Daddison
2016-02-17, 10:01 PM
Playgrounders,
I would like to get some advice from the DMs out there, please. I'm running a 3/3.5 loose homebrew game and have run the story into a situation where the party (APL 5+) is requested to meet with the local lord (Fraylarp) for a number of reasons.
Background on Lord Fraylarp: He comes from a long line of paladins. About 4 decades prior, their court wizard screwed up a major gate experiment and long story short, their entire keep in the forest was leveled and the demon escaped into the wilds. The keep had been in their family for a couple centuries and was connected (via massive tunnel system) to a series of very profitable mines off in the north. Since the majority of the family was killed, the rest were forced into hasty retreat. The paladin faith was somewhat discarded after that and since that time, Fraylarp has built a keep and presides over the entire eastern half of the province. He never speaks of what happened in the forest and shelters his only son from the world because of what happened there.
-- fast forward --
The party has been encountering a large host of orcs (at random) that are clearly part of a cult. A few sessions ago, they briefly encountered a necromancer as well. During that time, the other major town in the province was attacked by orcs/gnolls and essentially razed. They (orcs) abducted the local magistrate/lord (named Carthann), who presides over the western half of the province. The party, quite by accident, was able to survive a massive battle with this group and managed to rescue Lord Carthann who immediately begged them to take him to Fraylarp for council.
The group knows nothing about the keep in the forest.
The necromancer resides there with his gang and has hired a large orc host to guard and bolster it's defenses. The necromancer is secretly in league with some Illithids in abducting magic users from the surface and slaving them to a massive gate system to open a portal to the far plane, etc. (undeveloped filler story). The necro is using this old tunnel system under the forest keep to access the underdark and that's ultimately where I want the party to be.
My dilemma is this: I want the council (that they must have) with the Lords to be memorable, you know? On a council of Elrond kind of level. I would like for Fraylarp's son to be the one who ultimately tells the group about the forest keep and what happened there, as his father is extremely guarded and to proud to speak of the horror that befell his family. Obviously, the orcs are the immediate problem as not many people know about the necro...much less what he's up to.
* Can you suggest some ways to approach this council gathering to make it memorable?
* A way to mention the necro (if necessary)?
* A way to get the group to want to go to the old forest keep as it is the staging point for my underdark portion of the game?
* How should I play Fraylarp? Should he be cocky or quiet? Should he have a desire to want to send his few troops to help the group?
All advice is appreciated, Playgrounders. Thank you in advance -
I would like to get some advice from the DMs out there, please. I'm running a 3/3.5 loose homebrew game and have run the story into a situation where the party (APL 5+) is requested to meet with the local lord (Fraylarp) for a number of reasons.
Background on Lord Fraylarp: He comes from a long line of paladins. About 4 decades prior, their court wizard screwed up a major gate experiment and long story short, their entire keep in the forest was leveled and the demon escaped into the wilds. The keep had been in their family for a couple centuries and was connected (via massive tunnel system) to a series of very profitable mines off in the north. Since the majority of the family was killed, the rest were forced into hasty retreat. The paladin faith was somewhat discarded after that and since that time, Fraylarp has built a keep and presides over the entire eastern half of the province. He never speaks of what happened in the forest and shelters his only son from the world because of what happened there.
-- fast forward --
The party has been encountering a large host of orcs (at random) that are clearly part of a cult. A few sessions ago, they briefly encountered a necromancer as well. During that time, the other major town in the province was attacked by orcs/gnolls and essentially razed. They (orcs) abducted the local magistrate/lord (named Carthann), who presides over the western half of the province. The party, quite by accident, was able to survive a massive battle with this group and managed to rescue Lord Carthann who immediately begged them to take him to Fraylarp for council.
The group knows nothing about the keep in the forest.
The necromancer resides there with his gang and has hired a large orc host to guard and bolster it's defenses. The necromancer is secretly in league with some Illithids in abducting magic users from the surface and slaving them to a massive gate system to open a portal to the far plane, etc. (undeveloped filler story). The necro is using this old tunnel system under the forest keep to access the underdark and that's ultimately where I want the party to be.
My dilemma is this: I want the council (that they must have) with the Lords to be memorable, you know? On a council of Elrond kind of level. I would like for Fraylarp's son to be the one who ultimately tells the group about the forest keep and what happened there, as his father is extremely guarded and to proud to speak of the horror that befell his family. Obviously, the orcs are the immediate problem as not many people know about the necro...much less what he's up to.
* Can you suggest some ways to approach this council gathering to make it memorable?
* A way to mention the necro (if necessary)?
* A way to get the group to want to go to the old forest keep as it is the staging point for my underdark portion of the game?
* How should I play Fraylarp? Should he be cocky or quiet? Should he have a desire to want to send his few troops to help the group?
All advice is appreciated, Playgrounders. Thank you in advance -