McClintock
2011-08-02, 07:30 PM
If you are one of my fellow players please read no further, if not please give me all the help/advice you can.
Ok, so here's the skinny. I have been with this group of mine for a LONG time. We play pre-genned modules exclusively and as such, most of the group has a very LOW Optimization level. As a matter of fact, I have scaled back most of my builds to keep them on the same level as the rest of the party.
My idea is to DM a new campaign of my own creation that will show the group just how much fun optimization can be. I have started building the campaign but am having trouble with the little details.
The basic idea of the campaign is this: A very neutral high-powered caster has lost his dearest love due to the events of the RHoD story line. He has spent a few years researching a ritual to bring his love back as a more substantial being that will no longer be subject to the frailness of the (humanoid it once was) form.
The ritual requires 1 minor artifact (a special dagger), the still beating heart of a dragon, the last breath of a dying man, and to be performed in a special temple dedicated to both tiamat and bahamut equally.
The guardians of a special map (think the map from Percy Jackson),will be calling for a small group of adventurers to seek out the one who is trying to perform th ritual. The map will first lead them to the dagger, then to the book which the ritual is found in, and finally to the site of the ritual.
Part One will start with the PCs receiving a summons from the local lords of the area (set near where RHoD took place in our world). The summons will simple state that the lord is in need of champions and will be holding a test of strength, will and teamwork to determine those that will champion his cause.
They will be thrust into an arena which has been divided into quadrants. They will be assigned partners and told the final ten players whom survive will be assigned on to one of two teams. The primary [Baron's pics (PCs)] will be the champions sent forth for the lords to acquire treasure for the lord. The secondarys [secretly to become the counter force for the BBEG] will be back up if the primarys get into trouble.
After the arena they are sent to retreive the map from an eccentric old sage. (The sage is in reality the vizier to the lord and the map quest is truly only a test to see if the "primarys" will be capable of attaining the ultimate goal, stopping the ritual.
The lord (a shape changed silver dragon) and the vizier (a shape changed gold dragon) have been given the task of protecting the ritual site and the artifacts attuned to the ritual. The dagger went missing some months ago and there have been strange rumors regarding odd deaths in the poorer districts of the city. The dragons are concerned that someone has started the ritual and that once in full swing, they wont be able to stop it.
I know where the PCs are going up to the end of Act I (Finding each other, the map and the dagger) and I am sure I can get them to lvl 6 by the end.
Act II is where I am having trouble. The ritual is also going to require a component related to healing/raising dead and the PCs are going to need to go after that item and just barely fail. After that they will need to discover that their benefactors are indeed dragons and that one of them is targeted to be the still beating heart portion of the ritual. The party will strike a bargain with the lord's clerics and warriors having them protect one of the dragons and the PCs protect the other. If the PCs fail to protect their charge, that one will become the victim, if they succede, then the other group will fail and that one will become the victim. I'll need them to be level 12 by the end to set them up for the third and final act.
Act III will be the finding of the site and the remaining details of the ritual. Once they get to the ritual, they will have to fight the remainder of the secondarys, any other minions of the BBEG, the BBEG, and the beastie that he summoned instead of his love. I have already deternmined that although he starts out neutral, by following the ritual for the reasons he is, it slowly turns him to the side of evil. The summoned beastie is going to be some form of the dragonspawn from RHoD (a modified Blue Godslayer I think). The PCs will have themselves, and cohorts (I am going to suggest they bring some with them), and the remainging Dragon (which means at least 1 minion of the BBEG will be of comparable power).
See the below posts for more information on the acts.
Ok, so here's the skinny. I have been with this group of mine for a LONG time. We play pre-genned modules exclusively and as such, most of the group has a very LOW Optimization level. As a matter of fact, I have scaled back most of my builds to keep them on the same level as the rest of the party.
My idea is to DM a new campaign of my own creation that will show the group just how much fun optimization can be. I have started building the campaign but am having trouble with the little details.
The basic idea of the campaign is this: A very neutral high-powered caster has lost his dearest love due to the events of the RHoD story line. He has spent a few years researching a ritual to bring his love back as a more substantial being that will no longer be subject to the frailness of the (humanoid it once was) form.
The ritual requires 1 minor artifact (a special dagger), the still beating heart of a dragon, the last breath of a dying man, and to be performed in a special temple dedicated to both tiamat and bahamut equally.
The guardians of a special map (think the map from Percy Jackson),will be calling for a small group of adventurers to seek out the one who is trying to perform th ritual. The map will first lead them to the dagger, then to the book which the ritual is found in, and finally to the site of the ritual.
Part One will start with the PCs receiving a summons from the local lords of the area (set near where RHoD took place in our world). The summons will simple state that the lord is in need of champions and will be holding a test of strength, will and teamwork to determine those that will champion his cause.
They will be thrust into an arena which has been divided into quadrants. They will be assigned partners and told the final ten players whom survive will be assigned on to one of two teams. The primary [Baron's pics (PCs)] will be the champions sent forth for the lords to acquire treasure for the lord. The secondarys [secretly to become the counter force for the BBEG] will be back up if the primarys get into trouble.
After the arena they are sent to retreive the map from an eccentric old sage. (The sage is in reality the vizier to the lord and the map quest is truly only a test to see if the "primarys" will be capable of attaining the ultimate goal, stopping the ritual.
The lord (a shape changed silver dragon) and the vizier (a shape changed gold dragon) have been given the task of protecting the ritual site and the artifacts attuned to the ritual. The dagger went missing some months ago and there have been strange rumors regarding odd deaths in the poorer districts of the city. The dragons are concerned that someone has started the ritual and that once in full swing, they wont be able to stop it.
I know where the PCs are going up to the end of Act I (Finding each other, the map and the dagger) and I am sure I can get them to lvl 6 by the end.
Act II is where I am having trouble. The ritual is also going to require a component related to healing/raising dead and the PCs are going to need to go after that item and just barely fail. After that they will need to discover that their benefactors are indeed dragons and that one of them is targeted to be the still beating heart portion of the ritual. The party will strike a bargain with the lord's clerics and warriors having them protect one of the dragons and the PCs protect the other. If the PCs fail to protect their charge, that one will become the victim, if they succede, then the other group will fail and that one will become the victim. I'll need them to be level 12 by the end to set them up for the third and final act.
Act III will be the finding of the site and the remaining details of the ritual. Once they get to the ritual, they will have to fight the remainder of the secondarys, any other minions of the BBEG, the BBEG, and the beastie that he summoned instead of his love. I have already deternmined that although he starts out neutral, by following the ritual for the reasons he is, it slowly turns him to the side of evil. The summoned beastie is going to be some form of the dragonspawn from RHoD (a modified Blue Godslayer I think). The PCs will have themselves, and cohorts (I am going to suggest they bring some with them), and the remainging Dragon (which means at least 1 minion of the BBEG will be of comparable power).
See the below posts for more information on the acts.