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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pukunui" data-source="post: 6687271" data-attributes="member: 54629">Hi folks,I just started a new 5e campaign, and I could use some help fleshing out one of the main conceits of the campaign. My plan is for it to be an episodic-style campaign, with a series of short(ish), unconnected adventures, mostly culled from old Dungeon magazines and such.  However, my players voted in favor of their PCs having a mentor of some kind.What I've come up with is this: I've begun the campaign using the handful "Trouble in Red Larch" scenarios from PotA. While adventuring around Red Larch (which I've renamed "Larchwood" for my nebulous homebrew world), they are getting to know the local innkeeper, Kaylessa.I've decided that Kaylessa is actually an adult silver dragon disguised as a half-elf. She is also the guardian of the Swinging Sword Inn's network of magic portals. Part of my reasoning was to clip her wings a bit - she's getting the PCs to go out and do good in the world partly because she can't, having sworn a solemn vow to protect the inn (some of the portals lead to other parts of the world, but some lead to the elemental planes and so on, and so she has to remain on constant guard lest some undesirable creature break through the inn's wards).Once we've completed the "Tomb of Moving Stones", Kaylessa will take the PCs into her confidence and reveal the true nature of the inn and her role as its guardian, though she still won't tell them that she's really a dragon just yet. She'll then offer to help them unlock their true potential and guide them into becoming true heroes who go out and do good and vanquish evil wherever it rears its ugly head. (And possibly also - unwittingly - help her find more stuff for her hoard as a bonus ... in fact, I'm thinking that at some point, probably in the later levels, she'll want to go and check on her hoard and will ask the PCs to watch the portal network for her while she's gone ... and of course all hell will break loose at that point ...) The main thing I want to stress here, though, is that the campaign isn't going to consist solely of Kaylessa sending the PCs on missions for her. I want her to be more of a moral compass, providing the PCs with advice/guidance and assistance - and the occasional adventure hook - but only when they need/want it. The PCs will be mostly operating autonomously. The idea is that she instils in them the morals of the silver dragon (do good deeds, don't cause unnecessary harm, and oppose those who openly do evil and harm the innocent) and then sends them out into the world in the hopes of making it a better place.Sometimes they might go through the inn's portals. Other times they might just go by road. I'm considering making it so that Kaylessa has some kind of magic key that she can give the PCs that will let them teleport (one way only) back to the inn whenever they feel the need to go back there. Perhaps they need a safe place to rest; perhaps they're finished exploring a particular dungeon and want to sell some loot; perhaps they need to abort a mission quickly. I guess this key could function like a portkey from Harry Potter - all the PCs have to be touching it and then someone needs to say the magic words and it whisks them back to the inn. But it's not like a town portal from Diablo - they can't just sell their loot, heal up, and then jump straight back into the dungeon. If they want to go back to wherever they were before, they'll have to go the long way.I realize this is rather rambling and I haven't really said what I need help with yet. The main thing is: I want the PCs to be free to go off and explore the world, not just the small area around "Larchwood", but I also want them to be able to have easy access to their mentor, the silver dragon. Hence the idea with the one-way teleport device. Does what I've laid out above make sense? Can anyone see any glaring problems with it? Anyone got any suggestions on how to make it better?Thanks in advance!Regards,Jonathan</blockquote>

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