Friends Campaign Idea

[afrorooster]

My friend has thought up an idea and wants me to Co-DM his game with him. We have a basic plot, and want to give our players the option of which faction to join, with the exception of one. I was wondering if you guys knew any ways to pull the heros together if they join diffrent groups? I'll give you the jist of the plot first.

There are 3 sides doing battle, all three from diffrent countries. One group is Mainly magically focused, another is a Mainly fighting focus, and the third is a mix of both. There is also a faction of bandits, who are using the war as a prime oppertunity to take goods from towns and go on raids and such. There is another group called the Coven, who are a group who idealize in a hell on earth, and are basically a group of necromancer, whose main goal is to summon as many demons as possible. The leaders of the other countries have heard about this group, but don't really pay them any mind, as the war is taking up to much attention. We are going to allow the heros to chose any side they want, except the Coven side. So we need a way to get them all together into a party, if they so choose. We were thinking have them find out about the Coven, and try to give them a reason to unite and try to take the Coven down.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

I suppose the classic/trite/hackneyed way of doing this is to have them taken prisoner by the Coven. This raises some awkward questions though if you scratch beneath the cheap veneer:
- What interest would the Coven have in them to begin with?
- Why take them prisoner and not just kill them - particularly if they're necromancers?
- How are they supposed to escape the Coven and effectively "join up"?
- Will this provide them with enough incentive to travel together in the future?
It will only be your answers to these questions that will determine if this is a solid enough way of beginning things. Done in the right way, it could work.
Your thoughts?

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[yennico]

- What interest would the Coven have in them to begin with?
- Why take them prisoner and not just kill them - particularly if they're necromancers?

I disagree with Herremann. Afrorosster and his GM are starting a campaign, so the PCs normally are 1st level PCs. Why should several powerful necormancers have interests in some 1st level PCs.
If you do not want the PCs to join the side of the coven, use the coven as a secret fraction. Nearly nobody knows something about the coven. Only rumors exist.

 

[JoeGKushner]

What starting level?

What are the ground rules for your Co-DMing? For example, when I used to do this, ground rules were that all characters had to use the same method of character creation. No 4d6 for one GM and point buy for another. What about your character? When I did this, my character stayed behind for X, Y, or Z, when I was GMing. This prevents the whole 'pet NPC' thing from happening.

You mentioned three groups but how many GMs? Two? In that case, what worked best for me, was friendly mercenary groups that worked for whoever paid the most at the time but by their own rules. If the groups have a bit of a rivalry and a common place of interest, say a port city or something controlled by mercs, and various bars to meet and talk about their exploits at, it's easier to get them together. Of course you can go one bigger and just have them be different squads in the same merc company.

 

[afrorooster]

If you do not want the PCs to join the side of the coven, use the coven as a secret fraction. Nearly nobody knows something about the coven. Only rumors exist.

Thats what we were planning. Its all suppoesd to be an under cover kind of opperation, and as the heros adventure on, the mystery about the Coven gets unfolded.

In that case, what worked best for me, was friendly mercenary groups that worked for whoever paid the most at the time but by their own rules. If the groups have a bit of a rivalry and a common place of interest, say a port city or something controlled by mercs, and various bars to meet and talk about their exploits at, it's easier to get them together. Of course you can go one bigger and just have them be different squads in the same merc company.

That isn't a bad idea. I'll have to run it by my friend.

Thanks again for the input guys. If you have anymore ideas, let me know.

 

[Vonlok The Bold]

I would make a slight alteration to the kidnapping idea above.

Instead of having the coven kidnap the PC's, have a band of brigand raiders kidnap them. The thieves could have been kidnapping people on their raids, and trying to use the various army's uniforms, banners, plans or whatever as disguises to continue their raids.

The PC's all happened to be prisoners and imprisoned together, or tied up together or something. One of the other prisoners tells of a tale that happened to him while on a patrol(the tale would be about the coven.) The NPC prisoner swears that the war they are all fighting in is child's play compared to what he stumbled across, and that somebody should do something. The NPC prisoner could have already tried talking to his command, but was ignored etc.

 

[Miln]

Another take.

Have a small group of people within each faction that are starting to get wind of the coven situation. They start to communicate with each other and begin to get worried. They still know next to nothing but enough to be scared. These people are influential enough to get some very limited resources allocated to the issue, but not influential enough to really send an army at the coven.

Perhaps something like this (could be different for each faction): Adviser X is one of the kings most trusted. He tells the king his story, but it seems too crazy and a distraction from the issue at hand (the war). However, Adviser X has always been trustworthy so the king gives him some the authority to try and find out more, but with next to nothing in way of resources.

This could even involve the bandits, provided there is some form of communication opened up between them and at least one of the factions. (Maybe the bandits are the first to find out about the coven and they tell the Adviser X about it. Since the only source is the bandits, the king will put little stock in it.)

Thus you have a small group of people from all of the factions that are focused on the real problem, but they have little to no ability to influence the powers that be.

So the PCs could be a part of the the limited resources that the combined factions could bring together.

What do you think?

 

[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

Two quick ideas off the top of my head:

1. (Which in some ways is a variation fo one Miln has suggested). Although the rulers of the various factions have largely ignored the Coven, there are a number of fairly powerful people scattered throught the various countries who have recognised that the Coven is a real threat. They have secretly made contact with each other, and have decided that, as they cannot persuade the powers that be to take on the Coven, and while they cannot act openly themselves as to do so would jeopardise their positions, they must do something. Enter the PCs as their protegés. Each PC has a trusted mentor who is connected with the anti-Coven circle, and they are brought together for the specific purpose of facing up to the Coven.

This approach has the added benefit (for the DM) that this collaboration could be seen as treasonous, so adding potential for plenty of conflict with "good" NPCs.

2. The second idea is somewhat harder to plot, but essentially each PC starts the campaign in the process of tracking down something of personal interest (a family heirloom, a relative, a friend, whatever) that has gone missing. In fact, of course, these things are all in the hands of the Coven (and are no doubt essential for the completion of some dastardly plan or other). Session 1 begins with the PCs having individually followed clues that all happen to lead to one place - where they should be faced by something so evil and horrifying it brings them together to oppose it, even though they are otherwise enemies.

 

[Miln]

This approach has the added benefit (for the DM) that this collaboration could be seen as treasonous, so adding potential for plenty of conflict with "good" NPCs.

I like that twist quite a bit.

 

[Hijinks]

Have all of the characters be drinking in the same bar, and then everyone in the bar is rounded up in a militia sweep and drafted. Then they all group together to avoid the draft.