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Thread: [3.5] Decent start
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2010-02-27, 06:19 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2006
- Location
- Seattle, WA
- Gender
[3.5] Decent start
So, I volunteered to run a game for a group I play another game with. Most fo them are ~10+ years older than me, and are more of a classic, story driven RP group. I don't have a problem with this, however, its not my strongest point. Mechanics and encounter building are my main passions, so I thought I'd run a little something past y'all and see what you think.
World is Greyhawk, as presented in the Living Greyhawk Gazeteer, plus my own knowledge of the various regions I've played LG in.
Last night, all of the players presented their PCs, and it seems like they are universally lacking in altruism and are more...financially motivated. There is a LE Favored Soul of Hextor, an invocation-style Hexblade (rewritten by 1stlvlftr), a straight rogue who might be multiclassing into swashbucker but is totally addicted to his skillpoints, and an aspiring shadowcraft mage with a canibalistic outlook on society.
Here is what I sent out in the opening email, and the first actual game will be this coming friday.
Originally Posted by Keld's Email
I also want to throw in a little twist with "emissaries" of the neighboring Furyondy who are pressuring Shield Lands to submit to "Furyondy" control for their own protection. In actuality, the emissaries were sent to offer whatever aid they could to the belegured, war-torn Shield Lands, but were intercepted by agents of a cabal of either Illithid or Abolith (haven't decided), and have been reprogramed to spin it as more of a take-over plan than the aid that a LG Kingdom intended to offer its long time ally (since the 1st Greyhawk Wars). If sucessful, they would sweep in with their army of magically modified duergar and Furyondy would wise up to the fact that someone has been posing as them and invade to root out the evil and protect the Shield Landers from this new threat, plus the extra front of Iuz and his soulthirsty pack of tireless invaders. Then we could have some all-out war between the standing army of Furyondy, the remaining free peoples of the Shield Lands, the Illithid/Abolith controlled Shield Lands state, and the demon/undead hoardes of Iuz and friends.
I also want to get in a little Rhenee flavor, some Dyvers intrigue, and a little tickle of Turash Mak and his orcish horde, along with some Scarlet Brotherhood slavers, but maybe thats reaching a bit far for one campaign, especially since the latter 2 are embroiled in their own shananigans and are geographically kinda far from the Nyr Dyv
So yea...I guess these are my questions.
1. Is the opening hook too Deus Ex? I don't really like the idea of issuing the PCs an ultimatum where one option is the premature end of the campaign, but I don't know how else to garner the sliver of loyalty to the Drinkers the PCs need to operate.
2. Is it engaging? I don't want to sit and play solitaire with the PCs DM-Of-The-Rings style. I want the PCs to have free will to follow some plans and throw comedically giganitic monkey wrenches in others.
3. Illithids or Aboliths? I'm leaning toward Aboliths with the intent of tapping into some of the unused material I have from the old A Night Below boxed set, but a cabal of a half a dozen Illithid get the job done just fine.
4. How do I tie it all together? I really like both ideas, and I'll probably primarily follow whichever path the PCs seem most interested in exploring and just downplay the rest, but I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on this.
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2010-02-27, 06:40 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2010
- Location
- Finland
Re: [3.5] Decent start
I'm probably talking out of my, err, behind, but here we go:Opening a campaign with a "failure is the only option"-style quest is probably not something I'd try, if I were ever to DM. Limiting their options to only having to serve a certain faction when they have such opportunistic characters... Oh well, maybe it'll work.It has nifty layers of intrigue and some free-for-all plotting, from what you wrote. It sounds something your players would like, from your description of them.
Spoiler
Maybe one of the Furyondy emissaries was a spy for Iuz the Old, and now that he's stopped sending reports (due being mindraped), agents are dispatched to find out what's going on?
Or the aboleths have something they want from Iuz, and use the Shield Lands as a negotiation tool?
Or maybe all that conflict is being created by someone else, who wishes to upset the balance of power for whatever reason?Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler