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View Full Version : Help with campaign plot ideas- Newbie DM



r6112
2014-02-06, 08:38 PM
I'm a new DM and I started the campaign in 3.5e in a manner I did not plan for and now I feel sort of lost as to what to do when the module ends.

Originally I had meant to start the Scourge Howling Hordes module in a fairly vanilla fashion with everyone converging on the first encounter. Instead the game started when I set up an example encounter with a single goblin so that the players could learn the basics of combat and see what roleplaying could be like, much in the same fashion as a tutorial level for a video game. As part of the description of the world I had the pcs teleport into a grassy clearing at the same time as the goblin. The players had their first encounter and first taste of roleplaying (conversing with the goblin and each other). The players wanted to continue the game from there and since everyone seemed to be having fun I tried to roll with it having the pcs stumble upon the first encounter of the module as they where attracted by smoke and sounds of battle.

The problem is that now I have the issue of teleporting to explain and I feel that simply hand waving it as something that happened move on is not a good idea because the players/pcs expressed an interest in finding out what happened. So now i'm trying to find a way that can satisfactorily explain why they would be teleported into the midst of a glade apart from 'lol wizards.'

InQbait
2014-02-06, 08:58 PM
Hmmm perhaps the module happens on a special island in the middle of the ocean. It is an uncharted island, and all arcane magic is hedged out by this magical barrier. So, only divine magic could penetrate it. Therefore, perhaps a deity used his/her power to teleport the pcs to this special island to prove themselves or whatever. Perhaps the deity is a deity of fate and has foreseen what the pcs will do in the future. I don't know, I'm just throwing out ideas here.

r6112
2014-02-06, 09:17 PM
Hmmm perhaps the module happens on a special island in the middle of the ocean. It is an uncharted island, and all arcane magic is hedged out by this magical barrier. So, only divine magic could penetrate it. Therefore, perhaps a deity used his/her power to teleport the pcs to this special island to prove themselves or whatever. Perhaps the deity is a deity of fate and has foreseen what the pcs will do in the future. I don't know, I'm just throwing out ideas here.

Thanks that seems like a reasonable explanation and a nice jump off point for a long campaign.

Razanir
2014-02-06, 11:13 PM
Or just go with "A wizard did it." Perhaps a sadistic wizard forcibly bring people to his island to test out his experiments. (And to otherwise have fun by torturing them) Settlements and cities could be of people who have joined together to survive on the island more easily.

TechnoWarforged
2014-02-07, 10:25 AM
An Uncharted special island in the middle of the ocean you say...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(TV_series)

Silus
2014-02-07, 10:27 AM
An Uncharted special island in the middle of the ocean you say...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(TV_series)

Giant sized flying Ooze with the Shadow Creature template for the Smoke Monster?

Artemicion
2014-02-07, 10:32 AM
What about some weird magical disruption in the area?

I see two options:
-The very fabric of the universe is somehow being threatened. Space is being torn apart for a reason or another, which creates various weird effects, including random teleportations, stuff disappearing, etc. What could be the cause of this?

-There is something very weird going on in this clearing. It is a nexus of magical energy of some sort, a place of great importance that has been long forgotten. Something is coming up, and the place is being activated. It is causing weird magical phenomenons, including teleportation of random heroes. Maybe the goblin was not as innocuous as he seemed... (disguised undead guardian, illusory figment, etc.)

InQbait
2014-02-08, 12:59 AM
I've never actually seen a single episode of Lost so don't accuse me of stealing anything from it

genmoose
2014-02-08, 02:55 PM
Ok here's an idea. It may be a bit long reaching but it could be fun.

So assuming your party has never met each other before they got beamed into the field, we can work with that.

Let's say that each person in your party has some sentimental trinket they carry that has been passed down to them from generation to generation. Perhaps it has a minor enchantment (since they're 1st level folks) but it's more of a tradition thing.

After the party killed the goblin they loot his body and discovered in the various little things he had, that he had a similar trinket as well. Somebody will notice it looks similar, they start talking and are perplexed to see they all have the same trinket.

[insert Doofenschmirtz voice here] Back story time [/end voice]

So long ago there was a party of adventurers who defeated some great evil. Afterwards they scattered to live their own lives and the symbol of their party (the little trinket) was passed down to the most 'adventuresome' family member every generation.

A far off power (either good or evil) cast a spell or used some device to call upon the heirs of that long lost party. Perhaps due to an error in the spell or damage to the device everyone got dumped into the wrong location.

The goblin has a similar trinket because his family stole it from someone long ago. (this is your way of inserting another player if anyone drops out. IE the true heir to that item could be anyone)

Maybe after this starter adventure the party finds some indication that they were summoned somewhere. Maybe they all have a vision of someone asking for help. A beautiful princess in a crystal tower doing her best Princess Leia impression; "Help me random party of old, you're my only hope". They band together to figure out who called them and have zany adventures on the way there (whatever other random modules you pick up before you're comfortable to create your own).

You could get them on their way by having locals give vague directions:

"Hey have you ever heard of a crystal tower?"

"Not me but [insert random NPC from two towns north] is always telling crazy stories. He'd probably know."

"That was the lost city of something something. Nobody knows how to get there but I'm sure if you looked in the archives of far off capital city you could figure something out."

etc

Razanir
2014-02-08, 04:30 PM
A beautiful princess in a crystal tower doing her best Princess Leia impression; "Help me random party of old, you're my only hope".

I'd just like to point out that this line was made even funnier by the fact I was still reading this all in Doof's voice.