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xedrick
Seeker
82 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Feb 2016 : 22:51:45
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Okay folks, so I'm having to run a 'prequel' game this week because a few of my players for a new game that I recently started can't make it.
I'm not planning to reduce any levels or anything (since we've only played a half session so far), I started them out at lvl 3 with basic gear and I'm just going to have them keep whatever they gain in the prequel episode carrying over to the main story once we get back to it. Seems like that would be the easiest way to handle it: just have the characters slightly advanced when we (re)start back on the main story line. that'll also give me the opportunity to beef up some encounters like I wanted to to begin with.
The game's taking place in Westgate with a group of four lvl 3 characters, 5th edition ruleset.
I'm thinking that I want to do something with the Night Masks, but my problem is that whenever I come up with ideas like this they tend to be rather grandiose and what I need right now is a quick one or two shot adventure that takes place in (or very close to) the city.
The primary game (again we just got started) will focus primarily on seafaring and pirate hunting. I'm thinking it would be relatively easy to incorporate the Night Masks into that story line down the road, but I need something for this weekend that's simple enough to just seem like a way to kill a weekend when we're short on players but still gives me the option of bringing characters or themes back into the story later on down the line.
Hopefully this all makes sense and I'm not rambling.
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Edited by - xedrick on 04 Feb 2016 22:54:38
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4685 Posts |
Posted - 04 Feb 2016 : 23:04:17
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| Seaport all things can happen. There is the old standard of a Tavern encounter that might include one or more Night Masks. You however do not even do that. A cutpurse could start an adventure, there might be a conscription party for a "whaling trip" that the party could rescue NPC from or become a target of. Both of these offer chances of learning more about the Night Masks. There even could be find a lost dog, pet monkey for a gold reward, that also might provide some kind of feel for the setting and at least drop hints about the main campaign. The first encounters do not have to be grand, sometimes have nothing to do with the main campaign except maybe learning the streets and about NPCs in some general way. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
Edited by - Kentinal on 04 Feb 2016 23:05:01 |
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xedrick
Seeker
82 Posts |
Posted - 04 Feb 2016 : 23:46:19
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See, that's what I'm doing for the official start of the game. Like I said, we were able to get together for about half a session a few weeks ago and most of them are itching to play again, but two can't make it. Your "whaling trip" idea is pretty close to what I've got mapped out for them already.
What I need for this weekend is just some simple one or two session game to keep the others occupied while the two who have to work do their thing. It is by no means required to be a part of the main story, nor does it even have to hint at it. I just included that info as a jumping off point to hopefully get some inspiration bounced back.
The cutpurse idea works in this scenario, because we could just run a quick "wheres my money" game, city chases, etc, and then move on once the others are ready to join back in. That's the sort of thing I'm looking for, but the way this idea sits in my head currently seems too predictable. It's the simple sort of idea that my players would yawn at. I'm open to this as a starting point, but now I've got to come up with some way to make it more interesting than "go chase that guy who stole your coins/items" |
Edited by - xedrick on 04 Feb 2016 23:46:46 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2016 : 00:33:28
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How about this: a cutpurse steals from someone rather powerful. The powerful person realizes the cutpurse stole from him/her/it, and the chase is on. Cutpurse decides to dump the goods, and plants the purse on one of the PCs -- perhaps the most lawful one of the bunch, by sheer coincidence. Later, the lawful PC discovers the purse, which contains something highly questionable -- something a lawful-type wouldn't consider being caught dead with.
Of course, by now, the cutpurse's buddies are out looking for that purse, and the powerful previous owner has his minions out seeking it, too... The PCs have to dodge both groups and other random baddies and either destroy the goods or get them to the proper authorities, without being arrested for possession of them. |
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xedrick
Seeker
82 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2016 : 19:39:59
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| damn rupert that's genius. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2016 : 21:54:47
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quote:
Originally posted by xedrick
damn rupert that's genius.
Thank you. 
Admittedly, if someone else hadn't tossed out the cutpurse idea, I'd've not had my idea -- my strength is tweaking existing ideas. 
You could also use that encounter to introduce a recurring character. Maybe an ambitious but only marginally competent bad guy, or a city official that may become a valued contact... |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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xedrick
Seeker
82 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2016 : 22:10:07
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Thats what its all about, man: bouncing ideas. Though, admittedly, I figured it would take a few posts back and forth to come up with the finished product, but I'm pretty happy with what you've presented.
Now I just gotta assemble the game before Sunday. |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 06 Feb 2016 : 10:17:55
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A bit rusty here , but why not. A brainstorming.
The cutpurse quickly disappears down a gated storm-drain that scoots down into the sewers. They land in about a foot of water. Echoes of footsteps. They come into a main tunnel. A small group of stirges has heard the thieves footsteps and comes out of a small drain in the roof and attacks. During the attack a serpent of some sort comes up from the water and grabs one of the stirges.
The thieves footsteps can still be heard and his tracks can be seen in the slime. The tunnels here are darker, with few openings unto the surface. A chalk rune on the wall will inform anyone that knows the underworld that a meeting place is near. Sound from to tunnels, the thief disappearing down one and voices from another.
The voices lead to a chamber lighted by torches. Two men stand guard, one with a net and one with a footman's pike. Inside three roguish characters are arguing with two other men. A shadow can be seen behind them, but its shape is unclear. Between them lies a package. The characters have stumbled upon a smugglers meeting. From the conversation it becomes clear that the three men are Night masks and they are meant to pay for the wares with a kidnap victim it is obvious they are missing, but claim to have elsewhere. The smugglers are not willing to part with their wares without the victim and are preparing to leave. The Nightmasks seem to fear the shadow. Hidden there are the smugglers secret weapon, the ettercap Phiishil and his partners the giant spiders Spot and Greymane. These have been hired from the Mindugulph mercenaries as both hired muscles and help in sedating the kidnap victim.
The smugglers are part of the group run by the rogue Knight Hiiwaec Illourn, a minor Tethen noble that deals as a middleman between the Nightmasks and the Tunland raiders. He is a former mercenary with a longstanding relationship with the Mindulguphs that use his castle as a waystop between missions, at this time two Giffs, a Hellhound and its handler, a Jermlaine that specializes in placing Piercers as part of hidden assassinations (he has three of them with him) are staying at the castle. |
No Canon, more stories, more Realms. |
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xedrick
Seeker
82 Posts |
Posted - 07 Feb 2016 : 01:49:06
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| see? that's what I love about this place. I need a minute to digest this. |
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xedrick
Seeker
82 Posts |
Posted - 07 Feb 2016 : 02:25:21
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| It looks like I'm going to be running this one on the fly, as opposed to my normal method of prepping every minute detail beforehand. I'll let you guys know how it goes. |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4685 Posts |
Posted - 07 Feb 2016 : 02:54:17
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quote:
Originally posted by xedrick
It looks like I'm going to be running this one on the fly, as opposed to my normal method of prepping every minute detail beforehand. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Well players often can go off the map, i.e. how you expect it to go. The best plans and many a DM has to adjust for an unexpected player choice.
Good luck with your filler encounter. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
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xedrick
Seeker
82 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2016 : 23:36:43
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Okay, so.....in a nutshell....(this post ended up way longer than I'd intended, sorry about that.)
The party consisted of a paladin, a sorceror, and a rogue. Opening scene in their favorite tavern, The Bent Mermaid, the paladin and sorceror were caught up in ooc conversation, so the rogue was the one to notice a commotion outside. He leaves his corner to see what's going on, and as he opens the door, a human man in a black leather hooded cloak shoves past him and hands off a wooden and brass box to him saying, "It's your problem now, buddy." The man runs out the back door of the bar, brushing past the paladin and sorceror who are now interested in the game.
The rogue looks up, out the door, and time slows briefly as he sees a wizardly figure in red robes, bald and tattooed, pointing directly at him and making eye contact from across the street. A flood of city guards rushes around the wizard and charges at the rogue in the doorway. The rogue takes off out the back door without a word to his friends, who take up the chase a round later.
Que a back alley/rooftop chase scene, complete with overturned fruit cart.
The sorceror and paladin catch up to their rogue companion at a sewer grate halfway across the docks district, where there are sliding footprints and a bit of black leather caught on the broken grating. The party drops into the sewer, following footprints in the slime, until the eventually catch a glimpse of their quarry at the edge of their darkvision. The hooded figure loses his step and goes careening around a corner, disturbing a swarm of Stirges nesting overhead in a small side passage. The party fights off the stirges and gets back on the trail, following a path of dead stirges that the hooded figure had detached from his person and crushed in the tunnel while fleeing. After a short while, the party doubles back around to where they've been previously, and the trail is lost.
The rogue tries to pick the lock on the mysterious box, only to fail and be poisned by a resetting needle trap. They decide to leave the box alone and try to find their way out of the sewers.
Along the way, they spot a symbol on the wall, a sort of hobo glyph that the rogue recognizes as meaning "meeting place". Obviously, they search all around for secret doors and find one. A hallway leads past a few side storage rooms to a chamber where the rogue is capable of sneaking up close enough to overhear a slave trade occurring between two groups of humans, overlooked by what appears to be a domesticated ettercap. The buyers in the deal are recognized by their attire as Night Masks, and they appear to be in control of the ettercap. The night masks are in possession of a large sum of gems meant to pay for the slave, but the sellers are determined to receive payment ahead of time and have not brought the 'merchandise' to the meeting.
While the rogue is eavesdropping, the paladin and sorceror are searching the storage rooms, and the paladin's plate mail makes enough noise to be overheard by the slavers and night masks. Chaos erupts in the room, both sides feeling as though they were being set up. The night masks send the ettercap into the hallway, where it attacks the sorceror and paladin. Meanwhile, the rogue is still under the effects of an invisibility spell and waits for his moment to strike.
BATTLE RESULTS: The rogue is down, as are both sides of the slave trade. The sorceror is webbed and unable to free herself. Mortally wounded, the ettercap finally manages to use its web garrote to incapacitate the last standing party member, the paladin, and retreat into the darkness. By the time they are able to free themselves and heal up a bit, they follow the blood trail to a sewer drain outside of the city, where the trail disappears.
TL;DR
So what we're left with as far as new NPC's is a Red Wizard that is very unhappy with the party's rogue, a mysterious black hooded human with a curly mustache who presumably stole the box in the first place, and a wounded ettercap (loyal to the Night Masks) that they allowed to escape.
Also, the party is in possession of the ornate wooden box (which they cannot unlock but they have determined that something inside radiates magic) as well as the bag of gems that once belonged to the Night Masks.
As for the box, the party's rogue has the smuggler background, so he's convinced that he can just find a place to stash the goods until they figure out what to do with it. I'm thinking that any Red Wizard would easily be able to scry on his possession to determine its location. Rather than going to retrieve it himself, he may just have his minions lie in wait for the party to return someday. Also, as far as the contents of the box, I'm sort of feeling like it should be the entrance to a pocket plane or something similar. Maybe once they finally open it they discover a tiny ladder leading down into darkness.
As for the ettercap, their question was: is its intelligence high enough to convey what it has witnessed to its masters? My response was under normal circumstances, no...but in a world where magic exists anything is possible. I definitely feel as though the Night Mask organization would have the capacity to communicate with this creature, or even read its brain or speak to its spirit in the event that it died before returning.
As for the mysterious thief...the Rogue wants to dig up any info he can on the guy, but I think I'm going to keep this one up my sleeve for a while. He only got a fleeting glimpse of him, anyway, so I think I should just let that one simmer on the back burner while we deal with the Red Wizard(Box) and/or Night Masks(Slaves).
Please, if anyone has got any thoughts or ideas on any of this, I'd love to hear it. We're trying to play again tomorrow and I've been so damned busy that it's going to be another of those "wing it" sessions. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
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xedrick
Seeker
82 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2016 : 18:00:55
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lol are you referring to the way i blatantly took the ideas offered up here? :D
It was a good game, I think my players enjoyed it. There was much more going on than I had time to type out (or I'm sure you wanted to read), but that's the gist of it. Still not 100% on what I'm going to do today, but I'll probably go back to my main story line that I was trying to tell before the two players had to sit out; it doesnt look like theyll be coming back. |
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ISO ideas for a 'filler' session, in westgate
