Death_Jester
First Post
Hello Everyone,
I am currently running a Campaign based on the Birthright world with the 3ed conversion by Travis Doom. Thanks Travis if you are reading this.
A little bit about the Birthright setting. Over 2 thousand years ago the gods came to the mortal plane to fight the Evil god Azari and his legion of Orogs, Goblins, Elves, and a race of humans called the Vos. The gods died on that battlefield and the creatures all around them absorbed the power of the gods themselves. Now two thousand years later and those familes that inherited the blood of the gods are now the rulers of nations and great mages able to shape the fate of nations. Only people with the blood can rule because they have a special connection to the land.
After the god war the champions of the individual gods assended to the heavens to become the new gods except for a character called the Gorgon he stayed on the mortal plane. Haelyn the new god of Honor and valor inspired his borther to take found an empire. Roele was Haelyn's Mortal brother and had absorbed much of the same power that Haelyn had but not enough to assend with the new gods. With the direction of his Powerful brother Roele conqured the whole contient of Cerillia (the setting) but his decendants became decident.
The Portion of the game world that I am running the game in is the Brecht lands. When the Anurieans started to conqure the lands of Cerillia the Brechts were one of the first to be targeted. The Anuireans held the lands untill the death of the last of Roele's family line. Once he died that empire sepreated and the nation states reassurted their indipendance. Without a strong leader the empire of Roele fell and became a fueding group of lesser nation states.
The Brechts while under the hand of the empire had become a prosperious merchant kingdom apporching a capitalist goverment. So when the empire fell they were already the monitary power of the contitent.
Many years later a minor mechant family raised a son that had the talent for magic and he became a powerful necromancer. This Crypt Lord however grew up with a father that was bitter about what the Anuireans conquest and balmed the family's misfortunes on them. He blithly ignored his own short commings and instilled in his son a fierce pride bordering on faniticism of being Brecht and a even deeper hatred of the Anuiraens.
About 12 years ago the Crypt Lord Was the Court Mage to the Countess of Talinie but his plans were mostly about revenge against the Anireans. He got the idea that what sweeter irony then to use the discared children of the nobility to unify his people and lead them to a new golden age.
The reason the Crypt Lord doesn't do this himself is because he has come to the attention of the powerful political leaders of Anuiraen nations and the big bad guy of the campaign is very intersted in the doings of this particular person. So he has to work though middlemen.
With all that set up here is the basic plot as it stands now. The characters are the bastard children of blooded Anuirean Noblilty kidnapped by a powerful Brecht Crypt Lord. The mothers have disappeared and the fathers don't seem to worried about what happened to the bastard childen, well perhaps one or two actually do but they don't really count because no one knows where they are. The Crypt Lord is very powerful and very thorugh about cleaning up trails. The Crypt Lord is very anti Anuirean because of the things that were done to his people during the occupation of his homelands so many years ago. This character isn't really that involved with the campaign but he will much later in the game.
The goal is for the characters to become the new leaders of a small nation and eventually form a new Brecht league. The twist is that they are Evil. I am useing the AEG Evil book for a basis. The campaign is so far very local politics orientated. With some mystries to boot. There is a cult active in the campaign and it looks like one of the characters mother is involved in killing off a friend of the PC. The truth is very different though. I have the new Call of Cthuthlu book and will be useing some of that for the some games.
Right now I am running the characters though their adolecence. They started off the equivilant of being 12 years old and having to deal with the small town and getting to know the NPCs of the area. Each game session advances them a year in age untill they are 18 years old. The small village for them is the major campaign setting but I want to get them into the court in order to start the real campaign. Unfortunalty they are from Common familes and poor backgrounds. Their alignments are mostly goods and neutrals now but Soon the village where they all grew up is going to be attacked by Gnolls and Destroyed. With all their loved ones either killed or taken as slaves to die tottureous deaths in the gnolls dens. I hope that will drive them over the edge to the darkside. They, hopefully, will come to the understand that there is no safe or secure place that the weak can hide in and try to become the strongest that they can. In that strength they will become calioused to the suffering of others. Then their path to the darkside will be complete. The Players already know that I want to run an Evil campaign and have planned for that kind of thing so that is good and they are all pumped about being the bad guys.
The reason that the village will be destroyed so easily is the Count that rules the kingdom has centered the main force of his army on quelling a rebelious noble family. The count has sent a group of adventures into the village to keep it safe but has raised the taxes in order to pay them so the people of the village are torn between liking these people or not. The Adventurers will become a major thorn in the side of the Gnolls and banidts in the area and when they are away they will attack the village en mass to show that anyone that helps these people will suffer the same fate. Hopefully this will make the player hate this group of mostly good character. Nothing like setting up the rivals early in the campaign. By the way the group of adventures are not the PC they are a good adventuring group that will be the enemies in the future.
The old ruler of the lands died after the first game session and one of the three major noble families was blackmailed into supporting a the old Baronets Lieutenat to become the new ruler of the area. Now in the two years that he has been on the throne he has stripped the paladin knight of their law-holdings and installed his vassles as the lawholders in the providence that the players are living in.
I am doing games as a year passes every year between games at least till the character reach 18 years of age. Then they will train for about 5 years in their classes and join up again to adventure.
Like I said I want then to encounter the court and gain positions of power in the court and be in positions of to play the political game and gain power. Power enough to take the throne and rule as absolute powers.
The player know this is going to be an Evil campaign and are working toward this goal with me. They are very excited as a matter of fact to play this new twist on the old system.
My big question is how do I make intrigue based plots for evil characters to thrive in. Have any of you wanted to run an evil campaign and what adventures have you used or thought about using?
I also need plans to get these characters into the courts and build a powerbase for their future use.
The characters are:
A young mage in training that wants to be a specialist in contructs.
A young and charismatic Bard that is looking to caputre the hearts and minds of the brecht people.
A monk with a otherworldly background as yet undertermined by me. But I would like to hear your suggestions.
A dwarven thief that has become a deputy to the local law. Was once a look out for a group of thives that he later crossed. He is poor as dirt but he has great clan history and the heir to a treaasure but first he will have to get it.
Thanks in advance for any help.
I am currently running a Campaign based on the Birthright world with the 3ed conversion by Travis Doom. Thanks Travis if you are reading this.
A little bit about the Birthright setting. Over 2 thousand years ago the gods came to the mortal plane to fight the Evil god Azari and his legion of Orogs, Goblins, Elves, and a race of humans called the Vos. The gods died on that battlefield and the creatures all around them absorbed the power of the gods themselves. Now two thousand years later and those familes that inherited the blood of the gods are now the rulers of nations and great mages able to shape the fate of nations. Only people with the blood can rule because they have a special connection to the land.
After the god war the champions of the individual gods assended to the heavens to become the new gods except for a character called the Gorgon he stayed on the mortal plane. Haelyn the new god of Honor and valor inspired his borther to take found an empire. Roele was Haelyn's Mortal brother and had absorbed much of the same power that Haelyn had but not enough to assend with the new gods. With the direction of his Powerful brother Roele conqured the whole contient of Cerillia (the setting) but his decendants became decident.
The Portion of the game world that I am running the game in is the Brecht lands. When the Anurieans started to conqure the lands of Cerillia the Brechts were one of the first to be targeted. The Anuireans held the lands untill the death of the last of Roele's family line. Once he died that empire sepreated and the nation states reassurted their indipendance. Without a strong leader the empire of Roele fell and became a fueding group of lesser nation states.
The Brechts while under the hand of the empire had become a prosperious merchant kingdom apporching a capitalist goverment. So when the empire fell they were already the monitary power of the contitent.
Many years later a minor mechant family raised a son that had the talent for magic and he became a powerful necromancer. This Crypt Lord however grew up with a father that was bitter about what the Anuireans conquest and balmed the family's misfortunes on them. He blithly ignored his own short commings and instilled in his son a fierce pride bordering on faniticism of being Brecht and a even deeper hatred of the Anuiraens.
About 12 years ago the Crypt Lord Was the Court Mage to the Countess of Talinie but his plans were mostly about revenge against the Anireans. He got the idea that what sweeter irony then to use the discared children of the nobility to unify his people and lead them to a new golden age.
The reason the Crypt Lord doesn't do this himself is because he has come to the attention of the powerful political leaders of Anuiraen nations and the big bad guy of the campaign is very intersted in the doings of this particular person. So he has to work though middlemen.
With all that set up here is the basic plot as it stands now. The characters are the bastard children of blooded Anuirean Noblilty kidnapped by a powerful Brecht Crypt Lord. The mothers have disappeared and the fathers don't seem to worried about what happened to the bastard childen, well perhaps one or two actually do but they don't really count because no one knows where they are. The Crypt Lord is very powerful and very thorugh about cleaning up trails. The Crypt Lord is very anti Anuirean because of the things that were done to his people during the occupation of his homelands so many years ago. This character isn't really that involved with the campaign but he will much later in the game.
The goal is for the characters to become the new leaders of a small nation and eventually form a new Brecht league. The twist is that they are Evil. I am useing the AEG Evil book for a basis. The campaign is so far very local politics orientated. With some mystries to boot. There is a cult active in the campaign and it looks like one of the characters mother is involved in killing off a friend of the PC. The truth is very different though. I have the new Call of Cthuthlu book and will be useing some of that for the some games.
Right now I am running the characters though their adolecence. They started off the equivilant of being 12 years old and having to deal with the small town and getting to know the NPCs of the area. Each game session advances them a year in age untill they are 18 years old. The small village for them is the major campaign setting but I want to get them into the court in order to start the real campaign. Unfortunalty they are from Common familes and poor backgrounds. Their alignments are mostly goods and neutrals now but Soon the village where they all grew up is going to be attacked by Gnolls and Destroyed. With all their loved ones either killed or taken as slaves to die tottureous deaths in the gnolls dens. I hope that will drive them over the edge to the darkside. They, hopefully, will come to the understand that there is no safe or secure place that the weak can hide in and try to become the strongest that they can. In that strength they will become calioused to the suffering of others. Then their path to the darkside will be complete. The Players already know that I want to run an Evil campaign and have planned for that kind of thing so that is good and they are all pumped about being the bad guys.
The reason that the village will be destroyed so easily is the Count that rules the kingdom has centered the main force of his army on quelling a rebelious noble family. The count has sent a group of adventures into the village to keep it safe but has raised the taxes in order to pay them so the people of the village are torn between liking these people or not. The Adventurers will become a major thorn in the side of the Gnolls and banidts in the area and when they are away they will attack the village en mass to show that anyone that helps these people will suffer the same fate. Hopefully this will make the player hate this group of mostly good character. Nothing like setting up the rivals early in the campaign. By the way the group of adventures are not the PC they are a good adventuring group that will be the enemies in the future.
The old ruler of the lands died after the first game session and one of the three major noble families was blackmailed into supporting a the old Baronets Lieutenat to become the new ruler of the area. Now in the two years that he has been on the throne he has stripped the paladin knight of their law-holdings and installed his vassles as the lawholders in the providence that the players are living in.
I am doing games as a year passes every year between games at least till the character reach 18 years of age. Then they will train for about 5 years in their classes and join up again to adventure.
Like I said I want then to encounter the court and gain positions of power in the court and be in positions of to play the political game and gain power. Power enough to take the throne and rule as absolute powers.
The player know this is going to be an Evil campaign and are working toward this goal with me. They are very excited as a matter of fact to play this new twist on the old system.
My big question is how do I make intrigue based plots for evil characters to thrive in. Have any of you wanted to run an evil campaign and what adventures have you used or thought about using?
I also need plans to get these characters into the courts and build a powerbase for their future use.
The characters are:
A young mage in training that wants to be a specialist in contructs.
A young and charismatic Bard that is looking to caputre the hearts and minds of the brecht people.
A monk with a otherworldly background as yet undertermined by me. But I would like to hear your suggestions.
A dwarven thief that has become a deputy to the local law. Was once a look out for a group of thives that he later crossed. He is poor as dirt but he has great clan history and the heir to a treaasure but first he will have to get it.
Thanks in advance for any help.
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