Help With an Adventure

[ZhanStrider]

I am shortly going to be running an adventure which I love some assistance fleshing out if any one would like to help!
It takes place on an island cluster, ruled by an elf king named Elindean. Half elves and humans are common, and orcs live on their own island with permission, provided they don't cause any trouble to the elf communities, most of which trade fish and fresh supplies to the main continent.
One of the orc tribes leaders has been possessed by a demon, the king of the elves is both deathly ill, and completely senile. I'm just at a mental blank as to how to get the characters to both scenarios, and for small-time "mini-quests" to do in the towns/elf city/orc villages.
Suggestions are great!
Thanks!

[shylocke]

Orc chief starts bribing aquatic races to raid villages and trade routes. When the king finds out, he orders the extermination of the aquatics, PC's get sent in and they have to make the moral decision to follow orders or find out what is really happening. Orc chief could want to draw elves into a prolonged naval campaign while he builds his forces for a surprise attack on the elves. Do any of the orcs pay tribute to the elf king? Maybe one sent a cursed item that is causing extreme senility and has so far escaped detection?

[holywhippet]

Have the party asked by the elven healers to head into orc territory to acquire some special fish oil which only the orcs make as the fish is rare and only appears in their territory. Have the elves tell them they'd send a courtier ordinarily but they've heard rumours of unrest in the orc territories. As they travel they can do mini-quests in the towns and villages they travel through.

[ZhanStrider]

Orc chief starts bribing aquatic races to raid villages and trade routes. When the king finds out, he orders the extermination of the aquatics, PC's get sent in and they have to make the moral decision to follow orders or find out what is really happening. Orc chief could want to draw elves into a prolonged naval campaign while he builds his forces for a surprise attack on the elves. Do any of the orcs pay tribute to the elf king? Maybe one sent a cursed item that is causing extreme senility and has so far escaped detection?

The orcs try their best not to cause a great deal of trouble for the elves. They aren't particularly liked, nor do they have a population to take them on if the elves decided they wanted the island back. (I liked the cursed Item part though thank you!)

[shylocke]

I loved cursed items. DM made one once that was a bigass diamond that sticks to your hand. Had to chop the rogues hand off.

[ZhanStrider]

Have the party asked by the elven healers to head into orc territory to acquire some special fish oil which only the orcs make as the fish is rare and only appears in their territory. Have the elves tell them they'd send a courtier ordinarily but they've heard rumours of unrest in the orc territories. As they travel they can do mini-quests in the towns and villages they travel through.

This is fantastic. Thanks!

[ZhanStrider]

I loved cursed items. DM made one once that was a bigass diamond that sticks to your hand. Had to chop the rogues hand off.

We had one once that was a gemstone that would cause Phantasmal Killer to hit you if you tried to give it away or sell it. We had to talk a group of thieves into stealing it.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

What level is the party, and how many characters are in the party?

Perhaps they need to travel to another island by ship, but it's stormy and they're blown off course. By the time the skies clear they've drifted quite far from the islands, but they see another island nearby with a ruined tower. Or maybe they're told that someone who may help with one or both of the current plights is a reclusive summoner who lives on a small, distant island. In any case, this set of encounters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252566#22) should work for a party of around 4th level.


Perhaps a well known archaeologist hires them to escort him to a small and mostly uninhabited island in search of an ancient temple. The island is dominated by docile Boars, along with very aggressive Dire Boars. The temple itself should be an overgrown ruin with many depictions of boars, everything covered in moss and overrun with insects, Shocker Lizards, and many of the smaller monstrous spiders and centipedes. Be sure to include a few traps, especially dart traps, spikes/scythes out of the walls, and good ol' rolling boulder. The upper level is home to Grells per this encounter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252566#8), they'll be hovering near the ceiling waiting to descend on potential prey. The archaeologist finds the boar-themed statue that he was after, and everyone is happy.

As the PCs are exiting the temple, they hear a monstrous squeal followed by a rampaging charge of the Boar God's guardian. It's a Razor Boar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/razorBoar.htm), but luckily it's a bit distant so they'll have to make a run for their boat. It should catch up to them as their boat is almost in sight, and maybe the archaeologist knocks over one of the PCs to distract it as he tries to escape with the relic. The razor boar should trample over anyone that gets in its way, but its goal is to recover the relic, so it will only attack whoever is carrying it. If the party is high enough level to defeat it, make it a Monster of Legend (MM2) with the elite array and enough HD to be huge size. The archaeologist will most likely get hit with an Awesome Blow that flips him over the top of it, then massacred by its tusks and hooves. Hopefully the PCs will keep running, hearing the boar's triumphant squeal as it takes the relic in its mouth and heads back toward the temple. If the PCs decided to murder the archaeologist and take the relic for themselves, then hopefully they'll realize that they'll have to give it back to save themselves.

[ZhanStrider]

What level is the party, and how many characters are in the party?

Perhaps they need to travel to another island by ship, but it's stormy and they're blown off course. By the time the skies clear they've drifted quite far from the islands, but they see another island nearby with a ruined tower. Or maybe they're told that someone who may help with one or both of the current plights is a reclusive summoner who lives on a small, distant island. In any case, this set of encounters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252566#22) should work for a party of around 4th level.


Perhaps a well known archaeologist hires them to escort him to a small and mostly uninhabited island in search of an ancient temple. The island is dominated by docile Boars, along with very aggressive Dire Boars. The temple itself should be an overgrown ruin with many depictions of boars, everything covered in moss and overrun with insects, Shocker Lizards, and many of the smaller monstrous spiders and centipedes. Be sure to include a few traps, especially dart traps, spikes/scythes out of the walls, and good ol' rolling boulder. The upper level is home to Grells per this encounter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252566#8), they'll be hovering near the ceiling waiting to descend on potential prey. The archaeologist finds the boar-themed statue that he was after, and everyone is happy.

As the PCs are exiting the temple, they hear a monstrous squeal followed by a rampaging charge of the Boar God's guardian. It's a Razor Boar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/razorBoar.htm), but luckily it's a bit distant so they'll have to make a run for their boat. It should catch up to them as their boat is almost in sight, and maybe the archaeologist knocks over one of the PCs to distract it as he tries to escape with the relic. The razor boar should trample over anyone that gets in its way, but its goal is to recover the relic, so it will only attack whoever is carrying it. If the party is high enough level to defeat it, make it a Monster of Legend (MM2) with the elite array and enough HD to be huge size. The archaeologist will most likely get hit with an Awesome Blow that flips him over the top of it, then massacred by its tusks and hooves. Hopefully the PCs will keep running, hearing the boar's triumphant squeal as it takes the relic in its mouth and heads back toward the temple. If the PCs decided to murder the archaeologist and take the relic for themselves, then hopefully they'll realize that they'll have to give it back to save themselves.

The party will be somewhere between 9th and 11th level, depending on what happens before this adventure. I'm mostly trying to keep it to the islands, with side plots that can be resolved in an hour of Real Time. Though that is a great plot.