Help me shake the kinks out of my plot.

[Delemental]

I find myself about to sit in the DM's chair again after a looong absence (pre 3rd Ed). Our regular DM is taking a break, so I've agreed to sit in as a guest DM for a session or two. I've come up with a basic plot for an adventure, but would love some feedback and opinions in order to weed out any gaping plot holes or other such nonsense.

First, the background for the party:

Homebrew, high-magic world, party consists of 8 characters. One of the characters has recently been named a duchess, and has been charged with taking control of the city of Vargas, which has devolved into general chaos and corruption. At the time of this adventure, the party has been in the city for about two months, so I'm assuming that the groundwork for establishing order has been laid, but there haven't been major improvements yet.

The average party level is 11th, though we're above-average in equipment value, and that combined with the large party size would probably let us take on bigger challenges. That being said, I don't want to TPK the party as a guest DM. In terms of characters, we have a strength-based melee fighter, a finesse-based melee fighter, one archery-based ranger, one wizard, one rogue, one monk, one favored soul, and one bard.

With our large group of players, we tend not to follow the 'by the book' adventure style of 4.3 encounters per session, because it's impossible to get through that many combats. We tend more toward the single large 'grand melee' style combat at the end of the adventure.

Okay, so here's my adventure idea:

Scattered throughout the city are dozens of statues of the city's founder, who is regarded as the city's 'patron saint' and protector. Rumors begin to circulate that the spirit of the founder is angry at the usurper who has claimed his throne, and that he will return to protect his city from outsiders. Then people begin to report seeing the statues move, or speak to them about resisting the usurper's rule. Finally, people known to be loyal to the new duchess are found brutally killed in the streets, close to the locations of the statues, whose stone swords are now covered in blood.

The intent for the adventure is to investigate these events, and eventually learn that a rogue from one of the city's new thieves guilds is behind the mayhem. The many statues of the city's founder are in reality stone golems, created as a defense against invaders. The rogue came into possession of a magical scepter which is supposed to be used by the city's rightful ruler to control the golems in times of war, but thanks to a very impressive Use Magic Device skill, this rogue has 'tricked' the scepter. The hope is that the chaos will drive the new duchess out or create a popular uprising against her, allowing the city to return to the chaos they'd enjoyed before.

Encounter-wise, I'd planned on at least one golem-smashing event (say an official gets attacked by a golem in view of everyone), but I don't want it to devolve into nothing but a grand melee against a couple dozen statues (which they'd lose, plus the sight of their new duchess repeatedly smashing up the images of their patron saint would be bad for morale). Rather, the final confrontation should be against this rogue and some of his more flesh-and-blood helpers.

I've not yet decided how the scepter resurfaced. I figure that it was lost a long time ago, and people just kind of forgot it was anything besides a shiny stick. I do realize the possible ramifications of putting this scepter into the hands of the duchess (ie, the party); I've already intend to establish limitations (for one, the golems won't move very far outside the city walls, and they won't (normally) act against residents of the city; the intent of the golems was to help defend against an invading army).

The game's on Friday, but my time to hash out the details before then is limited. I'm hoping to get something playable together quickly. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[EricNoah]

Hmmm...

maybe this magic scepter is only half the story (it's part of a set). The scepter animates the golems, but another item (a crown? an amulet? a signet ring?) ... does what ... overrides the scepter? Disables the golems? Keys the golems to take commands from someone else or a different item? Maybe it was created for just such an emergency? So then the question is where is this other item, how do they learn about it, how do they discover how to use it, etc.

Or maybe it's not even an item ... maybe the original constructor of the golems is around somewhere (depends on how ancient these defenses are and if the creator is of a long-lived race) -- or maybe the heroes could speak with him from beyond the grave, or find his ancient workbooks -- something that gives them the info they need to neutralize the golems.

 

[Rasyr]

Hmm....

Over the years, the rulers of the city forgot about the power of the scepter, and eventually it was buried with one of those rulers, it being a favored item of his. Perhaps he had a duplicate made to be buried with and the wrong one was buried with him. Perhaps the duchess actually has the real scepter, but does not realize what it is....

The Rogue, your antagonist, recently stumbled across a secret door in the basement of an abandoned house while running from the local guard, after commiting some offense or other. Catching his breath from his narrow escape, he takes a closer look at his surroundings and finds that he is in the beginning of a series of secret chambers. These chambers being the workshop of the person who made the golems and the original scepter. However, unknown to the founder of the city, the mage also made a scepter for himself, one that does not require that the wielder be the "official" heir to the city.

Among the items in the workshop, he also finds the notebooks of the mage, and from those learns about the true nature of the statues and the scepters. These books also give him a huge bonus to his Use Magic Device skill, enabling him to use the scepter.

This scepter, unlike the one made for the ruler, DOES allow the golems to attack the inhabitants of the city. The wizard, knowing that he was likely to run afoul of the law sooner or later (perhaps he had necromatic tendencies*) and built the second rod as a safety measure to use in case he was close to being caught.

* - Perhaps the golems are not really golems, but stone encased corpses - animated by the scepters.

If you do not want to have two scepters, then have the real scepter buried with some long dead ruler, and as the city grew, his tomb was later levelled and the land turned to other purposes by a a later ruler (who didn't really care about the tomb), and the secret chamber that the Rogue finds is actually the tomb itself.

For a nice twist, the Rogue could perhaps be an actual (albeit unknowing) descendant (or reincarnation) of the founder of the city and doesn't realize it, and perhaps that is how he is able to use the scepter.

 

[Delemental]

Perhaps the rogue with the scepter and UMD is able to fool it enough to get it to animate the golems, but with limits? Like he can only get a couple to animate at one time, and they just kind of go on a semi-random rampage of violence? It would help explain why this guy doesn't just send a couple dozen stone golems to storm the castle and kill the duchess, and why they'd be killing citizens when they're supposed to protect the populace.

I'd also thought about using runic guardians from MMII instead of stone golems, with the guardians being keyed to 'the rightful ruler of Vargas' (a bit of a stretch from the book version, I know, but within reason). The scepter acts as the key for all of them and allows them to act in unison, and take orders other than 'guard your master'. Then the guardian's behavior could be explained as confusion; it knows the person's not 'the rightful ruler', but the scepter says he is...

 

[Nifft]

Just skimming the better ideas in this thread, throwing on some nice non-combat resolutions for parties who think before they fight...

1/ Like the idea of the creator who's still alive (an Elf perhaps) -- Wilderness trek to find the creator, then some Diplomacy to get him to help.

2/ Love the idea of the Rogue being a descendant of the original Lord. That would certainly explain why he's in charge of the guild -- blood of a great leader makes him a great leader, that style of thing. Perhaps he's more of a socialist than a gangster -- perhaps the party can resolve the conflict by convincing the Duchess to share power.

3/ Perhaps the Scepter didn't work before because magic had gone away for a while, and now magic is returning (to this part of the world, or the whole world).

-- N

 

[Delemental]

If you do not want to have two scepters, then have the real scepter buried with some long dead ruler, and as the city grew, his tomb was later levelled and the land turned to other purposes by a a later ruler (who didn't really care about the tomb), and the secret chamber that the Rogue finds is actually the tomb itself.

I like the idea of finding the scepter in a tomb of a former Duke. Perhaps traditionally a copy was made for every ruler as part of their burial regalia, but in this particular case the real scepter ended up in the sarcophagus without anyone knowing (either accident, or a deliberate act by the Duke in question). The tomb also gives me a location for a final confrontation.

 

[Rasyr]

Glad you liked my humble offerings...

 

[Delemental]

Okay, since last night I've made a few changes. I've decided to definitely go with runic guardians instead of stone golems, but I've cut the total number in the city to about 12-15. Now I'm establishing them as an internal defense; something that would allow the reigning Duke or Duchess to walk the streets of their city without a huge contingent of guards, but still give him or her a defense in case of trouble. I may also make the controlling item a signet ring rather than a scepter, just because it's a little less obvious that way.