Ideas for a 3.5 FR campaign (new DM)

[White Wizard]

Hey. Ive just recently decided to take up DM a campaign since our main DM is burnt out. Ive only run a couple pregenerated modules and have little experience creating a campaign from scratch. The group of player I play with prefer to play in the Forgotten Realms so ive decided to try and create a campaign there and need some help fleshing out a full plot. Here is what I have so far:

A member/cleric of the Brotherhood of the Glorius Sun (a sect of the church of Lathander) believes it is time for Amaunator to return as Sun lord. He has researched and thinks that Amaunator is floating in the Astral Plane and is looking for a way to return Amaunator to glory in time for the erection of the Church of Amaunator in 1374 DR.

I also would like to work the diety Mask into the picture under the assumption that he fears the return of Amaunator more than lathander as Lathander is just the morning lord, where Amaunator had the Sun portfolio. I had some plot ideas about Mask somehow tricking a paladin of Lathander into slaying the cleric of the Brotherhood.

What I need assistance in is
1. This is a new campaign where the characters will be starting at level 1. Any recomendations on how to start the campaign off would be helpful
2. Does anyone know any specifics on what it would take to pull a dead diety from the Astral Plane? Is this possible? Any help in this area would be nice. I thought maybe he could do a ritual using some long lost item of Amaunator, and would somehow convince the church of Lathander to quest for it involving the PC's.
3.How can I work Mask into the picture. Does he have any specific group of followers I could use?

Any suggestions would be appreciated, as Im new to DMing and also have limited Knowledge of the Forgotten Realms. I know enough about the setting from playing, but not for DMing unfortunately.

 

[Monsterknuffel]

Welcome to the dark side of D&D. The DMs side

A good article, how to make interesting adventures etc. you can find on the wotc page.

Adventure Builder
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ab/20060728a

Villain Builder
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/vb/20070323a

And the Behind the Screen (tips for campaign story arc building)
just search on the wotc page, because i was to noon find the first part ^^

Those builders give some hints, interesting ideas how to start, and so on^^
Best Sentence "nothing you do is random". Random is good if you don´t have much time, but random is boring somehow. Random encounter for example:
It is easy to roll dice and determine via some sort of chart, which monsters the PCs will face next while they travel through the woods. They just could fight a group of bandits. Or: You KNOW they will fight a group of bandits and you can think about how you can make the fight more interesting. The bandits have a cart. while some try to convince the pcs to look at their goods, th others approach from the back and try to stab the PCs ^^

Now to the questions.
1. How to start.
If you know what classes your players will play, you can make separate beginnings. The paladin and his friend get recruited by the Lathander temple,
the rogue meanwhile hears some rumors of some old relic, which would give much money on the black market if he can sell it. (maybe he heard it from the guys who wanted the relic to be found) Then, pala + friend and the rogue somehow meet each other and they go adventuring.
Therefore you should know what they play. Maybe you let them roll stats and determine their classes in a session before you start^^
This small piece of information provides you some interesting possibilitys.

The simplest way: They know each other and get recruited in some tavern. *cough* Not interesting but it would do.

another option would be something like a BIG BANG !!
All the characters get involved in something big that somehow forces the chars to work together.

2. There is the question, which lvl will the pcs be ? The higher the flashier.
if you won´t find something about that, well.... take the relic, some poverful clerics, or just many of them, some sort of divination magic to find the god, and some sort of conjuration magic to conjure the god. I don´t know if there are specific information about that, but possible is nearly everything. It shouldnt be too overpowered
Don´t let it become too overwhelming if that are only low lvl players.
"Now we are level 7 Player characters, we survived our first adventure, found a very very very old, nearly lost relic, and fought against the summoning of greater evil deitys. nothing will happen to us now hahahaha...."
(hard to discribe. The higher the level is, the flashier you can make your adventure^^)

3. I don´t know much about FR so i can´t hel you there.

 

[Gilladian]

Starting a campaign off on the right foot is not always easy. But since you already know the theme of your campaign - Lathander vs Mask, good vs evil in the form of light vs dark, I suggest you start working those themes, even if you don't directly bring in plot elements yet.

Maybe your first adventure should be based around something as simple as hiring your PCs to escort a group of Lathander's followers on a pilgrimage. Choose two towns some few days apart, have the PCs and pilgrims both be in one town, and give the pilgrims some reason for needing a guard. Maybe their previous guards have quit for some reason (illness, injury, etc...) and the pilgrims are in a hurry, so they hire the PCs.

Or the pilgrims were traveling without guards, heard rumors of a problem on the road ahead (bandits, raiding goblins) and decided to hire someone. Again, the PCs just happen to be at the same inn, or see the posting on a message board and respond.

Or the PCs are on the open road, round a bend in the trail, and find the pilgrims being ambushed right before their eyes. You can even do this opening scene "in media res" and have the game start mid-fight. That's a very lively way to begin a game.

 

[cr0m]

My main advice to a new DM is start small. You already have enough of a "big picture" for your game. Followers of a dead god to resurrect/rescue and the followers of a god who opposes them. And you have an idea of how the dead God gets brought back to life: using a relic.

Obviously the relic is going to be important. Also important is hooking your players into the game. The "people on a pilgrimage" idea rocks, but rather than play mercenaries hired to guard a pilgrimage, ask the players to make characters on a pilgrimage--including why completing this pilgrimage is so important to them. Maybe they've got a sick sister. Maybe they swore an oath. Maybe they're the last of the dead God's order, fulfilling their duty to protect the pilgrims.

Here's what I'd do. The pilgrims are moving the relic from one shrine to another, like they do every seven years. Normally this is just fairly dangerous, what with the usual hazards of the road. But this year was different.

The priest of the shrine woke up after a prophetic dream insisting that the pilgrims leave NOW. They're not prepared: they don't have all their supplies, they don't have a mercenary guard, they don't even have all the pilgrims yet. But the priest orders them to go, quickly, and not to take the usual, direct route.

Naturally the bad guys show up, put the shrine to the torch, torture the priest, etc, a few days after the party leaves. Now they're on the run, alone, with bad guys on their tail.

Basically, it's Firefly. Throw obstacles in their way. A pass through the mountains held by trolls. A forest full of bandits. A war between two barons. Or more subtle things: a border crossing run by a PC's old buddy (aka the Lando). A village under the rule of an evil gang. They can either pay the toll and move along, or help the people. They need supplies to get across the desert, but they're out of gold. Suspicious elves refuse to let them leave their kingdom once they trespass on it. And of course: the only way through is that there dungeon!

For the first adventure, I'd just make it a race. There are bad guys right behind them and they need to get to a river crossing first. There's only one ferry, and if the bad guys miss it, they have to go the long way around, so they're have a few days head start. Start with a messenger from the shrine they just left, and a gang of bad guys right behind him. Fight! Then Run!

 

[cr0m]

So this campaign idea has really grabbed hold of me and won't let go--I love it!

If I were to run it, I'd set it on an archipelago, like the Wizard of Earthsea books. It's tailor made for episodic adventures, it's easy for the recurring forces of evil to show up on the horizon, and the good guys are constantly searching for supplies, being blown off course, repairing the ship(s), etc.

I want to run this bad boy!

One question though. I pitched this idea to one of the guys in my gaming circle and when I told him about the high priest ordering everyone to go-go-go, he said, "he must be setting us up for an ambush!"

Is he just a meta-gaming paranoid player, or is this a common reaction?

 

[arcanaman]

also if your timing is off everything go off kilter and you need to be able to appeal to your players senses

 

[cr0m]

Whatcha mean?

 

[White Wizard]

Thanks for the input. Cr0m I really like your idea, but at this point ive already decided on a few things. I have the PC's arriving via ship to Baldur's Gate. I chose the area because of its local "close" to a large town run by a Church of Lathander. Also, Baldurs Gate houses a thieves guild who's guildmaster is a follower of Mask. I however, may incorporate some of your ideas into my campaign, or a future campaign at the least.

Also, having been a player for some years, I believe your players reaction isnt too uncommon. However, most players should know a plot hook when they see one so early in the campaign, and would hopefully take it. We have a paranoid player in my play group but we usually can convince him to go with it. Although sometimes we wish we hadnt.

 

[cr0m]

We have a paranoid player in my play group but we usually can convince him to go with it. Although sometimes we wish we hadnt.

LOL, QFT. If I were to run a game with that hook, I'd just start with the pilgrims leaving and forget roleplaying out the high priest scene. That ought to mitigate some of the paranoia.

I'm glad my rambling was able to help you out, and let us know how it goes. Baldur's Gate is a great spot to locate a new campaign, imo.

 

[arcanaman]

Whatcha mean?

You have to be able to know your players likes and dislikes in order to make the campaign enjoyable for them and you also don't rush them into anything let them take their time unless there argue in which place you need to step in