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grimbold
2010-10-25, 04:15 AM
So basically the players have stumbled upon the birthplace of the dwarves (where the dwarves first came out of the rock) and have to help its keepers (Some high level clerics) fight off a demilich and his armies of undead. Only 5 people in the entire continent were aware of this place, not counting the players or the lich and his zombies.
The players have gotten to 4th level by protecting the birthplace but most of the towns people have died. The dwarven clerics can not waste any spells on healing the players or teleportation or such because they have to prepare magical defenses against the lich.
So now the players have to go on a mission south to talk to the king of the dwarves to get him to bring them an army.
thoughts? opinions?

Altair_the_Vexed
2010-10-25, 04:36 AM
Good basic sensible game idea - and dwarves don't get nealry enough focus, I feel - but what's the party's interest in the story?

Why do they have to help defend the place?
Why do they have to go talk to the dwarven king?

Getting the players to do these two things is obviously important, so you need to be sure ahead of time that they'll do it.
You need to build in motivations for them somehow. How can you make the players have the idea of going to the drwaf king for themselves (so it's not just another quest given to them by some guy with a big ! over his head)?

Also, you need to plan for what might happen if they decide to do something else.
What other ways are there of defending against the undead hordes?
What can the party find out if they go hunting for the demilich?

Cover those bases and you should be good to go.

GodGoblin
2010-10-25, 04:39 AM
Sounds like a solid base, but what will the adventures involve? Fighting waves of zombies and holding down the fort? Being a ghost unit to go and sabotage the lich's war machines? Epic quest to attack the lich in his own castle before the fight gets to the dwarves?

As I said its a solid premise but other than that we would need more detail, hope these help though :smallsmile:

Yora
2010-10-25, 04:40 AM
I think it sounds like a good idea.

The tough part will be the final battle. Making the players powerful enough to defeat a demilich, or making it so weak that they can defeat him both seems cheap. But watching a group of NPCs bringing the campaign to an end is never fun.
My idea would be to arrange it in a way, that the PCs have to perform a task that is vital in destroying the demilich, but still falls within the range of difficulty they can handle. For example the dwarven clerics could be preparing a powerful ritual or a massive magical rune, but to unleash its power on the demilich the PCs have to perform a vital task, or the entire thing is useless. But of course, some unforseen problems appear and they have to hurry to get their task done before it's too late. One possibility would be, that they are the ones to activate the final seal that traps the demilich, and they effectively get "the kill". Or if it fits the campaign better, they are one of many teams that have to put a number of magical crystals in place and have no way of knowing how the other teams are doing or how far the demilich has already advanced, until the crystals unleash their power. That way they are playing a vital part and can feel having accomplished something great, but it may seem more plausible than some low- or mid-level adventurers saving the world by themselves.

grimbold
2010-10-25, 05:12 AM
right i will go through one suggestion at a time

Why do they have to help defend the place?
They have to defend it for several reasons
1. The party leader is a dwarven cleric.
2. 2 of the party members (who are not the cleric) are lawful in alignment.
3. MONEY!
4. The clerics in charge of protection have promised to vaporize the pcs if they do not help.
5. This may lead to the destruction of the Demilichs city of evil in the pits of the underdark.
6. 3 of 4 in the party are good aligned.

a bit railroady but it works.

Why do they have to go talk to the dwarven king?
They have to go to the dwarven king for several reasons
1. The demilich (based of xychon :P) has placed a thing over the birthplace similar to what xychon put over azure city.
2. The pcs are not strong enough to fight off all the hordes on their own they need the help of the dwarf (and possibly the human) armies.
3. They need to be out of the village while the clerics set up their defences. This is because the defenses are so holy that only clerics of moradin can even be present as they are being set up otherwise they will get vaporized.


How can you make the players have the idea of going to the drwaf king for themselves (so it's not just another quest given to them by some guy with a big ! over his head)?

They realized that they were too weak to fight off an even larger zombie horde so they went to get reinforcements this is good for them as it coincides with them havong to be out anyway due to the magic being done. nice ddo reference btw.


What other ways are there of defending against the undead hordes?

This is the bit i'm having trouble with, i need suggestions on this or else it might become a rather bland hacknslash.


What can the party find out if they go hunting for the demilich?

1. Finger of Death Hurts
2. Time Stop Hurts
3. (Insert Spell of CHoice) hurts.
4. He can turn himself invisible.
5. He has LOTS of demon guards
FYI the party is 4th level and rather experienced.


but what will the adventures involve? Fighting waves of zombies and holding down the fort? Being a ghost unit to go and sabotage the lich's war machines? Epic quest to attack the lich in his own castle before the fight gets to the dwarves?

Pretty much fighting of zombies, holding down the fort and trying to get reinforcements. However i do plan for them to have to go on a mission to kill sabotage a balor lieutennant at one point later on. Attacking the lich might be a good idea, but towards the end of the campaign when the players are stronger. (In the epic level handbook demilichs are cr 33). Any adventure ideas from you guys are very much appreciated.


as for the boss fight, I am planning on making this campaign go to level 15-20 so they will be fighting a demilich similar to that found in the epic level handbook. It should be a hard fight but doable. However your idea is a good one Yora.
Maybe the clerics (who they have befriended) should die and they kill him as an act of vengeance?

FelixG
2010-10-25, 05:19 AM
Well if you want recommendations on ways they can defend this more constructively instead of standard hack and slash i need to know a few things!

1) What classes are your party?
2) How many villagers/fodder do they have left
3) What is the terrain like?
4) How far does the undead forces have to travel?
5) Why hasn't the lich just launched one massive attack?
6) What is the liches motivation for wanting the place?

grimbold
2010-10-25, 05:46 AM
1) What classes are your party?
2) How many villagers/fodder do they have left
3) What is the terrain like?
4) How far does the undead forces have to travel?
5) Why hasn't the lich just launched one massive attack?
6) What is the liches motivation for wanting the place?

right all very good questions.

1) Warblade, Barbarian, Cleric, Wizard
2) Very few. The mayor and the highest level commoner are the two off the top of my head. Then there are a few commoners who survived the first attack, no more than 20 say.
3) It is very rocky underground terrain the dwarves in my world have a massive mines of moria styled underground civilization.
4) They have teleportation devices back at their city.
5) He was beaten a long time ago and is only just gathering up troops again. A bit like Sauron in LOTR, he is gathering up men and soon it will get really ugly.
6) The place is extremely magical and he will further himself in the eyes of whatever evil god he worships. So he will be a stronger mage and be able to take over the world more easily (yes he wants the world) and he gets brownie points with his god.

Dark_Nohn
2010-10-25, 06:02 AM
A few hours ago, and a day or so ago, I was thinking about what actually limits a cleric in their ability to pray for magic from a deity, and I came to the conclusion that they can only mentally (and physically) endure only so much divine magic per day before it starts having physical consequences, otherwise deities would be giving out as much divine power as their subjects need/want or as little as the deity is willing to give (depending on the deity's personality, alignment, and portfolio.)
A few suggestions of mine are that the PCs have a find the MacGuffin that the clerics need to sacrifice to their deity so they can do a greater turning empowered (and enlarged) to the point where the cleric eliminates all undead within a few miles (the demilich included,) and the PCs must then find the phylactery within one week or so (the location of the dungeon in which it resides is known, but it's large enough of a dungeon that the PCs will be in a rush.) I'd also recommend having the demilich's lieutenant be a rather powerful martial undead (or perhaps with certain levels of certain classes, such as Death's Chosen for flavor more than challenge, as the "master" will be considered dead. Also you could have a creature with regeneration (like an ogre mage) have 7+ levels in Pale Master so they become immune to nonlethal damage (which is what all non-acid non-fire damage is to ogre mages)

dsmiles
2010-10-25, 07:24 AM
Zombie apocalypse + political intrigue = WIN!

grimbold
2010-10-25, 07:47 AM
thanks so much for the ideas Dark
but for the record the pcs are 4th level, theyre not gunna fight the BB until like 15th
so i need adventure ideas for the lower leveled part

Mastikator
2010-10-25, 07:56 AM
Seems like a good plan, but I have a question about what seems like a plot hole.
Sending (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/sending.htm)is a 4th level cleric spell that takes 1 round to cast. It seems like the cleric might be able to do the player's quest faster and more reliably.

Also, why are the 4th level players up against a demilich? Either they're gaining multiple levels per session (which honestly seems a bit much, a bit crazy much even), or this campaign will take 20+ sessions. Assuming playing 1 session per week without interruption (which in my experience is A LOT), then it'd take half a year to get through.
Seems like a big commitment to me, but on the other hand maybe your players are very reliable and commited, so maybe it's not an issue.

grimbold
2010-10-25, 08:35 AM
my players are pretty committed and we like big campaigns, we get together sometimes 2-3 times a week.
as for the sending loophole, the demilich set up a field like xykon did in azure city, no magic gets in or out unless he wants it too

Mastikator
2010-10-25, 09:12 AM
Ah I see.
This campaign seems a little like LOTR meets OOTS with your own personal touch. :P

grimbold
2010-10-25, 09:21 AM
This campaign seems a little like LOTR meets OOTS with your own personal touch. :P
to a degree yes
but you may also be thinking this as i have been using oots and lotr refrences thorughout to clarify stuff. I do this because those are two things pretty much everybody here has read or is familiar with.