1001 Campaign Unstoppers [Archive] - Wizards Community

1001 Campaign Unstoppers [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
The_Apologist
07-01-07, 11:40 AM Every DM knows the feeling. That villain wasn't supposed to die. The PCs were all supposed to fail that will save. You didn't know that your Wizard took that knowledge skill, and the whole thing got cracked open too early.

Well, we're here to help. This thread will be a repository of 1) campaign-breaking situations and 2) what you can do about it. I'll start with my own few, and kind souls can add their own.

As a basic rule of thumb, stay flexible and try not to get too upset. Never punish the PCs for succeeding when you assumed that they would fail. However, I understand that it's not easy for many (if not most) DMs to roll with a change so massive right off the bat, so this will serve as a handy reference material for DMs out of ideas.

1. Villain Died? Revenge! - This one's pretty simple and easy to pull off, if a bit cheesy. If the PCs kill off or imprison your major villain, have that villain's similarly statted lover/sibling/best friend swear revenge against the PCs. If the villains are similar enough, you can even segue it into your original plot, as long as the PCs haven't figured out what it was.

2. Stall for Time - If the PCs crack the plot too early and are about to wade knee-deep into encounters they couldn't possibly win, it's time to crack out sidequests. As the PCs are sailing to the villain's lair on their ship, have a storm blow by and shipwreck them in an unfamiliar land. As the PCs are interrogating civilians for information about what to do, have some "cleverly placed misinformants" send them the wrong way. The point is, keep the action flowing while allowing the PCs to accumulate enough wealth and power to defeat the big villain. And remember: allow the PCs to feel like they're still moving toward their goal. Maybe in that strange land they've become shipwrecked on they discover a diviner sage who can help them, or perhaps an ancestral weapon of great power, or perhaps they befriend some allies who will form the backbone of their army. Sidequests shouldn't be dead time.

3. Oh Dear, They Kept the Sword - What if, instead of returning that awesome sword to the swordsmith, the PCs just decide to keep the +5 brilliant vorpal greatsword of murderousness? Every DM has faced this problem. There are quite a few things you can do: have the swordsmith hire another group of adventurers to retrieve the stolen sword. If you don't have much else going on, this itself can make a fun plot hook. Depending on who took the sword and who originally had it, you could make the sword cursed or trapped. Again, depending on the curse, this could make a new plot hook all its own. Invent a weapon property like the following if all else fails:

True (+1 Bonus)
A true weapon comes with a sheath. It is attuned to one wielder, the true master of the weapon. A True weapon refuses to be drawn from its sheath except by its true master, and none of its other magical properties will function for anyone but its true master. The true master of a weapon is set at creation. The true master may designate another to become the true master, but after another is designated the original true master is no longer the true master, and the weapon will not be drawn for him. True weapons may also be set to transfer their ownership to another true master upon the death of a current true master; many true weapons are set so that ownership passes to the oldest male descendant of a line of noble blood, for example.

Therefore, there's not much the PCs can do even if they decide to steal it. Obviously this works better for ancestral weapons and whatnot, but used appropriately it can work well.

4. They're Laughing at Him! - This one's a real toughie. What if you introduce your awesome villain, but due to either sheer luck or a name everyone but you thinks is dumb, he becomes a joke? What if they're laughing at him instead of quaking with fear? You have two choices: Salvage his reputation, or roll with it. It's hard to salvage a reputation, unfortunately. First impressions are strong. Short of this guy coming back to kill 3/4 of the party with one blow, he'll always be a laughing stock. However, you can still make him fearsome. Have him perform some reprehensible actions, like torture of innocents or the calling in of demons. Give him an awesome wardrobe or an excellent lair. Or, if it's the stupid name thing, invent a backstory similar to "Boy Named Sue" wherein he was given that name against his will, but decided to keep it in order to mock the world that shunned him/parent that hated him. Sort of a personal victory thing. Otherwise, if you decide not to salvage him, make him a recurring joke character. Let the PCs revel in their victory against him. Making the PCs feel good isn't a bad thing, and if you let them have their victory today their defeat will be that much more dire tomorrow.

5. PCs Doing the Ridiculous - If left unchecked, higher-level PCs can start to do ridiculous things, like hold a whole town hostage or blow up whole countrysides. If you don't envision a world where every burgh and hamlet has countermeasures to Meteor Swarm and Greater Invisibility installed in their banks, though, you can still come out on top instead of letting the PCs degenerate into ruining your world for sport. Invent a large law-keeping order, like a cabal of paladins or justiciars dedicated to wiping out these high-level threats. If the destruction becomes bad enough, have extraplanar beings, even low-rank deities intervene. After all, if Athens is under attack, you can expect Athena's messengers to hop to it if the threat is bad enough.

Help me out with some more, guys. Experienced DMs, or really, anyone who's had and dealt with a campaign-breaking problem, chime on in!
DarthCestual
07-01-07, 01:03 PM Great Idea!
Keep a Backup Plan- It can take a little extra work, but have a backup plan when you can. The one I usually have on the back burner is that the villian the PCs are after is really just a lieutenant to the "real" BBEG. Leave about clues in the lair for players to discover to point to someone higher up, or just other plot hooks for more adventures.
Prince_of_Parkness
07-01-07, 01:06 PM Genreally, if my PC kill the villain too early, he becomes a general which they find out from looting his corpse, but some ideas u gave are pretty good too.

Edit: DarthCestual beat me to it
Nundahl
07-09-07, 05:47 PM True (+1 Bonus)

So what happens if I walk into an anti-magic shield, unsheathe the weapon, walk out, and never sheathe it again? Happy time.

Sorry, had to play the devil's advocate!
Jagyr Ebonwood
07-09-07, 06:07 PM So what happens if I walk into an anti-magic shield, unsheathe the weapon, walk out, and never sheathe it again? Happy time.

Sorry, had to play the devil's advocate!

Alter the "True" property to say that the weapon is permanently bonded to the sheath, but magical property allows it to detach and function in the hands of the True Master. That way, the magic is releasing the sword instead of holding it in. So, in an AMF, the property doesn't function, and the sword can't be drawn.

Or, in the hands of anyone but the True Master, it is treated as only a +1 weapon with no other properties. That restriction has a lot of precedent (see: Holy Avenger)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The_Apologist 07-01-07, 11:40 AM	Every DM knows the feeling. That villain wasn't supposed to die. The PCs were all supposed to fail that will save. You didn't know that your Wizard took that knowledge skill, and the whole thing got cracked open too early. Well, we're here to help. This thread will be a repository of 1) campaign-breaking situations and 2) what you can do about it. I'll start with my own few, and kind souls can add their own. As a basic rule of thumb, stay flexible and try not to get too upset. Never punish the PCs for succeeding when you assumed that they would fail. However, I understand that it's not easy for many (if not most) DMs to roll with a change so massive right off the bat, so this will serve as a handy reference material for DMs out of ideas. 1. Villain Died? Revenge! - This one's pretty simple and easy to pull off, if a bit cheesy. If the PCs kill off or imprison your major villain, have that villain's similarly statted lover/sibling/best friend swear revenge against the PCs. If the villains are similar enough, you can even segue it into your original plot, as long as the PCs haven't figured out what it was. 2. Stall for Time - If the PCs crack the plot too early and are about to wade knee-deep into encounters they couldn't possibly win, it's time to crack out sidequests. As the PCs are sailing to the villain's lair on their ship, have a storm blow by and shipwreck them in an unfamiliar land. As the PCs are interrogating civilians for information about what to do, have some "cleverly placed misinformants" send them the wrong way. The point is, keep the action flowing while allowing the PCs to accumulate enough wealth and power to defeat the big villain. And remember: allow the PCs to feel like they're still moving toward their goal. Maybe in that strange land they've become shipwrecked on they discover a diviner sage who can help them, or perhaps an ancestral weapon of great power, or perhaps they befriend some allies who will form the backbone of their army. Sidequests shouldn't be dead time. 3. Oh Dear, They Kept the Sword - What if, instead of returning that awesome sword to the swordsmith, the PCs just decide to keep the +5 brilliant vorpal greatsword of murderousness? Every DM has faced this problem. There are quite a few things you can do: have the swordsmith hire another group of adventurers to retrieve the stolen sword. If you don't have much else going on, this itself can make a fun plot hook. Depending on who took the sword and who originally had it, you could make the sword cursed or trapped. Again, depending on the curse, this could make a new plot hook all its own. Invent a weapon property like the following if all else fails: True (+1 Bonus) A true weapon comes with a sheath. It is attuned to one wielder, the true master of the weapon. A True weapon refuses to be drawn from its sheath except by its true master, and none of its other magical properties will function for anyone but its true master. The true master of a weapon is set at creation. The true master may designate another to become the true master, but after another is designated the original true master is no longer the true master, and the weapon will not be drawn for him. True weapons may also be set to transfer their ownership to another true master upon the death of a current true master; many true weapons are set so that ownership passes to the oldest male descendant of a line of noble blood, for example. Therefore, there's not much the PCs can do even if they decide to steal it. Obviously this works better for ancestral weapons and whatnot, but used appropriately it can work well. 4. They're Laughing at Him! - This one's a real toughie. What if you introduce your awesome villain, but due to either sheer luck or a name everyone but you thinks is dumb, he becomes a joke? What if they're laughing at him instead of quaking with fear? You have two choices: Salvage his reputation, or roll with it. It's hard to salvage a reputation, unfortunately. First impressions are strong. Short of this guy coming back to kill 3/4 of the party with one blow, he'll always be a laughing stock. However, you can still make him fearsome. Have him perform some reprehensible actions, like torture of innocents or the calling in of demons. Give him an awesome wardrobe or an excellent lair. Or, if it's the stupid name thing, invent a backstory similar to "Boy Named Sue" wherein he was given that name against his will, but decided to keep it in order to mock the world that shunned him/parent that hated him. Sort of a personal victory thing. Otherwise, if you decide not to salvage him, make him a recurring joke character. Let the PCs revel in their victory against him. Making the PCs feel good isn't a bad thing, and if you let them have their victory today their defeat will be that much more dire tomorrow. 5. PCs Doing the Ridiculous - If left unchecked, higher-level PCs can start to do ridiculous things, like hold a whole town hostage or blow up whole countrysides. If you don't envision a world where every burgh and hamlet has countermeasures to Meteor Swarm and Greater Invisibility installed in their banks, though, you can still come out on top instead of letting the PCs degenerate into ruining your world for sport. Invent a large law-keeping order, like a cabal of paladins or justiciars dedicated to wiping out these high-level threats. If the destruction becomes bad enough, have extraplanar beings, even low-rank deities intervene. After all, if Athens is under attack, you can expect Athena's messengers to hop to it if the threat is bad enough. Help me out with some more, guys. Experienced DMs, or really, anyone who's had and dealt with a campaign-breaking problem, chime on in!
DarthCestual 07-01-07, 01:03 PM	Great Idea! Keep a Backup Plan- It can take a little extra work, but have a backup plan when you can. The one I usually have on the back burner is that the villian the PCs are after is really just a lieutenant to the "real" BBEG. Leave about clues in the lair for players to discover to point to someone higher up, or just other plot hooks for more adventures.
Prince_of_Parkness 07-01-07, 01:06 PM	Genreally, if my PC kill the villain too early, he becomes a general which they find out from looting his corpse, but some ideas u gave are pretty good too. Edit: DarthCestual beat me to it
Nundahl 07-09-07, 05:47 PM	True (+1 Bonus) So what happens if I walk into an anti-magic shield, unsheathe the weapon, walk out, and never sheathe it again? Happy time. Sorry, had to play the devil's advocate!
Jagyr Ebonwood 07-09-07, 06:07 PM	So what happens if I walk into an anti-magic shield, unsheathe the weapon, walk out, and never sheathe it again? Happy time. Sorry, had to play the devil's advocate! Alter the "True" property to say that the weapon is permanently bonded to the sheath, but magical property allows it to detach and function in the hands of the True Master. That way, the magic is releasing the sword instead of holding it in. So, in an AMF, the property doesn't function, and the sword can't be drawn. Or, in the hands of anyone but the True Master, it is treated as only a +1 weapon with no other properties. That restriction has a lot of precedent (see: Holy Avenger)