Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jaxian Redleaf 09-16-04, 03:21 PM	I’m starting a new FR campaign tomorrow. I have the intro adventure finished and it’s something like this… Each of the players begin playing separately (should not take to much time since there are 4 players and two DMs) in Alaghôn, they all meet a bard named Teo who they befriend and he invites them to come and hear the Songbird a half-elven bard of great beauty and talent that is singing about the adventures of the mythical princess of Arissaea (stolen from the FRCS page 222). At the performance Teo disappear, one second he’s there the other he’s not. When they start looking for him they hear that many other people have also disappeared. If they start asking questions they are approached by a man who tells them of a diviner who maybe can help and he shows the way to her. The diviner tells the Pcs: “Seek the old woman with the red eyes!” If they gather some information they hear that just a few days ago a boy came back after playing hide’n’seek in the tunnels under the city he spoke of meeting a very old woman with glowing red eyes! (This is stolen from the 2nd ed product Vilhon Reach and the woman are in fact a lich queen) The PCs backtrack the boy’s path and (after a few encounters) they stand face to face with the lich queen! (If they attack her they are dead meat since they are lv 4 and she is lv 23…) If they ask her help she agrees of giving it to her if they first destroy a creature she has created that is roaming the tunnels. (The reason she doesn’t do this herself is that that creature has a very high SR, she knows that she probably could take it out in mundane combat but why take the risk?) When they have defeated the beast she tells them that it is the ghost of Arissaea that is making the people disappear the people are now in a ruin just outside the city. They go there and defeat the ghost who then tells them that the songbird are singing lies about her, she never found her great love and she tells them that if they can make her change the song then she will release all the people. They get the songbird and she meets with the ghost and change the song. The End… On this adventure anyway. I was wondering if any of you guys (and gals) had any ideas how to continue the campaign or how to change the beginning… I like when my campaigns have cool twists (example they guy they have worked for in the latest three adventures are the guy they thought they were working against…)
Tempus665 09-16-04, 05:57 PM	(If they attack her they are dead meat since they are lv 4 and she is lv 23…) Although it's okay for lower level characters to meet high level characters, and it's annoying when PC's attack an NPC you don't want them to, it would be unfair, IMO, to have the lich slay them if they attack her. She could start laughing and explain them they can't hurt her, or something similar. Smart players will realize she's right. Anyhoo, after the ghost leaves to meet her maker, the prisoners can go home, and the PC's can look through the ruins. They may discover something that leads to further adventures: perhaps the ghost's diary, containing information about her life up to her death. Depending on what motivates the PC's, they can discover a variety of things. Perhaps Princess Arissaea buried a treasure somewhere on an island off the coast of Turmish, or perhaps during her dragonslaying years, she was unable to free a small town in the Aphrunn Mountains from the clutches of an evil dragon. (Of course the dragon is a couple of hundred years older now.)
Jaxian Redleaf 09-16-04, 06:04 PM	Thanks for the quick reply Tempus! And the idea about the island... Love it! Gonna sit down and think about it a little while... *Evil DM laughter* And yes i will follow your advice about the lich... -Jax Edit: oh yes and can some kind soul tell me why you can't register at candlekeep forums? when i press accept the same page just loads again...
necrosnoop110 09-18-04, 11:20 PM	Remember to always put your players goals first, if they want to be strong heroes from the get go don’t bulldoze them with an uber-NPC. If they are into a more pusillanimous style and don’t have difficulty retreating from a problem then go for a more heavy hand when it comes to your game. Here is some good advice (found on the wonderful DM resource DM Haven (http://www.dmshaven.freeservers.com/index_files/page0001.htm)) NPC Big Shots (http://www.dmshaven.freeservers.com/index_files/page0014.htm) DM Advice & Resources (http://www.dmshaven.freeservers.com/index_files/page0001.htm) Remember, as Gary Gygax says: GREAT DUNGEON MASTERS 1) An understanding of all of the elements that make up a RPG. 2) A desire to have fun *with* the group, not at its expense. 3) The capacity to create on the spot so that one does not become "routine". 4) The ability to use or discard rules so as to make things seem actual/real. 5) Role-playing of NPCs and some theatrics to highlight exciting moments. 6) Maintaining the sense of threat and danger without certain doom for PCs. 7) Satisfying conclusions to adventures that have a continuance, the prospect of yet greater things to come in the campaign. Good gaming & all that hootenanny, Necrosnoop
Kuje31 09-18-04, 11:33 PM	Edit: oh yes and can some kind soul tell me why you can't register at candlekeep forums? when i press accept the same page just loads again... Hmm odd. Not sure. Try emailing the mods or the people that run the site? I didn't have that problem when I signed up.....