Terraoblivion
2010-05-25, 10:55 AM
Recently i decided that once i return from China i will be running a 4e game of Eberron for my friends back in Denmark. To that end i have begun putting a lot of working into planning the greater framework of the plot of the game. While differing opinions are of course always valid, i know the limitations of both myself and my friends and will be running a relatively tightly scripted game, with a clear plot and a fairly narrow range of choices. This forces me to do the actual scripting, however, and for this i believe i might need the advice on others to avoid major plotholes, as well as ensure that the dramatic arc works out properly. And so i come to you, good people of the GitP roleplaying board to hear your advice on how to proceed with the plot that i have been working on.
Synopsis of the plot so far
The game has a typical beginning, with the players starting in Sharn where they get hired by an archaeologist from Morgrave University. He is paying them to recover a symbol of one of the rulers of the Dhakaani Empire, lost since the end of the Age of Monsters. Unlike much of the regalia of that age, however, this item is believed to genuinely be without any magical powers and solely possessing historic and symbolic significance. He cannot tell them the exact location since it has been lost for millennia, but it is known that the oral history of the Dhakaani places the hobgoblin it was the symbol of in the Shadow Marshes when the empire fell. Rather than send them off to search through the mud on their own, however, he directs them to the sole survivor of a previous expedition looking for this very item, a goblin now living in Rukaan Draal. He has already arranged transport with the Lightning Rail to Sterngate and promises to cover their travel expenditures as long as they follow the plan he has outlined.
Should the players investigate the archaeologist and his story, it checks out, though he of course share the shady reputation of the university he is working for.
When the players arrive in Darguun they relatively easily find the goblin in question, but not before drawing the attention of a Dhakaani tribe that in no uncertain terms tell them to stop snooping around. Even so the goblin does talk revealing the general part of the marshes where the ruins that the expedition was searching was when they got attacked and most of them died, as well as the nature of the danger lurking there. He also reveals that they are not the first humans to inquire about this recently and that a scholar from another university was there a few weeks before.
Next leg of the journey is of course to travel to the Shadow Marshes and hiring a local guide to bring them to the ruins. Some monsters and other threats of the marshes occurs to show that it is a dangerous wilderness, but nothing plot central really happens until the players reach the ruins. Here they find some of the young men from one of the local tribes camped at the entrance, under the leadership of a human who is quite intent on keeping his presence there secret. After dealing with him something in the camp will reveal that he is a Karnathi agent after the same item as the players, but otherwise they are free to deal with whatever is in the ruins and retrieve the object.
One their way back they meet a party of the Dhakaani goblins who demand the item back, citing its historical significance to them and refusing to take no for an answer. While less bloodthirsty than some of those tribes, they are willing to pay the characters to hand it over, they won't hesitate to attack should they refuse. This also marks a branching point in the plot, depending on whether they stick to their contract or decide to side with the hobgoblins.
In the first case, they dispatch the Dhakaani party and return to Sharn without further incident and hand the relic over to the archaeologist and get paid and everything seems to have worked out. The next morning, however, they get waken by the police in Sharn wanting to ask them some questions about their association with the victim of a murder committed the day before, that of the archaeologist. Just as importantly the murder is determined to have happened before they handed the object over to him. Provided they are even the least bit cooperative they get released without incident, but immediately gets contacted by one of the Dark Lanters who want to hire them to get the object back. While he is not too forthcoming with detailed information, they do learn that acquiring this object is considered a matter of national security and that the Dark Lanterns cannot do it themselves to avoid causing an international incident.
If they give it to the Dhakaani on the other hand, the two groups part way and the players return to civilization. Sometimes later, they get approached by one of the hobgoblins who tells that they were ambushed somewhere on their way through Droaam and that the ambushers got away with the macguffin. They tracked them to Sharn, but they couldn't quite follow the trail there, since the citizens are not terribly inclined to divulge large amounts of information to a group of militaristic looking goblinoids and since they just don't know the city and how to live in it.
No matter whether the characters work for the Dark Lanterns, help the Dhakaani or decide to run off to use this as an opportunity to support a faction they have ties to, the trail to the macguffin leads to Sharn. After investigating there for a while, the details of which i have not yet decided, they track down another Karnathi agent and learn two crucial bits of information. One is that, unsurprisingly, the macguffin is no longer in the city. The other is that under a specific set of planar and geographical alignments the great destructive potential of the item are unlocked, but they don't learn where and when these alignments will happen. The knowledge of where to learn that is obvious, though, the Library of Korranberg is their best bet for finding esoteric knowledge about the movements of the planes and the like, forcing them to travel to Zilargo to investigate in the library.
I currently have a double ambush of the Karrns and whoever they are not working for on the Lightning Rail on the way there, because i have to get them to fight on a magical train at some point. Also helps to show that people are not pleased with having others try to acquire this item.
More importantly, however, they get to Korranberg and then...something. This is where my planning has gotten to so far.
What the players don't know
Most of this should be obvious from the above. The archaeologist doesn't just have a scholarly interest in the macguffin, but is instead a cat's paw for the Dark Lanters maintaining multiple layers of plausible deniability. The object is also not just a symbol of the Dhakaani Empire, though it is also that, but a powerful arcane device that could tip the balance of power between The Five Nations and restart the last war.
The last thing they don't know and which i haven't mentioned yet, is that while most of the Karnathi agents are loyal, patriotic Karns honestly doing what they think is Kaius' orders, the leader of their cell is a member of the Order of the Emerald Claw and their orders have not been coming from Kaius. Indeed his plan is to use the macguffin to strike at the enemies of Karnath and restart the war and bring his country the glory it deserves, since he is not high enough in the hierarchy to know about the true goals of his organization.
What i need help with
There are a few things in this basic framework that i am uncertain about and that i am loathe to work on more detailed aspects of the game before figuring out, however. While i know that in Korranberg they will learn where and when the conditions are right to unleash the macguffin, i do not know where that is, though the when is of course far enough in the future that they can stop it, but not far enough that they can do it leisurely. I need to find a location for the climax of the game.
I also think that something more than just going to the library and checking out a book should happen in Korranberg, but i don't know what and i am also worried about putting too many roadblocks in the way. While there should be enough to make it seem like a major task, too many will just make the players feel foiled at every turn and like the whole world is against them.
The final two things i need to work into this is the revelation of the Karnathi having been subverted against their knowledge and a feeling that i should do something more after having established that one of the agents they are up against is a changeling. Establishing a shapeshifter as an antagonist in a situation where the players cannot truly address the issue pretty much demands that i employ this shapeshifter again. But i am not certain how.
So if any of you have advice on how to deal with these issues, i would love to hear it. Even if i end up not using it, the very need to read and judge your advice will be helpful for me to make a decision on what to do with this plot. So thank you all in advance for any help you might give.
Synopsis of the plot so far
The game has a typical beginning, with the players starting in Sharn where they get hired by an archaeologist from Morgrave University. He is paying them to recover a symbol of one of the rulers of the Dhakaani Empire, lost since the end of the Age of Monsters. Unlike much of the regalia of that age, however, this item is believed to genuinely be without any magical powers and solely possessing historic and symbolic significance. He cannot tell them the exact location since it has been lost for millennia, but it is known that the oral history of the Dhakaani places the hobgoblin it was the symbol of in the Shadow Marshes when the empire fell. Rather than send them off to search through the mud on their own, however, he directs them to the sole survivor of a previous expedition looking for this very item, a goblin now living in Rukaan Draal. He has already arranged transport with the Lightning Rail to Sterngate and promises to cover their travel expenditures as long as they follow the plan he has outlined.
Should the players investigate the archaeologist and his story, it checks out, though he of course share the shady reputation of the university he is working for.
When the players arrive in Darguun they relatively easily find the goblin in question, but not before drawing the attention of a Dhakaani tribe that in no uncertain terms tell them to stop snooping around. Even so the goblin does talk revealing the general part of the marshes where the ruins that the expedition was searching was when they got attacked and most of them died, as well as the nature of the danger lurking there. He also reveals that they are not the first humans to inquire about this recently and that a scholar from another university was there a few weeks before.
Next leg of the journey is of course to travel to the Shadow Marshes and hiring a local guide to bring them to the ruins. Some monsters and other threats of the marshes occurs to show that it is a dangerous wilderness, but nothing plot central really happens until the players reach the ruins. Here they find some of the young men from one of the local tribes camped at the entrance, under the leadership of a human who is quite intent on keeping his presence there secret. After dealing with him something in the camp will reveal that he is a Karnathi agent after the same item as the players, but otherwise they are free to deal with whatever is in the ruins and retrieve the object.
One their way back they meet a party of the Dhakaani goblins who demand the item back, citing its historical significance to them and refusing to take no for an answer. While less bloodthirsty than some of those tribes, they are willing to pay the characters to hand it over, they won't hesitate to attack should they refuse. This also marks a branching point in the plot, depending on whether they stick to their contract or decide to side with the hobgoblins.
In the first case, they dispatch the Dhakaani party and return to Sharn without further incident and hand the relic over to the archaeologist and get paid and everything seems to have worked out. The next morning, however, they get waken by the police in Sharn wanting to ask them some questions about their association with the victim of a murder committed the day before, that of the archaeologist. Just as importantly the murder is determined to have happened before they handed the object over to him. Provided they are even the least bit cooperative they get released without incident, but immediately gets contacted by one of the Dark Lanters who want to hire them to get the object back. While he is not too forthcoming with detailed information, they do learn that acquiring this object is considered a matter of national security and that the Dark Lanterns cannot do it themselves to avoid causing an international incident.
If they give it to the Dhakaani on the other hand, the two groups part way and the players return to civilization. Sometimes later, they get approached by one of the hobgoblins who tells that they were ambushed somewhere on their way through Droaam and that the ambushers got away with the macguffin. They tracked them to Sharn, but they couldn't quite follow the trail there, since the citizens are not terribly inclined to divulge large amounts of information to a group of militaristic looking goblinoids and since they just don't know the city and how to live in it.
No matter whether the characters work for the Dark Lanterns, help the Dhakaani or decide to run off to use this as an opportunity to support a faction they have ties to, the trail to the macguffin leads to Sharn. After investigating there for a while, the details of which i have not yet decided, they track down another Karnathi agent and learn two crucial bits of information. One is that, unsurprisingly, the macguffin is no longer in the city. The other is that under a specific set of planar and geographical alignments the great destructive potential of the item are unlocked, but they don't learn where and when these alignments will happen. The knowledge of where to learn that is obvious, though, the Library of Korranberg is their best bet for finding esoteric knowledge about the movements of the planes and the like, forcing them to travel to Zilargo to investigate in the library.
I currently have a double ambush of the Karrns and whoever they are not working for on the Lightning Rail on the way there, because i have to get them to fight on a magical train at some point. Also helps to show that people are not pleased with having others try to acquire this item.
More importantly, however, they get to Korranberg and then...something. This is where my planning has gotten to so far.
What the players don't know
Most of this should be obvious from the above. The archaeologist doesn't just have a scholarly interest in the macguffin, but is instead a cat's paw for the Dark Lanters maintaining multiple layers of plausible deniability. The object is also not just a symbol of the Dhakaani Empire, though it is also that, but a powerful arcane device that could tip the balance of power between The Five Nations and restart the last war.
The last thing they don't know and which i haven't mentioned yet, is that while most of the Karnathi agents are loyal, patriotic Karns honestly doing what they think is Kaius' orders, the leader of their cell is a member of the Order of the Emerald Claw and their orders have not been coming from Kaius. Indeed his plan is to use the macguffin to strike at the enemies of Karnath and restart the war and bring his country the glory it deserves, since he is not high enough in the hierarchy to know about the true goals of his organization.
What i need help with
There are a few things in this basic framework that i am uncertain about and that i am loathe to work on more detailed aspects of the game before figuring out, however. While i know that in Korranberg they will learn where and when the conditions are right to unleash the macguffin, i do not know where that is, though the when is of course far enough in the future that they can stop it, but not far enough that they can do it leisurely. I need to find a location for the climax of the game.
I also think that something more than just going to the library and checking out a book should happen in Korranberg, but i don't know what and i am also worried about putting too many roadblocks in the way. While there should be enough to make it seem like a major task, too many will just make the players feel foiled at every turn and like the whole world is against them.
The final two things i need to work into this is the revelation of the Karnathi having been subverted against their knowledge and a feeling that i should do something more after having established that one of the agents they are up against is a changeling. Establishing a shapeshifter as an antagonist in a situation where the players cannot truly address the issue pretty much demands that i employ this shapeshifter again. But i am not certain how.
So if any of you have advice on how to deal with these issues, i would love to hear it. Even if i end up not using it, the very need to read and judge your advice will be helpful for me to make a decision on what to do with this plot. So thank you all in advance for any help you might give.