Need some help developing the storyline

[TheIceborn]

Dragon cult trying to rise Tiamat, queen of evil dragons(main goal borrowed from "Tiranny of dragons" module from 5e, but nothing else bcs I prefer to make my own stories).
That's the foundation of my 3.5 campaign. My party consists of a monk, fighter, ranged rogue and a wizard. Do you have any advice on how to make a lengthy campaign(25-30 sessions or so) that might he interesting on this subject? The best way to advance the main storyline, what kind of encounters should I prepare, traps, time limit, anything is useful. I have a few ideas in my mind but nothing is really worked out yet, so please help me with this :)

[Goodkill]

your party doesn't have any healers. that could be a problem. will think about the storyline, i have to go to work in like ten minutes. it seems easier to work on someone else's adventure than my own for some reason ... meh

[Niwrad]

I've also entertained the idea of a Tiamat/dragon related story.
The basic idea is that Tiamat isn't a god, but merely a powerful dragon who wished to become a God, and after wrecking much havoc, was locked away through a series of powerful keys. The players are manipulated into recovering these keys and inadvertently aid a powerful warlord and the shadowy dragon cult influencing him in bringing about her return. Then they'd spend the later portions of the game locating an ancient dragon-slaying artifact to use against her. And the final portion of the game would involve rallying the rest of the World against Tiamat and her dragon armies.


For your main storyline, perhaps you should figure out answers to some of the following.

How long do you intend for the game to run for? What level do you plan to start out the characters with and what level do you plan to finish with?

How is Tiamat sealed away?

How does this cult intend to bring about her return to the Material Plane? Mass sacrifice? Powerful magic keys? A secret altar?

In what way do the actions of this cult bring them into conflict with the players?

And how can the players learn more about the evil goals of the Cult and what can they start to do in an attempt to prevent this?


As for encounters, I've always thought the Spawn of Tiamat from MMV would make for good cult members for a group trying to bring about the rise of Tiamat.
Dragons with class levels are also nasty challenges for higher level characters...

[TheIceborn]

Those are actually some pretty good questions, I'll think about them.
The players started at level 3 and were in a small village that was attacked by the cult. At first I wanted to put ur just as a raid, but your suggestion about the magical locks actually got me wondering if I could make that attack actually be in the search for one if the locks without the players having any reliable source of finding out just yet.
Also, I'm planning to keep this campaign running till lvl 20

[Niwrad]

In my story idea (hope you don't mind me rambling, and feel free to steal as much as you want), the cult is backing a draconic, half-ogre sorcerer who in turn has rallied a massive alliance of wild races to invade human lands. The cult has him convinced that these keys will lead to a powerful weapon to help him obtain victory. Ultimately, the cult needs this army to help get one of the keys, which is guarded by a legion of paladins in one of the most fortified cities on the continent. This could allow for a large battle sequence at some point in the campaign.

The warlord has sent a few battalions of goblins and lizardfolk to a nearby forest in search of the first of these keys, but because the entrance to the dungeon is sealed by the local dryads, they decide to try to dig their way in, and use enslaved villagers from the nearby towns to speed up the process. Unfortunately, this happens to occur a week before a rare festival is set to take place in this town, so travellers from all over the continent are journeying to this town, and end up getting attacked by the goblins and lizardfolk. The players are drawn to this town either by the rumor of the disappearing travelers, or simply to visit the festival.

I was thinking of having each key be a magical weapon of some kind wielded by one of the ancient heroes that managed to seal Tiamat. But each weapon also radiates powerful evil magic that prevents anyone from studying the item too closely (will save vs negative levels or something like that).

[TheIceborn]

I shall the most definitely steal the part with the key and the digging :)
But I think I'll go with a human warlord that is desperately trying to become immortal and he thinks Tiamat will grant him that wish...about the armies, the cultists are hiring people, massively, and uk ppl, where there's money...

[TheIceborn]

Also, just got the idea....it's very complex. So, Tiamat is trapped, but where? Nine hells of Baator, of course. Over the vast millenniums she managed to convince the fiends in charge that she has found the way to bring souls that aren't evil there. So they made a deal: if they help her return to the world and conquer it, she will make sure they receive a huge constant flow of souls that will help them fight the demons.
I didn't work out the details yet, but as it always is in my campaigns, the players will have a chance to fail.... and if they do and survive it, it will immediately result in another campaign because the entire world will be off balance. On one side Tiamat will be alive and on another the devils will actually begin to be victorious in hells and start pushing demons away and killing then permanently. What do you think?

[Niwrad]

Do you plan on having Tiamat as a Sealed-evil-in-a-can who is only released at the very end of the game for a final boss fight? Or would she be the actual Big Bad of the story, and released part-way through as a result of either player actions or inaction?

To trick the players regarding the actual purpose of the keys, have the wizened sage or wizard or whoever it is that the players are sent to for advice or information about the keys actually be an antagonist. Either a servant of the warlord, a member, or even the leader of the cult. That way he can mislead them and convince them to go after the keys.
Any genre-savy enough villain should know that no one is better at dungeon-delving and artifact recovery than a group of adventurers. :smallamused:


I like your Nine Hells idea.

If you intend for your game to go all the way to 20th, having the cult succeed in freeing Tiamat is a good mid-point transition for the game.
The added element of bargains with the Nine Hells also allows for more transitioning of enemy types in the game I think. Perhaps from basic orcs and goblins initially, to more elite-ranking members of the warlord's army, to devils sent to serve Tiamat after her return, and finally to actual dragons that begin to flock to her command.

It would also allow for potential conflicts to arise where more demons start arriving on the Material after being driven back by the devil armies.

I think that should all be the same campaign.

[TheIceborn]

Yup, I like the idea myself as well :)
Tomorrow is our second session, I just finished preparing it. The players will be sent to follow the raiders' tracks(for gold, of course) and to find out the reason of the attack. If they choose to have a 10 days downtime they will also discover about half of the village population missing.
Long story short, I used the digging idea. Every kidnapped person is now digging an entrance to a cave that has been sealed off in a big earthquake a few hundred years ago. One more thing to say, the players might notice half of the workers are dead-some magic at work, perhaps?
Additionally, as the first "part" of the deal, a pit fiend(I'll think of the good name) already sent a few of his minions(hell hounds) to help guard the place.
I'll let my players conclude everything. They will in time. Hopefully not before it's too late ;)

[Niwrad]

Glad I could be of some help. Good luck with the game.

[TheIceborn]

Well, I worked out some details about the lock. Five keys are required to open it, each representing one type of chromatic dragons.
1. The sword forged in the ice breath of a white dragon.
2. An arrow burning with eternal fire of then red dragon.
3. A vial of acid taken from a black dragons' breath.
4. A dagger poisoned by the green dragon.
5. Finally, a scale of the blue dragon that is made in a way so it can connect all of the other 4 into one weapon that was used to lock Tiamat away, and that can also allow her return to this world if placed at the exact spot at the exact day of the year.