Porting my party from 3.5; need help with adventure ideas

[Brendanicus]

So my game has been a semester-long tour of 3.5's World's Largest Dungeon. However, it's time for my party to see new things, and I figure that as long as I'm getting off my module, it's time to also make the switch to 5th ed.

That being said, I have never run a game with any sort of coherent plotline aside from those from modules. Can anybody help tie my mish-mosh of ideas into something cool?

Existing plot threads:

The dungeon that the players were in was a gigantic, ancient prison for fiends built by angels. While the angels were forced to abandon it, the players fought their way through quite a lot of fiends and drow to escape.

The players originally entered the dungeon as part of a series of expeditions made into the dungeon by the local duke of the borderlands of a human kingdom. The party shall be the only people who have returned from the dungeon; nobody from the outside knows what's in it. The party contains six people and will likely be level 7 when they leave the dungeon.



Anyway: I have something of a Michael Bay-esque approach to DM-ing. I build encounters first, and plot later. Here are encounters I have in mind:

Something involving a Beholder.

The party laying siege to a fortress with the help of a metallic dragon.

A carriage chase scene

If the party ever reaches high levels, I will have them go to an "annex" of the dungeon they entered. In actuality, the annex is the dungeon's maximum security zone, a massive prison for undead of all kinds built on the Positive Energy Plane. Boss is a gigantic worm that's the reanimated remains of an elder god.

These encounter don't HAVE to be in the story, but it would be cool. Sorry if I'm being vague thusfar; I'm not good at this.

[Madfellow]

The players originally entered the dungeon as part of a series of expeditions made into the dungeon by the local duke of the borderlands of a human kingdom. The party shall be the only people who have returned from the dungeon; nobody from the outside knows what's in it. The party contains six people and will likely be level 7 when they leave the dungeon.

Something involving a Beholder.

The party laying siege to a fortress with the help of a metallic dragon.

A carriage chase scene

When the players emerge from the dungeon, they discover that the duchy from which they hail has been taken over by a beholder who has holed up in the duke's old castle. The party must now form/join with a ragtag resistance movement to liberate the land from this monstrous usurper. :smallsmile:

[Brendanicus]

When the players emerge from the dungeon, they discover that the duchy from which they hail has been taken over by a beholder who has holed up in the duke's old castle. The party must now form/join with a ragtag resistance movement to liberate the land from this monstrous usurper. :smallsmile:
Yeah, I might just go with this. I'll just make the Beholder a Death Tyrant at some point depending on how high-level they get, and give the Beholder control over a tribe of hill giants and a Wizard (Possibly lich?) sidekick. The only question is to why a Beholder would WANT to become a Death Tyrant, given the myopic views Beholders maintain.

So Team Antagonism consists of:

The Beholder/Death Tyrant
Wizard Sidekick- Transmutation specialist. She was imprisoned for her evil experiments under the duke, but now was freed by the Beholder on the condition that she serves her. The Wizard does so gladly, as it gives her the opportunity to experiment with such hardy test subjects as giants and even the Beholder itself. "Collects" monsters to experiment on as a hobby, but being the Beolder's chief mage means that she doesn't have much time for this.
Hill Giant Chief- He signed on in order to get his tribe out of the mountains and into the fertile lands where all the humans keep their goodies.
The Turncoat Aristocrat- Not nearly as threatening as the other main antagonists, she is a low-ranking noble who sided with the Beholder. Her wealth comes from a gold mine, and the bulk of her production goes as tribute to the Beholder. Liberating her mining town would be a big victory for the resistance, as the town's copious amount of workers would join the cause. The noble would also have letters and such containing vital information about the Beholder.

Hill Giants- Acting as chief enforcers for the new order, but they aren't interested in law enforcement as much as pillaging. When under proper direction, they can cause a serious threat.
Ruffians, Orc tribes, Bandits, and whatever civilized races sided with the Beholder coup. They can act as the bulk of the forces for the BBEG's.
Some variety of elite mercenary company hired by the bad guys once they recognize the party as a threat. Possibly evil adventurers or assassins. If assassins, they could be a team of Monks, possibly with Rogue dips.
The Wizard's undead creations, and possibly have the Wizard's champion be a mutated, experimental troll minion.
Random Encounter Monsters. Seeing as the kingdom is in something of a state of anarchy, the Duke's rangers aren't going into the wildlands to hunt monsters anymore. The monsters could include additional factions with their own goals.
Mind flayers using the chaos to quietly harvest brains?
Possible spies in the resistance.
More evil adventurers, hired by the wizard to catch interesting monsters for her.

What else should I include as far as enemies go?

[Madfellow]

What else should I include as far as enemies go?

It looks like you already have plenty. If something else comes up later that you want to throw in, go ahead, but this looks like a good start at the very least.

[Safety Sword]

When the players emerge from the dungeon, they discover that the duchy from which they hail has been taken over by a beholder who has holed up in the duke's old castle. The party must now form/join with a ragtag resistance movement to liberate the land from this monstrous usurper. :smallsmile:

The resistance is lead by a metallic dragon and they get to the main headquarters of the resistance in a carriage...


Job done?