Campaign help needed [Archive] - Wizards Community

Campaign help needed [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Bladed Thesis
10-05-05, 02:04 PM Hello everyone. I need your expert advice on something. First, a little background (forgive me if it is long):

I have been running an *evil* Eberron campaign for about a year now. The PCs are currently 9th level and are exceptionally wicked. It goes without saying that DMing a group of evil characters is a challenge.

What the Players Know

Last session, the PCs retrieved a major magical item, the Claw of Torrisar. In their attempts to identify the item, an elven Diviner / Loremaster could only determine that the ancient item was created in a locale that appeared to be somewhere in Xen'drik. His examination of the item determined that it was exceptionally powerful but there was some sort of taint that had bonded itself to it and would need to be removed. This taint has as of yet an unknown effect. The Loremaster directed the PCs to bring the item to the high priest of the Keepers of the Past, which is the priesthood of the Valenar elves who maintain the memory of the great elven heroes of Xen'drik. The Loremaster believes that the priesthood possesses the knowledge to completely identify the item as well as indicate what needed to be done to remove the taint.

So with this knowledge in mind, the PCs embarked on a seafaring journey that would take them through the Lhazaar Principalities and down the coast to Valenar. This is where we left off last time.

What I (as DM) Know

The Claw of Torrisar possesses one of the abilities of a Thrallherd (PrC from Expanded Psionics Handbook), specifically the ability to draw a Thrall and a number of believers to the possessor. Thanks to the taint, these "followers" are monstrous in nature and are not necessarily allies of the bearer. The Claw has spent the last couple of weeks "attuning" itself to the PC that possesses it. It will remain attuned to the PC until he dies or the taint is removed.

The PC's new ability is equal to a leadership score of 20 on the table on page 154 of the EPH. so his Thrall would be lvl 8 and he would attract 50 1st level, 5 2nd level, 3 3rd level, 2 4th level, and 1 5th level believers.

The "summoned" creatures begin arriving as soon as 24 hours. Since the party is now aboard ship, any sea creatures that fit the level description will trail the vessel and defend it from harm.

Once the party lands ashore in Valenar, the sea creatures will follow as far as possible. When they can no longer follow they will enter a frenzy, attacking each other and anything around them in their craze to be near the bearer.

The connection breaks when the creatures are greater than a mile away. New creatures that are in the area will then "fill the gap".

The Dangers...

Since the beings summoned are pretty much all "monsters", the party will have trouble entering towns and populated areas. Stealth is also out of the question.

There is a "Taint" that produces the following effects:

The Thrall is a danger in itself. The Thrall will do everything in its power to prevent the taint from being destroyed. This means that the thrall will attempt to slay the bearer in order to possess the item and keep it from harm.

The believers become increasingly fanatical towards the bearer, and will attempt to guide the bearer away from danger, forcefully if necessary.

This taint can be cleansed only be bringing the Claw to the place of it's creation. It must be cleansed in the Pool of Resonance, a sentient pond that is located in the center of the ruins of an ancient giant city on Xendrik.

The city was built by great tribes of stone giants, some of which still inhabit the ruins. The leader of the giants, Borthoz, is an ancient deathless giant who is extremely territorial and will do everything in his power to prevent intruders from walking around his "sacred" city.

Ok, you get the idea of where this is headed. FINALLY, let me get to the part that I need help on.

1) I need to define the Taint even further. I am unsure of what additional effects of the taint that will affect the PCs enough so that they really want to get the taint removed.

2) Since our last session, two additional players want to join in the campaign. They will also be playing evil characters, so I need a good way for them to join the PCs party.

For number 2, here are a couple of options that I am considering:

The new PCs are currently imprisoned in Dreadhold, which is the island prison in the Lhazaar Principalities where the worst of the worst criminals are kept. Perhaps one or both of them have been to Xen'drik and can act as a much-needed guide. This would involve the PCs finding a way into the prison for a jailbreak (and apparently the dwarves who run the prison use the prisoners to mine dragonshards in caverns beneath the island).

I'm just not really sure... any input you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Gedrin
10-05-05, 02:31 PM As it's been brought up recently, for taint, pick one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Use that idea to drive the terms of the taint. I'd recomend Envy, driven to paranoia. Optionally, Pride, driven to meglomania.
Bladed Thesis
10-05-05, 02:41 PM I could see that for good-aligned characters... but evil characters tend to not really care about the "7 deadly sins" scenario. They'd just as well kill each other over the item than anything else.

Unless I'm misunderstanding you?
Vecna_lord_of_Secrets
10-05-05, 02:49 PM Hi, I'm Evan and I'm gay.

I like *****.
Vecna_lord_of_Secrets
10-05-05, 02:50 PM Hi, I'm Evan and I'm gay.

I like *****.

I would like to formally apologize for that

I left my screen and my idoit firend typed that

Sorry if I have offended any of the children.
Gedrin
10-05-05, 03:53 PM It's usually greed, envy or pride that motivates people to do things like kill their allies for property. Greed/envy/pride worked pretty well for people who killed each other for The One Ring

Assuming that these characters are already open to this sort of temptation, causing the holder of the item to become more envious of his friends and desire their things or posesions seems like a very dangerous thing.

Basically, if you've got evil characters, once you give them an IC excuse to turn on each other, they just might do it. All I'm saying is that the item is an in game excuse (taint of envy) to turn on allies. You've got a bunch of people who are relatively self interested in close proximity. The fact that they don't think it's that bad to be envious, greedy or prideful, seems to imply they may well be envious, greedy or prideful in regard to each other. That can be a pretty destructive thing.

People are envious, greedy and prideful. Good people tend to be bothered by these things. Evil people don't. Either way, they call them "Deadly Sins" for a reason.
Bladed Thesis
10-06-05, 01:37 PM I certainly understand this, and I appreciate the input.

My concern with this is that they will indeed give in to their desires, and will attempt to steal it or slay each other. This would cause a problem for the continuation of the campaign -- i.e. they would simply slay each other and the winner would walk off with the item. Game over.

So I am aiming for a different sort of taint. One that would give them sufficient reason to go through the hassle of getting the taint removed, but also something that won't cause them to slay each other over the item. (which is no fun at all).

While pondering this, I have sort of come to the conclusion that getting the taint removed will have very specific and positive results that will appeal to the PCs -- such as making the cleansed item more powerful than it was while tainted. This should give them sufficient cause to cleanse it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Bladed Thesis 10-05-05, 02:04 PM	Hello everyone. I need your expert advice on something. First, a little background (forgive me if it is long): I have been running an evil Eberron campaign for about a year now. The PCs are currently 9th level and are exceptionally wicked. It goes without saying that DMing a group of evil characters is a challenge. What the Players Know Last session, the PCs retrieved a major magical item, the Claw of Torrisar. In their attempts to identify the item, an elven Diviner / Loremaster could only determine that the ancient item was created in a locale that appeared to be somewhere in Xen'drik. His examination of the item determined that it was exceptionally powerful but there was some sort of taint that had bonded itself to it and would need to be removed. This taint has as of yet an unknown effect. The Loremaster directed the PCs to bring the item to the high priest of the Keepers of the Past, which is the priesthood of the Valenar elves who maintain the memory of the great elven heroes of Xen'drik. The Loremaster believes that the priesthood possesses the knowledge to completely identify the item as well as indicate what needed to be done to remove the taint. So with this knowledge in mind, the PCs embarked on a seafaring journey that would take them through the Lhazaar Principalities and down the coast to Valenar. This is where we left off last time. What I (as DM) Know The Claw of Torrisar possesses one of the abilities of a Thrallherd (PrC from Expanded Psionics Handbook), specifically the ability to draw a Thrall and a number of believers to the possessor. Thanks to the taint, these "followers" are monstrous in nature and are not necessarily allies of the bearer. The Claw has spent the last couple of weeks "attuning" itself to the PC that possesses it. It will remain attuned to the PC until he dies or the taint is removed. The PC's new ability is equal to a leadership score of 20 on the table on page 154 of the EPH. so his Thrall would be lvl 8 and he would attract 50 1st level, 5 2nd level, 3 3rd level, 2 4th level, and 1 5th level believers. The "summoned" creatures begin arriving as soon as 24 hours. Since the party is now aboard ship, any sea creatures that fit the level description will trail the vessel and defend it from harm. Once the party lands ashore in Valenar, the sea creatures will follow as far as possible. When they can no longer follow they will enter a frenzy, attacking each other and anything around them in their craze to be near the bearer. The connection breaks when the creatures are greater than a mile away. New creatures that are in the area will then "fill the gap". The Dangers... Since the beings summoned are pretty much all "monsters", the party will have trouble entering towns and populated areas. Stealth is also out of the question. There is a "Taint" that produces the following effects: The Thrall is a danger in itself. The Thrall will do everything in its power to prevent the taint from being destroyed. This means that the thrall will attempt to slay the bearer in order to possess the item and keep it from harm. The believers become increasingly fanatical towards the bearer, and will attempt to guide the bearer away from danger, forcefully if necessary. This taint can be cleansed only be bringing the Claw to the place of it's creation. It must be cleansed in the Pool of Resonance, a sentient pond that is located in the center of the ruins of an ancient giant city on Xendrik. The city was built by great tribes of stone giants, some of which still inhabit the ruins. The leader of the giants, Borthoz, is an ancient deathless giant who is extremely territorial and will do everything in his power to prevent intruders from walking around his "sacred" city. Ok, you get the idea of where this is headed. FINALLY, let me get to the part that I need help on. 1) I need to define the Taint even further. I am unsure of what additional effects of the taint that will affect the PCs enough so that they really want to get the taint removed. 2) Since our last session, two additional players want to join in the campaign. They will also be playing evil characters, so I need a good way for them to join the PCs party. For number 2, here are a couple of options that I am considering: The new PCs are currently imprisoned in Dreadhold, which is the island prison in the Lhazaar Principalities where the worst of the worst criminals are kept. Perhaps one or both of them have been to Xen'drik and can act as a much-needed guide. This would involve the PCs finding a way into the prison for a jailbreak (and apparently the dwarves who run the prison use the prisoners to mine dragonshards in caverns beneath the island). I'm just not really sure... any input you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Gedrin 10-05-05, 02:31 PM	As it's been brought up recently, for taint, pick one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Use that idea to drive the terms of the taint. I'd recomend Envy, driven to paranoia. Optionally, Pride, driven to meglomania.
Bladed Thesis 10-05-05, 02:41 PM	I could see that for good-aligned characters... but evil characters tend to not really care about the "7 deadly sins" scenario. They'd just as well kill each other over the item than anything else. Unless I'm misunderstanding you?
Vecna_lord_of_Secrets 10-05-05, 02:49 PM	Hi, I'm Evan and I'm gay. I like *****.
Vecna_lord_of_Secrets 10-05-05, 02:50 PM	Hi, I'm Evan and I'm gay. I like *****. I would like to formally apologize for that I left my screen and my idoit firend typed that Sorry if I have offended any of the children.
Gedrin 10-05-05, 03:53 PM	It's usually greed, envy or pride that motivates people to do things like kill their allies for property. Greed/envy/pride worked pretty well for people who killed each other for The One Ring Assuming that these characters are already open to this sort of temptation, causing the holder of the item to become more envious of his friends and desire their things or posesions seems like a very dangerous thing. Basically, if you've got evil characters, once you give them an IC excuse to turn on each other, they just might do it. All I'm saying is that the item is an in game excuse (taint of envy) to turn on allies. You've got a bunch of people who are relatively self interested in close proximity. The fact that they don't think it's that bad to be envious, greedy or prideful, seems to imply they may well be envious, greedy or prideful in regard to each other. That can be a pretty destructive thing. People are envious, greedy and prideful. Good people tend to be bothered by these things. Evil people don't. Either way, they call them "Deadly Sins" for a reason.
Bladed Thesis 10-06-05, 01:37 PM	I certainly understand this, and I appreciate the input. My concern with this is that they will indeed give in to their desires, and will attempt to steal it or slay each other. This would cause a problem for the continuation of the campaign -- i.e. they would simply slay each other and the winner would walk off with the item. Game over. So I am aiming for a different sort of taint. One that would give them sufficient reason to go through the hassle of getting the taint removed, but also something that won't cause them to slay each other over the item. (which is no fun at all). While pondering this, I have sort of come to the conclusion that getting the taint removed will have very specific and positive results that will appeal to the PCs -- such as making the cleansed item more powerful than it was while tainted. This should give them sufficient cause to cleanse it.