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elvengunner69
2012-01-16, 06:47 PM
Got a group and we are taking a bit of a break from this campaign so one of the other guys can do a FR campaign...

Setting:
Made up world of my own that centers around a large Empire called the Imperio (real original I know) and some of the surrounding lands - Imperio in short is kind of a non-oriental China set in a European like world. Anyway there is turmoil in the Empire and it's been kind of split up between rival warlords - the Imperial family is currently being controlled by one faction.

One of the outlying nations is a land that is mostly snowbound throughout the year and is home to Dwarves, Frost Giants, etc. Our group of adventurers meets up in small town where 3 NPC brothers (one of distant imperial linage) have fled in exile.

The Players:
Dragonborn Brothers (brothers in real life too) - In the north the Dragonborn ritual is done a few times each year all in the hopes of fulfilling a prophecy of the return of a Dragon King who will unite the North and drive the evil of the Frost Giants from the Northern Kingdoms (who are nominally a part of the Imperio). One is a Cleric and the other is a Duskblade.

Cleric spy: Not everyone wants a Dragonborn King to unify the north including most of the Kings of the North and in fact the Dragonborn bros were exiled from one Kingdom. That king sent this Cleric spy to on the brothers are report anything 'suspicious' back to him. He knew both bros from their home country so they don't suspect him.

Halfling Beguiler: some of you may remember the thread I made about him a couple of months ago - he of the 'lets make a Frost Giant into jerky' fame and burning a Drow warship making me challenge his 'good' alignment...still a good player all in all and keeps things at least interesting.

Half Ogre Barbarian: Likes to smash. In a fight with a Hag got cursed but doesn't realize it (player does but he figured in character he wouldn't if that makes sense).

The Bard: Likes to sing, shoot arrows and sometimes wait for the Half-Ogre to charge in and joining in.

The Wizard & his wife: was a powerful Wizard but had his mind wiped by the BBEG (more on him later). His wife is a cleric who only kind of plays...really she's just a heal bot for the rest of them.

The Story:

So the Wizard wakes up in the frozen Tundra found by the Dragonborn bros - doesn't remember anything. So they travel to the nearby town where they meet the Bard who notices the DB bros and wants to write an epic song about them or something...

They find a local half-orc thug picking on a halfling (our Beguiler) and intervene - they are confused as to why the half-orc kept calling him a cat (because he's that one race that can turn into a cat or something). They hear about the 3 bros (see above and not be confused with the DB bros) and hear they are looking for help. There the Cleric Spy meets them saying he is there to aid his fellow clerical bro (the Dragonborn one). Still no wife or Half Ogre yet...

the Exiled Bros tell them they need the group to find their weapons - a fierce sword (known as the Black Dragon), a spear (The Serpent Spear) and a Twin Sword for the eldest bro who is of the Imperial family. (Stolen cheerfully from ROTTK if anyone knows what that is)

At any rate they have these zany adventures and more or less this happens...

1. Find first sword in what was left of a Dwarven keep that had been pillaged by Frost Giants.
2. 1/2 Ogres meets up with group and we find out he's been in the employ of the wizard who is part of a rich merchant family. All of his family has been missing for some time and the 1/2 Ogre has been searching for them
3. They find who mind wiped the wizard - a BBEG who is stirring up the Frost Giants against the Dwarves (to presumably then come to the aid of one of the factions in the Imperio and having an army of Frost Giants could really tip the scale in favor of one of the factions. The Dwarves have traditionally kept the Giants in check).
4. They find the spear in an Arctic Forest but not before a Frost Giant scout and some Spawn of Tiamat get in the way. In fact the Spy Cleric is slain by the Frost Giant but is resurrected by a huge Dwarven statue (some kind of Dwarven Guardian iirc).
5. They return to the Wizards home town and find his ancestral home haunted (it was around Halloween in real life) and they eventually kill this dark menacing ghost like figure that they find out later is the Wizards Dad. In the process his wife is saved and joins the group.
6. They also have a ship ride where they are attacked by Drow Pirates
7. They shipwreck on a lonely promontory where the 1/2 Ogre is cursed by a Hag who they kill and turns out to be the Wizards missing Mom.
8. Oh the Dwarven Ancestor recognized the DB Duskblade as the prophesied Dragon King.
9. So after killing off his Mom the party went to the nearest town and are in a side quest that will lead to them finding the TwinBlade...

Not really sure where to go from there...obviously the killing of the BBEG, stopping the Frost Giants are things to do. Characters will be around lvl six or seven when we start back up...

Any suggestions?

Averis Vol
2012-01-16, 11:19 PM
well whats the BBEG doing during this time? surely hes trying to stop the PC's maybe he makes some kind of pact with a dark spirit making him nearly untouchable. so now they have to travel to the spirits realm of origin and learn the secret to bypassing the dudes new found power. on that same route to give it a false climax have them go up against him before having him show them his true power, then they flee, maybe the ancestral weapons are broken and they have to reforge them (just throwing out ideas here now) after fixing them they then confront him again and use some kind of hidden power of the ancestral bladity bladity blah you see where this is going.

or he could hire mercanaries from across the sea and they can try to infiltrate them and win them over to their side then storm the castle.....actually that might fit best worked in with the top part.

hope these ideas help, i'm a starting dm so i'm glad i found a place to brain flex some ideas.

elvengunner69
2012-01-17, 08:17 AM
well whats the BBEG doing during this time? surely hes trying to stop the PC's maybe he makes some kind of pact with a dark spirit making him nearly untouchable. so now they have to travel to the spirits realm of origin and learn the secret to bypassing the dudes new found power. on that same route to give it a false climax have them go up against him before having him show them his true power, then they flee, maybe the ancestral weapons are broken and they have to reforge them (just throwing out ideas here now) after fixing them they then confront him again and use some kind of hidden power of the ancestral bladity bladity blah you see where this is going.

or he could hire mercanaries from across the sea and they can try to infiltrate them and win them over to their side then storm the castle.....actually that might fit best worked in with the top part.

hope these ideas help, i'm a starting dm so i'm glad i found a place to brain flex some ideas.

I'm not sure what level to introduce him - they've seen him once where his astral projection mocked them and actually gave them a clue about the Wizards Dad - they hadn't realized it was his Dad until BBEG confirmed it. BBEG I haven't fleshed out. I was thinking of making him a Sorcerer of some type. He's turned the Wizard's Mom into a Hag and his Dad into a Ghost so he needs some kind of Necromancy powers or have a Necromancer that works for him at least.

I was thinking they fight him around lvl 10 or so but he'd need to be a higher level. Also the Wizard and Beguiler are good crowd control guys so I need something to counter that once they face the BBEG - was thinking some sort of sonic 'bomb' - obviously undead, etc.

Yeah there are some good ideas floating around here that is for sure. :)

Averis Vol
2012-01-17, 05:07 PM
something i did once was i created a spell, it was a mind effecting phantasm that took something that they most regretted in their past and stole it out of their minds and brought it to reality, EX: the assassins father who beat him viciously, whom he later killed, the paladins clan leader who was killed by a drow warlord because he left his guard post after a heated arguement, and the warmages sister who was a close companion until she left her to die in a raid on their village, that sort of stuff and made them roll for demoralization and then fight them again. i think i used the stats for ghosts as enemies and gave them special abilities based on the npc. that kept them occupied long enough for the BBEG to call in reinforcement, including a Shadow infested silver dragon...good times, good times.