was in Athandra to help a very sick brother, so he was a little busy) they get some more information from anonymous source that there is an individual in Passage, Aundair. If you have the Five Nations book, you can probably hazard a guess what is laying in wait for them. Unfortunately, thats is about as far as I got and I need to have a little something ready to go in roughly 8 hours. Heres what I currently have planned: I'm ganking a plot hook out of the Explorer's Handbook and have them meet a young girl outside of town. She is actually nobility (line of paladins no less), and due to a sporadic family curse, a werewolf. Needless to say she needs to get out of Thrane ASAP, her preference being to the Eldeen Reaches. Without going into overly long details here is a run down on what I need to work out. 1) Her cover story. She won't admit to being a nobility or a werewolf (obviously being in Thrane that'd be smart), and she has a cover story her needing to go to the Reaches. Now why would a girl obviously from Thrane (I go with local accents int game) need to go to the Reaches by herself? Of course she offers some money, but the group might not like having to baby sit and a couple of them will probably meta-game something is up. 2) Rate of Encounters. The family finds her missing and deduces that she contracted the curse (which they've covered up very well through the generations) and ran away. Or, they knew but protected her from it (an item or something) and once she found out for herself she panicked and ran. Leaving out the werewolf bit, the family put in a missing person report at the local guard station, a reward for her return at the Sivis message station, and are making moves to quietly contract House Tharashk. You think this will up the rate of encounters initially, or just over time? Also how long will it take Thrashk to get on the case? 3) Alignment. The curse was contracted not via a bite, but through the use of a curse item. While her ancestor used it for the cause of good once and then destroyed it, it was an evil aligned item. Also he redeemed himself, but the curse carried on through the generations popping up occasionally. So now is she going to be evil or retain a less troublesome alignment? Initially I had imagined a character similar to Rahne Sinclair (currently of X-Factor, a Marvel Comic.) But how much more 'interesting' would it be to have a evil character that could, quiet literally, bite them later? 4) Type of Werewolf. Natural or afflicted? My knee jerk reaction would be natural since she would presumably have always been cursed. But then again, what if it recently surfaced and she isn't in total control? This would also affect the afore mentioned family's reaction and how this could end. Not to mention it could make run ins with patrols and other groups looking for her trickier if she were inflicted and not in total control. And here are the PCs. Warforge N Fighter 2/Warblade 3: straight up tank Human NG Artifacer 5: Primary healer, range support, and craft person Human LG Wizard 4: general wizard with a slight preference to evocation, player and character afraid of lycanthrops so he could be a wildcard in this. Human N Rogue 5: Lockpick, scout, and infamous metagamer Human CG bard 5: Party's voice, is more useful than people (including the other palyers) give him credit for.
Shady314 06-24-07, 05:31 PM	Anyhow, the PCs are in Athandra, Thrane to get some info on demons and devils from a Silver Flame sage. After completing the little side quests on the sages behalf (he was in Athandra to help a very sick brother, so he was a little busy) they get some more information from anonymous source that there is an individual in Passage, Aundair. If you have the Five Nations book, you can probably hazard a guess what is laying in wait for them. Unfortunately, thats is about as far as I got and I need to have a little something ready to go in roughly 8 hours. Heres what I currently have planned: I'm ganking a plot hook out of the Explorer's Handbook and have them meet a young girl outside of town. She is actually nobility (line of paladins no less), and due to a sporadic family curse, a werewolf. Needless to say she needs to get out of Thrane ASAP, her preference being to the Eldeen Reaches. Without going into overly long details here is a run down on what I need to work out. You know she doesn't need to get out of Thrane right? Jaela has adopted a softer stance on lycnthropes now that it's known that lycanthropy can be cured and the dangerous times of the purge are over. She can go to the CotSF for help. Specifically Jaela herself would be willing to help her. Anyways the Eldeen Reaches is not a safe haven for lycanthropes unless she's planning on finding a manifest zone to Lamannia. Droaam is the sanctuary of lycanthropy in modern Khorvaire. I suppose you could make the girl be terrified and certain she'll be killed, desperate to flee, only to later find out she didn't need to flee. That'd be funny to me. 1) Her cover story. She won't admit to being a nobility or a werewolf (obviously being in Thrane that'd be smart), and she has a cover story her needing to go to the Reaches. Now why would a girl obviously from Thrane (I go with local accents int game) need to go to the Reaches by herself? Of course she offers some money, but the group might not like having to baby sit and a couple of them will probably meta-game something is up. The Last War was a terrible time. She's been orphaned and now that she's saved up some money she needs to get to family in the Reaches. She's worried though because she has an inheritance coming her way and she thinks some unsavory types are aware of it. So she's trying to avoid going alone with no protection. Just let it be on the way so it won't be a huge inconvenience. Also make it clear if they don't help her she'll just have to strike out alone and that'd probably end with her death. 2) Rate of Encounters. The family finds her missing and deduces that she contracted the curse (which they've covered up very well through the generations) and ran away. Or, they knew but protected her from it (an item or something) and once she found out for herself she panicked and ran. Leaving out the werewolf bit, the family put in a missing person report at the local guard station, a reward for her return at the Sivis message station, and are making moves to quietly contract House Tharashk. You think this will up the rate of encounters initially, or just over time? Also how long will it take Thrashk to get on the case? How about THEY know how she got it but she doesn't and now is scared out of her mind. The family shouldn't alert anyone. They want to help her but that means getting to her first. It's quite possible a Tharashk bounty hunter will become aware of her lycanthropy. All those moons in Eberron lead to a lot of transformations. That would be bad. This will mean less encounters but they should be more challenging. Neither side should be trying to kill the other. Plus they could encounter a party of paladins looking to retrieve the girl. You could work in a party of were creatures from Droaam hunting the girl. Maybe they are tied to this old cursed item somehow? They might be a very old pack who's first member made the item to spread the curse and bolster the pack. When it activates on someone new the pack members become aware and get a sense of her location and come to collect. The PCs are in the way so they'll have to die. Killing the pack breaks the mystical link thus curing her? Also when the Tharashk bounty hunter comes what do you expect the PCs to do? He's going to say her family is desperately searching for her and wonder if the PCs have kidnapped her. They aren't going to turn her over? 3) Alignment. The curse was contracted not via a bite, but through the use of a curse item. While her ancestor used it for the cause of good once and then destroyed it, it was an evil aligned item. Also he redeemed himself, but the curse carried on through the generations popping up occasionally. So now is she going to be evil or retain a less troublesome alignment? Initially I had imagined a character similar to Rahne Sinclair (currently of X-Factor, a Marvel Comic.) But how much more 'interesting' would it be to have a evil character that could, quiet literally, bite them later? I think this is a good opportunity to show the SF is not the corrupt evil organization so many play it as. Especially that it comes from a cursed item is a darn good excuse for the girl to give. The SF could be looking for her to help her. I'd give her a good alignment but make her THINK she HAS to be evil because she thinks all lycanthropes are evil. It's part of why she's fleeing. She doesn't want to hurt anyone. 4) Type of Werewolf. Natural or afflicted? My knee jerk reaction would be natural since she would presumably have always been cursed. But then again, what if it recently surfaced and she isn't in total control? This would also affect the afore mentioned family's reaction and how this could end. Not to mention it could make run ins with patrols and other groups looking for her trickier if she were inflicted and not in total control. I'd say afflicted since it's a curse put upon her. Not very natural. And yes being afflicted makes the PCs lives more difficult and explains why she's so freaked out.
garner_adam 06-24-07, 06:59 PM	Identitystolen, Shady314's stuff is golden and I think it will help you out a lot. Though he's right about one thing... they'll probably just hand her over to the authorities and be done with it. I'd spice things up by having the journey go wrong some how. To me the best bet would be to have her get separated from the party. This could lead to more encounters and then it turns from an escort game in to a rescue. When the authorities arrive the player characters could work with them or against them depending on their take. I also believe that this is a golden opportunity to show the nice side of the Silver Flame.
Rechan 06-24-07, 07:05 PM	I think the afflicted would be better, for Shady's mention, and another reason: Have her lose control. That's right. How would the party react if they're traveling somewhere and the person on duty turns around and she's gone? And there, off in the countryside, they hear a HOWL? Or even worse: she stumbles back into camp, covered in blood. Put this in Aundair, just to make it even worse.
Syltorian 06-24-07, 07:27 PM	You know she doesn't need to get out of Thrane right? Jaela has adopted a softer stance on lycnthropes now that it's known that lycanthropy can be cured and the dangerous times of the purge are over. She can go to the CotSF for help. Specifically Jaela herself would be willing to help her. Correct. And even better: by leaving Thrane, she actually puts herself in greater danger. In Aundair, the Puritans are generally ignoring the moderate policy of the Keeper and the Cardinals, and are much more likely to get the torches and pitchforks ready against her and the PCs once they find out. Probably some won't even risk to find out whether she's bitten the PCs or not. As for Droaam: Beside being a haven for werecreatures, it's also a place where the strongest rules the weaker, so it's hardly a good place to be for a young girl, faithful to the Silver Flame and a descendant of paladins. But perhaps a 'friendly' lycanthrope, maybe of the pack Shady mentioned, could convince her that they can help her (though they'll have to overcome the young Thrane's hatred for the monster-nation). Then the PCs might have to stage a rescue. I suppose you could make the girl be terrified and certain she'll be killed, desperate to flee, only to later find out she didn't need to flee. That'd be funny to me. I'd give her a good alignment but make her THINK she HAS to be evil because she thinks all lycanthropes are evil. It's part of why she's fleeing. She doesn't want to hurt anyone. I like those a lot! :) Another ideas for an encounter: perhaps a political enemy of the nobles - a Throneholder, for instance, to make someone else but the Church the enemy - could hunt her down to expose her and destroy the family reputation. Or they have simply found out about her escape, and seek to keep her hostage. They might be the ones to hire the Tharashk guide. Who, in the second scenario, might be in for a nasty surprise.
Identitystolen 06-24-07, 09:54 PM	Thanks all, that helped :D Got a good idea how to work this now. As stated, a lot of this depends on what the PCs do at the beginning. Considering the artificer in particular needs the money I think they'll take the job, but I'm wondering what questions they'll ask. Afflicted is definitely the route I'm going to take based off of opinions stated. What the wizard might do if he finds out, I don't know... Previous games (not this campaign though) he had bad experiences with lycanthropy, so he may or may not fry her reasoning she is a clear and present danger to the party. Tracking her down if she goes off may be difficult considering no one in the party has tracking abilities. Come to think of it I don't think anyone in the party has ranks in survival :embarrass Ok, primary objective to to keep her reigned in (going in with scared and panicky) until they can leave her with the proper authority's. I doubt they'll baby sit her all the way to the Reaches, especially after they find out about her problem. Still, I want to put in a less than friendly type encounter in. Probably will go with some variant of Syltorian's idea... Though I highly doubt the party will follow through with any detailed investigations, which is fine since this is suppose to be filler anyhow. Hmmmm.... Thank you! Got about a hour and a half left to smooth this all out... Hurry, hurry, hurry.
Shady314 06-25-07, 03:56 AM	Shady314's stuff is golden... Though he's right about one thing... :looloo:
garner_adam 06-25-07, 04:29 PM	Shady314, Also when the Tharashk bounty hunter comes what do you expect the PCs to do? He's going to say her family is desperately searching for her and wonder if the PCs have kidnapped her. They aren't going to turn her over? I thought that was a good point and tried to expand on it. Sorry for the confusion.
Shady314 06-25-07, 05:21 PM	Shady314, I thought that was a good point and tried to expand on it. Sorry for the confusion. I know what you meant. I was just razzing you for contradicting yourself, the way you wrote it, in the post. :P