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<blockquote data-quote="Uller" data-source="post: 373552" data-attributes="member: 413">Re: Re: the Beast of Gévaudan&nbsp; (based on Brotherhood of the Wolf...sort of)Well...I'm actually going to build from something farther down.&nbsp; I'm about to kick off a new campaign (probably in the next month or so).&nbsp; I don't like over arching plot lines (you know...the DM decides at the beginning of the campaign that the main bad guy is X and he and his minions are going to do Y and the PCs have to stop him...).&nbsp; I like to just sort of set stuff up like dominoes and let them fall however they fall...So what I'm thinking now is using this as sort of &quot;flavor&quot; or the &quot;hook&quot; (in the Dungeoncraft sense of the word) for the early part of the campaign.&nbsp; The PCs will start out in a remote rural village where most of the populace is extremely poor, oppressed and illiterate.&nbsp;&nbsp; There is tension in the province between various factions: two factions of nobility, the clergy, freeman and the oppressed &quot;serfs&quot; or peasants.&nbsp;&nbsp; Revolutions have been brutally put down and invasions have been repulsed with one faction taking more losses than others leading to a lot of bad blood between the locals.&nbsp; An annual harvest fair and tournament will be held at which it will be announced that the daughter of one of the noble factions will be marrying the eldest son of the leader of the other as a way to unify the nobles.&nbsp; This, of course, will be seen as a BAD thing by the other factions.&nbsp; A unified nobility would be strong and could easily supress the others...It is during this festival that I will introduce the beast.&nbsp; It will not be something that is meant for the PCs to go out, hunt down and kill (although it will seem like it is)...hopefully they will try once and realize they are in over their heads.&nbsp; In fact, they will be unable to defeat it (it will be like a CR 7 or 8 creature with damage reduction).&nbsp;&nbsp; Famous huntsman and warriors will fall to it.&nbsp; Outside interests will want it destroyed but will fail.&nbsp; Soldiers will swear they fatally wounded it only to have it come back and attack again.&nbsp; It will ravage the country side over several adventures and will gain such a reputation that the PCs will have an incentive to not allow outsiders to slay it (because to kill it will bring such fame that is a reward in and of itself).&nbsp;&nbsp; So they may make enemies of competing NPCs who wish to slay it.&nbsp; How the beast(s) tie into the above conflict I don't know.&nbsp; I probably won't know until something strikes me as &quot;cool&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp; Maybe it was set loose as part of the tournament and terribly underestimated.&nbsp; Maybe the clergy has called it to punish the nobles.&nbsp; Maybe the nobles created it to make the commoners feel they &quot;need&quot; the nobles (and in the mean-time, it kills off the bravest commoners).&nbsp; I don't know...whatever strikes me as interesting.&nbsp;&nbsp; The PCs can take up whatever side(s) they want or none at all and will have other adventures...some may involve the beast, others may not.&nbsp; Maybe eventually they'll feel strong enough to face it (around 6th or 7th level or so).&nbsp; In the mean time, I'll make them hate it.&nbsp; It will make their lives miserable.&nbsp; It will kill their friends.&nbsp; It will make goods unavailable as the population panics and flees.&nbsp; It will be fun!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Uller, post: 373552, member: 413"] [b]Re: Re: the Beast of Gévaudan (based on Brotherhood of the Wolf...sort of)[/b] Well...I'm actually going to build from something farther down. I'm about to kick off a new campaign (probably in the next month or so). I don't like over arching plot lines (you know...the DM decides at the beginning of the campaign that the main bad guy is X and he and his minions are going to do Y and the PCs have to stop him...). I like to just sort of set stuff up like dominoes and let them fall however they fall... So what I'm thinking now is using this as sort of "flavor" or the "hook" (in the Dungeoncraft sense of the word) for the early part of the campaign. The PCs will start out in a remote rural village where most of the populace is extremely poor, oppressed and illiterate. There is tension in the province between various factions: two factions of nobility, the clergy, freeman and the oppressed "serfs" or peasants. Revolutions have been brutally put down and invasions have been repulsed with one faction taking more losses than others leading to a lot of bad blood between the locals. An annual harvest fair and tournament will be held at which it will be announced that the daughter of one of the noble factions will be marrying the eldest son of the leader of the other as a way to unify the nobles. This, of course, will be seen as a BAD thing by the other factions. A unified nobility would be strong and could easily supress the others... It is during this festival that I will introduce the beast. It will not be something that is meant for the PCs to go out, hunt down and kill (although it will seem like it is)...hopefully they will try once and realize they are in over their heads. In fact, they will be unable to defeat it (it will be like a CR 7 or 8 creature with damage reduction). Famous huntsman and warriors will fall to it. Outside interests will want it destroyed but will fail. Soldiers will swear they fatally wounded it only to have it come back and attack again. It will ravage the country side over several adventures and will gain such a reputation that the PCs will have an incentive to not allow outsiders to slay it (because to kill it will bring such fame that is a reward in and of itself). So they may make enemies of competing NPCs who wish to slay it. How the beast(s) tie into the above conflict I don't know. I probably won't know until something strikes me as "cool". Maybe it was set loose as part of the tournament and terribly underestimated. Maybe the clergy has called it to punish the nobles. Maybe the nobles created it to make the commoners feel they "need" the nobles (and in the mean-time, it kills off the bravest commoners). I don't know...whatever strikes me as interesting. The PCs can take up whatever side(s) they want or none at all and will have other adventures...some may involve the beast, others may not. Maybe eventually they'll feel strong enough to face it (around 6th or 7th level or so). In the mean time, I'll make them hate it. It will make their lives miserable. It will kill their friends. It will make goods unavailable as the population panics and flees. It will be fun! [/QUOTE]

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