RangerWickett
Legend
Alternately titled, "Vecna vs. Orcus: Deathmatch! Deathmatch!"
I want to run a 3 to 6 session mini-campaign where I test run 4th edition. So far the campaign I'm playing in only has gone up to 4th level, and I'm champing at the bit to use all the stuff in the Monster Manual in an adventure where every dial is turned up to 11. Now, the Monster Manual caps out with Orcus, and reading Orcus's entry in Wikipedia gave me some ideas.
The premise:
Set after Kiaransalee killed Orcus, but just before the Prince of Undeath returns, the campaign has three stages, at 10th, 20th, and 30th level. I basically want two or three set-piece super-mega-frakkin-awesome encounters at each level, with challenging foes, dynamic environments, and the feel of a Hollywood summer blockbuster
The PCs start out caged, weakened, at 10th level (they were originally 20th level). The backstory is that they were trying to stop a lich from retrieving the Sword of Kas, but they were defeated. Now they have had parts of their souls extracted by a cult of Orcus worshippers, who are gathering power to reanimate their lord. The PCs are just one of thousands of souls set to be sacrificed at a simultaneous ritual around the multiverse.
They manage to escape and fight off the cult that holds them, then when they try to reclaim the fragments of their souls, they find out that drow worshipers of Kiaransalee snuck in during the ritual and stole the soul gems, so they have to go chase down the drow. After they defeat the drow, they can return to 20th level, and they learn that for Orcus to return, he must kill she who holds the current throne of Undeath, the drow goddess Kiaransalee.
Now that they're 20th level, the PCs head to the plane of Thanatos to rescue the evil goddess of slavery and vengeance from the true agents of Orcus, because by so doing they'll stop the countless other sacrifices of heroes around the multiverse. There'll be a quick 'dungeon crawl' into the palace of Kiaransalee, which is full of thousands of dead from the great battle between her followers and those of Orcus. Along the way the PCs fight a few foes who are left over, and hew through tons of minions.
When they reach the throne room turned sacrificial altar chambers, the PCs will arrive right as Doresain the Ghoul King plunges his staff through the chest of a bound and chained Kiaransalee. The staff's skull screams, and the goddess's blood sprays from its mouth through a portal in the floor that leads to the Negative Energy Plane, where Orcus begins to reanimate. The dying Kiaransalee tells the PCs they have to seal the portal, before Orcus pulls the entire palace into the Negative Energy Plane. With her last power she blasts Doresain through the portal, then collapses, leaving the PCs to deal with Orcus's followers and seal the portal. The main foe here is the lich who originally drained their souls (based on Arantham from Ari Marmell's "Ashen Covenant" article), while the whole palace begins to tear apart at its seams and cascade into an abyss.
When the PCs seal the rift and kill their foes, a cloaked figure appears (psst, spoiler alert, IT'S VECNA!), and tells them that they failed to stop Orcus's resurrection, but if they want to stop his ascent to godhood and finish him for good, they have to slay him with his own Wand. When Kiaransalee slew Orcus before, she fed the wand to the Tarrasque, effectively hiding it forever, but Vecna knows lots of secrets.
Now, Orcus will be arriving momentarily, so the PCs had better be leaving to find the Tarrasque, but Vecna tells them that they'll never survive as weak as they are. They need the power of a god. Thankfully, one conveniently died only moments ago, and her blood is still warm. All they need are a few sips, and they'll be raring to go, at 30th level.
The final act has them hunting down the Tarrasque, from whose soon-to-be-eviscerated stomach they must pull forth the Wand of Orcus. But first they must lure it through a portal to get it off the prime material plane, so it won't simply return to the earth. (I think I'll also throw in some Cloverfield-esque mini-rasque minions, and Doresain trying to get the Wand first.)
Then they head back to Orcus's palace to take on the Prince of the Undead himself who, lacking his wand, is wielding the Sword of Kas. But Orcus is gone, and he's launched an assault on Vecna's palace on Oerth, intending to kill the undead god and draw the world into his plane. Cue the final, cataclysmic battle for the fate of the world (at least, the final battle this week; they sure seem to happen a lot). If the PCs triumph, they can wipe out all the undead across an entire plane.
What do you think? Any suggestions?
I want to run a 3 to 6 session mini-campaign where I test run 4th edition. So far the campaign I'm playing in only has gone up to 4th level, and I'm champing at the bit to use all the stuff in the Monster Manual in an adventure where every dial is turned up to 11. Now, the Monster Manual caps out with Orcus, and reading Orcus's entry in Wikipedia gave me some ideas.
The premise:
Set after Kiaransalee killed Orcus, but just before the Prince of Undeath returns, the campaign has three stages, at 10th, 20th, and 30th level. I basically want two or three set-piece super-mega-frakkin-awesome encounters at each level, with challenging foes, dynamic environments, and the feel of a Hollywood summer blockbuster
The PCs start out caged, weakened, at 10th level (they were originally 20th level). The backstory is that they were trying to stop a lich from retrieving the Sword of Kas, but they were defeated. Now they have had parts of their souls extracted by a cult of Orcus worshippers, who are gathering power to reanimate their lord. The PCs are just one of thousands of souls set to be sacrificed at a simultaneous ritual around the multiverse.
They manage to escape and fight off the cult that holds them, then when they try to reclaim the fragments of their souls, they find out that drow worshipers of Kiaransalee snuck in during the ritual and stole the soul gems, so they have to go chase down the drow. After they defeat the drow, they can return to 20th level, and they learn that for Orcus to return, he must kill she who holds the current throne of Undeath, the drow goddess Kiaransalee.
Now that they're 20th level, the PCs head to the plane of Thanatos to rescue the evil goddess of slavery and vengeance from the true agents of Orcus, because by so doing they'll stop the countless other sacrifices of heroes around the multiverse. There'll be a quick 'dungeon crawl' into the palace of Kiaransalee, which is full of thousands of dead from the great battle between her followers and those of Orcus. Along the way the PCs fight a few foes who are left over, and hew through tons of minions.
When they reach the throne room turned sacrificial altar chambers, the PCs will arrive right as Doresain the Ghoul King plunges his staff through the chest of a bound and chained Kiaransalee. The staff's skull screams, and the goddess's blood sprays from its mouth through a portal in the floor that leads to the Negative Energy Plane, where Orcus begins to reanimate. The dying Kiaransalee tells the PCs they have to seal the portal, before Orcus pulls the entire palace into the Negative Energy Plane. With her last power she blasts Doresain through the portal, then collapses, leaving the PCs to deal with Orcus's followers and seal the portal. The main foe here is the lich who originally drained their souls (based on Arantham from Ari Marmell's "Ashen Covenant" article), while the whole palace begins to tear apart at its seams and cascade into an abyss.
When the PCs seal the rift and kill their foes, a cloaked figure appears (psst, spoiler alert, IT'S VECNA!), and tells them that they failed to stop Orcus's resurrection, but if they want to stop his ascent to godhood and finish him for good, they have to slay him with his own Wand. When Kiaransalee slew Orcus before, she fed the wand to the Tarrasque, effectively hiding it forever, but Vecna knows lots of secrets.
Now, Orcus will be arriving momentarily, so the PCs had better be leaving to find the Tarrasque, but Vecna tells them that they'll never survive as weak as they are. They need the power of a god. Thankfully, one conveniently died only moments ago, and her blood is still warm. All they need are a few sips, and they'll be raring to go, at 30th level.
The final act has them hunting down the Tarrasque, from whose soon-to-be-eviscerated stomach they must pull forth the Wand of Orcus. But first they must lure it through a portal to get it off the prime material plane, so it won't simply return to the earth. (I think I'll also throw in some Cloverfield-esque mini-rasque minions, and Doresain trying to get the Wand first.)
Then they head back to Orcus's palace to take on the Prince of the Undead himself who, lacking his wand, is wielding the Sword of Kas. But Orcus is gone, and he's launched an assault on Vecna's palace on Oerth, intending to kill the undead god and draw the world into his plane. Cue the final, cataclysmic battle for the fate of the world (at least, the final battle this week; they sure seem to happen a lot). If the PCs triumph, they can wipe out all the undead across an entire plane.
What do you think? Any suggestions?
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