D&D 5E Campaign Concept (Feedback Welcome!)

[Kai Wren]

So first up, hello! I've been peeking at the forum for the past couple days since I picked up the DND 5th player's guide and monster manual. You guys seem like a cool bunch so I figured I'd ask for feedback on a campaign idea here (since I am fairly sure my RL tabletop groups don't read ENWorld so the chances of them finding potential spoilers here are pretty low, but I could use some more eyes on my idea!)

I haven't played D&D since 3rd ed, excluding a couple of Pathfinder sessions here or there, mostly our group moved away from it towards other styles of game, and 4th held absolutely zero interest. I deliberately avoided Next stuff since my friends seemed deeply uninterested in a DnD style game anyway... and I'm glad I did! The surprise and joy I felt when I picked up the books on a whim (I'm on vacation; I wanted something to read on the plane) and found a genuinely exciting-looking game would probably have been ruined if I'd participated in all the playtesting.

5th Edition looks fantastic, and I'm a fairly experienced DM (I have been running at least one game a week, usually more, for about the past 7-8 years) BUT... it has been so long since I played DnD that I haven't got a good frame of reference for campaign worlds. I've usually played DnD rather than run it myself, and I don't have much in the way of worldbuilding resources.

Published adventures tend to be a turnoff to my groups, so I'd like to avoid that - but it could be a lot of fun to do a level 1-20 campaign. I've heard of them, but I've never actually been in one or run one myself. So for that I need a good hook and consistent theme.

Naming is always the worst bit, but I'm thinking along the following lines:

Riffing off the Aboleth entry, the ancient and malevolent beings who came Before the Gods are finally coming close to the fruition of one of their many schemes for destroying those who debased them in years long past. It is a little-known part of the cycle of power which maintains the Gods that they must, every few hundred years, walk the earth in mortal form and live out the life of an inhabitant in the world which they oversee. This serves as a binding between the material plane and the higher planes; in all cases, the mortal vessel does not know that they are truly Divine until the moment of their death, and the God continues to exist in the higher planes too; think of it as a kind of Avatar of the God's will. This is one of the deepest kept secrets in all the churches, for this vessel - whilst incredibly difficult to tamper with - is still one of the few times those of divine power can be harmed.

The idea is that the PCs begin in a quiet village which is raided by goblins in the night. They carry off a baby, and the PCs (naturally) give chase. The baby in question has a distinctive birthmark in the shape of a holy symbol across its face, and had been shunned by the villagers - particularly as the mother wasn't married (shock, horror, scandal).

In truth, the goblins had been bullied into doing this by a ferocious Orc warleader - who knew that if the orcs raided the village themselves, they'd be just as likely to accidentally kill the baby (and the baby mustn't die - the cult that wants the child has been very clear on that).

So the PCs chase after goblins, goblins give up orcs who they have traded the babe to, and the baby is recovered at the handoff between orcs and cultists - which lead the players deeper into the conspiracy. The aboleth cult wants to use the babe to bridge the gap between material and divine, and raise up a genuine Aboleth God of their own which can then start to drown the world of men... but throw into the mix some other Churches who want to weaken the babe, and the fact the child will grow and have dreams of its own (and likely be strong enough to be a force on their own far quicker than most...) and I think things could get interesting very quickly!

It could be interesting, too, to have it be one of the evil gods rather than a good or neutral deity - I figure the evil we know is probably better than the insane and despotic mind-controlling fish monster we don't, but that may be getting too convoluted for an already fairly twisty-turny campaign. I like the idea of the PCs acting as the guardians to a kid that is definitely destined to do great and awesome things in any case, especially as the PCs themselves are likely to grow with it to the point where their legend can be echoed through the ages and bla bla bla.

I'm somewhat concerned that players might not get too into the idea of playing babysitter, though, and ... I don't know if this actually works in a DnD kind of way. Aboleths are only challenge 10 creatures! Will they just become laughable by the time the players are getting into higher levels? Is this too complicated to kick things off again, and will my players actually enjoy this more than a series of more standard little adventures building up to dragon slaying? Or... could I tie this into the DnD world in a better way? Tiamat sounds cool, for instance, and having Tiamat forced to enter the world as a baby dragon could be hi-larious. Then again, this could also be a backdrop element for a campaign world over multiple characters (and that might work better than trying to bring in this plot element multiple times in the same character's life, unless they are all elves or similarly long-lived beings...)

Thoughts would be greatly appreciated! And I hope I posted this in the right section!

 

[Wrathamon]

Hi!

I think your idea of aboleths is pretty cool villain. (they had some nice stuff about them in the neverwinter campaign setting at the end of 4e which was pretty good stuff from what I recall)

The idea is that the PCs begin in a quiet village which is raided by goblins in the night. They carry off a baby, and the PCs (naturally) give chase. The baby in question has a distinctive birthmark in the shape of a holy symbol across its face, and had been shunned by the villagers - particularly as the mother wasn't married (shock, horror, scandal).

In truth, the goblins had been bullied into doing this by a ferocious Orc warleader - who knew that if the orcs raided the village themselves, they'd be just as likely to accidentally kill the baby (and the baby mustn't die - the cult that wants the child has been very clear on that).

These two topics ... to start with.

I dont think the wasn't married is a very good hook ... I think just leaving it as she gave birth to a baby that has a holy symbol on its face (and maybe she doesnt know who the father is) is enough mystery and weirdness that most common folk might be weirded out by, especially if the baby has strange powers or weird stuff is happening in the town since the baby was born.

the reason for why Orcs didnt do it is pretty hard to comprehend and doesnt make that much sense. Why are orcs more likely to kill the baby over goblins? I think you can work on a really interesting reason why orcs are using goblins to do their dirty work. A why are Orcs trying to capture this baby and how do they know about it is going to be the questions players are probably going to search for after trying to find the baby. Having solid interesting reasons for those will be good.

As for playing baby sitter. Sure that can work in 5e. It just depend .... do the players want to or not. If they don't what is your backup plan to continue the storyline? Their actions should have impact on the world. If they decide to protect the baby ... then do something interesting for their troubles.

also, what if the baby dies? you might need to answer that.

don't have much time today but I will try to respond again.

 

[jamesjhaeck]

Your ideas sound wonderful, but I think you might be overplanning. You've been gaming for a while, so you know that no plan survives after contact with PCs. I would plan only your hook (the baby) and the villains (aboleths) and have the plot unfold from their natural motivations. Trying to script the story will leave you feeling unfulfilled when the players buck the reigns, and your players could feel overly constrained.

Long story short, plan character motivations, not character actions! That will lead to a fun, organic game.

 

[the Jester]

The idea is that the PCs begin in a quiet village which is raided by goblins in the night. They carry off a baby, and the PCs (naturally) give chase.

What if they don't?

I would caution against counting on the pcs to do what you expect.

 

[Kai Wren]

Oh yeah, no doubt re: planning. I just find it helpful to sketch out the various 'factions' involved to help guide the action. It lets me set up the key 'bad guys' and figure what they might do if/when the PCs throw their careful plans out of whack (the cult, for instance, may turn on the orcs if they blame the orcs for losing the baby early, or the orcs might run the goblins out, or the villagers wind up taking a more prominent role etc etc)

I figure goblins are easier to explain sneaking in and running off with the child; whilst the orcs COULD go in, they're far more martial, right? So the orc warleader doesn't want the village burning to the ground and a lot of aggravation coming his way, he wants to get the goblins to do it on his behalf because they can sneak in and run off with minimal attention. Likewise the cult would prefer not to go directly to goblins because orcs are easier to find and bribe.

Thanks very much for the kind comments, though! I probably am overthinking it; generally I just wind up the broad outline and let it go, I rarely bother with more than a few NPC stats and some monsters... but DnD is still unfamiliar to me as a system so I'd want to sketch out the likely encounters and treasure etc beforehand.

As for what happens if the baby does die - I figure there's two options there. If the child dies before it 'comes of age', either it is simply reborn and the Aboleth cultists will have to divine where the child is reborn - this is actually probably a good thing since that would take a few years and the child would be in better shape to defend itself when that happens... OR, the act disrupts the link between the God and the Material Plane until the next cycle. That would weaken their portfolios and might have severe consequences for the standing of the Church (I'm thinking it severely hampers the amount of new clerics/paladins that can be empowered - although it doesn't stop them entirely).

That'd open up more inter-church plotting later on if the nature of the child gets out through the course of play, as killing the kid would be a big boon for the competing Gods, but would also prevent the Aboleth plot from coming to fruition... hopefully, my players would be of a mind that killing an innocent person themselves, even in the name of preventing a greater potential evil, is not acceptable (or is at least a means of last resort) but ... like you said, plans and first contact with the players.

Either way I'm pretty excited about the game, and I'm glad the reaction has been generally 'plausible and cool' Now I just need to find time in the week to run it!


ETA: As for what happens if they ignore the goblins in the night entirely? Well, if they hook into other stuff, and that plot thread is dropped altogether, in six years game time they run into the scar-faced possessed child of the Aboleth-God-to-Be and things Get Real. If they just give them a headstart and pursue, they might pick up the trail further along en route to or at a major port city.

 

[meomwt]

Baby-sitting NPC's happens a lot in D&D - it generally isn't yer actual baby who is being protected, however. As a concept, I like it, but could foresee that the players wouldn't want to spend the next 18 years being guardian to a baby/ snot-nosed toddler/ precocious youngster/ angst-ridden teenager.

The fate of the babe is important, yes: but players generally don't want to be hanging around for ever for a campaign hook to resolve.

Perhaps the stolen youngster isn't a baby, but a toddler, looked after (not necessarily "cared for") by the villagers, again he has the birthmark, but he also has odd dreams and can tell people Things Which Come True (think The Omen, for example). This might make players think twice about rescuing him/ her, but it's a child after all, who wants a kid's demise on their conscience?

That way, you can get the best of the Helpless Child, coupled with the Being From Another Plane Slowly Becoming Aware Of Him(Her)self.

Don't worry about having your PC's outgrow the Aboleths as campaign villains: once the DMG comes out, I'm sure there will be rules for advancing monsters to increase level/ CR, in much the same way as there was in 3E. If not, you could always take a monster with an appropriate CR/ Level and re-skin it to add in some of the Aboleth's abilities: Bingo! A level-appropriate villain again.

The other option, of course, is to have a higher-level nasty (e.g. full-grown avatar of opposing deity to the one the party rescued) being the one manipulating the aboleths, or taking over mid-campaign as the BBEG and trying to get hold of the avatar.

 

[Kai Wren]

I like that idea - ageing the kid up a bit does make a lot of sense, thanks!

And I'll keep my fingers crossed for the DMG helping out with the Aboleths. I figure after they've managed to rescue the kid once, that's really the point where the game direction becomes way more in their hands than mine - what characters we wind up with will determine how they try to protect the kid, whether they try to root out the cult and so on, which in turn will probably dictate what sort of focus the bad guys should take going forward. Its good to have options in mind, though! And hopefully after the first leg I'll have enough confidence in my DMing to play it by ear.

 

[Fabio Andrea Rossi]

I always like stories about ancient secrets the Gods themselves hide, but…

• The one thing I would not like if I were a player is the baby part, not because of the babysitting but because they will play for most of the campaigns as protector of the true center of the story, the baby NPC. Here my ball: what if the god made mortal was not the baby but one of the PCs? The baby has no symbols, nothing special, and the mission seems like a standard “rescue the baby”. But, when they reach the site where the baby is being handed over the cultists, the cultists’ chief turns over them and says: ”here the very special one has come, rescuing the feeble as we expected!”. It was a dupe to capture one of the true protagonists all along, not some unnamed baby. So much more personal.... After all, you said the god in mortal form does not need to know he is a god until he dies. The PCs may not even know WHICH ONE is special until later on. Yes, you should drop the part about special powers of the avatar, but that makes becoming mortal so much more an experience for the god. And, when they discover the truth, the one avatar child will have no “benefits” from a mechanical perspective, but a very strong campaign tie. For the others, think of the things they could gain by helping the son a god to survive…they may even bargain with him future or after life rewards. And if he dies? Well, this is even better, you can always make later a resistance type of campaign against the new maleficent arisen gods, in which the PCs need to right the wrongs of their fathers’ failure…

• As per the Goblin vs. Orcs thing, I’d throw in some inter tribe jealousy between the orcs, perhaps the envious shaman convinced the Orc lord the mission is below him and offers the baby back to the PCs if they help him to become chief, adding in some RP and moral ambiguity.

Just my 2 cents!

 

[Kai Wren]

I can see the thinking behind making one of the PCs the avatar - but I probably won't go that route in this campaign, mostly because the last high fantasy game I ran (using Anima: Beyond Fantasy), we already played with that and had one of the PCs as the living embodiment of a school of magic who was rescued by the other characters and became a very competent and powerful member of the team. To avoid getting too close to that all over again, having the avatar be an NPC, a genuine God, and relatively helpless for most of the campaign should hopefully differentiate it enough that my players won't think I'm a one-trick pony.

I like the inter-tribal rivalry, though, and I may well bring that in! I like having multiple villains working towards their own schemes (thus the goblins/orcs/cultists/evil gods) which can then be poked or prodded to work as temporary allies, or just get in each other's way.

As I was sleeping last night I was musing throwing in a crime lord if they wind up in a big city - mostly because I love the idea of a Beholder who runs the city's criminal underworld from behind multiple terrified puppets, and that could be a fun reveal when the party are actually in a position to deal with such a creature.

The kid essentially becomes a McGuffin which can be used to justify drawing the PCs into all manner of weird and wonderful situations because there's no major 'group' which wouldn't want to use the kid for something - even if the kid themselves isn't actually capable of much right now. Its just a matter of the information as to what the kid actually is (rather than 'weird scarred oracle') getting out - but my players love a mystery, and I don't imagine it'll be too difficult to get them to put the pieces together... and they haven't been very good at keeping quiet about similar things in the past.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I probably wouldn't use a baby. What would really interest me, as a player, would be how all these avatars react to being what they are. You don't get that if you start everyone too young. I'm thinking, for example, the orc avatar leading a horde of orcs, the avatar of a god of secrets trying to find all the other avatars and kill them, the avatar of a god of the sun becoming a great paladin. Actually, are they influenced by the god's portfolio, or are they their own person? So could you have the avatar of the god of war being peaceful? It could be interesting as all these players enter the scene one by one and the players are some of the only ones who know who these influential people are. Most people regard Mitae as a powerful merchant, but only the PCs know that he is the avatar of the god of luck and trickery in mortal form. That kind of thing.

So, I'd start these avatars off maybe as teens. Then, the campaign starts off slowly. Maybe the first adventure happens, and then there's a month lull before the next. At some point you skip ahead a year or two. By the time the PCs are 5th or 6th level, four years have passed. This way, they meet some of the avatars young and perhaps have some influence over how they grow and become adults, what they believe in. The initial avatar they meet could be heavily influenced by how they act when saving him and how they interact over the next few adventures. Do they teach him the ways of the adventurer? Do they drop him off and never look back? Are they sarcastic and mean or helpful and friendly? Their actions shape him as an individual in this difficult time.

Personally, I'd probably go with hobgoblins instead of orcs. They have a much stronger tie to goblins, they're more militaristic and approachable. You could even have a hobgoblin "nation" on the edge of human civilization. The hobgoblins, of course, would be dealing with avatars of their own, and they might be trying to use the cultists in order to destroy some of their rivals - the human, dwarf, elf etc. gods so that theirs are the most powerful left standing. They don't realize the deal they've made, though, and its dangers to the world as a whole. Instead, they think this will make their gods the absolute rulers of the heavens.

I like how this could create some kind of interplay between religions. Even if those religions are "allies" they might turn on each other in subtle ways. I like the idea that the relative power of the gods is determined by their time in the world and how much they learn while here. So, good gods might use this as an opportunity to find their avatar and help them along while shunning the others slightly. Evil gods might actually turn on any avatars that aren't their own. There would be inter-church struggles, plots, intrigues that could draw in the PCs since they're in the know. I foresee a lot of possibilities as churches go head to head. Kobold, orc, and other monstrous humanoid avatars can show up trying to take over. Assassinations. All kinds of awesome stuff!

Also, if its 300 years then different races would perceive these avatars differently. Dwarves would see it as a relatively "common" once per generation thing. Humans would probably forget about it between. Elves... the elven avatar may still be alive when the cycle starts over again!

And, I'm not sure just the death of one of the avatars would be cause for the weakening of their power. After all, they're going to die. They're mortal. It's expected. You might want to give a little thought to how the power shifts occur exactly. It could be some kind of Highlander-esque quickening, or as I noted above it could be the amount learned by the avatars about mortal life, or it could be about power gained. It could depend on the portfolio. Maybe the avatar needs to advance the portfolio, and the more they advance it the more power they get. This would create quite the amount of turmoil for a religion in which the avatar has gained free will over itself and doesn't want to follow the religious teachings. Maybe that's how religions die off in your world. Maybe that's how one god usurps another's portfolio.

Many many possibilities here.