Help with Fallcrest! - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Help with Fallcrest!

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
blackknight1239
Dec 15, 2009 3:08:45 Hey guys, I'm running my first campaign, and I'd like a little help. All I have is really vague ideas, so I was hoping you guys could hopefully narrow them down.

So, the campaign is based in Fallcrest, PoL setting. The Lord Warden has made a call for adventures, so the PC's converge on the town. I ran them through the adventure in the DMG, then a little thing I made myself. The captian of the guard was kidnapped, and there was a 400gp reward for his rescue. The PC's jump in and find him. PC's get gold, and a cool new weapon. The Lord Warden is so happy, and he invites them to dinner the next week. PC's head back to the inn, happy, when they are ambushed by men in black. With little more than "Orcus take you bastard!" to go off of, the PC's stumble home, confused.

Now, the idea is that the Lord Warden sends them on odd jobs (Orc slaying, Gobbo punch, what have you) to show that Fallcrest is in a bind. Too much trouble, too few people. Eventually, lots of people turn up missing, and this becomes a play for power between the local cult of Orcus (this is what they do, right?) working with Serim Selduzar (a tiefling who wants to rule Fallcrest) against the Warden. Once they attack (or the PC's get wind of it, I want to be dropping hints) the PC's foil them, and Selduzar escapes. He manages to raise an army of all sorts of rabble, and brings the against Fallcrest in a desprate attempt to win. Big siege, PC's feel epic and/or die.

...So basically those are my thoughts. Is this any good? Heck, does it make sense? Suggestions needed! :D
#2
guang
Dec 15, 2009 3:37:10 Have you looked at Scales of War? Looting some of the sieges from there might be helpful.
#3
beholdergaze
Dec 15, 2009 10:12:51 This sounds like a fine campaign arc in my opinion. What I would do is hammer out the details of how the action is going to progress all the way to the end. What I mean is look at each NPC and determine what their plans are, again, all the way to the end. This is really like writing a story where you know the end and can fill in the details in between. It may make your campaign easier to create.

After you have the major events visualized then you can figure out how to throw details into the game that foreshadow future events. One trick that might work would have to do with the NPC's. For example, if Serim is the main villain of the story, throw in another tiefling somewhere early that the party doesn't trust. This will set up a theme with tieflings that they cannot be trusted. After that idea is solidified by Serim, throw a curve ball into it by having a tiefling the PC's need to trust.

If the campaign uses Orcus as a major theme, i'd suggest throwing a lot of Orcus knowledge at the party. You could easily make photocopies of D&D books that have Orcus knowledge in them and toss the strips of knowledge at the PC's from time to time. This way the players have a way to compile their character's knowledge of Orcus and they won't have to remember what you tell them. This will also help tie the events together into a cohesive story. It might be fun and the knowledge might be useful to them in the future.

Sorry if none of this is useful, but good luck.
#4
garner_adam
Dec 15, 2009 23:15:14 I agree with beholdergaze on this one. Figure out how your villian plans to go about his scheme to take over Fallcrest.

Pretty much your adventure sounds like it goes like this.

The Warden of Fallcrest is having a rough time maintaining order.

A local instigator has plans to take over Fallcrest and is trying to make the Warden look bad and some how take his post or install a puppet governor.

The villian (instigator) makes the warden look really bad by having all sorts of unexpected problems arise from his dealings with local monster humanoids.

The Warden needs to restore order and can't do it with out serious help. This is where the PC's come in.

Eventually the PC's frustrate the Villians plans of making the Warden look incompetent and so the villian takes more drastic measures.

#5
blackknight1239
Dec 18, 2009 13:49:24 Mm, yes! That's really what I think is going to happen. Honestly, I'm having trouble with what the villain would do to undermine the Warden. Generally causing crime and chaos could work, but I'm struggling with what kind of stuff this would let the PC's do.
#6
garner_adam
Dec 18, 2009 14:43:46
Consider taking the patron approach. The Warden of Fallcrest has his hands full "putting out fires" while also maintaining his image and maybe appease his family too. (Maybe his daughter who would like to see her father more actually wants to see him step down)

So he does the best he can do and hires on investigators or maybe full out vassals. He provides the team with a list of suspicions and problems he needs help taking care of. He couldn't afford the guards so his rewards can be a lot different like authority and/or access to goods instead of cash.

Imagine the Warden unfurling a map where he's made notes of incidents and then asking his team to look in to the problems and report it might look some thing like.

-We've had a number of disappearances along Yeager road and a new shadowy gang has gone on a crime spree in the Ulmbar district.
-Goblins with packs of rage drakes and fire beetles have taken in to the nearby woods near our lumber mills. They are out in force and if they get any more organized we might need to call for reinforcements. Look in to the situation.
-Some one is writing disparaging news letters about me but he remains anonymous. It'd look bad if I sent the guard to investigate this issue. Could you find out who is slandering me from the shadows?

Think up two more and I think you'll have a solid set up where the players can pick what they'd want to tackle first.
#7
therion666
Jan 25, 2010 19:10:03 You might think of a method of bringing in some good contacts and allies for the later levels by offering up the 'damsel in distress' by disreputable nobleman taking a lady going to visit Fallcrests lord in an attempt to either blackmail money from the ladies father.
Another option is a local Brigand leader is the kidnapper.

They could gain a good ally from the young ladies father and some in his retinue and maybe some romance interest for the future.
The noble lord could bring troops to aid in the seige and stand couragously alongside the characters in their hour of need.

Other options in this line is the disreputable noblemans henchman trying to discredit lord of Fallcrest opening up a murder mystery with the lord of Fallcrest at stake and locals up in arms with evidence suggesting the lord committed murder to cover up an indiscretion and the PC's tracking down the true villain to bring him to justice (alive).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 blackknight1239 Dec 15, 2009 3:08:45	Hey guys, I'm running my first campaign, and I'd like a little help. All I have is really vague ideas, so I was hoping you guys could hopefully narrow them down. So, the campaign is based in Fallcrest, PoL setting. The Lord Warden has made a call for adventures, so the PC's converge on the town. I ran them through the adventure in the DMG, then a little thing I made myself. The captian of the guard was kidnapped, and there was a 400gp reward for his rescue. The PC's jump in and find him. PC's get gold, and a cool new weapon. The Lord Warden is so happy, and he invites them to dinner the next week. PC's head back to the inn, happy, when they are ambushed by men in black. With little more than "Orcus take you bastard!" to go off of, the PC's stumble home, confused. Now, the idea is that the Lord Warden sends them on odd jobs (Orc slaying, Gobbo punch, what have you) to show that Fallcrest is in a bind. Too much trouble, too few people. Eventually, lots of people turn up missing, and this becomes a play for power between the local cult of Orcus (this is what they do, right?) working with Serim Selduzar (a tiefling who wants to rule Fallcrest) against the Warden. Once they attack (or the PC's get wind of it, I want to be dropping hints) the PC's foil them, and Selduzar escapes. He manages to raise an army of all sorts of rabble, and brings the against Fallcrest in a desprate attempt to win. Big siege, PC's feel epic and/or die. ...So basically those are my thoughts. Is this any good? Heck, does it make sense? Suggestions needed! :D
#2 guang Dec 15, 2009 3:37:10	Have you looked at Scales of War? Looting some of the sieges from there might be helpful.
#3 beholdergaze Dec 15, 2009 10:12:51	This sounds like a fine campaign arc in my opinion. What I would do is hammer out the details of how the action is going to progress all the way to the end. What I mean is look at each NPC and determine what their plans are, again, all the way to the end. This is really like writing a story where you know the end and can fill in the details in between. It may make your campaign easier to create. After you have the major events visualized then you can figure out how to throw details into the game that foreshadow future events. One trick that might work would have to do with the NPC's. For example, if Serim is the main villain of the story, throw in another tiefling somewhere early that the party doesn't trust. This will set up a theme with tieflings that they cannot be trusted. After that idea is solidified by Serim, throw a curve ball into it by having a tiefling the PC's need to trust. If the campaign uses Orcus as a major theme, i'd suggest throwing a lot of Orcus knowledge at the party. You could easily make photocopies of D&D books that have Orcus knowledge in them and toss the strips of knowledge at the PC's from time to time. This way the players have a way to compile their character's knowledge of Orcus and they won't have to remember what you tell them. This will also help tie the events together into a cohesive story. It might be fun and the knowledge might be useful to them in the future. Sorry if none of this is useful, but good luck.
#4 garner_adam Dec 15, 2009 23:15:14	I agree with beholdergaze on this one. Figure out how your villian plans to go about his scheme to take over Fallcrest. Pretty much your adventure sounds like it goes like this. The Warden of Fallcrest is having a rough time maintaining order. A local instigator has plans to take over Fallcrest and is trying to make the Warden look bad and some how take his post or install a puppet governor. The villian (instigator) makes the warden look really bad by having all sorts of unexpected problems arise from his dealings with local monster humanoids. The Warden needs to restore order and can't do it with out serious help. This is where the PC's come in. Eventually the PC's frustrate the Villians plans of making the Warden look incompetent and so the villian takes more drastic measures.
#5 blackknight1239 Dec 18, 2009 13:49:24	Mm, yes! That's really what I think is going to happen. Honestly, I'm having trouble with what the villain would do to undermine the Warden. Generally causing crime and chaos could work, but I'm struggling with what kind of stuff this would let the PC's do.
#6 garner_adam Dec 18, 2009 14:43:46	Consider taking the patron approach. The Warden of Fallcrest has his hands full "putting out fires" while also maintaining his image and maybe appease his family too. (Maybe his daughter who would like to see her father more actually wants to see him step down) So he does the best he can do and hires on investigators or maybe full out vassals. He provides the team with a list of suspicions and problems he needs help taking care of. He couldn't afford the guards so his rewards can be a lot different like authority and/or access to goods instead of cash. Imagine the Warden unfurling a map where he's made notes of incidents and then asking his team to look in to the problems and report it might look some thing like. -We've had a number of disappearances along Yeager road and a new shadowy gang has gone on a crime spree in the Ulmbar district. -Goblins with packs of rage drakes and fire beetles have taken in to the nearby woods near our lumber mills. They are out in force and if they get any more organized we might need to call for reinforcements. Look in to the situation. -Some one is writing disparaging news letters about me but he remains anonymous. It'd look bad if I sent the guard to investigate this issue. Could you find out who is slandering me from the shadows? Think up two more and I think you'll have a solid set up where the players can pick what they'd want to tackle first.
#7 therion666 Jan 25, 2010 19:10:03	You might think of a method of bringing in some good contacts and allies for the later levels by offering up the 'damsel in distress' by disreputable nobleman taking a lady going to visit Fallcrests lord in an attempt to either blackmail money from the ladies father. Another option is a local Brigand leader is the kidnapper. They could gain a good ally from the young ladies father and some in his retinue and maybe some romance interest for the future. The noble lord could bring troops to aid in the seige and stand couragously alongside the characters in their hour of need. Other options in this line is the disreputable noblemans henchman trying to discredit lord of Fallcrest opening up a murder mystery with the lord of Fallcrest at stake and locals up in arms with evidence suggesting the lord committed murder to cover up an indiscretion and the PC's tracking down the true villain to bring him to justice (alive).