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View Full Version : Need plot hook help. Please!



Luircin
2007-07-18, 01:16 PM
Now that summer is almost over, my campaign(s?) is starting up again. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to fall out of the DM groove and I'm having trouble coming up with good plot hooks.

Background: I'm being overly ambitious and running an Exalted vs. Vile campaign, meeting two nights with two different groups. The overarching plot involves seven magical items made with the power of seven sin dragons that were slain in primeval times. I'm hoping to make it a race, of sorts, between the two groups to A: Collect the items and B: Either purify them or bring out their full sinful power (New special abilites, et cetera.) And then a big PvP battle on the final night.

Team Good already has their hands on Pride's artifact, a +2 bastard sword that can give a +3 bonus to attack and damage for one round 1/day (In its non-corrupt/purified form. If I remember correctly). They don't know how to use it yet, however. Nor do they know that it's a sin dragon's item. They were only sent to retrieve it by the paladin's order, but haven't made it back yet. The party stole it from a tribe of orc druids (Tending CN) that had been subjugated by a military order of draconians (Tending LE).

Current level is 5. World is homebrew.

So I'm hoping for advice from more experienced DMs than me.

1: How can I gradually introduce the overarching plot line without being blatantly obvious about it?

2: I need ideas on where the other six items might be floating around, and good stroylines involving them.

3: Any ideas for rituals involved in purifying or corrupting the items?

4: Any good ideas in avoiding the inevitable video game cliche of collecting seven Items of Power (TM)?

Nevar
2007-07-18, 01:32 PM
1: Need more information, do the groups know about each other? other then the parties running into each other it should be fairly easy. Just have to keep track of events that might affect the other group and run them as seperate normal games IMO.
2: You might want to looking into the weapons of Legacy book by WotC for ideas. Another idea is to figure out what the basic idea behind each item/weapon and build a dungeon or area arround that cliche but room for some creativeness.
3: Rituals can be very diverse and probide side quests for each item. Maybe purifying them requires it to be bathed in the lava of a sacred volcano or vise versa to bring out the 'sinful' qualities. Again if I had an idea of what the weapon/item did I could be more specific and build arround that idea.
4: There are a lot of ideas out there, pick up a premade and change it as you see fit to make your own adventure. People are scared to use premades a lot because they want to look creative and differant, but a lot of ideas that I have had originated from a bit of premade here, book I read there and a movie I saw all smash togeather.

You have been fairly vauge about what exactly you want but I hope this helps some.

SpikeFightwicky
2007-07-18, 01:34 PM
3: Any ideas for rituals involved in purifying or corrupting the items?

How difficult should it be to corrupt/purify an item?

Corruption:
Greed: Steal/bankrupt every last copper piece from the richest person in the land/city/prefect and then spill his blood with the item. The ritual is then performed, and all of his wealth is absorbed to empower the item.

Human Paragon 3
2007-07-18, 01:59 PM
First, let me say that it sounds like a sweet plot and a lot of fun. One way to introduce the groups to one another might be to have Team A mount an attack on Team B's base, organization, or mentor while they are on a mission. They can get the plot information from team B's mentor or another NPC. Then, once they leave and team B gets back, the NPC can inform them of what team A has done. This has the nice side effect of team B wanting revenge on team A, and giving team A a nemsis that will plague them for the rest of the campaign in a believable way.

Purifying the item of Wrath: The weapon must be beat into a plowshare , at which point the ritual can take place. A high level priest or paladin must cast an atonement spell upon it, or, optionally, it must be used to til a field that feeds a comunity of devout, good-aligned people. Only then will it revert back into a weapon (of good).

Luircin
2007-07-18, 02:29 PM
1: Need more information, do the groups know about each other? other then the parties running into each other it should be fairly easy. Just have to keep track of events that might affect the other group and run them as seperate normal games IMO.
2: You might want to looking into the weapons of Legacy book by WotC for ideas. Another idea is to figure out what the basic idea behind each item/weapon and build a dungeon or area arround that cliche but room for some creativeness.
3: Rituals can be very diverse and probide side quests for each item. Maybe purifying them requires it to be bathed in the lava of a sacred volcano or vise versa to bring out the 'sinful' qualities. Again if I had an idea of what the weapon/item did I could be more specific and build arround that idea.
4: There are a lot of ideas out there, pick up a premade and change it as you see fit to make your own adventure. People are scared to use premades a lot because they want to look creative and differant, but a lot of ideas that I have had originated from a bit of premade here, book I read there and a movie I saw all smash togeather.

You have been fairly vauge about what exactly you want but I hope this helps some.


1: They don't know about each other yet. They probably will eventually, but revealing them to each other is something that I want plot ideas for. The other main thing that I need ideas for is how to reveal to them that these items exist and how they have the potential to give either good or evil a solid edge against the other.

2: Well, a few may be found in dungeons, but I want most of the items to be in use already by NPCs who either don't know their power or don't know about how to corrupt or purify them. (Pride was used as the main weapon of the draconians' strongest fighter, for example) So part of the plot will be how to get the items away from their current owners.

3: I don't have my campaign notes on me at the moment (I'll try to dig them out and post what I have so far later tonight, when I get back to my place), but basically, each item is a weapon, armor, or other item that embodies either the sin or the corresponding cardinal virtue that it represents.

Envy, for example, is a morphic weapon (In my last Epic-level campaign in which the party slew the sin dragons, Envy was a shapeshifter) that can cast Vampiric Touch once per day on an attack that hits. In its corrupt form, it's a vampiric morphic weapon that grants the ur-priest's steal spell-like ability a number of times per day.

WhyBother
2007-07-18, 02:37 PM
1. I'd like to second the Weapons of Legacy option mentioned by Nevar. If you give them a weapon (done) and make it clear that it's power can increase to who-knows-what levels of power, their interest will probably be peaked. Especially so if you make it clear there are enough for everyone to have a unique, cool item. If you use rituals of increasing vileness to unlock powers, they may even get one or two before they realize what they're dealing with. Pride was an excellent choice in this respect, as this is one of the easiest sins to fall into.

(Also, I presume you're using the standard "Seven Deadly Sins" of lust, wrath, etc.)

This is just off the top of my head, but the first ritual might be as simple as a finishing off a foe in a spectacular, combo-chained-into-oblivion fashion, then taking pride in your combat abilities (or proving yourself worthy of wielding the sword). The reward could either then be some sort of simple bonus feat, or even just having the sword glow and a fleeting thought that it seems lighter and more balanced. The entire "ritual" could then be completed by accident on the PC's part (maybe with you fudging a roll or two), kicking off the real hunt.

You might try stringing them along with a dream or two, suggesting that the paladin who sent you is (say) a disguised blackgaurd, determined to gather the items of power so that he can use them for himself, or else assure they can't be used against his powerful patron.

About 2 weapons and 1 or 2 rituals into the quest, reveal that the weapons are evil, playing with your mind to achieve their ends (maybe they are intelligent, but dormant, with limited telekinetic powers or access to dream, nightmare, or emotion-altering magic). Also reveal that the paladin's were spurred to act because the other, evil adventures just found such a weapon, and are seeking more.\

they can then either choose to purefy as they go, or try and wield weapons of inherent evil just long enough that they can oppose the equally-empowered evil party.

My suggestion: give anything that would have unpleasant/awkward rituals to the evil PCs. Any weapon of Lust should be given to the evil party, for example, because no one really wants to deal with the implications of a lustful ritual to attain power.

2. This will be a tough one. Maybe they could be in the hands of those who proved partially worth in the past. For example, a wrathful general who has almost become venerable in his bloody frontier campaigns against the Barbarian tribes who slew his family in a raid years before. Perhaps he ahs even learned to Rage likes his favored foes, never knowing that it is his favored blade that gives him the power, not his experience.)

The weapon of Lust could even be on a level of the Abyss, a favored toy of the Queen of the Succubi. (That may be a littel too epic for reason, but if you give it to the NPCs anyway, it might just work. Perhaps a bard in that party became half-fiendish instead of taking class levels, willingly becoming demonic enough to get close to the weapon, selling a part of her soul for the right to risk all of it.)

3. Purifying the items should be weapon specific. the sword-to-plowshares idea for wrath was a great example. You could also try having more powerful weapons react more strongly. For example, if you have a fighter who wields Wrath 'til the end, he might find it becomes an intelligent item, capable of using all its special abilities against the party, plus a few more like weather control to generate a Storm of Vengeage in the big fight to subdue it. Since you mention it's a partially exalted campaign, the vows of poverty, chastity, etc. could be a big part of subduing them. In fact, one way to go might be to have the PCs unlock just enough of their sinful power that they can reveal the weapons' true natures, then reject that power and nullify their evil by taking an appropriate life-long vow to subdue them.

4. Just embrace the cliche. It's a treasure hunt involving good vs. evil, but the little touches will help suspend disbelief just fine. remember, everyone's already there to suspecnd disbelief and embrace other, similar cliches already.

Hope some of that sounds interesting, or at the very least gets the ball rolling. Good luck, it sounds like it'll be a great campaign.

Luircin
2007-07-18, 02:38 PM
How difficult should it be to corrupt/purify an item?


I'd say that it should take one play session to discover or research the ritual and perform it, plus complications. It should be difficult, involving temptation to abandon it and CR-appropiate encounters (Whether in combat or role-playing), and should also have a sacrifice from the intended user of the item.

WhyBother
2007-07-18, 04:00 PM
You know, I just noticed you said it would be a PvP final battle. (I originally thought the evil chracters were NPCs.) How many players do you have? Also, were you planning on making the purified weapons forces for good, or just neutralize them? Do you know pretty much what powers/bonuses/penalties you want each to confer, or are you still up in the air on some?

Also, for avoiding the cliche "gather the items of power" quests, you could always choose to have the PCs collect a few (no more than four), then have a third NPC character come in to oppose both teams weilding three of the weapons. If, for example, an NPC who delved deep into Greed (his first weapon) as he search for the other six appears suddendly as a challenger half way through the campaign, then that at least saves you the trouble of gathering them all. Just a thought.

Luircin
2007-07-18, 04:15 PM
You know, I just noticed you said it would be a PvP final battle. (I originally thought the evil chracters were NPCs.) How many players do you have? Also, were you planning on making the purified weapons forces for good, or just neutralize them? Do you know pretty much what powers/bonuses/penalties you want each to confer, or are you still up in the air on some?



I'm planning to make the purified items forces of good, yes. I have a tenative list of what I want their abilities to be, and I'll post that later tonight once I get back to my room and manage to dig it out.

I don't know how many players I have yet, unfortunately. With half of the group that started the campaign either graduating or moving (Which means that the original party split, which gave me the idea for two parties opposing each other), I'm going to have to try to bring in new players, and I don't know how many I'll get.

From past experience, I'd say probably two parties of 3-6.

Luircin
2007-07-19, 02:17 AM
It took me a while to remember that I'd stashed the list in my Draconomicon, but I found what I have so far on the weapons... These are only tentative, but I think they're a good start. Hope this is understandable.

Gluttony: +2 slick dragonhide full plate. Grease 1/day
Purified (Temperance): +3 radiant (resistance 10 to all energy) dragonhide full plate.
Cure serious wounds 3/day (automatic when the user falls below ¼ hp)
Lesser restoration 1/day (As immediate action)
Corrupt: +3 dragonhide full plate with attached +3 claws (Treat as spiked gauntlets).
Grants improved grab with the claw attacks, and a +2 to all grapple checks.
When grappling, the dragon head motif on the armor makes a bite attack against the opponent at the wearer’s BAB every round. This attack does 1d6+3 damage and 1 Con damage.

Lust: +2 flaming shortbow. 1/day charm person on hit
Purified (Chastity): +4 holy merciful shortbow
3/day afflict raging desire on hit (Affliction from BoED. DC 15, 1d3 Con. Takes effect immediately.)
3/day calm emotions on hit
Corrupt: +3 unholy flaming longbow
1/day dominate person on hit (5-round duration)
3/day suggestion on hit (1 minute duration)

Wrath: +2 vicious falchion. Rage (As barbarian of character level) 1/day
Purified (Patience): +3 keen heavenly burst (+3d6 damage and blinds 1 round on critical (Will DC 14)) falchion.
3/day bless weapon
1/day smite evil as paladin of character level
1/day barbarian rage, as barbarian of character level
Grants Righteous Wrath feat
All these abilities may be used only on the third round of combat or after.
Corrupt: +3 vicious sadistic (1d4 extra untyped damage on hit) falchion
1/day barbarian rage, as barbarian of character level.
1/day berserker rage, as frenzied berserker of character level -10
2/day corrupt weapon

Pride: +2 keen sizing bastard sword. 1/day auto-confirm critical
Purified (Humility): +3 keen sizing holy bastard sword
1/day quickened true strike
3/day sure strike (+4 to-hit. Swift action)
May use these abilities only on foes with CR of character level +3 or more.
Corrupt: +3 wounding sizing bastard sword
3/day Touch attack for 1d6 Con damage (as rapier of puncturing).
1/day Touch attack for 1d6 Cha damage

Envy: +3 morphing weapon (Can turn into any melee or ranged weapon as a standard action). 1/day vampiric touch
Purified (Charity): +3 morphing assisting (Adds a +2 to flanking and aid another attempts) weapon
3/day: Grant a +4 enhancement bonus to any one stat for 1 minute to up to four beings other than self.
Corrupt: +3 morphing vampiric weapon
3/day: Steal spell-like ability (As 10th level ur-priest)

Sloth: +2 light fortification dragonhide full plate. 1/day: ray of exhaustion
Purified (Zeal): +3 moderate fortification dragonhide full plate
50% chance to resist any instance of ability damage, ability drain, or penalty to an ability score.
Bearer is immune to fatigue and exhaustion.
Corrupt: +3 heavy fortification dragonhide full plate
2/day: ray of emfeeblement
2/day: ray of clumsiness
2/day: ray of exhaustion
1/day: waves of fatigue
Wearer may sleep in this armor without penalty.
Wearer is treated as constantly fatigued, even if normally immune.
Wearer’s speed is reduced by ½
Wearer cannot remove armor without remove curse being cast with a caster level check of DC 15

Greed: +2 disarming spiked gauntlets. 1/day entice gift
Purified (Generosity): +3 ghost strike (as ghost touch, but may critical and sneak attack undead, IIRC) spiked gauntlets.
Grants lay on hands as a paladin of ½ character level or adds 2 to effective paladin level, whichever is greater.
Grants use of the Stigmata feat. If the bearer already possesses the feat, it allows the bearer to take ability damage to any physical ability score, not just Constitution. The feat may also be used to deal damage to undead.
Corrupt: +3 eager disarming spiked gauntlets
Grants use of Improved Disarm
Weapons may be held without penalty in the gauntlets.
If Improved Disarm is already possessed, negates the -4 penalty for disarming with a light weapon. If the bearer successfully disarms a foe, the bearer may make a free attack on the foe with the disarmed weapon.

JEntropy
2007-07-19, 10:56 AM
If your group is into roleplaying, focus the purification/corruption rituals on how the PC feels. Making the rituals overly complicated or dangerous makes it seem, to me at least, like more of a treasure hunt -- great, I have the wrath weapon, check that off on the to do list; next, kill this creature/retrieve this item/visit this area....

I would, instead, focus on the emotional response of the characters that are attempting to complete the ritual, rather than what is physically occurring around them. This is especially potent with the purification rituals. Nightmares are always good, especially if you can describe them in vivid detail. Have characters make saving throws, and if they fail, they could have an alignment penalty, pass out, become terrified, sick, etc...

It sounds harsh, but honestly, PC's should think twice before trying to purify evil items of this power -- this is dark, ancient magic, not your run of the day necromancy. There should be the potential for consequences.

Likewise, you need tradeoffs for the evil party; they can't have a field day either. The rituals should be easier for them, almost painless, but the ease masks the greater threat to them. You should associate penalties for the items wielder, the more of its power he/she unlocks, and the more often it is used. Have gluttony make them need to consume more food than the rest of the group, and if he/she gains a significant amount of weight, incur additional non-food expenses (adjusting armor, new clothes, etc), and in the end maybe give them a CHA penalty for being morbidly obese, or (alternatively) a DEX penalty (which will affect a number of skills, as well as AC and reflex saves. Perfect). This can, of course, be countered by Will STs, which should become progressively harder the more the item is used.

The biggest thing for me, with the evil items, is to make their wielders get power easy, but lose part of themselves, which is what the penalties should reflect. Wrath would be a powerful weapon, but the path it leads to is mindless rage (AC penalty). Lust could be a penalty on Concentration in certain circumstances, or (again) Will ST. No matter what the penalties, PC's should be able to reverse some of the effects (over time) after the item has been out of their possession for a specified window; but even this should be disallowed after a point of no return, when the weapon has corrupted them irreversibly.

Basically, make purification a difficult challenge for the individual endure, but eventually a beneficial one; make corruption seem like an easy road to power, but involve increasingly serious costs.