Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DeathAngel's Shadow 09-25-03, 02:28 PM	Hello, this is my first post on the forum and I was wondering if I could get your thoughts about a campaign that I am currently running. I'm suffering from a bad case of DM block on this one and I feel that I have backed myself into a creative corner (but what DM hasn't at some point). I'm just looking for that spark, that comment, that inspired post that will get the juices flowing again... Ok...here is the background and some of the elements of the campaign so far. The characters belong to a mercenary company called The Order of Twilight led by the enigmatic Silent Lady. The Order is composed almost entirely of spellcasters (some who are multiclassed Rouge/Assassin Prestige Class) with a small group of fighters trained to protect the mages (Bodyguard prestige class). Now, my first obstacle in designing this campaign was the group in relation to the characters. I wanted the characters to have a modicum of independence even though they were part of a larger group. I decided to divide the Order into smaller groups called Circles. Circles are encouraged to adventure indepently of the Order when the group in not currently "on assignment" in order to hone skills and collect useful items. When new recruits are brought into the Order (such as the PC's) they are immediately formed into a Circle and given a Watcher (a Fighter / Bodyguard) after a process of initiation designed to test the new recruits resourcefulness and ability to work cooperatively. This takes place in a "training dungeon" constructed by the Order and filled with non-lethal traps, puzzles, and "weak" constructs (battle-dummies). This was the first adventure that the party went through. When the party successfully completed this training dungeon, they were offically brought into the Order and given a Circle Name (The Circle of the Thirteen Endings) and a sponsoring Circle (The Circle of the Hateful Angel) to act as their mentors and guides. Fast forward to where the game is at present... The Order has been hired by the Countess Mirabeta Selkirk of Sembia in a bid to undermine the power of her cousin Miklos. To set everything up she hired foreign assassins to make attempts on her own life (paying huge sums) while dropping enough information to have the assassins intercepted by her own bodyguards. These "faux-assassination" attempts culiminated in a very public attack during a weeklong festival in honor of Waukeen called "the Festival of Fickle Fortune". Mirabeta, through various contacts, hired a group of thugs and killers to stage a daylight assault on herself during the festival. The thugs and killers, non-Sembians, and thus ignorant of Sembian politics were given Silver Raven amulets before the attack with the promise that they were protective items. The attackers were dispatched, the amulets found and the rumors started. Mirabeta had the justification she now needed to counter-attack without loosing face and hired the Order to purge Sembia of the Silver Ravens. This is where I am at right now... The characters don't know any of the behind the scenes power plays...they are merely following directions handed to them by the Order. The Order doesn't care about Sembian politics and will do what they were hired to do. Circles were dispatched to various "hot-spots" that had a Silver Raven presence. The characters were sent to a small city with instructions to covertly dispatch of any Silver Raven they find. Now, from the characters perspective, this is just a search and destroy adventure...they really have no way of knowing the behind the scenes power-plays. I don't really know where to take the campaign from this point or how to tie this into a larger storyarc. Sembia is just a springboard...the game isn't tied down to any one geographical region so the sky's the limit. Any ideas or comments would be appreciated. Thank you
Kuje31 09-25-03, 04:50 PM	Hmm, well what are the PC's like, level, classes, races, etc...... :) Sembia, well you can do a lot with Sembia. Maybe a aquatic adventure? Sembia has a few ports. Maybe the pirates of the Pirate Isles in the Sea of Fallen Stars are involved some how. Or the Zhent's (according to the FR Adventures book they have people in Sembia). Same deal with the Harpers or the Moonstars or even Thay has people there. Maybe Sembia is trying to expand into Cormyr, since Cormyr is a wreck after the king died and the war that took place at the same time. Also the Shades removed Tilverton from the map, so you could use that as a plot hook also if you wanted. Sembia can also be spreading its power to the north and into the Dales. Maybe also use the Iron Throne trading company they could be putting pressure on Countess Mirabeta Selkirk to repay some debts. Well there's some ideas to get started and flush out however you like.
DeathAngel's Shadow 09-25-03, 05:41 PM	Thank you for your reply and suggestions. I like the Cormyrian connection that you brought up and may use that as an excuse to incorporate the Fire Knives into the campaign. Maybe an exiled noble of Cormyr is working with the Countess and getting Sembian money in exchange for help with her power-grab. In answer to your question, the characters are all level 3 and the party consists of an Elven wizard, a halfling cleric of Brandobaris, a human wizard, a human druid (from Cormyr which is nice for that plotline involving the Fire Knives) , an Elven Bard and a Half-Orc Fighter (NPC) They all have reasons in their history for joing a mercenary band and leaving their former lives behind. Here are the constraints I am working with: 1) The level of the party. The challanges cannot be too much right now though I like putting them in situations where they seem outmatched and have to use their heads to get out rather than brute force. They are currently on their way to a province which has a small Silver Raven presence. The power level of this particular group of Ravens is low but they out-number the party. Not to mention local law enforcement. The party will have to lie low for a little bit and do some recon in order to succeed. Maybe find out where the Ravens live in town and do a swift night assault, picking them off one by one. It's pretty open ended on how they should go about their assignment which I like more than a nail-to-the-rail situation. 2) There's no logical reason why they should find out what is happening behind the scenes. The party is following orders and doing a job which means this could quickly degenerate into a seemingly random "Go here and do this then go here and do that" (nail-to-the-rail again) situation without anything to tie it together (that the players can see). I want the characters to be the focus but haven't figured out how to balance this yet with them being a part of a larger group containing people more powerful than themselves. It seems kind of forced to have them always sent off by themselves when certain situations would seem to call for the mercenary band to conduct an operation in unison. oh well, just thinking out loud here. Thanks again for your plot ideas...they helped tremendously
Kuje31 09-25-03, 06:28 PM	The Fire Knives part is interesting. I didn't think about that group, because its been so long since I remembered them, since Alias destroyed them in the Azure Bonds novels and modules. But they have also started to grow again to thier former numbers. Let's see if you want the group to stick together, well maybe there are maps or notes or some thing they find on the Ravens or in the headquarters of the Ravens if they ever make it in that far. Not sure what thier backgrounds are but you can also dig through those and flush out plot hooks from there backgrounds. I know you said they gave up those lives but there might still be uses for their background. I guess maybe my ideas arnt that great, but since no one else was posting I gave it a shot. However, I DM a lot of the time on the fly and usually don't have a set story arc and if I do get one is comes together slowly as the characters adventure.
DeathAngel's Shadow 09-25-03, 06:41 PM	Originally posted by Kuje31 I guess maybe my ideas arnt that great, but since no one else was posting I gave it a shot. However, I DM a lot of the time on the fly and usually don't have a set story arc and if I do get one is comes together slowly as the characters adventure. [/B] I thought your ideas were really good and I thank you for your suggestions as they gave me alot of ideas to work with. I usually DM "on the fly" as well and let the actions of the characters and their histories develop the story...but I like to have an overall behind-the-scenes plot set up to add depth even if they only get glimpses of it.
Kuje31 09-25-03, 06:50 PM	Originally posted by DeathAngel's Shadow I thought your ideas were really good and I thank you for your suggestions as they gave me alot of ideas to work with. I usually DM "on the fly" as well and let the actions of the characters and their histories develop the story...but I like to have an overall behind-the-scenes plot set up to add depth even if they only get glimpses of it. Yup, same with me. :). Well if I come with any more ideas i'll let you know. But those are what I came up with for now, hopefully some of them you can use.
Casual J 09-25-03, 09:55 PM	There's no logical reason why they should find out what is happening behind the scenes. Seems a shame to come up with all that background and not let the party in on it. Maybe you could let them intercept a Silver Raven messenger warning of attacks and let them get some background ..... or not. Also if the Circles act independent of each other maybe they could find out that another Circle is acting against them. Not sure about your future aims of the mercenary group. The Order of Twilight could have been also hired by Miklos. Other ideas…… The party start to get hunted themselves either by the Ravens or another group. Involve the Zhents, say in a smuggling ring they are in with the Ravens. Have the party attack a meeting of the 2 groups.
Morka 09-26-03, 10:41 AM	If they were hired directly by Countess, it should be easy to discuss orders. But since they obey the directives of their Order, it is more difficult. Have one of your character fall in love with a smart bard, who in reality is a Silver Raven counter-spy. After being ambushed a few times and fail some mission due to "strange circumstance", they could begin to suspect her. If they are as smart, they could try to use her also. She could tell them that the last thug who attacked the Countess were not true Silver Ravens. They could as well learn strange information while spying or drinking in a tavern, like the identity of the Countess bodyguard informer. Once they gather some strange info, they could ask the Order the permission to investigate this affair.
Torak Stoneweaver 09-26-03, 02:20 PM	Originally posted by Casual J Seems a shame to come up with all that background and not let the party in on it. Maybe you could let them intercept a Silver Raven messenger warning of attacks and let them get some background ..... or not. Have them intercept a 'Silver Raven' spy that was put in place by your Countess. They are under orders to capture/kill any Silver Raven they come across... even the duplicitous ones loyal to the countess. Have the spy carrying a journal of goings on that would give the characters a reason to stop and wonder why a Silver Raven would be spying on a Silver Raven... the journal would point a finger back at the Countesses house... at this point not necessarily the countess ... but an un-named figure... other slight clues can lead to that fact... Bringing any other group will cause no end to the headaches but if you want to... have the Silver Ravens courting some other group (FireKnives, Zhents, etc..) to help in their dealings...who of course are already in league with the countess to some degree... while should the group in question steal help only one when you can take both houses down and then reap the rewards.