Two setting questions - plots evil evil!

[Pinjata]

Hey guys,

I'd appreciate some ideas on TWO things I try to figure out to use in my future campaign. Any ideas are welcome. Its 5e dnd.

1. We have a village, in this village operated an Evil Cult. Cult drove one of the mothers insane and managed to have her transformed into a wraith. Now PCs pop up, they kill the wraith, but I wonder how much connection to a Cult should I leave for them? Some players will want to investigate that, I know it. What links/clues should I leave? What do you think of clues leading to a major manor in a Large city where Cult lord lives with his devil advisor?

2. There is (another) a Village and succubus dropped by. Appropriately polymorphed of course. For about a week now she is corrupting the villagers - I'd appreciate any ideas on how she causes corruption. I'm thinking she is mostly using her Charm power and ability to take any humanoid form possible.
Then PCs drop by in an Inn for one night.

Now Succubus is quite a fighting challenge for my lvl 5 group, but I'd prefer for her to want to corrupt the group. How should she do it? I guess she could extend the stay of the PCs in a Village by eating one of the children. PCs are surely to help the grieving mother to find her "lost" child.

thanks :)

[Honest Tiefling]

I don't know 5e DnD, so please consider that. My first question is, does the Bloodwar exist in 5e, because otherwise why is the succubus next door to a devil?

Now for the hints: This depends on your campaign. If it is more of a sandbox thing, a few things here and there to make them remember so it can bite them in the butt later is fine in my opinion. If it is the plot of the game, then it should have many hints. But also some red herrings!

Now, what I would do is make it clear that something is wrong. So first, introduce the wraith without making it clear it is a wraith. They'll investigate that and presumably, deal with it. Doing so, they should get some clues of three different locations, one being the manor, another being a trap and the third being related and able to help them get information, but it is made clear it is not the location they want. I will need to know more of the setting for the actual hints but some I can quickly think of are:


Trails (Such as wagon tracks or foot steps) to certain directions or paths
Maps. Converts need ways to find out where they are going.
Dirt, water, mud, leaves, or other things on people's clothing to make it clear they wander from the village.
Shady people willing to give hints in exchange for favors, goods or coin. If they refuse, this person mysteriously winds up dead...
People hiding things like shrines or amulets in their houses. A certain color might be quite popular.
Religious items or people going missing...Perhaps put in an evil or evilish religion that has reasons not to like certain devils as a red herring...But then they wind up dead!
Devils don't get desperate, but cultists do. Maybe they hatch a plan to scare the adventurers off that might reveal something is up...
I don't know how wraiths are made in this edition, but her gravesite might have clues.
Town cemetery could be a hint as well, but one they need to battle to get to if others have been made into undead.
The town requires odd things. Silver is needed for unholy water, so perhaps they have a fondness for it or are near a silver mine.


This explains the Three Clue Rule, which I find very helpful. (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule) You should read that if you have not already.

Also, what classes do you have among the PCs?

[Sith_Happens]

1. We have a village, in this village operated an Evil Cult. Cult drove one of the mothers insane and managed to have her transformed into a wraith. Now PCs pop up, they kill the wraith, but I wonder how much connection to a Cult should I leave for them? Some players will want to investigate that, I know it. What links/clues should I leave? What do you think of clues leading to a major manor in a Large city where Cult lord lives with his devil advisor?

If you want to go the easiest route, have the wraith scream things while they fight it that seem like nonsense at the time but start to make sense once they start poking around the village.


2. There is (another) a Village and succubus dropped by. Appropriately polymorphed of course. For about a week now she is corrupting the villagers - I'd appreciate any ideas on how she causes corruption. I'm thinking she is mostly using her Charm power and ability to take any humanoid form possible.
Then PCs drop by in an Inn for one night.

You say "corruption," but are demons in 5e still focused on spreading chaos? If so, then the succubus has probably dedicated itself to turning the villagers against each other in creative ways.


Now Succubus is quite a fighting challenge for my lvl 5 group, but I'd prefer for her to want to corrupt the group. How should she do it? I guess she could extend the stay of the PCs in a Village by eating one of the children. PCs are surely to help the grieving mother to find her "lost" child.

What kind of "corrupting" are you hoping for?

[erikun]

1. We have a village, in this village operated an Evil Cult. Cult drove one of the mothers insane and managed to have her transformed into a wraith. Now PCs pop up, they kill the wraith, but I wonder how much connection to a Cult should I leave for them? Some players will want to investigate that, I know it. What links/clues should I leave? What do you think of clues leading to a major manor in a Large city where Cult lord lives with his devil advisor?
Leave a lot of hints around the house that she was involved in something. Have a lot of rumors from people saying that she was "involved in something strange", especially once it gets out that she was turned into a wraith. Have some shady persons visiting her house or seen visiting her house, even after the wraith popped up or after the wraith was destroyed. Have her house trashed and looted of incriminating evidence, especially if the PCs take too long without looking at it. Have the PCs left a threatening note, threatening ten times the number of wraiths in the town if they don't stop investigating. Have an innocent orphan or homeless/beggar kidnapped for the next "experiment". Have the mother's child mysteriously disappear from her caretakers, as the cult feels that they can care for and teach the child better. When in doubt, have another wraith pop up.

As for a connection to a major city, simply have some notes addressed to/from the major city and some mentions of happenings in the major city in the location where the cult is stationed.


2. There is (another) a Village and succubus dropped by. Appropriately polymorphed of course. For about a week now she is corrupting the villagers - I'd appreciate any ideas on how she causes corruption. I'm thinking she is mostly using her Charm power and ability to take any humanoid form possible.
Then PCs drop by in an Inn for one night.

Now Succubus is quite a fighting challenge for my lvl 5 group, but I'd prefer for her to want to corrupt the group. How should she do it? I guess she could extend the stay of the PCs in a Village by eating one of the children. PCs are surely to help the grieving mother to find her "lost" child.
A succubus would probably be wanting to cause trouble and infighting among the villagers. I would guess that she's probably starting a lot of rumors and/or "accidentally" getting caught doing something inappropriate with some individuals, and so there would be a lot fo bad blood between villagers. Probably the fact that a bar fight starts for once without the PCs beginning it might indicate a problem. :smalltongue:

Other than that? Just having everyone in town believing conflicting stories and rumors might be enough to send the PCs around to start talking with NPCs, at least enough to find out that something was strange. Like, say, have the bartender tell the PCs that the guard captain is untrustworthy, then the mayor say that that the bartender is untrustworthy, then the guard captain say how the bartender and mayor are all chummy and working together, etc. I'm not quite sure how to attach that to the succubus right off hand, though.

[Pinjata]

Allrighty guys. First, thanks for all the inputs. As for wraith, I came up with this:

Woman is innocent. Of course. Cultists, disguised as mechants, adventurers, entertainers, would frequent the village and drop off hints of her daughter being alive, even showing her her daughter, just to have her "disappear" before woman could get to her. They DID use a bit of stuff that would leave traces. For an example, if PCs explore her house after they deal with the wraith, they will find "devils nest", a small channeling focus that helped drive the woman insane.

If they find wise enough cleric/sage (it should be easy when they find Big City), he will tell them this belongs to the cult that basically generates pain and misery on material plane and serves some hellish/demonic baddie. IF they decide to really take time to interrogate EVERYONE, they will come up with Tom The Weightlifter - a member of a entertainer group that came into the village a year ago. Tom is innocent, however, but all other members of his group (4 cultitst + cult leader) are part of a cult, led by a rich man in a large city. If they are smart enough and "squeeze" the cultists in a proper way (or shadow them long enough), they will reveal the rich guy for what he is. Then, guy may flee or fight them. Rich guy also has a succubi consort (the corrupter) and both of them will react against the group if they get wind of them by planting some illegal stuff on them and even have a corrupt "chief of police" squeeze them.

What do you guys think?

[Quild]

Regarding the first one, I don't really like the idea of a large manor where the cult lives. I'd rather have the cult members to be villagers that meet somewhere weekly.

Regarding the hints, I would have in mind:
- Random villagers that they can interrogate and that would talk about seeing peoples going north/south/east or west in the woods sometimes at night but too scary to see more. Trails could be find in that direction.
- That villager could say that his neighbour is among those who leave town at night.
- That villager could curse about another villager that he believes is a witch.
- Your PCs could ask question about what can be find around there and be answered that their are big coves near the cliff. Coves are nice for a covenant and there would be hints here.
- Possibility to interrogate a suspected cult member (zone of truth, make him drunk, terrify him, be nice with him...).
- Speak with dead with the destroyed wraith.
- She was a mother? There must be orphans!

Edit: Why would you have your cultists disguised as merchants rather than be real merchants? Part of the village?

[Pinjata]

because villagers = cultists is obvious and lame. If you are a cultist, you need to be covert. Mobile. Have money. You orcestrate sacrifice of an entire kindergarden in a single night, then disappear. Villager cultist = amateurs just waiting to be smitten by any low-level paladin.

[Quild]

You intend to have your cultists be a mid-level mass of opponents for your group to fight? I thought the cult lord and his devil were the real deal here.

I personally find the idea of a big manor with bunch of peoples in it that don't interact openly with the village quite more obvious (and lame), but it's your call.
Does not fit with "disappear" either.
I find it more interesting to have low-level cultists use their covenants in their own petty goals while being used by the cult lord.

Also if the mobile is money, well... A bunch of mid-level cultists can certainly earn more money that what a village would bring them. And more easily.

Your call anyway.

[Pinjata]

I am a bit lost on what you were trying to say, but I appreciate the input. Let me just explain some things.

You intend to have your cultists be a mid-level mass of opponents for your group to fight? I thought the cult lord and his devil were the real deal here.
Cultists will be level 1. The only real problem will be the fact they can cause so much harm.



I personally find the idea of a big manor with bunch of peoples in it that don't interact openly with the village quite more obvious (and lame), but it's your call.
Does not fit with "disappear" either.

Manor is a part of a large city. Which entertainer group visits quite often. Basically only connection to the manor is entertainer-cultist-chief. In the manor there is a rich guy, his old servant and an advisor devil/succubus. Parhaps some child/female corpses in the cellars, too? He he.



I find it more interesting to have low-level cultists use their covenants in their own petty goals while being used by the cult lord.


My idea is rather close ... i think?



Also if the mobile is money, well... A bunch of mid-level cultists can certainly earn more money that what a village would bring them. And more easily.


They are not mobile to earn money. They are mobile so they can plant a seed of destruction and come again in three months to see how its growing and not be captured by - as already said - by any LG/NG/CG bumbling group of adventurers.

Your call anyway.[/QUOTE]

[erikun]

Allrighty guys. First, thanks for all the inputs. As for wraith, I came up with this:

Woman is innocent. Of course. Cultists, disguised as mechants, adventurers, entertainers, would frequent the village and drop off hints of her daughter being alive, even showing her her daughter, just to have her "disappear" before woman could get to her. They DID use a bit of stuff that would leave traces. For an example, if PCs explore her house after they deal with the wraith, they will find "devils nest", a small channeling focus that helped drive the woman insane.

If they find wise enough cleric/sage (it should be easy when they find Big City), he will tell them this belongs to the cult that basically generates pain and misery on material plane and serves some hellish/demonic baddie. IF they decide to really take time to interrogate EVERYONE, they will come up with Tom The Weightlifter - a member of a entertainer group that came into the village a year ago. Tom is innocent, however, but all other members of his group (4 cultitst + cult leader) are part of a cult, led by a rich man in a large city. If they are smart enough and "squeeze" the cultists in a proper way (or shadow them long enough), they will reveal the rich guy for what he is. Then, guy may flee or fight them. Rich guy also has a succubi consort (the corrupter) and both of them will react against the group if they get wind of them by planting some illegal stuff on them and even have a corrupt "chief of police" squeeze them.

What do you guys think?
I think that you are thinking too much of an established plot and not enough about an established setting.

First of all, is all this going to be happening in the big city? Then why bother with the small town?! I mean, you might as well have the wraith come from the big city and attack the small town because it was the first one it came across. You would end up with the same result - the PCs visiting the big city. As it stands, but it in no uncertain terms that the stuff the PCs want is in the big city. The former woman would always talk about [child's name] and worry about them, but clam up when asked about it. People would always see the child come into town with an unusual group to mean the woman, but leave shortly afterwards - returning to the big city. There are pictures in the woman's house of the child. Some people in town were helping the woman to track down where her child was, but none of them could find out anything in the big city. Everything in the small town should point to the big city.

Once they're in the right place, take a look at who is important and what they might be doing. What is the cult doing and what do they want to do? Why did they turn the woman into a wright? Why would they want to do it again? What are they doing with the daughter now? Realize that the PCs might not be terribly fast at finding clues and getting things done, so you probably don't want to put it on any sort of timetable.

Honestly, having the "bad guys" be in an entirely different town is not something that I would advise. It makes quite an awkward transition, because rather than dealing with NPCs who are directly affected by the wright-attack, you're instead dealing with a bunch of NPCs who couldn't care. The players are going to be thinking along the lines of "But we were just attacked by a wright!" while nobody else will really care about it.

[Pinjata]

Allrighty. The wraith thing is written. I have used different locations, and an happy with the way things are set up.

For the succubus however, I came up with this: Succubus instills witchhunt. She enters the village as a peddler of some useful wares, then takes shape of one or another villager and starts rumors. Doubts arise regarding fidelity of villagers, theft AND servants of Cyric in the small village (Succubus plants "evidence" on people. Perhaps kills some domestic animals to deepen the hatred). People "act funny" (since succubus does not know all the past of the villagers but CAN imitate them physically perfectly), and villagers get even more suspicious, and NPC acolyte of St. Cuthbert is called to resolve this. (The only thing he will resolve is lots of "burning at the stake". He is not a real cleric yet, but very eager to smite evil).

Then PCs pop up.

What do you guys think?

[Sith_Happens]

Allrighty. The wraith thing is written. I have used different locations, and an happy with the way things are set up.

For the succubus however, I came up with this: Succubus instills witchhunt. She enters the village as a peddler of some useful wares, then takes shape of one or another villager and starts rumors. Doubts arise regarding fidelity of villagers, theft AND servants of Cyric in the small village (Succubus plants "evidence" on people. Perhaps kills some domestic animals to deepen the hatred). People "act funny" (since succubus does not know all the past of the villagers but CAN imitate them physically perfectly), and villagers get even more suspicious, and NPC acolyte of St. Cuthbert is called to resolve this. (The only thing he will resolve is lots of "burning at the stake". He is not a real cleric yet, but very eager to smite evil).

Then PCs pop up.

What do you guys think?

Not bad. The succubus will, of course, have a field day with the acolyte, making sure that lots of random villagers "earn" themselves a turn at the stake. Once the village has either come to regret their decision in calling him or gathered their torches and pitchforks to join him, then the acolyte himself starts to act oh so suspicious...