Beginnings of a plot for my upcoming campaign [Archive] - Wizards Community

Beginnings of a plot for my upcoming campaign [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Vriishnak
01-13-05, 10:49 PM Alright, as I mentioned in another thread a while ago, me and two of my gaming buddies have decided that, rather than stick one of us with the role of DM when we all like to play, we're going to take turns, running different elements of an ongoing campaign.

Now, we've played one session so far, based around the defense of a small village from marauding Orcs and Warg, as the advance force of an invading army. This was by one of the other DM's, so I don't know exactly what he's planning with it at this point.

For my part, I'm running a religious order, the details of which were left up to me. I've decided that the world is basically monotheistic, with worship done in temples located primarily in major cities. As such, the order that will be the focus of the PC's in my portion of the campaign will be secluded, based around a new source of divine power that the leader of the order discovered. Rather than being a deity, this source is more a force of healing and protection, a concept rather than a being. The PC's have been converted to this group, through experiences that have yet to be entirely worked out, and the campaign will likely revolve around their quests for the order and their own developing faith.

Now, I've got a couple of plot hooks worked out, to get the ball rolling. This is where you guys come in: read them over, give feedback on whether they seem reasonable, and suggest anything else that comes to mind.

First, the PC's are starting at 3rd level, both fighter-types, and there're only two of them. I'd prefer to avoid having a DMPC, so that somewhat limits my options. I think the first missions will revolve around the order's complex being raided by some element of the invading force, and the PC's either being involved with, or by their skills, in charge of the defense. They'll have access to the resources of the order, most likely, so it'll be an interesting challenge, and they'll probably have to clear the area.

Second quest will be to aid a nearby village/small town with their own defenses, probably against tougher foes with a real leader. As a reward for this, they're invited to meet the noble who leads the large city nearby, who is grateful for their help in protecting his crops. They get prestige, a fairly hefty reward, and some new contacts, as well as a positive reputation for their new religion, and they head home happy.

Third quest: An army of the original church shows up at their mountain, demanding vengeance for the shrine the PC's burned down. The PC's deny any knowledge, of course, but one of the priests, a survivor of the fire and now leading the army, says he saw them do it. The PC's are sent out to prove their innocence, and they discover, eventually, that the priest is a secret worshipper of a dark power, the opposite of their own, and they manage to expose him before the people before he escapes. Here we have a recurring BBEG, a reason to interact more closely with the other church, and all sorts of other goodies.

What do you think so far?
Lily_Knight
01-14-05, 03:53 AM I would love to hear the specifics of this order, since I am doing something similar myself, what with creating a religious order.

The first quest could end with a dark mystery. Like, is the church they are working for really good? Or are they covering up darker elements. Secretly spreading a plague and then having the cure sure does boast one's position in society.

On your second quest, I wouldn't recommend helping with defenses again, as this may be the second or third time they have done this! I would have them perhaps make a daring foray into enemy territory to gather intellegence, such as battle formations, size, and concentration of forces. Having them sneak into a small encampment, and assassinated the commanders would be fun.
Vriishnak
01-14-05, 12:00 PM Alright, I'll give you a rundown of the order as I've got it right now. I haven't fleshed out the NPC's yet, so bear with me on that. For now, we'll just call it the Order, as I haven't thought of a name, and we'll call the dominant religion the Church of Pelor, as the god has similar precepts, though he doesn't play an active role in the lives of his followers.

The Order was founded 5 or 10 years ago, campaign time, by a cleric who was formerly of the Church of Pelor. Over the course of his years of worship, he felt something just beyond where he was reaching, and assumed it was the god. The other clerics he talked to had never experienced anything similar, though, which confused him. He began to meditate, praying to Pelor and reaching for this new, unusual power at the same time. Eventually he made contact, channelling the force of this new power to accomplish healings and protective spells that the Church guarded jealously, without using the power of the god. When he spoke of what he had done, he was banished from the Church, and sent into the mountains with little more than the clothing on his back. Some of the younger clerics, who had listened eagerly to his tales and begun experimenting themselves, were sent with him.

They found an abandoned living complex, largely in ruins from some cataclysm in the distant past. They repaired it as best they were able, continued to learn to tap this new power, and some members went on pilgrimages in the name of their new Order, often bringing back new recruits through the selflessness and heroism of their deeds. Of course, the Church didn't like this, and began speaking against them, declaring them heretics. People who had never seen what they were like were generally convinced, but those who had dealt with them were unaffected by the slander, and many left to join them, including many workers who allowed the complex in the mountains to be expanded to comfortably fit those who chose to remain there. Fields were plowed, gardens planted, and the people trained to tap this new power of goodness and healing.

That's about as far as I've thought it through, and I think it's enough for a starting point. I'm going to try to keep the corruption and evil limited to the Pelorians, as my PC's have decided they want to play religious characters, and they'll have enough trouble with it as it is. I'm definitely open to suggestions on how to make it better.
Vriishnak
01-15-05, 11:19 PM :bump:

Anyone else?
RPGfish
01-15-05, 11:37 PM Wish there was an International Dungeons and Dragons Game Network. I like that idea. Nice good, faming lead to the story.
Morka
01-16-05, 09:36 AM Like Lily_Knight said, I wouldn't go again with the "Defending a Town" theme, since one of your fellow DM/Player want to go this way. Unless you go with some major differences: instead of defending the Town against orcs & worgs, you could defend it against some evil outsiders.

Are the domains/portfolio of your "entity" set in stone? I could give you a small twist: this entity is some minor God of the Blood. Able of wonderful healings, He however ask for a Blood payment (ex: to remove a disease, the priest has to give a bit of blood, the equivalent of 1 CON damage; it could be either his own blood or the blood of another willing person). Now you have a great reason why the Church could declare them heretics, and a great reason why the people could love this Order. Also, the PCs could eventually find that this entity was worshipped by gnolls hundreds of years ago, and they were offering human sacrifice to Him. The old complex could have been a Gnoll fortress.
Vriishnak
01-16-05, 11:16 AM this entity is some minor God of the Blood. Able of wonderful healings, He however ask for a Blood payment (ex: to remove a disease, the priest has to give a bit of blood, the equivalent of 1 CON damage; it could be either his own blood or the blood of another willing person). Now you have a great reason why the Church could declare them heretics, and a great reason why the people could love this Order. Also, the PCs could eventually find that this entity was worshipped by gnolls hundreds of years ago, and they were offering human sacrifice to Him. The old complex could have been a Gnoll fortress.

That is an amazing idea. It lets me work one of my PC's in better, gives me room for a fairly major twist, and explains everything a bit better than before. Thanks!

As to defending the town, you guys are probably right. Maybe I'll turn it into a 'find the outpost and kill the leader' type quest instead.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Vriishnak 01-13-05, 10:49 PM	Alright, as I mentioned in another thread a while ago, me and two of my gaming buddies have decided that, rather than stick one of us with the role of DM when we all like to play, we're going to take turns, running different elements of an ongoing campaign. Now, we've played one session so far, based around the defense of a small village from marauding Orcs and Warg, as the advance force of an invading army. This was by one of the other DM's, so I don't know exactly what he's planning with it at this point. For my part, I'm running a religious order, the details of which were left up to me. I've decided that the world is basically monotheistic, with worship done in temples located primarily in major cities. As such, the order that will be the focus of the PC's in my portion of the campaign will be secluded, based around a new source of divine power that the leader of the order discovered. Rather than being a deity, this source is more a force of healing and protection, a concept rather than a being. The PC's have been converted to this group, through experiences that have yet to be entirely worked out, and the campaign will likely revolve around their quests for the order and their own developing faith. Now, I've got a couple of plot hooks worked out, to get the ball rolling. This is where you guys come in: read them over, give feedback on whether they seem reasonable, and suggest anything else that comes to mind. First, the PC's are starting at 3rd level, both fighter-types, and there're only two of them. I'd prefer to avoid having a DMPC, so that somewhat limits my options. I think the first missions will revolve around the order's complex being raided by some element of the invading force, and the PC's either being involved with, or by their skills, in charge of the defense. They'll have access to the resources of the order, most likely, so it'll be an interesting challenge, and they'll probably have to clear the area. Second quest will be to aid a nearby village/small town with their own defenses, probably against tougher foes with a real leader. As a reward for this, they're invited to meet the noble who leads the large city nearby, who is grateful for their help in protecting his crops. They get prestige, a fairly hefty reward, and some new contacts, as well as a positive reputation for their new religion, and they head home happy. Third quest: An army of the original church shows up at their mountain, demanding vengeance for the shrine the PC's burned down. The PC's deny any knowledge, of course, but one of the priests, a survivor of the fire and now leading the army, says he saw them do it. The PC's are sent out to prove their innocence, and they discover, eventually, that the priest is a secret worshipper of a dark power, the opposite of their own, and they manage to expose him before the people before he escapes. Here we have a recurring BBEG, a reason to interact more closely with the other church, and all sorts of other goodies. What do you think so far?
Lily_Knight 01-14-05, 03:53 AM	I would love to hear the specifics of this order, since I am doing something similar myself, what with creating a religious order. The first quest could end with a dark mystery. Like, is the church they are working for really good? Or are they covering up darker elements. Secretly spreading a plague and then having the cure sure does boast one's position in society. On your second quest, I wouldn't recommend helping with defenses again, as this may be the second or third time they have done this! I would have them perhaps make a daring foray into enemy territory to gather intellegence, such as battle formations, size, and concentration of forces. Having them sneak into a small encampment, and assassinated the commanders would be fun.
Vriishnak 01-14-05, 12:00 PM	Alright, I'll give you a rundown of the order as I've got it right now. I haven't fleshed out the NPC's yet, so bear with me on that. For now, we'll just call it the Order, as I haven't thought of a name, and we'll call the dominant religion the Church of Pelor, as the god has similar precepts, though he doesn't play an active role in the lives of his followers. The Order was founded 5 or 10 years ago, campaign time, by a cleric who was formerly of the Church of Pelor. Over the course of his years of worship, he felt something just beyond where he was reaching, and assumed it was the god. The other clerics he talked to had never experienced anything similar, though, which confused him. He began to meditate, praying to Pelor and reaching for this new, unusual power at the same time. Eventually he made contact, channelling the force of this new power to accomplish healings and protective spells that the Church guarded jealously, without using the power of the god. When he spoke of what he had done, he was banished from the Church, and sent into the mountains with little more than the clothing on his back. Some of the younger clerics, who had listened eagerly to his tales and begun experimenting themselves, were sent with him. They found an abandoned living complex, largely in ruins from some cataclysm in the distant past. They repaired it as best they were able, continued to learn to tap this new power, and some members went on pilgrimages in the name of their new Order, often bringing back new recruits through the selflessness and heroism of their deeds. Of course, the Church didn't like this, and began speaking against them, declaring them heretics. People who had never seen what they were like were generally convinced, but those who had dealt with them were unaffected by the slander, and many left to join them, including many workers who allowed the complex in the mountains to be expanded to comfortably fit those who chose to remain there. Fields were plowed, gardens planted, and the people trained to tap this new power of goodness and healing. That's about as far as I've thought it through, and I think it's enough for a starting point. I'm going to try to keep the corruption and evil limited to the Pelorians, as my PC's have decided they want to play religious characters, and they'll have enough trouble with it as it is. I'm definitely open to suggestions on how to make it better.
Vriishnak 01-15-05, 11:19 PM	:bump: Anyone else?
RPGfish 01-15-05, 11:37 PM	Wish there was an International Dungeons and Dragons Game Network. I like that idea. Nice good, faming lead to the story.
Morka 01-16-05, 09:36 AM	Like Lily_Knight said, I wouldn't go again with the "Defending a Town" theme, since one of your fellow DM/Player want to go this way. Unless you go with some major differences: instead of defending the Town against orcs & worgs, you could defend it against some evil outsiders. Are the domains/portfolio of your "entity" set in stone? I could give you a small twist: this entity is some minor God of the Blood. Able of wonderful healings, He however ask for a Blood payment (ex: to remove a disease, the priest has to give a bit of blood, the equivalent of 1 CON damage; it could be either his own blood or the blood of another willing person). Now you have a great reason why the Church could declare them heretics, and a great reason why the people could love this Order. Also, the PCs could eventually find that this entity was worshipped by gnolls hundreds of years ago, and they were offering human sacrifice to Him. The old complex could have been a Gnoll fortress.
Vriishnak 01-16-05, 11:16 AM	this entity is some minor God of the Blood. Able of wonderful healings, He however ask for a Blood payment (ex: to remove a disease, the priest has to give a bit of blood, the equivalent of 1 CON damage; it could be either his own blood or the blood of another willing person). Now you have a great reason why the Church could declare them heretics, and a great reason why the people could love this Order. Also, the PCs could eventually find that this entity was worshipped by gnolls hundreds of years ago, and they were offering human sacrifice to Him. The old complex could have been a Gnoll fortress. That is an amazing idea. It lets me work one of my PC's in better, gives me room for a fairly major twist, and explains everything a bit better than before. Thanks! As to defending the town, you guys are probably right. Maybe I'll turn it into a 'find the outpost and kill the leader' type quest instead.