My Warcraft campaign

[Zappo]

To my players: fuori da questo thread o quando avrò finito con voi mi implorerete di lasciarvi morire.





Having just started a Warcraft campaign, I'm trying to plan the overall plot. The characters are 3rd level now, but I'm planning on getting them to 20th and maybe epic before the campaign is done.

A long time ago, the renegade Illidan picked up seven vials of water from the Well of Eternity, source of all magic. Shortly afterwards, the Well was destroyed to prevent the demons from using it to enter the world. However, Illidan used one of the vials to create a new Well of Eternity. Another of the vials was used by the high elves to create the Sunwell in Lordaeron.

So, we've got five vials that are still unaccounted for. Basically, I plan to center the campaign around the recovering of these vials. Each of them has the power to create an incredible source of magic - or a gateway for the demons to invade and destroy Azeroth.

I already have some plans, and I'll post as soon as I can define them a bit better... in the mean time, what do you think of the general idea?

 

[MarauderX]

Sounds good so far. I like the idea of it continuing on so that the players kinda know the ultimate goal, but I'd throw in some loops that they might not expect so they aren't just running from one magic water source to the next.

- A blood fountain, where the demons have opened a small gate and are also seeking the other vials to open more.

- Illidan drank one of the vials... now what? Is it permanent? Have them quest to find out, and if it is, how do you manipulate that guy to do what you want?

- Perhaps some tinkers managed to snatch one and are using it as some super-powered steam vessel... think Earth Shaker (old companion set adventure)... and the PCs have to gather the condensate or something that will stop the machine from operating.

I really like that you are doing a Warcraft campaign, and hope it goes well.

 

[Zappo]

Good suggestions there. Here's what I've been thinking in the mean time:

The low-level PCs start by uncovering a necromantic conspiracy. After several adventures, they discover that the top leader of these necromancers has discovered the location of the third vial of Illidan, and he's planning on recovering it and creating his own personal Well of Eternity. With that power, he wishes to declare his cabal independant from the Scourge and attack Kalimdor.

After he is defeated, the top Alliance and Horde leaders, seeing the great danger posed by the recovered vial, decide to secretly recreate the order of the Guardians of Tirisfal, charging it with protecting the third vial and gather information on the other four. Most importantly, they are supposed to prevent the vials from ever being used; each new well of magic makes Azeroth more and more accessible to demons. So, the PCs are not going to run from a magical source of water to the next, because if a Well is created, they have already failed. This is going to happen, but not more than maybe once; it's a world-shaking event.

The PCs, obviously, are going to be heavily involved in this organization.

The campaign is going to be about finding and recovering each vial, facing increasingly tough opponents and difficulties. There are four of them, and pretty much everyone on Azeroth would be ready to start a war for one. In fact, I'm going to start a big war at some point - maybe it'll be ignited by the discovering of the fourth vial, maybe of the fifth.

One of the vials, probably the last, should have some heavy demon involvement. Possibly leading the PCs to the Twisting Nether, too. I may use the blood fountain idea... the vial has been used, now try and stop the demons.

Another one will be sought by the Lich King. With the demons and the undead, I've covered the biggest bad guys in Azeroth. Yeah, I'd say that they are going to be after the sixth and seventh vials; the fourth and fifth I don't know. For a change, I'd like at least one of them to have no big baddie after it, the PCs are the only ones who know about it and they are "just" going to have to brave some horrible dungeon to get it. Hm, maybe a Titan stronghold.

I'm still thinking about the other vials - I like your suggestions, I'll think about them - but I have a pretty good idea for what's going to happen after they are all recovered. A powerful NPC in the Guardians of Tirisfal is going to betray, steal the five vials, and flee to Outland (the place where Illidan went) to deliver them to the renegade elf. The (probably epic by this time) PCs are going to have some extraplanar fun and a tough fight with Illidan. He's got a CR in the upper 20s, so it should be a nice end of campaign - and if he's weak, I'll have him drink one of the vials as you suggested. No clue as to what that would do to him, but it can't be pretty.

At this point, of the five vials, one has been used by the fiends and one has likely been drank by Illidan. That leaves three vials to be somehow destroyed in case I want to continue the campaign into epic levels. Warcraft has no lack of epic-level opponents.