(My Redding Players Stay Out) Tying P2 to Dead Gods

[the Jester]

Okay, so first the traditional disclaimer- my players stay out of this thread, please, or at least the ones in my game in Redding...

So first of all, a little background:

In my campaign, Orcus is still dead. The pcs in a one-shot convention game that I ran foiled his plan to return to (un)life. This was after the 3e Manual of the Planes, which suggested that Orcus was back, came out. So I decided that that hadn't happened yet, and I'd use the situation in the con game I was preparing. I had just gotten the 2e module Dead Gods, which details Orcus' attempt to return, a few months before that, and I liked the themes and stuff but- since it was a one-shot at a con- I knew I wouldn't be able to tie it in to the "Orcus Returns?" adventure I ran. So I just kind of kept it mind.

Now, there was a very real chance that the pcs could have failed- they fought an epic bad guy and were only about level 16 iirc. But they won, and stopped Orcus' return.

Cut to now. I know that, when my current group gets to be high enough level, I want to run them through P2. I really like it. However, it ties into Orcus pretty strongly- so I've been thinking about having some of the run-up levels tie in to Dead Gods.

What do you think? Any cool ideas on how to do this? The party is still 3rd level at the moment, so I have about ten levels of time to work with. So far I haven't even hinted at anything involving this yet, and I really don't want one plot to dominate the whole campaign.

 

[the Jester]

Bumpity bump.

 

[fba827]

sounds like an interesting idea though i don't know nearly enough about P2 or setting mythology as to what makes a 'dead god in default settings' in the first place (my group always does homebrew stuff and custom-made adventures...in fact, i don't think i knew of Orcus in d&d beyond a sentence here or there prior to the 4e MM and i've played since 1e, but that's another story).

But, -in very very general terms- I'd take a step back and try and figure out why the gods were dead in the first place (banished by the other gods? not really dead but in some god-capable prison? maybe they weren't killed by cast down to live eternity as a powerless immortal in the mortal world. maybe fragments of his soul were shattered and cast amongst the mortal world, meaning that some people do in fact have a small fragment of him within them which could explain some evilness or monster types in the world).

how to bring all this to the players? cults always seem to form around dead god worship but that may be the obvious route. another route if you want to keep it as background for now is scholarly information if your PCs end up dungeon delving and recover some ancient texts (either purposely commissioned to find it or just randomly found it while doing other stuff -- that's your opportunity to say "you found a book talking about the worship of a god your PCs do not recognize, but those who are very religious recall from previou studies that this may be one of the 'dead gods') don't over emphasize it all but just a splash of campaign-history to get the idea in there.

(this is a rambling incoherent post, apologies, but i'm tired )

 

[Ruined]

Sounds good, as I've always been a fan of Dead Gods. I have the 4e modules, but I haven't run the latter ones so I'm not as well-knowledged.

I guess how much you include of that module depends on what you've done thus far. If you've already used cults of Orcus from the first 4e modules, then you can probably skip the first mystery adventures that show evidence of his recent return. I'd probably drop the portion with Grandfather Oak and the ratatosks.

The dead area where they first encounter the visages would be a good one to include. I don't remember the exact plot hook to get there, but it's a good spot to introduce these new enemy types which you could spread out through the campaign.

You could start foreshadowing his murder of other gods using the Last Word while adventuring. Things that they hear of and are of dire concern, but may not be easily linked to Orcus at the start.

Dead Gods has the big section with the Drow, so you could merge it with P2 at least in goals. IIRC, the Dead Gods portion has the PCs travel there in search of the immortal worshipper of Kiransalee who was entrusted with the information about Orcus' wand. That could be the driving goal for both the PCs and Orcus' invading forces. Personally I like the idea of Orcus trying to retrieve his most potent artifact as a better threat than him trying to use a primordial (Timesus) to achieve some ends. If your players are old school at all, the Wand of Orcus is a much more recognizeable plot hook.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes down the road.