Jeivar
2013-01-15, 03:25 PM
Ugh, it sure is a LOT easier to come up with cool ideas for adventure than it is to make all the threads hang together, and structure things so that the PC's will reliably find the right path.
Anyway, I'm a couple of days from running my first Pathfinder campaign and I'm trying to create an old fashioned cheesy questy-travely heroic journey, good for several sessions.
The skeleton I've built is that:
*The PC's (level 5) start off being hired to recapture goods taken by bandits, discover that the bandit operation is huge, funded by some outside force which funnels the money to some mysterious purpose.
*The PC's travel to the area capital to pick up their reward and are hired to look into kidnappings. They turn out to be the cause of a mad cult of the dead god Atep, led by the Antipaladin Gargan. He has had the still-living heart of Atep grafted into his chest in a horrible ritual, and means to actually BECOME at least semi-divine by unlocking the heart's true power (a rescued prisoner reveals all this.)
*Back at the city, the PC's are told by a mystic that Gargan wishes to reach the Pool of Life in order to bathe in it and hopes to thereby unlock the heart. The Pool is hidden in a cave far up in the mountains, and was long ago sealed off by ancient magic to prevent misuse. One would need at least two of four keys in existence to open it.
*Wouldn't you know it, just then Gargan attacks the city with some Wyverns and tunneling goblins he hired with the bandit loot, and tries to get at the key kept in the city. Depending on the PC's he either gets the key and flees on Griffin-back, or is struck down. Due to the heart he can't truly be killed, however, and the Wyverns carry him off.
*The goblins besiege the city, and the PC's are given the quest to escape it, travel far to find either one or two keys (depending on whether Gargan got one in the assault), and then stop the ritual at the Pool. That single or latter key the PC's must find will be in the tomb of an ancient Paladin hero, which also contains a weapon capable of truly killing Gargan.
*The PC's travel a difficult road to the Pool and, go figure, arrive just after Gargan has gained entry and is starting the ritual. Cue epic, final battle with Gargan and his cultists.
Seems okay? I'll also include some minor bounty missions the PC's can take before the goblins attack the city, as well as some roadside events.
I also want the heart within Gargan to cause some growing supernatural menace which killing him ends. Probably a zombie plague.
Anyway, I'm a couple of days from running my first Pathfinder campaign and I'm trying to create an old fashioned cheesy questy-travely heroic journey, good for several sessions.
The skeleton I've built is that:
*The PC's (level 5) start off being hired to recapture goods taken by bandits, discover that the bandit operation is huge, funded by some outside force which funnels the money to some mysterious purpose.
*The PC's travel to the area capital to pick up their reward and are hired to look into kidnappings. They turn out to be the cause of a mad cult of the dead god Atep, led by the Antipaladin Gargan. He has had the still-living heart of Atep grafted into his chest in a horrible ritual, and means to actually BECOME at least semi-divine by unlocking the heart's true power (a rescued prisoner reveals all this.)
*Back at the city, the PC's are told by a mystic that Gargan wishes to reach the Pool of Life in order to bathe in it and hopes to thereby unlock the heart. The Pool is hidden in a cave far up in the mountains, and was long ago sealed off by ancient magic to prevent misuse. One would need at least two of four keys in existence to open it.
*Wouldn't you know it, just then Gargan attacks the city with some Wyverns and tunneling goblins he hired with the bandit loot, and tries to get at the key kept in the city. Depending on the PC's he either gets the key and flees on Griffin-back, or is struck down. Due to the heart he can't truly be killed, however, and the Wyverns carry him off.
*The goblins besiege the city, and the PC's are given the quest to escape it, travel far to find either one or two keys (depending on whether Gargan got one in the assault), and then stop the ritual at the Pool. That single or latter key the PC's must find will be in the tomb of an ancient Paladin hero, which also contains a weapon capable of truly killing Gargan.
*The PC's travel a difficult road to the Pool and, go figure, arrive just after Gargan has gained entry and is starting the ritual. Cue epic, final battle with Gargan and his cultists.
Seems okay? I'll also include some minor bounty missions the PC's can take before the goblins attack the city, as well as some roadside events.
I also want the heart within Gargan to cause some growing supernatural menace which killing him ends. Probably a zombie plague.