Zorkion
First Post
I'm currently working on a campaign and I wanted any tips/criticism/whatever but anyways, here's the main idea of the campaign so far
(so far it has no name)
lvl-around 10
When the adventure starts, the characters travel to a city/town that is nearby so that they can rest a bit and get supplies. When they get there they notice that it is a fairly run-down town, and as they walk through the city, the commoners scurry away, whispering to each other. On closer inspection, the characters might speculate that it was once a magnificent city, long ago. Thieves aren't very uncommon here and the characters might get into a fight with some or witness someone being mugged in an alley. In the center of the town, there is a marble statue of a paladin, a tall strong man who has his arm raised to the sky as if he was holding a sword, much in the way that a leader of an army would raise his sword just before charging into battle. However, the statue's sword is missing. Also, the statue is the cleanest part of the town, in fact it looks recently polished, and even the thieves (in secret) will look at the statue for a moment with pride gleaming in their eyes, but they will soon go about their way. If the characters so choose to, they can attempt to find the town hall. When they get there they are stopped at the entrance by two guards and must prove in some way that their intentions are peaceful. When inside, they will find a man who is in charge of the town: a very stressed middle-aged man who looks like a military general. When asked about the condition of the town, he will reply that it he is tired of trying to keep it a good place and that he doesn't know why he even still tries. After the characters get to the statue and are looking at it, as they turn around they notice a small hooded man wearing black robes.
He tells the characters that the statue of the man is or rather was, Ranidek Erutan, a paladin who grew up in the city, came to the town after he had heard that it was being controlled by an evil force. When he got there, he rid the town of the lesser demons which were ravaging the town and was proclaimed a hero. However every so often, more lesser demons would appear, which meant to him that there was a stronger force leading the lesser demons, he found the greater demon's lair and supposedly vanquished it. No one really knows though, the last time he was seen was when he entered the demon's lair. After that, the lesser demons stopped appearing so the people of the town thought he had rid them of the demon. However, whispers have arisen that some people are being driven insane by horrible dreams that they experience every night, and others believe that this is the work of the demon that was presumably destroyed. But, in a sense, the whole town is being driven insane by the countless, unearthly screams of those haunted by the horrible dreams. Also, it is rumored that the demon's lair was a dead oak tree hidden somewhere in the plains to the east.
Soon after saying this, the old man disappears. If the townspeople or the mayor is asked about the man, they will respond that they never heard about nor seen anybody who fits the description given. If the characters decide to stay a night in the city, they too will be awoken by the unearthly screams and must make a will save (dc. 16) to fall asleep again. If the characters spend three days in the city, on the third night, each character must make a will save (dc. 23) or also be affected by the hellish dreams. After that, they can retry their saves on the next night, the third night, and the sixth night with the dc raising by 1, 2, and 3 respectively but must remake the save every three days that they spend there.
When the characters go off in search of the great oak tree for answers about the old man (or whatever their reason, I mean, they are supposed to go there, it's the main idea of the campaign), if they leave the city at middawn, the can reach it in two days time of walking.
The tree is a large dead oak tree, as was said, and all of the plants within 15ft of the tree are dead. Also, hovering just above the tree is a magnificent sword which is glowing black. If any of the characters should try to take the sword, by climbing up the tree or by any other means, it starts glowing green, and once a character comes within 5ft of it, they are blown back by a powerful force. Despite any attempts to get it, the sword cannot be gotten at this time. Also, there is a large hole in the tree which leads down to a stairway far under the ground, into the main dungeon. Once all of the characters have entered, an illusion makes it seem like the hole grows back, while inststead, all that really happens is that a wooden door slams shut and is magically locked. The illusion can be disbelieved by a will save (dc. 19) and the key for the lock can be found inside the dungeon(any ideas on what it should look like would be great). Just after that happens, each character must make a spot check (dc 25) to notice a dull black gem on the ceiling. (Note* I haven't gotten the main dungeon done yet) Once the characters have traveled through the dungeon a bit, they hear the sound of steel clashing against steel; a battle is going on deeper in the dungeon. No matter which way they turn, the characters come upon an NPC who is currently doing battle with some monsters, and who claims to be the knights son and says that he is trying to get his father's sword. (Just as a DM's note, this npc is actually the great demon that Ranidek fought with, and he currently takes the form of a human male of about 25 years) He says that the only way to get it is to destroy 5 mystical orbs which magically create a force field around the sword. They are about 1ft in diameter and are scattered throughout the dungeon and each one is levitating about 1ft over a pedestal especially made for it. Also, the npc never goes within 5ft of any of them otherwise he will be blown back by an immense power. The first one is a globe made of flames, which can only be destroyed by pouring at least 1 gallon of water on it or by a spell such as cone of cold. The second is a globe composed purely of water and can be destroyed only by bringing a fairly large flame near it for 1 min ex. starting a campfire directly under it or holding a flame near it. The third is a globe of soil (representing life), and can only be destroyed by shoving one of the surrounding bones into it (or anything else that could represent death). The fourth is a sphere composed of bones (representing death), this globe can only be destroyed by shedding blood on it, even one drop would do (which would represent life). The fifth and final sphere is (i need an idea for this)
After all of the globes have been destroyed, the npc leads the group with surprising accuracy to the entrance of the tree. They find that the sword has moved in its position from the top of the tree to just outside the exit. The npc then takes the sword and while walking slowly and staring at the sword he says to the group something to the order of, "long have I waited for this moment, and now I will re-introduce the definition of evil into this puny world." Also, as he says this, his form changes from the young human to some sort of demon (I haven't decided yet) and the sword's glow changes to a dark crimson color. At this point the characters must fight the demon. During the battle, every three turns, there is a one half chance that the demon will just stop for a second and blink between its form, to the paladin's form, and back to its form, seemingly against its will. When the demon is defeated, his dead body (which is now lying on the ground) blinks between the demon's body and the body of the paladin. As his last words, he tells the characters to take the sword to his statue in the city and place it in the hand. Also, just as he dies, the tree and the grass around it instantly bloom, leaves grow back onto the limbs of the tree, showing how beautiful it once was.
Once the characters do that, the statue suddenly comes alive as the flesh and blood paladin, and his sword now glows a bright white. This causes a large crowd to form around the group. He explains to the characters that he was not powerful enough to defeat the demon, but instead, he locked the demon in it's lair using his sword's magic, and, in the process, was forced to lock himself in with the demon, who, instead of just killing him, merged with him in an effort to escape. However this proved futile due to the fact that the paladin had set it so that only the pure at heart could escape that accursed dungeon.
After the paladin has been raised, he quickly gets the town back into order, and the characters hac a chance to see with their own eyes th marvelous city it once was. Also, the dreams are gone, and for that, the townspeople are very thankful.
End of Campaign
Soo, any thoughts?comments?suggestions?ideas for names?any would be really great. Thanx!
(also, if you havent noticed by now, the sword's glow changes color on what feelings are being expressed, green-greed, black-death, red-intent on evil, white-goodness)
also, does anyone have any good ideas on how to keep the demon in human form from being too obviously the demon?
EDIT-made a few changes
(so far it has no name)
lvl-around 10
When the adventure starts, the characters travel to a city/town that is nearby so that they can rest a bit and get supplies. When they get there they notice that it is a fairly run-down town, and as they walk through the city, the commoners scurry away, whispering to each other. On closer inspection, the characters might speculate that it was once a magnificent city, long ago. Thieves aren't very uncommon here and the characters might get into a fight with some or witness someone being mugged in an alley. In the center of the town, there is a marble statue of a paladin, a tall strong man who has his arm raised to the sky as if he was holding a sword, much in the way that a leader of an army would raise his sword just before charging into battle. However, the statue's sword is missing. Also, the statue is the cleanest part of the town, in fact it looks recently polished, and even the thieves (in secret) will look at the statue for a moment with pride gleaming in their eyes, but they will soon go about their way. If the characters so choose to, they can attempt to find the town hall. When they get there they are stopped at the entrance by two guards and must prove in some way that their intentions are peaceful. When inside, they will find a man who is in charge of the town: a very stressed middle-aged man who looks like a military general. When asked about the condition of the town, he will reply that it he is tired of trying to keep it a good place and that he doesn't know why he even still tries. After the characters get to the statue and are looking at it, as they turn around they notice a small hooded man wearing black robes.
He tells the characters that the statue of the man is or rather was, Ranidek Erutan, a paladin who grew up in the city, came to the town after he had heard that it was being controlled by an evil force. When he got there, he rid the town of the lesser demons which were ravaging the town and was proclaimed a hero. However every so often, more lesser demons would appear, which meant to him that there was a stronger force leading the lesser demons, he found the greater demon's lair and supposedly vanquished it. No one really knows though, the last time he was seen was when he entered the demon's lair. After that, the lesser demons stopped appearing so the people of the town thought he had rid them of the demon. However, whispers have arisen that some people are being driven insane by horrible dreams that they experience every night, and others believe that this is the work of the demon that was presumably destroyed. But, in a sense, the whole town is being driven insane by the countless, unearthly screams of those haunted by the horrible dreams. Also, it is rumored that the demon's lair was a dead oak tree hidden somewhere in the plains to the east.
Soon after saying this, the old man disappears. If the townspeople or the mayor is asked about the man, they will respond that they never heard about nor seen anybody who fits the description given. If the characters decide to stay a night in the city, they too will be awoken by the unearthly screams and must make a will save (dc. 16) to fall asleep again. If the characters spend three days in the city, on the third night, each character must make a will save (dc. 23) or also be affected by the hellish dreams. After that, they can retry their saves on the next night, the third night, and the sixth night with the dc raising by 1, 2, and 3 respectively but must remake the save every three days that they spend there.
When the characters go off in search of the great oak tree for answers about the old man (or whatever their reason, I mean, they are supposed to go there, it's the main idea of the campaign), if they leave the city at middawn, the can reach it in two days time of walking.
The tree is a large dead oak tree, as was said, and all of the plants within 15ft of the tree are dead. Also, hovering just above the tree is a magnificent sword which is glowing black. If any of the characters should try to take the sword, by climbing up the tree or by any other means, it starts glowing green, and once a character comes within 5ft of it, they are blown back by a powerful force. Despite any attempts to get it, the sword cannot be gotten at this time. Also, there is a large hole in the tree which leads down to a stairway far under the ground, into the main dungeon. Once all of the characters have entered, an illusion makes it seem like the hole grows back, while inststead, all that really happens is that a wooden door slams shut and is magically locked. The illusion can be disbelieved by a will save (dc. 19) and the key for the lock can be found inside the dungeon(any ideas on what it should look like would be great). Just after that happens, each character must make a spot check (dc 25) to notice a dull black gem on the ceiling. (Note* I haven't gotten the main dungeon done yet) Once the characters have traveled through the dungeon a bit, they hear the sound of steel clashing against steel; a battle is going on deeper in the dungeon. No matter which way they turn, the characters come upon an NPC who is currently doing battle with some monsters, and who claims to be the knights son and says that he is trying to get his father's sword. (Just as a DM's note, this npc is actually the great demon that Ranidek fought with, and he currently takes the form of a human male of about 25 years) He says that the only way to get it is to destroy 5 mystical orbs which magically create a force field around the sword. They are about 1ft in diameter and are scattered throughout the dungeon and each one is levitating about 1ft over a pedestal especially made for it. Also, the npc never goes within 5ft of any of them otherwise he will be blown back by an immense power. The first one is a globe made of flames, which can only be destroyed by pouring at least 1 gallon of water on it or by a spell such as cone of cold. The second is a globe composed purely of water and can be destroyed only by bringing a fairly large flame near it for 1 min ex. starting a campfire directly under it or holding a flame near it. The third is a globe of soil (representing life), and can only be destroyed by shoving one of the surrounding bones into it (or anything else that could represent death). The fourth is a sphere composed of bones (representing death), this globe can only be destroyed by shedding blood on it, even one drop would do (which would represent life). The fifth and final sphere is (i need an idea for this)
After all of the globes have been destroyed, the npc leads the group with surprising accuracy to the entrance of the tree. They find that the sword has moved in its position from the top of the tree to just outside the exit. The npc then takes the sword and while walking slowly and staring at the sword he says to the group something to the order of, "long have I waited for this moment, and now I will re-introduce the definition of evil into this puny world." Also, as he says this, his form changes from the young human to some sort of demon (I haven't decided yet) and the sword's glow changes to a dark crimson color. At this point the characters must fight the demon. During the battle, every three turns, there is a one half chance that the demon will just stop for a second and blink between its form, to the paladin's form, and back to its form, seemingly against its will. When the demon is defeated, his dead body (which is now lying on the ground) blinks between the demon's body and the body of the paladin. As his last words, he tells the characters to take the sword to his statue in the city and place it in the hand. Also, just as he dies, the tree and the grass around it instantly bloom, leaves grow back onto the limbs of the tree, showing how beautiful it once was.
Once the characters do that, the statue suddenly comes alive as the flesh and blood paladin, and his sword now glows a bright white. This causes a large crowd to form around the group. He explains to the characters that he was not powerful enough to defeat the demon, but instead, he locked the demon in it's lair using his sword's magic, and, in the process, was forced to lock himself in with the demon, who, instead of just killing him, merged with him in an effort to escape. However this proved futile due to the fact that the paladin had set it so that only the pure at heart could escape that accursed dungeon.
After the paladin has been raised, he quickly gets the town back into order, and the characters hac a chance to see with their own eyes th marvelous city it once was. Also, the dreams are gone, and for that, the townspeople are very thankful.
End of Campaign
Soo, any thoughts?comments?suggestions?ideas for names?any would be really great. Thanx!
(also, if you havent noticed by now, the sword's glow changes color on what feelings are being expressed, green-greed, black-death, red-intent on evil, white-goodness)
also, does anyone have any good ideas on how to keep the demon in human form from being too obviously the demon?
EDIT-made a few changes
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