Plot Coupons for Saving The World - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Plot Coupons for Saving The World

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
naturax
Nov 22, 2010 13:41:31 I'm going to be running a light-hearted Eberron game built like an anime including a magical girl and a talking pet. I want the plot actually make sense, though, for my sake, and I'm hoping I can get some help crossing the i's and dotting the t's.

I want an excuse for each episode to take the PCs to a new and exciting manifest zone somewhere in the world, and what better arbitrary plot device to use than The Draconic Prophecy. A dragon discovers a passage in the prophecy that states that one of the super-evil Rakshaka overlords is going to be freed unless the PCs, who are referenced specifically, travel to a manifest zone for each of the thirteen planes on some specific dates according to the lunar cycle and do something there. The minions of the overlord will also have to have something to do at each of these locations so that they can harrass/chase/interfere with the PCs.

I'm thinking either:
a) the bad guys have to collect all of the components in order to free the demon and the PCs need to gather them themselves in order to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands
b) the good guys have to collect all of the components in order to build a device that will defeat the demon/re-imprison it/prevent it from escaping in the first place
c) I'm looking for other ideas

Thanks in advance for your help!

PS. The dragon wants to prevent the overlord from escaping but knows that the dragons disapprove of interfering directly with the prophecy, and thus is forced to assume the disguise of an adorable talking pet in order to guide the PCs on their quest to save the world lest the dragons discover it is meddling with the prophecy and nuke it, the PCs, and everyone they've ever loved.
#2
m4kitsu
Nov 26, 2010 3:37:33 Uhm, I.... might be watching too much Gurren Lagann OreImo Star Driver anime lately... but this might be one of the most amusing campaign pitches I've seen so far on these forums!

I like your option B better: it allows the heroes to feel more proactive, and puts them in a race against time. I'd say have the Eldritch Device they're building be a means to weaken the Big Bad so that they can face off against it in a final, climactic battle*. Heck, there are even stats for one of them in the book!

You can have The Dragon (possibly as part of a Quirky Miniboss Squad or even upgrade him to a Big Bad in his own right and leading his own Five Bad Band and later reveal the Rajah to be The Man Behind The Man) and his Mooks harry the PCs both at the manifest zones and in between them in order to keep tension high.

But! You said this was a Magical Girl show, so it's probably worth your time to look at some of the common elements of those kinds of shows. In particular, what better way to defeat the all-consuming darkness of the Rajah than with The Power of Love! It doesn't have to go that way, but, c'mon -you're already well on your way, and it works WAAAYY too well in Eberron.

* - ROW ROW FIGHT DA POWAA!
#3
naturax
Nov 26, 2010 15:58:12 Thanks for your input! It is my hope that by having this discussion on the forums other people will benefit from the ideas presented.

What I'm considering at the moment is that the keys are more like pillars or seals that maintain the prison, and they have been scattered/hidden across the multiverse. However, over the course of the next few weeks/months they are each gett...ing revealed/exposed in rapid succession, and the PCs have to prevent the evil minions from systematically destroying them while they are vulnerable. Each week they have to travel to the new location, protect the seal from being attacked, and get rewarded from the denizens of that particular plane for their efforts.

I just have to make sure that the PCs succeed each and every time, since if they fail even once, maybe that means the demon will be able to squirm free? Or maybe that just triggers a quest to restore that pillar/seal before things get too damaged overall.

This also means that there isn't a key or anything like that to carry around and prevent the evil minions from capturing, and I'm not sure if that keeps things simple or if that means I'm missing out on something crucial to this kind of plot... such as a final epic battle with the demon.

And you're absolutely right that I need to do more reading on the common elements in a Magical Girl anime to see which belong in this game. I don't know if The Power of Love belongs in Eberron, but YMMV.
#4
PJammaGod
Dec 01, 2010 6:43:02 Perhaps instead of having the key being a litera,l physical entity it's more of a music verse or song. This means that the players can collect the pieces of the key, by learning from the different markers differing sections of the verse. But the sequence is out of order, each marker holding a different verse. The only way to connect each piece is using the brief hints at the start and end of each verse.

Also means that you've got a great boss battle music...

(curse you TV Tropes!)
#5
naturax
Dec 18, 2010 19:24:09 Okay okay okay, I've got it all figured out thanks to a friend who took the time to talk it out with me over lunch last week. I could use some help making sure that this all makes sense, however, so I'd appreciate some more eyes on this.

During the Age of Demons, a group of couatl created a massive sword that drew energy from each of the planes which could be used to slay the demon overlords. During an epic battle, the sword pierced the body of the greatest overlord, known as The Shadow, pinning it in place. The wielder snapped the hilt from the blade, trapping the demon there as long as the blade was incomplete. The couatls then scattered the gems in the hilt of the sword back to their respective planes so that the sword could never be rebuilt. Each of the gems bound themselves to creatures that lived in the respective planes, searching for all time to unite with the staff, but unable to cross the barrier between the planes. The hilt was then lost in time, its story forgotten, but not by the demon.

In the present day, the hilt of the sword sits atop the mantelpiece of a fireplace in a tavern in Sharn. It looks like a staff with dragonmark-like grooves carved into it. A rogue dragon, disguised as a cat, sleeps peacefully by the fire each day, guarding the staff because this dragon has read a passage in the Draconic Prophecy that says that it can be used to "unleash The Shadow", but the dragon has kept its existence a secret out of fear that if anyone, even another dragon, knew what it was, they would use it for their own evil purposes.

A rare celestial convergence is about to occur: over the next couple of months, each of the thirteen planes will become coterminous with Eberron. Another dragon who has stumbled across a passage in the prophecy relating to the demon's sword wants to assemble it, thinking that possessing the sword will allow it to "banish The Shadow" from the world. Disguised, this dragon shows up at the tavern, activates the staff, and leaves with it with the intent to find all of the gems over the next few weeks. When the staff is activated, it sends out a beacon that calls all of the gems back to it. Immediately the Sky Gem, having taken possession of an angel from Syrannia, rips into Sharn and goes on a rampage to find the staff, and the players and the guardian dragon, who were in the tavern at the time, need to defeat it. The other dragon escapes with the staff.

The first dragon then asks the players to travel with it to manifest zones for each of the other planes when they become coterminous so that they can prevent the other dragon from collecting all the gems and reassembling the sword.

As I said, I'm looking for feedback. Thanks!
#6
Juums
Dec 20, 2010 8:47:33 All thirteen planes become coterminous? Including Dal Quor and Xoriat, which had purposely been blown out of their orbits and into the distant recesses of the Astral Plane? It seems to me rather likely that, whatever plot you wished to run, would quickly be overshadowed by the quori unleashing about 80,000 years' worth of machinations. Or the dealkyr chewing on the scenery at the return of Xoriat to coterminity.

The idea has plenty of potential, though. In order to moot the coterminity issue, might I suggest that the planar event which you're contemplating simply causes the specific creature each gem has bound itself to to manifest on the Prime, rather than the whole plane going coterminous? Requires a little tweaking of the backstory, but also eliminates the need to deal with angry quori and daelkyr storming forth. (Unless you'd planned for such and wanted to use it as an adventure seed.)
#7
naturax
Dec 20, 2010 22:11:31 Thanks for pointing that out, Juums.

Looks like I've got a few options:

1. Blatantly ignore the fact that Dal Quor and Xoriat are not supposed to become coterminous and treat them like any other plane for the sake of keeping the plot straightforward.

2. Come up with two entirely different excuses for why the appropriate gems sent to each of Dal Quor and Xoriat have found their way to Eberron, and treat them a little differently: when they are summoned by the activation of the staff, they start rampaging wherever they are, allowing them to be tracked down.

3. Start over with some other convoluted plot that allows me to run repetitive, episodic adventures in the style I've already outlined.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 naturax Nov 22, 2010 13:41:31	I'm going to be running a light-hearted Eberron game built like an anime including a magical girl and a talking pet. I want the plot actually make sense, though, for my sake, and I'm hoping I can get some help crossing the i's and dotting the t's. I want an excuse for each episode to take the PCs to a new and exciting manifest zone somewhere in the world, and what better arbitrary plot device to use than The Draconic Prophecy. A dragon discovers a passage in the prophecy that states that one of the super-evil Rakshaka overlords is going to be freed unless the PCs, who are referenced specifically, travel to a manifest zone for each of the thirteen planes on some specific dates according to the lunar cycle and do something there. The minions of the overlord will also have to have something to do at each of these locations so that they can harrass/chase/interfere with the PCs. I'm thinking either: a) the bad guys have to collect all of the components in order to free the demon and the PCs need to gather them themselves in order to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands b) the good guys have to collect all of the components in order to build a device that will defeat the demon/re-imprison it/prevent it from escaping in the first place c) I'm looking for other ideas Thanks in advance for your help! PS. The dragon wants to prevent the overlord from escaping but knows that the dragons disapprove of interfering directly with the prophecy, and thus is forced to assume the disguise of an adorable talking pet in order to guide the PCs on their quest to save the world lest the dragons discover it is meddling with the prophecy and nuke it, the PCs, and everyone they've ever loved.
#2 m4kitsu Nov 26, 2010 3:37:33	Uhm, I.... might be watching too much Gurren Lagann OreImo Star Driver anime lately... but this might be one of the most amusing campaign pitches I've seen so far on these forums! I like your option B better: it allows the heroes to feel more proactive, and puts them in a race against time. I'd say have the Eldritch Device they're building be a means to weaken the Big Bad so that they can face off against it in a final, climactic battle. Heck, there are even stats for one of them in the book! You can have The Dragon (possibly as part of a Quirky Miniboss Squad or even upgrade him to a Big Bad in his own right and leading his own Five Bad Band and later reveal the Rajah to be The Man Behind The Man) and his Mooks harry the PCs both at the manifest zones and in between them in order to keep tension high. But! You said this was a Magical Girl show, so it's probably worth your time to look at some of the common elements of those kinds of shows. In particular, what better way to defeat the all-consuming darkness of the Rajah than with The Power of Love! It doesn't have* to go that way, but, c'mon -you're already well on your way, and it works WAAAYY too well in Eberron. * - ROW ROW FIGHT DA POWAA!
#3 naturax Nov 26, 2010 15:58:12	Thanks for your input! It is my hope that by having this discussion on the forums other people will benefit from the ideas presented. What I'm considering at the moment is that the keys are more like pillars or seals that maintain the prison, and they have been scattered/hidden across the multiverse. However, over the course of the next few weeks/months they are each gett...ing revealed/exposed in rapid succession, and the PCs have to prevent the evil minions from systematically destroying them while they are vulnerable. Each week they have to travel to the new location, protect the seal from being attacked, and get rewarded from the denizens of that particular plane for their efforts. I just have to make sure that the PCs succeed each and every time, since if they fail even once, maybe that means the demon will be able to squirm free? Or maybe that just triggers a quest to restore that pillar/seal before things get too damaged overall. This also means that there isn't a key or anything like that to carry around and prevent the evil minions from capturing, and I'm not sure if that keeps things simple or if that means I'm missing out on something crucial to this kind of plot... such as a final epic battle with the demon. And you're absolutely right that I need to do more reading on the common elements in a Magical Girl anime to see which belong in this game. I don't know if The Power of Love belongs in Eberron, but YMMV.
#4 PJammaGod Dec 01, 2010 6:43:02	Perhaps instead of having the key being a litera,l physical entity it's more of a music verse or song. This means that the players can collect the pieces of the key, by learning from the different markers differing sections of the verse. But the sequence is out of order, each marker holding a different verse. The only way to connect each piece is using the brief hints at the start and end of each verse. Also means that you've got a great boss battle music... (curse you TV Tropes!)
#5 naturax Dec 18, 2010 19:24:09	Okay okay okay, I've got it all figured out thanks to a friend who took the time to talk it out with me over lunch last week. I could use some help making sure that this all makes sense, however, so I'd appreciate some more eyes on this. During the Age of Demons, a group of couatl created a massive sword that drew energy from each of the planes which could be used to slay the demon overlords. During an epic battle, the sword pierced the body of the greatest overlord, known as The Shadow, pinning it in place. The wielder snapped the hilt from the blade, trapping the demon there as long as the blade was incomplete. The couatls then scattered the gems in the hilt of the sword back to their respective planes so that the sword could never be rebuilt. Each of the gems bound themselves to creatures that lived in the respective planes, searching for all time to unite with the staff, but unable to cross the barrier between the planes. The hilt was then lost in time, its story forgotten, but not by the demon. In the present day, the hilt of the sword sits atop the mantelpiece of a fireplace in a tavern in Sharn. It looks like a staff with dragonmark-like grooves carved into it. A rogue dragon, disguised as a cat, sleeps peacefully by the fire each day, guarding the staff because this dragon has read a passage in the Draconic Prophecy that says that it can be used to "unleash The Shadow", but the dragon has kept its existence a secret out of fear that if anyone, even another dragon, knew what it was, they would use it for their own evil purposes. A rare celestial convergence is about to occur: over the next couple of months, each of the thirteen planes will become coterminous with Eberron. Another dragon who has stumbled across a passage in the prophecy relating to the demon's sword wants to assemble it, thinking that possessing the sword will allow it to "banish The Shadow" from the world. Disguised, this dragon shows up at the tavern, activates the staff, and leaves with it with the intent to find all of the gems over the next few weeks. When the staff is activated, it sends out a beacon that calls all of the gems back to it. Immediately the Sky Gem, having taken possession of an angel from Syrannia, rips into Sharn and goes on a rampage to find the staff, and the players and the guardian dragon, who were in the tavern at the time, need to defeat it. The other dragon escapes with the staff. The first dragon then asks the players to travel with it to manifest zones for each of the other planes when they become coterminous so that they can prevent the other dragon from collecting all the gems and reassembling the sword. As I said, I'm looking for feedback. Thanks!
#6 Juums Dec 20, 2010 8:47:33	All thirteen planes become coterminous? Including Dal Quor and Xoriat, which had purposely been blown out of their orbits and into the distant recesses of the Astral Plane? It seems to me rather likely that, whatever plot you wished to run, would quickly be overshadowed by the quori unleashing about 80,000 years' worth of machinations. Or the dealkyr chewing on the scenery at the return of Xoriat to coterminity. The idea has plenty of potential, though. In order to moot the coterminity issue, might I suggest that the planar event which you're contemplating simply causes the specific creature each gem has bound itself to to manifest on the Prime, rather than the whole plane going coterminous? Requires a little tweaking of the backstory, but also eliminates the need to deal with angry quori and daelkyr storming forth. (Unless you'd planned for such and wanted to use it as an adventure seed.)
#7 naturax Dec 20, 2010 22:11:31	Thanks for pointing that out, Juums. Looks like I've got a few options: 1. Blatantly ignore the fact that Dal Quor and Xoriat are not supposed to become coterminous and treat them like any other plane for the sake of keeping the plot straightforward. 2. Come up with two entirely different excuses for why the appropriate gems sent to each of Dal Quor and Xoriat have found their way to Eberron, and treat them a little differently: when they are summoned by the activation of the staff, they start rampaging wherever they are, allowing them to be tracked down. 3. Start over with some other convoluted plot that allows me to run repetitive, episodic adventures in the style I've already outlined.