GreatDane
2016-01-29, 11:35 AM
First off: PLAYERS IN THE GUARDIANS CAMPAIGN, STAY OUT.
Hiya, Playground. I'm having a bit of writer's block right now. I've got lots of pieces and small plot elements for my story right now, but no idea how to string them together into something coherent. Here's the situation right now:
The PCs (3, detailed below) recently escaped their metropolis home-city when a shadowy giant caused a great cataclysm and put most of the city's population into a stasis. They sealed the giant away using an artifact (still in their possession, now dormant) and fled to a New World-type land. Upon finding the land uninhabited, they decided to relocate the city's population from the ruined city to this New World. Due to the geography of the setting, the PCs can only make the trip between the New World and the city once per month, and cannot reach any other land. So, they have returned to the city for the first time to find it overrun by animals(/magical beasts/aberrations/oozes) and a horde of intelligent spiderlike creatures called chiteras. The chitera horde has set up a base of operations over the area where the city's population is located. The PCs must now find a way to defeat the chitera horde and transport the city's population to the New World.
Here's what the PCs don't know (i.e., the plot fragments I have to work with):
The chitera horde is led by a powerful weretiger king and his drow viceroy, who serve the shadowy giant and came to consolidate control over the city at his telepathic command.
The drow has dreams of ruling the chitera horde herself, and despises the weretiger (unbeknownst to him).
The shadowy giant can be freed from his artifact-made prison if the PCs make their intent clear - such as by attacking the prison. The viceroy knows of the PCs' return and has (at great personal cost) carved away a shard of the prison. Her goals in the city are to a) free the shadowy giant by tricking them into attacking the shard (possibly by wearing it and using herself as bait) and b) using the PCs to overthrow the chiteras' current weretiger king and take control herself.
Semi-related information: the PCs have access to a flying ship, and elderly elf companion, and an Earth elemental cohort.
Here's where I'd like things to go:
The PCs defeat the chitera horde and unintentionally free the shadowy giant, who wants them to take the city's population to this New World - and then seal them out of the city entirely.
Everything else is pretty malleable. Some elements I've come up with already/that can be worked with: the king may have weretiger warlords he created himself, the hundreds of other creatures roaming the city, the chiteras are mildly mutinous, the king has no idea the drow is working to overthrow him, there can be any amount of hidden knowledge in the city.
How do I string all of this together into a coherent/fun/interesting plot?
The player characters are level 5, low-to-mid-op by the boards' standards.
Warforged crusader/warblade: Big (not very stupid) fighter. Highest-op with thicket of blades and reach weaponry. Effective at keeping the other two alive. Character believes he was built to save people, and attacks his duties with gusto.
Half-elf sorcerer: Some metamagic, lots of battlefield control. Grease, some nauseating cloud spell, working his way up to Sculpt Spell and Wild Mage. Character was a businessman before he received his calling, and has been the most reluctant about it. Party face.
Aasimar spirit shaman/warlock: Going into Eldritch Disciple, does a little of everything right now. A teenage orphan sponsored by the church, is coming into her warlock powers (reflavored as holy light, etc). Very Good, actually says prayers when casting spells.
Hiya, Playground. I'm having a bit of writer's block right now. I've got lots of pieces and small plot elements for my story right now, but no idea how to string them together into something coherent. Here's the situation right now:
The PCs (3, detailed below) recently escaped their metropolis home-city when a shadowy giant caused a great cataclysm and put most of the city's population into a stasis. They sealed the giant away using an artifact (still in their possession, now dormant) and fled to a New World-type land. Upon finding the land uninhabited, they decided to relocate the city's population from the ruined city to this New World. Due to the geography of the setting, the PCs can only make the trip between the New World and the city once per month, and cannot reach any other land. So, they have returned to the city for the first time to find it overrun by animals(/magical beasts/aberrations/oozes) and a horde of intelligent spiderlike creatures called chiteras. The chitera horde has set up a base of operations over the area where the city's population is located. The PCs must now find a way to defeat the chitera horde and transport the city's population to the New World.
Here's what the PCs don't know (i.e., the plot fragments I have to work with):
The chitera horde is led by a powerful weretiger king and his drow viceroy, who serve the shadowy giant and came to consolidate control over the city at his telepathic command.
The drow has dreams of ruling the chitera horde herself, and despises the weretiger (unbeknownst to him).
The shadowy giant can be freed from his artifact-made prison if the PCs make their intent clear - such as by attacking the prison. The viceroy knows of the PCs' return and has (at great personal cost) carved away a shard of the prison. Her goals in the city are to a) free the shadowy giant by tricking them into attacking the shard (possibly by wearing it and using herself as bait) and b) using the PCs to overthrow the chiteras' current weretiger king and take control herself.
Semi-related information: the PCs have access to a flying ship, and elderly elf companion, and an Earth elemental cohort.
Here's where I'd like things to go:
The PCs defeat the chitera horde and unintentionally free the shadowy giant, who wants them to take the city's population to this New World - and then seal them out of the city entirely.
Everything else is pretty malleable. Some elements I've come up with already/that can be worked with: the king may have weretiger warlords he created himself, the hundreds of other creatures roaming the city, the chiteras are mildly mutinous, the king has no idea the drow is working to overthrow him, there can be any amount of hidden knowledge in the city.
How do I string all of this together into a coherent/fun/interesting plot?
The player characters are level 5, low-to-mid-op by the boards' standards.
Warforged crusader/warblade: Big (not very stupid) fighter. Highest-op with thicket of blades and reach weaponry. Effective at keeping the other two alive. Character believes he was built to save people, and attacks his duties with gusto.
Half-elf sorcerer: Some metamagic, lots of battlefield control. Grease, some nauseating cloud spell, working his way up to Sculpt Spell and Wild Mage. Character was a businessman before he received his calling, and has been the most reluctant about it. Party face.
Aasimar spirit shaman/warlock: Going into Eldritch Disciple, does a little of everything right now. A teenage orphan sponsored by the church, is coming into her warlock powers (reflavored as holy light, etc). Very Good, actually says prayers when casting spells.