I don't have any villains.

[RangerWickett]

Crap. I just realized last night that I have populated my world with a vast assortment of characters with personal motivations, sometimes selfish, occasionally even altruistic but opposed to the party's interests. Sure, there's the half-succubus chick, but she's not trying to kill them, just get more power. And the ogre shaman is trying to keep his people from rioting after their demon lord 'god' was slain. The riverfolk want to attack the ogres to rescue their kin who are being kept as slaves, which is bad because the PCs are trying to keep the ogres peaceful; they'd jump at the chance to slaughter some riverfolk.

See, the PCs are trying to make allies. They've only actually dealt with one actual villain, someone who wanted to kill them and had absolutely no interest in cooperating. And they killed him first. Now they're trying to make peace with the ogres that used to worship him. These players love them some shades of gray.

I have other 'villains,' but the PCs haven't run across them yet. I figured they'd go sandboxing for a while, check out some places of interest, and eventually they'd connect a few dots and realize, "Oh crap, there are some villains doing some bad stuff. Good thing we've gone sandboxing, because now we have friends."

Most of the party enjoys exploring the world, experimenting, having small bits of influence in the world. Hell, for a while, their favorite accomplishment was taking a decanter of endless water to give their village fresh water, and using the spare to make a pool for the kids.

But one of the players feels adrift. We had a talk after last night's session, and I figure I've got to throw the guy a line. The plan had been:

a. Visit ogres, deal with a complicated politics and history, and learn that the Maelstrom is a threat that needs to be nipped in the bud. (Basically, it's a vortex to the Elemental Chaos that's slowly sucking all the mana from the surrounding lands; it had been gathering the power in order to summon a minor demon lord. He appeared. The PCs thumped him. Now it's just building up dangerous levels of magical energy.

b. Visit the areas around the Maelstrom trying to get enough mana to close the portal.

c. Hear tell of the Golden Legion, who is doing some bad stuff, also trying to gather mana. Go look into them.


I think I need to speed things along. Have them get a call for help from their home town, after they run afoul of a member of the legion. Get the PCs to rush home. Spotlight the bad guys as a major threat that needs to be worked on, give the party a bit of straightforward "stop these guys" fun, and then pull back again a bit, with a renewed sandboxiness as they figure out how to deal with the full legion.

I mean, there is a plot, but it's sorta like Fallout 3, and the 4 out of the 5 players are enjoying wandering the Capitol Wasteland collecting bobble-heads.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

There is nothing wrong with the concept of a Wandering Monster BBEG: something like a serial killer or what have you, whose path the PCs just happen to cross.

 

[Wik]

Gah. Let the PCs wander and collect bobbleheads. As someone who just started replaying Fallout 3 two days ago, there is a LOT to say for just wandering the wasteland.

As for your one other player - it's time for a subplot! Something that follows the group around, as Danny mentioned. Or, many small-scale instances of the same symptom, spread all over your wasteland - cults all worshiping the same new manifestation of the demon lord, strange "occurences" based on the increasing magical energies, or little pockets of reality that open from time to time that need to be closed (like the demon gates in Oblivian...).

That way, you can advance the plot/whatever for your one player, while letting the rest enjoy wandering around doing whatever.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Fantasy Flight had a few mini adventurers where when the PC's get to town, it's on.

In one of them, an avatar of a death god essentailly wiped out the town with his heavily armed and armored ogres.

In another, the town is full of cultists who are summoning an elder thing to destroy the world.

Clinche yes but it works.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In one of them, an avatar of a death god essentailly wiped out the town with his heavily armed and armored ogres.

That reminds me of 30 Days of Night and

An expanded version of something I proposed to Mitchbones some time ago, based on Larry Niven's "Night on Mispec Moor" (Niven's "Night of the Living Dead"- a soldier finds himself alone on a bloody battlefield...and the dead soldiers around him begin to come back to life when the sun sets), Army of Darkness, and Tremors*:

The Standard of Orcus

A group of travellers (including the PCs) is beset by a group of brigands, and flee across a moor that had once been the site of a major battle a hundred years ago.

The fleeing travellers are surrounded, however, and forced to fight. Despite being outnumbered, they manage to find a small, slightly rocky hillock where they form a circle and drive the brigands back- some using rusted weapons scrounged from the ground- just as the sun sets. As the last brigand flees, will-o'-wisps appear at the edge of the moor to prey on them, forcing the travellers to huddle on the hillock for safety.

However, blood from this skirmish has fallen on a scrap of cloth partially buried in the dirt on the side of the hillock. The cloth is a ragged battle standard devoted to Orcus- the blood reawakens its dire power...and all across the field, dead soldiers claw their way up from the dirt and head for the location of the banner!

And the battle standard is now grasped by an undead commander of no mean skill!

Can the party figure out why the dead have risen up...and can they undo this evil before it kills them?

*The action sequences in Tremors should dictate some of the action: some of the undead should attack from directly below the party, and the battlefield itself should contain other rocky outcroppings similar to the one the party starts on, to replicate elements of the final battle in this movie

A town wiped out by the undead can be a nice, action-filled arc full of street fights, door-to-door searches, and attacks from any angle that will let you recharge a bit.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Obviously (to me at least) the BBEG must be the guy who, when finally released from prison, realizes that his precious bobblehead collection is no longer in his secret underground lair. Someone had broken in and scattered them.

But luckily for him, a helpful group of boy scouts had collected many of them already.

 

[mach1.9pants]

If the other players are happy collecting bobbleheads (me too, I played through FO3 twice, once as a positive karma LG guys and once as the darkest kill every innocent bastard ever!), then get the other guy involved by having a character related plot he can pick up on. You will know what is likely to get him involved but a personal sub-plot sounds ideal.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

Surely in their meandering they've had to make SOME kind of enemies, even ones that they don't know of.

Looking at what you've mentioned, here's a few ides:

-Where did they get the Endless decanters? Did they make it? Perhaps somebody else wants it (back)?

-the ogres have to have some loyalists to the former villain they killed. Who might hold a grudge?

-In all of the alliances they've made or want to make, what about the enemies of their friends (is the enemy of a friend also your enemy)? Sometimes in making friends you make enemies as well (just don't use this one too much!)

-Going back to the alliances, what if somebody else competes with them to make their own alliances?

-The bored player, what's his/her background? What has he/she given you to work with, both in and out of game?

 

[Wraith Form]

Looking at what you've mentioned, here's a few ides: :: snipped cool ideas ::

I hate to be one of "those guys", but +1 to Jim's suggestions.

I hope Jim looks at MY thread, too!

 

[Leif]

Another angle you might try is this: Since your pcs have become all touchy-feely with many of the locals, have the BBEG abscond with a relative (who lives in a nearby town) of one of their buddy-buddy local guys, and have said local dude/dudette come crying to his new adventurer buddies. BBEG could be intending to use his new victim as a test subject for some new device he's created or just as the latest snack for his minions. Or you could get much more involved here and tie back in to another sub-plot.

Just a thought....