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View Full Version : Requesting advice with low-mid level faerunian underdark campaign (3.5)



Harperfan7
2010-02-07, 06:35 AM
I'm DMing for my cousin, who is playing a currently 1st level half-orc with fiendish blood (that feat, plus will gain half-fiend spell-like abilities starting at 2nd level). It's a solo campaign, except he can recruit party members (or be forced to work with them) whom I build and he basically controls. He'll be the leader of the party and can give orders, but how they react to these orders is up to me. They may turn on or betray him depending on circumstances and his actions.

We've had one adventure so far, and he's almost 2nd level. From now until about 5-7th, he will be in the underdark (of faerun). He fell unconcious at the end of the last adventure and is going to be picked up by a group of evil underdark humanoids (either a group of duergar slavers or drow warriors/scouts) to be sold into slavery at the nearest upperdark outpost.

The following campaign will consist of him-

-being captured (this is inevitable, it's only a matter of time)
-being sold into slavery
-fighting as a gladiator in an arena
-after becoming a champion, being bought by a noble drow house to be a slave soldier
-fighting for the drow and avoiding being killed by his owners
-assissting a surface raid into an elven forest By this point he's going to be mid level and may have a party (probably consisting of other slaves or outcast drow) and will probably have 3-5 levels in sorcerer, so he and his allies will actually pretend to be drow (with disguise or illusion) and use this opportunity to escape (probably back to the Spine of the World were he started).
-finally escaping

Notes of importance
-he's evil and so will be most of any potential party members, though most of his enemies will also be evil.
-Half Orc Half-orcs in my campaign use these stats:
-+2 Str, -2 Int
-+2 Intimidate and Survival
-+2 saves vs. disease
-+3 when charging
-darkvision 60ft.

He is actually a half-deep orc, so he has darkvision 90ft. and light blindness as a normal orc.

If a slashing or piercing wound goes untreated for 24 hours, dark rot (gangrene) is contracted. (making the +2 vs. disease more important than usual)
-he's currently a 1st level barbarian, but... He's eventually going for Bar 1/Ftr ?/Sor ?/Spellsword 10

His basic stats are
Str 17, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 14
Fiendish Bloodline (+1 saves. vs. good spells, +4 vs. poison)
Has ranks in Climb, Intimidate, Listen, and Survival.
Currently using chain shirt and greataxe, will switch to greatsword and spiked banded mail at 2nd level.
-he started as part of an orc tribe and when he gets back to the surface (and likely returns to his tribe, at least eventually) they will be at war with other orcs and nearby dwarves, and a horde is starting to form. He and his will likely get involved with that, though I don't need help with that).

Anyways, I'm having trouble getting started.

Does anybody have any ideas, "what-I-would-do-in-your-situation" kernels of wisdom, or general underdark campaign advice you are willing to lend?

Harperfan7
2010-02-08, 04:34 AM
Nothing?

I'm not asking for any kind of effort, just random bits of advice or ideas.

Aharon
2010-02-08, 06:37 AM
How proactive is your cousin?

If he is interested in guiding the story, he may be a bit frustrated by your planned course of action - it might be perceived as railroading, especially the "being captured is inevitable" part. If he has any ideas to prevent that that are really golden, you might want to allow him to succeed with his plans.

You can then bring him back on trail with other methods - he needs some kind of item, and the owner wants him to fight in the arena to get it, a friend was enslaved and is fighting there, and he wants to save him, stuff like that.

How do you know how he will behave in the surface raid? He might not think of disguising as a drow and then escaping.

(Disclaimer: not entirely sure about this, as I'm away from books)
You might want to fudge a few dice rolls or use monsters of less than his CR - his build doesn't seem very optimal. I don't remember the details of Spellblade, so I may be wrong.

Harperfan7
2010-02-08, 07:10 AM
He's captured because he fell unconcious during the last adventure after his rage ended.

I'm allowing for at least 3 different routes he could take. I'm not rail-roading at all, he can do whatever he can actually accomplish. He might not do the surface raid thing at all.

As to his optimization level, I intentionally make npcs non-optimized. I try to have realistic worlds and characters.

He will be at least as powerful as everybody he faces of his level, except when it comes to judgement.