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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Paradoxish" data-source="post: 606329" data-attributes="member: 9623">For those of you who read my previous campaign thread you might be aware that my new campaign is going to feature a large, apocolyptic war throughout the character's first 4 or 5 levels. The point was to not only set the campaign in a post-apocolyptic world, but to let the players see first hand the holocaust that led to the world's ruined state. Right now, my players are pretty clueless about what's going on (they're only second level). As part of their first quest they were sent to Last Forge, a ruined Dwarven citadel that was serving as the staging ground for a massive human/dwarf army.Before setting out for Last Forge the players had only heard rumors of a giant army forming in the far north. The elf character had also learned that some kind of war was raging along the northern borders of the Thruendel forest, traditional home of the Elves in the northern region of the continent the campaign is set on. Upon arriving at Last Forge the characters saw first hand the enormous army waiting there. They were greeted with a lot of rhetoric from the commanders of this force, essentially saying that no force could possibly overtake the army assembled at Last Forge, etc. The characters were summoned to Last Forge to undertake some essentially small tasks, the kind of things that the military commanders at the citadel didn't want to bother having their own soldiers do.One of these tasks took the players to the the tunnels below the fortress, where they were trapped for a few days due to a few unfortunate choices on their part. When they finally began making their way back to the surface they were surprised to hear the sounds of battle above them. They expected to find the citadel safe and the battle almost over, but were instead surprised to find the walls crumbling and small battles raging all across the courtyard. They didn't get much of a look at the enemy they were fighting, other than that it seemed to be comprised mostly of dark elves (a few riding dire wolverines and others riding giant spiders - enough to scare the crap out of my players... heh). They fought their way to the keep and were told that Last Forge was falling, the dwarves were retreating back to their homeland, and most of the human army was dead or in a route. The remainder of the adventure involved escaping from Last Forge amidst the chaotic battle. They finally made it out (just barely)......only to witness the walls of Last Forge crumble as a mysterious dark rider approached. They also saw those remaining troops who were close to the walls drop dead and a dark cloud rise up above the fortress. Needless to say, they ran. They're now heading north, back towards the city of Galidor (home of the group's Paladin) to report the defeat at Last Forge. Ultimately, this is going to be a very dark campaign and a lot of the early game will revolve around the world slowly going to hell (literally). I don't want my players to feel like they have no hope, or like I'm railroading them, so I'm not sure what to do.Any advice to make sure my players remain hopeful even amidst what essentially amounts of an apocolypse?</blockquote>

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