Forge the world with me

[kitsune9]

Heres what I need idea wise

A good 4-5 adventure arc for 6-8th lvl characters.
A more fleshed out pantheon
A realistic villain that has strengths and weakness. I.e a little dramatic tension this creates a dillema for the pc's weather to kill them or not.

Here's my ideas:

For your pantheon, we'll actually just venerate a god of a city-state in which we're setting your arc in. I name our god as I'll let you come up with that, but our god is LG and is the founder of the city-state. He was a great military leader as a mortal and won incredible battles against overwhelming odds. It was during his campaigns that his followers begin to believe he was some kind of god and believe that he carried with him incredible divine powers whenever they went into battle. In the end, the other gods were jealous and were losing followers to this "upstart" so they gathered their forces together and launch a jihad to take down this great leader. This great leader, knowing that the other gods, in their fit of jealousy were intending to sack the city, surrendered peacefully and was killed, but what it did was only increase the faith of his followers even more that even in death the great leader was granted godhood and the pantheon was forced to accept him as one of their own.

Now, if you want to add some more gods, you can. Our great city-state god had two children, one a brother and the other a sister. Seeing that his children had to endure and suffer during his mortal life, he wanted to offer them comforts so they wouldn't have to suffer like he did, but it only spoiled them and hardened them into becoming tyrants. However, because they were the children of the god, they too attracted followers, but only those of the worse sort, murderers, assassins, slothful and decadent nobles, and so on. Our LG god couldn't tolerate the wickedness his children had done and he imprisoned them deep in the earth far below the great city-state, but their followers live on.

Now a millenia later, the church practically governs every aspect of the city-state though the nobility rule it in name only. Heretics are forced to confess their sins before being led to the stake to be burned.

Now onto our villain. Our villain is more of a tragic figure. He is a great statesman and a hero of the people. He fought numerous battles in which he risked his own life for the common people. He was born of noble blood which makes him a larger than life figure amongst the commoners as well. He is practically the most respected noble in the city.

Yet he wants to tear down the Church and instill himself as the complete defacto ruler. Why? Well, two things--the Church sent his wife to the stake for heresy, a charge he absolutely refuses to believe that should have warranted her death and two, he views the Church as an oppressive religion. It tells people what to believe, what to think, what to eat, how to dress, how to act, do not question, and do not doubt, for doubt is the path to damnation. He cannot stomach any kind of religion forcing its values upon the common people.

Okay, so now we go to into the campaign arc. Four adventures for levels 6th – 8th level

1. The Undervaults—the Church goes to the PC’s for aid because there has been a rash of thefts from their Undervaults. Apparently someone managed to bypass the wards in their undervaults that stored heretical magical items (these should be your run of the mill magical items, but there should be an artifact—the intended theft). The Church will not know of the artifact’s true purpose. The PC’s will discover in the undervaults that it actually leads to a set of old caverns where the Church buried their enemies and heretics and was a dark period of the Church’s time. It also will lead the PC’s to a thieves’ hideout in which an assassin (who works for our noble villain) had already come and claimed the items. The PC’s will now be at a loss for where to look next.
2. Assasination—the Church, miffed with the PC’s for failure to retrieve the artifacts, but in successfully dealing with the thieves, are given a chance to escort an abbot to a village to provide blessings over its crops and people. The abbot is actually on a secret mission from the Church to meet with a Church assassin to take out the village elder who has been uttering blasphemies, but don’t want a village riot on their hands. Unfortunately for the abbot, both he and the assassin are killed by a third party. The PC’s will investigate and will discover the abbot’s true intentions, but will realize that the assassin intends to kill more Church figures in the countryside, genuinely good priests who provide healing and blessings to the rural folk. The PC’s will travel to another hamlet and find the assassin has done his work. The PC’s will cut the assassin off at the city where they fight against him and his own minions. Here they will learn of the artifact that was stolen and why the murders were taking place (to power the artifact). But they don’t know who is pulling the strings. At this point, the PC’s should be 7th level.
3. Innocence Taken—the PC’s, now armed with the knowledge of how the artifact is powered, have enough clues to figure out what it does. The item will be used to subject an entire city under the guise of darkness and open a small gateway of the user’s choice. The PC’s realize that the final artifact is to be powered with the blood of innocents and sure enough, they realize that there has been a rash of kidnappings in the slums—honest goodwives or laborers gone. The PC’s search around and realize that a local thug gang has been doing to the kidnappings because they’ve been paid a handsome reward. They harass the gang and learn of an cultist temple buried under the city. The PC’s explore it, fight raging lunatics and assassins, but they are too late. The sacrifices have been made and the artifact is gone. They also learn of the identity of the villain through the terrible tragedy that has befallen him. At this point the PC’s become 8th level
4. Confrontation—at this point, the PC’s will know who the villain is (the great noble) and what he intends to do (open a gateway and put the city in darkness). However, the PC’s have a couple of options:
a. Run to the Authorities—the authorities are not going to believe the PC’s and a few of them are going to be in the employ of our noble villain. Once the PC’s have gone this route, then in a few days, they will find arrest warrants and wanted posters put out on them.
b. Run to the Church—even the Church will find it incredulous, but they will at least give the PC’s the benefit of the doubt and assign a priest to assist the PC’s on the matter. The priest can either be helpful or confrontational to the PC’s
However, the PC’s will have clues as to the hidden whereabouts of the villain’s secret lair. They will explore it, fight more devoted followers and realize that our villain plans to open a gateway that will pierce the veil and let in a small horde of vampires into the city in the middle of the Church. The church will be wiped out and then the noble villain will get the rest of the city to take up arms and wipe out the vampires (after he turns off the artifact and lets light flood into the city once again). The villain will then be set up as the ruler with the Church destroyed. In order for the villain’s plan to work, he will need to attend the services of a special coronation of a bishop or some other figure in which most of the clerical hierarchy attends. The PC’s will then rush to fight, but they will face the noble’s loyal and devoted manservants who protect the noble while he attempts to activate the artifact.
If the PC’s win, they will have saved a city and the Church, but they realize that the Church will continue their oppression on the populace. Also, the populace will not believe the stories that their beloved noble was some kind of vile villain and the PC’s better high-tail it out of the city. The Church too won’t want the PC’s around because now the PC’s stopped something that they should have been able to divine up front. It’s an embarrassment that they want buried.

If the PC’s lose, but survive, the Church is wiped out, many innocent people die from the vampires, and the noble wins. The PC’s are declared enemies of the noble and framed for the Church’s downfall. Time to flee. At this point, the PC’s are 8th level.

I’ll let you fill in the gaps as I’m sure that you’ll have questions, but there you go!

 

[thejc]

Here's my ideas:

Okay, so now we go to into the campaign arc. Four adventures for levels 6th – 8th level

1. The Undervaults—the Church goes to the PC’s for aid because there has been a rash of thefts from their Undervaults. Apparently someone managed to bypass the wards in their undervaults that stored heretical magical items (these should be your run of the mill magical items, but there should be an artifact—the intended theft). The Church will not know of the artifact’s true purpose. The PC’s will discover in the undervaults that it actually leads to a set of old caverns where the Church buried their enemies and heretics and was a dark period of the Church’s time. It also will lead the PC’s to a thieves’ hideout in which an assassin (who works for our noble villain) had already come and claimed the items. The PC’s will now be at a loss for where to look next.
2. Assasination—the Church, miffed with the PC’s for failure to retrieve the artifacts, but in successfully dealing with the thieves, are given a chance to escort an abbot to a village to provide blessings over its crops and people. The abbot is actually on a secret mission from the Church to meet with a Church assassin to take out the village elder who has been uttering blasphemies, but don’t want a village riot on their hands. Unfortunately for the abbot, both he and the assassin are killed by a third party. The PC’s will investigate and will discover the abbot’s true intentions, but will realize that the assassin intends to kill more Church figures in the countryside, genuinely good priests who provide healing and blessings to the rural folk. The PC’s will travel to another hamlet and find the assassin has done his work. The PC’s will cut the assassin off at the city where they fight against him and his own minions. Here they will learn of the artifact that was stolen and why the murders were taking place (to power the artifact). But they don’t know who is pulling the strings. At this point, the PC’s should be 7th level.
3. Innocence Taken—the PC’s, now armed with the knowledge of how the artifact is powered, have enough clues to figure out what it does. The item will be used to subject an entire city under the guise of darkness and open a small gateway of the user’s choice. The PC’s realize that the final artifact is to be powered with the blood of innocents and sure enough, they realize that there has been a rash of kidnappings in the slums—honest goodwives or laborers gone. The PC’s search around and realize that a local thug gang has been doing to the kidnappings because they’ve been paid a handsome reward. They harass the gang and learn of an cultist temple buried under the city. The PC’s explore it, fight raging lunatics and assassins, but they are too late. The sacrifices have been made and the artifact is gone. They also learn of the identity of the villain through the terrible tragedy that has befallen him. At this point the PC’s become 8th level
4. Confrontation—at this point, the PC’s will know who the villain is (the great noble) and what he intends to do (open a gateway and put the city in darkness). However, the PC’s have a couple of options:
a. Run to the Authorities—the authorities are not going to believe the PC’s and a few of them are going to be in the employ of our noble villain. Once the PC’s have gone this route, then in a few days, they will find arrest warrants and wanted posters put out on them.
b. Run to the Church—even the Church will find it incredulous, but they will at least give the PC’s the benefit of the doubt and assign a priest to assist the PC’s on the matter. The priest can either be helpful or confrontational to the PC’s
However, the PC’s will have clues as to the hidden whereabouts of the villain’s secret lair. They will explore it, fight more devoted followers and realize that our villain plans to open a gateway that will pierce the veil and let in a small horde of vampires into the city in the middle of the Church. The church will be wiped out and then the noble villain will get the rest of the city to take up arms and wipe out the vampires (after he turns off the artifact and lets light flood into the city once again). The villain will then be set up as the ruler with the Church destroyed. In order for the villain’s plan to work, he will need to attend the services of a special coronation of a bishop or some other figure in which most of the clerical hierarchy attends. The PC’s will then rush to fight, but they will face the noble’s loyal and devoted manservants who protect the noble while he attempts to activate the artifact.
If the PC’s win, they will have saved a city and the Church, but they realize that the Church will continue their oppression on the populace. Also, the populace will not believe the stories that their beloved noble was some kind of vile villain and the PC’s better high-tail it out of the city. The Church too won’t want the PC’s around because now the PC’s stopped something that they should have been able to divine up front. It’s an embarrassment that they want buried.

If the PC’s lose, but survive, the Church is wiped out, many innocent people die from the vampires, and the noble wins. The PC’s are declared enemies of the noble and framed for the Church’s downfall. Time to flee. At this point, the PC’s are 8th level.

I’ll let you fill in the gaps as I’m sure that you’ll have questions, but there you go!

I like this train of thought. I have already set the Pantheon. Though yours is a very cool idea. I think I shall put that one in my bag for later!

I like the arc too. I think that fits and I believe I can make it function for the PC's backstories as well.

 

[kitsune9]

I like this train of thought. I have already set the Pantheon. Though yours is a very cool idea. I think I shall put that one in my bag for later!

I like the arc too. I think that fits and I believe I can make it function for the PC's backstories as well.

Glad to have helped!

 

[Nyeshet]

Here is another idea, focusing on the vampires and the veil:

Since the days of the veiling there has been a rumor (DC 18 know-religion check, DC 20 bardic check) that something unusual happened during its creation, something that the state religion has always known but always hidden. The nature of the unusual occurrence is poorly known - and that only to a few in the highest levels of the state religion (DC 20 k(r), DC 22 bardic check), but it is generally believed that if word of the nature of the situation became widely known it could cause a panic or otherwise undermine the authority of or trust in the state religion (DC 22 k(r), DC 24 bardic check).

The truth of the matter is that the veiling was interrupted just as the ritual was ending, leading to strains that ripped the veil at the site of the ritual (DC 28 k(r), DC 30 bardic check). Memory charms and magically binding oaths were used to prevent the spread of this knowledge at the time of the veiling (DC 24 k(r), DC 26 bardic check), and to this day a secret and hidden frontier fortress exists just beyond the site of the ritual that created the veil (DC 24 k(r), DC 26 bardic). Only the best holy warriors are sent there, and upon being sent word is sent out that the warrior had instead recently died in glorious battle against some terrible evil foe - a cult, a vampire, a lich, or so forth - so as to hide the fact that they still live and serve the state church (DC 26 k(r), DC 28 bardic). The location of this fortress - and also of the site of the ritual that created the veil - (DC 28 k(r), DC 30 bardic) is a closely guarded secret of the state church.

Occasionally vampires or other forms of terrible undead - or their loathsome servants - come through the veil. They are destroyed soon after leaving, trapped between the veil on one side, the fortress wall on another, and high cliffs on the remaining two sides, leaving them easy targets for both mass range attacks from the fortress walls and melee attacks from sortees sent out to deal with them. But recently it was realized that the situation is worsening: the original strain has spread, leading to both a wider rifting and additional potential rifts- albeit small, difficult to find (for either side), and dangerous to attempt to traverse. The wider rift means that tunnelling under the ground is for the first time a real danger for bypassing the fortress, although means of determining the presence of sappers also works to notice such tunnels - so far. If the rift continues to widen, soon such tunnels might be mined so deep as to avoid notice by the currently (and only recently needed or utilized) means.

The additional strains are another matter. Like stretch marks in fine cloth that has recently torn a hole, these points of strain are at times greatly stressed - and nearly true rifts, allowing travel out with only moderate strain and difficulty (like walking through through hip-deep water against the current). But at other times it is as if the strain on the cloth has been relaxed, and where before their were minute holes at points of stress near the tear, now the weave has tightened - or at least returned to a less stressed, more normal, state: the holes are gone, and any that may have been attempting to cross through during such a transition find themselves in effect suddenly neck deep in water and swimming against a swift and strong rip current - while not blocked from crossing, it is so much more difficult as to be nearly impossible, and the holes are no longer discernible by any means.

Those at the fortress are aware of the problem, and patrols near the fortress now keep an eye out for any undead they may have stumbled upon such a secondary rift at just the right time and succeeded in getting through. A few have managed to avoid such patrols, however, and are a source of some concern to the highest authorities of the state church - both for the danger they could pose and the secret they may reveal (of the rift(s), the fortress, etc). At present such secondary rifts are minor - only smaller and weaker undead can get through, as the veil at these strained points is still strongest against stronger undead, and the points are too small for even medium undead to get through. But some of these secondary rifts seem to be slowly growing, and more are discovered every year. Eventually a secondary rift large enough for a medium undead or a stronger than typical smaller undead will form - may have already formed but as yet gone unnoticed (by either side?).


What if a halfling gypsy-like tribe has discovered one of these secondary rifts, perhaps has learned when the timing is best for it to be open fullest, and is involved in some illicit trade with those on the other side of the veil. Perhaps initially the vampire lord(s) was only interested in knowledge of the world beyond since the veiling, but in time perhaps he changed one of the halflings into a vampire, the better learn of the world beyond and spread his influence.

Does the whole veil strain and relax at the same time, or is each rift slightly different? Does the new moon or the winter solstice have an impact on the strain? Perhaps the halfling tribe was noticed and slain by the holy warriors of the state church, but the halflings fell all in battle - the warriors never learned of the hole they had been using (having hunted them only for having and aiding a vampire among them). Perhaps the vampires have found ways to increase the strain, or to increase the ease of passage during times off strain? Or maybe the largest rift has finally become deep enough to allow for tunnelling beneath the fortress?

Or has the fortress itself been compromised? Maybe a paladin has fallen, but through magic items he still emulates those powers expected of a paladin, and a ring of misdirection causes spells to discern his alignment as remaining LG, despite becoming LE. Has he fallen to the vampires' influence, or has his wrath towards vampires led to his fall (like inquisitors of old)? Perhaps, as legend holds occurred with the templars, the holy warriors of the hidden fortress have over time drifted from their original purpose: now the order is LN with some members (often the newest) remaining LG and other members (often having been there the longest and holding most of the positions of authority) having slipped towards LE. The authorities of the state church may or may not yet be aware of this change that has occurred over the last century or three. This change may or may not have been due to undead influence (wrathful zeal is more than enough explanation, I tend to think). Perhaps some nature of the lands beyond is also leaking through the rift in the veil, slowly corrupting those who have been nearest it longest.


In any case, discovering all (or even just most) of this could be a major part of the party's adventures, but the main focus should be 1) preventing a new incursion from the rift (either the known rift or a growing secondary rift), 2) preventing the fall of the veil, 3) dealing with an ever more dangerous / corrupt order of holy(?) warriors, or 4) dealing with a growing cult whose highest leaderships' goal is openning a rift or bringing down the veil. Or, for a simpler adventure, perhaps they are meant to expose a corrupt high authority in the state church that is aware of all of these problems but has been covering it up so as to aid his own advancement or his own plans.


As an aside, is the dwarven worship of Vatan and Botan called the Fellowship of the Hammer and the Forge?

 

[thejc]

Since the days of the veiling there has been a rumor (DC 18 know-religion check, DC 20 bardic check) that something unusual happened during its creation, something that the state religion has always known but always hidden. The nature of the unusual occurrence is poorly known - and that only to a few in the highest levels of the state religion (DC 20 k(r), DC 22 bardic check), but it is generally believed that if word of the nature of the situation became widely known it could cause a panic or otherwise undermine the authority of or trust in the state religion (DC 22 k(r), DC 24 bardic check).

The truth of the matter is that the veiling was interrupted just as the ritual was ending, leading to strains that ripped the veil at the site of the ritual (DC 28 k(r), DC 30 bardic check). Memory charms and magically binding oaths were used to prevent the spread of this knowledge at the time of the veiling (DC 24 k(r), DC 26 bardic check), and to this day a secret and hidden frontier fortress exists just beyond the site of the ritual that created the veil (DC 24 k(r), DC 26 bardic). Only the best holy warriors are sent there, and upon being sent word is sent out that the warrior had instead recently died in glorious battle against some terrible evil foe - a cult, a vampire, a lich, or so forth - so as to hide the fact that they still live and serve the state church (DC 26 k(r), DC 28 bardic). The location of this fortress - and also of the site of the ritual that created the veil - (DC 28 k(r), DC 30 bardic) is a closely guarded secret of the state church.

Occasionally vampires or other forms of terrible undead - or their loathsome servants - come through the veil. They are destroyed soon after leaving, trapped between the veil on one side, the fortress wall on another, and high cliffs on the remaining two sides, leaving them easy targets for both mass range attacks from the fortress walls and melee attacks from sortees sent out to deal with them. But recently it was realized that the situation is worsening: the original strain has spread, leading to both a wider rifting and additional potential rifts- albeit small, difficult to find (for either side), and dangerous to attempt to traverse. The wider rift means that tunnelling under the ground is for the first time a real danger for bypassing the fortress, although means of determining the presence of sappers also works to notice such tunnels - so far. If the rift continues to widen, soon such tunnels might be mined so deep as to avoid notice by the currently (and only recently needed or utilized) means.

The additional strains are another matter. Like stretch marks in fine cloth that has recently torn a hole, these points of strain are at times greatly stressed - and nearly true rifts, allowing travel out with only moderate strain and difficulty (like walking through through hip-deep water against the current). But at other times it is as if the strain on the cloth has been relaxed, and where before their were minute holes at points of stress near the tear, now the weave has tightened - or at least returned to a less stressed, more normal, state: the holes are gone, and any that may have been attempting to cross through during such a transition find themselves in effect suddenly neck deep in water and swimming against a swift and strong rip current - while not blocked from crossing, it is so much more difficult as to be nearly impossible, and the holes are no longer discernible by any means.

Those at the fortress are aware of the problem, and patrols near the fortress now keep an eye out for any undead they may have stumbled upon such a secondary rift at just the right time and succeeded in getting through. A few have managed to avoid such patrols, however, and are a source of some concern to the highest authorities of the state church - both for the danger they could pose and the secret they may reveal (of the rift(s), the fortress, etc). At present such secondary rifts are minor - only smaller and weaker undead can get through, as the veil at these strained points is still strongest against stronger undead, and the points are too small for even medium undead to get through. But some of these secondary rifts seem to be slowly growing, and more are discovered every year. Eventually a secondary rift large enough for a medium undead or a stronger than typical smaller undead will form - may have already formed but as yet gone unnoticed (by either side?).


What if a halfling gypsy-like tribe has discovered one of these secondary rifts, perhaps has learned when the timing is best for it to be open fullest, and is involved in some illicit trade with those on the other side of the veil. Perhaps initially the vampire lord(s) was only interested in knowledge of the world beyond since the veiling, but in time perhaps he changed one of the halflings into a vampire, the better learn of the world beyond and spread his influence.

Does the whole veil strain and relax at the same time, or is each rift slightly different? Does the new moon or the winter solstice have an impact on the strain? Perhaps the halfling tribe was noticed and slain by the holy warriors of the state church, but the halflings fell all in battle - the warriors never learned of the hole they had been using (having hunted them only for having and aiding a vampire among them). Perhaps the vampires have found ways to increase the strain, or to increase the ease of passage during times off strain? Or maybe the largest rift has finally become deep enough to allow for tunnelling beneath the fortress?

Or has the fortress itself been compromised? Maybe a paladin has fallen, but through magic items he still emulates those powers expected of a paladin, and a ring of misdirection causes spells to discern his alignment as remaining LG, despite becoming LE. Has he fallen to the vampires' influence, or has his wrath towards vampires led to his fall (like inquisitors of old)? Perhaps, as legend holds occurred with the templars, the holy warriors of the hidden fortress have over time drifted from their original purpose: now the order is LN with some members (often the newest) remaining LG and other members (often having been there the longest and holding most of the positions of authority) having slipped towards LE. The authorities of the state church may or may not yet be aware of this change that has occurred over the last century or three. This change may or may not have been due to undead influence (wrathful zeal is more than enough explanation, I tend to think). Perhaps some nature of the lands beyond is also leaking through the rift in the veil, slowly corrupting those who have been nearest it longest.


In any case, discovering all (or even just most) of this could be a major part of the party's adventures, but the main focus should be 1) preventing a new incursion from the rift (either the known rift or a growing secondary rift), 2) preventing the fall of the veil, 3) dealing with an ever more dangerous / corrupt order of holy(?) warriors, or 4) dealing with a growing cult whose highest leaderships' goal is openning a rift or bringing down the veil. Or, for a simpler adventure, perhaps they are meant to expose a corrupt high authority in the state church that is aware of all of these problems but has been covering it up so as to aid his own advancement or his own plans.


As an aside, is the dwarven worship of Vatan and Botan called the Fellowship of the Hammer and the Forge?

I like this as well thank you very much. I was thinking of fleshing out the pale lands a little and now this gives me a reason to do it. In events that led to the veiling there was huge evil overlord nasty vampire guy. Epic battle bbeg slain. Leaving his two vampiric sons. They actually hate being vampires, they worked with the others to help create the veiling. The outside world was to help find a cure for the vampirism. But since the state took over the church they have not. hmmmm nice nice nice Now I am even more excited. Now to find the time to work it all out.