It's based in the Nentir Vale and mainly Fallcrest. I have a background down and some of the main characters and some ideas to encounters but I dont feel there is enough.
I'm desperately trying to come up with some more leads for the players and maybe a few extra encounters.
Currently I have this:
DM Adventure Background:
The Lord Warden Faren Markelhay has had a failed assassination attempt on his life causing uproar in Fallcrest. The PC’s are asked to find out who tried to murder him and put a stop to the people that did it. The real perpetrators are a group that call themselves The Howling Moon, led by the self proclaimed Lord Robben, a lycanthrope. Lord Robben was once in conflict for the leadership of Fallcrest but lost out to Faren Markelhay. He has harboured a grudge ever since and has come back to Fallcrest to exact his revenge with associates. For the past year The Howling Moon has been in action within Fallcrest disappearing people and creating a platform for their occupation.
The assassination attempt was the final piece of the plan for The Howling Moon but things didn’t go to plan. One of the members snuck into the castle during the night to finish off Faren but they were interrupted by a servant named Mathilda who disrupted his duty. The lycanthrope managed to hit Faren with an almost deadly swipe of his claws but didn’t quite manage to finish him off when he had to escape. Throwing himself out of the window he ran to the safety of their hideout.
In the ensuing chaos the whole of Fallcrest was put into alert but the assassin could not be found. With the return of the adventurers the Lady Allande Markelhay has recruited them to help discover why this plot was formed and who was at the root of it.
Characters:
Lord Faren Markelhay:
Lord Markelhay is Warden of the town Fallcrest in charge of justice, defence and laws. He appoints a town council to run the routine commerce and public projects. He is well liked and he works hard to expand Fallcrest’s influence in the world. Recently he had an assassination attempt on his life leaving him with gaping claw wounds down his back.
Lady Allande Markelhay:
Faren’s wife is a woman ten years younger than her husband. She is cool and reserved and commands the arcane arts. She often advises her husband on matters regarding the town. She is currently in charge while Faren is sick and has called the adventurers to help uncover the plot behind the assassination attempt.
Lord Robben:
Lord Robben is the leader of The Howling Moon. He harbours a grudge against Markelhay and his family and wants to see their ruin. He was once in contention for the seat of Warden in Fallcrest but his loss and banishment turned him into a bitter and twisted individual. Since his banishment he has met more lycanthropes like him and has turned them to his cause. Now, five of them are gathered in Fallcrest to takeover. He wants to use Fallcrest as a base of power and to widen his control over the Nentir Vale and beyond.
Captain Marlon:
Captain Marlon was brought in a year ago by Faren as Captain of the Guards in Fallcrest. He has made big changes and Fallcrest has seen a vast improvement of its defences and army. Little did Faren know but his election has been very beneficial to The Howling Moon. Marlon is one of the five Lycanthropes currently in Fallcrest and has spent the past year cementing his position in control ready for Robben’s takeover. He is Robben’s second in command and he uses his power very wisely.
Mathilda:
Mathilda has been working for years in Moonstone Keep for the Markelhay’s and is a dedicated servant. When the lycanthrope attacked Lord Faren Mathilda disrupted him when she entered the bedroom. She is the only witness to the attack.
Daven:
Daven is a member of the guards that has been working for The Howling Moon. He is not inherently evil but is known as a bully and will do anything for some extra gold. Often he is called on to change records about the mysterious goings on but has been asked to intimidate members of the public.
D&D can certainly be played that way but I'd make sure to check and see if you have any of the "slayer" personalities in your group first. :P
Sorry to bump but I'm still in need of ideas for leads for this one and the time to run the adventure is fast approaching.
Detective style games are tough because they often border on "looking for the fun" so as far as leads are concerned you might want to go from the standard roleplaying crime scenes and instead turn the entire thing in to an extended skill challenge.
there could be a drow druid who is known for going feral once every blue moon because of his binge drinking. there's a barfight. slayers love reckless reckless destruction. as the fight goes on, a pc could get thrown into a table, and the table could break. when the fight is over, the pcs will have him beaten to a bloody pulp, and they'll get their answers.
there could be a mage cabal whose users use wild magic mostly, and through some library spelunking the pcs could history check their way into finding out the lord had issued many decrees against their practice of magic or their goals and that bitterness is what is commonly felt towards him among the cabal's members.
there could be evidence on the scene in the form of a letter that was being written from the lord in secret that went against what he was politically doing in public.
watch some late night crime shows, and rewrite the story with your dnd setting. As dms, shamelessly stealing uncommon plots is one of our most useful atwill powers. another is reimagining and repainting what we stole.
take this information
You need to bring the fight to the pcs. as they uncover clues leading to the lycanthrope team, have the lycanthropes fight them headon so as to kill the pcs off, and and add a few different possible villains that could have tried to assassinate the lord. this way you have options open, and can create side quests by leaving a false clue that subtly hints to another suspect. and create encounters that go with this.
there could be a drow druid who is known for going feral once every blue moon because of his binge drinking. there's a barfight. slayers love reckless reckless destruction. as the fight goes on, a pc could get thrown into a table, and the table could break. when the fight is over, the pcs will have him beaten to a bloody pulp, and they'll get their answers.
there could be a mage cabal whose users use wild magic mostly, and through some library spelunking the pcs could history check their way into finding out the lord had issued many decrees against their practice of magic or their goals and that bitterness is what is commonly felt towards him among the cabal's members.
there could be evidence on the scene in the form of a letter that was being written from the lord in secret that went against what he was politically doing in public.
watch some late night crime shows, and rewrite the story with your dnd setting. As dms, shamelessly stealing uncommon plots is one of our most useful atwill powers. another is reimagining and repainting what we stole.
take this information
Thanks very much, these are some great ideas, got me thinking about a lot more
Khashul when is your upcoming game?
2-3 weeks I would guess. I've already done quite a lot of the writing for background, characters and some of the plot leads and also have one encounter down.
Just so you know, I am looking to make it quite plot driven but there will be more encounters in it, I just haven't got that far yet.
I've uploaded to MediaFire so that it will be easy to download.
http://www.mediafire.com/?mzzwbzymmnn
Khashul