Eloel
2018-02-28, 05:18 PM
I'm preparing for a new campaign (first time DMing!), and while I don't want to enforce a railroad, I also feel like I have a group that'd benefit from the not-so-subtle prodding the plot would give them, as they have a tendency to sit around twiddling their thumbs. I'll be providing them with a plot which allows them to choose sides & get to results they like by their own means, though they're free to start ignoring the plot at any point (which might do interesting things to the multiverse). I'd love to have some feedback on the ideas I have here to maybe fix them where they don't make logical sense.
Backstory/start:
The story will begin with all the heroes (all 1st level) walking into Sigil for separate errands, all with a similar goal at a similar location (probably the market). As they make their way there and complete their errands, they overhear the portals being shutdown, completely blocking all ways in and out of Sigil. Stuck in an alien plane, they decide to stick together trying to find their way home.
Levels 1-4:
Lady of Pain shut everything down. Players try and get a foothold in Sigil, acclimation to the city. They figure out why Sigil is shut down - Lady of Pain has shut it down because a temporary alliance between otherwise incompatible powers is targeting Sigil's destruction, each individually believing that the trade and wealth will flow through their plane once Sigil is down.
Levels 5-10:
The players, looking further into this, learn that to prevent starving the factions, each faction has been provided a single key leading to their home plane. The faction needs to bring people in, so the faction lets them use it to get out (as they need the key on the other end). Some minor planar adventures at destination plane.
Levels 11-16:
Players explore planes, figure out the gods/planes behind this plot. Run interplanar missions for the faction, increase standing to report directly to Factol. Decide how they want to go about fixing the tension. Recruit smaller groups to help them carry out their agenda.
Levels 17-20:
One of them is the Factol of the faction. They might at this point start reshaping the faction to their own agenda, perhaps relocating it. Endgame. Might be a battle of Sigil-aligned factions & gods that support the status quo vs 'the alliance' of gods if they get ready for war. Might be a battle within 'the alliance', if the players play gods against each other.
Concerns I have about key points:
What if they don't want to leave Sigil? Interplanar adventures are fun, but if they'd rather stay in Sigil, I'm thinking of open wars between factions about the situation to keep things interesting. Ideas?
Lady of Pain is too powerful. How do I handle the attack of gods being a legitimate threat to Sigil? Why would Lady of Pain care about potential attackers if she can kill them with a single thought?
Is it too cheesy? The whole "save the world" thing has been played to death, am I repeating too many cliches?
How do I ask the players to not just go home after they find a way out of Sigil? If they do, do I prevent them with DM fiat?
Am I in way too much over my head for a first-time DM? Would a simpler plane-hopping adventure be more fit?
Am I planning too far ahead? Is it railroading to have it planned this far? I want them to keep their agency and I want their choices to be meaningful. There's not much use making them play through a pre-written book, though not sure where the line is.
Backstory/start:
The story will begin with all the heroes (all 1st level) walking into Sigil for separate errands, all with a similar goal at a similar location (probably the market). As they make their way there and complete their errands, they overhear the portals being shutdown, completely blocking all ways in and out of Sigil. Stuck in an alien plane, they decide to stick together trying to find their way home.
Levels 1-4:
Lady of Pain shut everything down. Players try and get a foothold in Sigil, acclimation to the city. They figure out why Sigil is shut down - Lady of Pain has shut it down because a temporary alliance between otherwise incompatible powers is targeting Sigil's destruction, each individually believing that the trade and wealth will flow through their plane once Sigil is down.
Levels 5-10:
The players, looking further into this, learn that to prevent starving the factions, each faction has been provided a single key leading to their home plane. The faction needs to bring people in, so the faction lets them use it to get out (as they need the key on the other end). Some minor planar adventures at destination plane.
Levels 11-16:
Players explore planes, figure out the gods/planes behind this plot. Run interplanar missions for the faction, increase standing to report directly to Factol. Decide how they want to go about fixing the tension. Recruit smaller groups to help them carry out their agenda.
Levels 17-20:
One of them is the Factol of the faction. They might at this point start reshaping the faction to their own agenda, perhaps relocating it. Endgame. Might be a battle of Sigil-aligned factions & gods that support the status quo vs 'the alliance' of gods if they get ready for war. Might be a battle within 'the alliance', if the players play gods against each other.
Concerns I have about key points:
What if they don't want to leave Sigil? Interplanar adventures are fun, but if they'd rather stay in Sigil, I'm thinking of open wars between factions about the situation to keep things interesting. Ideas?
Lady of Pain is too powerful. How do I handle the attack of gods being a legitimate threat to Sigil? Why would Lady of Pain care about potential attackers if she can kill them with a single thought?
Is it too cheesy? The whole "save the world" thing has been played to death, am I repeating too many cliches?
How do I ask the players to not just go home after they find a way out of Sigil? If they do, do I prevent them with DM fiat?
Am I in way too much over my head for a first-time DM? Would a simpler plane-hopping adventure be more fit?
Am I planning too far ahead? Is it railroading to have it planned this far? I want them to keep their agency and I want their choices to be meaningful. There's not much use making them play through a pre-written book, though not sure where the line is.