Need ideas for a 'Side Story' session

[Trum4n1208]

Hey all,

So my buddy and I are co-running a game, and right now it's his turn. Due to work, he isn't able to run the game this week, so I figured it could be fun a one-off side story, use it as a chance to expand the world a little bit and give everyone a chance to get a quick D&D fix for the week. So basically, I need some help coming up with a quick, one session quest.

Now, our game is taking place in a world where, 200 years ago, the royal mages split, with half supporting the King and the other half trying to take power for themselves. As the war went on, both sides took the gloves off, creating abominations and spell plagues and dabbling in Necromancy, and a lot of people were killed over the course of this war, before a Paladin founded a religious order and basically went after both sides, wiping out most of them and ending the war. The old Northern Kingdom was split into the Northern Kingdoms, with the Order maintaining ultimate control. Magic is taboo now and mages are constantly hunted in pogroms. Our main group of players are currently monster hunters (monster populations exploded during and after the war, as there were so fewer people to keep them in check), who will eventually become caretakers of a descendent of the old King. Said descendent is also what we're calling 'a Source,' a living conduit for magic to enter the world (basically, imagine a magical equivalent of the hulk). Small Order groups are aware of her and are hunting her down in secret, due to her power and the possibility of her overthrowing the order.

Now our party has not met Miss Chosen One yet, so the party knows nothing about her. I thought it would be kind of fun to make the players members of one of these Order teams chasing after her, as a way to introduce her and her power to the players. I figured they pursue her through some kind of dungeon/dangerous area, finally get to her, fight her protector, nearly defeat her and then get taken out by her beastly magic powers. Thoughts? Suggestions? I was kind of leaning towards a swamp setting, but wasn't sure. I figured on making the temp. PCs around level 6-8.

Thanks for your time, as always.

[HammeredWharf]

Sounds alright, though if I were DMing a short side story session I'd use existing PCs so that players wouldn't have to make new ones. They're monster hunters, right? Have them hunt some monsters and introduce the Source indirectly. For example, the monsters could be ghosts stuck in the past, who think the players and nearby villagers are their enemies. They could have some dialogue explaining their side of the story, or a traitor ghost who's trying to kill his ghostly compatriots an helps the players. Something like a chapter from The Witcher.

That's if your players haven't done a lot of monster hunting already. In my experience, campaigns with players as monster hunters tend to to have exactly one monster hunting mission in the very beginning, so adding more is often a good idea.

[Cespenar]

It looks good already. You can spice it up by having the leader overselling this hunt to the players: something like telling them that they are hunting down a vile monster, or a horrible abomination, or a powerful necromancer. Then when they encounter her, it's just a girl. But then, bam.

Doubly fun would be to later present these characters as minibosses against your real party. They either got mutated by magic, charmed/dominated, or raised as undead to be her new bodyguards.

About the session itself, you could have minor oddities happen the closer they get to the Source, things getting weirder and weirder, ending up in full scale chaos when they kill the bodyguard. The bodyguard apparently was someone dear to her, and it was only her willpower keeping her magic at check.

[DontEatRawHagis]

Going from the Monster Hunter route with a twist.

Off Camera, take your Miss Magic Source and have her pass by a shack or something inanimate. Maybe because magic is just pulsating from her she accidentally casted animate object on the shack.

On Camera, a village is under attack from a monster that does not bleed and looks like its made of damaged building. Play up the "We Don't Know what this is":

Could be a golem made out of wood
Could be a creature such as a treant
Could be a wooden automaton
Could be an enlarged Waldergeist


All that is known is that the village has put a bounty on the creature's head. Sadly if the PC's kill the creature it will turn back into the shack and because there is no monster corpse they don't get paid. Unless they find the owner of the shack who is a bit insane from having his house turn into a monster. A successful Hard DC check to ask him questions will result in him admitting that nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the previous days, except for taking in Miss Magic Source, but he only has a vague description and no name.

If there is one thing that D&D has taught me do not place storyline necessary NPCs near the PCs unless you want them to die.

[Trum4n1208]

Luckily, my party tends to be really good about not killing vital NPCs. In fact, I can't recall it ever happening. We've been playing together for five years and its a solid group. We've also done little side stories like this before in other campaigns, so they're familiar with the concept. It's like playing as the CIA guy in the "No Russian" level of Modern Warfare 2; you don't expect the character to survive and know that he's there to tell the players something about the world and the situation.

The reason why I can't let them use their standard characters is because those characters are currently engaged in a standoff, and haven't been together long enough to do a "flashback session." I kind of figured on using this to:
A) let the players be the 'bad guys' for a bit, so they can have some fun with that.
B) Expand the world and give them more of a taste of the fractured Northern Kingdoms. And,
C) Hint at Miss MacGuffin/Plot Point and give them an idea of the kind of power she has, and the danger she is both in and represents.

I love the idea of reusing these temporary characters as little side bosses if they survive the session.

I kind of figure on the session starting off with the players arriving in some town, following rumors that this girl is here. The first third of the session would be a kind of investigation, searching for her. Eventually, they find them, and chase their wagon out of town until the wagon crashes. Her protector and the Source escape into the swamp. The party chases after them fighting off Trolls (we've never used them, so I figure they'll be fun to fight), get through that, and have the final 'Boss Fight' against her Protector. Since this party tends to be able to beat the Christ out of whatever they fight, they'll take him down, her powers manifest and she'll obliterate an NPC member of their party. The rest of the players can choose to try to kill her or flee. Admittedly a very scripted end, but this is to establish an important world aspect.

Any ideas on how to run that initial investigation bit?

[Mafilux]

Maybe have a little bit of a plot twist? Perhaps the person who sent the hunters after this woman is really the bad guy, trying to tie up some kind of loose end from their past? Maybe the woman reveals this before the end of your side quest?

Hope this helps.