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View Full Version : Campaign help (3.5, mainly ideas though...so any edition/game can help)



BobVosh
2008-12-03, 03:59 AM
Not the first time DMing, but one of the first. Fairly long exparience for D&D play though. Some exp with Rifts GMing.

Basically I'm going to be running a 3.5 game starting at ~level 5. Party members haven't even decided classes, but I can guess at them with the players.

1 Druid
1 Duskblade or wizard
1 Rogue/Fighter "dps/tank" sort of feel
1 ??? (new player to D&D)
1 Cleric or Bard

I'm going to try a Borovia/Ravenloft/etc feel to it with a large emphasis on lycanthropes and undead. The big thing behind everything is a lich who is sending undead minions around to try to find something a thief/wizard gish stole. (he hopes it is a phylactery to blackmail the lich)

Basically I'm looking for information on how to clue the player into what actually happened, how to trick the sobs into help the lich (pity/whatever), and then see if I can get them to betray said lich at the end.

At best I can see faking the players into thinking the lich is a lot more powerful than he is, having them meet the lich far earlier so he IS that more powerful, or making the lich fake being a nice guy. He should have a good cha from lich template, afterall.

Obviously doing this to players is going to be hard due to any number of things, such as players have ideas that seem made of pure chaos. Also tricking players and then trying to make them understand such is hard.

The reason the thief can't blackmail the lich yet is he is trying to break the protective enchantments on the soul hidey place.

So basically any ideas on possible issues that will arise, anything neat to throw in, plot holes, levels for npcs, or suggestions beyond what I can think of to ask for?

Thanks ya'll.

Harp
2008-12-03, 11:50 PM
The players might encounter the lich on relatively good terms in the beginning of play, but they shouldn't do anything but attack or run if they know him to be a lich, much less trust him. To make this work you're going to have to make him appear normal.

Alter Self is a second level arcane spell that has good combat application and a wide range of versatility, not the least of which is making an impromptu disguise. Assuming your lich isn't a wizard that denied transmutation, this is the route you want to go. When the players encounter him he appears to be an arcanist offering a reward for the return of an object stolen from him. Maybe they won't fall head over heels in love with him, but if he offers enough coin that's more than enough to recruit the PCs to his task. He need not inform them about his other allies either, as they undoubtedly run afoul of them in later encounters.

His minions are likely going to have basic, unincriminating instructions about the item and what to do with it. For the most part these will be verbalized to them by their higher ups, but somewhere in the chain the need for written instructions will also play a role. Comments about their mission can be mentioned in the heat of battle, a note might be looted after a fight, whatever. It should gradually become clearer these creatures are looking for the same object they are, and eventually, that a lich has hired them. A false name in the beginning and the fact a lich hired these other forces should keep the arcanist and this lich as seperate entities in your players minds.

Eventually, the players will track down your thief/wizard and get the real story. Whether they befriend said NPC and help him or take the item to sell back to the lich is up to them. If they befriend the thief, they've effectively betrayed the lich. If they try to sell it back to him, he can betray them and the next couple sessions can be all about hunting him down and making him pay big time.

newbDM
2008-12-04, 12:50 AM
Just a thought, but how about throwing a twist at the end where the lich is actually the good guy? Maybe even a positive energy undead?


If you want to explain why the rogue stole the phylactery, but he doesn't know how to open/use the damn thing, I was thinking perhaps the following (just my crazy ideas of course):

The rogue was actually hired by an evil organization of (insert whatever you like here), who the good lich had kept at bay for years/decades/centuries/whatever (they might even be the reason the lich entered lichdom). He was to retrieve the item and bring it to them for a very good compensation.
However, to the rogue's surprise the lich got to the evil organization before he did (maybe he needed to take an alternate course or was otherwise delayed by the lich's henchmen). When he got to the rendezvous location no one was there, and after some time and research he discovered the lich finally wiped out the evil organization (or at least most of it). (Perhaps the reason the evil organization decided to put so much money together to hire such an experienced rogue was because they knew the lich was close to finally whipping them out?)
The rogue is now desperately trying to figure out how the thing works in the hopes of either bargaining with the lich to leave him alone, or stopping him outright.
The undead being sent by the lich are actually the former bodies of the evil organization's members, and any sub-bosses made from bodies/undead/whatever are/were former powerful members of the evil group. (Hey, good doesn't mean nice!)
Maybe the players fail to notice that the undead are not actively trying to attack anyone in town, but instead are tearing the place apart "looking for something"?
Perhaps a big part of the adventure/campaign is the two sides trying to convince the party who is the true good guy? This would be even better if the players/PCs end up divided on the matter, especially if it happens near the end.


For how to get the players involved:

Perhaps they are in town when the undead come to raid the place.
Perhaps you can work it so the players some how end up with the method to unlock/use the phylactery the rogue is after? Perhaps do a mini adventure beforehand where the players obtain it from a member of the evil organization who was bringing it to the town the players are going to be in later that gets attacked? This could make it so the seemingly insignificant PCs are in a position where they will determine the fate of either the lich or the rogue, depending on their actions and decision? This could also explain why both the lich and the rogue are on their tails and keep sending goons/monsters at them. And making it so the PCs need to decipher the parchments/scroll/item/artifact/whatever before they finally realize what it actually is might be a good idea for this route as well.
To tip them off to stuff, perhaps they figure out that they need to track down one of the surviving members of the organization (if any survived at all) to try to figure out what the hell is going on.



Hmm. I actually had a creative idea that might be half usable...