Magic Controllers

[Alfredo094]

Hey guys, so for the Homebrew thing I'm running a specific setting.

After my players went out of the Underdark, they rested on a small village where one of them used to live. Monks are investigating matters, since two of them got killed on the Underdark, and one of them left a cryptic message to one of the monk PCs. Something about magic. The party is resting.

My PCs don't know it yet, but this campaign will be about they trying to stop people from "locking" magic, and keep them for themselves to rule the world. I'm making monks to be an important force in this setting (for PC reasons, I'm trying to make an arc for each of them).

I'm unsure on how to make this. I want to make time a factor (in fact I use a downgraded version of Gritty Realism), so failure is totally a thing in this campaign. I've been thinking is something akin to Fullmetal Alchemist where (SPOILERS FOR FMA ON NEXT PARAGRAPH)...

...where the antagonist marks certain "spots" across the world to try and lock alchemy out of the world, so say, if they take too much time discovering this plot on the next Chapter (they're gonna be going to a castle), one part of magic will be "locked", and magical mishaps will start occurring (like the literal optional rule. I'll make it more serious if they fail to make more mistakes).

I'd also like to make more foreshadowing to his fact, and only reveal gradually what is going on (and more importantly, who is controlling it). WHO is doing it is also a factor, so even if they discover what is going on, finding out who is in power and how to bring them down will be a plot element too. Maybe they can meet spellcasters as random encounters, or magically enhanced beasts... maybe weapons can do random magic damage, I'm not sure what to do...

So, disregarding the PCs individual arcs (which were very related to how I came up with this), how would you plan this campaign out? Would you make, like, several stages, or reveal it to them upfront, or what? (I can disclose additional details as necessary; I didn't 'cause I don't wanna make the post longer).

[Thinker]

It sounds like you have the ingredients for a fun campaign. What you're asking about is DM advice for how to run it. Whenever I have any sort of plot, the first thing I do is figure out what happens if the players do nothing. Sounds like you've done that already. Next, make some sort of clock face or chart that describes what happens at each point leading up to the end:


Time
Event
Notes


Week 1
First spot marked



Week 2
Second, third, fourth spots marked
Villain realizes that PC's are a threat


Week 3
Fifth, sixth spots marked
Villain is there in-person for the sixth spot


Week 4
Seventh spot marked
Spots can no longer be unmarked at this point, though they can be guarded, blocked, etc.



Simultaneously, there would be another counter.


Time
Event
Notes


Week 2
Magic around the first spot wanes.
Rumors spread to PCs by week 2, might have begun earlier.


Week 3
Magical beasts around spots one through four begin to die.
More rumors.


Week 4
Spots one through seven become dead magic zones.




The results of the PC's actions might interrupt, delay, or completely derail these events. If the players stop the villain at spot 1, he might lose several more weeks while he finds a suitable replacement spot while he also tries to plot revenge against the PCs. If the players don't stop him, obviously the timer continues. Don't railroad the players, but make it apparent that something is going on and it is up to them to deal with it if they want to stop it.

[Alfredo094]

It sounds like you have the ingredients for a fun campaign. What you're asking about is DM advice for how to run it. Whenever I have any sort of plot, the first thing I do is figure out what happens if the players do nothing. Sounds like you've done that already. Next, make some sort of clock face or chart that describes what happens at each point leading up to the end:


Time
Event
Notes


Week 1
First spot marked



Week 2
Second, third, fourth spots marked
Villain realizes that PC's are a threat


Week 3
Fifth, sixth spots marked
Villain is there in-person for the sixth spot


Week 4
Seventh spot marked
Spots can no longer be unmarked at this point, though they can be guarded, blocked, etc.



Simultaneously, there would be another counter.


Time
Event
Notes


Week 2
Magic around the first spot wanes.
Rumors spread to PCs by week 2, might have begun earlier.


Week 3
Magical beasts around spots one through four begin to die.
More rumors.


Week 4
Spots one through seven become dead magic zones.




The results of the PC's actions might interrupt, delay, or completely derail these events. If the players stop the villain at spot 1, he might lose several more weeks while he finds a suitable replacement spot while he also tries to plot revenge against the PCs. If the players don't stop him, obviously the timer continues. Don't railroad the players, but make it apparent that something is going on and it is up to them to deal with it if they want to stop it.

That's a great idea, thank you very much! I'll need to make some adjustments (there's some kind of conspiracy and double-crossing and stuff, due to my characters' personal arcs) but this helps a ton to figure it out (in fact, one of my PCs might even betray the whole party). Also I'd like to do some kind of quandry or decision at the end of each "arc" or spot.

I know this is probably ambitious, but I'd like to put multiple villains too... in the end I think that the monks themselves will end up the big villains, but it will be royalty or some other figures doing the dirty work. In times like this I wish I could take some writing courses :s

Anyway, thank you very much!