Vanifae
First Post
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?
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?