Help with a campaign plot

[Othesemo]

I recently started DMing a campaign for a few friends of mine, using 3.5 rules and standard cosmology (with a fair number of homebrew gods and the like). For the last few playing sessions, we've basically been doing 1-shot adventures. Now that I've got a slightly better idea of what they/their characters want to do, I've decided to start along a campaign path. This is what I have so far-

About fifty years ago, in-game, the devils were coming very, very close to losing the Blood War. Demons had nearly taken over Dis, and Asmodues was seriously worried. In desperation, he began searching throughout the planes for a means of saving his skin (and to a lesser degree, that of all of the devils). He eventually found his answer on Celestia- he climbed the mountain, from Lunia up, battling through hordes of celestials. Eventually, he reached Chronias. There, he defeated Zaphkiel and stole his divinity (he was an intermediate deity in my campaign). Using his divinity, he disguised Zaphkiel's corpse as himself, and cast it from the top of Celestia.

At the same time, he was on Baator. Using his newfound divinity, he beat back the demons, restoring the nine hells to their normal state of pure evil.

Then, disguised as Zaphkiel, he commanded the armies of Celestia to attack the Nine Hells, claiming that their weakness was an opportunity to dispose of the devils once and for all. Commanding the opposing army, he managed to take Avernus, killing Bel and claiming his power in the process. He left many devils alive, and took them as prisoners that they might more effectively conquer the rest of the hells.

Meanwhile, as Asmodeus, he rallied the rest of the devils under one banner, and launched a full planar invasion against the new inhabitants of Avernus, sending the full armies of several other archdevils against them.

As Zaphkiel, he swore to keep Avernus and never allow the devils back- to accomplish this, he brought in the armies of Jovar, commanding them to defend to the death. And defend they did, as the armies of hell crushed the resistance. Somehow, they seemed to know every strategic shortcoming of the angels, and many of the prisoners broke free. It was truly a massacre- the angels sustained nearly twenty times as many casualties as the devils.

Now, Asmodeus found himself with the upper hand in all things. He was a god of no small power, and easily replenished the armies of Dis and Avernus that had been lost. The celestials had taken incredible damage, and were in no position to attack him or anyone else. He took advantage of the situation in the most reasonable way he could- by striking out at the Abyss. Now, fifty years later, he is making slow but sure progress.

At this point, Asmodeus will take over the Abyss, though it will probably take several hundred years, at least. That's where the players come in.

They have the opportunity to do whatever they want- even the scales, fight for Asmodeus, what have you. However, what I need is a way to gradually make them aware of this, as well as a way to include them directly in the conflict. Here're their basic statistics-

Eln'Mastak- CE Ahl'Artathi (Mythic Races) Rogue9/Assassin 3
Eternity- NE Lesser Aasimer Dread Necro 12
Kilgen- CE Dwarf Barbarian 8/Ranger 1/Deepwarden 2
Iengar- CE Chaos Gnome Favored Soul 8/Entropomancer 4

Oh, and one other detail which might come into play. Iengar is completely insane. Not in a "Do whatever you want CE" kind of way. He's actually insane, and a bit obsessed with 'change' (the player's actually very good at roleplaying it, and he has yet to abuse it). Anyways, he's a favored soul of a god that he imagined (although he doesn't realize it). All of his divine powers are drawn directly from his own, horribly warped subconscious mind. One interesting idea which occurred to me early on was that he would either ascend to divinity, becoming the god he imagined, or that he would become strong enough that his belief actually caused the existence of a divine being.

Anyways, I really just need ideas for how to include the players into the blood war business. I would prefer as long and convoluted an idea as possible, since if they try to meddle too soon they'll be crushed.

[Lord of Sporks]

Well I'm just shooting at the wall here, but heres some ideas.

-swarms of dretches and other low level demons have appeared near a town. When the heroes come to fight, they find that the demons are just interested in passing through on their way to parts unknown. If you can find a way to get the heroes to invistigate then a mid level demon who seems to be in charge can inform them about the plight of the Abyss, and how they are deserters who managed to find a gate to the material world and are fleeing before Asmodeus can get them.

-A celestial, beaten and near death, manages to make it to the material plane. He seeks out the heroes and asks them to help in the war against Asmodeus.

-A powerful celestial discoveres that Zaphkiel is really Asmodeus, but is caught before he can tell anyone else. In his last act he manages send a scroll with information to "Someone who is worthy to recieve it." However the spell was muffed because he was killed halfway through it. The information in the scroll is jumbled, and for some strange reason the scroll gets sent to your heroes.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Heck, at this level, the PCs should probably be even more disconnected from the actual events. Have them go up against a cleric of Zaphkiel who's gone insane. A demonologist who's convinced something is wrong in the lower planes. Mundane threats with only slightly more knowledge of what's going on than the players themselves.

Awesome backstory, incidentally.

[Othesemo]

Well I'm just shooting at the wall here, but heres some ideas.

-swarms of dretches and other low level demons have appeared near a town. When the heroes come to fight, they find that the demons are just interested in passing through on their way to parts unknown. If you can find a way to get the heroes to invistigate then a mid level demon who seems to be in charge can inform them about the plight of the Abyss, and how they are deserters who managed to find a gate to the material world and are fleeing before Asmodeus can get them.

I thought of something similar to that a few days ago. One of the recurring villains in the campaign thus far is a half-marilith ghost elf named Maorkiira. Her mother is the self-appointed demon lord of the 1889th layer of the abyss. It occurred to me that I could use her as a means of making the players aware of the happenings of the abyss, but I have yet to think of anything really good.


Heck, at this level, the PCs should probably be even more disconnected from the actual events. Have them go up against a cleric of Zaphkiel who's gone insane. A demonologist who's convinced something is wrong in the lower planes. Mundane threats with only slightly more knowledge of what's going on than the players themselves.

Awesome backstory, incidentally.

Good idea- I'll probably be using that for the time being. I can probably figure out a number of things to occupy them until they're strong enough to actually interfere with it. What I really need is a way to involve their characters in it. My players tend to act in their character's best interest, and they'd need a pretty good reason to risk their neck's over a conflict in the nine hells. And since it's an evil campaign, many plot hooks that I'm used to using don't work. If been toying with ideas for about a month and I haven't come up with anything too good, so I'd appreciate help.

Also, thanks. I like to put a great deal of effort into figuring out what's happened before the PCs arrive at the scene. I feel that it makes the whole game so much more believable (and funner for everybody).

[sabelo2000]

The way I see it, your plotline problem is threefold:

1) Let the characters know the situation, in some meaningful way other than "You find a semi-old book that details the metaplot of this campaign"

2) Let them know their options regarding the situation, something other than "a powerful agent of _______ appears and commands you to defeat _ _ _ _ _"

3) Get them to care enough to do something about it.

As for the first one, you said that this is all recent history. The thing you left out of your description is, what happened on Earth while all this divine warfare was going on? If Hell came so close to losing--TWICE--then there must have been echoes on the Material Plane. As Above, so below. Or in this case, as Above and Below, so In the Middle. 50 years ago, did a bunch of catastrophes smite diabolic agents? Did the Church of Tiamat disappear when Avernus was overrun (twice)? Did new holy orders suddenly spring out of nowhere, or the dungeon shrines of founding diabolic cults get destroyed by Pelor's clerics?

And furthermore, what effect would these things have had on your PCs? Did one of their parents/grandparents/mentors (or, in the case of long-lived races, themselves) witness or die in some blessed calamity?

Pulling in a plot point based on the history you've already established might work a whole lot well than dropping in a new, made-from-scratch NPC. Even better is if they begin the plotline looking for something completely unconnected:

Say that a new faction, that's hostile to whatever your PCs hold dear, sets up operations nearby. When they investigate/fight, the PCs learn that their situation requires a MacGuffin of Somebody, which was lost 50 years ago when all of Somebody's group was driven out of the land. Expeditions to the ruins of Somebody's Place turn up clues that, a half-century ago, Hell almost ceased to exist. Or alternately, that the Celestials mounted a huge invasion and were almost destroyed in the process... etc. Give them a piece of the puzzle, enough to entice them.

Just don't forget about the MacGuffin or the group they needed it to defeat... closure is important! :smallwink:

[Lord of Sporks]

I thought of something similar to that a few days ago. One of the recurring villains in the campaign thus far is a half-marilith ghost elf named Maorkiira. Her mother is the self-appointed demon lord of the 1889th layer of the abyss. It occurred to me that I could use her as a means of making the players aware of the happenings of the abyss, but I have yet to think of anything really good.


Well I assume that the heroes have foiled Maorkiiras plots multiple times. Maybe she reluctantly comes to them to ask for their aid in stopping Hell's advance because she knows they're strong enough to make a difference and if they die trying then she gets her revenge. She'll have to have some good reasons for them to help though, but honestly Hell winning the blood war isn't good for anybody. Sort of a "I hate you but I need you" classic reluctant team up between the heroes and the villians.

At the very least your heroes will be informed that something is up.

[Othesemo]

Alright, so this is basically what I've decided on. The Pcs, as it happens, are under the employ of an ogre mage warlord named Gorzz as a sort of special ops group. He'll tell them that a large, snakelike creature with several arms has been seen in the nearby area, and that scouts report that it's extremely powerful. I think that I know the PCs well enough that I can say safely that they'll assume that he's talking about Maorkiira. Regardless, they'll be sent to investigate.

After a brief intermission, they find themselves in a large, profane temple. They have to battle through small hordes of extraplanar creatures, and finally come to the main room. There, they find the two BBEGs (and since I'm evil, one of the BBEGs will be a 16th level beguiler with max ranks in bluff, skill focus, and a potion of Glibness. Also 26 charisma). They other BBEG is a member of a very obscure race called "Cobra Ogre," which is fairly self explanatory.

Anyways, the BBEGs are both cultists of Asmodeus, so even if they manage to avoid an initial fight, they'll still try to kill the PCs (only this time with infernal combat support). Once the battle concludes, I'll mention the numerous objects of apparent value in the room. A full search will find several valuable gems, a few potions, scrolls and wands, as well as the gear of the BBEGs. It will also find two interesting papers, both written in infernal. The first is an excerpt from The Bible of Asmodeus, in which it is passingly mentioned that 'in the year of the frost' the demons and angels nearly destroyed the hells. They will also find what is obviously a diagram of the hells, but with Avernus missing. It will have several notes scrawled on it, such as "How did they get so far?" or "Bel suggests choke points here- tunneling?"

In short, I want to make them curious, and hopefully seek out research on that era in hell (which will obviously require some planar travel... heh...).

Anyways, any suggestions? I kinda want this section to be one of those 'crowning moments of glory' that makes D&D so much fun.

[Hoboshank]

In short, I want to make them curious, and hopefully seek out research on that era in hell (which will obviously require some planar travel... heh...).

Never trust PCs to become interested in something when their main focus at that time is going to be loot, it never works out well.

[Othesemo]

Never trust PCs to become interested in something when their main focus at that time is going to be loot, it never works out well.

I've taken that into consideration. Fortunately, as a previous poster mentioned, something so climactic would have repercussions on the material plane. I can come up with a number of fully reasonable repercussions which would motivate them quite well. Worst case scenario, I'll just continue dropping hints throughout the course of the campaign, until they find themselves curious enough to begin researching on their own.