Looking for 3.5 Adventure-building advice - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Looking for 3.5 Adventure-building advice

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
mudbunny
Dec 01, 2009 12:59:02 The DM of my current group is taking a hiatus from DMing for a while (new kid, wants to play) and so I volunteered to take his place. Now I was expecting to have the group play 4E, but they were quite resistant to it, and really want to continue playing their current characters (3.5/Age of Worms).

Given that I have never DMed before (any edition), I come looking for advice, suggestions and ideas.

We were running through the Age of Worms campaign, and are level 5, almost level 6. The old DM has quite kindly sent me a list of various open-ended plot devices that he has left in the game for his potential future use, and told me to steal/modify/bastardize as I want.

Some orcs and half-fiedish ogres that we fought had some roby-necklaces that radiated strong necromantic energy. We left them with our contact (local wizard/magic Item ID guy) who was going to ship them to Greyhawk for safe-keeping/disposal.

A side quest that we were working on involved a magically locked book (several thousand years old) that had recently been stolen. We tracked down half of it (it had been ripped in half somehow) and returned it to Greyhawk library. There is no mention of a specific Deity in it from what is left, although there are links to Vecna (the book was stolen by a cult of Vecna), and Erythnull (we fought some orcs tattooed with his symbols who were also trying to get the book from the cult of Vecna).

We also managed to find the magic key that was supposed to open the book (however the book had been ripped in half by then). The key appears to be useless now due to the book being ripped in half.[/list]

I am asking for advice and suggestions on where the links could go. I would like to have some ideas for each, so that the players have a choice.

I have an idea for 1 that I would like help fleshing out: In the transport back to Greyhawk, the note indicating that the necklaces were to be sent to Temple X for destruction was misplaced somehow, and they just got placed in general "stuff traded into us by adventuring party". Some ~~local nobles~~ watch commanders saw them and decided that they would look nice embedded into their armor and did so. Since then, however, their continual exposure to the necromantic energies have done bad things to them. I am just not sure what yet.
#2
Ka_D-Argo
Dec 03, 2009 13:58:29 Our group has done a little of the Age of Worms (we finished the first chapter/book). Assuming your group is at about the same point. I would probably use your setup to maybe continue the Ebon Triad arc (assuming it doesn't naturally continue in the course of the Age of Worms). Perhaps the necklaces compel the wearers to continue the work of the Triad.
#3
mynameisjake
Dec 03, 2009 19:46:33 Is this a brief hiatus or an extended one?

If it's brief, then try your hand at a totally unrelated dungeon crawl or adventure. Don't worry about tieing it in to the main campaign. Just have them visit the Mercenaries Guild and see who's hiring. Dungeon Magazine has a lot of good, short adventures. Or just make your own.

If it's an extended break, then things get more complicated. You need to talk with him to determine if he has his heart set on continuing the Age of Worms from where you left off and with the same characters. What does he want to do about the characters advancing levels while he's away? Is he okay with you running the Age of Worms? Or would he prefer you start your own campaign?

First, tho, how long do you expect him to be away?
#4
cantus
Dec 03, 2009 23:25:06 The first thing I thought of when I saw #1 was that the caravan that the necklace got sent in was waylaid, and everything in it was pillaged, by that point your contact found a reference to it in some book of dark lore(R) and franticly contacts the party telling them they need to get it back, yesterday.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 mudbunny Dec 01, 2009 12:59:02	The DM of my current group is taking a hiatus from DMing for a while (new kid, wants to play) and so I volunteered to take his place. Now I was expecting to have the group play 4E, but they were quite resistant to it, and really want to continue playing their current characters (3.5/Age of Worms). Given that I have never DMed before (any edition), I come looking for advice, suggestions and ideas. We were running through the Age of Worms campaign, and are level 5, almost level 6. The old DM has quite kindly sent me a list of various open-ended plot devices that he has left in the game for his potential future use, and told me to steal/modify/bastardize as I want. Some orcs and half-fiedish ogres that we fought had some roby-necklaces that radiated strong necromantic energy. We left them with our contact (local wizard/magic Item ID guy) who was going to ship them to Greyhawk for safe-keeping/disposal. A side quest that we were working on involved a magically locked book (several thousand years old) that had recently been stolen. We tracked down half of it (it had been ripped in half somehow) and returned it to Greyhawk library. There is no mention of a specific Deity in it from what is left, although there are links to Vecna (the book was stolen by a cult of Vecna), and Erythnull (we fought some orcs tattooed with his symbols who were also trying to get the book from the cult of Vecna). We also managed to find the magic key that was supposed to open the book (however the book had been ripped in half by then). The key appears to be useless now due to the book being ripped in half.[/list] I am asking for advice and suggestions on where the links could go. I would like to have some ideas for each, so that the players have a choice. I have an idea for 1 that I would like help fleshing out: In the transport back to Greyhawk, the note indicating that the necklaces were to be sent to Temple X for destruction was misplaced somehow, and they just got placed in general "stuff traded into us by adventuring party". Some ~~local nobles~~ watch commanders saw them and decided that they would look nice embedded into their armor and did so. Since then, however, their continual exposure to the necromantic energies have done bad things to them. I am just not sure what yet.
#2 Ka_D-Argo Dec 03, 2009 13:58:29	Our group has done a little of the Age of Worms (we finished the first chapter/book). Assuming your group is at about the same point. I would probably use your setup to maybe continue the Ebon Triad arc (assuming it doesn't naturally continue in the course of the Age of Worms). Perhaps the necklaces compel the wearers to continue the work of the Triad.
#3 mynameisjake Dec 03, 2009 19:46:33	Is this a brief hiatus or an extended one? If it's brief, then try your hand at a totally unrelated dungeon crawl or adventure. Don't worry about tieing it in to the main campaign. Just have them visit the Mercenaries Guild and see who's hiring. Dungeon Magazine has a lot of good, short adventures. Or just make your own. If it's an extended break, then things get more complicated. You need to talk with him to determine if he has his heart set on continuing the Age of Worms from where you left off and with the same characters. What does he want to do about the characters advancing levels while he's away? Is he okay with you running the Age of Worms? Or would he prefer you start your own campaign? First, tho, how long do you expect him to be away?
#4 cantus Dec 03, 2009 23:25:06	The first thing I thought of when I saw #1 was that the caravan that the necklace got sent in was waylaid, and everything in it was pillaged, by that point your contact found a reference to it in some book of dark lore(R) and franticly contacts the party telling them they need to get it back, yesterday.