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View Full Version : DM Help Ways to expand a campaign?



Balor01
2014-07-16, 07:24 AM
I'v taken and am studying Pool of Radiance - Attack on Myth Drannor module as a base for my next campaign and I am wondering how to expand it a bit. Module basically goes like this:

- party encounters a small village, villagers are mising. Party tracks down the kidnappers, in this case Evil cultists, that need people to sacrifice to their Dragon god. PCs wreck the site, find teleport to another location.
- site 2. Area with lots of Crypts cultists are exploring to get as many magic items as they can since they need them to ressurect their Dracolich leader. PCs wreck the site, find teleport to another location.
- site 3. Lair of Dracolich. Lots of fighting, party enters castle with Lich, destroyes philactery, GG.

Now I intended to involve two plots:
- Cultists are not stupid and do not get sacrifices by looting a villager here and there. They rather organize an entire chain of orphanages and when transporting kids from one town to another, some of the "cargo" gets lost and sacrificed. I am unsure how to involve PCs in this.
- Artifact dugout is performed under guise of explorers and archeologists, university members even. Again, I am unsure how to connect first site to second one beyond retarded "hurr durr, teleport".

We should start at lvl 4 or even 6, which means, if Cleric is present, that means Detect evil. Most of orphanage staff and diggers will be N, not knowing what is happening, but leaders who are in on the plan and Cult should be E. Can they mask alignments at, say, lvl 6?


Anyway ... I'd like to veawe this into something more interesting then basic module. All ideas are welcome.

Chambers
2014-07-16, 10:23 PM
We should start at lvl 4 or even 6, which means, if Cleric is present, that means Detect evil. Most of orphanage staff and diggers will be N, not knowing what is happening, but leaders who are in on the plan and Cult should be E. Can they mask alignments at, say, lvl 6?

Near enough. The Spymaster PrC has a constant Undetectable Alignment (Ex) effect at their first level (ECL 7). The class fits pretty well for leaders of a smuggling and kidnapping ring devoted to an evil god, i.e. don't let them know you exist.


Now I intended to involve two plots:
- Cultists are not stupid and do not get sacrifices by looting a villager here and there. They rather organize an entire chain of orphanages and when transporting kids from one town to another, some of the "cargo" gets lost and sacrificed. I am unsure how to involve PCs in this.

PC's are escorting a caravan when they run across a child running away. The kid slipped away when the cultists made the transfer between towns but they're hot on his/her trail (as in Rounds). The PC's encounter the escaped kid, cultists, and have a brief exposition explaining the two while they're cutting down some people that are chasing this obviously scared and possibly injured/manacled kid.

The kid can say from where he/she escaped or maybe there's physical evidence on the cultists chasing the kid that lead towards the location.


- Artifact dugout is performed under guise of explorers and archeologists, university members even. Again, I am unsure how to connect first site to second one beyond retarded "hurr durr, teleport".

The "archeologists" would probably hire some local people to help out with manual labor and the cult could ensure that it was their people that were chosen (the cult could also be using a legitimate archaeological group as a patsy). There could be some hand tools, work clothes, or something more discreet found at the cultists hide out that suggests a connection to the dig site.

Cowardly Griffo
2014-07-16, 11:38 PM
- Cultists are not stupid and do not get sacrifices by looting a villager here and there. They rather organize an entire chain of orphanages and when transporting kids from one town to another, some of the "cargo" gets lost and sacrificed. I am unsure how to involve PCs in this.One of the lost children was en route to the PCs' hometown, where s/he was going to be adopted by one of the PCs. Perhaps they were orphaned because their original parents, relatives of the PC in question, died.

Or (depending on starting level) because the child was actually the PC's, and the PC was returning home to retire. The child had been in an orphanage, under the care of an allegedly kindly matron because the world needed saving and mom/dad was needed to save it.

This is nice because it adds some drama. Now the world needs saving again, and they have to leave their child behind again, and look what happened last time! What do they do? Leave the child behind with someone they can trust, take them along where they can keep an eye on them and teach them how to defend themselves? Do they really want their child to take up the family business?

Millennium
2014-07-17, 08:36 AM
- Cultists are not stupid and do not get sacrifices by looting a villager here and there. They rather organize an entire chain of orphanages and when transporting kids from one town to another, some of the "cargo" gets lost and sacrificed. I am unsure how to involve PCs in this.
Have the orphanage hire the PCs to guard the caravan, on a contract for about 8-10 runs between towns. On the first run or two, the party might even defeat some cultists trying to take one of the children, the caravan is "attacked" by cultists trying to "kidnap" the children, but the party defeats them (not realizing that the cultists are in league with the caravan's owners). The caravan can't help the attackers, because it would blow their cover, so all the children make it between the towns safely. The PCs are greeted warmly (in a strained way), but the after the first or second run, they're abruptly fired.

No reason is given for this. The orphanage simply informs them that their services are no longer required, but pays the full amount due on the contract (as though the PCs had done all 8-10 runs) plus another 50% of that amount as "severance pay." This is actually intended as hush money: the orphanage is hoping that, having just gotten all this money without having to do all the work for it, the PCs will just go away. But at this point, you can leave clues that something is wrong, and through investigating these, the PCs can discover what their former employer is really up to.

Balor01
2014-07-17, 11:50 AM
Interesting, interesting.

I love the Spymaster idea. I was just thinking ... what would be a good way to involve PCs without directly linking them to orphanage? I dunno. I know I am sort of picky :)