[Forgotten Realms] Prepping a new campaign

[SurfMonkey01]

I'm currently in the planning stages of a Forgotten Realms campaign that will start at 14th level (we've all played a little too much Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark lately), and I'm having a hard time deciding what to do with it. I know I want them to have a main antagonist -- a Dr. Doom-eque villain with his own nation, and I want one of the climactic moments to be when the heroes are forced to raise up an army against his and either claim his nation as their own or leave a smoking pile of rubble in its stead. And I want to come up with a bad-ass dragon encounter, since I got the Draconomicon recently. But other than that, I'm at a loss... any help to be offered?

 

[dagger]

First thing I would do if you dont have it, is get Lords of Darkness. With that you should find a worth evil villian or two.



Sorry im not much help!

 

[JoeGKushner]

I guess my questions are a little more in the line of asking for details.

1. Long term or short term campaign? Recurring villain or one shot?

2. Heroic or shades of black and white? With either one, there might be some good opportunities to get some betrayers in both sides of the party. Perhaps the main bad guy's captain sees how heroic the characters are and is disgusted with the way his own troops acts and turns traitor, even as the advisor to the noble king poisons him (the king) and plunges the realm into chaos.

3. You want a really bad dragon? Give the tarasque the half-dragon template and claim it as the elder ancient one or something of that nature.

4. Remember that high level characters, especially spellcasters, will not be bound in ways you can easily manage or foresee. Make sure that the bad guys have either appropriate NPCs to counter the players or specialized monsters.

5. Find niche monsters that may not be getting full use now and add them to the stew. Orcs, goblins, and others are overdone, but what about lizardmen as the main enemy? Perhaps the main bad guy has captured their nesting grounds and is breeding all sorts of specialized creatures ala original Dragonlance and the Draconians?

 

[Jeremy]

Victor Von Doom being a sorcerer and a scientist would seem to make a wizard the enemy of choice. Though a bevy of powerful minions are a must as he won't be nearly as sturdy as your template. As the PC's are starting at 14th level they are likely already pretty famous and the fact that they travel in a group makes it even more likely that they are known entity where ever it is they are.

How about a Thayvian Conjurer who has taken over a former dwarven kingdom and it's environs?

 

[SuperFlyTNT]

Half Demon Mage... make him insane, this is to be the new recuring villian in my campaign. I plan on starting him off really high level and make at least 3 or 4 encounters before my players are high enough to deal with him. Also the first one will be in some sort of mad undermountain type casino. My campaigns are a little crazy but I hope this helps a little. Also read realms of infamy. Some short stories about crazy villains their.

 

[SurfMonkey01]

1. Long term or short term campaign? Recurring villain or one shot?

Long term, with recurring villain

2. Heroic or shades of black and white? With either one, there might be some good opportunities to get some betrayers in both sides of the party. Perhaps the main bad guy's captain sees how heroic the characters are and is disgusted with the way his own troops acts and turns traitor, even as the advisor to the noble king poisons him (the king) and plunges the realm into chaos.

I'm shooting for shades of grey here.

3. You want a really bad dragon? Give the tarasque the half-dragon template and claim it as the elder ancient one or something of that nature.

Now that's just rude.

4. Remember that high level characters, especially spellcasters, will not be bound in ways you can easily manage or foresee. Make sure that the bad guys have either appropriate NPCs to counter the players or specialized monsters.

I'm trying to keep this in mind as much as possible, but they always find some way to trip me up.

5. Find niche monsters that may not be getting full use now and add them to the stew. Orcs, goblins, and others are overdone, but what about lizardmen as the main enemy? Perhaps the main bad guy has captured their nesting grounds and is breeding all sorts of specialized creatures ala original Dragonlance and the Draconians?

Already thought of this one -- I was looking for something a little less ordinary than the normal orcs and goblins, and I was even going to go so far as to use FFG's Monsters Handbook to tweak them out even more and carry that "breeding specialized creatures" thing a little further...

These help out any?

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Question: If they are so powerful, what's to keep the PCs from simply sneaking into enemy headquarters and trying to kill the villain instead of raising an army against him?

At least in my games, the PCs are surprisingly reluctant to ask for help...

 

[SurfMonkey01]

Question: If they are so powerful, what's to keep the PCs from simply sneaking into enemy headquarters and trying to kill the villain instead of raising an army against him?

Well, it's equal parts me praying my ass off and them finding out that "Von Doom" can kick their collective asses all over Toril without breaking a sweat... at least that's the plan...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Well, it's equal parts me praying my ass off and them finding out that "Von Doom" can kick their collective asses all over Toril without breaking a sweat... at least that's the plan...

Make him invade a city the PCs are currently visiting. Let them watch from afar how he casts several meteor swarms in close succession - oh, and he is accompanied by several really big golem bodyguards of the nastier types.

This works best if the players know the rules well - this way, they can calculate the odds of survival of going up against him...

On the other hand, his underlings and puppet governors should be defeatable, giving the PCs clear opponents to fight.

 

[jester47]

Hrm, Dr . Doom wears a mask... Hrm, Manshoon wears a mask...

Aaron.