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Runolfr
2007-01-17, 11:07 AM
I'm starting a new campaign with two players (a third to join in a few months). I figured I'd exploit the imaginations of the board denizens to help me devise appropriate adventures.

The party currently consists of the following:

:haley: A Rogue specialized in social deceptions skills (Bluff, Forgery, Sense Motive, etc.). Being a Lawful Good rogue, she uses her skills to discover and expose corruption in the local government. Interestingly, she plans to multi-class to Paladin or a prestige class with similar attributes after a while. This means some interesting campaign planning for me.

:thog: A half-orc Monk who is going the Improved Grapple route. He was dropped of at the monastery as a child by a paladin who captured him after defeating a band of orc raiders.

The setting is a fairly standard medieval campaign (mostly core material). The party is in a large city which is a major trade center; all strata of society are within easy reach. The "nation" is a collection of city states which have emerged after the fall of a large empire a few centuries ago. Some are fairly aggressive, with dreams of rebuilding the empire, while others, like the home town, are content to maintain their current domains and enrich themselves through trade. Slavery is practiced in the region, although only as a punishment for convicted criminals in the home town. Out-of-town slavers can be a danger. Gladiatorial arenas are also common in the region.

The characters are acquainted through a shared church. The local pantheon consists of the classical Greek gods and goddesses, but the deities are actually the same in all regions, differing only in the names used to refer to them (it making no sense to me for there to be two different sun gods, for example).

The opening adventure has them investigating a con-artist who is tricking neighborhood citizens out of their money.

Falrin
2007-01-17, 11:58 AM
- Bandits are rouming the countryside. Resistance seems to be lacking. Party gets involved: get Hired by local official. Must report a lot. Bandits seem to aware. They meet a bitter captain trying to keep the people save. Bla Bla Bla. Corrupt official playing allong with bandits.

This could be a major hook for lots af different adventurers.

Find a bandit spy in the village (Officials contact)
Retrieve a kidnapped daughter.
Find Hide out.
Guard convoi.
Help Farmers ebing attacked.
A chase on horseback.
When becoming to dangerous an attempt to kill (a trap)

The Bandits should know a lot without being to obvious about it. An empty hide-out can have all kind of beast feasting on remains. A

Darrin
2007-01-17, 01:03 PM
I'm starting a new campaign with two players (a third to join in a few months). I figured I'd exploit the imaginations of the board denizens to help me devise appropriate adventures.

Since you've got a rather strong Lawful/Paladin theme going, I'd probably focus on plots that force the players into some moral dilemmas. (But then I like themes with "shades of grey" and moral ambiguity, so you may have your own personal fetishes.)

Start off White Hats vs. Black Hats. The PCs are aspiring paladins or strongly linked to a group of official elite enforcers. Truth, Justice, Order, Obedience, all that Boy Scout stuff. They're brought into conflict with a rival organization that uses deception, chaos, terrorism, etc... thieves guild, the local mob/merchant guild, a black ops team for a nearby citystate, or whatnot.

The slavery thing is an obvious place to start, either investigating a rash of mysterious "disappearances", an important NPC gets kidnapped, or a background hook from a PC (i.e., only surviving family member sold into slavery). Add a local group of Abolitionists to stir the pot up a bit: the Abolitionists are breaking the law, because slavery is _legal_, but it's also dehumanizing and has big social costs... so work in a sympathetic theme here, as the Abolitionists are trying to do the Right Thing. Do the PCs help them on the sly, or enforce the law?

As the players advance a bit and gain more authority as elite enforcers, then start hitting them with the heavier stuff, steering them towards more of a _24_ or _Alias_ kind of theme. The PCs are defenders of justice, but what kinds of prices will they pay to accomplish that? If they can protect the weak or save lives by breaking the law... how far will they go? Will they torture? Use poison? If they're not willing to compromise their principles to achieve their goals, what happens when their superiors are willing to compromise or have different goals?

As they get deeper into the mess, pull the rug out from under them a few times and have some important NPCs/groups "switch sides". Turns out the Holy Order of Paladins are really working to perpetuate slavery and enforce their control over the weak at the expense of the common good. The rival organization of sneaky cutthroats is really working to end slavery, but their methods have become shady mostly through desperation and expediency. Can the Paladins be turned around if their corrupt leadership is eliminated and replaced by someone with better moral character? Should the PCs defect to the rival organization and see if they can be "reformed"?

Raool
2007-01-17, 10:02 PM
Maybe this'll help.
http://www.io.com/~sjohn/plots.htm

RandomNPC
2007-01-17, 11:04 PM
i've wanted to do a game with someone stealing spell components. yea most common spells have free components, but when a theives guild decides that they want to steal all the component pouches, then just all the other components, will every wizard in the area take eschew? i doubt it, they hire some non-wizards to help out.