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View Full Version : Story idea for a yet unamed campaign



Felizginato12
2008-02-24, 02:53 PM
Now I must warn you that this is just an early rough draft of my campaign. I do have some changes to the core rules but they mostly consist of new classes and races.

But for the sake of my cramping hands I will just type out my idea for the story and post the world map, rules, NPCs, and other things later.

Also, I ask if anyone knows of a good website where I can compile all of my campaign information since i'm considering to make this an online DnD game. I have tried Obsidian Portal but I feel it lakes enough easy to use features so if anyone has any other suggestions please tell me.

And so you understand my idea for the game world consider it a mix between 17thy century French Cities set in a steampunk world (like a mix of FF6, FF7, and Lost Odyssey technology).

Anyways I will just post a brief discription of the new races and classes in the game.

RACES:

Humans: Most of the population are humans. The humans were once enslaved by the dwarves many years ago during the first era until they raised up and overthrew them. Now they rule over the continent with toltalitarian might electing the Imperial Bloodline as their leaders.

Elves: The closest allies to the humans the elves were once enslaved by the Drow on the eastern end of the continent. The humans helped free them after they themselves were freed and continued to craft strong bonds with them.

Gnomes: The gnomes lived in the same woodlands as the elves and were also enslaved by the Drow. The gnomes and elves were two peaceful races whom relied on each other's strengths in order to build a strong community. The gnomes are treated as allies to the humans yet many view them simply as a race they are obligated to protect through their relationship with the elves. Many humans also see gnomes as an uncontributing race since many gnomes decide to stay in their homelands and work for themselves and not the Imperial Empire.

Aasimar: The Aasimar traveled from the southern continent of Diama in order to escape a plauge that was washing over the land. The mysterious plague was associated with the discovery of some strange ancient machinery which they saw as shrines to the gods. Many Aasimar are pious people and in that respect they are well liked by the humans in their empire.

Half-Elves: Evolved from generations of human and elven breeding the half elves are treated just as the gnomes are in the human empire. Even though the Imperial Bloodline sees the Half-Elves as a sign of the bond the elven and human race can have they are not treated as well as many would expect. Other humans see them as dirty half breeds and some older elven families despise them for destroying the elven blood.

Halflings: These people are despised all across the empire. This is due to their relationships with the Drows during the 2nd age. The halfings are the offsprings of human and gnome relations. During the 2nd age they worked as mercenary spies for the drows and are now untrusted by almost all races through the empire.

Half-Orcs: Used as slave trade in the early 2nd era they were then freed because of the mass amount of uprisings umong their kind. Now the half-orcs are seen as uncivilized people whom are better off in the wild. Half-Orcs often live outside the cities in small tight nit clans yet many still work for the Imperials as city guards or a work labor force.

Half-Trolls: The Imperial created this race in order to compensate for the loss of the half-orcs. The Half-Trolls were bred from Half-Orc and Troll relations in order to make a strong and enduring race which would be perfect for slave labor. The very few who are free from slave labor either run away to the many half-orc tribes dotted through the land or they continue to work as guards in the empire.

Dwarves: The dwarves once ruled the entire continent many years ago. They enslaved the humans for unknown reasons and were accused of denying them religious freedom. Even though there past is a mystery the dwarven race is hated by almost everyone in the empire. Dwarves now live either contained in their ancient cities or as immigrant workers under the supervision of the Imperials.

Drows: The drows were once like the dwarven empire, controlling the entire east side of the continent. They enslaved the elves and gnomes and used them as slave labor in a arms and technology race against the dwarves. They were later overthrown by the elves and gnomes with the assistance of the humans and now live as exiles living in their underground cities. They are generally never seen in Imperial cities either because they are hated or because they do not wish to migle with other races.

Azer: A mysterious and almost extinct race of people thought to have been the first inhabitants in the world. They are believed to have been technologically advanced and created many shrines in praise of Pelor, the one true god. Now there are about 50 of them living today all in isolation. Since they are believed to be the forerunners of the Pelor religion they are treated as welcome visitors to human lands in the very rare occasions they do emerge.


CLASSES:

I kept all of the core classes and added the following for use:

Hexblade (same from the complete warrior book)
Warlock (custom class based off of the 3.5 one)
Shaman (custom made class based somewhat off the Dragon Shaman)

also I made it so that characters can only use the core classes and the three above as characters. They can multiclass but no prestige or optinal core classes are available (just to keep things simple).


GODS:

I only put one god in the game along with two other diety like guardians. They include the following:

Pelor: The god of all in the entire cosmos. Pelor is the one and only religion enforced by religious zeal by the Imperial Bloodline.

Nerull: (NOTE: In my game Nerull is not a Grim Reaper kind of guy, just a normal angelic creature) The guardian of Purgatory whom allows access into Pelor's paradise.

Baator: (NOTE: Same goes for what I said about Nerull) The guardian and ruler of the punishments of Hell whom allows those who are fulely punished to be allowed to access Purgatory.


Now while I do have much more information to provide I will just go ahead and get the story out which is what I really want your opinion on.

Story:

The story takes place in the world of Dali which is a planet much like our own. It has one moon named Gala and circles around the sun Balthazar. There are three continets on Dali; Cellophia, Diama, and Andrial. The game takes place on the continent of Andrial.

Set during the 4th era of recorded time the world is ruled by the Imperial Bloodline. Many years ago during the 1st era only two races dominated and competed for control of Andrial. These were the dwarves and the drows. The dwarves ruled the western lands and the drows the eastern lands. The dwarves enslaved the humans for many years until the hero of the people *Insert yet undecided name* gathered the Cellophian Crusaders together in order to attack the dwarves who were distracted due to the current dwarven and drow war.

You see, the dwarves were said to have denied humans religious freedom. This was until a group of humans discovered an ancient shrine which was visited by a strange creature (the Azer, as humans would come to find out). The humans were followed by a band of dwarves and all of them were killed along with the Azer.

This sparked a revolution of sorts as religious crusaders banded together under the leadership of the hero in order to overthrow the Dwarven empire. They succeded and vanquished the leaders of the dwarven empire and continued to slaughter them throughout the years. The humans aided in freeing the elves and the gnomes by overthrowing the Drow empire. After the wars the humans decided to conquer most of Andrial (and later all of Andrial) and give leadership to the Imperial Bloodline which drew past families to be linked to the heroes bloodline.

Now the Imperial Bloodline acts as a toltalitarian leadership. The great Lord Roark Wynand rules over Andrial enforcing extreme laws of public surveilance, execution, religious obligations, and racial and sex discrimination. Many see Roark as the savious of the human race whom were losing power during the end of the 3rd era due to the then unpopular Wynand family. However, Roark's ambitions to rule a nation dedicated to the lord Pelor has gained him popularity umong the pious extremists of the empire of Andrial.

The characters awaken outside the Green Dragon Inn which lies on the outskirts of the city of Virgil. They remember a past life (created by the players) yet their pasts seem cold and distant (like how you can remember a certain summer day and just feel the breeze and the heat. The characters can remember but they can't feel that). After the settle themselves they find a strange wreckage of what seems to be advanced Imperial technology. Deciding to ignore it (since you can't really determine anything from the wreckage) they venture into the Inn.

Inside the Inn a man of the name Valucio Valasuche contacts them. He says that he knows why they are here and how they got here. If they want to learn more he tells them to meet him at the Virgil chapel (since it is too risky to talk of such matters in the inn) to contact him. So the characters take leave to Virigil in order to find this man.

After arriving in the chapel they are escorted to a secret base underground where the Surrealists take order of operations. The group is dedicated to finding out the mysterious of religion and technology by questioning everything. Since this type of open thinking is discouraged in Andrial they are forced to work in secrecy. The leader of the group under the named of Howard Peikoff tells them of their origin.

He says that the surrealists were able to gather information of this phenomenom know as Purgatory by visiting different Azer shrines dotted across Andrial. He tells them that they found out that the party were once holy advisors to the lord himself. For some reason they were banished to hell and then to Purgatory which takes place in this realm of existance. Peikoff tells them that they knew of their location by following prophecy passed down in the Azer shrines.

He tells them that in order to get accepted into Paradise they must visit the shrines in order to contact the lord Nerull whom will guide them through Purgatory. There are four shrines in total and the surrealists know of their locations. The leader offers to help these travelers pass on through purgatory at the cost that they report of their findings at each shrine to the Surrealists and to not tell anyone of their existance. He says that the Imperials would love to use them as religious figures for their own advancements.

So the characters set out across Andrial visting the four shrines as the Surrealists continue to point them towards them. At each shrine they experience a challenge set in a strange distant realm where a mysterious all knowing voice speaks to them. At the end of each trial they are taught a lesson or sort of moral and then they go to the next shrine. Finally they reach the capital city Diascrodies in order to find the last shrine. The people here are in a frenzy of rumor considering the fact that an Azer has just visited the city for unknown reasons. At the same time the characters are followed about the city by a group of guards until they contact a Surrealists member in the city. He tells them that the last shrines is located underground in the mana core (the energy center of the entire Andrial empire). So as the characters leave the guards contact them saying that Wynand has requested their audiance for a private dinner in his palace.

As they meet the proud loud he tells them that the Surrealists are a dangerous group. He claims to know why you are here as well and says that the Surrealists wish to overthrow the empire in some way using the characters. He promises to allow them to continue finding shrines and doing their work as long as they report the place of the Diascrodies contact that they have just met as well, the characters must report to the king in regards to when they find the last shrine (as the characters found the other three shrines the often had to deal with Imperial guards whom were studying them as well).

So the characters continue to infultrate the mana core center when then find that a strange dwarf has been following them through the city. They continue to go deeper and deeper into the core and finally find the lost shrine which had recently been dug up by workers in the core. After they activate the shrine they find the dwarf to have been following them. He escapes as the guards come after the characters.

After they have completed finding the shrines they notice that nothing has changed. They are not encountered by any god or any holy messanger. The next day tragedy strikes as the mana core explodes almost destroying the entire city and knocking all of the powered machinery in Andrial offline. Roark suspects sabotage and sends a batch of spies to infaltrate the drow kingdom.

The characters are also brought before Wynand in order to answer his questioning. They tell him of the dwarf that was following them and Roark suspects that the dwarfs had something to do with the invasion. He orders them to find out if the dwarves were plotting any sort of sabotage since he had sent all of his spies to watch the drows.

As they start to exit the city the manager of the Mana Transport Railroad (MTR) contacts them. He knows of their mission and says he can help by providing a mountain pass which will let them use his companies mining cars to delve into the dwarven empire. He does need a favor done which consists of the characters traveling acorss the railroads which stand above the ground in a ring around Andrial in order to rescue the passengers aboard (since all mana energy had been knocked off due to the core explosion).

So they go to rescue the passangers of both cars and are given a pass to use the mine cars. The characters travel to the northern city of Mont'Marte in order to go through the mountains where the dwarven empire is located. When they arrive there they find the small population dead in a recent attack. As they search the halls of the dwarfs they find one survivor; the same dwarf that they saw at the mana core.

He begs for mercy and starts to explain the situation. He says that he came to stop the sabotage of the mana core which was carried out by the Azer whom was a visitor to the city. He explains the entire dwarven history to the characters.

It turns out that the dwarven empire spans many many yeas past recorded time. At one time they ruled over the entire world as the prominant race. They achieved a rank of technological success unknown to anyone in this time. They achieved space travel and all of the wonders of our modern time. That is until a vast genocide caused by some unknown advanced technological weapon killed off all of the dwarves. The only remains of them were a few survivors, the wreckage machinery and ruined cities, and the Azer. He says that the Azer were creations of the dwarves. They were created by use of a advanced technology which allowed the creation of a new sentient and elemental beings. This is why the Azer are created and fashioned like stars are. The Azer can live until they are killed and so the few who are alive have all lived in the time of the dwarves.

With the Azer helping the dwarves (since they were made to act as loyal and unquestioning servants to the dwarves) the dwarves returned to power and settled in Andrial. They banned the use of technology in their kingdom and went to destroy all technology from the past. They then found the humans who have started to discover some of the ancient technology. In order to stop them they became their leaders and ruled over their kind.

The dwarves grew paranoid and feared another genocide. To stop this they started killing off most of the loyal Azer who were some of the only peoples who knew how to work the old machines. And when the humans discovered the shrines the dwarves grew even more worried and started killing off entire human families and villages. The shrines were actually terminals that the dwarves discovered out of the wreckage of the genocide. When discovered they used the shrines as sort of an information node in order to tell any surviving races of the dwarves and to lead them to the secrets of their kind. Even though their messages were lost over time they still were able to program trials into the machines. The terminals were advanced technologies taht affected the minds of whomever activated them making them see and experience whatever was programmed into the machines. The dwarves believed this to be a sevurity measure installed by whomever made the terminals and so they programmed challenges into the machines which they thought could only be completed by a dwarf (since the morals in the challenges match that of the four dwarven tennets).

However, the dwarfs did not suspect that the humans would raise up and fight back. So they were defeated and forced to live alone in their ancient cities. Many curse the old rulers for angering the humans instead of telling them of the dwarven past. But now there is nothing that can turn things back.

The dwarf says that the Azer seem to know much about the ancient technology and plan to use it for their own unknown needs. The dwarves believe that the Azer are still angry at the dwarves and all of the other races and so they plan to destroy them all with the old technology. He also believes that the Imperials and the Surrealists know of this technology as well and so they both plan to use it to their advantage. Lastly, the dwarf says that in order to stop the activation of whatever weapon lies dormant they must seek out the Omega Azer; an Azer created with a memory core in order to remember all information it gathers. The dwarf believes that it is this Azer that has gone rogue and who has the knowledge as to how the people of Dali were destroyed the first time.

So the players leave and arrive in Virgil where they are greeted by a group of happy surrealists. They meet with the leader once again to party in victory of activating the "shrines".

The characters now know that they are not here through purgatory and demand the truth. The leader agrees to tell them the truth and leads them into his secret office. It is here where he reveals that he is in fact Kratos Anurian; the only man to ever oppose the Imperial Bloodline and who was thought to be dead for many years. He has controlled the Surrealists in order to acquire the old dwarven technology so that they can overthrow the Wynand. He also tells them that they were test subjects of the surrealists. He claims that his group had uncovered ancient dwarven technology which allowed for the creation of sentient beings. They created the characters as the first test subjects. They installed memories and blind faiths in the insane idea that they may be passing through this world while going through purgatory. When the characters were almost through the process of creaton the Imperial Guard raided the base of operations and captured them. In a hostile battle the Surrealists were able to pry the characters from the Imperial's grasp. This is when the cryo chambers that they were kept in were lost outside the Green Dragon Inn.

So they created the characters to believe this lie and to travel across the world finding all of the Azer shrines and activating them. The surrealists believe that the shrines are actually the controls to some great weapon which will allow them to overthrough the imperials. The players tell him of the dangers that the dwarf warned them about and the leader now worried agrees to help them.

He tells them how to find where the Azer live and allows them to go on their way. At the same time a war is brewing between the humans and drows now and the kingdom of Andrial is at stake. It was discovered that the Drows had been building up an army for many years in order to fight the humans and regain control of Andrial.

So the characters find the Omega Azer and prod out it's memory core. It is with this that they discover the secret behind the shrines. Before the creation of any race on Andrial there was one race whom traveled the galaxy settling on different planets. They had the most advanced tecnology any race can possibly imagine. They even made the dwarves seem like primitive beings. This race was at that time at war with another galaxy traveling race. They were threatened by increasing wars which could very well mean the end of their own race. So in desperation the first mentioned raced started planting large pieces if machinery which harnessed and transfered the core enery of the planet into a powerfull fuel. This would allow them to make machinery that incased the underground like a shell. They then created four activation terminals across Andrial. When activated they would start the process of turning the planet into a comet of sorts. The large engines embedded underground would launch the plant throughout space where it would then collide into a pre determined location as a drastic measure weapon. They also did this to many other planets during the time of their war.

Eventually both ancient races dissapeared and so starts the dwarves time on Andrial. Even when the dwarves were still the rulers of Dali the Azer dispised them. They believed that they were slaves to the dwarves and they wished to break free. The Omega Azer learned of the origins of the terminals and wished to activate them in order to destroy both races. The activation backfired and instead resulted in a mass exsplosion which destroyed most of Dali.

Now the weapon has been activated again and since the characters and all other peoples of Andrial are still alive it proves that the machinery has not backfired. They learn that in order to cancel the activation they must venture to the core of the machinery known as the cradle and stop the destruction of Dali.


That is all I have right now so I just need an ending. Please excuse my poor grammar and spelling but i'm in a rush. Also if something makes no sense I porbably missed an aspect to the story so please tell me and I will make sure to fix it.

So whatever ideas or opinions you have please tell them to me.