sidetreks for a dedicated quest...

[Guilt Puppy]

Okay, so far my campaign has gotten dragged into the Dragon magazine archetype for adventures: There's some plot and backstory, sometimes interesting, but it all eventually leads to a place full of monsters, which you have to kill.

I'm tired of this... I want some new ideas. I'm planning on having a much longer, quest adventure which leads them through some fun wastelands (overused too, but at least it has that epic sense to it)... I'm interested in having some sidetreks on the way -- not really separate adventures, just little obstacles that they get drawn into.

Now, in theory they will be trying to track down a lich during all this (he's travelling to get to this tower -- yes, very cliche -- which he can use to become a god)... Aside from wandering monsters, what else can impede their journey?

I want there to be a couple of not-quite-unfriendly races on the surface of the wastelands -- descendants of humans and elves, their bloodline distorted by the evil of the land. Further, underground there will be dwarven equivalents, and possibly some mind flayers, because I like mind flayers. I want the wastelands to be dotted with the occasional ruined city, full of weird crap...

Now, the question is, how do I draw them into this when their objective is so clear? Getting them underground isn't so hard... They can just find out that BBEG is taking that route, and follow. Getting them to really explore these places is a different problem.

Obviously, the "there's something heroic to be done!" doesn't really apply in a place where everything has already been decimated by evil, and all its inhabits are just trying to survive. The power level of most of these inhabitants should be low -- oh, and also, they don't speak common. Meaning NPC interactions/problems will likely be minimal.

So, any suggestion as to what side adventures can occur during this? Really, they should all continue leading toward their primary goal, but I want to keep the pursuit of that goal.

 

[Munin]

You need to answer some basic questions.

1) Why is this place decimated by evil?
The ultimate goal of the campaign could be to restore balance to the land.

2) How does this area fit in with the rest of your campaign world?

3) What interaction exists between the inhabitants of the land? If you have corrupted humans, elves and dwarves, think about how they treat each other. Is there some sort of trade? Are they at war? Do they squabble over limited resources?

4) If this tower is at the center of things, maybe there is a cult that worships it. The players would have to deal with/negotiate with a distasteful group in order to gain vital information.

5) If you want to get way from the typical adventure, why go underground? Don't do it unless you have a good reason too.

6) Maybe the Mind Flayers rule the inhabitants of the wasteland, using them as a source of food. Breaking their yoke over the people could increase the party's standing in the area.


Hope that helps!
Munin

 

[Guilt Puppy]

You need to answer some basic questions.

Didn't want to overload campaign-specific details in the original post, but:

1) Why is this place decimated by evil?
The ultimate goal of the campaign could be to restore balance to the land.

Tower of Vecna (used by the lich king as his conduit to godhood) at center of continent suppresses plant growth and spawns undead for hundreds of miles around simply because it is so frickin evil.

They may well decide to try to destroy the place -- whether or not they can, and what that might do, I'm still undecided. Of course, its existence hinges on the fact that Vecna could not destroy it himself, to keep others from using it... Although I may change that so that his godhood is contingent upon its existence (sort of like a giant phylactery), so that the players can have a bigger final accomplishment.

2) How does this area fit in with the rest of your campaign world?

It's well across the ocean from anywhere the players have ever been... For sake of distinction, let's call them the dead continent and the living continent (they don't have names, because most people aren't aware that multiple continents exist -- no need to call them anything). They have, however, seen a few relics from that civilization (which had briefly established settlements in the living continent), which tie to an old religion with Gods who are no longer recognizable (fill in backstory about Vecna's rise to power inciting God wars... Vaguely parallels Iuz in the standard Greyhawk mythos)

3) What interaction exists between the inhabitants of the land? If you have corrupted humans, elves and dwarves, think about how they treat each other. Is there some sort of trade? Are they at war? Do they squabble over limited resources?

Whatever interactions there are, it becomes difficult and counterproductive for the players to get drawn in... Getting caught in the crossfire still wouldn't be very much of an obstacle, as the power level of the players will be proportionally much higher than the inhabitants (otherwise, they would have figured out a way out of this awful place). Of course, establishing modes of behavior for the races could be useful: IE, players get attacked by elves when wandering to close to ruins, dispatch them easily but figure out they're just trying to protect their home, then encounter another set of ruins with a whole bunch of dead elves, and figure out that BBEG was (for whatever reason) interested in that particular place.

4) If this tower is at the center of things, maybe there is a cult that worships it. The players would have to deal with/negotiate with a distasteful group in order to gain vital information.

As designed, it's intended to become more and more difficult to remain alive the closer you get to the tower... Tying to question 6 though, I'm sure the Mind Flayers could find a way to have some hand in it (although they wouldn't blindly worship -- more like study).

5) If you want to get way from the typical adventure, why go underground? Don't do it unless you have a good reason too.

Simple: Terrain change. I'm hoping that this, as a quest, can take the players from 12th to 20th level... A lot of travelling, and I need to use any scenery variations available to mix things up.

6) Maybe the Mind Flayers rule the inhabitants of the wasteland, using them as a source of food. Breaking their yoke over the people could increase the party's standing in the area.

Not a bad idea... Tying that in with the Mind Flayers studying the tower idea, that may be there way of surviving within its vicinity. Plenty of slaves, who they can use not only for food, but for protection (at least distraction from the aforementioned undead hordes).

Their influence could go beyond the immediate vicinity of the tower... They could easily establish themselves as gods to a few tribes nearer to the center of the continent, and then funnel back "chosen ones" (read as: rolled a high Int, tasty brains) to supply the primary group.

One hole there, though, is that the tower's guardian would have come up with some method to dispatch them if they were showing so much interest in the place. Easy out is that they don't seem to understand its purpose (hell, I could go a little Cthulhu and have them interested in calling back to earth the "great old one"... at least one of my players would catch the joke), and so they don't pose a threat.

In either the case, I can add in a hook regarding the mind flayers shortly before the players dispatch BBEG.. Then they should follow that up, save some poor acolytes, slay some stuff and learn about the tower... Granted, this falls back into the standard adventure mold, but it flows nicely and follows upon one line of interest.

Hope that helps!
Munin

Definitely some good ideas from that. Thanks lots