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Keld Denar
2010-02-27, 06:19 PM
So, I volunteered to run a game for a group I play another game with. Most fo them are ~10+ years older than me, and are more of a classic, story driven RP group. I don't have a problem with this, however, its not my strongest point. Mechanics and encounter building are my main passions, so I thought I'd run a little something past y'all and see what you think.

World is Greyhawk, as presented in the Living Greyhawk Gazeteer, plus my own knowledge of the various regions I've played LG in.

Last night, all of the players presented their PCs, and it seems like they are universally lacking in altruism and are more...financially motivated. There is a LE Favored Soul of Hextor, an invocation-style Hexblade (rewritten by 1stlvlftr), a straight rogue who might be multiclassing into swashbucker but is totally addicted to his skillpoints, and an aspiring shadowcraft mage with a canibalistic outlook on society.

Here is what I sent out in the opening email, and the first actual game will be this coming friday.


A familiar courier visits each of you as you pass some down time in the Freecity of Greyhawk. Mr. Karif would like to speak with you. Making your way to the docks district, you are waved through a door by a couple of VERY large Bakluni guards wearing wickedly curved falcheons. You skirt around a VERY full warehouse filled with wooden crates and climb a set of rather rikety stairs to a small office overlooking the warehouse floor. "Good good good, come in my friends," a middle aged Bakluni man with a thick accent waves from behind a desk piled high with ledgers. He barely looks up from the one he writting in, furiously scribing in his small spidery script.. "I'm glad you were so hasty in answering my summons. The tide is descending and we haven't much time. I would like you to review some ledgers for me. I trust you will find everything you need written in here. Give this one to Captain Windsor of the Silver Sparrow at Pier 34, and make sure that this one meets with Geshtai once you've checked over my figures," the man says hurriedly as he sprinkles sand across the last page.

From the warehouse to the pier is a short 5 minute walk. The air is thick with the smell of unwashed bodies and fish, although absent of the smell of brine one would expect from a port so large. The Silver Sparrow is crawling with sailors scurrying about tightening some lines while loosening others. "You are zee associates of Mr. Karif?" He holds his hands out expectantly. Reviewing the document, he whistles to a couple nearby sailors who promptly pull in the gang plank. "GORK!" the man shouts, causing the head of a massive half-orc to look up. "Show zese men zeir quarters" The half-orc only grunts and heads toward the forecastle. Very dim lamplight reveals four hammocks are strung up bunk style next to easily a dozen others. The half-orc grunts again, tilting his head, and then turns and walks out the door. Grabbing the lantern, the four of you open the remaining ledger which reveals...

To be continued...

To make things smoother, we all agreed to have the party be former associates on a couple smaller crimes. Their employer is currently sending them on a boat ride across the Nyr Dyv from Greyhawk City to the town of Bright Sentery in the Shield Lands. Bright Sentery is a small city on the Veng River Delta and although most of the Shield Lands venerates Heironeous as their primary diety, Bright Sentry is governed by the clergy of the church of Pholtus (Oeridean god of Blinding Light and Law). I'm thinking that that ledger contains details on some kind of relic that the party is supposed to boost. Not sure what that will be yet. From there, I'm thinking of setting it up so that its NEARLY impossible for them to succeed at which time they'll be captured and probably sentanced to certain execution. Then, the execution is mysteriously waved and the party is instead exiled from Bright Sentery with a cryptic note from an organization called "The Drinkers of the Cup of Midnight" (actual Greyhawk CG organization plotting the downfall of Iuz the Old from inside occupied territory). From there, their Drinker contact has them run missions into the occupied Bandit Kingdoms, probably stationed in Rookroost, to strategically disadvantage the machinations of Iuz and his Boneheart.

I also want to throw in a little twist with "emissaries" of the neighboring Furyondy who are pressuring Shield Lands to submit to "Furyondy" control for their own protection. In actuality, the emissaries were sent to offer whatever aid they could to the belegured, war-torn Shield Lands, but were intercepted by agents of a cabal of either Illithid or Abolith (haven't decided), and have been reprogramed to spin it as more of a take-over plan than the aid that a LG Kingdom intended to offer its long time ally (since the 1st Greyhawk Wars). If sucessful, they would sweep in with their army of magically modified duergar and Furyondy would wise up to the fact that someone has been posing as them and invade to root out the evil and protect the Shield Landers from this new threat, plus the extra front of Iuz and his soulthirsty pack of tireless invaders. Then we could have some all-out war between the standing army of Furyondy, the remaining free peoples of the Shield Lands, the Illithid/Abolith controlled Shield Lands state, and the demon/undead hoardes of Iuz and friends.

I also want to get in a little Rhenee flavor, some Dyvers intrigue, and a little tickle of Turash Mak and his orcish horde, along with some Scarlet Brotherhood slavers, but maybe thats reaching a bit far for one campaign, especially since the latter 2 are embroiled in their own shananigans and are geographically kinda far from the Nyr Dyv

So yea...I guess these are my questions.

1. Is the opening hook too Deus Ex? I don't really like the idea of issuing the PCs an ultimatum where one option is the premature end of the campaign, but I don't know how else to garner the sliver of loyalty to the Drinkers the PCs need to operate.

2. Is it engaging? I don't want to sit and play solitaire with the PCs DM-Of-The-Rings style. I want the PCs to have free will to follow some plans and throw comedically giganitic monkey wrenches in others.

3. Illithids or Aboliths? I'm leaning toward Aboliths with the intent of tapping into some of the unused material I have from the old A Night Below boxed set, but a cabal of a half a dozen Illithid get the job done just fine.

4. How do I tie it all together? I really like both ideas, and I'll probably primarily follow whichever path the PCs seem most interested in exploring and just downplay the rest, but I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on this.

Greenish
2010-02-27, 06:40 PM
I'm probably talking out of my, err, behind, but here we go:
1. Is the opening hook too Deus Ex? I don't really like the idea of issuing the PCs an ultimatum where one option is the premature end of the campaign, but I don't know how else to garner the sliver of loyalty to the Drinkers the PCs need to operate.Opening a campaign with a "failure is the only option"-style quest is probably not something I'd try, if I were ever to DM. Limiting their options to only having to serve a certain faction when they have such opportunistic characters... Oh well, maybe it'll work.
2. Is it engaging? I don't want to sit and play solitaire with the PCs DM-Of-The-Rings style. I want the PCs to have free will to follow some plans and throw comedically giganitic monkey wrenches in others.It has nifty layers of intrigue and some free-for-all plotting, from what you wrote. It sounds something your players would like, from your description of them.

3. Illithids or Aboliths? I'm leaning toward Aboliths with the intent of tapping into some of the unused material I have from the old A Night Below boxed set, but a cabal of a half a dozen Illithid get the job done just fine.http://www.iwozhere.com/SRD/images/MM35_PG8.jpg

4. How do I tie it all together? I really like both ideas, and I'll probably primarily follow whichever path the PCs seem most interested in exploring and just downplay the rest, but I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on this.Maybe one of the Furyondy emissaries was a spy for Iuz the Old, and now that he's stopped sending reports (due being mindraped), agents are dispatched to find out what's going on?

Or the aboleths have something they want from Iuz, and use the Shield Lands as a negotiation tool?


Or maybe all that conflict is being created by someone else, who wishes to upset the balance of power for whatever reason? :smallwink: