My Dark Sun storyline advice - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

My Dark Sun storyline advice

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
tyrantlobe
May 07, 2011 14:37:22 One of my players chose the Templar theme. He's from a noble family of Tyr. His father and brother are Kalak loyalists, so in my game, they're the founders of the True.

His first mission as a templar is to recover an ancient artifact from the Crimson Shrine in the Shallows section of Under-Tyr. This artifact is part of a set of items that Rajaat used to infuse his Champions with magic. The True wants this artifact to resurrect Kalak. When the group recovers the item, they will somehow (haven't decided how, yet) learn the locations of the rest of the items, hopefully sending them on a scavanger hunt across Athas.

Right now I have 13 locations tabbed. This sorta seems to fit nicely since there were 13 Champions, and I'm partially basing some backstory of Athas off Stephen King's Dark Tower series. The items are likely to be the 13 Bends 'o the Rainbow.

I know this likely seems confusing, but I'm wondering if 13 is too many. What do you guys think?

I can fill in more backstory if there are questions.

Thanks.
#2
siromega
May 07, 2011 16:11:14 I thought there were 15 Champs, but I'm not the best source for that stuff.

I definetly think 13 is too many to go after individually. If anything, I say have a competing faction that's hunting these too, then that faction can do some of the work and your players can raid their stash when it's appropriate, netting them 3-5 artifacts in one adventure.

I think that would save on the repetiveness of "And now you guys are on the hunt for A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/etc."
#3
tyrantlobe
May 07, 2011 20:12:42 Yeah, there are a few factions I can involve in this. The True, the Veiled Alliance, King Tithian.

I think the real problem is that there are so many cool places I want to send them too. It's hard to choose which few.
#4
Sysane
May 08, 2011 10:23:23 Each location doesn't necessarily have to end with discovering an item. Instead it could be a place for the players obtain info on where the next item is located. So, of the 13 locations you're thinking of, use 5 - 6 of them to point the PCs to the places where the items actually are.
#5
Bera
May 08, 2011 12:22:34 I agree that 13 sounds a little overwhelming. When do you want the quest to finish? It seems like a paragon thing, honestly, if there's lots of travel involved and it culiminates with saving/dooming a city-state. Something like thwarting the Veiled Alliance or saving the True might be more of a Heroic-tier plot. The PCs could find a few more of these items in the course of Heoric, and you're set up for a paragon-tier seek-em-out campaign.

3-5 sounds like a good number for them to actually seek out, that's picking up one every 2-3 levels for an entire tier. It lets you put in side-quests, but the overall goal is reasonably concrete.
#6
tyrantlobe
May 08, 2011 14:38:16 I've knocked it down to 6-7 locations/items, with one of the items being found on the first mission. 3 primary color items, 3 secondary color items and a black item. This is likely to be followed by a trip to the Pristine Tower for soem type of ritual.

I knew I was getting carried away. Thanks all.
#7
siromega
May 08, 2011 16:45:32 No problem, and remember to share how things go after a few adventures. I was thinking of a scavenger quest myself and would love to see how your went as a model!
#8
tyrantlobe
May 16, 2011 21:32:28 So, now I'm having a problem figuring out how to give the players the locations of the other artifacts. The temple that they locate the first artifact is in Under-Tyr, with no living people inhabiting the area.

I've thought of having a spirit show up and describe where the items are, but I don't want to go all Architect from the Matrix.

I've thought of having a big map on the wall with the locations marked, but that just seems cheap.

I want them to leave the temple where they find the first artifact with enough knowledge to go after any of the other artifacts. I'm probably overthinking it and the answer is likely obvious.

Help!
#9
mach4
May 17, 2011 14:16:14
So, now I'm having a problem figuring out how to give the players the locations of the other artifacts. The temple that they locate the first artifact is in Under-Tyr, with no living people inhabiting the area.

I've thought of having a spirit show up and describe where the items are, but I don't want to go all Architect from the Matrix.

I've thought of having a big map on the wall with the locations marked, but that just seems cheap.

I want them to leave the temple where they find the first artifact with enough knowledge to go after any of the other artifacts. I'm probably overthinking it and the answer is likely obvious.

Help!

Assuming your players do know that there are other artifacts out there then have them be the ones to do the legwork in uncovering information regarding the locations, unless they are a group that requires alot of railroading. If that is indeed the case, then you may want to go the simple route of a map with locations. To add something to the mix of temple diving at every X marks the spot, have many of the artifacts having been long since plundered and in general circulation, requiring the players to do a bit of detective work to figure out where the artifact currently resides (one was raided by a great tribe of gith with all the tell-tale evidence of their passing in the temple, who were recently wiped out by tareks in a battle that nearly wiped out tribe and who are still celebrating their victory, who traded the plundered trinket to a nikaal for healing medicines for their wounded, who in turn is taking the trinket to a city-state nearby to sell it to either a merchant house or at the elven market ; by the time the players catch up, they can be caught up between the intrigues of the great house merchants and the elven smugglers as they try and figure out which group has the artifact and retrieve it). Other map locations may even be full red herrings and point to places that no longer exist (fully destroyed, absorbed by a vortex into the gray, or anything else). Maps don't have to be cheap. They can be cheap and cruel.

#10
tyrantlobe
May 25, 2011 7:52:46 Man, amazing timing. The Orbs of Kalid-Ma that were described in today's Eye on Dark Sun are nearly identical in concept to what I was cooking up.

I have seven orbs scattered across Athas. When these orbs are brought together at the Pristine Tower, they are used to infuse individuals with defiling magic, creating Rajaat's Champions. Rajaat also secretly stored pieces of his consciousness inside the orbs, in case the Champions betrayed him.

The cool part about today's article is that it gives me some ideas on having the orbs actually have an agenda and to try to influence the party.
#11
mach4
May 25, 2011 9:06:18 Sounds like a great way to start introducing the group to the machinations of the Warbringer. We played up the vile and tyrannical nature of the SKs very heavily in our game initially before letting them learn of Rajaat. By then, the reveal explained just why the SKs did what they did and gave them much more dimension and depth in the eyes of the PCs. They wound up actually assisting in the levy collections, seeing it as a necessary evil to keep Rajaat imprisoned. You could have a ton of fun with your idea of having Rajaat subtly influencing the PCs through your artifact collections (convincing the PCs he just wants to restore Athas to it's glory).

I am curious though, do you plan to allow the PCs to fully utilize the orbs and perhaps even make Champions of themselves or another NPC, or ultimately bring them together to destroy them, ending some of the Warbringer's influence on Athas? I could see the SKs or even the Dragon having a vested interest in someone trying to usurp their power on that kind of level and arriving to either claim or aid in the orbs' destruction (maybe with the players providing the convincing argument in the debate).
#12
tyrantlobe
May 25, 2011 9:22:03 Well, my stated goal of the campaign is that it is a sandbox world, and that the players could, theoretically, become Sorcerer-Kings. Really, it's up to them in which direction it goes.

It could blow up in my face. Who knows. It should be interesting to see what they do.

I have the campaign on Obsidian Portal here:

www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/lobes-d...

I try to update the Adventure Logs weekly.
#13
siromega
May 27, 2011 22:02:27 Hahahahaha, there's a Lo-Kag Goliath Warden in one of my games. We hassled him after realizing he essentially ripped his character from the PHB2, nice to know it's a popular occurence elsewhere xD
#14
mgbeach
Jun 01, 2011 23:09:34 One thing to watch out for (coming from my personal experience) is that so much of what makes Athas unique and special lies in the wilds between areas of civilization and in the intrigues of the city-states. If the players are constantly being sent underground into ancient temples from a time when Athas wasn't that different from any other setting, it can easily lose what makes it so awesome. Just be careful to not turn your campaign into a series of dungeon-crawls that could just as easily be in the Points of Light, Forgotten Realms, etc.
#15
tyrantlobe
Jun 02, 2011 6:45:58
One thing to watch out for (coming from my personal experience) is that so much of what makes Athas unique and special lies in the wilds between areas of civilization and in the intrigues of the city-states. If the players are constantly being sent underground into ancient temples from a time when Athas wasn't that different from any other setting, it can easily lose what makes it so awesome. Just be careful to not turn your campaign into a series of dungeon-crawls that could just as easily be in the Points of Light, Forgotten Realms, etc.

I had the same concerns. The last thing I wanted to do was turn it into a series of dungeon crawls, so I have the artifacts like this:

1. Under-Tyr
2. The Blue Shrine, where an angel of an ancient dead god will send them on a quest, likely into the Dead Lands.
3. Arkhold, where an order of Knights has been protecting the artifact for centuries, but have been driven insane by it.
4. Raam, where the artifact is locked in one of Abalach-Re's vaults
5. The Road of Fire, where the artifact is in a volcano, in the possession of fire-type beings. Not sure what yet.
6. The Dragon Crown Mts., where the thri-kreen have the artifact as an eye in t he statue, and guard/worship it.
7. At the base of the Jagged Cliffs, in the swamps of the Misty Border.

I think these locations and scenarios provide some interesting diversity. Hopefully my players agree.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 tyrantlobe May 07, 2011 14:37:22	One of my players chose the Templar theme. He's from a noble family of Tyr. His father and brother are Kalak loyalists, so in my game, they're the founders of the True. His first mission as a templar is to recover an ancient artifact from the Crimson Shrine in the Shallows section of Under-Tyr. This artifact is part of a set of items that Rajaat used to infuse his Champions with magic. The True wants this artifact to resurrect Kalak. When the group recovers the item, they will somehow (haven't decided how, yet) learn the locations of the rest of the items, hopefully sending them on a scavanger hunt across Athas. Right now I have 13 locations tabbed. This sorta seems to fit nicely since there were 13 Champions, and I'm partially basing some backstory of Athas off Stephen King's Dark Tower series. The items are likely to be the 13 Bends 'o the Rainbow. I know this likely seems confusing, but I'm wondering if 13 is too many. What do you guys think? I can fill in more backstory if there are questions. Thanks.
#2 siromega May 07, 2011 16:11:14	I thought there were 15 Champs, but I'm not the best source for that stuff. I definetly think 13 is too many to go after individually. If anything, I say have a competing faction that's hunting these too, then that faction can do some of the work and your players can raid their stash when it's appropriate, netting them 3-5 artifacts in one adventure. I think that would save on the repetiveness of "And now you guys are on the hunt for A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/etc."
#3 tyrantlobe May 07, 2011 20:12:42	Yeah, there are a few factions I can involve in this. The True, the Veiled Alliance, King Tithian. I think the real problem is that there are so many cool places I want to send them too. It's hard to choose which few.
#4 Sysane May 08, 2011 10:23:23	Each location doesn't necessarily have to end with discovering an item. Instead it could be a place for the players obtain info on where the next item is located. So, of the 13 locations you're thinking of, use 5 - 6 of them to point the PCs to the places where the items actually are.
#5 Bera May 08, 2011 12:22:34	I agree that 13 sounds a little overwhelming. When do you want the quest to finish? It seems like a paragon thing, honestly, if there's lots of travel involved and it culiminates with saving/dooming a city-state. Something like thwarting the Veiled Alliance or saving the True might be more of a Heroic-tier plot. The PCs could find a few more of these items in the course of Heoric, and you're set up for a paragon-tier seek-em-out campaign. 3-5 sounds like a good number for them to actually seek out, that's picking up one every 2-3 levels for an entire tier. It lets you put in side-quests, but the overall goal is reasonably concrete.
#6 tyrantlobe May 08, 2011 14:38:16	I've knocked it down to 6-7 locations/items, with one of the items being found on the first mission. 3 primary color items, 3 secondary color items and a black item. This is likely to be followed by a trip to the Pristine Tower for soem type of ritual. I knew I was getting carried away. Thanks all.
#7 siromega May 08, 2011 16:45:32	No problem, and remember to share how things go after a few adventures. I was thinking of a scavenger quest myself and would love to see how your went as a model!
#8 tyrantlobe May 16, 2011 21:32:28	So, now I'm having a problem figuring out how to give the players the locations of the other artifacts. The temple that they locate the first artifact is in Under-Tyr, with no living people inhabiting the area. I've thought of having a spirit show up and describe where the items are, but I don't want to go all Architect from the Matrix. I've thought of having a big map on the wall with the locations marked, but that just seems cheap. I want them to leave the temple where they find the first artifact with enough knowledge to go after any of the other artifacts. I'm probably overthinking it and the answer is likely obvious. Help!
#9 mach4 May 17, 2011 14:16:14	So, now I'm having a problem figuring out how to give the players the locations of the other artifacts. The temple that they locate the first artifact is in Under-Tyr, with no living people inhabiting the area. I've thought of having a spirit show up and describe where the items are, but I don't want to go all Architect from the Matrix. I've thought of having a big map on the wall with the locations marked, but that just seems cheap. I want them to leave the temple where they find the first artifact with enough knowledge to go after any of the other artifacts. I'm probably overthinking it and the answer is likely obvious. Help! Assuming your players do know that there are other artifacts out there then have them be the ones to do the legwork in uncovering information regarding the locations, unless they are a group that requires alot of railroading. If that is indeed the case, then you may want to go the simple route of a map with locations. To add something to the mix of temple diving at every X marks the spot, have many of the artifacts having been long since plundered and in general circulation, requiring the players to do a bit of detective work to figure out where the artifact currently resides (one was raided by a great tribe of gith with all the tell-tale evidence of their passing in the temple, who were recently wiped out by tareks in a battle that nearly wiped out tribe and who are still celebrating their victory, who traded the plundered trinket to a nikaal for healing medicines for their wounded, who in turn is taking the trinket to a city-state nearby to sell it to either a merchant house or at the elven market ; by the time the players catch up, they can be caught up between the intrigues of the great house merchants and the elven smugglers as they try and figure out which group has the artifact and retrieve it). Other map locations may even be full red herrings and point to places that no longer exist (fully destroyed, absorbed by a vortex into the gray, or anything else). Maps don't have to be cheap. They can be cheap and cruel.
#10 tyrantlobe May 25, 2011 7:52:46	Man, amazing timing. The Orbs of Kalid-Ma that were described in today's Eye on Dark Sun are nearly identical in concept to what I was cooking up. I have seven orbs scattered across Athas. When these orbs are brought together at the Pristine Tower, they are used to infuse individuals with defiling magic, creating Rajaat's Champions. Rajaat also secretly stored pieces of his consciousness inside the orbs, in case the Champions betrayed him. The cool part about today's article is that it gives me some ideas on having the orbs actually have an agenda and to try to influence the party.
#11 mach4 May 25, 2011 9:06:18	Sounds like a great way to start introducing the group to the machinations of the Warbringer. We played up the vile and tyrannical nature of the SKs very heavily in our game initially before letting them learn of Rajaat. By then, the reveal explained just why the SKs did what they did and gave them much more dimension and depth in the eyes of the PCs. They wound up actually assisting in the levy collections, seeing it as a necessary evil to keep Rajaat imprisoned. You could have a ton of fun with your idea of having Rajaat subtly influencing the PCs through your artifact collections (convincing the PCs he just wants to restore Athas to it's glory). I am curious though, do you plan to allow the PCs to fully utilize the orbs and perhaps even make Champions of themselves or another NPC, or ultimately bring them together to destroy them, ending some of the Warbringer's influence on Athas? I could see the SKs or even the Dragon having a vested interest in someone trying to usurp their power on that kind of level and arriving to either claim or aid in the orbs' destruction (maybe with the players providing the convincing argument in the debate).
#12 tyrantlobe May 25, 2011 9:22:03	Well, my stated goal of the campaign is that it is a sandbox world, and that the players could, theoretically, become Sorcerer-Kings. Really, it's up to them in which direction it goes. It could blow up in my face. Who knows. It should be interesting to see what they do. I have the campaign on Obsidian Portal here: www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/lobes-d... I try to update the Adventure Logs weekly.
#13 siromega May 27, 2011 22:02:27	Hahahahaha, there's a Lo-Kag Goliath Warden in one of my games. We hassled him after realizing he essentially ripped his character from the PHB2, nice to know it's a popular occurence elsewhere xD
#14 mgbeach Jun 01, 2011 23:09:34	One thing to watch out for (coming from my personal experience) is that so much of what makes Athas unique and special lies in the wilds between areas of civilization and in the intrigues of the city-states. If the players are constantly being sent underground into ancient temples from a time when Athas wasn't that different from any other setting, it can easily lose what makes it so awesome. Just be careful to not turn your campaign into a series of dungeon-crawls that could just as easily be in the Points of Light, Forgotten Realms, etc.
#15 tyrantlobe Jun 02, 2011 6:45:58	One thing to watch out for (coming from my personal experience) is that so much of what makes Athas unique and special lies in the wilds between areas of civilization and in the intrigues of the city-states. If the players are constantly being sent underground into ancient temples from a time when Athas wasn't that different from any other setting, it can easily lose what makes it so awesome. Just be careful to not turn your campaign into a series of dungeon-crawls that could just as easily be in the Points of Light, Forgotten Realms, etc. I had the same concerns. The last thing I wanted to do was turn it into a series of dungeon crawls, so I have the artifacts like this: 1. Under-Tyr 2. The Blue Shrine, where an angel of an ancient dead god will send them on a quest, likely into the Dead Lands. 3. Arkhold, where an order of Knights has been protecting the artifact for centuries, but have been driven insane by it. 4. Raam, where the artifact is locked in one of Abalach-Re's vaults 5. The Road of Fire, where the artifact is in a volcano, in the possession of fire-type beings. Not sure what yet. 6. The Dragon Crown Mts., where the thri-kreen have the artifact as an eye in t he statue, and guard/worship it. 7. At the base of the Jagged Cliffs, in the swamps of the Misty Border. I think these locations and scenarios provide some interesting diversity. Hopefully my players agree.