Starting a new campaign in a couple of weeks, I'm thinking about running one in a world where it is quickly becoming the battleground between the abyss/hell and heaven. What I'm looking for is ideas to make the following a bit more grittish and grim.
A network of depleted dwarvern citadel/mines located in skull crag mountains. The caves now harbor creatures from the abyss who are currently using the caves to dig for a demon imprisoned deep below the earth by ancient elven magic.
At the base of the skull crag mountains lies the logging town of Threshold. Composed of mostly Humans and Halflings. Currently Threshold is the last trade stop for the Dwarves of Barak Nar.
Recently the mining operation breached the underground stream that feeds Threshold. Demonic ichor and effulent flow into the towns watersupply, causing babies to be stillborn and crops to wither and die. Lesions and boils have developed on the populace of Threshold and a plague of flies has descended on the village. It is all the cleric can do to dispense cure spells.
The mayor's daughter has been particularly affected by the effulent in the towns water supply. The mayor, sure that his daughter is going to die, is helping the half-orc ressurect the demon, hoping the demon will then ressurect his daughter.
The mayor of Threshold leaked information about caravan timetables to the Half-Orc emissary in return for the demon granting him his wishes. The Dwarvern caravans are being attacked between Barak Nar and Threshold by goblins. The caravans were on there way back from trading with the Humans, stockpiled with food and spice. The goblins taking the dwarvern merchants prisoner, are using them as slaves to dig beneath the mountain.
The cleric of Threshold, through knowledge passed down from the clerics before him knows about the true origins of Barak Nar. He is however powerless to stop it, due to his old age. He fears that the mayor of Threshold has become corrupted by the evil forces in the mountain, Allowing his feelings for his daughter to blind him to the situation. The cleric saw him talking to a large man in a heavy overcoat in a week ago. Now that disease and pestilance has descended on the town and the goblins attacks have grown more frequent the cleric fears that the town will be overrun. The cleric suspects that the babies being stillborn is related to the crops dying and the lesions and boils developing on the populace.
Farmers have also been finding their cattle skinned in their fields. The goblins have been skinning the cattle to fashion leather armor with.
Plot Hooks:
-----------------------
Investigate the skinned cattle.
Locate the dwarvern merchants.
Locate the source of the disease.
Protect a Farmers Cattle from the goblin raids.
List of Encounters(In no particular order):
-----------------------
Encounter 1: The torture chamber. Orignally one of many dwarvern furnaces. This room has been converted into a make-shift torture chamber, a groan escapes the beaten, broken dwarf, strapped over the huge anvil. The dwarf will be able to provide limited information about the mines. He is badly beaten however, and is not long for this world.
Encounter 2: The mines. A underground stream flows through this chamber. Dwarves dig deeper into the dirt under the lashes of their goblin taskmasters. Goblins in this large open chamber are armed with whips.
Encounter 3: The mess hall. A large stew pot sits over the fireplace arms and legs floating in the broth. Here goblins feast on the cooked remains of the dwarves who fell in the mines.
Encounter 4: Deteriorating floors. The floor below starts to crumble away, revealing a room below.
Encounter 5: Cave-In. This passage ends in a cave-in, dead dwarves and goblins lie crumpled beneath the rocks.
Encounter 6: The Smith. The demon known as the smith(Hill Giant) works at this furnace, his leathery skin pierced with heavy rings. The smith creates weapons and armor for the goblins to use.
Encounter 7: The Cells. Dwarves a kept in pits with wooden grates put over them. Goblins patrol the area.
Encounter 8: This dead end is where the goblins dump their refuse, A horde of dire rats can be found feeding on the fallen carcasses of the dwarves and the prey animals the goblins eat.
Encounter 9: Bloated Rats: Due to the Demonic effluent in the towns water supply the rats have become bloated and diseased.
Encounter 10: Campaigning Warrior Kings: A dead bodie from a forgotten age bearing tarnish chainmail with a sword be his side. The bodie is of a long forgotten king from a far off land.
Encounter 11: Locks on the door, various keys can be found on goblin bodies.
Encounter 12: A carved chamber decorated with glowing blue runes. A tiefling sorceror is dispelling the protections keeping the chamber sealed. There is a heavy glowing blue mist that covers the floor. Several Balconies overlook the floor of this cavern. When the chamber is breached The Bloodstone, A crystal used to imprison the Maiden of Pain, A fallen celestial, rises out of the ground. Hoists and pullies are constucted on the balconies to allow the goblins to pull the Bloodstone to the surface.
Encounter 13: The stores: This room contains spice and food from the dwarvern caravan.
Encounter 14: The sorcerors things: This chest contains the a book detailing the demon, some jewelry and a gemstone engraved with the 15 elves and dwarves initials, a signet ring bearing the hearaldary of the baron of Thanesbane's personal servant.
Encounter 15: A collasped floor that drops the characters down a level in dwarvern mine.
Encounter 16: The tiefling will use the wagons to transport the bloodstone out of the Threshold region.
Encounter 17: Several underground caves conatin the armoured remains of a elven mounted legion, armoured bodies and horse skeletons are plentiful.
Encounter 18: Evidence of a traps being sprung when the goblins moved in.
Encounter 19: A trap and combat in effect at the same time.
-----------------------
Rumour #1 (False): The ghost of the dwarves who went missing have been seen in the fields skinning the cattle, so they will not freeze on their long journey to Storvogard (The dwarvern Afterlife). This has prompted many of the farmers to buy holy symbols.
Rumour #2 (True): Some of the town have developed a fever, shakes and boils.
Rumour #3 (True): A stranger was seen around town about a week and a half ago.
Rumour #4 (True): The goblins have become more brazen in their attacks, better armed than normal, they have been taking some of the hunters catches from them.
The Smith (Fiendish Hill Giant)
Tiefling Sorceror
Half-Orc Rogue Servant
Orc fighters
Goblin servitors
Dire Rats
Treasure
------------------------
Potions/scrolls
Potion of Cure light wounds
Jewelry
A gemstone engraved with the initials of the 15 elves and dwarves present at the imprisoning of the demon.
A network of depleted dwarvern citadel/mines located in skull crag mountains. The caves now harbor creatures from the abyss who are currently using the caves to dig for a demon imprisoned deep below the earth by ancient elven magic.
At the base of the skull crag mountains lies the logging town of Threshold. Composed of mostly Humans and Halflings. Currently Threshold is the last trade stop for the Dwarves of Barak Nar.
Recently the mining operation breached the underground stream that feeds Threshold. Demonic ichor and effulent flow into the towns watersupply, causing babies to be stillborn and crops to wither and die. Lesions and boils have developed on the populace of Threshold and a plague of flies has descended on the village. It is all the cleric can do to dispense cure spells.
The mayor's daughter has been particularly affected by the effulent in the towns water supply. The mayor, sure that his daughter is going to die, is helping the half-orc ressurect the demon, hoping the demon will then ressurect his daughter.
The mayor of Threshold leaked information about caravan timetables to the Half-Orc emissary in return for the demon granting him his wishes. The Dwarvern caravans are being attacked between Barak Nar and Threshold by goblins. The caravans were on there way back from trading with the Humans, stockpiled with food and spice. The goblins taking the dwarvern merchants prisoner, are using them as slaves to dig beneath the mountain.
The cleric of Threshold, through knowledge passed down from the clerics before him knows about the true origins of Barak Nar. He is however powerless to stop it, due to his old age. He fears that the mayor of Threshold has become corrupted by the evil forces in the mountain, Allowing his feelings for his daughter to blind him to the situation. The cleric saw him talking to a large man in a heavy overcoat in a week ago. Now that disease and pestilance has descended on the town and the goblins attacks have grown more frequent the cleric fears that the town will be overrun. The cleric suspects that the babies being stillborn is related to the crops dying and the lesions and boils developing on the populace.
Farmers have also been finding their cattle skinned in their fields. The goblins have been skinning the cattle to fashion leather armor with.
Plot Hooks:
-----------------------
Investigate the skinned cattle.
Locate the dwarvern merchants.
Locate the source of the disease.
Protect a Farmers Cattle from the goblin raids.
List of Encounters(In no particular order):
-----------------------
Encounter 1: The torture chamber. Orignally one of many dwarvern furnaces. This room has been converted into a make-shift torture chamber, a groan escapes the beaten, broken dwarf, strapped over the huge anvil. The dwarf will be able to provide limited information about the mines. He is badly beaten however, and is not long for this world.
Encounter 2: The mines. A underground stream flows through this chamber. Dwarves dig deeper into the dirt under the lashes of their goblin taskmasters. Goblins in this large open chamber are armed with whips.
Encounter 3: The mess hall. A large stew pot sits over the fireplace arms and legs floating in the broth. Here goblins feast on the cooked remains of the dwarves who fell in the mines.
Encounter 4: Deteriorating floors. The floor below starts to crumble away, revealing a room below.
Encounter 5: Cave-In. This passage ends in a cave-in, dead dwarves and goblins lie crumpled beneath the rocks.
Encounter 6: The Smith. The demon known as the smith(Hill Giant) works at this furnace, his leathery skin pierced with heavy rings. The smith creates weapons and armor for the goblins to use.
Encounter 7: The Cells. Dwarves a kept in pits with wooden grates put over them. Goblins patrol the area.
Encounter 8: This dead end is where the goblins dump their refuse, A horde of dire rats can be found feeding on the fallen carcasses of the dwarves and the prey animals the goblins eat.
Encounter 9: Bloated Rats: Due to the Demonic effluent in the towns water supply the rats have become bloated and diseased.
Encounter 10: Campaigning Warrior Kings: A dead bodie from a forgotten age bearing tarnish chainmail with a sword be his side. The bodie is of a long forgotten king from a far off land.
Encounter 11: Locks on the door, various keys can be found on goblin bodies.
Encounter 12: A carved chamber decorated with glowing blue runes. A tiefling sorceror is dispelling the protections keeping the chamber sealed. There is a heavy glowing blue mist that covers the floor. Several Balconies overlook the floor of this cavern. When the chamber is breached The Bloodstone, A crystal used to imprison the Maiden of Pain, A fallen celestial, rises out of the ground. Hoists and pullies are constucted on the balconies to allow the goblins to pull the Bloodstone to the surface.
Encounter 13: The stores: This room contains spice and food from the dwarvern caravan.
Encounter 14: The sorcerors things: This chest contains the a book detailing the demon, some jewelry and a gemstone engraved with the 15 elves and dwarves initials, a signet ring bearing the hearaldary of the baron of Thanesbane's personal servant.
Encounter 15: A collasped floor that drops the characters down a level in dwarvern mine.
Encounter 16: The tiefling will use the wagons to transport the bloodstone out of the Threshold region.
Encounter 17: Several underground caves conatin the armoured remains of a elven mounted legion, armoured bodies and horse skeletons are plentiful.
Encounter 18: Evidence of a traps being sprung when the goblins moved in.
Encounter 19: A trap and combat in effect at the same time.
-----------------------
Rumour #1 (False): The ghost of the dwarves who went missing have been seen in the fields skinning the cattle, so they will not freeze on their long journey to Storvogard (The dwarvern Afterlife). This has prompted many of the farmers to buy holy symbols.
Rumour #2 (True): Some of the town have developed a fever, shakes and boils.
Rumour #3 (True): A stranger was seen around town about a week and a half ago.
Rumour #4 (True): The goblins have become more brazen in their attacks, better armed than normal, they have been taking some of the hunters catches from them.
The Smith (Fiendish Hill Giant)
Tiefling Sorceror
Half-Orc Rogue Servant
Orc fighters
Goblin servitors
Dire Rats
Treasure
------------------------
Potions/scrolls
Potion of Cure light wounds
Jewelry
A gemstone engraved with the initials of the 15 elves and dwarves present at the imprisoning of the demon.
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