Campaign Help

[j_spencer93]

My current players are a Red Wizard focus in evocation focus in force, his thayan knight mage slayer, and another red wizard focused in shadow weave and illusion.

It started off with the red wizard simply trying to become stronger and become zulkir of evocation, however he met Aznar Thul and agree to help him destroy Szass but soon afterwards killed a powerful wizard that had inflammation they needed.
returning to thay he was told by his master of a strange tower that had appeared, and went to investigate only to end up free and powerful being of shadow and allowing the plane of shadow to start creeping into the material plane.
Returning to the material plane, he went off in a new direction and went to investigate another strange tower and got ahold of a astral shard. his gladiator minion found Crenshinobon and used it to summon the only fiend he knew errtu, who escaped with the shard (which originally was for the being of darkness released earlier), and now they let Errtu roam free and instead went into the mountains to investigate another tower.
the being of darkness (i merged the shadowlands of rokugan and plane of shadows for this campaign) is attacking Kara-Tur and sought out Errtu's help.
With a poweful balor wielding a shard beyond reasonable, and a being of darkness (uniquely made, all stats/saves/everything halved in daylight) assaulting Kara-Tur and the Party previously causing tension between Thay and Kara-Tur i am confused were to proceed.
My player's never ever do what you would think, actually how they are becoming so strong (killed an informant meant to be saved and stole her items), and they simply do not care that Errtu is free, thinking he will allow them to take over thay.
Where do i go with this...my player's have left me dumbfounded and unsure how to proceed. Any ideas to close these plots and bring them altogether into a final climatic quest?

[WbtE]

It seems to me like your players are active and ambitious enough, and their characters powerful enough, for you to just respond to what they want to do. Just think about the scenario as it's developed and consider the plans of the principal antagonists. Then ask the group what they plan to do. I recommend doing this ahead of the session and really putting your foot down about getting a reply in time to prepare. (You cannot be expected to just conjure up a scenario in response to their whims on the day.)

[j_spencer93]

Well here is their ambitions so far.
Both red wizards wish to rule thay.
The first red wizard wants errtu to destroy the zulkir, making his task easier. He wants to master force magic too.

The second red wizard wants the shard for herself, and is devious enough to betray anyone, including her partners without a thought. Wants to master illusions.

The thayan knight, well wants to protect the first red wizard.

[j_spencer93]

I thought about a ordeal where near the end of Kara-Tur war, a survivor comes to confront the players (wielding alot of magical swords from the rokugan books), confronting the party for their role in the destruction of his home.
He will tell them that the two powerful beings are now at war themselves (the being of darkness wants to destroy the shard, since it is powered by light which is the only way to truly kill him).
He will then demand they aid him in banishing Errtu and stopping the darkness or fight him (this part worries me.)
If they side with him i can pretty much make Crenshinibon, a relic powered by the sun, the key to destroying the dark tower and resealing the breach between realms.
If they kill the warrior i am not sure what to do from there. I came up with this idea in the last few minutes so sorry if its not great.

[WbtE]

Well here is their ambitions so far.
Both red wizards wish to rule thay.
The first red wizard wants errtu to destroy the zulkir, making his task easier. He wants to master force magic too.

The second red wizard wants the shard for herself, and is devious enough to betray anyone, including her partners without a thought. Wants to master illusions.

The thayan knight, well wants to protect the first red wizard.

OK. Mastering various magics is going to involve acquiring some Netherese relics, so you can draw up a 'crawl for the party while other events develop.

[j_spencer93]

How did i miss that...i feel dumb now. That should be a given in Faerun...and makes since the force red wizard is a shade.

Oh ya...looking over character sheets, the red wizard of shadows has a second goal. Kill Drizz't, idk if he serious or not. I think he put it down mainly as a joke because he thinks Drizz't overpopular but then again idk, their last party actually attacked him on sight...P.S. he is playing a female red wizard. sorry if the gender of character was confusing.

anyways a crawl for items to help withstand the two overpowered beings is a good idea. Might create a few tonight.

[j_spencer93]

the first wizard is after the crown of horns (or thorns? a crown that houses the vistage of a god in it). And his goal is to eventually best Eliminster but he actually understands how outrageous that is, and unlikely.

[j_spencer93]

Maybe have them seek Eliminster out for knowledge on an item that could help, and while there see if the red wizards view of Eliminster changes (i do know for a fact that wizard will not attack Eliminster, he might actually want to be his pupil)

[WbtE]

How did i miss that...i feel dumb now.

It sounds like you were trying to solve the resolution problem, rather than work out the next steps. I've done the same thing more times than I can remember. :smallsmile:


Oh ya...looking over character sheets, the red wizard of shadows has a second goal. Kill Drizz't, idk if he serious or not. I think he put it down mainly as a joke because he thinks Drizz't overpopular but then again idk, their last party actually attacked him on sight...

Indulge it. Do'Urden doesn't usually get involved in Thay, but he's powerful and well-connected. I'm sure that you could find a reason for him to meddle in the affairs of your wizards. Stat him up as a custom threat according to what will actually be a problem, and make sure to use his stealth to maximum effect. It could be particularly effective to have him wreck the player's plans without a direct confrontation - if they like the idea of killing the dark elf, then getting pwned by him should produce strong feelings, too. :smallcool:


anyways a crawl for items to help withstand the two overpowered beings is a good idea. Might create a few tonight.

As a further suggestion, you might want to try "breaking up the band". Create a powerful one-shot or bonding item that would be useful to both wizards (either because it's good for all wizards or because it's in an overlap between force magic and illusions) and see if they're able to co-operate.

[j_spencer93]

2nd red wizard knows where drizz’t is and made the joke to go there next, but once again not sure to take it as a joke or not from how the person and his character act. But having read all the Drizz’t books an idea just lit in my head. Drizz’t might feel responsible for never destroying the shard (this is taking place before Jarlaxle did that) and might come here to defeat the demon once more.

The item idea would be interesting but I can tell you the force mage would win, he has feats allowing him to cast as a higher level then he is, he has feats specializing further in evocation, and he is actually far smarter and craftier then the other player, he would demolish the other player and take the item if it interested him greatly. It’s a delicate balance between a relative calm force wizard that only gets ruthless when actually interested, and a nut case shadow weave red mage that is crazy and wants the crystal shard for herself and drizz’t dead.

Have an idea though, if the crystal shard was the item they both were interested in, and I brought Drizz’t here to help defeat the demon, it might end up in an interesting twist at the end, a three way to decide what happens to the shard.

[j_spencer93]

or maybe they will be forced to find those that have battled the shard and demon before, forcing them to contact Drizz't and his friends. Maybe Artemis and Jarlaxle if thats the path they wanted.

Actually probaly have drizz't start to head towards thay, let the players search the land gathering items as Kara-Tur is destroyed. As they prepare to enter the burning realm they meet the warrior of Kara-Tur who tells them his story and makes his demands but will not allow them to pass thinking they need more help, and tells them they are seeking a warrior greater then himself (he is missing both arms, which have been replaced with the obsidian and jade hands from Rokugan).
Thus enter Drizz't the warrior greater then him, who defeats the man. The party then must decided to accept the champions of mythril hall or continue without them.
Unknown to anyone Artemis is after Drizz't who enter Kara-Tur either way to defeat the Balor.

[WbtE]

You should be very cautious about assigning Drizzt a prominent role in your story as a great warrior when you have a fighter-type character. Again, I suggest using the dark elf as an antagonist - if the players have joked about trotting off to kill him, it might give them a bit of a turn to find that he's made the first strike!

[j_spencer93]

breakthrough, before they seek out items Szass will contact them, requesting all red wizard back to the thaymount which is being beseiged by Errtu and a demonic horde. As the thay army starts to lose, desperate Szass and the other Zulik unleash Eltab from his prison.
The two titans battle, destroying a lot of the surrounding land, but with the shard's power Eltab is thrown back to the abyss, and Szass is destroyed throwing Thay into Anarchy as the demon claims it as his own realm. After this, the party will go into hiding and the being of darkness will contact Errtu, leading to the already discussed story ideas.

[j_spencer93]

I know, thats why i leaving his role up to them. If they accept him, he allies with them until (i almost guarantee) the female red wizard betrays him. if they deny him, he will only show up to aid in the battle against Errtu, and leave (if alive) without bothering the players again. Although Artemis might want some information.

[j_spencer93]

Having summoned Errtu, the party accidently given him the crystal shard and a astral shard, the demon leaves Eltabar. Szass then contacts all redwizads calling them all back to thaymount, having spotted a crystal tower rising not far away. Within a week a massive demonic hoard assaults thaymount and the red wizards fight back but start to lose, desperate Szass and the other Zulkir perform circle magic to unleash Eltab. A massive battle ensues, only for Eltab to be banished once more as a beam of light from the crystal tower destroys Szass, throwing Thay into anarchy.
After this the party will go into hiding, seeking magical relics to aid them in their quest to conquer thay. Errut moves his tower to the top of thaymount and during this time the being of darkness contacts him, forging their alliance to destroy Kara-Tur which errtu sets out to create a replica tower in Kara-Tur.
Drizz’t in mithral hall will gather the champions and ask alustrial of silverymoon to teleport them as close as she can to thay, seeking to stop the demon once more, unaware that Kara-Tur is being rapidly destroyed. As the party set out after the demon seeks later they are blocked by a samurai with several katana sheathed upon his body, he tells them his story and demands they pay for their sins or aid in defeating the demon. If they defeat him they can continue, if they are defeated or accept they are told that he still fears they are not strong enough and need more help (he is missing both arms, which have been replaced with the obsidian and jade hands from Rokugan).
A few days later Drizz’t and the champions arrive in thay, soon meeting the party as the warrior is drawn to his fighting skills by his sword. After a proving himself in a one-on-one duel with the warrior (who warns that any that interfere will die) the warrior ask for drizz’t to join them. If they accept him, he allies with them until (i almost guarantee) the female red wizard betrays him. if they deny him, he will only show up to aid in the battle against Errtu, and leave (if alive) without bothering the players again unless they do not give him the shard in which case a diplomatic scene plays out, most likely leading to a battle that 1 red wizard is greatly yearning for. Artemis might try to extract information from the party if Drizz’t leaves, or maybe not make an appearance at all if not sighted.

[Bullet06320]

very good ideas
with errtu in the picture, of course drizzt and the companions of the hall should get involved, to try and deal with errtu and of course the idiots that let him loose, lol

with the crystal shard in play, jarlaxle trying to get it, with artemis helping him and also trying to thwart drizzt in the process

with zzass tam, he has backup plans to his backup plans, and hordes of necromancers and undead minions at his disposal, but above all, zzass is patient, if he cant win, he will withdraw and try again later, but it makes for good opportunity for other red wizards to make power plays for themselves, so its really anything goes, for an added twist, maybe a slave revolt started by the harpers just to throw their hats into the ring at this time

the redwizards also employ a lot of mercenaries, especially gnolls, maybe the gnolls see an opportunity to carve out a piece of territory for themselves, basing it off obould many arrows, maybe in your realms its the gnolls that unite for conquest instead

[j_spencer93]

The idiots that released him are the players lol, and ya Drizz't and co have to be involved in this scenario for story reasons (it also fuels a players desire), and artemis and jarlaxle being following them.
As for Szass i know he has alot of backup plans in place, but they happened to release the demon in the middle of the Zulkir breaking up, and fighting openly. Alot of his energy was spent dealing with Aznar thul in battle.

[Bullet06320]

sounds like your on a good track with your story line.
good luck with it

[j_spencer93]

writing it out on here actually helped alot.