Brainstorming plot for my campaign

[Hish]

I am DMing my first campaign, and I am not sure how the plot should go.

I have an idea for an overarching plot, but I'm not sure about the specifics. In short, an ancient race of constructs (warforged) awakened about a year ago, and they have been furiously conquering land to restore their former empire.
The party is all new players. There is a Bard, a Rogue, and a Ranger (with an animal companion as a Druid). We have played one session and they are 2nd level.

I'm not sure what the party could do to take on the warforged. So far, all I have is the lord asks them for help fighting. I've thought that maybe they race to find an artifact before the warforged can. (The artifact could give a power boost to any construct, maybe add an LA+1 template.) If I do go this way, how could I introduce the warforgeds' plan to get the artifact naturally? Are there any alternatives you can think of?

[Doctor Despair]

Well first of all, this campaign is gonna really challenge your group in conventional combat. Constructs are immune to SA damage and are immune to mind-affecting abilities, so your bard and rogue will have a hard time with their signature abilities. Bear that in mind when you're planning encounters to avoid a TPK.

For a conventional plot, have the lords send the party to go consult with some sage/elder/hermit to figure a way to stay the warforged's advances before they take over the whole nation. Since the party is low level, it might make more sense for them to be sent as messengers -- it is a known path, perhaps with bandits or wildlife encroaching on it since it probably isn't worth the town's time to clear it out consistently. The hermit can regal them with legends about an artifact (think of an origin story -- maybe it's a dwarf artifact?) that powered a race of automatons -- but once sealed away, they fell into a deep slumber. That they are stirring again suggests that someone or something has disturbed the artifact. The hermit directs them to a long-abandoned dwarf city under a distant mountain. Have as many encounters along the way as you like, villages, moral dilemmas, etc. Then a long, traditional dungeon crawl into the mountain where they discover the McGuffin. To end it there, have some climactic battle with some large construct, the artifact powers down when not activated, and leave it up in the air how all this started (to be answered in a subsequent campaign).

Alternatively, you could have the artifact not power down and now they have to quest off to figure out how to destroy an artifact. Possessing it could make the warforged hunt for them. So that it feels valuable, maybe it allows the wielder to bypass a construct's normal immunities or strengthen a construct with a ranged touch attack. If they return to try to find answers from the hermit, maybe it draws hordes of constructs to ransack the town. Depending on how long you want the campaign to be, you could prompt them or just leave them to solve the problem and just roll with it. Destroying/deactivating it powers down all the warforged -- but maybe there's a moral quandary with that. Maybe they discover from some other source of info that the warforged are under the influence of a mage or an artifact causing them to act so aggressively. They can power down the race now, effectively committing genocide, or they can hunt down the mage or artifact (while still being hunted by the warforged themselves).

That's just something that popped into my head. There's lots of ways you could go with this. I hope any of that helps stir your thinking. :)

[cullynthedwarf]

That sounds like a great campaign idea. i like the idea of a Item/artifact that would cut through the Warforged traditionally unassailable buffs.

perhaps thats why the are after it in the first place, not because it gives them a boost but because it makes the almost mortal. of course there is no reason for it not to do both.

my two cents thats all

[edathompson2]

If I do go this way, how could I introduce the warforgeds' plan to get the artifact naturally? Are there any alternatives you can think of?

1. The party overhears another group hired by the warforged reveal his plans.

2. The party finds a war room detailing the plans

3. A dying NPC hands them secret plans.

[Hish]

I meant to say earlier, but apparently I forgot to respond.

The responses helped me break through my writers block. I read through the great suggestions, then went with something completely different.

What I decided was the artifact is a larger, more powerful construct that would supplement the warforged's army. The lord points them to someone who has been observing the warforged. She vaguely tells the party what they are doing, and then the party has to go to the old ruins of the armory.

I will be looking at these suggestions more later when I run out of plot.