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Help with a Campaign

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
faulten
Jul 28, 2009 10:40:26 I need help coming up with some interesting places for ancient relics to be for my PCs to collect. The standard forgotten temple, lost to time setting, while good, tends to get repetitive after the 3rd time around. To give some background, I'm currently dming a campaign for some friends of mine and right now I am going with an over arching adventure of them collecting several relics for a council of mages. Simple enough right? Well to spice things up a bit they are in a race against an enemy/rival group of NPCs who is also trying to collect these same relics for their own ends. I plan to have the players think that these relics are just your average artifacts that only have value to eclectic old mages who spend their time muddled old tomes. However, I plan to revel about halfway through the campaign that these relics are actually part of a huge, complex ritual that is actually keeping a millennium's year old demon locked away and that this race between them and the rival NPCs to collect these relics has been undoing the ritual and slowly bringing the demon closer and closer to freedom.

I'm basically looking for either some creative takes on the old abandoned temple/dungeon theme or some new ideas for dungeons altogether.
#2
madclergy
Jul 28, 2009 11:39:49 Well there are a plethora of interesting places in the real world that could make interesting locations in the game...a couple might be:

1. Atop a tall mountain. Mt. Doom so to speak, at the top of which is a temple that hosts the artifact. Could be interesting for the fact that climbing the mountain would be chore, as would resisting the elements while trying to find food. Maybe a near fall leaves the pcs without food for the second half of the trip?

Pc's have Flight? The artifact negates all travel in the air surrounding the mountain top so even if they bypass the bottom of the mountain with flight they still have to hoof it the rest of the way to the top.

2. In the thicks of a steamy jungle a tribe of ferocious, head shrinking, natives worships a "diety" who holds another of the artifacts. Problem is that the tribe is somehow connected to the feywild so their encampment phases in and out so it can never truely be said where it is on a given day.

3. Underwater, in a deep trench beneath the surface of the blue waters of a nearby ocean. Or possibly buried with a long forgotten civilization (a certain real life tale maybe?)

4. On another plane, such as the plane of Chaos, where everything is in a constant state of flux. The party has to find a way to survive the ever changing environment to get to the semi permenant castle of a ruler that has been guarding the artifact for purely "benevelent" purposes

Those are just a few of my ideas, hope that helps
#3
faulten
Jul 28, 2009 13:08:56
1. Atop a tall mountain. Mt. Doom so to speak, at the top of which is a temple that hosts the artifact. Could be interesting for the fact that climbing the mountain would be chore, as would resisting the elements while trying to find food. Maybe a near fall leaves the pcs without food for the second half of the trip?

I'm actually doing this right now, the weather has been a real fun problem for the PCs sense most are not trained in endurance. One of the characters, a teifling, actually set himself on fire inorder to get around freezing at night, sense his fire resistance would negate the ongoing fire damage. The fall idea sounds really good, it would pose a real problem for the players sense most are casters and are not trained in either acrobatics or athletics.

2. In the thicks of a steamy jungle a tribe of ferocious, head shrinking, natives worships a "diety" who holds another of the artifacts. Problem is that the tribe is somehow connected to the feywild so their encampment phases in and out so it can never truely be said where it is on a given day.

That gives me a wonderful idea for a whole mini-adventure. It would be really neat to have it be a bunch savage, tribal elves who worship a sinister fey entity who has corrupted them and made them become feral. I might have the PCs encounter a group of elves who are warring against them or something. Lots of potential with this one...

3. Underwater, in a deep trench beneath the surface of the blue waters of a nearby ocean. Or possibly buried with a long forgotten civilization (a certain real life tale maybe?)

Very interesting idea, though I would have to think of how they would get so deep underwater and not drown. I know the answer would be through magic, but what kind of magic is the question, maybe finding a way to get down there would be quest all in itself.

Thanks for the suggestions!
#4
Polis
Jul 28, 2009 13:28:33 I'd like to throw out an idea.

Maybe a relic can be underneath a city. Perhaps a city or dense town has been rebuilt over 1000's of years resulting in many buried layers of ancient buildings, like in London. The relic could be under a sacred site that the PC's have to break into or break through the wall of, Indiana Jones style, and crawl around some long blocked off rooms.

Or a relic could be a piece of royal regalia for an Emperor or King. It can be disguised as something else, a great challenge to retreive and a possible moral dilemma for the PC's. The item, maybe a scepter, is frequently seen in public and coveted by many enemies.
#5
madclergy
Jul 28, 2009 14:59:56
Very interesting idea, though I would have to think of how they would get so deep underwater and not drown. I know the answer would be through magic, but what kind of magic is the question, maybe finding a way to get down there would be quest all in itself

They may possibly have to contact a group of aquatic elves who have a ritual that allows people to reach their underwater cities. You could though put this as a point where the PC's find out that their rivals have actually gotten ahead of them and might very well have the relic in their possession. This could lead to a cool underwater combat scene, during which a blast from one of the rival wizards leads to an underwater volcano going off, which of course creates a skill challenge inside the combat, that will also grant an out for the rivals:

With the relic lost the PC's rivals take the opportunity to fade into the black smoke rising from the oceans bottom, disappearing, for now.
#6
humanmind
Jul 28, 2009 15:57:10 Whats to say someone doesn't know the importance of these relics and is trying to protect them (think the Magi from the Mummy). They guard a relic in their temple and refuse to let the PCs take it. They give them warnings before attacking them. The PCs then have to fight through the protectors to escape.
#7
Tovec
Aug 03, 2009 0:17:23 What are these relics? Do they have power by themselves or only as a group?
Did whomever put these relics in temples know their siginificance, would they be put on alters as sacred objects or would they be sealed away in crypts trying to keep outsiders out and away?
Ultimately if these relics do have power on their own, and have been left for a long time they might have altered the landscape around them. This is especially where you can go crazy. Have the temple on the top of Mt. Doom, underwater, crawling with dragons, undead or demons, made of coral, moss or bone.

At least give more info on what kinds of objects and what you are looking for and I'm sure we can elaborate further.
#8
Enlightened1
Aug 03, 2009 1:14:35 Put one on Mustafar - the lava planet from Revenge of the Sith. OK, reflavor it so that it's a mining/metalworking complex run by fire creatures, someplace where the Elemental Chaos mixes with the prime material plane. Rivers of lava, with complex structures built around and over the lava, run by various fire-based creatures (can't recall those what those fire dwarves are called). Lots of hot metal, forges, mines, etc.

(by the way, the idea of starving in the winter in the mountains is a fun one - I got one party to eat their precious warhorses once, and it's stuck in their memeory ever since. )

Another GM had an artifact in a rundown little place, being used as a shim under a table leg to make it level. Nobody there knew what it was, just that it was an old piece of carved metal. We ended up having to backtrack a hundred miles once we realized what it was, having found additional clues later.

As a variation on the 'tribe worships it' idea, have a remote village/monastery which is similarly dedicated to the artifact. They don't necessarily know what it really is or what it does, only that it was once important and various legends are wrapped around it (both real stories and stories the villagers have just made up for extra flavor). They've capitalized on it, and make a few extra coins providing maps and phony copies for entertainment. Perhaps the thing is just up the mountain nearby, guarded by a creature - the locals are happy to guide you there (for a fee!), but they have also made a deal with the dragon/demon/giant/whatever to tip them off when more adventurers show up. After all, if the artifact ever is taken away, a major claim to fame and fortune is gone from the village! They may even have provided a fake so that, if the guardian is defeated, it can offer the fake as its own ransom.

One of the artifacts was swallowed by a gigantic beast of some kind. Maybe it's a Pinocchio-whale, big enough to actually have an adventure within the body of the beast, complete with its own terrain, other swallowed/symbiotic/parasitic creatures, etc. Maybe it's not that big, but the torments of the swallowed item has driven the creature berserk and made it even more powerful.
#9
Grimbus
Aug 03, 2009 2:09:24 Part of artefact has been incorporated into a royal septre/crown. Players may have to steal crown jewels to get them.
#10
quickleaf_dup
Aug 03, 2009 3:43:59 My old planescape campaign had a similar premise, only there were 3 pieces of an artifact which was needed to defeat a demon. One piece was, in fact, located under a city which had been built on top of it and had to be accessed through wererat warrens - the catch was the underdwellers had created an entire religion around the artifact fragment. The second piece was located in a throne room as a prize trophy of the lord - when the diplomacy route didn't work they resorted to thievery. The third piece was actually in the demon's Abyssal fortress but he didn't realize what it was - they infiltrated his fortress disguised as prisoners (one was a tiefling and led the others in).
#11
sigil_beguiler
Aug 03, 2009 4:41:39 Some ideas:

Tucked away in some abandoned workshop, in some ghettoed neighbourhood in some monster of a city. The journey is not one of overcoming monsters, or features of the landscape but of history, knowledge and searching. They find clues across the city leading them toward the workshop and the artefact, as well as clues of the rival NPCs. Those they talk to speak of others asking the same questions, or they notice a group of people seemingly always where they too travel.

Inside the trapped mind of the original maker of the artefacts. The mind may be trapped in a pocket dimension, a immortal being lost in coma or dementia, in a jar in some lab, etc. Though the artefact was never made it is real and working within the makers made and thus is part of the original grouping. You may find out these rival NPCs were the ones who stopped this one artefact being made but not in all realities, not in the makers own mind.

Embedded with numerous beings across the world. Each artefact is actually a segment of DNA, of traits passed down from person to person in specifically chosen individuals, perhaps the descendants of the original makers. They must track them down before they themselves are tracked down and killed.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 faulten Jul 28, 2009 10:40:26	I need help coming up with some interesting places for ancient relics to be for my PCs to collect. The standard forgotten temple, lost to time setting, while good, tends to get repetitive after the 3rd time around. To give some background, I'm currently dming a campaign for some friends of mine and right now I am going with an over arching adventure of them collecting several relics for a council of mages. Simple enough right? Well to spice things up a bit they are in a race against an enemy/rival group of NPCs who is also trying to collect these same relics for their own ends. I plan to have the players think that these relics are just your average artifacts that only have value to eclectic old mages who spend their time muddled old tomes. However, I plan to revel about halfway through the campaign that these relics are actually part of a huge, complex ritual that is actually keeping a millennium's year old demon locked away and that this race between them and the rival NPCs to collect these relics has been undoing the ritual and slowly bringing the demon closer and closer to freedom. I'm basically looking for either some creative takes on the old abandoned temple/dungeon theme or some new ideas for dungeons altogether.
#2 madclergy Jul 28, 2009 11:39:49	Well there are a plethora of interesting places in the real world that could make interesting locations in the game...a couple might be: 1. Atop a tall mountain. Mt. Doom so to speak, at the top of which is a temple that hosts the artifact. Could be interesting for the fact that climbing the mountain would be chore, as would resisting the elements while trying to find food. Maybe a near fall leaves the pcs without food for the second half of the trip? Pc's have Flight? The artifact negates all travel in the air surrounding the mountain top so even if they bypass the bottom of the mountain with flight they still have to hoof it the rest of the way to the top. 2. In the thicks of a steamy jungle a tribe of ferocious, head shrinking, natives worships a "diety" who holds another of the artifacts. Problem is that the tribe is somehow connected to the feywild so their encampment phases in and out so it can never truely be said where it is on a given day. 3. Underwater, in a deep trench beneath the surface of the blue waters of a nearby ocean. Or possibly buried with a long forgotten civilization (a certain real life tale maybe?) 4. On another plane, such as the plane of Chaos, where everything is in a constant state of flux. The party has to find a way to survive the ever changing environment to get to the semi permenant castle of a ruler that has been guarding the artifact for purely "benevelent" purposes Those are just a few of my ideas, hope that helps
#3 faulten Jul 28, 2009 13:08:56	1. Atop a tall mountain. Mt. Doom so to speak, at the top of which is a temple that hosts the artifact. Could be interesting for the fact that climbing the mountain would be chore, as would resisting the elements while trying to find food. Maybe a near fall leaves the pcs without food for the second half of the trip? I'm actually doing this right now, the weather has been a real fun problem for the PCs sense most are not trained in endurance. One of the characters, a teifling, actually set himself on fire inorder to get around freezing at night, sense his fire resistance would negate the ongoing fire damage. The fall idea sounds really good, it would pose a real problem for the players sense most are casters and are not trained in either acrobatics or athletics. 2. In the thicks of a steamy jungle a tribe of ferocious, head shrinking, natives worships a "diety" who holds another of the artifacts. Problem is that the tribe is somehow connected to the feywild so their encampment phases in and out so it can never truely be said where it is on a given day. That gives me a wonderful idea for a whole mini-adventure. It would be really neat to have it be a bunch savage, tribal elves who worship a sinister fey entity who has corrupted them and made them become feral. I might have the PCs encounter a group of elves who are warring against them or something. Lots of potential with this one... 3. Underwater, in a deep trench beneath the surface of the blue waters of a nearby ocean. Or possibly buried with a long forgotten civilization (a certain real life tale maybe?) Very interesting idea, though I would have to think of how they would get so deep underwater and not drown. I know the answer would be through magic, but what kind of magic is the question, maybe finding a way to get down there would be quest all in itself. Thanks for the suggestions!
#4 Polis Jul 28, 2009 13:28:33	I'd like to throw out an idea. Maybe a relic can be underneath a city. Perhaps a city or dense town has been rebuilt over 1000's of years resulting in many buried layers of ancient buildings, like in London. The relic could be under a sacred site that the PC's have to break into or break through the wall of, Indiana Jones style, and crawl around some long blocked off rooms. Or a relic could be a piece of royal regalia for an Emperor or King. It can be disguised as something else, a great challenge to retreive and a possible moral dilemma for the PC's. The item, maybe a scepter, is frequently seen in public and coveted by many enemies.
#5 madclergy Jul 28, 2009 14:59:56	Very interesting idea, though I would have to think of how they would get so deep underwater and not drown. I know the answer would be through magic, but what kind of magic is the question, maybe finding a way to get down there would be quest all in itself They may possibly have to contact a group of aquatic elves who have a ritual that allows people to reach their underwater cities. You could though put this as a point where the PC's find out that their rivals have actually gotten ahead of them and might very well have the relic in their possession. This could lead to a cool underwater combat scene, during which a blast from one of the rival wizards leads to an underwater volcano going off, which of course creates a skill challenge inside the combat, that will also grant an out for the rivals: With the relic lost the PC's rivals take the opportunity to fade into the black smoke rising from the oceans bottom, disappearing, for now.
#6 humanmind Jul 28, 2009 15:57:10	Whats to say someone doesn't know the importance of these relics and is trying to protect them (think the Magi from the Mummy). They guard a relic in their temple and refuse to let the PCs take it. They give them warnings before attacking them. The PCs then have to fight through the protectors to escape.
#7 Tovec Aug 03, 2009 0:17:23	What are these relics? Do they have power by themselves or only as a group? Did whomever put these relics in temples know their siginificance, would they be put on alters as sacred objects or would they be sealed away in crypts trying to keep outsiders out and away? Ultimately if these relics do have power on their own, and have been left for a long time they might have altered the landscape around them. This is especially where you can go crazy. Have the temple on the top of Mt. Doom, underwater, crawling with dragons, undead or demons, made of coral, moss or bone. At least give more info on what kinds of objects and what you are looking for and I'm sure we can elaborate further.
#8 Enlightened1 Aug 03, 2009 1:14:35	Put one on Mustafar - the lava planet from Revenge of the Sith. OK, reflavor it so that it's a mining/metalworking complex run by fire creatures, someplace where the Elemental Chaos mixes with the prime material plane. Rivers of lava, with complex structures built around and over the lava, run by various fire-based creatures (can't recall those what those fire dwarves are called). Lots of hot metal, forges, mines, etc. (by the way, the idea of starving in the winter in the mountains is a fun one - I got one party to eat their precious warhorses once, and it's stuck in their memeory ever since. ) Another GM had an artifact in a rundown little place, being used as a shim under a table leg to make it level. Nobody there knew what it was, just that it was an old piece of carved metal. We ended up having to backtrack a hundred miles once we realized what it was, having found additional clues later. As a variation on the 'tribe worships it' idea, have a remote village/monastery which is similarly dedicated to the artifact. They don't necessarily know what it really is or what it does, only that it was once important and various legends are wrapped around it (both real stories and stories the villagers have just made up for extra flavor). They've capitalized on it, and make a few extra coins providing maps and phony copies for entertainment. Perhaps the thing is just up the mountain nearby, guarded by a creature - the locals are happy to guide you there (for a fee!), but they have also made a deal with the dragon/demon/giant/whatever to tip them off when more adventurers show up. After all, if the artifact ever is taken away, a major claim to fame and fortune is gone from the village! They may even have provided a fake so that, if the guardian is defeated, it can offer the fake as its own ransom. One of the artifacts was swallowed by a gigantic beast of some kind. Maybe it's a Pinocchio-whale, big enough to actually have an adventure within the body of the beast, complete with its own terrain, other swallowed/symbiotic/parasitic creatures, etc. Maybe it's not that big, but the torments of the swallowed item has driven the creature berserk and made it even more powerful.
#9 Grimbus Aug 03, 2009 2:09:24	Part of artefact has been incorporated into a royal septre/crown. Players may have to steal crown jewels to get them.
#10 quickleaf_dup Aug 03, 2009 3:43:59	My old planescape campaign had a similar premise, only there were 3 pieces of an artifact which was needed to defeat a demon. One piece was, in fact, located under a city which had been built on top of it and had to be accessed through wererat warrens - the catch was the underdwellers had created an entire religion around the artifact fragment. The second piece was located in a throne room as a prize trophy of the lord - when the diplomacy route didn't work they resorted to thievery. The third piece was actually in the demon's Abyssal fortress but he didn't realize what it was - they infiltrated his fortress disguised as prisoners (one was a tiefling and led the others in).
#11 sigil_beguiler Aug 03, 2009 4:41:39	Some ideas: Tucked away in some abandoned workshop, in some ghettoed neighbourhood in some monster of a city. The journey is not one of overcoming monsters, or features of the landscape but of history, knowledge and searching. They find clues across the city leading them toward the workshop and the artefact, as well as clues of the rival NPCs. Those they talk to speak of others asking the same questions, or they notice a group of people seemingly always where they too travel. Inside the trapped mind of the original maker of the artefacts. The mind may be trapped in a pocket dimension, a immortal being lost in coma or dementia, in a jar in some lab, etc. Though the artefact was never made it is real and working within the makers made and thus is part of the original grouping. You may find out these rival NPCs were the ones who stopped this one artefact being made but not in all realities, not in the makers own mind. Embedded with numerous beings across the world. Each artefact is actually a segment of DNA, of traits passed down from person to person in specifically chosen individuals, perhaps the descendants of the original makers. They must track them down before they themselves are tracked down and killed.