Campaign Ideas and Advice

[TheNervyOne]

Ok so I had this idea and I am still flushing it out for a game I will be playing with my group.
The basic fluff is;
50-100 years ago the king of Lordaeron in hopes of protecting his kingdom from the chaos of the outside world constructed a large wall around the boarder of his kingdom. Upon completion the gates where forevermore sealed to outsiders and all non natives who were not contributing to the society of the kingdom were expelled. Becoming increasingly isolated and believing the world beyond their wall to be a savage and desolate waste the people of the kingdom praised their king for this and have hence forth never attempted to venture beyond their walls.

In the current age the kingdom has experienced many troubles from those within the walls that would cause havoc and chaos such as hordes of Orcs and Goblins that resided in the forests and the dark magic practitioners. But all in all this is where the great Adventurers come in, at the time of the building of the wall the greatest adventurers in the land founded the Adventurer's Academy to train the youth in the art of magic, skill, and sword. And this is where the PCs find themselves at the beginning of their journey, as students of this well respected academy.


Now that is the background fluff.
What I want to do if have the party go adventurer first with a DMPC healbot Adviser who will be their teacher. Shortly after their first few levels they will lose this teacher in a major event that leads off the overarching plot point.

The kingdom has a policy if they find any outsiders not from their land they either execute them or expel them from the kingdom which to many is crueler then executing them as even those in the guard believe that beyond their walls (Past their horizon) are nothing but desolate wastelands commonly called the Wastes.

Now the PCs will find a young girl who has found her way into the kingdom from the outside world. She will not be a threat and needs their help to survive an encounter with goblins. After saving the girl, they will be arrested for aiding an outsider. Their teacher will take the blame as he is the one responsible for them. He will be executed and both the girl and the party will be tossed into the Labyrinth were the real game begins.

The Labyrinth is a magical maze that stretches the entire length of the country and no one knows the full details of its depths. It appears to constantly be in flux and movement. An entrance might not always lead to the same area it did before. For Example the entrance in the dungeon of the king's castle might not always drop the prisoners into the same hall or room as it did the last time you opened the door. The walls seems to move with you and the Labyrinth is filled with many dangers and delights as it seems many dungeons, caves, and such have become connected leading to various ways out of the Labyrinth that are unknown to exist to the king and his men.

The party now must decide to except their fate as forever trapped in the labyrinth or attempt to change their kingdom for the better. First an escape outside the walls, and upon learning that the world they thought they knew was a lie used to keep them in check they must turn around and change their nation and bring down the wall or open the gate to free those trapped inside by a lie.

My request for help is as follows:
I need ideas to get them into these plot hooks. I have the girl as a primary npc plothook but I would like more then the one trick pony.

Any ideas?

[Zombimode]

I think the premise has lot of potential.

Some comments:

The outside girl: why it is so obvious that she's from the outside world? I little girl could come from anywhere. Why would anyone assume to be otherwise?

The labyrinth: such a place really begs some question. Why it is here? Who build it? To what purpose?
Also, it doesn't seem to be a safe prison, so why are the PCs thrown into it instead in a real prison?
Additionally, from your writing, it doesn't seem to connect to the story at large. You could just remove it and your story would still work.

Actually, this is what I'm suggesting now: axe the labyrinth and have to party be exiled as their punishment. The course of action lead to the same end: the party is now in the outside word and confronted with the shattering of their worldview.

[TheNervyOne]

Well;

The girl would tell them this, she doesn't know that the outsiders are considered for execution if they are found. Remember she is not from this nation originally. And the Labyrinth is how she gets in, as it has exit points outside the gates.

The reason they are thrown into the labyrinth instead of a prison is PR. The Labyrinth is something to fear and if these 'traitors' are thrown in its a fitting end rather then just simple death they are thrown in with monsters and god knows what.

The Labyrinth idea sprung up from Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth. As it was a very cool and interesting idea.
The idea is that the creator was the son of a god, possessing a large amount of arcane knowledge as well as a talent for magic. He created the Labyrinth to be a prison for the former king many years ago, before the wall. It was meant to be filled with monsters of all kinds to be a horror to be thrown into. However, after building it, to keep the plans for it safe, the king had the creator locked within the Labyrinth as well. The Creator had build it to be escape proof, even by means of traditional magic. The reason it grows and changes is because of the magic that made it. Its impossible to create a map for the thing int he traditional sense. There is a trick though, that allows the creator and a select few to navigate it. Magical etching in the ground that only a select few can see and read if they have the natural knack for it that can allow them to navigate out.

The girl would be one such few, this is how she gets into the kingdom without getting lost. However, how long she remains with the problem means they might not always have one who can see the lines.

[Zombimode]

The girl would tell them this, she doesn't know that the outsiders are considered for execution if they are found. Remember she is not from this nation originally. And the Labyrinth is how she gets in, as it has exit points outside the gates.

Ok. Still, I'm not convinced the scene will play out the way you want.
Because, really, how do you envision it?

From what you've written, I imagine that it will play out like this:

*party wanders the countrside*
*suddenly, screams of a little girl and th sound of weapon*
The party: "Quick, there is a little girl in need of help!"
*party rushes in and fights the assailants, ultimately defeating them*
Girl: "Thank you for rescuing me, strange looking heroes!"
Party: "Just usual business... wait, you look strange. Were are you from?"
Girl: "From the town of Zarrayyythus. I fell into a hole, and wandered through many tunnels for hours before emerging here. But I have no idea were I am now."
Party: "Huh? Never heard of Zarrayyythus... oh no, you're from the outside! If someone catches you you'll be killed! And if someone learns that we've been helping you, we will be punished, too! So, your not telling anybody that your from outside. Also, here take some new clothes. If someone asks you, tell them this story: [...]."

There, crisis averted.
If the character know that dealing with an outsider means death or some other severe punishment they WILL find a way to cover up. A little girl is just not a strong enough evidence. From this setup, your players will either have to act extremely stupid or you have to come up with extremely contrived circumstances to make it a problem.

For this to work, you will have to come up with something more intricate.

[TheNervyOne]

Well that may be at first glance but recall this is a young girl. Just telling her to repeat a story would not be enough. Where are they going to take her? An orphanage? When any of the kids ask her anything beyond what she is told it will be revealed she is an outsiders.

Remember these are adventurers and I do honestly expect them to come up with a cover story for her, but again this is an NPC someone I control and yes children slip up and make mistakes. Children int he Witness Protection program do this, so why wouldn't this girl who has no idea just how much trouble she is in and doesn't have a full crew of people making up an intricate background with fake stories throughout her life.

[John Longarrow]

TheNervyOne,

Several items to consider;
1) What if your PCs turn the girl in? Kinda kills the whole plot if they don't throw themselves on their swords to take care of an outsider
2) If they do get arrested, what if they don't want to follow the girl around?
3) Once they leave their country, what motive do the PCs have of returning to a land that want's them dead?

Also,
How do you keep the child from being killed in a dungeon without it looking totally contrived?

To avoid some of these problems, I'd suggest having one of the PCs being able to see the etchings in the labyrith. Likewise I'd have the "Outsider" be someone a lot closer to the PCs than some random girl. This gives a much better heart string to pull on to get them involved.

[TheNervyOne]

Its because their master(teacher) will die to protect an innocent girl. Remember these are Adventurers who have trained possibly their whole lives to protect the innocent. And I do not allow Evil characters to begin in my campaigns, they may turn evil later.

Though I do admit I would like to make her more attached to the group but not sure how. If they dont decide to follow the girl in the Labyrinth I am gonna throw up a roadblock event. A giant with a coliseum of skulls that is just itching for a battle flanked with a group of lesser giants as lackys.

Even if they decide to turn her in they will have to travel several days with a small girl as a hostage, they believe outsiders from the waste are little better then monsters themselves. To see differently would give them a reason.

Once they leave the country, they will see that their people are living a lie. That the world beyond the wall is sometimes harsh but it is hardly wastelands. The ability to be adventurers that free their land from imprisonment is a good reason.

Though yes I do plan on making one of them see the etchings.

[Mootsmcboots]

I think it could work, I like the premise. Reminds me of the Agatean Empire in Discworld(A lot like Asia, with a wall around the empire, and the rest of the world consists of blood sucking ghost vampires...or so the say to keep citizens in line)

Making the girl important to the party is going be key because as mentioned, it will be easy for the PCs to ignore her/help and bail/turn her in.

Messing with their stuff, or her providing them something valuable to the party could help this along.

You could have their Mentor give them a mysterious item she recognizes but will not tell the party about without them helping her. Or she could take the Item and temporarily magic it/hide it away from them.

You could make something terrible happen to her. Especially if the terrible act is conducted by the King/Guards. Captured in an alley about to be raped(I know that's dark, but few things enrage people like a young girl being harmed like that). I suggest the darker route because threatening to kill her may not be enough. People die in campaigns all the time, NPCs die in waves, towns burn, etc.

The guards could also know a way out of town, or have a contact beyond the wall who they could plan to sell the girl to, or the contact is a proxy and is going to sell the girl to the orcs/gobbos etc beyond the wall for whatever terrible purposes.

The girl could know their mentor. Could be distant family. Maybe the family was split during the building of the wall.