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HunterOfJello
2009-10-20, 05:11 PM
[3.5e] Suggetions for Plot involving Old God
Right now I'm trying to develop a plot that has already begun involving an Old God trapped inside a dagger that has cursed one of the PCs. The curse is a Quest/Geas compelling the Monk to sacrifice 2 humanoids to it per day or die slowly. The PCs know that if they continue to sacrifice humanoids, the Old God will eventually be released unto the world. Right now the PCs are interested in finding a way to remove the curse.

Any suggetions you guys can give towards the plot or fun/interesting things to incorporate into this campaign would be awesome.

So far I've been planning on setting up a friend NPC to tell the PCs a location where they might be able to find a powerful enough Cleric or being to remove the curse. Then, I was going to add in obstactles for the group to overcome to get to that location.

So far I've considered:
-A rich noble employing mercaneries and/or bounty hunters to obtain the dagger
-An order of zealous paladins who sense the evil of the dagger and attempt to kill the entire group because of it
-A cult who worship an evil deity who have an interest in making sure the Old God isn't released and either help or hurt the group (maybe even a split in the organization?)
-A group of neutral mages who may somehow be involved for the mining operations in that mountain to begin with

and
-the normal bandits, wild animals, and obstacles that always get in the way of adventurers and their goal

The campaign is a traditional D&D setting and the players are around level 4. The party consists of a Sorc, Monk, Rogue, Cleric of Pelor and Fighter. THe PCs are mostly CG with the monk LN and the rogue CN.


What do you guys think of what I have so far? What do you think are cool, interesting, or fun ways I could improve the plot and/ or presentation? And do you have any suggestion about any of the concepts here at all?

Karoht
2009-10-20, 05:53 PM
Okay, I used a similar method, but a different plot hook to bring in the old god/s.

Admittedly, two of them were NPC's and were not actually gods but were believed to be in the mythos. Think old indian style legends told by orcs, with spirits like the wolf and eagle. Eagle was in fact an Avarile (Monster Manual) with Druid class levels, and Wolf was a similar race, but was actually a lion type creature, commonly mistaken for all manner of creatures in several other legends.

The big legend surrounds Snake. Snake is actually a very large Dragon. When the World Tree was severely damaged, Snake took the blood of a very special Orc Warrior, held the tree together by coiling around the tree, and spat the blood in all the cracks. Eagle called for the mountains to cover over Snake and the world tree to keep it safe. Many years later, a comet strikes that mountain and turns the area into a swamp. The PC's stumbled into a mine in the area that was digging up crystals. Said crystals were pieces of the dragon, the world tree, and the blood of this orc warrior. The hook was that orcs of the surrounding area were being convinced to come and work in the mine rather than toiling in the swamp. They were even being paid in gems. Naturally, due to the blood of this Orc Warrior involved with the gems, it allowed for limited control over groups of Orcs. This pulled the PC's in perfectly, by appealing to their greed and to the desire to do good.

Later, they stumbled across the Eye of Snake. The surviving piece of the world tree was moved away long ago. Eagle and Wolf only found the Eye of Snake, and it was moved to another mountain range by Kobolds. The PC's eventually came across the Eye, still very much alive and sentient. They came to be there because one of them was cursed. I'm talking Uber bad curse, they were told they could get it removed by these Kobolds, who were guarding/worshiping the Eye. The Eye was about 40 ft tall, and could still talk. No, not Sauron like, before you ask.

The theme of the whole campaign was new gods rising (not the PC's), and the old gods still exerting their influence to help the world, what little they could.

The dagger you have made central to the story. Throw in perhaps another god who wants the dagger? Not a demon or anything so lame. Just a competing god. Maybe a lover, or one of the trickster gods, or one that just wants to see his/her rival embarrassed. Now, if they free this god from the dagger, is there a positive or a negative? If they keep him imprisoned, is there a positive or a negative? If they remove the curse/gaes/quest, will that still keep the god contained, even temporarily? Can they bargain with the trapped god? Can they bargain with any of the other gods? Is there another force of badness in the world that they perhaps need the dagger (still containing said god) in order to kill? Perhaps involve a religious order (Knights, Paladins, Clerics, Monks, and the like) of an opposing deity that is looking for this dagger as well?

You have a great idea. You really do. There are rails, but they aren't too ridgid. My advice-do not make the thing compelling the Monk to sacrifice people anything that can be resolved with game mechanics. IE-If he finds a high enough spell caster who can somehow undo all this, it makes the quest rather moot. It really should be something that only exact circumstances (completing a very specific task, such as defeat Demon X or God Y, or pour the tears of a specific type of dragon on the dagger) can remove.

I always tell people, never use a game mechanic as a lever on your party. Here's why I say this. What happens if the Monk dies? Does the god still get out? Would that keep him contained? So the Monk could just die, then get res'd and everything is okay? You're party could very well suggest this. Or if the party gains access to a single wish, that could counter the gaes spell and save the day.

Just some thoughts. Best of luck.

valadil
2009-10-20, 09:28 PM
I had an evil dagger like that once. It was over 5 years ago, so I can't remember it all that well.

I think the dagger should bargain with the PCs. Maybe one day they could talk it down to 1 person instead of 2 for the day, but the dagger chooses the person. Then you can have it start removing important or otherwise plotty people.

SartheKobold
2009-10-21, 07:04 PM
Don't negate the curse, but mitigate it in a way that corrupts the PC...

The PCs strike a deal with a cultist whom alters the curse: The 2 Humanoids/Day is instead reduced to 2 Con Damage worth of blood/Day. For every +2 Con Damage inflicted before midnight, the weilder is granted +2 On Attack rolls, +1 CL or some equal bonus helpful to the PC... However, it taints the PC's energy, making them a beacon for some relevant enemy (Bandit Shamans, Undead, Aberrations!!!) and weakens them against the specified enemy on a failed Will save... Make the dagger powerful enough so that the PC will willingly keep it around...