Fledgling DM looking for advice, pointers, wisdom, etc.

[Verato]

Um... sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong place or whatever. This isn't specifically about the rules or about character design, so my bad if this isn't kosher.

I've never been a DM before, but my DM wants me to try it out so he can just relax and play the game every once in awhile (without all the prep work that being a DM requires). Progress on my campaign design has been very satisfactory, but I've hit a bit of a roadblock, and I could use some advice.

I'm planning on starting my campaign in a cliche sort of way, the whole "You're sitting in an inn" thing, but then immediately (like, in the first 30 seconds) pulling the rug out from underneath everyone's expectations by making some big, bad evil guy launch an attack on the little starting village: blowing holes in walls, lighting huts on fire, killing NPCs in the streets, causing huge explosions... you know, maximum chaos!

OK, first... is this a bad idea?

Second, I've hit a bit of a snag with this idea. It seems like the PERFECT sort of big bad evil guy for this role is a Lich: doesn't matter if he dies in the first attack, he'll come back shortly unless the PCs go deal with the problem... but on the other hand, if he dies, it'll give the PCs a bit of a breather to decide what they're going to do (go take him out, get the heck outta dodge and leave the village for dead, etc.). The trouble is, unless I'm reading this wrong, my big bad evil guy will have to be at least level 11 to make the little phylactery thing... and then he'll get even tougher once he's made the thing, becoming like a CR 13 (am I figuring this up right?).

CR 13 seems WAY too tough for a "just started the campaign" enemy. What's a good way to fix this? Should I have everyone roll level 10s or 12s or something? Is there a way to make some sort of "mini-lich," maybe a CR 6 or so?

 

[Nebten]

That can work. What you can do is have him do the primary attack then leave his minions to finish off the place. Then the heroes can defend the town from the minions. From there the story begins . . .

 

[Verato]

Excellent idea! Thanks for the help Nebten!

 

[concerro]

How long do you plan to DM? What I would do is have them start at low enough levels so you learn how they play so they dont pimp-slap your BBEG due to something you did not expect.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Another idea is that one of the PCs has what he or she thinks is a minor item - a family heirloom, a token given to an apprentice PC by a master, etc. The lich spies the item when confronting the PCs (preferably right after killing several townsguard in front of the PCs via something like Cloudkill or a Cone of Cold or something) - and then recoils from the item saying something along th lines of, "It can't be!" And then the lich immediately hightails it out of town.

 

[Verato]

Lol! That's an awesome idea, NewJeff. It'll definitely keep 'em guessing

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Welcome to the boards, Verato!

Another option is to have the Lich walking down the main street of the city, spreading death and destruction, his army of undead minions in his wake. Just as the PCs stumble out of a tavern where they were celebrating the wedding of the Inkeeper's daughter to the Tailor's son (a big neighborhood to-do to which ALL were invited, stranger and friend alike), the Lich rounds the corner and spots them and other partygoers.

Time slows to a crawl as the undead menace raises a hand to eradicate them...and a high-level NPC who had been at the party- perhaps the Inkeeper himself (in the grand tradition of 1Ed modules, a retired adventurer)- uses the McGuffin NewJeffCT mentioned to drive the Lich away just like he said...but not without taking incapacitating damage himself.

The NPC, now unconscious, must be rescued from the Lich's minions.

And after that, the city must be similarly saved.

Think of this as a typical zombie movie scenario- Night of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil, etc.- the town is overrun, and the survivors must fight to survive and eventually defeat the minons.

In early stages, the party will be starved for resources and cut off from others. As they adventure, they gain XP and gear, and eventually become more capable of taking down their foes.

But more minions keep showing up...*

Eventually, the NPC will recover enough to tell them how to use the McGuffin, and direct them to the heart of evil- the Lich's lair.

* Given the nature of the game and your novice status, I wouldn't have the undead minions spread like they do in the movies. The new minions are coming from outside the city.

If you really want to use spawning undead, only have NPCs killed a particular way- a bite or claw attack, perhaps even only those killed by a crit by such an attack- rise up as undead.

 

[Physiker]

If you want to make the lich weaker, rule that he just became a lich and that some of his intelligence was draind in the process. So that he starts with an intelligence of 12-13. So he can only cast 2nd - 3rd level spells. This should weaken him so that the player charakters have a chance.
After the first assault, the lich takes steps to get his former intelligence.
He could capture a wizard an let him cast wish on him or something like that. In this way you could advance the lich with the player charakters.

Edit: Sorry I forgot the DR, that should make the encounter impossible for level 1 heroes.

 

[Verato]

Oh man, Physiker, that is just the best idea ever! I never, ever would have thought of that... but it's beautiful! The DR does make it a bit of a sticky wicket, though... which is why my cool NPCs will have to do all the heavy lifting. Still, I think it could work out beautifully.

So on that note, a rules question... could the Lich still use a Wand of Fireball if he was too dumb to cast the spell Fireball himself?

 

[NewJeffCT]

You don't want the NPCs to overshadow the PCs too much - it steals the fun from the players if the NPCs are too awesome. (though, an initial encounter like that might be different...) If you're worried about DR, you can have PCs do things like trip the lich, grapple the lich, bull rush it, toss a tanglefoot bag at it to limit its movement, throw holy water, etc.