Advancing my campaign? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Advancing my campaign? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Evil O
06-10-07, 03:54 PM Hello fellow DM's!

I have just started my campaign, where the pc's start in Cormyr and by ship enters Turmish, and Alaghon.
The starting level is 3. By coincidence everyone is human(that is my first time ever!)
I know much of the things I do is outside the FRCS but I am the DM and can change what I dont like, right??

1 The rogue is female, from a wealthy family, no mother but a father who would like a son instead, he raised her as his heir in the army.
She is going to Alaghon to traine with their army and become a sniper.
2 A(for me ) new race, shapeshifter type from eberron(male?). He trained as a Buguiler and is on his way towards new adventures, his story is he is a magician and going to see a famous magician perform in Alaghon.
3 A rogue/ranger male who is sent, by his uncle, to this ship to teach him the value of labor. Also to get him out of trouble again!! He is lazy and will try to figure out the easiest way to do anything, and I do mean anything!
4 The last one is also a trouble maker as number 3 but unlike 3 he is shortfused and easy to anger!(much fun AND trouble there) He is going to work in his uncle's smithy,(spelling?) although he knows nothing at all about being a smith or how to work metals.

The thing is now:
I have planned they are to enter the local scouting patrols, and to later get them in the local army and fight.
How do I fix that?
I have a few ideas but would like to hear yours before I tell you mine.

Evil O
ODB_Big_Milos
06-11-07, 02:25 AM well lets start with the easy one 3-u can use the lure of gold depending on how long your going to have the scouting party last depends on the price and to get 1 to come in try making the scouting party unorganized and a little confused on how to reach the goal with millitary diciplin behind her she should take charge and lead the group ok now 2-depending on the PC u can have him coming off a robbery or be wanted by the law and the scouting party is leaving the town sometime soon and that could offer him a way out of the town and get him to safty and 4- u can have someone insault him and use his temper agenced him. make sure to use your words right though make him mad but dont set him overboard, get him mad enough to join the party and have the guy that made him mad join too, as a bonus u can make that guy die in combat with it from a sneak attack which would warn the rest of the group
MakArios
06-11-07, 07:32 AM This is how I would try to handle this (so consider everything here as if it where written with IMO ;) ). Also, could you present more information on PC`s? Alignment would help, as would their races (aside form the "shapeshifter", I`ll assume all other characters are human for purposes of this post):

1) You have a rogue raised in the army (:confused:). While this alone is a little strange, it gives you some opportunities. She wants to become a sniper. Good for her. Serving in the army might help her, but the scouting patrols will be probably a lot better for this, so this will probably not be hard. She probably has a bow and is good at sneaking - if she will join the army (and by army I mean a sort of organization, not simply troops) she would be assigned to scouts. Easy.

2) Shpeshifter? Do you mean shifter or changeling, because I don`t know of any eberron "shapeshifter" race? Anyway, taking the race to the side, he`s a beguiler. Why would a beguiler join the army is a question that has to be asked. In open battlefield, he will probably die. His abilities would be best with spying/infiltration and he probably could work with the female rogue on this. But that doesn`t answer the "Why should I do that?" question. Ok, what could him want to do that can be precisely answered only by you, so I`ll try to give some loose ideas:
- the old-fashioned test your skills - are you good enough to do this? Can you handle the pressure? Essentially, the "I am the best there is and I can do whatever I feel like doing, `cause I`m just that good" attitude.
- want to learn more? we can teach you - serving in army can give opportunities of learning new spells and tricks. This works best if you can somehow give the character (via an NPC) this impression directly. Add in that while spying the enemy he can learn tricks of the army AND tricks of the enemy at the same time and you`re set to go.
- if he is good aligned (which probably isn`t true, but anyway), than he can help end the war (which is always a good thing to do), minimalise casualties by gathering information etc. If he`s good and the nation for which you want him to fight isn`t, the officers may try to manipulate him. This may be hard, he is a beguiler after all, but not impossible.
- if he is evil aligned, then he can join the army to have an excuse to murder/pillage/steal and do all of the evil stuff. Meanwhile, if he is succesfull, he will gain fame and (probably) wealth, along with power.
Just some loose ideas for this character. It will not be easy to encourage him to join the army, but it can be done.

3) This one is very unlikely to join the army by himself. First, he is lazy. Officers don`t like lazy soldiers, everybody knows that. Second, I don`t see any way that this would suit his "do it the easy way" motto. Regular army is like a physical work - you do it good or you get fired, but in the fierce of battle, when you`re fired - you`re dead, one way or another. You could consider gold as the motivator, as ODB suggested in his post, but it would have to be a significant amount for him to even consider this. Let`s try another way.
Soldiers are part of the army. Army is an organization. It is not unlikely for people to join the army to avoid punishment for something (he is a ranger/rogue, that gives some opportunities to be caught red handed) or to hide from somebody. He could join to get his uncle out of his life. You know, be in the army for a while, then disappear.
Actually, I don`t have any 100%-bullet-proof idea of how to get this character in to the plot. Sorry :(.

4) A troublemaker you say? And easy to anger too... He could make a good soldier, barring lack of discipline. That`s where the scout patrols come in. As I see them, they are nearly heroes of war... or dead corpses lying in the wood. And he probably has a strong arm, so he could act for the guard task. Every patrol should have someone like this - when you`re discovered behind enemy lines, you either win quickly and escape, or you are killed/captured. A good fighter (not as a class, but rather a concept) can mean the difference between life and death in this situation.
But again, why would he join the army? Gold is one thing, but soldiers, even mercenary soldiers, don`t have an enormous salary. But if he likes to fight, that is another thing. It is a great opportunity to him to do just that, while meeting others like him - it is known that friends made on the battlefield will be the best ones you have. And they better be, because if they don`t - you`re dead.

Meh, I would want to write more about this, but I have to go to work. Presumably, at least it will give you something to compare to you`re own ideas.

Cheers.
Evil O
06-11-07, 05:26 PM MakAiros
Evil O
06-11-07, 05:36 PM MakArios you gave me some ideas on how to get 3 of them into the army and patroling.
1 The rogue(I did mean "grew up i the army"!) is easy, maybe she can help the others into joining.!
2 Yes he is a Shifter, he just might join to finetune his skills and get better at infiltration.
3 Is shurely the least likely to join any army! But maybe the rogue can persuade him. Furthermore I plan his uncle to be kidnaped(spelling) by a orc tribe who will use him to make them mighty weapons in their battle against Alaghon.
4 He just might do it for the fun of it, but at the same time might not!

So, right now I am only a little further, but on my way.

Evil O
Kaldric
06-11-07, 05:39 PM Well, you could tell the players that you plan to run a military campaign, and they should make characters that fit in with that idea.

Deciding in advance that whatever characters they come up with randomly are going to be in the army may not be the best idea. What if only one of the characters likes the army? What's to stop the others from simply not joining, or trying to desert the army at their first opportunity?

The best way to start off, if you know in advance that you want to play a military campaign, is to tell this to your players. Let them come up with a reason that all of their characters are bound to each other, and committed to army life.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Evil O 06-10-07, 03:54 PM	Hello fellow DM's! I have just started my campaign, where the pc's start in Cormyr and by ship enters Turmish, and Alaghon. The starting level is 3. By coincidence everyone is human(that is my first time ever!) I know much of the things I do is outside the FRCS but I am the DM and can change what I dont like, right?? 1 The rogue is female, from a wealthy family, no mother but a father who would like a son instead, he raised her as his heir in the army. She is going to Alaghon to traine with their army and become a sniper. 2 A(for me ) new race, shapeshifter type from eberron(male?). He trained as a Buguiler and is on his way towards new adventures, his story is he is a magician and going to see a famous magician perform in Alaghon. 3 A rogue/ranger male who is sent, by his uncle, to this ship to teach him the value of labor. Also to get him out of trouble again!! He is lazy and will try to figure out the easiest way to do anything, and I do mean anything! 4 The last one is also a trouble maker as number 3 but unlike 3 he is shortfused and easy to anger!(much fun AND trouble there) He is going to work in his uncle's smithy,(spelling?) although he knows nothing at all about being a smith or how to work metals. The thing is now: I have planned they are to enter the local scouting patrols, and to later get them in the local army and fight. How do I fix that? I have a few ideas but would like to hear yours before I tell you mine. Evil O
ODB_Big_Milos 06-11-07, 02:25 AM	well lets start with the easy one 3-u can use the lure of gold depending on how long your going to have the scouting party last depends on the price and to get 1 to come in try making the scouting party unorganized and a little confused on how to reach the goal with millitary diciplin behind her she should take charge and lead the group ok now 2-depending on the PC u can have him coming off a robbery or be wanted by the law and the scouting party is leaving the town sometime soon and that could offer him a way out of the town and get him to safty and 4- u can have someone insault him and use his temper agenced him. make sure to use your words right though make him mad but dont set him overboard, get him mad enough to join the party and have the guy that made him mad join too, as a bonus u can make that guy die in combat with it from a sneak attack which would warn the rest of the group
MakArios 06-11-07, 07:32 AM	This is how I would try to handle this (so consider everything here as if it where written with IMO ;) ). Also, could you present more information on PC`s? Alignment would help, as would their races (aside form the "shapeshifter", I`ll assume all other characters are human for purposes of this post): 1) You have a rogue raised in the army (:confused:). While this alone is a little strange, it gives you some opportunities. She wants to become a sniper. Good for her. Serving in the army might help her, but the scouting patrols will be probably a lot better for this, so this will probably not be hard. She probably has a bow and is good at sneaking - if she will join the army (and by army I mean a sort of organization, not simply troops) she would be assigned to scouts. Easy. 2) Shpeshifter? Do you mean shifter or changeling, because I don`t know of any eberron "shapeshifter" race? Anyway, taking the race to the side, he`s a beguiler. Why would a beguiler join the army is a question that has to be asked. In open battlefield, he will probably die. His abilities would be best with spying/infiltration and he probably could work with the female rogue on this. But that doesn`t answer the "Why should I do that?" question. Ok, what could him want to do that can be precisely answered only by you, so I`ll try to give some loose ideas: - the old-fashioned test your skills - are you good enough to do this? Can you handle the pressure? Essentially, the "I am the best there is and I can do whatever I feel like doing, `cause I`m just that good" attitude. - want to learn more? we can teach you - serving in army can give opportunities of learning new spells and tricks. This works best if you can somehow give the character (via an NPC) this impression directly. Add in that while spying the enemy he can learn tricks of the army AND tricks of the enemy at the same time and you`re set to go. - if he is good aligned (which probably isn`t true, but anyway), than he can help end the war (which is always a good thing to do), minimalise casualties by gathering information etc. If he`s good and the nation for which you want him to fight isn`t, the officers may try to manipulate him. This may be hard, he is a beguiler after all, but not impossible. - if he is evil aligned, then he can join the army to have an excuse to murder/pillage/steal and do all of the evil stuff. Meanwhile, if he is succesfull, he will gain fame and (probably) wealth, along with power. Just some loose ideas for this character. It will not be easy to encourage him to join the army, but it can be done. 3) This one is very unlikely to join the army by himself. First, he is lazy. Officers don`t like lazy soldiers, everybody knows that. Second, I don`t see any way that this would suit his "do it the easy way" motto. Regular army is like a physical work - you do it good or you get fired, but in the fierce of battle, when you`re fired - you`re dead, one way or another. You could consider gold as the motivator, as ODB suggested in his post, but it would have to be a significant amount for him to even consider this. Let`s try another way. Soldiers are part of the army. Army is an organization. It is not unlikely for people to join the army to avoid punishment for something (he is a ranger/rogue, that gives some opportunities to be caught red handed) or to hide from somebody. He could join to get his uncle out of his life. You know, be in the army for a while, then disappear. Actually, I don`t have any 100%-bullet-proof idea of how to get this character in to the plot. Sorry :(. 4) A troublemaker you say? And easy to anger too... He could make a good soldier, barring lack of discipline. That`s where the scout patrols come in. As I see them, they are nearly heroes of war... or dead corpses lying in the wood. And he probably has a strong arm, so he could act for the guard task. Every patrol should have someone like this - when you`re discovered behind enemy lines, you either win quickly and escape, or you are killed/captured. A good fighter (not as a class, but rather a concept) can mean the difference between life and death in this situation. But again, why would he join the army? Gold is one thing, but soldiers, even mercenary soldiers, don`t have an enormous salary. But if he likes to fight, that is another thing. It is a great opportunity to him to do just that, while meeting others like him - it is known that friends made on the battlefield will be the best ones you have. And they better be, because if they don`t - you`re dead. Meh, I would want to write more about this, but I have to go to work. Presumably, at least it will give you something to compare to you`re own ideas. Cheers.
Evil O 06-11-07, 05:26 PM	MakAiros
Evil O 06-11-07, 05:36 PM	MakArios you gave me some ideas on how to get 3 of them into the army and patroling. 1 The rogue(I did mean "grew up i the army"!) is easy, maybe she can help the others into joining.! 2 Yes he is a Shifter, he just might join to finetune his skills and get better at infiltration. 3 Is shurely the least likely to join any army! But maybe the rogue can persuade him. Furthermore I plan his uncle to be kidnaped(spelling) by a orc tribe who will use him to make them mighty weapons in their battle against Alaghon. 4 He just might do it for the fun of it, but at the same time might not! So, right now I am only a little further, but on my way. Evil O
Kaldric 06-11-07, 05:39 PM	Well, you could tell the players that you plan to run a military campaign, and they should make characters that fit in with that idea. Deciding in advance that whatever characters they come up with randomly are going to be in the army may not be the best idea. What if only one of the characters likes the army? What's to stop the others from simply not joining, or trying to desert the army at their first opportunity? The best way to start off, if you know in advance that you want to play a military campaign, is to tell this to your players. Let them come up with a reason that all of their characters are bound to each other, and committed to army life.