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Arparrabiosa
Acolyte
Spain
8 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Dec 2020 : 11:58:03
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Hello there!
I'm planning a new D&D 3.5 mini-campaign set in Harrowdale in 1372 DR and I was looking for some feedback, ideas and inspiration. I want to talk about the Wars of Light and Shadow between Shar and Selûne, so the bad guys are going to be Sharrans, the Shades and perhaps the Monks of the Dark Moon. My players are going to start the campaign at level 9 and level up once for each adventure they finish.
The first adventure of the campaign is going to be a mash-up between Forest of Blood (Dungeon Magazine #103) and the Twisted Run (Dungeon Magazine #129). Velarsburg is celebrating a harvest festival (linked to the local temple of Chauntea) but there are wild feral animals attacking the visitors and the locals. The people blame the missing druids of the Velarwood (they have been killed), and realize that the clerics of Chauntea can't protect them from the attacks. This is the making of a bitter and resentful sharran druid, who hopes to turn Velarsburg's citizens against the local druids and priest and then subvert them to Shar's cause. The druid is using a fungus that can be brewed into a thick paste that slowly drives any creature that ate it to a feral state. He is also allied with a pack of Malarite werewolves. The first part of this adventure is dealing with the feral animals, the druid and the lycanthropes. Then the PC will discover that the druid was working with a passing sharran wizard or priest (and a Shadovar agent) on another, more dangerous use of the fungus. Using the shadoweave they have discovered a way to catalyze the transformation caused by a lycanthrope's bite in seconds rather than days. They have given the concoction to a Malarite champion who is preparing an attack over Harrowdale city to produce hundreds of lycanthropes in a matter of hours, enough to overrun the Dales, or so he thoughs. What they didn't tell him is that the fungus will make him a puppet of Shar. In any case, the characters have to travel back to Harrowdale city to stop the lycanthrope attack.
The second adventure is going to be a mix between the Web of the Spider Queen and the Queen of Lies by Monte Cook. I need to take a look at City of the Spider Queen to steal some ideas too. The bad guys here are a minor drow house exiled from Naerimydra during the silence of Lloth. They found the House of the Dark Consumption, a Shar sacred site, and started worshiping her. Shar told the matriarch Alevolenz, a deformed drow, that she must start gathering all sorts of powerful magic items to power a powerful ritual of Shadow Weave (foreshadowing the next adventure). So Alevolenz launches an attack from the Underdark and steals the Singing Harp, an artifact from the local temple of Oghma. The characters have to travel to the Underdark and deal with the drow, their slaves and perhaps a tribe of allies (like kuo-toas) to recover the artifact.
That leads them to the third adventure where I will pick some scenes and locations here and there from Cormyr - the tearing of the weave and Shadowdale - The Scouring of the Land. Perhaps I’ll steal some ideas from The Tomb of Black Sand too. Anyway, the plot here is that the wizard/priest who worked with the druid in adventure #1 and the Lich of Halvan the Dark are making a ritual to tear the Weave and make all Weave users powerless within the dale as a prelude for a Shade invasion. The characters will have to travel to the Halvan’s Keep or perhaps to his new lair in the Cold Field. I plan to use human sharrans, Shades, undead, all kind of shadow monsters like ephemeral hangmen and perhaps shadar-kai and/or the Monks of the Dark Moon.
The fourth adventure was going to be an outright invasion from the city of Shade, but I’m really unsure. I don’t have many ideas and haven’t found any module that inspires me in this regard.
So that's that. Thanks for reading. Your suggestions and ideas are highly appreciated!
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Delnyn
Senior Scribe
USA
890 Posts |
Posted - 13 Dec 2020 : 12:43:10
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Do the adventures need to be played in sequence? Or can the PC's start with any one adventure and proceed to any other adventure. If possible, I would recommend the latter. It minimizes the need/temptation to railroad the campaign. Hold off on any city of Shade invasion until you flesh out the other three adventures.
The drow of Maerimydra have a surface access through 1.the Twisted Tower in Shadowdale (let the seal ordered by Lord Mourngrym be breached!), 2. Dordrien crypts in Daggerdale, 3. Haptooth Hill in Battledale and 4. somewhere near Elven Court in Cormanthor. Even if the drow are not specifically helping the druid, wizard, Sharran priest and Malarite lycanthropes, they most likely had a hand in monitoring the above people and report to Shar. They also as Underdark denizens may be quite knowledgeable about the biology of fungi. If you want them as helping the above people, the drow helped the wizard with the Shadow weave ritual to enhance the fungi, along with how to raise, grow and harvest. |
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Returnip
Learned Scribe
221 Posts |
Posted - 13 Dec 2020 : 13:20:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Arparrabiosa
Hello there!
I'm planning a new D&D 3.5 mini-campaign set in Harrowdale in 1372 DR and I was looking for some feedback, ideas and inspiration. I want to talk about the Wars of Light and Shadow between Shar and Selûne, so the bad guys are going to be Sharrans, the Shades and perhaps the Monks of the Dark Moon. My players are going to start the campaign at level 9 and level up once for each adventure they finish.
The first adventure of the campaign is going to be a mash-up between Forest of Blood (Dungeon Magazine #103) and the Twisted Run (Dungeon Magazine #129). Velarsburg is celebrating a harvest festival (linked to the local temple of Chauntea) but there are wild feral animals attacking the visitors and the locals. The people blame the missing druids of the Velarwood (they have been killed), and realize that the clerics of Chauntea can't protect them from the attacks. This is the making of a bitter and resentful sharran druid, who hopes to turn Velarsburg's citizens against the local druids and priest and then subvert them to Shar's cause. The druid is using a fungus that can be brewed into a thick paste that slowly drives any creature that ate it to a feral state. He is also allied with a pack of Malarite werewolves. The first part of this adventure is dealing with the feral animals, the druid and the lycanthropes. Then the PC will discover that the druid was working with a passing sharran wizard or priest (and a Shadovar agent) on another, more dangerous use of the fungus. Using the shadoweave they have discovered a way to catalyze the transformation caused by a lycanthrope's bite in seconds rather than days. They have given the concoction to a Malarite champion who is preparing an attack over Harrowdale city to produce hundreds of lycanthropes in a matter of hours, enough to overrun the Dales, or so he thoughs. What they didn't tell him is that the fungus will make him a puppet of Shar. In any case, the characters have to travel back to Harrowdale city to stop the lycanthrope attack.
The second adventure is going to be a mix between the Web of the Spider Queen and the Queen of Lies by Monte Cook. I need to take a look at City of the Spider Queen to steal some ideas too. The bad guys here are a minor drow house exiled from Naerimydra during the silence of Lloth. They found the House of the Dark Consumption, a Shar sacred site, and started worshiping her. Shar told the matriarch Alevolenz, a deformed drow, that she must start gathering all sorts of powerful magic items to power a powerful ritual of Shadow Weave (foreshadowing the next adventure). So Alevolenz launches an attack from the Underdark and steals the Singing Harp, an artifact from the local temple of Oghma. The characters have to travel to the Underdark and deal with the drow, their slaves and perhaps a tribe of allies (like kuo-toas) to recover the artifact.
That leads them to the third adventure where I will pick some scenes and locations here and there from Cormyr - the tearing of the weave and Shadowdale - The Scouring of the Land. Perhaps I’ll steal some ideas from The Tomb of Black Sand too. Anyway, the plot here is that the wizard/priest who worked with the druid in adventure #1 and the Lich of Halvan the Dark are making a ritual to tear the Weave and make all Weave users powerless within the dale as a prelude for a Shade invasion. The characters will have to travel to the Halvan’s Keep or perhaps to his new lair in the Cold Field. I plan to use human sharrans, Shades, undead, all kind of shadow monsters like ephemeral hangmen and perhaps shadar-kai and/or the Monks of the Dark Moon.
The fourth adventure was going to be an outright invasion from the city of Shade, but I’m really unsure. I don’t have many ideas and haven’t found any module that inspires me in this regard.
So that's that. Thanks for reading. Your suggestions and ideas are highly appreciated!
Funny coincidence. The campaign I'm working on now is planned to escalate into full blown war at the end (using the Heroes of Battle rules among other things). I'll be using the Waxing of the Moon adventure seed from Lost Empires of Faerûn, p 111, to bring Selunarra back for the heroes to have a fighting chance against the City of Shade. Feel free to borrow from that idea if it tickles your fancy.  |
On the other hand you have different fingers. |
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cpthero2
Great Reader
USA
2285 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2020 : 02:19:47
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Acolyte Arparrabiosa,
First off: great ideas. I love the thought you've put into your mini-campaign!
I agree with Senior Scribe Delnyn: you should consider creating your campaign in a sandbox. Allow the dynamic nature of the storylines you've created to grow based on the decisions of the characters. It causes more confusion and more responsibility for the character's and the players that are running them.
I would specifically consider creating well-defined ties from one to the other on a flow chart. You must have a flow chart when you run a sandbox campaign, or everything starts running into one another in your mind. The ties are best (if possible) to be predicated upon needs that NPC's have, that have built strong RP relationships with the PC's. They then feel (usually) a sense of loyalty, and thereby a feeling that they need to help. It really adds some great pathos to the game and the RP in it. :)
Best regards,
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Higher Atlar
Spirit Soaring |
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Arparrabiosa
Acolyte
Spain
8 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2020 : 07:11:15
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Many thanks fellow scribes! But how would you turn this in to a sandbox? It would be a mess in my head.
By the way, this is going to be play-by-post game. I'd like the campaign to be broken down in smaller adventures so people can jump in and out as much as possible. I don't want to sell the campaign as a 10 year investment. |
Edited by - Arparrabiosa on 14 Dec 2020 07:46:15 |
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Delnyn
Senior Scribe
USA
890 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2020 : 12:06:07
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It will indeed be a mess in your head. That is why we all keep journals. ;-)
If the players are working together as a team, you randomly select the starting module. However, you mentioned people will be jumping in and out. I would in that case have players go solo and they select where they want to start. I have a bad feeling trying to have a party will have players disappearing in the middle of a team endeavor. If a player jumps out, keep the clock ticking and the calendar rolling. Events still happen without their participation.
Make sure you track 1. clock and calendar for each player and 2. conditions/environment in each module. The prior actions of one player will impact the future options of another player.
quote:
Originally posted by Arparrabiosa
Many thanks fellow scribes! But how would you turn this in to a sandbox? It would be a mess in my head.
By the way, this is going to be play-by-post game. I'd like the campaign to be broken down in smaller adventures so people can jump in and out as much as possible. I don't want to sell the campaign as a 10 year investment.
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Returnip
Learned Scribe
221 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2020 : 14:40:56
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quote:
Originally posted by Arparrabiosa
Many thanks fellow scribes! But how would you turn this in to a sandbox? It would be a mess in my head.
By the way, this is going to be play-by-post game. I'd like the campaign to be broken down in smaller adventures so people can jump in and out as much as possible. I don't want to sell the campaign as a 10 year investment.
The rules for adventuring inside a war from Heroes of Battle pretty much makes the war a backdrop, so I would say sandbox away! And if you were to use those rules the actions of the players may or may not influence the outcome of the war. |
On the other hand you have different fingers. |
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cpthero2
Great Reader
USA
2285 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2020 : 20:37:46
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Acolyte Arparrabiosa,
quote:
Many thanks fellow scribes! But how would you turn this in to a sandbox? It would be a mess in my head.
Here is a scroll I created back in March discussing it with some great feedback from other scribes and sages.
http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23305&SearchTerms=sandbox
Best regards,
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Higher Atlar
Spirit Soaring |
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Arparrabiosa
Acolyte
Spain
8 Posts |
Posted - 18 Dec 2020 : 12:49:14
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So I’ve been playing with the idea of making the campaign a bit more sandboxy or, at least, destroy the linearity on it. My characters will start the game in Harrowdale City, and they will be able to find clues leading to the three adventures. Then, on each adventure, they’d find clues that lead them to the other two as follow:
Harrowdale city
There are animal attacks in Velarburg (leads to Howls in the Velarwood)
There are reports of increased lycanthrope activity (leads to Howls in the Velarwood)
Drows have been sighted, they are raiding the surface searching for magic items (leads to the confrontation with House Vrana)
There is one guy at The Fall of Stars than buys any magical item, the more powerful the better (leads to the confrontation with House Vrana)
Some spells are failing in the area, or they end before they should (leads to the Tearing of the Weave)
Some people have sighted activity in the old Halvan Keep (leads to the Tearing of the Weave)
Howls in the Velarwood
The fungi the druid is using is from the Underdark, there is a drow helping him (leads to the confrontation with House Vrana)
The Dark Weave ritual they are using to empower the fungi is provided by a Thultanthar agent (leads to the Tearing of the Weave)
Confrontation with House Vrana
The drow and Halvan are close friends and there is corridor from the House of Dark Consuption to Halvan Keep (leads to the Tearing of the Weave)
The is correspondence between Alevolenz and the alchemist that is helping the druid (leads to Howls in the Velarwood)
Tearing of the Weave
Again, the drow and Halvan are close friends and there is corridor from the House of Dark Consuption to Halvan Keep (leads to the confrontation with House Vrana)
Again, the Thultanthar agent is helping the druid to make the Dark Weave Ritual used in empowering the fungi (leads to Howls in the Velarwood)
No-so-subtle, in-your-face clues to lead them to an adventure if they miss clues or the game is stagnating
The lycanthropes attacks Harrowdale town and the Council asks the PCs to back-track where the attack is coming from (leads to Howls in the Velarwood)
The drow from House Vrana steals the Singing Harp using a recently opened corridor from the Underdark (leads to the confrontation with House Vrana)
Every Weave user in the Valley suffers the effect of the Tearing (leads to the Tearing of the Weave) |
Edited by - Arparrabiosa on 18 Dec 2020 12:58:29 |
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cpthero2
Great Reader
USA
2285 Posts |
Posted - 20 Dec 2020 : 23:04:37
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Acolyte Arparrabiosa,
I think you're on the right track there. I would recommend making sure you fill in well the in between locations. Get profiles for the major players in town, i.e. local leaders, all shop owners, and build real personalities for them. The relationship building in between adventuring is a huge boon to the immersion of the campaign. I had an entire session in my old Tethyr campaign have a literal (6) hour bit of time at the table (we game for seven) be them "hanging out" with the NPC's in the town, getting to know them, their stories, their lives, etc. It was really cool. Also made them have an attachment to the people that helped develop further story.
Best regards,
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Higher Atlar
Spirit Soaring |
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Lookig for feedback and ideas for my new campaign!
