Choose my Adventure!

[NinjaNewt]

So I am about to DM a 5e campaign and I thought it would be a fun idea to let the creative hivemind contruct the campaign for me! I believe I'm going to have 3 players and do not know their character details yet. It can be as crazy as you guys want to make it.

Impress me!

[N810]

Sounds like fun.

[R.Shackleford]

So I am about to DM a 5e campaign and I thought it would be a fun idea to let the creative hivemind contruct the campaign for me! I believe I'm going to have 3 players and do not know their character details yet. It can be as crazy as you guys want to make it.

Impress me!

Story Start

The players are in an underground cave and they just pushed open the big massive doors that are obviously the BBEG's lair.

Inside they see a huge pit where a demon is being held (Think Doctor Who where they find "Satan"), this demon is gargantuan. A cultist is performing a ritual near the ledge.

The demon asks for help through telepathy.

The cultist finishes the spell, and is sucked inside the demon.

Cultist come out and swing onto the demon's arms and neck and start to try and free the demon from the chains.


GOALS

Stop the cultist from freeing the possessed demon

Fight the cultist by attacking different parts of the demon's body, the cultist will appear in different locations and the players can uses the cultist ropes or can climb the body. The cultist will be casting different abilities based on where he is at.

Head: Command (Drop, flee, grovel)

Neck: Gust of Wind (give it decent damage tho)

Arms: Fire or Acid spells

At any time the cultist can use other abilities like *shake* where they entire body of the demon shakes and cause the party members to fall prone or potentially fall off. Another possibility is that the cultist can get the demon's arms free and try to swat at the party (the demon is fighting him so it won't do as much damage)

The players must defeat the cultist in each spot (head last), when the defeat the cultist at each part the body there turns black. Once the party defeats the cultist all together the demon is able to eat the cultist's soul and teleports himself and the party to the ledge. The demon thanks the party and says that Satan (in D&D I think Asmodeus killed him already soo... Plot hook!) owes them one before dissapearing into fire and brimstone.


----


Sorry if there are some holes in this, just came up with this real fast :)

[Hopeless]

Seventy years ago the Cult of Fire attempted to conquer the ancient city of Ballister.

Founded eight centuries ago when the then farmer Ewan Ballister encountered the druidess, Niadem Tuarte who agreed to his request to settle on the slopes of her forested domain in return for a vow to protect her grove for as long as her coven kept watch over his family.

Naturally the human took advantage and before the druidess realised his duplicity his settlement had expanded into a large town, but they kept his vow to protect her grove so she kept her word to help them in return.

Eventually the city of Ballister started mining the mountains surrounding the valley which sheltered the growing city and became so prosperous that it came to the attention of the Cult of Fire an even older sect of slavers whose attempts to seize power were thwarted every time but only one druid ever appearing all using the same name creating a varied and extensive set of rumours and legends concerning the truth behind the coven.

The Cult used this to blacken the druids name such that in a desperate attempt to finally overwhelm the accumulated defences of the metropolis they managed to turn the populace against the druid coven such that whilst they summoned a silver dragon to demolish the legendary hell-carriers fearsome flying fortresses that served to drop immense numbers of fire based canisters and bombs to demolish almost any foe.

The dragon destroyed the Cult's prized artefacts but the fifth columnists burnt down the grove seemingly killing all of the druids bar one as only one remained afterwards leaving Ballister following the defeat of the Cult.

Three days later the ancient magicks that protected Ballister for almost since it was first founded finally failed and Ballister was destroyed as its sewer system collapsed covering the entire valley in a wave of filth that drove the dew survivors out of the valley and either into the slave pits of the surviving Cultists or fleeing into poverty blaming the druid coven for their own actions.

One of your characters is the Heir of Ballister, he or she inherits a small trinket from a relative.
It turns out to be a small bronze whistle kept in a well worn silk pouch, the only information provided is to never use the whistle and to keep it safe as it is an important family relic.

Naturally your PCs will want to sell it, but only once the Heir uses the whistle do they discover its power.

It was intended to alert the Guardian of Ballister when the Heir was threatened, the High Council usurped power by stealing the relic forcing the Heir's family to search for it alas before they could find it Ballister fell leaving their ancestral home under a mountain of filth.

However the dwarf who crafted it also cursed it so instead of just calling to the Guardian it basically acts like a siren that can be heard by anyone with a modicum of magical power imagine an artefact that screamed in your ear every time its used even if its on the other side of the settlement!

The Cult still exists and have been hunting that relic ever since the Guardian revealed its true form that of a Silver Dragon and vanquished their forces following the fall of Ballister the Guardian directly attacked the Cult's major settlements and completely obliterated them in revenge for their attempt to napalm Ballister.

For all intents and purposes the world believes the Guardian was killed after a long protracted battle when the Cult hoodwinked the other nations to aid them in dealing with this "abomination"... they still think she's still alive and they need the relic to make sure since it would awaken her wherever she was sleeping or hiding...

Only the Heir can use the whistle for anyone else it doesn't work.
Secondly the Guardian is very much alive and not interested in answering only by the Heir asking for her help can the Heir gain the help he needs to clear the ruins of Ballister and restore his heritage and only be beseeching the Founder of Ballister can he/she can prove their claim to the title and only the Guardian knows where he was interred and the PCs need to discover this before they can seek her help.
Please remember from her point of view they ran out on her, only by redeeming their name can they gain her aid.

Is this of interest to your players?
Ballister is literally more important than the Dales and the dwarven realm as depicted in the Hobbit trilogy, restoring the city would literally mark the start of a new Age and a challenge worthy of an entire campaign.

Pitted against them is the remains of ancient empire known as the Cult of Fire whose use of fire based magic and weapons goes hand in hand with their use of slavery and even then there are other forces that wouldn't welcome the return of an old rival and some of them think they have a bigger claim to Ballister.

So do your players have the wit and mettle to claim a long lost heritage?

Or prefer to let it fade into history even though they will never be allowed to go their own way as the Cult needs the Heir to use the relic to draw the Guardian out of hiding and the Guardian is vastly more important to the world something they will inevitably discover...

[NinjaNewt]

At any time the cultist can use other abilities like *shake* where they entire body of the demon shakes and cause the party members to fall prone or potentially fall off. Another possibility is that the cultist can get the demon's arms free and try to swat at the party (the demon is fighting him so it won't do as much damage)

The players must defeat the cultist in each spot (head last), when the defeat the cultist at each part the body there turns black.


I really like the interactive, non-monotonous combat presented here. This will be a fun one to include in a larger story.

[NinjaNewt]

Founded eight centuries ago when the then farmer Ewan Ballister encountered the druidess, Niadem Tuarte who agreed to his request to settle on the slopes of her forested domain in return for a vow to protect her grove for as long as her coven kept watch over his family.

One of your characters is the Heir of Ballister, he or she inherits a small trinket from a relative.
It turns out to be a small bronze whistle kept in a well worn silk pouch, the only information provided is to never use the whistle and to keep it safe as it is an important family relic.


This is a really cool idea for the origin of a settlement/city and lots of quest ideas flow out of it.

I also like the idea of one of the party members being an heir, and people are looking for him/her.

[R.Shackleford]

I really like the interactive, non-monotonous combat presented here. This will be a fun one to include in a larger story.

Thank you.

Though I typically start my stories off with a big bang instead of having players trudge through a bunch of filler and intro. Kinda like how if you replay your favorite game you don't really need the intro , even on the first play through you really don't need the intro since you have been playing videogames since forever? I treat D&D that way.

Even for new players :P


I tend to have three types of combats

1: Minor Skirmishes, the players can create their own dynamic interactive stuff but I'm not going to specific plan for it.

2: Battle, I will specifically set up one or two dynamic environmental interactions, the players can still make up their own of course.

3: BBEG/Huge Battle, I will specifically think of a lot of dynamic environmental interactions, the players can still make up their own of course.

The differences...

1: The battle is in a tavern and enemies come in through the back and front doors. A player may decide to sing across the room on the chandelier.

2: The battle is in a tavern and enemies will come down from the balcony swinging on the chandelier, this shows that the players can do this too.

3: The battle is in a tavern and enemies will come down from the balcony swinging on the chandelier, will flip tables, and will set fire to the tavern if they start to lose.

[Regitnui]

A hobgoblin, heavily wounded, hauls himself into the party's preferred tavern. When they stop him from bleeding out all over the floor (this is a Good party, right?), he begs for their help in freeing his village from the strangers who have invaded, and have started systematically killing his family and tribemates in strange ways; throwing them in a pen with a single weapon and slaughtering them, taking a chest into the centre of the village square and placing the hobgoblin children inside so that they fight to protect it, and even more elaborate rituals. He is convinced these strangers are conducting rituals on his people,.and with every death they grow stronger.

[R.Shackleford]

A hobgoblin, heavily wounded, hauls himself into the party's preferred tavern. When they stop him from bleeding out all over the floor (this is a Good party, right?), he begs for their help in freeing his village from the strangers who have invaded, and have started systematically killing his family and tribemates in strange ways; throwing them in a pen with a single weapon and slaughtering them, taking a chest into the centre of the village square and placing the hobgoblin children inside so that they fight to protect it, and even more elaborate rituals. He is convinced these strangers are conducting rituals on his people,.and with every death they grow stronger.

I feel like the people who attacked the Hobgoblin is just another group of adventurers (like the PCs themselves).

Not a bad thing mind you, but you could always throw a good old curveball at the group.

[Osrogue]

When the party enters the village, they find a fresh corpse outside face down outside in the mud. He was a former adventurer who owned a somewhat large tavern he bought using the money from his adventuring days as a thief, though he put his criminal past behind him.

He was mistaken by a vengeance paladin for her sinister foe, and she slew him when he tried to run.

That night the victim rises as a revenant seeking vengeance, and asks for the party's help to hunt down the paladin who slew him, who should probably pay for her crime, but when she met the villain for she mistook the victim for, he had disguised himself as the victim, because the villain knew the victim from their adventuring days.

The paladin was giving the villain a hard time, but he knew that killing a paladin would draw the attention of more dangerous Paladins, so he decided to trick her into thinking that she had vanquished him.

The quest can be resolved by helping the paladin help the revenant rest, or by helping the revenant kill the paladin, or by convincing the two of them that they don't need to fight and somebody else could be responsible.

The revenant is magically aware that a second individual is partially responsible for his death, and once the paladin realizes what she has done, she will know that the villain is still alive.

Pursuing the shadowy figure at the request of the paladin and/or revenant can become its own adventure. The shadowy figure can be a warlock who has a direct connection to a scarier BBEG, and is secretly carrying out a series of seemingly unconnected evil plots in their name.

[NinjaNewt]

Wow, I like all of these ideas so much. Bonus points to anyone who can seamlessly weave them all together into a cohesive storyline!

[R.Shackleford]

Wow, I like all of these ideas so much. Bonus points to anyone who can seamlessly weave them all together into a cohesive storyline!

Start with mine, the party goes to a tavern due to a mid life crisis, then the Hobgoblin comes in which that whole thing gives them more of a mid life crisis and they really want to do good, and finally the Heir's whistle which... Yeah might turn out well but they put a target on the heir's back.... Though at this point they should remember that Satan owes them one...

[Regitnui]

I feel like the people who attacked the Hobgoblin is just another group of adventurers (like the PCs themselves).

Not a bad thing mind you, but you could always throw a good old curveball at the group.

Ding-ding. Here's an internet cookie. They're the stereotypical murderhobo adventurers, and the PCs are a good RP party.

[Estrillian]

The characters start as prisoners in the Cult of Fire. The Slavers force many of their prisoners to fight in arenas for their amusement. The players are part of a big set piece with a Demon (or a Giant, if you want to lower the starting power level). A bunch of fighting slaves, poorly armed, are pushed at spear point into the arena with the chained foe, knowing that they have to bring it down or perish. Other slaves are dying to the left and right under crushing blows and sweeping chains, while the Cult of Fire audience roars their approval, but the characters are (maybe) made of sterner stuff.

Afterwards they get purchased by a new stable-master looking to make a name in the Cult's provinces. This slaver-master has been training up Hobgoblins for entertainment, forcing them to fight each other in makeshift pits till he gets the best for his matches, but he needs some non-hobgoblins to kick them into shape and the characters look perfect for the job. This gets them out of the arena and into the hobgoblin plot, with a chance to escape to the fringes of the Cult's control.

Alternatively, if you prefer to start the characters on the outside looking in, reverse the two plots. They start as free agents and encounter the fleeing Hobgoblin who needs their help rescuing his people from the slavers and their makeshift gladiatorial games. Once they have seen the evils of the Cult of Fire first hand they can venture deeper into the Cult's lands, quite possibly disguised as a gladiator and retinue (or if they are unlucky, as the *Actual* prisoners of the slaver) and end up and the capital's arena and the Demon fight.

Either way you get to present a clear picture of just what the Cult of Fire has done to the lands that used to be Ballister's, with plenty of opportunity for people to wax lyrical about the impossible past, and the legend (because there would certainly be one) of Ballister's return.

[Herobizkit]

Three players, eh...

How about a Bugbear, a Hobgoblin, and a Goblin in a Louisiana-style swampland?

Play an adventure from their perspective - trying to rid the swamp/bayou of filthy human adventurers!

[Dark Ass4ssin 1]

Still as level 0 civilians.
All players awake in a daze, and filled with groggy memories of a large symbol with red glowing markings all over it suddenly appearing in town, bringing with it strange creatures and chaos in equal amounts.

The moment they can see straight again they realized they are chained to altars with Manes demons peppered in the room. As soon as the manes realize they are alive they begin shambling to the altars. The characters need to break the chains and as a newly created "group" of necessity kill them (I dunno like 2 or 3). A little investigation reveals these altars have similar symbols to the gate they remember in town. They also find a mysterious chest in the corne of the room, opening it reveals a glowing orb with similar symbols on it. Touching this orb activates it, and levels the party to whatever level you want to start at. The last thing reveal is a double wide door in the front of the room.

The door won't budge when the handles are pulled, meaning they would need to spartan kick it down.....
This suddenly reveals a world of fire and mayhem laying before them, amd even the most sheltered civies would know... this is a ring of hell.

They must now fight their way through armies of demons get back home. They would start in one of the lower levels quickly realizing they wil need to strike some sort of deal with a higher up devil.

Early on in the lower levels they find a paladin who accidentally killed an inoccent due to an evil rivals trick and must slay a powerful demon/devil to atone, and will help the group as he quickly found out he isn't strong enough to brave hell alone. (Optional: just to level out party to 4 members and tie in estrillion's story-ish)

On the journey they find cultists trying to resurrect powerful demons, (credit to Dale Grib-er... R.Shackleford:smalleek:), lesser demons trying to open more 'oblivion' gates to other realms, and of course scheming devils trying to increase their power and authority.

The other chunks of this are up to you or other posters, I have just been playing the new DOOM recently and couldn't help myself. (No Praetor Suit for DnD party I'm afraid:smalltongue:)