Is this a good plot?

[Tinker Gnome]

Okay, first things first. I am DMing in the Forgotten Realms, although none of my players mind if i mess with it a lot. Here are the PCs

A Drow of a custom class
A tiefling Fighter/Rogue
A Halfling Paladin of Lathander
A Dwarven Monk(who was not at the last game)

Here is my plot, the Dwarven Monk was captured by Drow, sold to some Lizardmen, who were going to sacrifice him, but a creature from the stars(explained later) took him away and replaced him with a Doppleganger follower of its. The creature from the stars is actually an alien whose ship crashed on the realms long ago. The Dwarf is currently held captive in his ship. He came to study the foce known as magic in the realms, but while he was circling the planet, his ship had a malfunction and crashed. He also came to investigate their kin that they had sent to the planet(Dopplegangers). He has found that the enviorment is poisonous to him, but his kin have adapted. Next game the PCs will find his ship.

Now here is my dilemna, I do not want to railroad them, but I am going to have everything on the ship be vastly more powerful than them, and the aline doppleganger will capture them and have them go retreive a magical item(Of my creation) for him, so that he may study it. If they do not, their lives will be forefeit.

So, tdoes that sounds like a good plot?

 

[Piratecat]

Err... honestly? No.

Setting aside for a moment my prejudice against mixing tech and magic, it's nothing but railroading. I can't imagine that this wouldn't frustrate the players. They probably want to be heroes, not errand boys, and you may find that you have more success if you try something more subtle.

for instance, what if they go off on another mission and hear a rumor that leads them towards the spaceship? Or better yet, the alien hires a different and rival adventuring group to help it... so the players will want to beat them to whatever they're after.

I think you're best off giving them a choice of 2 or 3 adventures, and letting them choose. Even if they all end with the same climax, they'll probably feel like the adventure is much less linear.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Err... honestly? No.

Setting aside for a moment my prejudice against mixing tech and magic, it's nothing but railroading. I can't imagine that this wouldn't frustrate the players. They probably want to be heroes, not errand boys, and you may find that you have more success if you try something more subtle.

for instance, what if they go off on another mission and hear a rumor that leads them towards the spaceship? Or better yet, the alien hires a different and rival adventuring group to help it... so the players will want to beat them to whatever they're after.

I think you're best off giving them a choice of 2 or 3 adventures, and letting them choose. Even if they all end with the same climax, they'll probably feel like the adventure is much less linear.

Well, that is the thing. With my group, you have to do the opposite. I will infrom you of more later. I have to go now.

 

[Gutboy Barrelhouse]

I like the twists, surprises and secrets in your plot.
I agree with Piratecat: watch out that you don't railroad them.
You have a problem when the Dwarf's player comes back; if you don't railroad the group, then the Dwarf is stuck in the Alien Doppleganger's ship.
It might be best to explain the Dwarf's absence some other way, then let the campaign move naturally toward the discovery of the spaceship.
Great backstory ideas, hope it plays out as a lot of fun for you and your group.

 

[Piratecat]

Okay. I'm not trying to be a jerk; my point is just that if they like to do the opposite of what you plan, then trying to railroad them is absolutely the wrong technique. Instead, give them a maguffin you know that they probably won't take, and let them stumble into another adventure.

With this kind of group, I found that a good way to get them to really hate a bad guy is to personally offend them. For instance...

Maybe a bard in a tavern takes a disliking to them. The next morning, the bard gets up early, steals the inn's cashbox, disguises himself as one of the PCs, sells the PCs' horses or belongings to other travelers for even more money, and then skedaddles. When the innkeeper offers a reward for catching the annoying bard, most groups will jump at the chance...

...and if they don't, then the evil wizard has enough money to complete his ritual because the bard gives her the cash. She animates the undead in the local cemetary to break a friend out of jail, and the PCs have even more to deal with. Even better, the bard then frames the PCs for the jailbreak.

Anyways. I worry that if you make a bad guy force them into adventuring, they're just going to resent you. It could work if the doppelganger gives them the opportunity to get revenge on someone they don't already like, though.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Okay. I'm not trying to be a jerk;

It comes naturally?

Nah, just kidding. You're right: forcing players to do something often makes them rebel (or hate the game). It's far better to encourage them. And the bastard NPC who really pisses the party off is a great tool to get them to do what you want them to without actually forcing them. After all, you don't force them to get that bard *at all*. They *can* let him go. *Of course*, this means that the guy will go on performing his favourite songs - including the one he just composed about the Party. They aren't compelled to stop him singing about what their parents supposedly did with various farm animals (and their own siblings) *in any way*. *No one* orders them to retrieve the wizard's signet ring he intends to seal naughty letters to the queen with. And so on. Leave the choice to them, but make sure they realize that their choices have consequences - like the guard arresting them for allegedly indecent behaviour and mockery of the authorities and bringing them before a judge (guess who used his broad knowledge and convincing nature to get that job...)

Of course, you don't have to be that hard on them - one insult or two, and most are ready to tear the guy apart.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I am sticking with the alien Doppleganger idea. But any ideas of how not to railroad them? I do not want to use the opposing party one because that was used in the last game, I want something new.

EDIT: Here is some more of the plot. A tribe of Lizardmen fear the dopplegangers that follow the alien, because they wiped out most of their tribe, and the PCs killed what was left, except for one. They have killed one doppleganger so far. They have also rescued a Human that the Lizardmen captured. I do not know what I am going to do with him yet.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Bump!!!

 

[Angcuru]

They have also rescued a Human that the Lizardmen captured. I do not know what I am going to do with him yet.

I think you just answered your own question there. How about the rescued human relays to them information about how the lizardmen knew about and feared the dopplegangers who followed an unknown, greater being (Insert Greater Doppleganger*). PCs will probably in turn feel the "HARK! I feel an adventure coming on!" signal in their skulls flashing like a suped-up strobe light, and go check it out. TADA!

*if you don't have MoF, they're basically twice as tough, can store more forms, and can actually become someone (memories and all) if they snarf their brains. They can store up to three people this way. Have fun. "Hey, where'd Ragnar go?" Greater Doppleganger shows up - "I"m right here, guys."

 

[James McMurray]

Does your party have something or someone that they want to find? The alien can still be more powerful then they are, but it isn't railroading if he asks them to do something for him in exchange for valuable information that will help them further their goals.

In this scenario he didn't capture the dwarf. He rescued him and chatted with him about the dwarf and his friends, and realizd that he had item X that they could use, or information Y that would send them closer to their goal.

Have him offer a minor, but relatively useful reward at first. If the party refuses, have him offer a slightly greater reward. If they refuse again, he says "okeley dokely, I'll find someone else." He then beams them out of his ship.

If you're feeling nice, put the party near their home base. If you're not, put them out in the wilderness somewhere.

Then ask them what they want to do next. You may end up having to wing it for a session or two, but some of the best games come out of winging it sometimes.