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| #1fazzamarSep 21, 2009 2:14:30 | Ok... here's the general background and running ideas on a campaign/adventure arc that I plan on running soon. It's based in a loose version of FR... with alittle bit of the Scales of War setting thrown in. I need any help I can get on it... any suggestions/comments/etc are welcome.
The Lich Mauthereign, a follower of Vecna, has taken up residence in Kravenghast Necropolis (as per Open Grave pg 97) and is in search of Vecna’s eye. He has learned that it is being secretly kept in a tower in the Shadowfell in the area that corresponds with the Elsir Vale (the players region) which happens to be the next valley over from where Kravenghast Necropolis is. The problem he faces is the tower is guarded by part of Kas’s (Vecna's arch-nemesis for those who don't know) army. But it is only a small part of Kas’s army as to not draw to much attention to the tower. He knows that the Lord of Secrets, Vecna, will eventually learn of the tower’s location and has made a contingency plan. Kas had his wizards put a teleportation circle in the tower that will enable him to bring a large force to bear on any attackers, the small force guarding the tower must only warn Kas of the attack and protect the tower for the 10 minutes required to complete the teleportation ritual. To counter this Mauthereign plans to make use of the ritual Forbiddance but he knows that he can’t get into the tower and complete the ritual before Kas’s reinforcements would arrive. Thanks to a ritual from the Tome of Shadow Mauthereign plans on creating a planar breach yanking the tower and a sizeable area (1 square mile) around it into the material plane permanently thus preventing the use of Linked Portal and hopefully delaying Kas’s wizards long enough for him to us Forbiddance before a wizard of sufficient power completes casting Planar Portal. The damage that will be caused by bringing part of the Shadowfell into the material plane will be far reaching, almost to the point of a localized Spellplague like effect, Shadowplague? The ritual to form the breach is staggeringly complex and Mauthereign has been preparing for it for quite some time. One of the main components of the ritual is making the material plane more like the Shadowfell, which includes bringing an oppressive despair to the Vale, having necromantic energy run rampant through the raising of undead in the area close to the ritual’s casting site, and weakening the larger good aligned temples in the area. Overlook Invasion: Part of an attempt to weaken towns with major temples in the area. The Dwarven town of Overlook has the largest temple and army in the region. Overlook was the first target of covert attacks but the assassination attempts and attempts to spread disease within it’s well guarded walls met with very little success. The only action that has met with any success is a poisoning of the army’s food supply which wasn’t detected until the vast majority of the army was either dead or gravely ill. With the army greatly weakened Karanavar, an ambitious, if not impatient, necromancer, has decided to launch a full on invasion of the city. If Overlook falls the main bastion of safety and protection in the Vale will be gone. Hammerfell Well/Mine: Another part of the weaken temples plan. An infected drowned one zombie was snuck into the village’s water supply, which is accessible via the mine, by one of Mauthereign’s cultist. An added effect of the infected zombie is some troglodytes that also used the water source, but deeper into the underdark, are now coming to the surface assuming the dwarves did it and are seeking retribution. Swampsedge Disappearances: Whole town was killed and reanimated to help with the ritual, which is being prepared on an island in the swamp the town borders. Now being used as a staging area for the cultist who are working on the ritual. I still have alot of brain storming to do on this one. Brindol ???:Location of decently sized temple of Ioun. No idea what I’ll do here yet. |
| #2dave_the_DMSep 21, 2009 14:11:26 | Very interesting. Sounds like fun! Here are some questions that you might want to answer as the answers will add depth to the story and perhaps provide you with some additional adventuring opportunities. How did the lich learn of the Eye's location? What dark powers is he indebted to for this knowledge? Why has Vecna been unable to learn of the location? |
| #3tomcardinSep 21, 2009 14:22:09 | I have help in the form of questions What are the players roles in all this going to be? You have a lot of things in motion and things ready to happen. What are the players going to be able to infuence, or is this all just going to happen to them? Which of these things will the players even be aware of? How will they know? If you just tell them "oh look there is an army of undead attacking that town" or "Seems like someone has poisoned the well" your campaign is going to look pretty shallow. If you are putting all this work into setting up the underpinnings of the story arc you should let the players in on some of it...its not intrigue and plot if all the players do is go from undead encounter to troglodyte encouter and so on. Yes, you'll have a reason for these encounters happening and that is more than a lot of DM's do, but go the extra mile and get the players involved in the plot as well. They may learn who is behind all this, or at least have a patron that does. And if and when they start thwarting the plans of BBEG he should become aware of the adventurers and take actions to misslead and divert them, even setting them up to take the blame for some of his evildoings. Now you have an interactive plot that involves the players and becomes a combination of what you have started and how it unfolds around the game table. I suppose I am advising caution in setting up the plot from beginning to end. You don't want to power play the actions of the players to make sure your plot goes where you have it written it will go, it should be an amalgam of what you set in motion, the desires of the controlling NPC's and the desires and actions of the players. Otherwise you can just write it all out and hand it to the players to read and call it done. |
| #4fazzamarSep 21, 2009 20:01:47 |
I appreciate you guys' questions, definitely got me thinking more... here's some answers I've come up with thus far.
Very interesting. Sounds like fun!
Here are some questions that you might want to answer as the answers will add depth to the story and perhaps provide you with some additional adventuring opportunities.
How did the lich learn of the Eye's location? What dark powers is he indebted to for this knowledge? Why has Vecna been unable to learn of the location?
The Lich learned of the Eye's location through the Tome of Shadows who was previously in the possession of one of Kas's head priests, which is where it learned of the Eye and the defenses protecting the tower. The Tome could really care less about the Eye or the Lich, it is just using them to cast the Shadowfell Planar Breach ritual. Wards that have been placed around the Eye by Kas has prevented Vecna knowing exactly where the Eye was, other than on the Shadowfell, which is why the Lich was on the Shadowfell searching for it when he came upon the Tome of Shadows who had grown weary of its previous possessor.
I have help in the form of questions
What are the players roles in all this going to be?
You have a lot of things in motion and things ready to happen. What are the players going to be able to infuence, or is this all just going to happen to them?
Which of these things will the players even be aware of? How will they know?
If you just tell them "oh look there is an army of undead attacking that town" or "Seems like someone has poisoned the well" your campaign is going to look pretty shallow.
If you are putting all this work into setting up the underpinnings of the story arc you should let the players in on some of it...its not intrigue and plot if all the players do is go from undead encounter to troglodyte encouter and so on.
Yes, you'll have a reason for these encounters happening and that is more than a lot of DM's do, but go the extra mile and get the players involved in the plot as well. They may learn who is behind all this, or at least have a patron that does. And if and when they start thwarting the plans of BBEG he should become aware of the adventurers and take actions to misslead and divert them, even setting them up to take the blame for some of his evildoings. Now you have an interactive plot that involves the players and becomes a combination of what you have started and how it unfolds around the game table.
I suppose I am advising caution in setting up the plot from beginning to end. You don't want to power play the actions of the players to make sure your plot goes where you have it written it will go, it should be an amalgam of what you set in motion, the desires of the controlling NPC's and the desires and actions of the players. Otherwise you can just write it all out and hand it to the players to read and call it done.
The head priest of the players’ home town temple has a general idea of what is going on due to a spy he placed within Mauthereign’s followers, and is more than happy to give the players a quick rundown. Unfortunately the spy was not of sufficient rank to know everything, just that the Eye has been located in the Vale and plans are in motion to acquire it.
I have a general timeline of events which can be changed by player interaction at any point.. well once they come back to the region anyway...
2 days before the players return to the region:
When the players get to a town in the area:
2 days AR (after return [to region]):
3 days AR:
4 days AR:
5 days AR:
6 days AR:
8 days AR:
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| #5dave_the_DMSep 21, 2009 21:07:13 | Fazz, what you got there sounds great, but IMHO you've got too much detail without knowing exactly what the players are going to do. You've got a lot of great ideas, but remember, in all likelyhood so do your players. Get their input... about their player backgrounds... listen to their ideas and remember you don't have to take them as given. Use their input but blend them with yours to create a background that grounds the story to the players somehow. Furthermore, what level are these players?? What you've got there sounds like information that a full on campaign that has been running awhile. honestly, it sounds like you've got too much going on too fast. Players need some time bond together as a group, and to get a dynamic going. I'm not just talking about combat strategy, but group interaction and role playing. In addition, what I haven't heard is why your players are even interested in what's going on here. Is this the one of the player's village that's being destroyed? What is their connection to the campaign world?? Slow down. Your starting story is just too catostophic, and too many people die without a chance for the PC to avert it. If your you're gonna kill that many people, give the PCs an emotional connection too them first.A parent, girlfriend, husband, really good friend, or just a generous shop keeper who has help them many times on their adventures dies horribly. I suggest you introduce your story slowly, not because someone tells them, but because they experience it. You've got a rich story, but it needs input from your players to become flesh. Work backwords... this should start small, with a minor incident, that leads something else, that ultimetly puts them on the path to what you've got. Surely, this lich has underlings, people doing things for him how does this affect the world? A small village... and I'm not talking mass death, but perhaps a nearby crypt. Say, for example, this underling is a Necromancer looking for clues to the Codex of Shadow. Buried in a nearby village is a necromancer of great power, that certain circles say once possessed the codex. The necromancer finds the tomb, but there are safe guards. When he opens the tomb, all the dead in the graveyard rise up and attack him... killing him. But now there is a problem... All these zombies are roming around, killing live stock and forcing the people into their homes. Enter the PCs who must find out why the dead have risen, and put an end to it... once they get to the original crypt the find the Codex of Shadow, but don't know what it is, what it does, or why its impotant. However, other powerful forces pick up on the codex's location and start tracking the PC's as they try to figure out exactly what they've got... which won't be easy, even by magical means as the book's history is "clouded by shadow" a sage might say. As for this "book of Shadow" who made it?? Surely wars must have been fought over something that contains such secrets. Remember, your PCs are the stars of the show, and all this should be important to them somehow. BTW, please check out my "Matriarchs of Truth" background which is campaign specific for one of my PCs and give me some feedback please. |
| #6fazzamarSep 22, 2009 7:20:39 | The characters are level 6 and with the exception of a couple being added later, they've been together since level 1. They have a deep connection with the area since this is the area they've been adventuring in all along, well except for the past couple levels which were in the Underdark, but still near by. Hammerfell is their home and they are very very protective of it. In regards to the Tome of Shadow... it's an artifact described in Open Grave pg 46. I can appreciate what you are saying, it does seem like a very fast paced timeline with lots of death and destruction... but that's what the characters are looking for... I think I might stretch out the timeline a little bit though... maybe double the time between some events.
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