Snatching victory from the jaws of...victory

[Desdichado]

Your whole plot is scrapped. Now the campaign will be about how the PCs spend their gold on ale and whores. Tough blow for the DM, man!

 

[F5]

This early victory sets up a great sub-plot for the rest of the campaign...the intrepid heroes who have gotten themselves a reputation to live up to, and the hot water they get into because of it.

And I think the multi-cult idea is a good one...how will the players react when they travel to the next town over, and they hear stories of children disappearing, just like what happened in their home town. Now they're dealing with a conspiracy, and the plot can pick up where you would have had it go if the first adventure went as planned. Don't do this right away, though...let a couple of sessions/adventures go by before springing this on them. It will have more dramatic impact that way, and won't seem like a cop-out on the DM's part.

 

[Victim]

Bur now I need to come up with a plan B. They deserved the win, and I rewarded them heavily. DMs: what would you have done? Would you have fudged to save the plot? Players: would you have acted tactically or gone for broke? Would anyone read this if I started a Story Hour for it?

IMHO, acting tactically is all about HOW you go for broke. For example, if you color spray the pack of adepts, fewer AoOs will be provoked on the suicidal charge at the bad guy. Or whatever.

I wouldn't fudge.

 

[Nifelhein]

Just make the BBEG really just a henchman for the true BBEG. Whom you can now design.

Seriously, you can keep your plot (mostly) intact, just by dropping clues that this villain they defeated was only part of the problem and leading them to the real threat.

I would not do this, they would feel fudged too msot of time... I would never fudge, they deserved the victory and they have it, noe the campaing has a twist, think what will happen now that the main villain you made is not there, anyone who holds knowledge and power has enemies and is spied, make someone try to go on what he was to do...

And they should or could start trying to make friends with the characters or trying to eliminate them. Also, consider if this would not create a power void where some would fight to take, this could lead for interesting plots where the lucky heroes get inside something above their heads.

making the vilain they defeated a sidekick to the true villain is fudging too, in my opinion.

 

[Taelorn76]

Congrats to your players and you. You also peaked my interest in the story hour.

 

[nameless]

I also think allowing them to win was a good idea. IMO, fudging is only a tool that's good to prevent anticlimax, like having a character die in a pit trap before the start of a dungeon.

Anyways, my 2 cents on your plot... finding a bigger fish on the line is a good idea, especially since the group may have a reputation preceding them; getting in over their heads is terribly poetic. But don't give them more human-sacrifice cults. Villainy needs to have fresh methods, too. *grin*

Instead of having someone continue the same ritual, have someone find out what end the ritual was a means to for the BBEG. Your long term plotlines can stay in place, all you'll have to do is whip up a few new details to fill in the plan, and have someone else take up where the dead guy left off, but not have the dead guy repeat the same mistake.

 

[Pierce]

I, too, add my congrats to your fine handling of the situation. To throw in my 2cu:

The first idea that sprang to mind has been put forth a few times already: the PCs now have an earned-but-hard-to-live-up-to reputation. There's a wealth of material right there; anywhere from getting hired for jobs beyond their capabilities to being enlisted to fight against insurmountable odds to jealous rivals calling them out (think Old West gunfights). There's tons you can do to make their lives difficult (and interesting!) from that angle alone.

Someone else posed the idea that simply creating the BBEG's boss is a cop-out as it basically nullifies the party's extraordinary victory. A different tack might be to create a new BBEG with quite different goals but who has a passing interest in what the original BBEG was up to, either as a rival or an ally. This new BBEG becomes concerned with the party's prowess and decides to nip the problem in the bud. Before they know it, the party is forced to run for their lives as hordes of assassins, gray men, demons, bandits and other nasties compete to claim the bounty the new BBEG has put on their heads. Not only do they have to figure out why all of these agents have it out for them, but also track down the new BBEG and put a stop to it, not to mention whatever world-conquering plan he's put in motion.

And I would definitely read a story hour based on this campaign. If I may be so bold: start the story with the barbarian getting captured with the bead of force - throw the reader straight into the hopeless situation and keep the pace going throughout.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[WanderingMonster]

Thank you for all your input!

I think that I have a really nasty surprise in store for the PCs. I was already leaning in one direction, and all the suggestions just really pushed me towards what I was already considering.

I'm pleased that this campaign has taken off. We've had a long hiatus with a very dark time when it looked like we'd never game again!

You guys have also solidfied my resolve to make a story hour, and I hope I can live up to the expectations. Just so you know what the ritual was, here's the incantation the alchemsit was trying to cast:

Forge the Neggwrought

Conjuration

Effective Level: 8th

Skill Check: Knowledge (arcana) DC 21, 4 successes; Craft (blacksmithing) DC 21, 4 successes

Failure: Reversal

Components: V, S, M, F, XP, B, SC

Casting Time: 11 hours, 6 minutes

Range: Close

Target: A single devil

Duration: Permanent

Saving Throw: None

Spell Resistance: No



This incantation summons a specific devil and binds it forever in a knot of mystical black chains known as the Neggwrought. The spell renders the fiend helpless: it is unable to move or use any of its spell-like abilities. The caster(s) are immune to any supernatural abilities the devil may use. This spell does not ensure that the devil will be cooperative, truthful, or deferential towards the caster. In fact, the opposite is likely to be true. The devil only receives half its SR against spells cast by the caster of forge the Neggwrought.



The Neggwrought is impervious to damage and magic of all kinds. It cannot be dispelled, and wish cannot free the fiend. Only the caster can free the devil, and to do that would be certain death.



Failure: If the caster fails, he is bound by the Neggwrought forever, and usually taken prisoner by the fiend he tried to bind.

Material Component: An unbroken circle of diamond powder worth 5,000 gp.; 13 pure souls; the true name of the devil to be bound.

Focus: A 666-link chain made of cold iron.

XP Component: 1,000 XP.

Backlash: Casters are exhausted after completing the incantation.

Extra Casters: 13 required to harvest the pure souls as the caster binds them to the chain.

I won't spill all my secrets (I have to save something for the story hour), but I will say that the origins of the spell are in the legend of Aelora and Gulrath. The goddess Aelora bound her nemesis, a devil named Gulrath, in the Neggwrought for 10,000 years. But the spell only binds devils—from his prison, Gulrath found a way to acquire worshippers until he became...more.

Thanks again!

 

[Pierce]

You guys have also solidfied my resolve to make a story hour, and I hope I can live up to the expectations.

Good deal! Make sure you post back to this thread when you start so your ready-made fans will know to look it up!