As I began to think on these adventures at this Magnitude, I decided it is important to be prepared for almost anything. I have some idea of where I am going with it but there now is a factor of how the players react because their choices will have larger effect at this point with their power. I remember sitting down with one player as he was determining his character's Paragon Features and so after briefly checking with all the players in a discussion on their backgrounds and hopes, I might be able to pull together an adventure that fits this party once they reach epic.
I began to look into the many intrigues within the Realms and sure I could just up the Movers and Shakers EL to create some adventure most anywhere in Faerun but I began to think about so many things within the Fey Wild, Shadowfell, Elemental Chaos and the Abyss. I almost know for certain this is where the Adventure is going to go into the Planes. I of course feel there is that World Shattering Event which the players get a chance to take part in and the Adventure should have some anchor point in the Realms where if these Travelers do or don't return. Once they have reached that point and had an affect on the Character's World, in our case it is Faerun.
I remember some old adventures where one of our groups rescued a Goddess Kidnapped and Held captive in the Abyss (Think this was during the Time of Troubles).
There was also an Earth Mote Castle belonging to Cloud Giants who were thinking of releasing some Destructive Entity they held captive within their floating Citadel.
I also remember an adventure where Grazzt had to be battled with his nasty minions and some kind of Gargantuan Creature destroying the country side. All the while our wizard struggled to put the Demon (perhaps he was a Devil back then) Prince back in his place.
This will be our first Epic Campaign in 4E. We all got wiped out by Mummy Rot at the top end of Paragon trying to reach and destroy Orcus and our DM at that time hasn't recovered from our deaths yet to continue that quest. But my fingers are crossed.
What kind of Epic Adventures have you folks had within the Realms?
I am just curious what some other folks have done with Epic Adventures in the Realms before.
I am pretty certain our Epic escapades, mentioned above, were set in the Forgotten Realms but they were not 4E. It is also quiet possible our DM used resourses that were not alway of Forgotten Realms yet he made them so. Some of them were Forgotten Realms which I actually found the some of the mod material he was using when we moved our gaming room from a basement and into a shop.
That said I am curious what kind of Epic 4E Realms adventures have people had or are having.
It’s been awhile since I thought about the old 3rd Edition Realms campaign I ran. We went from 1st to 24th level or so. What was two characters and one player became five players running ten characters between them.
Some of the epic adventures included:
- Battling Ashardalon in the Bastion of Unborn Souls to drive him out.
- Getting in the middle of a fight between avatars of Orcus and Kiaransalee to slay them both and drive them out of the Realms.
- Putting down an insurgent force of exiled Shadovar leading the Army of the Betrayed into the Stonelands through the ruins of Tilverton; then working magic to keep Shade afloat in exchange for a vow from Shade that neither it nor its minions would harm or hinder Cormyr for a century.
- Crushing a fiend army massing in the ruins of Myth Drannor and destroying all the portals in that city that had been repurposed as conduits between the Hells and the Prime Material Plane.
- Harvesting artifacts from Netherese ruins in Anourach on behalf of Cormyr to use against Nalavarra and her Ghazneths.
- Driving a Demon Prince out of Blackstaff Tower after it had captured the Blackstaff and Alustriel.
The cool part—to me at least—is that not all of these adventures took place at epic levels, yet they all had an epic feel to them.
When players are high-fiving each other across the table and cheering after a hard-earned victory, you know as DM that you’re doing your job right.
What kind of Epic Adventures have you folks had within the Realms?
"EPIC3-1 The Glorious Hunt: Corellon's realm of Arvandor is known for more than its majestic forests and splendid islands. The exalted of Arvandor track down and destroy abominations in an eternal event known as the Glorious Hunt. When Corellon and his exarchs receive more than they bargained for, will you join the hunt? A Living Forgotten Realms adventure set in Myth Drannor and the Astral dominion of Arvandor for 21st-level characters. This adventure marks the premiere of the LFR Epic Campaign.
EPIC3-2 Cracks in the Crimson Cage: Mortal heroes have just foiled a plot to assassinate a god and despoil his realm. The perpetrators' trail leads to Carceri, an astral prison that detains powerful abominations, disobedient angels, and horrors from beyond the known planes. The only way to find out who's behind the attack is for you to give chase into the Red Prison... and risk being trapped for eternity with beings feared even by the gods. A three-round continuous-play Living Forgotten Realms Epic Campaign adventure set in Carceri for 22nd-level characters. This adventure is a direct sequel to EPIC3-1 The Glorious Hunt."
NONE OF MY PLAYERS READ THIS, PLEASE!!
For my 4e FR game, I like to sculpt adventures based on my characters, their backgrounds, and motivations. We're not there yet, but:
- At least one of the PCs is the reincarnation of one of the many deities felled during the conversion to the new edition: Eilistraee, as a matter of fact, whose chief rival in the campaign is the reincarnation of her brother deity, Vhaeraun. He is training her up to become a worthy partner in his campaign to take revenge on their erstwhile mother, Lolth.
- The heir of an adventuring party of genasi is on a path of destiny to face down the primordial that his parents could not defeat: Blazing Rorn the Fury.
- A dwarf battlemind/warlock is on a mission to recover a fragment of his soul that was sold on his behalf to a devil prince in exchange for his powers. The nature of his contract stipulates that possession of the soul gets transferred when an owner perishes, and he'll have to work his way up the chain.
- One of my characters, who is really interested in love and peace, is gradually inspiring a pseudo-religious movement, which could turn him into an exarch of Sune.
- For part of my game, I'm utilizing the 4e Tomb of Horrors book, swapping out Acererak and putting Larloch in his place. His motivation in the campaign is to become the new god of magic, and the PCs have to stop him.
That probably isn't the specific answer you were looking for, but I wanted to share some ideas. 
Cheers
(snip) For part of my game, I'm utilizing the 4e Tomb of Horrors book, swapping out Acererak and putting Larloch in his place. His motivation in the campaign is to become the new god of magic, and the PCs have to stop him. (snip)
Very cool.
I've been wanting to use both Tomb of Horrors and the idea of a deity of magic returning and hadn't thought to link them. Thanks; I think I will be using your idea!
After many "standard" quests involving the various nations of Faerûn (and lots of Underdark travel), the players started to look for a way to deal with the recently returned arcanists of Shade, which were eagerly trying to retrieve their lost artifacts. To find out more about their plans the players had to find someone who knew the secrets of ancient Netherese history. The players finally met Aumvor, one of the last surviving Netherese arcanists, and he explained them the true reasons behind the Shadovar's return (guess what? Complete domination of Faerûn and revenge against the phaerimms).
In an old buried Imaskari temple they found a long-forgotten profecy written on a wall. So it was foreseen that the ancient sleeping serpent, Dendar, is soon about to awake and devour the world, and everything within it, mortals and gods included. Even Shar and the Shadovars fear this, knowing the goddess' shades could forever dissipate, too. So the gods (Lathander and Kelemvor) manifested and spoke to the players, asking them to restore Faerûn's order. It was only later discovered that Dendar was set loose by Malkizid, an ancient being that still seeks revenge over the gods for what they had done to him in ancient times.
In the meanwhile, the demon prince Graz'zt (who was aware of Malkizid's scheme at that time) embarked on a journey of his own to increment and magnify his dark powers. He knew he had to if he wanted to stand a chance against the armies of the fallen angel. He finally found a lost artifact whose origins where unknwon even to him, and it seems to have been around long before the first gods made their appearence in the Realms. The witch Iggwilv clarifies that the object is somehow related to the prime outsiders that roamed the land (angels, devils, and demons) in the early days of the world, and some small details indicate that it might have been crafted by the "hands" of Lord Ao himself.
Graz'zt was able to merge his body with the spherical object, rebaptized "Judas Pain" (hehehe), and he evolved into a six-winged über-demon with the might to challenge even the gods.
When the Gates of Doom opened, Dendar emerged at the peak of it's strength. Somehow the players managed to cast the prime serpent back from where he came, greatly weakened, only to discover that the attack was lead by an army of arch-angels who were using Dendar as a catalyst to reach the Material Plane. The army of arch-angels is led by Michael, elder brother and former ally of Malkizid. Michael claims to act in the name of Ao's will, who plans to cleanse this corrupted land by unleashing the final Judgement Day.
The players (and Toril, of course) now find themselves caught up in the middle of this holy war, where angels and devils roam the skies delivering death, judgement and punishment to the mortal realms as Michael and Malkizid battle themselves.
In the meanwhile Graz'zt had already submitted many of the infinite layers of the Abyss under his dominion, establishing allegiances with other demoniac rulers (and Lolth was no more silent at this point).
So, as the skies where shaking, the soil began to quake, and a limitless army of demons arose to join the war (many of which, like Eltab, where liberated from their former emprisonments).
Angels and devils now struggle for supremacy, while the mortals, the demons, and the Faerûnian Gods form an allegiance to survive. What will the outcome of this global-scale war be? Does Ao really wish for Toril's annhilation? What do the personalities of the Realms plan to do? Could the Shadovar possibly remove Mystra's Veil and gain back their long-lost arcane powers to battle the outsiders and save Toril?
Ok... maybe there's a little bit too much in there, but this will surely keep my players busy for a while;).