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View Full Version : Branching plotlines are less great when you're still at the trunk.



Drakevarg
2011-04-07, 04:37 PM
So last weekend I finally started my low-magic desert campaign, with pretty good results. Basic rundown of the plot so far:

Atem Lladnar, a nomadic tribesman; his twin brother Al-Ed; and friend Darius Vajheer recruit three outsiders to assist in taking over their tribe and ultimately all of the nomadic tribes living in the desert in order to unite them into a single nation. After being ordered to leave the camp when they approached in the day, the three outsiders decide to simply assassinate the tribe's leader in the night.

Unfortunately the session ended before the assassination could get underway (in no small part because Atem's player was four hours late and the plot couldn't move without him). So next weekend's direction is fairly obvious: they finish their assassination and try to take over the tribe. Problem is that my sessions are usually about 6 hours long and I don't think I can stretch those two goals out that long.

The other problem is that at this early a point in the campaign, there are so few plot threads lying about that it's difficult to simply string them along. The best I can think of is to have on of the neighboring tribes attempt to raid the camp, which is incredibly cliched and seems a bit of a cop-out. So, with a lack of other ideas, I came here to see what y'all could think up.

Here's pretty much all of the immediately significant aspects of the world they're in I can think of. Feel free to ask for other details:

Low-Magic: When I say this setting is low magic, I mean in the sense that it's utterly mundane unless otherwise noted. Of the PCs, only one of them has ever seen anything supernatural, and only once, ten years ago. Suggesting some supernatural distraction is in most cases going to be in poor taste, since it would reduce the significance of magic when it DOES show up.

Terra Lacus: This is the only place in the vicinity that I would consider a supernatural event to happen. Located three weeks north of their current location, Terra Lacus is an ancient city (predating any of the currently existing civilizations) that has long ago collapsed into a sinkhole. It's also the place where Darius Vajheer encountered a djinn-like entity that killed his hunting party a decade ago.

Southern Salt Flats: Located south of the tribe's territory, the party does NOT want to be going here just yet. It's populated by a tribe of powerful warriors that frequently clash with the Empire at large and manage to hold them off. The tribe that the party will presumably be taking over would be curb-stomped by these guys, and know it.

Eastern Sea of Sands: Located west of the tribe's territory, this is where the aforementioned raiding tribe lives. While I still consider "and then bandits happened" to be incredibly lazy, it does remain the most likely direction the plot will take.

Oppidum Pons: Located east of the tribe's current location, this is one of the few Imperial settlements in the region. A small town with a population of around 1000, I can't immediately think of anything interesting that might happen here.

The party, by the way, consists of thus:

Darius Vajheer, TWF Warrior 3. Wants to learn the secrets of magic so as to take revenge against the djinn-thing that killed his hunting party. Considers Atem's crusade a means to that end.

Atem Lladnar, TWF Rogue 3. Wants to take over all the tribes in the desert and unify them into a single, powerful nation.

Al-Ed Lladnar, TWF Rogue 3. Really mostly just along for the ride.

Osama Jamal, Archery Rogue 3. Wants revenge against whoever burned down his hometown. Thinks Atem's crusade might give him the muscle he needs to do that.

Xumi Sanddancer, TWF Rogue 3. Same as Osama, pretty much.

Aranesp Peste, Archery Rogue 3. Wants to take over the Empire out of sheer megalomania. Thinks Atem's desert nation can help him pull that off.

The classes are homebrewed and can be found in my sig.

Jamin
2011-04-07, 04:39 PM
You have 6 people playing I can barely handle 3.

Drakevarg
2011-04-07, 04:42 PM
You have 6 people playing I can barely handle 3.

Could be worse. I used to have seven, and regularly have to turn away strangers that want to join in.

Oh, and as was mentioned in my last thread it might be a good idea to show y'all exactly who you're giving advice to, so here's a log of most of my DMing-related threads (if you bother to read any, focus on the ones lowest on the list since they'll be more relevent):

Sewer Drain Trap (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122545)
Mooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138486)
Zombie Apocalypse (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138632)
Too Much Information? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140350)
Appropriate Guard Setups (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140552)
Which Skill To Use? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152162)
Mook Equipment (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153523)
Does this cripple or just nerf a Wizard? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154247)
Planning for Plot Variations without Railroading (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154350)
Giving Them A Reason (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154389)
Excessively Dangerous? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154595)
How much material is nessicary? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155478)
Generic Mook List, What Am I Missing? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165985)
Balance Check on House Rule (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166433)
DMs - How do you do it? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167074)
Opposing Army (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168128)
Learning from a TPK... (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169609)
CharGen Questionnaire (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170808)
Scared is preferable to dead. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171268)
Does not like WBL... (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171514)
Need to decide on a new class for an NPC. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171821)
Am I about to murder my PCs again? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172153)
Designing an Army (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172736)
Caster Level for Craft Warforged? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173140)
Help me make my players suck less. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172482)
CR Adjustment for House Rule? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173510)
New Personal Record for Fastest PC Death (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174934)
There's a fine line between "difficult" and "lethal." (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175815)
Designing a Megadungeon (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177028)
Surviving Without Magic (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=180818)
When you can afford 1600 strips of bacon... (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184831)
Need a monster. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187039)
Creating a false Tyler Durden (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188419)
Stuck on plot hooks. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=189485)
Dragging a rounded character out of them, kicking and screaming. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191584)
Well, I don't think that could've turned out much better. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192720)

Vladislav
2011-04-07, 04:45 PM
I think that if I had to sit and twiddle my thumbs for four hours because a player was late and "the plot can't move without him", I wouldn't come back for session #2.

I'm weird this way.

Drakevarg
2011-04-07, 04:51 PM
I think that if I had to sit and twiddle my thumbs for four hours because a player was late and "the plot can't move without him", I wouldn't come back for session #2.

I'm weird this way.

Well we didn't just twiddle our thumbs. We discussed inane things. And I had actually decided to just say "**** it" and have Al-Ed's player run Atem for the session about 20 seconds before Atem's player walked in the door.

And besides, considering who's DMing them if something as minor as delays were enough for them to quit I would've lost all my players months ago.

Tyndmyr
2011-04-07, 05:06 PM
I think that if I had to sit and twiddle my thumbs for four hours because a player was late and "the plot can't move without him", I wouldn't come back for session #2.

I'm weird this way.

Yeah, I think I'd be with you on that.

I am also entirely unsurprised that after four hours o' thumb twiddlin', the plotline did not progress much.

The problem with entirely mundane worlds is that they are boring. I don't mean mundane as just non-magical, though that's part of it...but when it's "
here's a desert. It has a coupla tribes. It has jack all else", then the plot starts to look pretty thin. Worlds need to be built with actual content.

Oh, and tearing out all the magic 'cept for what the DM uses doesn't really make magic special. It merely shows the PCs that they are not. If anything, you WANT your PCs to be the exceptional ones. The heroes.

Drakevarg
2011-04-07, 05:14 PM
Yeah, I think I'd be with you on that.

I am also entirely unsurprised that after four hours o' thumb twiddlin', the plotline did not progress much.

No one said it was suprising. I was as cranky as anyone else and introduced a "miss two sessions in a row and I'm booting your ass" rule.


The problem with entirely mundane worlds is that they are boring. I don't mean mundane as just non-magical, though that's part of it...but when it's "
here's a desert. It has a coupla tribes. It has jack all else", then the plot starts to look pretty thin. Worlds need to be built with actual content.

There's content, just not content that is convienently located over the next hill. They live rather specifically in the biggest ****hole in the Empire. By their own choice*. Though if they start poking around in those ancient ruins they might wake up a side plot that I'm not sure they're ready for yet.


Oh, and tearing out all the magic 'cept for what the DM uses doesn't really make magic special. It merely shows the PCs that they are not. If anything, you WANT your PCs to be the exceptional ones. The heroes.

It's more to give them a muscle reflex of "if anything supernatural shows up, run like hell." Which hopefully was pounded into their heads after the Ash Wraith incident in the last campaign, which took place on a different continent in the same setting.

And besides, the PCs can be exceptional when they've earned it (they're planning to conquer an Empire. They're gonna be exceptional or dead when all is said and done). But it'll probably be more in the "unbelievably good warriors" sense than the "can fart fireballs" sense.

*To clarify, at the start of the campaign I had them vote on which of three nations they wanted to start off in. They picked the Persia Expy. Then I showed them a map of the region and had them come up with backstories. Half of them chose to be nomadic tribesmen in the desert.

Toofey
2011-04-07, 05:18 PM
Whomever doesn't show up on time gets kidnapped for ransom by other desert bandits.

Jamin
2011-04-07, 05:53 PM
Whomever doesn't show up on time gets kidnapped for ransom by other desert bandits.

I like this idea

The Glyphstone
2011-04-07, 05:57 PM
Whomever doesn't show up on time gets kidnapped for ransomfood by other desert banditscannibals.

Fixed for you, because every desert campaign needs a Dark Sun homage. They can't be halflings in this game, since there are only humans, but still. :smallbiggrin:

Drakevarg
2011-04-07, 06:02 PM
Fixed for you, because every desert campaign needs a Dark Sun homage. They can't be halflings in this game, since there are only humans, but still. :smallbiggrin:

Maybe. Or, as an inspired-by alternative, whoever's late has to buy the party pizza.

Analytica
2011-04-07, 06:24 PM
Maybe introduce some factions that will later be important?

- Myths and legends retold around the campfire; these could be played as a minigame of sorts with the players taking on historical figures - maybe Darius tells the story of his meeting with the Djinn? He plays his former self, the others, his doomed - or treacherous - companions? Maybe a story in a similar vein showing how dangerous the salt flat people are?

- An imperial tax collector/census taker/something passes by, who will later be encountered again during the taking over the empire-plot?

- Encountering vulnerable desert travellers?

Sillycomic
2011-04-07, 06:43 PM
Second the desert travelers. They could hire the PC's to guard their wares and vulnerable people as they trek across the desert.

Desert travellers that have been wandering around a lot would have lots of random pieces of important information to tell the players. Plot hooks galore.

I am sorry most ideas sound cliche. But, it's kinda all cliche. Especially at the beginning.

I would suggest letting them pick up their own plothooks. Give them a bunch of npc's who have heard rumors and such, but let them pick what branch they want to go on.

Also... make uniting the tribe harder. Maybe there are some warriors who are very angry about the assassination and will fight to the death... even if they know they can't win, against the PC's.

Maybe someone else will thinks HE should be the new tribe chief. Fight for leadership of the clan!!!

Make it so that one group in the tribe will align with the PC's so long as they do something for them (cue cliche plot hook for a maguffin)

You don't have to have another tribe raid the camp. But think about the neighboring tribes. Have they heard of the assassination attempt yet? Would it be helpful for them to hear this information?

If I were the Chief of a tribe, and I was told the chief of a neighboring tribe was assassinated I might think someone would be after me next... and perhaps send an emissary to figure out what happened, maybe even find the assassins who did this. This might make for some fun political role playing.

Or, if I think the tribe is now weak because they have no leader, then perhaps I do think raiding and taking them under my leadership is the best thing going. This would be the more hack and slash approach.

Tyndmyr
2011-04-07, 09:19 PM
If all else fails, there's always the shifty looking guy in the corner of the tavern who happens to have a job.

Rixx
2011-04-08, 12:24 AM
I think you should utilize the two-weapon fighter's background and abilities

Sillycomic
2011-04-08, 12:54 AM
Oh, there's a good idea. If they find something in the Chief's tent that is magic related, Darius would want to look into it.

Rixx
2011-04-08, 12:57 AM
Oh! I was just snarking at the party being almost completely two-weapon fighters, haha

Crossblade
2011-04-08, 01:13 AM
Why not spend the time making the PCs deal with the backlash of their assassination?

If I were in a tribe, and my chief was assassinated in his sleep, I'd rally the mob to figure out who did it and kill them. Also, who steps up when the chief dies? Does it go to the PC? If so, why? What makes him so special? Because he jumped up and down first and yelled the loudest that he wanted to be chief? Is it a warrior tribe, where when one chief is defeated whomever defeated him becomes chief? That's usually more of a strength and honor thing... killing someone in their sleep doesn't demonstrate either of those.

Incorrect
2011-04-08, 01:37 AM
- Myths and legends retold around the campfire; these could be played as a minigame of sorts with the players taking on historical figures - maybe Darius tells the story of his meeting with the Djinn? He plays his former self, the others, his doomed - or treacherous - companions? Maybe a story in a similar vein showing how dangerous the salt flat people are?


The mini game idea is genius. I am going to use it in my next Call of Cthulhu campaign! Finally the players will have some action in stead of just burning everything everything at the first sight of myth :smallsmile:

LansXero
2011-04-09, 08:46 PM
Defining how succession goes seems like a priority if the chief is about to be off-ed. Also, consider making the PCs build up their power base and strengthening their ties inside the tribe. Finally, even a totally mundane world (specially Id say, since you cant confirm or deny anything) should be full of beliefs and superstitions. Earth is as mundane as it gets, but if you were an actual persian, you would believe its full of spirits and dust-demons and gods and stuff. If they dont, these sand tribesmen are quite enlightened for nomadic people who dont have the time to rationally explain the many phenomena happening around them.

erikun
2011-04-09, 10:08 PM
Why are we trying to lay down plot hooks at this point? The players are currently in the middle of an assassination. Anything relevant will be put off until after that happens, and the results of the assassination, successful or failure, will determine what hooks make sense.

If they succeed and become cheiftan, then they have the management of the tribe to deal with. Who needs help in the tribe? Who are the troublemakers? Who is upset with the PCs' radical takeover? More importantly, what kind of interaction does the PC's tribe have with neighbors? Perhaps there are goblins in the mountains, and the former cheiftan needed to capture members of other tribe as slave payment or get raided.

There is also the matters that only the cheiftan has knowledge of. Perhaps the old cheiftan had a wood-carved staff with runes that glowed when the moon was up. Perhaps the wise men of the village can tell the PCs that it reportedly came from Terra Lacus, if they are interested in finding more about it. Perhaps they learn that the tribe had been in communication with a larger city, trading information for weapons, and the city contacts are expecting the cheiftan to show up in two days. And of course, there is the question of what the party does about running the tribe while they are gone - who to put in charge?

If the PCs fail and are chased out, then they're likely to take any plot hook you throw at them. Offer them a job, offer them somewhere to go, offer them a town to play hero in.

And if the PCs fail but their identities aren't discovered, then they're still in the tribe but will likely want to try again. A raid from another tribe would be good here, as would anything suggesting more strength or power for the next attempt. Assuming they don't want to immediately try again, of course.