D&D General Introducing High-Level PCs to a New Setting

[jayoungr]

Why are these level 10 PCs there in the first place? I think that would help establish who they're going to want to meet with.

Well, the campaign that sparked these thoughts is a world-hopping campaign I've been running for a couple of years. The PCs open up a portal to a new world, have an adventure there, and then move on to the next one. I was reflecting that our adventures had been a bit samey lately and wondering if there was some angle I hadn't considered. I've looked over a bunch of introductory adventures for various worlds I've thought of having them visit, but they all tend to be designed for level 1 PCs and are mostly of the "rats in the sewers" variety.

 

[Mort]

Well, the campaign that sparked these thoughts is a world-hopping campaign I've been running for a couple of years. The PCs open up a portal to a new world, have an adventure there, and then move on to the next one. I was reflecting that our adventures had been a bit samey lately and wondering if there was some angle I hadn't considered. I've looked over a bunch of introductory adventures for various worlds I've thought of having them visit, but they all tend to be designed for level 1 PCs and are mostly of the "rats in the sewers" variety.

Since this was a world hopping campaign, the first question has to be: what haven't the characters done yet? No sense in going over old ground!

The next question - do you want them to be the big boys on the block - or low men on the totem pole (personally, I prefer them to be the big guys on the block because I dislike power resets - but tastes vary).

Linked to the last - do you want them to set up roots and the adventure to lead to further paths in the world - or are they to be whisked away again?

With those answered I think more adventure ideas can follow.

thoughts?

 

[Quickleaf]

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear in the OP (if so, sorry for the confusion). I'm not thinking about ways to get the PCs into a new setting. I'm trying to think about what they'd do when they get there.

They're too high level to get much fun out of killing rats in the sewers, so what do they do instead?

One of the fundamental questions that determines which tier (i.e. 1st-4th, 5th-10th, 11th-16th, 17th-20th) an adventure is written for is Why? Why are the adventurers doing this adventure?

If the fate of an entire duchy rests on recovering the young duchess' wedding ring that was stolen by wererats while she was kept hostage (because the jealous duke believes it's a sign of infidelity), then delving into the sewers of Murkendrake might actually be a suitable 9th-10th level adventure.

Unlike a sewer dungeon at 1st level, the opposition is not rats but wererats, and there are many more complications:

• There is a thieves' guild seeking to start a war between the duke's land and the duchess' land. They were in league with the wererats until a recent falling out, and now they've sent an evil rival party into wererat territory to retrieve the ring.
• The wererats scout out their territory in giant rat form, and while in this form they behave as docile rats who are afraid of loud sounds and flame. If pursued, they flee...back into a cadre of hiding wererats with waiting knives.
• There are devious poison gas and crushing block traps in the sewers that require diving underwater to disarm/deactivate.
• One of the recently afflicted wererats is the duchess' troubadour who was secretly her paramour before she was married. He serves as the wererats' liaison to an underground beggar community, attempting to fight his evil nature. Determining what to do with him could be a moral dilemma.
• The duke's elite guard have been charged with smoking out the wererats, guarding all major sewer entrances and after so much time will start fanning smoke into the sewers. The guard don't realize the duke has sent them because...
• The leader of the wererats has blackmail material on the duke – a ledger proving that the duke had a personal hand in destabilizing the economy of the duchess' land, which is what led to her capitulating to marriage.
• There is a secret submerged passage leading from the sewers into the Murdendrake prison, where the duchess' brother is being held as captive of the duke, who has sworn to chop off his head if their wedding ring is not presented by tomorrow's full moon.

The setting is familiar, but there's time pressure, more dangerous hazards, rival parties & factions.

The monsters are familiar, but they're present in larger numbers, more cunning, and with more plot weight.

The premise – a dungeon delve to retrieve a McGuffin – is familiar, but the scope, the why, is very much a political quagmire with multiple potential solutions. The stability of the realm is in question.

 

[jayoungr]

The next question - do you want them to be the big boys on the block - or low men on the totem pole (personally, I prefer them to be the big guys on the block because I dislike power resets - but tastes vary).

Hmm, most of the ideas I've come up with involve them being the "big guys," but having them be underdogs could be an interesting change of pace.

Linked to the last - do you want them to set up roots and the adventure to lead to further paths in the world - or are they to be whisked away again?

Mostly the latter. The premise of the campaign is sort of like Doctor Who--they have a device that allows them to open portals to other worlds, but they can't control where they go. The device is powered by artifacts, so in each world they typically acquire a powerful magic item that can open another portal to another new world.

That said, when we were discussing ideas for the campaign, the players specifically said they wanted to have the opportunity to revisit previous worlds. So as long as they have the "key item" artifact, they can reopen a portal that they have previously created. Some of the PCs can travel back to their home dimensions this way. So if the players decide they really want to have their characters put down roots, they can--but it will be player-driven rather than DM-driven in that case.

The setting is familiar, but there's time pressure, more dangerous hazards, rival parties & factions.

The monsters are familiar, but they're present in larger numbers, more cunning, and with more plot weight.

The premise – a dungeon delve to retrieve a McGuffin – is familiar, but the scope, the why, is very much a political quagmire with multiple potential solutions.

Thank you, those are good techniques to keep in mind. Maybe I can soup up some introductory adventures to various settings this way.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Mostly the latter. The premise of the campaign is sort of like Doctor Who--they have a device that allows them to open portals to other worlds, but they can't control where they go.

Sounds more like Sliders than Doctor Who.

 

[jayoungr]

Sounds more like Sliders than Doctor Who.

There's a bit of that too, as well as a pinch of Howl's Moving Castle.

 

[Stalker0]

The players are teleported to a wizard's tower.

The old man says "finally, pieces on the board of a worthy caliber. I....have a request of you all"