I got an idea, do you think I can make a short adventure out of it?

[etrpgb]

I need to make a little intro to make sense, sorry. And I do not state anything here is original.

In the pnp game I am dming the characters are servant of a powerful emperor, and as some sort of special police they solve problems.

By settings the north border is in a delicate situation because just in the north there are Orcs territories and kinda like Gaul or Spartans they are a warrior race that think about war more than anything else. So they often attack, pillage, rape the villages near the north border.

End of intro.


The idea I got is that some archaeologist discovered that 400-500 years before Orcs were a peaceful meditative race. So the emperor wants to know more about what happened that so drastically changed their lifestyle.

Nobody knows, but Orcs are been corrupted and made insane by demons or bad gods or whatever.

So, the rough idea I got was sending the characters to investigate the situation and stop the influence. It will not change the Orcs lifestyle outright, but definitely might make the future easier for both parts.


Any help for adventure ideas is very welcome. Don't be shy, just shoot what you think. It is my task to get everything together and make sense out it!

[Yora]

I think the best approach would likely be to have some remote groups of orcs who are not corrupted or who are able to resist the corruption to some degree. The party might be able to help them in getting some of the other clans to come around as well. If the orcs used to have a less violent culture, it would be a good choice to get the orcs to change their ways. Much better than to convert them to the human culture or something like that.

[Hopeless]

Maybe they are descendants of a group from Eberron dedicated to fighting demons but were cast out and left here countless generations ago and their attempts to re-establish themselves resulted in the discovery they had been corrupted and their society crumbled during an attempt to invade their new home reducing them back to savagery?

Would it hurt your game if the only surviving members of that peaceful culture were led by druids?

[etrpgb]

Well, if as "Druid" you mean a uber powerful being able to transform, cast powerful spells, and fight hard... It might be a problem.

However, if as "Druid" you mean a person that likes to live in the wilderness and knows how to speak and see the spirits then it maps really well with the settings.

[etrpgb]

Since I have a Druid in the group, a possible idea obtained combining what you said can be:

-archaeologist discover the fact
(help needed)
-the characters discover this confined space where Orcs live in the old way
-the Orc druid explains what happen and that they cannot leave the protected space
-the heroes go in the bad place that does the influence and shut it down
-the `old way` Orcs try to join the `new wave` Orcs. The future is uncertain.

What do you think? Suggestions?

[Yllin]

Some thoughts:

Maybe the corruption has some physical form, more like poison flowing in orcs' blood? The the solution would be not(not only?) destroying the source of corruption(could also be physical, like a well or a species of fruit tree), but instead(also?) creating some magical/medical treatment.

Maybe orcs are inherently good, but get corrupted through some sort of ritual? Maybe every year when boys become men, they undergo a ritual that makes them evil (orcs probably don't even know about the ritual's influence). Then the day of ritual might be some sort of time constraint for PCs - if they are late, many more orcs will become evil.

Maybe destruction of the source will drive all corrupted orcs mad leading to a bloody internal war that is going to basically wipe out the orcs. Should the PCs destroy it and secure the border, or will they try to communicate and help?

[etrpgb]

The idea of a cure is nice, it adds also some RP possibilities with the peaceful Orcs since the warmonger Orcs definitely won't accept to get some "cure" from random strangers.

Also the idea that the destruction of the has devastating side-effects is nice, still I need to think a way to make the resolution possible... or just see what the players think and "go with it" during the game (I often do this).

Time constraints are important to push the players to act... but I am not sure how to integrate the ritual. mmn..mn..

[Tutorix]

I think a challenge you're having is that the archaeology and history research per se are not going to be fun or time-consuming to role-play, it's just rolling skill checks. Instead of telling the story with pottery shards and dusty tomes, I suggest using


murals painted deep in orc-inhabited caves
ghosts wandering forgotten battlefields
magic talking swords
dragons, vampires, etc. that are old enough to remember those days
etc.

The point is, string together a path of clues for the PCs to follow that lead them around the orcish lands and eventually to the survivors / center of the contagion / whatever. Like, the PCs find a mural depicting a forgotten battle between orcs with distinctive landmarks (mountain, rivers), they find a ghost on that battlefield that is forever seeking its ancestors' magic sword, the sword is in the possession of an unfriendly wizard, the sword tells the players where it was forged, they go there and find a dragon, which if they interrogate reveals that orcs came from the valley of X, otherwise we go to plan B, etc.

[etrpgb]

Very good points, in fact my plan was that the archaeological discovery was made by NPCs. However, I am lacking a good way to bring the PC to meet the peaceful Orcs (in enemy territory!).

Sure, "the emperor says so" is well enough for the PCs; but I'd like to have something logical and reasonable and your ideas are indeed quite nice.

The world has weak magic, but it is fairly common. To understand, pretty much everyone knows a bit of magic, but it is drastically weaker than the dnd levels. So I am not sure of the best way, but ghosts and talking swords are probably possible.

[Knaight]

This should work just fine, it just needs some complications. Fortunately some are both obvious and effective - this archaeological information is almost certainly in orc lands, and the PCs will likely have to go there to investigate, quite possibly need to bring in experts and secure the area, and thus be pitched into combat against the orcs. Then there's the matter of whether they're the only ones doing so, what happens if the information gets out and others seek to use it for different purposes, etc.

[LibraryOgre]

To build on Knaight, consider that the evidence that something is corrupting the orcs might be itself sacred to the orcs, so they're going to have to deal, not just with local orcs, but with increasing orc hostility as others gather to defeat the blasphemers.

[Jay R]

Get specific.

What actual encounters are involved? What actions can the PCs perform to achieve their goals?

You don't have a basis for an adventure unless you know what the party can do, and it falls within the set of this that this party, with these players, will actually attempt.

"[I]nvestigate the situation and stop the influence," you said. OK, does that mean a series of combats against the demon's minions, culminating in a large battle against the demon herself?

Or does it mean setting up kindergartens and hospitals, and teaching the orcs how to till the earth and trade for needed goods?

You will know that you can set up a real adventure arc only if you can see a specific possible set of actions for the PCs.

Find those possibilities, and you could have a great series of sessions. But if you don't have the specifics, then I foresee dull sessions composed of the players frustrated that they can't find the fights, and the DM frustrated that the players aren't doing social engineering.

The PCs don't have to follow your specific ideas, of course. But you need a clear set of encounters for Fighter, Wizard, and Cleric, rather than a vague goal for Social Worker, Humanitarian, and Philanthropist.

[DeathToGazeebos]

Cool idea, may steal it sometime for myself. Here's some thoughts/plot lines

-The previous Emperor who ruled 400 years ago was cursed by a powerful magic that drove him mad and stirred up the land he ruled with aggression.
-He somehow managed to get the curse bound to an object.
-The object ends up in the Orc lands (maybe they pillaged/stole it, maybe it was planted there)
-The Orcs land is suffering from the curse now
-The object may now be of sacred importance to the Orcs however
-If the object is broken the curse will re-center on the blood descendant of the original Emperor (ie. the current Emperor)
-If the object was moved it may cause other untold damage as it slowly corrupts the new denizens (throw it in the sea? End up being raided by..... merfolk?)


The object could be something of great/power value in itself.

[etrpgb]

Jay R, sure thing. But usually I start from general to detailed. And at the moment I am still in the first phase. "But you need a clear set of encounters for Fighter, Wizard, and Cleric, rather than a vague goal for Social Worker, Humanitarian, and Philanthropist." this seems to assume we are playing D&D, we are not. However, I try to give all characters a chance to shine.


DeathToGazeebos, those are really nice idea. In the settings there is actually a previous ruler that went insane, it maps really well. The existence itself of the cursed item it's a good way to tie the archaeological discovers to the characters.

[Jay R]

Jay R, sure thing. But usually I start from general to detailed. And at the moment I am still in the first phase.

Fine. But the essential point I'm trying to make is this. The idea will work if, and only if, there are specific things that this party can do (and are likely to do) to further the social engineering plot. Until you get to the specifics of the encounters, you will not have a good idea if you can make this plot fun.


"But you need a clear set of encounters for Fighter, Wizard, and Cleric, rather than a vague goal for Social Worker, Humanitarian, and Philanthropist." this seems to assume we are playing D&D, we are not. However, I try to give all characters a chance to shine.

Fine, change the phrasing. The point stands. What, specifically, will this party do to create the social changes you want them to change?

[kyoryu]

One thing about this that stands out to me - usually things work best if there is a clear and immediate goal/threat/question.

When you start out with "investigate," that's often a scenario where there *is* no immediate threat, and there *is* no interesting information that really compels the characters. It's more of a promise that they'll find something interesting.

Unsurprisingly, this is where many PCs fail to pick up the adventure hook. They've got little or no reason to.

So, then, what is the burning question that is being asked here? What's the threat that compels the players into action? Or, to put it a different way, if the players *don't* do anything, what is the unacceptable outcome that will result?

[etrpgb]

(@jar R) I got your point, I agree, and I still don't know. I made this post for high-level brainstorming.

[Tutorix]

So, then, what is the burning question that is being asked here? What's the threat that compels the players into action? Or, to put it a different way, if the players *don't* do anything, what is the unacceptable outcome that will result?

Hmmm. Tough question.

Maybe the PCs are trying to prevent orc genocide. Maybe the orcs' old god is tired of being forgotten and has sent some monster to go on a rampage. Maybe their new god is now corrupting humans too. Or there is a prophecy that one of these things would happen. Or one of the emperor's rivals is making a political issue out of this. Maybe it's all a side quest to rescuing some beloved NPC who's gone off on his own to investigate, or to finding a particular magic item or spellbook.

[smuchmuch]

I'll jsut say this, for the mistery pat of your campaign (and 'finding how orc sociey became that way' is a mistery even if it isn't the classic 'whodunit), the best thing would be to implement multiple way to find out the information that is central to your plot.
unless you are very big on raillroading, you never know what players migt decide to do or how , maybe they'll go nicely with your plans, maybe not, it's good to have contingencies.
Of course, however none of those other ways should be too obvious, because otherwise not only would it be a rather short plot but it would beg the question of 'how the hell did no one suspect it before'


Very good points, in fact my plan was that the archaeological discovery was made by NPCs. However, I am lacking a good way to bring the PC to meet the peaceful Orcs (in enemy territory!).

If I may I'd like to ask, just how closed is orc society. Warlike as it may be, Does it have to be necessarily compleltly so

You quoted gauls and spartans as example of warlike society you're basing your orcs off. While Sparta was a famously closed society, they still had their noncitizen do trade for them. Gauls most certainly did trade with the romans, particulary ore, grain, metalwork and slaves and in exchange of wine, fabrics and luxury product. Even the oh so often brought as not so savage after all mongol traded.

Maybe your PCs could get into orc villages or through part of orc territory by pretending at first to be the kind of people who might be acepted in a society obsessed with war: Mercenaries, weapon merchants, ore merchants (they have to get the material to make moar weapon from somewhere and there's only so many mines you can control or so much you can recuperate from pillaging), slave traders (if they do slavery), etc...

Then they'll have to get in deeper enemy territory through ruse and stealth. They are a secret police of sorts so one would assume they are used to such:

Some clever application of magic could also work (polymorph, illusions). You say magic is relatively low but these guys are the emperor secret police, I figure if anyone has acces to the good stuff they're likely to be among it.

And while they are among orcs, why not have other leads into your main mistery and plot ?

1)Some orcs don't folow the program. Just because most of the society is war based doesn't mean everyone gotta be down with that, maybe there's orc bards sinding "waagh what is it good for ?", maybe there'll be alway a few orcs who can go along with the manhood ritual of eating the still beating heart of freshly killed enemy and say "hm it taste like chicken" or such. They are shuned, bullied, often killed and enslaved by he rest of orc society but there are still living in the outskirts of villages.

a) Maybe they met with the archeologist (archeological expeditions usualy use local guides)
b) And maybe one of them recuting with informations they knew themselves, deduced or at least suspect a small inkling the truth. But here's the thing, he's been captured for being 'weak' and found 'blasphemous' or 'disrusptive to society ' and reduced to a particular form for it. They're used, say, as a mark of infamy, as slaves for combat and target practie in public arenas r kept in some of the darkest dampest dungeons.
c) Maybe they know about the 'non corrupted' orc(s) and they want to join, it's sort of the promessed land for them, if they can only make it there, they might find a peacefull life far from this madness. But if they get caught by the other not nice orcs, they know their freedoms and lives are forfeit

Potential:
-If contacted and convinced and/or freed, they can provide information and help the PCs to infiltrate themselves deep into orc territory
-They can provide an alternate way to discover about the non corrupted orc(s) who know what's going on
-One of them could know the truth. Or just part of the truth. But maybe enough to point in a right dirrection Of course they shouldn't be easy to find let alone talk to
-if you go with 'healing orc society' as your end game, these guys are protential allies for later.

2)The contrary is to have a small elite/faction of orcs (and others ?) who sort of know the truth but want to keep it hidde for some reason.
Maybe they are warlords, priests, or maybe a caste of war enginners, profiting from the actual order of things and want to keep it secret.
Maybe they are a smaller clan of orcs who discovered the truth but see potential to gain power from it.
Maybe they are the cult of the demon/mad god/immortal evil wizzard/what have you itself)

Potential: Easy to bring in game: if the Pcs aren't all that discreet about their enquiries, the good news is that they won't have to find them, they'll make themselves known to the PCs. With a bunch or brutes armed with blades and many orc warior. Lots of action ensue, maybe some very tense scenes.
The PCs end up deep in enemy territory because they don't have a choice, its either runing there or being killed/captured an the end ip meeting your archeologist and good orcs aftr a while.
(If the Pc are smart and maintian their cover, this becomes an intruigue campaign in enemy territory. Admiteldy not you were planning for but hey sometime that's how game go.)

3)Variation of the last point above where the cult/faction itsef is not welcome in orc society but an encroaching growing threat. Yousee the orc society may have been corrupted into being millitary obsessed warriors but it sort of reached an equilibrium.
Ether influenced by the orginal source or out of madness these guys want to go futher, all the way down into rampaging barbarism. They want a steaming cup of blood at every brakfeast and a pile of skulls under every matress, that kind of thing. For now they are underground or a minority but as tension flares, they are gining terran...

Benefit: They provide an obvious and tangible looming threat as, if they 'win' or just left soon enough, their influence will grow enough, and the whole thing il go 'warcrafty', what with the rampaging horde of orc on one side and you get the picture. They could be the 'burning threat' (one of them ?) that drives your plot.
To seal the deal, the demon/mad go/whathaveyou could be not only the onvisible hand behind but also the end game/failure condition if they ever get summoned in.

4)"Here's your meal human , our national meal: Deviled ham with devilled eggs and a slice of devil food's cake for dessert and a red devil cocktail"
"Hmm I feel like a subtle subconcious theme here"

Okay , okay that was a joke but the genral idea is not necessarily. Sometime bits of history are kept in small ultural thing people wuldn't pay attention to.
For exampe, some expressions could hint at demonic influence "X take your soul" where no one really remembr who was X. Or more directly, your orcs could have some old tribal chants, folk songs or nursery rhymes old with lyrics like: "Old red horns faned the fire in my heart, old red horns said tear 'em apart"

In itself of course it'd be clearly insuficient but if they already have suspicion, it's a good way to corroborate they are on the right path or, if they are waaayyy off to sort of hint at the real nature of the mistery.

Challenge: Not much pers se, except well they'd have to be in contat/talk with an orc long enough to hear them sing it without one of the party dying prematurely.

Benefit: It's easy to dropp in the game too really. They could hear it during a stay in orc civilisation if tht's an option. They could hear it from a captured orc worrior, swearing or maybe singing to himself to give himself courage if he expect death and torture...
(Added benefit: If done well, it could actualy make your orcs feel a little more like well, people with a culture going on.)

[etrpgb]

Very good ideas for infiltration, I will read carefully.

I also got an idea to push the players to act quickly: the act that changed the culture was not random, but it's some long ritual to call some elder evil that need lots of blood, and the ritual is almost there.

So, infiltration (via merchant), dungeon, save the world.... it might work.

[Lord Torath]

Very good ideas for infiltration, I will read carefully.

I also got an idea to push the players to act quickly: the act that changed the culture was not random, but it's some long ritual to call some elder evil that need lots of blood, and the ritual is almost there.

So, infiltration (via merchant), dungeon, save the world.... it might work.One thing to keep in mind: How long to the PCs have to stop this ritual? What happens if they fail? Because they might. So have an idea for what happens to the world in the event they do not manage to stop the ritual in time. Is it the end of the campaign (Up next: Are You Ready to be a Slave Army? What You Need to Know)? Or does it just majorly shift the type of campaign you're running (from Save the World to something more like Survive the Zombie Elder Evil Apocalypse)?

[etrpgb]

Usually, assuming the players won't do anything stupid like go on vacation just after knowing the urgency I assume the "Elder Scroll Approach:" basically every one actually waits for the players.

Of course I won't TELL the player, the feeling of urgency must be there and the players get rewarded if they are actually fast and punished if too slow. However, normally I do not really contemplate the bad ending. Because... well... it's game over.

However, very good point. If instead of "unstoppable-unspeakable-cosmic-horror-game-over" it actually comes out as "very-big-mess" it can be exciting for future adventures. I kinda like the undead-aberration idea you wrote about; for example the fallen that unwillingly gave their blood for the ritual come back as undead and the living slowly get mutated in aberrations...

[kyoryu]

However, very good point. If instead of "unstoppable-unspeakable-cosmic-horror-game-over" it actually comes out as "very-big-mess" it can be exciting for future adventures. I kinda like the undead-aberration idea you wrote about; for example the fallen that unwillingly gave their blood for the ritual come back as undead and the living slowly get mutated in aberrations...

"Never make a threat you're not willing to carry out" is a good rule of thumb. If the players don't believe that you'll follow through on the "or else" part of "stop them or else", then it destroys any believable tension.

Same with fights - having a good point of contention apart from "TPK" is always a good idea, as it becomes something that the players believe they *can* lose.