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godthedj
2018-04-02, 06:17 PM
Hi all. Long time reader but new poster!

I intended for this post to be a paragraph or two, but I just kept writing! Sorry! Hang in there!

I was hoping for some of you ideas regarding the 'bulking out of a plot'. I have a main structure loosely set but I was hoping for some additional content ideas to help fill in the gaps. I'm open to ANY ideas. Nothing is set in stone.

Anyway.... my question is based around a plot for an d&d 5e game, that said, it would apply to any typical d&d or pathfinder type setting. You know orks, goblins, taverns. Forgotten realms type stuff :)

I'm a DM who has just finished a rather popular module... (which I'll keep vague in case anyone senses any spoilers)... which resulted in the party aquiring a magic forge.

However, the party were quite disappointed by the fact that the forges power had pretty much drained away over centuries of inactivity and want to try and 'power it up' again.

I decided, on the fly, mid-game, to hint that the forge is in fact powered by a 'magic core'. An ancient technology that has been forgotten to the ages and if they want to improve the forge, they would need to replace it's core.

I imagined this 'core' to be maybe a simple looking glowing ball the size of your fist. Impossible to replicate, with the ability to grant great power to what it's plugged into. Think a magic battery!

Anyway. I want to keep things interesting I thought I would add a big moral dilemma to the mix....

I've hinted that the answer may lie on an island that that the party will have to sail to a few weeks travel away. (This was to give me some time to weave a narrative/plot together!) However, my thoughts are...

That the island itself, while it looks like a typical island full of trees, towns, beaches and a native (generally friendly) population... is actually a super ancient construct. The whole thing is a floating island, the only reason it floats in place is due to its OWN magic core buried deep within it's lower caves, constantly fighting gravity to keep the island above sea level.

It has existed like this for perhaps 100s or 1,000s of years. Pretty much ALL of it's inhabitents aren't even aware of the fact it's an unusual island. The only people who know different are maybe some secretive village elders or maybe even a guild or cult?

The party would learn more while on the island and finally make their way down to the core, presumably dealing with traps, skill challenges and mystic guardians on the way.... then right at the end... they learn how CRITICALLY IMPORTANT this core is and they will then have to make the decision. Do they take the core and condem an entire island and it's inhabitents to slowly SINK into the sea, loosing their homes and possibly lives in the process, just for greed? Or do they keep it there and allow the island to continue in peace? Possibly becoming island 'guardians' themselves?

The outcome of that decision we can save for another day...

Anyway! This is where I need some support from you guys. I need some help with building the encounters, some challenges and simple NPCs for this plotline to work.

I figured that the antagonists to the plot could be the guild/cult/elders who 'know the truth' and simply want to stop the party before they spill the secret to the wider world, which would put the fate of the island and their own loved ones at risk! Maybe even attacking or kidnapping the party in their beds one evening, shortly after they arrive on the island asking dangerous questions.

I don't want the party to just learn of the info from a random tavern patron or read about it in the town library, since this info is supposed to be super secretive! Getting the info will need to be a challenge in itself I don't want the entrance to be hidden under a suspicious looking rock that they happen to wander past....

I suppose I'd just like input from someone else. The wife would rather throw herself out of a window than discuss d&d with me, and i can't discuss it with my players, since this will form the secret plot to their own game!

Thoughts and input please :)

Akolyte01
2018-04-02, 07:24 PM
That sounds really cool! My critique would be that so far it seems that there are only two results: They make the "good" decision, which doesn't help them in any way, or they make the "bad" decision, which (likely) conflicts with the idea they have of their character.

If they make the bad decision, that will negatively impact their investment into the game.

If they make the good decision, they'll have something they wanted yanked out from beneath them.... which isn't necessarily bad in isolation, but it seems as though they might already feel that way about the forge in the first place. Your players might end up pretty frustrated.

Honest Tiefling
2018-04-02, 07:52 PM
For extra fun, make the island full of orcs. But these aren't your usual blood thirsty savages! No, they're DRUIDIC bloodthirsty savages. Why druidic? just for a change of pace and a mystery to solve in the first session. This also gives you fodder for some sessions to establish the people on the island, and how these orcs are controlled by evil druids. They are still in the way of the players, but are also quite innocent through the PCs wouldn't know that at first glance because, orc.

Through the question remains, why did someone make a floating island with a huge design flaw? Well, the first answer is to contain something. And letting out ancient and primordial evils is just what the cleric ordered! It's a trope, but it's a trope for a reason. Also, it might explain our evil druids.

Another idea is that it was made to hide something. What is that something? Why a map to other cores! It'll take some luck and some smarts to find and to be able to use the map (and it might get destroyed in the process) but if the players choose not to murder the entire island, there's a hook for the next few adventures.

godthedj
2018-04-03, 07:27 AM
Through the question remains, why did someone make a floating island with a huge design flaw? Well, the first answer is to contain something. And letting out ancient and primordial evils is just what the cleric ordered! It's a trope, but it's a trope for a reason. Also, it might explain our evil druids.


Ah good thought. Ancient floating prison sounds good. Maybe the beasts below are burrowing creatures, so a normal island would not be able to 'contain' them.