Swooper
2008-08-12, 05:23 PM
I'm running a 3.5 game for a total of eight people (I'm expecting it to drop to a comfortable five when universities start), five of those (three of the five that will stay) are beginners so I'm keeping it nice and simple with Core only. I may introduce some splatbooks along the way (the first four Completes to begin with maybe) though.
I have a vague idea where the campaign is going, but could use some help with specifics. Here's what has happened so far:
Party arrives and assembles in a mostly human farming village (pop. ~600), where a circus has set up camp on a nearby field. They have some fun in the circus while getting to know one another, some getting their fortunes told, watching acrobats and a magic show, looking at the merchandise etc. One item that catches the eye of the party sorceress is what looks like a runed branch (rod-size), made of pure gold. It's way beyond the budget of 1st level adventurers, so they leave it be. At the inn, they hear stories that the local animals have been abnormally aggressive lately and indeed, that night, a group of wolves enter the village, apparently looking for food (or something else?). The PCs managed to slay them and learn a valuable lesson about not rushing ahead of the group into combat. One of them, the ranger, spots a few small creatures lurking at the edge of the forest but decides not to investigate 'til the morning after.
The next day, around breakfast at the local inn, the merchant (Matthias, 1st level human wizard) comes with a couple of thugs, saying the rod has been stolen and implying that the PCs have stolen it. After some convincing, he admits that he was wrong and instead, asks the PCs to help him investigate the theft. The PCs find a few clues (wolf hairs, dirty footprints and scratches on the lock of the chest where the rod was kept) leading them to the forest. Apparently, they didn't learn the lesson from the night before well enough because three of them decide to go wandering into the forest, leaving the rest of the party behind. Those three encounter some goblins (the small creatures from the night before), take some damage, kill some, one escapes running and they follow. Right into an ambush. Where they manage to get themselves killed. This time, they got the lesson :smallamused: (I'm not keen on killing characters, but when they do stupid things like going goblin hunting in the woods at less than half party strength while wounded? Not my fault when they die..)
Three new characters arrive in town that night and are accepted into the group. :smalltongue: The next day, the party goes at full strength into the woods to look for their buddies. They find the site of the ambush but their bodies are gone. They follow the trail of small goblins dragging heavily armoured adventurers to the goblins's usually hidden lair. The pair of dwarves in the party realise the cave is not built by the goblins, but something much more ancient - 1000 years old or more. In short, they clean out the lair including the Barghest leading them (who had eaten their buddies) and his shaman lieutenant. They find the rod, a bunch of gold and some minor magical items and return to town. There, they find Matthias not just dead, but horribly mutilated in his tent. One of the PCs catches a glimpse of what seems to be a foot-high, winged humanoid insect (seen Pan's Labyrinth? Then you know what I mean) before it vanishes.
-----
Here's what's been going on, unknown to the PCs at this point:
The rod is the sceptre of Eilithraos the Infinite, King of the Golden Woods - a powerful - and evil - ruler among the fey. I'm using the 4E cosmology, so the Golden Woods are a region in the Feywild. The sceptre has been missing for thousands of years, having only very recently resurfaced. The sceptre is an artifact that, in short, gives the wielder power over nature in the material world, which the fey can only affect indirectly without it. Eilithraos is eager to get it back now that it's found, but the Barghest got it first and had his goblin minions steal it from the unwitting merchant. He has now discovered that the PCs have it and starts sending his own minions after them. Meanwhile, the barghest's spirit returns to the abyss where some higher powers might learn of the sceptre and become interested...
---
The PCs report the death of Matthias to the circus' owner and the local guard, and leave town without mentioning the sceptre to anyone. By now they've realised that it's very important and should be kept hidden, and take turns carrying it. The character who saw the pixie-thing in the tent starts seeing glimpses of it (or another like it) following them, and other characters (with less ranks in spot) become uneasy. After three days of walking towards the closest city (two more left), they are attacked at nightfall by three Shaedlings (CR2 fey from MM5 - I don't limit myself in which MMs I can use though the players are stuck with Core) who are clearly trying to get the wand from them. After a tense fight they manage to disable two of them (fey aren't immune to sleep? damn!) and kill them and capture the last one before it takes off with the gnome carrying the rod that night. With some roleplaying along with diplomacy and intimidate rolls, they drag some information about the sceptre and it's owner from the arrogant bug-fey.
That's about how far it went last session. Now, I need some help from you playgrounders.
What types of fey or similar creatures are fun to use? I will use shaedlings some more (they're fun!), and I know about Redcaps who will likely feature soon. Centaurs, trolls and giants are all appropriate but won't be used yet, too powerful. Any ideas?
What can I do to keep the game from becoming a series of encounters of fey and demons trying to steal the rod? Without railroading, what kinds of things could I direct the party towards doing to stop all this? Destroying the sceptre? How? This is about as far as I've thought the campaign, I'm not sure where it can go from here and remain interesting.
What could the powers of the sceptre be, exactly? I've never tried designing an artifact. I'm thinking they might be able to unlock some of it's powers as they go along, maybe some druid spells to begin with?
Edit: Oh, and the next session is on Thursday :-S
I have a vague idea where the campaign is going, but could use some help with specifics. Here's what has happened so far:
Party arrives and assembles in a mostly human farming village (pop. ~600), where a circus has set up camp on a nearby field. They have some fun in the circus while getting to know one another, some getting their fortunes told, watching acrobats and a magic show, looking at the merchandise etc. One item that catches the eye of the party sorceress is what looks like a runed branch (rod-size), made of pure gold. It's way beyond the budget of 1st level adventurers, so they leave it be. At the inn, they hear stories that the local animals have been abnormally aggressive lately and indeed, that night, a group of wolves enter the village, apparently looking for food (or something else?). The PCs managed to slay them and learn a valuable lesson about not rushing ahead of the group into combat. One of them, the ranger, spots a few small creatures lurking at the edge of the forest but decides not to investigate 'til the morning after.
The next day, around breakfast at the local inn, the merchant (Matthias, 1st level human wizard) comes with a couple of thugs, saying the rod has been stolen and implying that the PCs have stolen it. After some convincing, he admits that he was wrong and instead, asks the PCs to help him investigate the theft. The PCs find a few clues (wolf hairs, dirty footprints and scratches on the lock of the chest where the rod was kept) leading them to the forest. Apparently, they didn't learn the lesson from the night before well enough because three of them decide to go wandering into the forest, leaving the rest of the party behind. Those three encounter some goblins (the small creatures from the night before), take some damage, kill some, one escapes running and they follow. Right into an ambush. Where they manage to get themselves killed. This time, they got the lesson :smallamused: (I'm not keen on killing characters, but when they do stupid things like going goblin hunting in the woods at less than half party strength while wounded? Not my fault when they die..)
Three new characters arrive in town that night and are accepted into the group. :smalltongue: The next day, the party goes at full strength into the woods to look for their buddies. They find the site of the ambush but their bodies are gone. They follow the trail of small goblins dragging heavily armoured adventurers to the goblins's usually hidden lair. The pair of dwarves in the party realise the cave is not built by the goblins, but something much more ancient - 1000 years old or more. In short, they clean out the lair including the Barghest leading them (who had eaten their buddies) and his shaman lieutenant. They find the rod, a bunch of gold and some minor magical items and return to town. There, they find Matthias not just dead, but horribly mutilated in his tent. One of the PCs catches a glimpse of what seems to be a foot-high, winged humanoid insect (seen Pan's Labyrinth? Then you know what I mean) before it vanishes.
-----
Here's what's been going on, unknown to the PCs at this point:
The rod is the sceptre of Eilithraos the Infinite, King of the Golden Woods - a powerful - and evil - ruler among the fey. I'm using the 4E cosmology, so the Golden Woods are a region in the Feywild. The sceptre has been missing for thousands of years, having only very recently resurfaced. The sceptre is an artifact that, in short, gives the wielder power over nature in the material world, which the fey can only affect indirectly without it. Eilithraos is eager to get it back now that it's found, but the Barghest got it first and had his goblin minions steal it from the unwitting merchant. He has now discovered that the PCs have it and starts sending his own minions after them. Meanwhile, the barghest's spirit returns to the abyss where some higher powers might learn of the sceptre and become interested...
---
The PCs report the death of Matthias to the circus' owner and the local guard, and leave town without mentioning the sceptre to anyone. By now they've realised that it's very important and should be kept hidden, and take turns carrying it. The character who saw the pixie-thing in the tent starts seeing glimpses of it (or another like it) following them, and other characters (with less ranks in spot) become uneasy. After three days of walking towards the closest city (two more left), they are attacked at nightfall by three Shaedlings (CR2 fey from MM5 - I don't limit myself in which MMs I can use though the players are stuck with Core) who are clearly trying to get the wand from them. After a tense fight they manage to disable two of them (fey aren't immune to sleep? damn!) and kill them and capture the last one before it takes off with the gnome carrying the rod that night. With some roleplaying along with diplomacy and intimidate rolls, they drag some information about the sceptre and it's owner from the arrogant bug-fey.
That's about how far it went last session. Now, I need some help from you playgrounders.
What types of fey or similar creatures are fun to use? I will use shaedlings some more (they're fun!), and I know about Redcaps who will likely feature soon. Centaurs, trolls and giants are all appropriate but won't be used yet, too powerful. Any ideas?
What can I do to keep the game from becoming a series of encounters of fey and demons trying to steal the rod? Without railroading, what kinds of things could I direct the party towards doing to stop all this? Destroying the sceptre? How? This is about as far as I've thought the campaign, I'm not sure where it can go from here and remain interesting.
What could the powers of the sceptre be, exactly? I've never tried designing an artifact. I'm thinking they might be able to unlock some of it's powers as they go along, maybe some druid spells to begin with?
Edit: Oh, and the next session is on Thursday :-S