I'm stumped (adventure help)

[big teej]

I'm ina rush so I will be short, but I can feel in as many details as required later.


hyper short version: the party is aiding a dwarf hold under siege, and they have decided to visit the goliaths that are holding the top of the mountian.

I need an adventure for this.... the players are going on their own, so I don't need a hook, I just need something to do when they get there.

emphasis: the hold is in danger of FALLING, so festivial/liesure activities are right out...

the idea I'm currently working on (but by no means am I attached to it)

is that the goliaths are being decimaged by some sort of disease that is utterly resistant to healing. magical healing only suppresses the symptoms for a shot time, and then they resume, currently a 3rd of the tribe (20 goliaths) is infected and incapable of action.


run with that or come up with something completely new, I don't care. :smalltongue:

ask any questions you desire, I'll answer them as I am able.

[Telonius]

Who's besieging the dwarves? Are the dwarves on friendly terms with the goliaths? Why have the goliaths not offered aid already?

I like the idea of having the players neutralizing a threat so that the goliaths can join in. Some evil sorcerer or Druid or somebody allied with the people the dwarves are fighting is behind the disease. Find and kill that person, and the goliaths will be free to help.

[kestrel404]

If the dwarven hold is under siege and about to fall, you'll need something with a fast turn-around time. Fetch-quests are out, as are any form of lengthy negotiation.

I'd go for the old classic 'trial by combat' to prove that the adventurers are worthy of leading the tribe to war, but with a twist.

The setup is that the Goliaths are outgoing and will readily ally themselves against the ones attacking the dwarven keep (whoever they are), except that their leader (who is the strongest in the village, of course) has decreed that unless the dwarves send a champion who can defeat him on his chosen field of battle they shall not recieve the Goliath's aid. The leader is secretly taking bribes not to interfere (secretly because this would be seen as a betrayal to the village should it come to light) and even if he IS defeated, he'll do what he can to kill off any challengers and not go through with the alliance.

The challenge to the party is two-fold: Find out why the leader is against action (and expose his treachery), and defeat him in combat to rightfully claim (temporary) leadership.

The twist: His chosen field of battle is a steep mountainside, entirely covered by an anti-magic field. Oh, and he's at the top of the cliff throwing rocks, with the PC at the bottom, playing Mario to his Donkey Kong.

How's that for a challenge?

[Kol Korran]

hhhmmmm... not quite sure, but if you have the time, i'd suggest a sort of a mystery- when the party arrives at the Golaith's fort, they find it empty. only there are no signs of struggle.

as they explore the place, suddenly goliaths appear, howling in rage, perhaps wounded, but looking harrowed, perhaps mad. they appear out of seemingly nowhere (and may attack the party, the party may try to stop them, disable them or so on).

as the party stays, they seem to shift into a sort of paralel dimension- from shadow? from hell? who knows? the dimension sucks the goliaths (and whomever enter the fort, such as the PCs) into it. the place may have some strange rules (i'd suggest it forces the PCs roll a will save every so often or be overtaken by rage for example).

the place is in fact a trap, devised by the enemeis of the dwarves, or it may come from other sources (the goliath shamans making forbidden deals, experimenting with powers and all the usual crap).

the party must defeat some creature or undo some "power gate"/ "poltty stuff" in order to come back to their world, and save the goliaths, who are more prown to a direct physical approach.

i'd suggest that the party learns some iportant secret about their enemey through this adventure- a true identity (or clue to it), secret allies, weakness and so on..

hope this helps

[big teej]

Who's besieging the dwarves? Are the dwarves on friendly terms with the goliaths? Why have the goliaths not offered aid already?


this actually points out alot of useful information I should really type out now that I've got the time.


allow me to elaborate on my earlier post.

the dwarf hold has fallen away from it's warrior tradition, the front line fighters of this war are mercenaries and warforged.

the dwarves are being attacked from above ground by your typical goblinoid horde (goblinoids, orcs, giants, etc.)

from below, the dwarf hold is getting caught up in a war between kythons and skaven (ratmen)

the party has been called to the hold as, essentially, military advisors and generals.

the goliaths are holding the top of the mountians (they are allied with the dwarves)

the siege has been on for about 15 years or so, and has only now reached the point where the hold felt the need to contact the heroes.

last session, the party led a military expedition into the underground areas of the hold to reclaim some ancient dwarven artifiacts from an ancient hero's tomb.

this session (in game) is kinda being spent gearing up/figuring out what needs doing next.

the party wants more information and has decided to go and visit the goliaths at the top of the mountian to see how they're holding up and if they have any information. (being nomads un-used to this scale of war, they may have seen things and not recognized their importance)

as I said, an idea I've been kicking around but I am NOT attached to, is the idea that some sort of un-natural disease has broken out amongst the goliaths. perhaps caused by some goblinoid spellcaster, or some unrelated thingamabob.

party just hit level 6 and consists of....
Human Paladin - doesn't expect to be here this session
Dwarf Fighter - 13th in line for the throne of the hold
Gnome Cleric
Human Barbarian
Elf Duskblade - new character
Human Ranger
Halfling Rogue - may be absent
Elf Druid - contributes disproportionately to class abilities*
Human Monk? - new player, character not set in stone yet.


some further notes on the party.
the paladin and the fighter are basically the party leaders, AND the most consistent contributers in combat.

the cleric understands the capability of his class, but, at my request and the player's own preference, is playing at roughly the same level at the party (doesn't play healbot, but doesn't overshadow others)

the barbarian - alot weaker than it should be, mostly due to the player still struggling to grasp the system. (last session turned up several bits of information that are going to require the sheet to be audited

the duskblade ... I don't expect him to contribute much, as the player's last 3...2? whatever, characters have been.... underwhelming to say the least.

the ranger - he's a TWF guy, but just uses a greataxe instead. no animal companion.

the halfling rogue - she's really good at what she does, and despite the player being an utter newb, has a fairly strong grasp of the system given her experience. however, the player is swamped with work, and the character will routinely disappear and reappear over the course of the semester.

the druid - of all the players at the table, this character contributes the least (except maybe the duskblade, and the bard it's replacing) I do not believe she is aware of the capabilities of her class, and she prefers support roles anyways, wolf companion.

Human Monk - brand new player, (don't worry, it's a fixed version of the monk) don't really know anything about the player or the characte relevant to the discussion, so.... yea.


any further questiosn?

[BRC]

The trip up the mountain is likely to be very dangerous, the Goblins almost certainly control the surface.

The PCs may need to rescue captured Goliath leaders, or perhaps the goliaths are considering siding with the Goblins, since the Dwarves are in no position to help them, the PC's need to convince the Goliaths to stay loyal.


The Goliaths could have raiding a goblin cart and discovered the alchemical equipment the Goblins intend to use to create poison gas, flooding the Dwarven tunnels.

[Bloodgruve]

The disease is brought on by the goblins. PC's get a lead to investigate. They cure the tribe and once at full strength the Goliaths will contribute to the dwarves efforts effectively taking control of a strategic point or killing a high ranking or important goblin and decreasing the threat to the dwarves. Check out 'Heroes of Battle' book, there is a lot of good information and ideas about handling situations like this.

GL
Blood~

[big teej]

great suggestions you two, I think those just laid down the framework for the adventure.


anybody else have a great idea?

[mootoall]

*Resists making Dwarf Fortress joke* That is all.

[Lord Vampyre]

The disease is caused by a forgotten necrotic artifact near the goliath's encampment. Goliaths not being good with magic have not realized what is happening. As the party enters the Goliath encampment, one of the party casters notices something unnatural (make it the Druid, this will help get her more involved in the game). The artifact is actually slowly turning the Goliaths into some form of undead.

A goblin wizard or cleric has recently detected the presence of this relic and is taking a party of goblin's to retrieve it, believing it will help them in their conquest.

[big teej]

as a slight ammendment to my previous posts.


I just learned that the druid and the new monk player will be absent this session. :smallyuk:

[Lord Vampyre]

You could always leave it up to the cleric to sense the foul magic effecting the Goliaths.

[Ksheep]

Thought for the unnatural disease route…

It's actually a perfectly mundane curse that, when removed via magic, is gone. However, every night it comes back. Investigating this reveals that there is something on the mountain top which are trying to drive the goliaths off by infecting and reinfecting them every night. Asking about this phenomena will reveal that there are "restless spirits" that attack any passerbys.

Twist: These "restless spirits" are just the normal inhabitants of the area and are simply frightened and doing the only thing they know how to drive the "invaders" away. Unfortunately, due to the battle, the goliath can't leave due to the battle.

What to do: The players, once arriving and finding out about this, can try to deal with the spirits. The straightforward way would be to kill or turn them… but if they make contact with them and successfully convince them to help (basically say "We can't leave until those guys down the mountain are gone, will you help us?"), then they will not only have the goliaths at full strength again, but will have another helpful ally that will whittle away at the enemies resolve. I'd say that the former solution would make the siege return to equal footing, but the latter will turn the battle in the favor of the Dwarves.

[Xtomjames]

Infiltration and Sabotage, need I say more? Why not have the group "offer" to help the besieging army and then sabotage from within? Maybe they need to get something from the Goliath's to "prove" their loyalty to the antagonists while taking them off the trail of the Goliaths. Maybe the attacking army are the ones who poisoned/infected the Goliaths and they have the antidote?

[Medic!]

Party helped recover artifacts from the deader side of the dorfs, goliaths are assaulted by a supernatural healing-resistant disease, party has-pally....This, good sir, smells like mummy rot! Party looks to be good mummy-killin age as well. Maybe a dwarf mummy is seeking one of the items taken and somehow ended up a bit further up the mountain than intended, or a goliath scout snuck something extra out after the party finished its business?

Or if you had a good way to work it in perhaps a goblinoid spy/infiltrator snuck in and animated a dwarven ancestor (Imagine the 13th heir's shock fightin grand-pappy all wrapped up in his bed-time britches!)