So far the adventure will start with the pc's trapped in a land unfamilar to them after chasing a criminal who was once a powerful member of the organization the pc's are apart of. They have a rough map of the area and information on one of the few towns in the area.
I want the adventure to have a darker feeling, and the area to have more of a dark presences. I have a werewolf ambush planned out as well as a skill challenge for defending a besieged fort planned, but beyond that I'm kind of stuck. Any help you can offer would be great.
The basic premise sounds a lot like Lost, so I would also like to inquire as to how long of a storyline are you shooting for? I.e. 1 or 2 sessions? 4 to 5 levels? The rest of their character's lives?
What kind of creatures do you want them to fight? -brainstorm and start a list of creatures you think you might want them to fight and encounters will come to mind when you do so.
How dark do you want "dark" to be? -because very little says dark like undead or creatures from the Far Realm, werewolves and vampires are classics together too; this also suggests wolves, bats and all sorts of other creatures to help with the previous question
Do you have any interesting location in mind? -a ruined gothic style church -a village of scared and angry villagers (Angry Mob from Dragon Magazine Annual 2009) -a rickety bridge (present it as the only way to cross a river/ravine and as a skill challenge because it is falling apart; completing the skill challenge places them on the bridge when the combat encuonter starts - use varying degrees of danger on the bridge depending on how well they did in the challenge
Create 5 NPCs...
Create 5 NPCs who contribute to the storyline but who are not combatants (or at least not initially)
Go from there.
It looks to be 2-3 sessions and possibly longer if this takes off. They are still in pursuit of the criminal. I was thinking of the land be filled with undead and other monsters that can fit into. I also brainstormed that there is a war between the vampires and the lycanthropes (werewovles, wererats, werebores).
The land itself is mostly planes with a few forests, some mountians, a marsh and two large lakes. there are five towns (the largest with a population 2,250, and one of the towns a dwarven outpost) and only two major roads. the land itself is about 150 sq miles.
The land is about a week's journey (on horse) from other civilized lands.
The major town I'm basically using Fallcrest from the Dungeon Master's guide.
as for the BBEG I was thinking either the criminal, or he could just be a lackey for another more powerful being.
I was also thinking that the people of the land could be either one or the other between the vampires and lycanthropes or they could be suspicious of the pc's thinking that the pc's are the cause of the recent troubles.
any other ideas would be great too.
I actually think you should add a third faction who is dedicated to liberating the mortals of the land from their oppressors. Maybe.
I really like the idea of the criminal infecting himself and people of the land with lycanthropy to fight against the vampire overlords.
Also I can use one of the pc's back story with this, I will have it that while the person had contact with the criminal they where infected with lycanthropy (its only in the early stages and will progress slowly at frist) so eventually the criminal will try to convince the pc's to join him, while the vampires will try to convince them to help them out. I will also work on a 3rd option where they can fight against both sides if they wish.
Thanks a lot 
Thanks for the help so far. Ok, I'll fill in more details ...
It looks to be 2-3 sessions and possibly longer if this takes off. They are still in pursuit of the criminal. I was thinking of the land be filled with undead and other monsters that can fit into. I also brainstormed that there is a war between the vampires and the lycanthropes (werewovles, wererats, werebores).
The land itself is mostly planes with a few forests, some mountians, a marsh and two large lakes. there are five towns (the largest with a population 2,250, and one of the towns a dwarven outpost) and only two major roads. the land itself is about 150 sq miles.
The land is about a week's journey (on horse) from other civilized lands.
The major town I'm basically using Fallcrest from the Dungeon Master's guide.
Just a word of caution that your wereblanks vs. vampire thing may be a bit cliche. Your players may enjoy that, and that's great.
I would likely opt for warring liches with the party caught in the middle. Your criminal could be caught in between, or acting as a double agent to usurp power (for himself or for his boss) in the region from the liches. The region would still be flooded with undead, and you could still have vampires and wereblanks roaming the land, even aligned with the liches so it appears they are against each other.
to make it less cliche, what do you think would make a worthy opponent to undead that is also evil?
I kind of want to make the pc's choices as gray as possible with this one.
I do like the added layer of the waring liches. What seems like a war between vampires and wereblanks could be much more, and perhaps the criminal is an unwitting pawn of one of the liches.
to make it less cliche, what do you think would make a worthy opponent to undead that is also evil?
I kind of want to make the pc's choices as gray as possible with this one.
I think that a human cult or faction hellbent on eradicating the undead would be interesting protagonists. Fanatical by nature to the point of not letting anything get in their path, almost blinded by their desire. They could even be practicing rituals and sacrifices to appease their pagan deity. Every bit as evil as the undead.
Don't discard ideas just because you think they're "cliche". They got that way for a reason. Every story follows certain predictable paths, adding a new spin on them is the real challenge. At its heart, a cliche is a tool. It is a building block. Use it wisely.
The mortals (general population) may have been forced to take sides and may act as spies, or certainly be cowed and tempted to collaborate with the vampires or whomever. For example the genial Innkeeper may turn the players in to earn protection for his daughter.
The locals co-operate because they fear that becoming an undead/lich/werewolf will destroy their souls. Also clerics may well be persecuted/destroyed. Only a few exist in hiding because all sides fear the power of a cleric. Perhaps there's an uber-cleric the vampires have prisoner who has the power to drive the vampires and werewolves from the land?
If the war is being vigorously pursued, then conscript armies, starvation and disease may afflict the general populace which the immortal characters ignore as it barely affects them.
Vampire fortifications will have no windows whatsoever, allowing them to operate during the day as well. Perhaps there is one dominating the skyline of your town? However, they will be dependent upon an army or scrying spells to keep themselves safe during the day.
As for Liches and Werewolves, they may also be embarking upon a campaign of scorched earth (or starting one when the players enter the fray). Basically the werewolves are planning to start a plague or something that will kill all the mortals in an attempt to starve the vampires out.
Perhaps your criminal character could have the ingredients or ability to manufacture this plague. Then the players have a choice - allow the plague to spread and destroy the vampires or destroy the plague - possibly by making a deal with the vampires. (or rescue the uber cleric whilst the vampires are distracted by the werewolves and destroy both sides).
A third faction always makes things more interesting and less black and white.