Need ideas/help with my BBEG and storyline.

[Ihazturtlez]

I haven't started DMing yet, but I am creating a story for when I do. So far I have created an introduction for each class that the players can use and I will be encouraging them to create their own backstory. In my world there hasn't been a true evil presence in centuries. There was a band of 6 great heroes that had killed Finsterfurst (or the Dark Prince). Those 6 heroes are long gone by age and other natural causes.

There is a Silver Dragon that lands on top of the local inn and shifts into a human who enters the inn from a roof entrance and talks to the PCs and tells them about the heroes and the great evil. Some filler, or whatever the PCs want to do, will happen until nightfall where they will be offered rooms at the inn. During the night a violent shaking will start and the people of the inn will be evacuated and all will be staring at the Hall of Heroes that is on top of a distant mountain where lightning is striking the steeple and an aura is forming around.

The PCs will be encouraged to head over and investigate. Upon entry they will see the statues dedicated to the Heroes having a magical power drawn from them to the center, forming what could be described as a portal. Enter BBEG. He will create an armor and blade from the shadows that will solidify all around him and a helmet before they can see his face.

Now, my idea is to have the BBEG basically TPK the PCs after his evil monologue. After they truly die, they will all resurrect on a mountain that is to the East of the city, where they can see the total ruin and destruction of every building and person. The Silver Dragon will have fought and been slain by the BBEG. I want the BBEG to, on top of being what seems like invincible, to become a DracoLich, granting him wings to summon, a breath weapon, and a true fear aura. They obviously won't have the final fight against him until much later.

Now for the questions: Is a TPK an acceptable way to show his true power to the PCs? What could it have been that brought the PCs back? Is there anything that I should add?

[ThatOneGuy1224]

Maybe instead of he himself TPKing the party, it could be a simple minion of his. How much more powerful would the baddie be if his minions and dispatch the party with ease?

[Pelle]

Now for the questions: Is a TPK an acceptable way to show his true power to the PCs?

Not really. Letting them see him kill the Silver Dragon should be plenty enough...

[Ihazturtlez]

Maybe instead of he himself TPKing the party, it could be a simple minion of his. How much more powerful would the baddie be if his minions and dispatch the party with ease?
My idea beyond the TPK is that the BBEG (who will turn out to be one of the past heroes turned Dark Prince) will start resurrecting the past BBEGs that had already caused destruction to the world previously. Should I stick with that or have him summon on the spot?

[Ihazturtlez]

Not really. Letting them see him kill the Silver Dragon should be plenty enough...
Would it be acceptable to have the BBEG kill the Silver Dragon at the Hall of Heroes then have a minion wipe the party like the other person is suggesting? I want to get through to the PCs that they really should not be messing with this guy off the bat, and I want something like their own resurrection to be a mystery they will figure out along the way.

[ciarannihill]

It seems strange that he would fail to finish the job, I think. Maybe there's a logic to the teleportation you haven't elaborated on in the post, though.

I wouldn't necessarily start with this moment, I'd give the players a chance to become a more solid unit, run a few normal low level adventures and get them used to the mechanics of the game/class and give them an opportunity to find their group's dynamic(s) before bringing them into a huge overarching storyline. I would also try to find out what the PCs have as goals and try over the course of the early adventures to weave those things into the overall storyline as to motivate the players even more.

I would also think about what the goal of the BBEG is. Is he craving power? Upending the status quo due to some opinion/principle he holds (misguided though it may be)? Why does he pay mind to these random adventurers? Why does the dragon pay mind to them for that matter? What reason do they have to care about what the dragon has to say? I would make sure to have logical reasons for all of these questions, and probably pose yourself a few more. Really put your story on the witness stand, because your players will.

[Galadhrim]

Now for the questions: Is a TPK an acceptable way to show his true power to the PCs? What could it have been that brought the PCs back? Is there anything that I should add?

I think this completely depends on the players, and you will know that better than us. Personally I would not enjoy going through the motions of an unwinnable fight that I could not escape from. If you do this, I would just describe it all cinematically and get through it quickly.

I agree with the previous poster that having him slay a silver dragon (adult? ancient?) should be plenty to drive home how scary the BBEG is, especially if you ham up how powerful the silver dragon is compared to the players when the players meet her. You also might want to have the players do a couple of missions for the Silver dragon so that they get to know that npc well and come to like her. that way, when she dies, it has more impact.

As far as what brought the PC's back, I would think it would be something to do with them being in the presence of the great heroes. Perhaps those individuals are in Elysium or some similar plane and witness what happened and bring the PC's back to hunt the BBEG down.

[Unoriginal]

Letting the PCs flee from the BBEG's hoards of mooks while the Silver Dragon is gaining time for the town to evacuate would be far more effective than "and now you're dead."

If you kill a PC in a railroad and then bring them back, the player will likely feel frustrated and as if none of their actions matter.

Also, if the BBEG is bringing back past BBEGs back to life, some of them should ally with the PCs. It's not because they're BBEGs that they agree on what the world should be like or that they enjoy each others.

[Pelle]

Would it be acceptable to have the BBEG kill the Silver Dragon at the Hall of Heroes then have a minion wipe the party like the other person is suggesting? I want to get through to the PCs that they really should not be messing with this guy off the bat, and I want something like their own resurrection to be a mystery they will figure out along the way.

I just don't think it will be fun to be railroaded into a tpk, so there should be a good reason for it. Instead you can have the pcs fight a challenging fight against some minions, let them watch the silver dragon easily take out an equivalent or larger group of minions, and then let them watch the BBEG kill the silver dragon easily. That should put the relative strengths in perspective.

If you want to make something special out of the resurrection, then maybe just narrate everything up to the tpk situation, and put them in it in medias res, just to be killed immediately. That's just the prologue though, and then you start the game for real after the resurrection... Should make it more acceptable for the players.

[Ihazturtlez]

I will try to answer all the questions posed just now. For the "finishing the job" part, he will have killed them, and I will make that evident with the PCs, but some mystical force will have resurrected and transported them away to safety. For that, I was maybe thinking it was the power of the past Heroes that will have brought them back like the other poster had said. I like the idea of having them staying in Elysium watching over this as it happens, but the PCs won't find that out for a while. I also support the idea of having a few side missions run along to get the party familiarized and friendly with each other and the silver dragon. The BBEG does crave power, enough to bring an end to Elysium and the material plane, leaving only him and his minions to do his bidding. Basically an "end of the world" scenario. The Silver Dragon will have been an ancient one. I will have the Silver Dragon speak to the PCs as it is his first time seeing them inside the inn, which he will reveal that he owns. Anything else I need to clarify on?