Post/Author/DateTime	Post
MikeR7716 07-09-07, 11:15 AM	I am starting a campaign in Zhentil Keep at the time that the city was under attack (and destined to lose the 75% on the north side of the river). My plan is to have the 2nd level characters on a ship heading to ZK as the attacks start, so they will arrive expecting a large, corrupt city and find a war. The PC's will end up in or near the battle zone, trying to eventually head to safety (along with most of the population). (For those unfamiliar with ZK, there are a lot of working poor that are/were basically stuck in the city because they couldn't afford the fees to leave.) Other than the battles in the street, what other encounters would make sense in this chaotic environment? I am trying to engage them with the situation without making the game feel like it is about the attack on the city and not their characters. I want the attack on the city to be a backdrop.
sleyvas 07-09-07, 02:38 PM	You've got destruction occurring around them. However, you would have various things happening around them that they might or might not want to help with. For instance, maybe a shopkeeper's window has been knocked in and people are looting the place. The shopkeeper may be stabbed and he's screaming at some looters not to "take the statue, its all I have". Then there's the woman and her kid who are trying to make a run for their lives, but the boy's dog gets away and is running off. The woman won't let her child chase the dog, so the kid looks up at the PC's and asks them to please "save Kezef". Then they run across a little girl trying to lead her grandmother out of the chaos, but her grandmother can't walk fast enough. If the party isn't fast enough, maybe the grandmother gets cut down and they have to help the little girl get to safety (all the while she's screaming for her nanna). Or maybe they get there in time and have to help speed grandma's movement. A donkey's gone nuts with all the chaos and is dragging his master through the street. The party has to put down the insane beast and rescue its master. Hope that helps. They're kinda cliche', but....
ShadezofDis 07-10-07, 11:34 AM	You could involve them in plots that revolve around people trying to get their goods out of the city and away before it's totally encircled. And since it's Zhentil Keep you could have people trying to make off with other peoples goods before the army encircles the city. Another good plot for the PCs would be for them to help hold one of the bridges while survivors from the northern part of the city try to make it too the southern part, then the PCs can try to collapse the bridge. A Wand of Soften Earth would go a long way towards helping do that (soften the keystone of the bridge and watch it crumble, perhaps holding long enough for some of the invaders to get a ways across the bridge). You could also have a plot of trying to get some key harper agents out of the city. Since this is around the time of the Cyrinishad then the harpers in question may have valuable information about it. . . though the timing is a little off, but it could just be that the agent couldn't get out and the invasion is the perfect "distraction" to get out.
arveiaturace_nartheling 07-10-07, 07:05 PM	maybe have them get drafted (FORCED IN TO THE ARMY)