Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Scarlet Terror 08-28-03, 08:53 PM	I was wondering what you guys thought of this idea for my new lv.1 to 5-ish campaign... PCs arrive in a town built upon a lake with a dark secret. Citizens lie about the town's history and get the PCs to go on several adventures that raise the PCs' levels. The citizens then tell the PCs of an annual festival that many traveler's will attend. This is really a way for the town's people to preserve their undead bodies. With many unsuspecting outsiders in town, the citizens transform into terrible undead creatures that attempt to suck the life out of everyone. It is then up to the PCs to handle the situation... Anyhow, its a start and could be narrowed down to a great story. I sure there are some better ways to make this work and some hints the PCs can find, such as: The citizens weigh down the dead after the "festival" and dump them into the lake. This year, however, some bodies wash up on shore and the PCs find them. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.
Erus 08-28-03, 09:15 PM	I had an idea quite similar to this a week or two back. (After watching From Dusk til Dawn for the umteeth time... I think it would work just fine, as a matter of fact, after reading your concept of the situation, I'm even more likely to integrate something like this in the future... /begin Brainstorm So we have our adventurers coming into town [Why] The townsfolk want them to stick around for the Festival [this we know why] The townsfolk hire the PCs to do tasks for them [ the tasks themselves could be clues to the true nature of the town ] The townsfolk need to have devised a way for noone to escape the festival once the feeding frenzy begins... [this could be a problem, or yet another clue] ok, why are our adventuerers there... How about someone [local big city where the level 1s begin] hire the PCs to track down a relative not heard from in months... PCs follow the trail, leading to Undeadville. This would cause the PCs to need a reason to stay around... more clues to relative's dissapearance... Townsfolk would want to entice the PCs to stay, so they may feed their questioning by telling them that the relative Moved to the town permanently, but is away on business, due back in a few weeks. In the meantime, there is a large nasty critter in the River/pond/lake/fishing grounds that is bothering our local men. Kill it & we'll give you Gold... Evil creature in the water. (Some freaky mutation due to consuming corpses for years) may yield clues if disected, Speak w/ Animals, or something like that is utilized) Bodies could be found, or a Burial ground of ships, (locals take the ships of visitors away and sink them to not draw attention). *deep breath* After our encounter with the sea creature and his minions (if any), we go back to town... the next couple of missions take up the PCs time... but I think they should give more clues to the truth. What would a group of Brain sucking undead have do-gooder PCs do for them.? Go somewhere protected from evil? Clear out the mindless undead which have sprung up from hundreds of courpses being sunk in the drink? I'm sure other folks will come up with a few ideas too, but this is all thats coming to my mind. Next step is the festival... [read: more clues] Are the locals bringing in hundreds of pounds of food as they normally should for a festival of this size? Are they reinforcing the lock on the City walls? Why do the party members never see anyone in the local tavern actually Eat anything? A drunken dwarf may notice that there are only 12 kegs in the tavern, barely enough to support him and his cousin for the weekend. Lots of things could tip the PCs off that all is not well at the Circle K. I would imagine the leaders of Undeadtown would try to get the PCs out of the picture for a few days during preparations if they've noticed the PCs becoming more powerful... They may be sent on a mission to find the fabled golden oak tree of everysprouting acorns for the festival. *deep breath* The rest I would leave up to the PCs... they will obviously do things we are not expecting, and go places we didn't plan. After the first session or so... write the rest, fill in some blanks. A good tip is to NOT plan a way for the PCs to succeed. Let them do that. Wow, I like this idea now... Good luck Erus.
Scarlet Terror 08-28-03, 09:22 PM	Wow, thanks Erus. With all the great ideas you gave me, I diffenently think this will serve as the backbone of my upcoming campaign. Developing the town will take a while, but it should be worth it!
Yankee 08-28-03, 09:30 PM	Just be careful about the 'detect evil' spell. If they cast it in town, your cover could get blown awful quick...
chris7476 08-28-03, 09:33 PM	This sounds very Cthulhu. Check out the Dunwich Horror (I think). An unsuspecting traveler goes to an out of the way town to check it out.
08-28-03, 10:39 PM 08-29-03, 01:16 AM	Now this sounds like a good start however, The town would need more than just the party for a proper fetival (feast of flesh). So, there would most likly be a few out of towners.... maby a good clue would involve some undead bestie taking a snak befor dinner time (a.k.a. some visiting people go missing here and there)
chris7476 08-29-03, 01:34 AM	A good way to past the "detect evil" problem is to make it so the whole town is cursed. Perhaps there is an evil lord (like Ravenloft) that has cursed them to their fate. Maybe the PC's need to find the lord and destroy him.
White Mage 08-29-03, 05:38 AM	Scarlet Terror, It is a great idea. If you want to introduce this town in a logical way you face one problem: If this happens every year, the town will have gotten a very ill reputation for hundreds of miles around. This can not stay a secret very long. You can get around this problem by not using a fixed town but something mobile like a large trading caravan, a circus, a large group of nomads etc.
Erus 08-29-03, 10:08 AM	Originally posted by chris7476 A good way to past the "detect evil" problem is to make it so the whole town is cursed. Perhaps there is an evil lord (like Ravenloft) that has cursed them to their fate. Maybe the PC's need to find the lord and destroy him. Great idea for do-gooder PCs... poor unfortunate villagers... forever cursed Or we could have a large Monolith of some sort in the center of town that dispells divinations... or simply gives an anti-magic field around the town. Cannot play this up too much else it will make the PCs suspicious. Was placed here generations ago to Protect the villagers from outsiders and the 'cursed' undead sometimes known to come up from the lake/river/ocean. Ooh, I am really likeing this concept... currently trying to formulate a plan to institute this for a party of 10+level... Yummy Erus. Edit: Somehow missed White Mage's post till after I posted this. He brings up a very valid point. Need to come up with a way around this.
Nerfix 08-29-03, 10:12 AM	Originally posted by chris7476 A good way to past the "detect evil" problem is to make it so the whole town is cursed. Perhaps there is an evil lord (like Ravenloft) that has cursed them to their fate. Maybe the PC's need to find the lord and destroy him. For some reason "IT" would make a great evil lord... Just imagine, an evil clown threating the party... "You want a balloon?"
Erus 08-29-03, 11:10 AM	Originally posted by Nerfix For some reason "IT" would make a great evil lord... Just imagine, an evil clown threating the party... "You want a balloon?" You watched Sci-Fi last night too eh? /on topic I'm still trying to brainstorm Ideas of a way to keep the village setting but circumvent the problem White Mage brought up. The idea I'm toying with now is to have the town on an island, so the only way folks go too and from is to take a ship. The town, because of this, would cater primarily to travelers/loners etc. Folks who don't draw as much attention when they vanish. Aside from the occasional investigation of a missing person, (which the PCs could begin as a part of) there would be very little exposure to the towns on the nearby mainland. Erus.
Nerfix 08-29-03, 11:15 AM	Originally posted by Erus You watched Sci-Fi last night too eh? If we are talking about Stephen King's movie, then: Yes, dad... ... ... ... Erm...i mean...yeah...:D Perhaps the town is but a "microcosmos" created by "IT"... The place ceases to exist when "IT" is killed...
Erus 08-29-03, 11:23 AM	Originally posted by Nerfix If we are talking about Stephen King's movie, then: Yes, dad... ... ... ... Erm...i mean...yeah...:D hey now, I'm not that old.... *sigh* I probably am.. Perhaps the town is but a "microcosmos" created by "IT"... The place ceases to exist when "IT" is killed... Ok, NOW it is definatly sounding very Ravenloftish or Cthulhuesque... hmmm.
Cindre2000 08-29-03, 11:26 AM	The festival does not have to happen every year. Maybe every third year. Only every once in awhile do the undead the the massive consumption of energy, otherwise they just kill the random traveler to keep up their energy. Also to make the pary less suspicious, the townsfolk can attack traveling carivans around the town, where the road goes through a forest or mountain pass. The loss of the people can be explained by goblinoids. The people on the carivan are actually captured and lacked in dungeons beneath the city untill they are needed at the festival. The villigers can also have a treaty with some big nasties, to capture unwary individuals to take to the town. The PC's can also track down these people for the towns and kill them. (they did not fufill a deal so need to be punished) Also, make the town secluded so that less people are actually participating in the festival and would have to travel to get there. The town might be in a secluded valley that is minor trade route that they exploit. There are not towns with in a week so every one who comes, has to travel a distance.
Nerfix 08-29-03, 11:59 AM	Originally posted by Erus Ok, NOW it is definatly sounding very Ravenloftish or Cthulhuesque... hmmm. I'm actualy going to throw "IT" against my players... Read's Dream/Nightmare Template was all i needed to complete my encounter... :smirk:
Erus 08-29-03, 12:34 PM	Originally posted by Cindre2000 Also to make the pary less suspicious, the townsfolk can attack traveling carivans around the town, where the road goes through a forest or mountain pass. The loss of the people can be explained by goblinoids. The people on the carivan are actually captured and lacked in dungeons beneath the city untill they are needed at the festival. ooh, yet another clue... "Why does a village of a mere 'x people in it, need a dungeon/jail which holds y people?" If we use the trade route idea, then possibly one of the things the town could have our PCs do is to clear the North road of the [insert favorite scapegoat race here] who attack and plunder the caravans.
Sereno 08-29-03, 12:51 PM	These are all great ideas, but I think there's too many ways to detect the existence of undead and/or evil for you to be able to pull off the ruse long enough to have the PCs caught up in the 'festival'. As someone pointed out, one paladin could blow the whole plot in the first ten seconds! Consider, instead of undead, some other new unique sort of creature that would still need to "feed" in some way on the outsiders. Perhaps some sort of humanoid creature that changes it's alignment every 3 years from normal and friendly (N, NG...) to ravenously-hungry killing machines (CE or LE). They can be perfectly normal (if maybe odd-looking, and therefore shunned and forced to live on their island-town) all of the other time except for this one five-day period every three years. Maybe even the 'commoners' don't even know about the changing time and only a few select leaders do (they'd be the 'always evil' ones because they'd be orchestrating the 'provisions') who remain shadowy and rarely interacted with. The 'cursed' ones someone mentioned could be villagers who, for some reason, don't come out of the rage at the end of the festival and remain as murderous monsers lurking nearby. It will be a much bigger surprise for your PCs to discover the nature of these creatures, and there aren't already a host of ways to identify them (like there are for undead).
Scarlet Terror 08-29-03, 06:56 PM	These ideas are all great... I doubt my party would think of detect evil until it is too late. But, would it be possible for all the townsfolk to have rings of undetectable alignment? Also I think that every 5 five years (when the moon is in a certain place or something) is much more realistic. Another idea I thought of overnight was to protect the blood bath from being stopped after it began and to trap the travelers: The town is build on top of a huge raft and a low wall surrounds it. During every day aside form the day of the "festival," town is near to the shore and is anchored by an underwater wall. On the cursed day, the town floats to the lake's center and the underwater walls fold up to inclose the town in a 20-foot wall. No one can escape and the town is far enough away that screams are hard to hear. Anyhow, keep sugestions coming and I'll keep thinking.
Cindre2000 08-29-03, 07:41 PM	floating towns are cool. But the whole wall thing is a bit farfetched. Just have lots of hostile creatures surrounding the lake that night. And possibly have a creature in the lake to kill the escaped swimmers. It is just that the wall coming up is a little unrealistic. but i still like the floating town idea.
Scarlet Terror 08-31-03, 09:35 PM	Ok, next step... Once the PCs are in the thick of things and the citizens transform, what next? I could design a custom large battlemat (with city square, some buildings, etc.), but how do I run the battle/escape? Should I have only 4-5 undead attacking the PCs while the rest chase the travelers down (this would show the fight on a larger scale), or do I concentrate only on the PCs and their battle instead of carnage around them? Putting the city/town on on huge battlemat would take awhile, but it would give everyone a feel for the town as well as a visually impressive battle. I'll think about it some more...
Erus 08-31-03, 10:45 PM	Originally posted by Scarlet Terror Ok, next step... Once the PCs are in the thick of things and the citizens transform, what next? I could design a custom large battlemat (with city square, some buildings, etc.), but how do I run the battle/escape? Should I have only 4-5 undead attacking the PCs while the rest chase the travelers down (this would show the fight on a larger scale), or do I concentrate only on the PCs and their battle instead of carnage around them? Putting the city/town on on huge battlemat would take awhile, but it would give everyone a feel for the town as well as a visually impressive battle. I'll think about it some more... Floating town!, very nice. I would let the PCs decide what is going on.... If they are in the middle of the Bloodfeast, they will see dozens of people getting slaughtered, and seemingly endless numbers of bad guys. If I were a PC, what I would do is try to get the hell out of Dodge, and attack on my own terms. later, clearing the town. Now if they were a Lawful Good party, they would probably stay and try to save as many normal folk as possible. I envision a scene where there are waves of undead, closing in on our lovely PCs in the middle of town, Aiding each other, grappleing and gnawing on the meatsies. NOT a good place to be as a PC, but none the less, let them decide how the evenings events unfold. If you run your undead as intelligent, this could turn out to be WAY too much for a level 5 party as originally planned, maybe lower level characters could utilize the city to their advantage, using buildings, rooms, rooftops etc. to stay alive. Sounds like a blast, I for one, would love to play it out :) Erus
Conan 09-01-03, 12:31 AM	Well I know that this is a little bit more of a wierd idea than so far, it that's possible, but here goes. The reason that the town hasn't gotten a bad reputation in hte local area is that it is a town that only appears on the material plane for 1 week every year. Note: This is directly ripped off from the Scottish myth of the town of Brigadoon, which appears for 1 day every 100 years. Feel free to change the time that it appears for and the frequency but it would take care of certain plot problems. You could also make it so that once the characters have entered the town "region" they can't get out until certain criteria are met. Feel free to set up criteria of your own but here's a few anyway. Character's can't leave until: They kill BBEG. Wipe town out completely. Destroy the town fountain. (Which is actually an artifact that has cursed the town.) Convince a witch or warlock of the region to reverse the curse instigated so long ago. Show an act of kindness to the townsfolk. (not sure about how. But hey, I can't do all the work ;) ) Anyway that's just what I was inspired to write. Hope it helps.
Sereno 09-02-03, 09:07 AM	Originally posted by Conan The reason that the town hasn't gotten a bad reputation in hte local area is that it is a town that only appears on the material plane for 1 week every year. Note: This is directly ripped off from the Scottish myth of the town of Brigadoon, which appears for 1 day every 100 years. Hey, now, that's a neat idea! Consider a twist on the legend: The evil town REPLACES the normal town once every X years! For one night a town which is an exact duplicate in appearance, except for the nature of the inhabitants, superimposes itself over the town from some other plane (Ravenloft-ian?). The players would NEVER suspect what was about to happen and they couldn't divination spell their way into the answer until it was too late. The myth and rumor about the place could all be external, residents of other towns, but when they get there, everything seems perfectly normal -- until!! :smirk: Whenever I "borrow" off an existing myth/legend/book/movie plot I try to change it just enough so that one of my players won't be able to recognize it and, intentionally or not, meta-game their way through. I once did a neat adventure based on a Sherlock Holmes story, and later found out that one of my players had read ALL of the Sherlock Holmes stories years ago and had been/still was a big fan! Luckily I changed enough of it, just on principle, that he only recognized where the story came from but not how to solve it! If I'd written it the same as Sir Doyle, it would have been over in about an hour! :)
Conan 09-02-03, 03:42 PM	Thanks Sereno. I thought it was a good idea meself. Dunno why though. ;) I find that my love of Myth's and Legends, especially Norse and Gaelic, provide almost unlimited inspiration for adventures. As you said though, changing them around and making them your own is the key. And the fun bit. :cool:
Erus 09-02-03, 03:46 PM	Originally posted by Sereno Whenever I "borrow" off an existing myth/legend/book/movie plot I try to change it just enough so that one of my players won't be able to recognize it and, intentionally or not, meta-game their way through. This is a MUST! Especially if your players have the same taste as you in movies/books/etc. I would love to run a set of adventures based on the movie Ghost Ship, but everyone has seen it & will call me on it before the adventure is 1/2 over... (4 or 5 years from now, it will be ripe for the playing however) /on topic This thread is going well. Lets take it another step... Running on several of the ideas presented in the last few posts... have our Evil Undead be a completely Unique race of undead. They feast occasionally as a community by... taking out the whole town, (or taking over the whole town and eating whoever is left over from their original number) They send scouts to a new community, scope it out for a week or two, find out when local happenings are planned, then *poof* appear on scene and begin to make arrangements for the folks in town NOT to be able to escape... Wall spells etc to block of roads... Far enough out of town for people not to notice till they try to run when the madness starts... This would solve the issue of reputation as they would be taking over a different town in a different area every time. Making them planehoppers would even prove challenging for a high level party as maybe the goal would end up being to stop their practices of consuming towns on a regular basis by following the Bad Guys to their home turf and eliminating them. *hmm... just some free thoughts after reading the rest of this thread... may be a bit off topic, or seeds another idea to keep this one going... Erus.