Preparation for my Summer 4E Heroic Tier Campaign

My current 4E game is probably ending this Friday, I play with several students at the local university and many of them will be going home for the summer. So in light of this I have decided to start work and recruiting for a summer mini-campaign that has the possibility of continuing through the fall.

The old campaign was a very loose homage to Dark Sun, a desert wasteland world with dark sorcerer-lords that ruled fractious city-nations... but it was mostly window dressing and the campaign was light on a cohesive story or really direction. This new one picks up in the same world about a thousand years later (could be more, no one really knows), there was a glorious revolution, the Gods returned and the world is green and bountiful again. As a nod to my current players, some of which will play in the new campaign I turned their old heroes into legendary figures that did great things including toppling the sorcerer-lords, helping the Gods return, and establishing the Rusty Legion*.

* I am aware that the name is not the most fearsome or even respectable but it is a play off the tavern the party owned in the first game, The Rusty Pickle Jamboree. Again another nod to them.

The Rusty Legion is a monster hunting organization made of elite adventurers to protect the free people of the known world. In times of crisis they often assist in defeating great evils and averting cataclysms. They are awesome, amazing, and currently in decline as there has not been a major crisis in centuries. They are inspired by the Grey Wardens from Dragon Age in some ways with a looser mandate, this idea lifted from this thread.

Here are some of my Preliminary Notes:

• Remote settlement on the outskirts of what is considered civilized territory, not so much safe just a higher concentration of Points of Light settlements, to use a setting trope.

• Initial story arc to deal with the depredations of local humanoid tribes, feywild creatures, and a rise of conflict sparked by a vengeful druid, female villain with little regard for civilization.

• Location is on the edge of a dark and foreboding forest of great age and mystery; many ruins dot the region remnants of some now far gone empire or civilization, now dominated by monsters.

• Two tribes of importance in the region are the Festerpaw and the Verdant Fang, both gnoll tribes that are in conflict; the Festerpaw follow the teachings of Yeenoghu and are vicious evil raiders while the Verdant Fang are more primal and believe in balance. Both tribes inhabit the local forests and try to avoid contact with the local settlement.

• The dark primeval forest has a very strong connection to the feywild, and fey creatures are often spotted in and around it. To the south is a large sea and to the north is a rolling plains and dotted woodland; where the plains meet the primeval forest is a fetid swamp/everglades often shrouded in mist.

• Smaller villages dot the region but rarely have more then perhaps a hundred inhabitants and most rely on the larger settlement for defense and supplies; very rustic and considered backwater.

• Possibly could be the edge of a larger political state, but not sure, may still go with the premise of various smaller political entities, heroic bloodline perhaps?

Basic campaign premise is that the heroes are new Rusty Legion recruits reporting to this region as their first tour of duty, it's a backwater place on the fringes of civilized society where the wild things are. The perfect place for some young heroes to be to do some good. I have some origin hooks written up that I think will tie them into the story quite well.

Currently I am looking for a good evocative image for the female druid that will play as the main antagonist of this arc; something fearsome, exotic, and will make the players grow to hate her. Her main goal is to spread the touch of the feywild that taints the local primeval forest and crush the advance of civilization. I see her using local humanoid tribes against the local settlements promising them wealth and power, but ultimately holding little regard for them using them as pawns to an end.

I want the conflict of the gnolls to feature earlier in the campaign, I may do this by just creating lower level gnolls, I also at some point want to incorporate a green dragon encounter into the game. A dragon that is fey-touched and is working for the druid as an enforcer, perhaps? My ideas are loose and I plan to utilize Dungeon Delve and other small DDI encounters as needed especially ones featuring wild areas, the fey, or humanoid tribes/gnolls.

I want to introduce the villain early on as well, but I want a fun dramatic way to do that hopefully in the first session. We play for about 3-4 hours usually at a time just for reference. The first session will probably have one or two combats but nothing huge, I want to get the groundwork established first and introduce the subplot of the gnolls and the druid early on.

Any thoughts, critiques, advice?

Have the party rescue the druid from some goblins or such, undead might be better to set up the nature vs. death aspect. This way when the party comes back around to meet her again or start to hear rumors of a forest witch terrorizing the locals they won't think of her right off. Maybe have her try and convert the party to her cause down the road.

A cool twist down the road is that she was on the right side of the battle all along but the townsfolk/kingdom/etc.. had them believing otherwise. Not sure how to pull it off quite right.

aco175 said:

Have the party rescue the druid from some goblins or such, undead might be better to set up the nature vs. death aspect. This way when the party comes back around to meet her again or start to hear rumors of a forest witch terrorizing the locals they won't think of her right off. Maybe have her try and convert the party to her cause down the road.

Click to expand...

Yep this is something I am toying with for sure, having her start as an ally and then turning the tables later. I have been going back and forth with a friend and when I have some more time I will post some of my ideas along this path.

Ravendale

The village of Ravendale sits in the shadow of and ancient forest simply called the Raven Wilds, rough land with ancient primeval forest spilling forth to the north and west of the village. A brisk business of woodcutting and fishing is done in the village to supplement the various farms that make up the village of some 800 or some souls. On the edge of what was once the Kingdom of Nerath, the citizens are considered simple and often backwater by more civilized folks.

The nominal leader of the village is Lady Helen Jonas, once a human adventurer in her youth she has long since retired and the gray in her hair and her plump frame attest to the good life she has led from her adventures. Her left eye is covered in a patch, an injury she earned in her youth fighting gnolls in the local woods. She still keeps much of her gear on her farm and is a decent shot with a bow, but her skills have long since diminished. Her elf husband, Barius runs the local smithy and was also an adventurer but settled down with Helen many years ago. They have two half-elven daughters named Summer and August; ages sixteen and twelve respectively.

Seeing to the defense of the village is “Captain” Jared Barnes a rough and tumble dwarf ex-soldier. The rank is self-appointed but Lady Jonas allows him the affectation since he has done a modest job of keeping the peace and maintaining security in the region. He has at most twenty men, and usually only half that at any given time for most daily business. He distrusts outsiders and does not think highly of adventurers or the Rusty Legion. He tolerates there presence because Lady Jonas speaks highly of them.

There is a temple to Pelor in the village circle, the heart of the settlement. Attended to by three priests of the sun god; the lead priestess is Sister Agnes Darkheart a tiefling hailing from the far-off city of Fallcrest. Sister Agnes as most call her is a young priestess who is still having trouble adjusting to this rustic life far from the comforts of the city. She is good natured, but she does not enjoy nature at all and is easily frightened by bugs and small animals. She is a recent arrival, six months at the most arriving after the last priest, Brother Burkel passed on from natural causes. She is gifted with rituals and does her best to help those in need.

The only inn in town and the best place to rent a room for a night is Raven’s Haunt, a two story tavern and inn combined. Run by a trio of Halfling siblings; two sisters and a brother by the names of Mindy, Cindy, and Masco Rumbelly. The Rumbelly name is an old one in the village and the family has run the tavern for as long as any can remember. The patriarch of the family, Bando Rumbelly usually sits on the large porch of the wood and stone structure smoking pipe weed and gossiping with any that will listen. His hearing has diminished so getting his attention tends to be difficult. But he is an excellent source of local stories, rumors, and flavor. The Rumbelly farm is known for its plump grapes and Rumbelly wine is some of the finest in the region.

King’s Tower is the home of the local branch of the Rusty Legion, an old dilapidated structure built back during the reign of the Nerathian Kings. The old structure now serves as something of a headquarters for High Captain Torrin Irons and his men. Captain Irons as he is more commonly called by his men and the villagers is an accomplished dragonborn warlord. He is good natured but serious and tends to weigh a situation carefully before committing to an endeavor. Despite his good nature he knows he has a difficult task ahead of him and not enough men to do it. He does his best though and tries to keep the morale high as best as he knows how. He does not get along well with Jared Barnes, he considers the dwarf a nuisance and best avoided. He has four other Legionnaires under his command besides the party.

• Marcus: A half-orc mercenary soldier before he joined the Legion, he is a lecherous scoundrel with a love of wine, women, and blades. His ranger skills have proven useful and he is often scouting the local forest for trouble. He is nominally the second highest ranking behind Captain Irons. Marcus is not overly handsome but he is muscular and he keeps himself well groomed when not on patrol.

• Bindi Brassbottom: A plucky and optimistic gnome trained in the arcane arts, she has a tendency to speak very quickly and become over excited about all things magic and mystery. She tends to be oblivious to most social conventions and spends most of her time around the tower working as something of a scribe and sage. She enjoys her work immensely, the only thing she loves as much as magic or her work is her precious little kitty named Huggles. She has sandy blonde hair pulled back into a pony tail, a bright smile, and tanned skin often smudged with ink.

• Duncan Smith: A native to the region Duncan is the newest recruit, a headstrong male youth hailing from Restwell Keep. His father adventured in his youth and enamored the young man with his tales. He joined the Legion to follow in his father’s footsteps and have his own adventures but currently he spends most of his time helping farmers with lost livestock or patrolling the village circle. He wants some action and is probably over eager to find it. He is a dark skinned youth with a shaved head and piercing eyes, he is handsome and strong. He is a natural born fighter learning at his father’s feet from a young age.

• Orlandra Moonsea: An elf hailing from the south, she is a woman of little words. She does not speak of her time before the Rusty Legion and tends to try and stay in the background. She is not an angry person just simply one that likes to keep to herself and enjoy simpler pleasures. The only member that seems to know her well is Marcus and the two have an on-again and off-again relationship often tumultuous though secret. She tends to be the least social of the group but is an excellent cook, one of the few times one can see her smile is when she is cooking.

DM Notes

This is my basic notes for the main settlement of Ravendale, this will serve as the home base of sorts for the heroes and is placed somewhere in the Points of Lights setting, I decided to do this to make things easy on myself. So if I need a larger city I can always send the heroes to Fallcrest have a complete mini-setting ready to go. I don't really have any huge nefarious plots ready to go other then my usage of the main villain and some of the sub-villains. I do have some inklings for some anti-gnoll sentiment in many f the villagers which if my story goes as planned will cause some conflict down the road.

Bolded names are points of interest or important NPCs in the setting, either to the village, story, or as subplots to develop down the road. This is pretty bare bones but I will probably fill in more once the heroes actually arrive. I plan to have them stay at the tavern, there is not enough room in the tower so Captain Irons has gotten them semi-permanent rooms. Two fold purpose here to keep them closer to the villagers and to use what I think will be a fun little setting the homey inn as a place of relative safety.