The current party is 7 players to include every class except the fighter. This makes party options fairly wide. Also, I've been DM'ing for roughly 15 years now so I'm experienced in handling odd scenarios. My problem is i'm trying to do something fresh that my players wont feel is recycled adventures from my past.
I've written my new campaign notes out for many levels but I'm hitting a snag at 10th level. By this point, I have the party traveling north over the mountains to lands controlled by dwarves. The party has made this trek to try and enlist the aid of the dwarven armies for an upcoming battle.
When they arrive in the dwarven lands, they find that the Dwarf King has been assisinated and the 8 clans (previuosly united under the King's rule) are on the verge of a civil war due to their bickering over who should be named the new king. Along with this, the "King's Blade" (a relic passed down from king to king) has been stolen.
What I want is to get the party involved in an adventure to discover a fowl plot by one of the 8 clan lords to claim the throne and to get them to expose it. This is where i'm stuck.
For the most part the plot is easy but I'm kinda stuck on HOW exactly to go about exposing it. Do any of you out there have any ideas? I'm hoping to turn this into a quest that takes the party well into 11th level if not 12th. I also want to put the party in a position where they end up selecting the new king since they become the holders of the "King's Blade"
I look forward to hearing from you guys!
The first option is that, when the PCs arrive, they are blamed for the murder of the king. This would make sense because they are complete outsiders but it would only work if the assassination was very recent. If you were to take this route, you could have them on the run from the law and looking for the real killers to clear their own name. After they have done that they can begin to request the aid they are after.
The second option is that some dwarf agency hires the PCs to try to find out who was behind this, promising aid when they do. This would make some sense again because they are total outsiders and should be unbiased.
If I have to, I'll likely go with the first option since it puts the party in a more serious predicament. Thanks alot for your input though.
None can determine the new king because of the great distrust, so to prevent all out civil war it is decided to elect a pro-tem king until a replacement can be chosen that is agreed upon. The party's arrival causes one of them to be chosen, since they are considered an uninterested party and as such neutral and drafted into duty. As part of this temporary kingship, the party members then become both pawns and targets in what is going on and have to solve the murder and help determine the proper heir for their own safety.
For example, the party gets to the Dwarf Lands, demand to see the King in a matter of urgent buisness, and are proptly shushed away, saying he's busy but everything is okay (Musn't let the outsiders know what's happened.) Then, some dwarf hires the party to steal something which will (unbeknownst to the party) secure his clan as the leader.
While on the mission, they find out that the ging's sword is missing. Surely, the King needs to know of this! One thing leads to another, and eventually they are searching for it too, while fighting off the 8 dwarf clans.
I would think they want to usher the PCs out of the dwarven area as soon as possible.
I think I would have the dwarves be completely opposed to listening to the parties pleas. Do not let the PCs in to the kingdom and have them start going on to the next civilzation that they want to talk to. As they are on their way to find this other civilization, they come upon a pile of bones or remains that are obviously dwarven, recently killed. Beyond the remains is a hidden tunnel which leads to a passage in the kingdom. Among the remains are rings and other personal items that others will recognize as specific dwarves. Once they get in to the kingdom, they report the findings and they can be talked to about the assassination of the king. The imposters will be found and then the dwarves will say they cannot organize to help with the war when they are in turmoil. Then they can talk about the King's Blade and start the adventure to find it.
My idea would be to have the PC's stumble onto the situation almost by chance. Run them through an entirely unimportant "random" encounter with some group of non-dwarven related enemies that seems to really just be a randomly rolled encounter on their journey. Unbeknownst to the party, this is actually the band of assassins that killed the king and one of the dead NPCs is carrying the King's Sword; which the PC's will obviously take as loot, especially if its a magic item with good properties.
Then you might want to try to avoid any plot-related combat encounters to give the PC's time to forget the significance of the sword. Give it time so that to them its just another great magic item but nothing of note. Then have some random or purposefully placed NPC dwarf suddenly react in surprise to the sight of the sword and tell them how it relates to what is happening. At that point, while the PC's don't have to be seen as the assassins, it does force them to really deal with the conflict, as now they have to decide what to do with the sword one of them is carrying. This can work really well if you've had them build relationships with one or more of the clans without any ulterior motives behind it. Does the clan that's been your ally and supporter through the "random" adventuring suddenly attack you because you have the sword? Does the clan you've kind of been opposed to suddenly become your new allies once they learn of it.
This way, it doesn't have to be the stereotypical "They killed the king, get them!" plot line, but it still allows for the roleplaying confusion that the PCs can deal with.
Make it to where to pcs have to defuse the obviouse dire situation. in this process they find out about the DRAMA that is going on, who doesnt like who.
I would have one clan taken over by Drow and a few doppelgangers. who are planing on taking down the entire kingdome. The entire clan is dead. Make a ritual up that has the ability to do a mass change self, and hieghtnd to where it can make all the drow turn into dwarves and for a extended period of time.
The Drow have a sent word to thier kin that they will need more reinforcments. And the High priestess who is master mind the war has the relic and is posing as the lead dwarf.
Meanwhile as the pcs are gathering information from the dwarven clans on the side about how the king was killed there are other important people being assassinated to, and in brutal ways. Eventually they could actually catch a couple attempted assassinations, when they kill them the "dwarves" could change back to original form drow.
This could give them the option of telling the dwarves about the fact that there are drow within the kingdome or keeping it to themselves.
If they tell the dwarves about it, have the bodies mysteriously disappear and the blood cleaned up.
If you like it I could finish it for you from there I am sure that you could get a good finish.
I really appreciate the combined effort you guys have put in and I'm going to have to use a combination of several of the ideas mentioned. Especially between Jonasty and Drin.
Thanks again everyone for helping me past my writer's block.
The leaders of the traitorous clan could be acting strange for a dwarf. They could even ask the PCs to find the sword, supply 'rumors' or 'information from a reliable source' to get the PCs started, and give them the orders to kill the thieving assassins. The assassins need to be killed so that the clan's plot stays secret.
When confronting the assassins, the assassins could reveal some of the plot causing an investigation of the dwarf clan.
It would be up to you if some of the assassins are to get away (with or without the blade).
Some of the members of the clan in question could take up arms. They would have to be subdued.
I've written my new campaign notes out for many levels but I'm hitting a snag at 10th level.
You seriously plan your campaign out 10 levels ahead?
I think you've succeeded on your intimdate check... :surrender
Hi. I'm stuck. I've hit a sort of writters block in my campaign and I thought I'd give a shot out to my fellow DM's for ideas.
The current party is 7 players to include every class except the fighter.
What Races? Class isn't everything don't forget to play of the characters' backgrounds and heritage. Perhaps the dwarf in the party is related to one of the clans vying for the throne. Perhaps they don't think their clan worthy and lends his axe to an opposing clan. Perhaps they have a bitter rivalry with a member of a clan and allows it to cloud their judgement.This makes party options fairly wide. Also, I've been DM'ing for roughly 15 years now so I'm experienced in handling odd scenarios. My problem is i'm trying to do something fresh that my players wont feel is recycled adventures from my past.
If you want fresh forget Ninja tactics, drow, and doppelgangers. Use an antagonist the party has never met before or one they would never think of as likely [an Eladrin? A warlord of Kord?]. You can also a series of skill challenges to uncover the murder and the lost relic within the disorganized dwarven clans. Oh, there will be combat as the guilty party tries to mislead and kill the party. Keep them guessing and second thinking themselves.
I had a lot of fun with the H1 module by making someone else the antagonist, but keeping the personalities as written. And when the characters finally figured it out they slapped their heads and said ‘I knew it all along’ and cursed as their opponent got away.When they arrive in the dwarven lands, they find that the Dwarf King has been assisinated and the 8 clans (previuosly united under the King's rule) are on the verge of a civil war due to their bickering over who should be named the new king. Along with this, the "King's Blade" (a relic passed down from king to king) has been stolen.
24 years ago in the Dragonlance module "Dragons of Desolation” throws the characters against a similar dilemma, against 6 clans and their internal bickering and conniving to see who will be placed on the Throne of the High King by recovering the entombed artifact a hammer. If you group has never seen this before you might look for it, also it has nice modular maps to build a huge kingdom without a lot of work and includes several examples.
But even if you do plan ahead, the one thing I've learned in 31 years is characters never do what you expect them to do.