My campaign plot. "Eddy/Woensdagavond groep: NIET LEZEN!"

[AddizAbeba]

Okay, so part of the header is in dutch to warn my players out. Now you can stop wondering.

I would like to get some ideas from the group here, I have started a campaign at lv2 and we're now lv5, and I have some great ideas on how to continue, but it always seems to turn out to that the PCs are too low in level to be doing what I'd like them to do.

Here's the story so far: (I refrain from details for brevity sake)
Lv0. PCs are farmers from small frontier village at edge of kingdom. Village protectors are kingdom-issued people, with wildly varying skillsets. After one combat they get recruited as protectors and get training from kingdom (and a large debt ) Fast forward to Lv2.

PCs protect their own village from random stuff, lv3, and lv4. Then campaign really starts in earnest: there is an invasion from 'ants' (formians, they don't know yet up to today). They have to flee from their village (saving the people, etc), they withdraw to the city where the village sells its produce (and where they got their training). They get drafted into the army as soldiers (skirmishers). Formians lay siege to this city as well, and PCs have to do battle but are ultimately forced to withdraw into the keep of the city. Keep also falls and PCs flee through the secret escape-tunnel (via castle sewers). They are free from the formians, but underground, alone, and hungry.
The tunnel appears to have collapsed and now they are in a natural cave-system, have some deadly run-ins with chokers (get rid of some NPCs), and almost but not quite friendly contact with a svirfneblin outpost. lv5.

<---past ends here, future plans are as fickle as can be--->

Next session they will get the choice between going aboveground again (they really want to), or investigate some ruins in the natural cave which has a statue of 'someone' spearing a formian. This statue should really spark their interest, because they thoroughly hate these ants, as you might understand.

My plan was for these ruins to give them hints as to where they could find the weapons/tools to reliably fight the formians (Idea was: history repeats itself, ancient civilization also battled formians, but this can change, see below). The getting of these could be big adventures in their own right, so leveling is an option there.

But I was still lacking the big plot-twist that you need for a good campaign, and I think I have it now. Slaadi. The formians invaded this plane because they knew the slaadi would do it, too. So the formians transferred one queen onto the main continent, and now occupy an area of 50 miles radius (formian's telepathy range from queen). Their onslaught stops there.
BTW: it is unclear to the party what has happened to people that did not fight the formians, they think they are killed, but in fact they are not. They are put to work building something (defenses against slaadi??).

If the PCs get the tools to take the battle to the formians they enter their territory and kill lots of formian warriors, but come upon a site where slaadi and formians did battle (first hint of plot twist to come). When they get closer to the queen, the queen contacts them and summons them for an audition. There the plot twist will be revealed, and after that they will be fighting slaadi, WITH the formians.


Okay, if you've read this far I have to congratulate me for not boring you.

What do you think of this campaign plot and what advice/hints/tips can you give? What tools could I provide for battling the formians? I was thinking of at least an 'ousider bane' weapon as that helps against slaadi as well.

The statue they will encounter next session can be a slaad killing a formian as well. Then the party will be hunting after tools: slaadi tools. Then one of the tools can be something that the slaadi want dearly and as soon as they start using it against slaadi, they'll have them on their tails as well. just some ideas.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I prefer to keep my stuff to mostly the three core books, since I do not have the other books. I do like some ideas from other books, though (as found on the wizards site; eg. I might steal that magical gem 'slotted items' idea)

 

[Quartz]

Very cool, and emphasising the Law vs Chaos aspect is different.

 

[Quartz]

One point, though. You do seem to be equating Law with Good or lesser evil and Chaos with Evil. I do suggest you make it less so. For example, perhaps the characters meet a group of slaadi in human form and find themselves their main competitors at a fair with tests of strength, skill, drinking, etc. Equally, the characters could see the formians' slave pits.

 

[AddizAbeba]

One point, though. You do seem to be equating Law with Good or lesser evil and Chaos with Evil. I do suggest you make it less so. For example, perhaps the characters meet a group of slaadi in human form and find themselves their main competitors at a fair with tests of strength, skill, drinking, etc. Equally, the characters could see the formians' slave pits.

Good point. I have to note my PCs are all N, with one being CN IIRC. So they might prefer to side with the Slaadi, but I guess they only would want to make a temporary alliance. Both kinds are obviously invaders in their little world. They would want to side with one side, weaken them and use the aftermath to wipe out the other side as well. Or get the formians (as being more trustworthy Lawful beings) to agree on moving out again when the war with the Slaadi is over.

I will make efforts to get clear that neither side is evil (IDHTBIFOM: are Slaadi only CN? Slaad=not in d20SRD), though.

 

[gavagai]

Both kinds are obviously invaders in their little world.

To make this point even harder on your PCs, you should show them that THEY are invaders themselves with their frontier town place. Let them meet some tribesmen THEY displaced. Maybe not Orcs, but wild halflings or hunter / gatherers eeking out an existance. The PCs could help the poor guys, who are in some kind of trouble, and be greeted as saviors UNTIL people find out that they come from the evil folks that civilized their land. Hehe.

 

[AddizAbeba]

you should show them that THEY are invaders themselves with their frontier town place.

Kewl! Consider that idea as accepted. Thet will be used once they enter the formian-occupied territory The formian queen is in 'wilderness-land' anyway, so they will probably be homing in on her at least. (the effective action radius of formians is 50 miles from their queen. So when the kingdom military plots out the occupied territory on the map, they will notice that the front has a circular shape. Finding the center is then relatively easy. Reason to send the PCs to investigate.)