Any Problem Solvers Out There?? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Any Problem Solvers Out There?? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
calmatreun
11-27-04, 05:22 AM I have a problem. I just finished DMing a year long campaign set entirely in the Silver Marches. You know the Silverwood? Well, the 20th level PCs have turned it into a large empire and are now fully represented in the League. The campaign is very nearly over, and now what I want to do is start a new campaign that starts in the Marches, but 10 years after the ending of this campaign. I want the Marches to be covered in ice and snow (think Frostburn) due to the frost giants that moved down into the Evermoors. The Marches are wildly different now. Most of the small settlements are ghost towns, and Silverymoon has become so crowded that it's become a reeking cesspool. Here's the problem. Because the characters of this last campaign are so powerful, the PC's are going to be like, "Well, why didn't we go fight the frost giants and return the Marches to normal. The thing is, I want it to be this way for cinematic flair, more of a backdrop. Can you think of any reasons that the characters simply could not deal with the problem of an Ice Age in the Marches. One of the PC's is a half celestial paladin and I was toying with the idea of having him become fully divine and have him basically leave the Marches for bigger and better things, but that leaves the other PCs. Please, any suggestions???
Kessalin Talira
11-27-04, 05:35 AM Well, are your players still able to play the 20th level characters, or have they been officially retired to NPC status? If they're officially retired, that's simple: Kill them. They were the ones that were first in line to volunteer to end the threat of the frost giants once and for all, and not only did they not do so, but they died at the hands of the giants. Their lands have been held by the League of the Silver Marches, and as these new characters gain levels, they may have a chance to claim some of those lands as their own, especially due to the placement of the former PCs' lands on what became the front lines of the battles against the giants.

If you can't do that, then perhaps the high level PC's, with their lands being held in trust by the League, left to seek an answer to the threat of the giants on other planes of existence. It's been some time since they contacted anyone, but with the many effects of the planes, it's completely understandable if they don't contact anyone for some time to come. This brings the idea of some other-planar force being behind the coming of the Ice Age.

Perhaps a Xixecal is trapped beneath the High Forest, kept there by the efforts of the goodly deities of nature. Auril, furious at the imprisonment of her son (regardless of how little she actually cares for him as a son) has given the frost giants the means to cause this ice age in the hopes that, once the entirety of the North is covered in ice, Silvanus, Chauntea, and Mielikki will have so little influence in the area that her son will be able to break the bonds of his prison and finally begin the task of encasing all of Faerun, even all of Toril, in a freezing shell of ice.

The high level PC's could be off travelling to other planes, trying to find an answer for the problem. This would allow the PC's to eventually mount a rescue mission when it's discovered that the high-level group has been captured by Auril's minions.
Kuje31
11-27-04, 12:57 PM That's what I was going to say. Why not use Auril. Maybe one of her clergy finally found an item that when activated covered the north with snow and ice and the only way to turn it off is to dig through tons and tons of glacier ice since it's buried..... :)
ClobberinTime
11-27-04, 02:07 PM I had some similar ideas- Look at the portals of faerun web pages, there it describes an ancient society of frost giants who used magic and were high tech so to speak, Maybe Icyraelia has contacted them or brought them back to faerun, and uncovered an artifact that will create a land of eternal winter (bowl of winter or whatever). Anyways my idea was to tie the whole thing into the epic level dungeon adventure storm lords keep, making the giants in that the summoned giants, and making them cloud-frost giant hybrids. If you don't have it just make up a frost giant King with 15 levels of fighter, a wife with 15 levels of cleric, and advisors with 15 level of whatever you feel like... Make them backed by lots of hybrid frost giants who are as big and powerful as storm giants and have lots of magic weapons and armor, etc...

The stormlord and Icyraelia gather an army of cold uniting the frost giants of the north, enslaving the artic dwarves and many many white dragons.

I was going to use the Gerti-Obould alliance invasion as a feint to distract from the real army heading for Felbar and then Sundabar.

Monsters you can use- the ice mephit and advanced winter worg from the NPC stats of Wiz, The giants are served by Ice Genies called Quorrashi, detailed in the portal bit and one is statted out with a cr of 20 or so. And don't forget Icyraelias servants i.e. some advanced Gelugons.

So there are lots of ways like they said above you can work this in- If you want to play out a war, just have the PCs get blindsided by the invasion. Maybe in this scenario there is a Xixcel trapped in the everfire under sundabar and the bowl of winter will free it.

Another way to handle things is to have the PCs get the bowl, or be tricked into getting it for Icyraelia, They being good characters can bypass many of the wards etc... When they come out with it, Icyraelia and her minions are waiting to steal it or just take it from them. If you'd have started this hook earlier I always thought prison of the firebringer was a good place to put it.

One of the things I always thought was that the bowl would have to be activated by the death of a major NPC who is sacrificed, or maybe such and such number of good NPCs must be sacrificed to get it to work, or keep it working.

You can time it so the chosen are busy, with another event like the arrival of shade, or maybe a githyanki invasion in the south, so Alustriel is mainly on her own, in fact maybe its her death that starts up the bowl.

Maybe the bowl can only be destroyed by an artifact, something like a hammer of thunderbolts. A fun-crazy epic plot hook would be to send the heros to some fascimile of Asgard, only the gods are mortals and ragornak has begun, they get to meet and aid Odin and Thor in their fight, and maybe bring them back to faerun as allies.

Anyways I've yet to run this one but will soon. Hope this helps.
calmatreun
11-27-04, 06:30 PM Thank you guys so much for the wonderful ideas! You're all very helpful.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
calmatreun 11-27-04, 05:22 AM	I have a problem. I just finished DMing a year long campaign set entirely in the Silver Marches. You know the Silverwood? Well, the 20th level PCs have turned it into a large empire and are now fully represented in the League. The campaign is very nearly over, and now what I want to do is start a new campaign that starts in the Marches, but 10 years after the ending of this campaign. I want the Marches to be covered in ice and snow (think Frostburn) due to the frost giants that moved down into the Evermoors. The Marches are wildly different now. Most of the small settlements are ghost towns, and Silverymoon has become so crowded that it's become a reeking cesspool. Here's the problem. Because the characters of this last campaign are so powerful, the PC's are going to be like, "Well, why didn't we go fight the frost giants and return the Marches to normal. The thing is, I want it to be this way for cinematic flair, more of a backdrop. Can you think of any reasons that the characters simply could not deal with the problem of an Ice Age in the Marches. One of the PC's is a half celestial paladin and I was toying with the idea of having him become fully divine and have him basically leave the Marches for bigger and better things, but that leaves the other PCs. Please, any suggestions???
Kessalin Talira 11-27-04, 05:35 AM	Well, are your players still able to play the 20th level characters, or have they been officially retired to NPC status? If they're officially retired, that's simple: Kill them. They were the ones that were first in line to volunteer to end the threat of the frost giants once and for all, and not only did they not do so, but they died at the hands of the giants. Their lands have been held by the League of the Silver Marches, and as these new characters gain levels, they may have a chance to claim some of those lands as their own, especially due to the placement of the former PCs' lands on what became the front lines of the battles against the giants. If you can't do that, then perhaps the high level PC's, with their lands being held in trust by the League, left to seek an answer to the threat of the giants on other planes of existence. It's been some time since they contacted anyone, but with the many effects of the planes, it's completely understandable if they don't contact anyone for some time to come. This brings the idea of some other-planar force being behind the coming of the Ice Age. Perhaps a Xixecal is trapped beneath the High Forest, kept there by the efforts of the goodly deities of nature. Auril, furious at the imprisonment of her son (regardless of how little she actually cares for him as a son) has given the frost giants the means to cause this ice age in the hopes that, once the entirety of the North is covered in ice, Silvanus, Chauntea, and Mielikki will have so little influence in the area that her son will be able to break the bonds of his prison and finally begin the task of encasing all of Faerun, even all of Toril, in a freezing shell of ice. The high level PC's could be off travelling to other planes, trying to find an answer for the problem. This would allow the PC's to eventually mount a rescue mission when it's discovered that the high-level group has been captured by Auril's minions.
Kuje31 11-27-04, 12:57 PM	That's what I was going to say. Why not use Auril. Maybe one of her clergy finally found an item that when activated covered the north with snow and ice and the only way to turn it off is to dig through tons and tons of glacier ice since it's buried..... :)
ClobberinTime 11-27-04, 02:07 PM	I had some similar ideas- Look at the portals of faerun web pages, there it describes an ancient society of frost giants who used magic and were high tech so to speak, Maybe Icyraelia has contacted them or brought them back to faerun, and uncovered an artifact that will create a land of eternal winter (bowl of winter or whatever). Anyways my idea was to tie the whole thing into the epic level dungeon adventure storm lords keep, making the giants in that the summoned giants, and making them cloud-frost giant hybrids. If you don't have it just make up a frost giant King with 15 levels of fighter, a wife with 15 levels of cleric, and advisors with 15 level of whatever you feel like... Make them backed by lots of hybrid frost giants who are as big and powerful as storm giants and have lots of magic weapons and armor, etc... The stormlord and Icyraelia gather an army of cold uniting the frost giants of the north, enslaving the artic dwarves and many many white dragons. I was going to use the Gerti-Obould alliance invasion as a feint to distract from the real army heading for Felbar and then Sundabar. Monsters you can use- the ice mephit and advanced winter worg from the NPC stats of Wiz, The giants are served by Ice Genies called Quorrashi, detailed in the portal bit and one is statted out with a cr of 20 or so. And don't forget Icyraelias servants i.e. some advanced Gelugons. So there are lots of ways like they said above you can work this in- If you want to play out a war, just have the PCs get blindsided by the invasion. Maybe in this scenario there is a Xixcel trapped in the everfire under sundabar and the bowl of winter will free it. Another way to handle things is to have the PCs get the bowl, or be tricked into getting it for Icyraelia, They being good characters can bypass many of the wards etc... When they come out with it, Icyraelia and her minions are waiting to steal it or just take it from them. If you'd have started this hook earlier I always thought prison of the firebringer was a good place to put it. One of the things I always thought was that the bowl would have to be activated by the death of a major NPC who is sacrificed, or maybe such and such number of good NPCs must be sacrificed to get it to work, or keep it working. You can time it so the chosen are busy, with another event like the arrival of shade, or maybe a githyanki invasion in the south, so Alustriel is mainly on her own, in fact maybe its her death that starts up the bowl. Maybe the bowl can only be destroyed by an artifact, something like a hammer of thunderbolts. A fun-crazy epic plot hook would be to send the heros to some fascimile of Asgard, only the gods are mortals and ragornak has begun, they get to meet and aid Odin and Thor in their fight, and maybe bring them back to faerun as allies. Anyways I've yet to run this one but will soon. Hope this helps.
calmatreun 11-27-04, 06:30 PM	Thank you guys so much for the wonderful ideas! You're all very helpful.