Talakeal
2013-05-13, 06:17 PM
Ok, so for my current campaign the players have just come out on top of a world shattering apocalypse that resulted in the near complete destruction of humanoid civilization and the deaths of most of the gods.
As a result of the apocalypse there are no a number of "rifts" where the far realm is leaking through into the physical world. The players are trying to track down and seal these rifts, and have located one somewhere in the town of Lampwych Court. The description of the town is as follows:
"At the time of the Cataclysm the town was among the most prosperous in the northlands with a population growing steadily, and if the Imperium had not collapsed it might have eventually become a great frontier city. The city ceased to grow after the Warlords took possession of the region, but it did not die or give in to ruin. The town was never razed and the town chose to acquiesce to the Warlord’s wishes and provide good and conscripts in exchange for his protection.
The town is small, but large enough and modern enough to have paved streets lit by gaslight and for the majority of the homes to be of a quality built by professional carpenters.
A few years back, the town's population suddenly disappeared. There was no sign of natural disaster or battle, indeed the town is still in almost the same fine shape it was when the city was lost. The town was simply abandoned, of its population there is no trace. There are many stories, but few have the ring of truth, some say that a great fog came in off the nearby lake in the middle of the night and when the morning sun burned it away the town was empty, others that subterranean horrors came up from the sewers and carried the people off to the underground, and still other stories claim that a cult within the town conducted a great ritual that went horribly wrong.
Many treasure hunters and explorers have attempted to loot the town or unravel the mystery with little success, but most do not stay in the town long, an impending feeling of dread forcing them to return prematurely, if they return at all."
So I am trying to come up with ideas as to what the players will find there and what sort of encounters they could have within the city. I will, of course, have to shed some light on what exactly caused the disappearance of the city's inhabitants, and figure out some way for the players to deal with it while at the same time finding a way to seal the rift (which may or may not be related).
At the moment I am somewhat dry as far as inspiration goes, and would love to hear what sort of ideas the playground can come up with for me to meld into an awesome adventure.
Note that this is for my homebrew system, which is a gothic sword and sorcery setting. The players are powerful, but still mostly within real world human limits, and the party sorcerer can do pretty much anything, but requires lots of time to prepare and recover afterward. Any advice which would apply to low op d20 will work fine.
Thanks everyone!
As a result of the apocalypse there are no a number of "rifts" where the far realm is leaking through into the physical world. The players are trying to track down and seal these rifts, and have located one somewhere in the town of Lampwych Court. The description of the town is as follows:
"At the time of the Cataclysm the town was among the most prosperous in the northlands with a population growing steadily, and if the Imperium had not collapsed it might have eventually become a great frontier city. The city ceased to grow after the Warlords took possession of the region, but it did not die or give in to ruin. The town was never razed and the town chose to acquiesce to the Warlord’s wishes and provide good and conscripts in exchange for his protection.
The town is small, but large enough and modern enough to have paved streets lit by gaslight and for the majority of the homes to be of a quality built by professional carpenters.
A few years back, the town's population suddenly disappeared. There was no sign of natural disaster or battle, indeed the town is still in almost the same fine shape it was when the city was lost. The town was simply abandoned, of its population there is no trace. There are many stories, but few have the ring of truth, some say that a great fog came in off the nearby lake in the middle of the night and when the morning sun burned it away the town was empty, others that subterranean horrors came up from the sewers and carried the people off to the underground, and still other stories claim that a cult within the town conducted a great ritual that went horribly wrong.
Many treasure hunters and explorers have attempted to loot the town or unravel the mystery with little success, but most do not stay in the town long, an impending feeling of dread forcing them to return prematurely, if they return at all."
So I am trying to come up with ideas as to what the players will find there and what sort of encounters they could have within the city. I will, of course, have to shed some light on what exactly caused the disappearance of the city's inhabitants, and figure out some way for the players to deal with it while at the same time finding a way to seal the rift (which may or may not be related).
At the moment I am somewhat dry as far as inspiration goes, and would love to hear what sort of ideas the playground can come up with for me to meld into an awesome adventure.
Note that this is for my homebrew system, which is a gothic sword and sorcery setting. The players are powerful, but still mostly within real world human limits, and the party sorcerer can do pretty much anything, but requires lots of time to prepare and recover afterward. Any advice which would apply to low op d20 will work fine.
Thanks everyone!