Thoughts on my campaign idea

[questionmark693]

So I'm taking my group through the red hand of doom right now, we just started today, after finishing the last quest. They're just getting ready to head into the witchwood, so we've got a ways to go before theyre done with this one. But they want the next quest to be a planar one, and I don't know any good modules, so I'm making one up.

Having thought about it a little bit, and with my extremely limited knowledge, I like the idea of them trying to end the Blood War. Is that a plausible campaign idea to start with?

[Kol Korran]

I don't know all that much of the planes, but from what I know the blood war is the longest running, most encompassing war that has ever been. It basically involves all scold and all demons, and is fought over several plains, by untold number of soldiers.
If I understand correctly though, it kind of servant a "good" cause as well without it to occupy the two main evil outsider's groups, they would spill out to cause havoc on other plains. The war takes all their effort, in a way containing them, so ending the war is a problematic idea.
Besides, I think this would be a challenge for super epic characters, with all the mess that entails.

[Crake]

Yeah, trying to stop the blood war is like trying to stop entropy in the universe, its just not possible.

Depending on how "planar" you want to go, you could have an adventure in sigil? I always liked that place, but have never actually had a chance to play a game there. It's basically super high magic, all kinds of denizens side by side sort of a place.

If you want to go more of a planar hopping adventure, where the players go from plane to plane quite often, maybe run a planar hunt or something along those lines, where the players are going from plane to plane hunting down their quarry, having to adapt and deal with the changing issues of each plane they arrive on, possibly culminating in a showdown in a demiplane somewhere?

[Red Fel]

Yeah, trying to stop the blood war is like trying to stop entropy in the universe, its just not possible.

This. Frankly, trying to change the fundamental rules of almost any Outer Plane or its inhabitants (e.g. trying to end the Blood War, negotiating peace between Celestials and Fiends, teaching the Inevitables to loosen up) isn't going to be very successful. It's not reasonable to start, middle, or end with, short of abolishing the concepts of Chaos and Law in the cosmology. (Of course, if you do decide to abolish Chaos and Law, that would make one heck of a side effect.)

That said, as Crake pointed out, Sigil is a great hub (no pun intended) for questing. You'll find that if you run a campaign through Sigil, it will basically be much like an ordinary campaign, but with far more powerful beings in far more exotic locales. In essence, it will run as usual - PCs arrive in town, discover a person in need, person sends them on a quest, which leads to another quest, etc.

Alternatively, figure out what it is the PCs want - not the players, mind you, although that helps too; specifically, what the PCs want - and find a way to implement it. Thus, if a Cleric of Pelor wants the chance to commune with his deity in person, find a reason to get the party to Elysium. If the Barbarian wants the chance to butcher the fiends that laid a curse upon his family, take a trip into Gehenna and lay some waste to the Gray Wastes. If the Wizard wishes to understand the root of all magic, take a trip to Acheron and hope that Wee Jas doesn't decide to turn him into a science project.

[Darkz0r]

As people said, the Blood War as it exists is a bit overwhelming, but you can always refluff it and call it whatever you want. Which is what I'm kinda doing, explanation below.

Also, Age of Worms is level 1 - 20, so you could do that after RRoD, starting at the appropriate part for their level (probably lvl 8 after RRoD ends). You could alter AoW it and make it through the planes! Just change a few tidbits.

My group wanted a planar campaign too but I felt that until levels 8-10 players are too limited for the planes, I wanted to start at level 3 max.

Here's what I'm planning for my campaign, if my ideas help you in any way:
My macro plot idea is that there exists 2 "whole cosmologies", which means every single "default plane" exists both in cosmology A and B. Each cosmology has their own different Gods, but each plane on both cosmologies has the same mechanic (energy type, flow of time, function) but different NPCs and cities exist in these planes, they are not mirrors.

These cosmologies used to co-exist in the past, but a deal was made aons ago to seal the outpockets and all connecting devices which made travel possible between these "worlds". The reason was that some Gods grew too powerful and the fabric of both cosmologies started to behave erratically, it was said that time would end if the connection between the worlds was not severed in time due to all the planar disruptions, leaks, etc that was happening. Or maybe that was another plan altogether for *some* to regain power...

Cosmology B, for the last recorded centuries, suffers from planar wide war for power and deities are losing power as this war spreads and cull their followers.
Some cosmology B deities and powerful beings are aware of planar outpockets that are erratic but sometimes connect to cosmology A (where PCs are atm). Cosmology A deities lost this knowledge to the millennia.

Deities and other beings from B decide to invade cosmology A initially through these outpockets, while also seeking to re-enable the permanent planar connections which were sealed away, seeking to alter A's cosmology as establish themselves and regain their power through new followers and with the wealth of the planes of cosmology A.
The invaders are cunning, a cosmology is a big place, so they work in secret, slowly building up more permanent connections between cosmologies to allow for an invasion in the future.

The players are at the center of all this, though they have no idea cosmology B even exists (yet). They have no idea how deep the plot is and what is at stake, I'm introducing cues that something bigger is at work in the material plane, they are slowly realizing it and I can see that when they decide to "side quest" too much, some of them are worried since the main plot (that they think is main) keeps on affecting the world and the people around them.
After they realize that different quests they are doing in the material plane are linked, somehow, this will happen with the other planes they visit, as they very slowly put the pieces together and come to the conclusion that somehow a few orc slave-traders at the very first session were related to the re-connecting of these worlds. It will all make sense, I hope, my flowchart is sure complex.

Atm players are level 4 and will get involved in a xorvintaal game which connects to RRoD, which will then make them travel through planes collecting a few relics while they acquire more levels (after RRoD), knowledge of this macro plot and more items. I specifically want them to meet several recurring NPCs through the planes during this, so they get a feel for each plane, have some sort of responsibility in some of them and use downtime to maybe establish residence in some of the places they visit, so they later feel in their skin how the invasion is slowly affecting their home world, for the worst.

I still need to figure out how deep I want the xorvintaal to affect the world.
Atm I'm thinking either:
A) Xorvintaal is the alpha and omega. There's a Lv 80+ time dragon which is "the keeper of time", when the cosmologies were sealed off it was appointed by both pantheons as the responsible for the timelines, his task is making them progress ever apart. Now, as cosmology B breached A's borders, the keeper of time has no choice but to engage in Xorvintaal as the most powerful B deity is a dragon, otherwise both worlds would end if dragons entered direct conflict. The time keeper is the most powerful being alive but he has to force a "cold war" to preserve both worlds, as xorvintaal provents DIRECT confrontations between the dragons. Enter the PCs as the instrument of time! :smalltongue:

B) Xorvintaal will only serve for the PCs to gain powerful allies and wealth, even more so if they "win". It will be the main plot after RRoD and will span the planes as it's quite easy to fluff a planar Xorvintaal in my world. Will allow for players to get from level 8, after RRoD, to 16-25 until the invasion plot takes over.