I have all the pieces to a decent PC driven quest, but I just cant seem to put them together.
I have a player who is new to the group and is really engaged, and thrives on the interpersonal RP of the game. He wrote an amazing backstory, giving everything I could ask for from a player, and I want to reward him. He's playing a Triton - Ranger who speaks with animals.He lives in Easthaven, and I remembered some old content from back in the day that I want to incorporate as a personal quest for him.
There's a Sea Spirit - Elisia who lives in Lac Dinneshere, and is in love with the Fisherman - Jhonen. He reminds her of her late lover Aihonen and Jhonen's distant relativewho died slaying the dragon Icasaracht. However, she fears revealing herself to Jhonen for fear of turning to water. She clearly wants to be united with him.
The mcguffin is the shards to Aihonen's broken sword. Which if the player unite the two Elisia will re-forge it into a sword of dragon slaying.
(Coincidentally, the PC looks almost Identical to Elisia.)
Here are the parts where im stuck:
1) Who should have the shards? Elisia or Jhonen (or maybe they both have 1)?
2) In what way do I use the shards to move the plot along?
3) How much does the PC already know and how do I give this quest to him? He's lived there for years, and swims the lake regularly. Its presumable he would know something.
4) Does Jhonen know of Elisia's existence yet?
5) Anything else I haven't considered...
any help, thought,s creative input you can share would be immensely appreciated... my brain hurts
Why not ask you player to help put the quest together? It sounds like he is very engaged, and would be excited to help you design a quest centered around his character. Of course, you need to keep things secret to some extent, but there's a lot that he could potentially help you with.
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Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
"You are old friends with a spirit of the lake, Elisia. She has always been a bit melancholy since you've known her, you think it has to do with an old heartbreak, but she's never told you the whole story. You know it happened long before you were born, and that she doesn't like to talk about it, but sometimes she spends days at a time holed up in an underwater cavern full of old trinkets and keepsakes. The one time you peeked in, you saw her caressing what looked like a shard of a broken sword, before she hid it and shooed you away.
Lately, she has been spending more and more time near shore, particularly when a young fisherman is plying his craft. She looks up at him from the lake bed with longing and even scares fish into his nets, but refuses to actually speak to the man."
So you can have both of them have a piece of the blade, but both of them think it's the only surviving piece. Jhonen doesn't know of Elisia's existence, that could be left up to the PC.
What do you think?
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
"You are old friends with a spirit of the lake, Elisia. She has always been a bit melancholy since you've known her, you think it has to do with an old heartbreak, but she's never told you the whole story. You know it happened long before you were born, and that she doesn't like to talk about it, but sometimes she spends days at a time holed up in an underwater cavern full of old trinkets and keepsakes. The one time you peeked in, you saw her caressing what looked like a shard of a broken sword, before she hid it and shooed you away.
Lately, she has been spending more and more time near shore, particularly when a young fisherman is plying his craft. She looks up at him from the lake bed with longing and even scares fish into his nets, but refuses to actually speak to the man."
So you can have both of them have a piece of the blade, but both of them think it's the only surviving piece. Jhonen doesn't know of Elisia's existence, that could be left up to the PC.
What do you think?
I think this is the perfect example of when you stare at a problem to long and cant see the simplest of answers staring you back. lol you did in what I presume to be minutes in what I've been stuck in for a couple days.
I love it!
as for the shards...
I kinda want them to be more than simply the two meet and boom the swords back together and the PC's now have this really powerful magic item for this module. I feel like there needs to either be a 3rd piece that they have to find or maybe one gets stolen and they have a lovely fetch quest lol. Maybe Arveiaturace has the 3rd piece in his hoard on the Dark Duchess. (one PC has the Cannibal secret that will lead them back there). Perhaps instead there is some curse that needs to be lifted so she wont turn to water when she meets him. Like re-forging the blade.
I love the idea of a DM rewarding a player by incorporating their backstory.
Your quest sounds very interesting. I don't know of the "old content" you are referring to and I am confused about a few things...
Is Jhonen the Triton Ranger PC or just an NPC in the nearby town?
Were you saying Aihonen is Jhonen's distant relative?
Is it important that the PC looks identical to Elisia?
Do you want the shards to move along the plot to the PC's individual quest or the entire parties?
If the PC (is not the fisherman) and unknown to the two as of yet, he could come to know the Sea Spirit when she saves him while swimming (he gets caught in old netting or attacked by monster). If PC is grateful and wants to repay the Spirit she could ask him to facilitate the relationship between her and the fisherman.
I guess I would have one of the shards be in with a treasure that the whole main party finds. It detects as magic, and maybe water magic more specifically if the Sea Spirit is the one to reforge it. The party lets the Triton have it because he's a "water" PC. Either the Fisherman or the Spirit are shocked to recognize it on the PC. They tell the story of Aihonen and that if all shards are found maybe the Spirit could reforge the sword. The Fisherman and Spirit spend time together and are excited to help the PC learn the location of the other shard(s). They could learn of it's location while the PC adventures with his main party. When information is gained the whole party could help retrieve the shard (which could be a hook to take them where they needed to go in the first place) or the PC goes alone sometime.
Since a Sea Spirit is reforging the sword I would have the bonus attack and damage apply to sea creatures or scaled creatures as well. The sword holder could be able to breathe underwater (even though a triton already can). It could give aquatic invisibility like a Nereid. If the PC is lower level maybe the sword allows them to use their fog cloud, gust of wind, or wall of water at an earlier level or more than once per day.
I'm getting carried away...
Good luck with your story I hope you make something memorable for your PC!
Hmm ... how would you feel about the spirit of Aihonen being present and trying to get Elisia to move on from her (you didn't say, but I thought it might be nice) death? She could be present in the fragments of the sword and unable to do more than nudge things on a subconscious level, which draws them to try and reunite the pieces, however many of them you want there to be. The more pieces come together the stronger the presence of Aihonen becomes. Maybe after the two fragments from the potential lovers come together the urge becomes strong enough that the two of them know what must be done, but not why, and after enough fragments come together, Aihonen herself manifests and allows Elisia a chance to say goodbye, get closure, and move on with Jhonen.
Also, I don't understand the circumstances that would make Elisia turn to water.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Also, I don't understand the circumstances that would make Elisia turn to water.
I forget too at this point its been so long ago, but I think it was simply a plot barrier to keep them from meeting until something was done.
I kind of like the idea of there being a curse on her. I'm thinking Arveiaturace the Ancient white Dragon put it on her after her lover killed the last White Dragon Matriarch in the North. and the blade was shattered into 3 pieces. Elisia was able to claim 1, Aihonen's family got 1, and Arveiaturace took the other. Once they are all reassembled it will lift the curse, because "GM Fiat" lol.
as an added bonus, this way gives me 3 different way to proc the quest, not including what the PC already knows.
I have all the pieces to a decent PC driven quest, but I just cant seem to put them together.
I have a player who is new to the group and is really engaged, and thrives on the interpersonal RP of the game. He wrote an amazing backstory, giving everything I could ask for from a player, and I want to reward him. He's playing a Triton - Ranger who speaks with animals. He lives in Easthaven, and I remembered some old content from back in the day that I want to incorporate as a personal quest for him.
There's a Sea Spirit - Elisia who lives in Lac Dinneshere, and is in love with the Fisherman - Jhonen. He reminds her of her late lover Aihonen and Jhonen's distant relative who died slaying the dragon Icasaracht. However, she fears revealing herself to Jhonen for fear of turning to water. She clearly wants to be united with him.
The mcguffin is the shards to Aihonen's broken sword. Which if the player unite the two Elisia will re-forge it into a sword of dragon slaying.
(Coincidentally, the PC looks almost Identical to Elisia.)
Here are the parts where im stuck:
1) Who should have the shards? Elisia or Jhonen (or maybe they both have 1)?
2) In what way do I use the shards to move the plot along?
3) How much does the PC already know and how do I give this quest to him? He's lived there for years, and swims the lake regularly. Its presumable he would know something.
4) Does Jhonen know of Elisia's existence yet?
5) Anything else I haven't considered...
any help, thought,s creative input you can share would be immensely appreciated... my brain hurts
Why not ask you player to help put the quest together? It sounds like he is very engaged, and would be excited to help you design a quest centered around his character. Of course, you need to keep things secret to some extent, but there's a lot that he could potentially help you with.
Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
"You are old friends with a spirit of the lake, Elisia. She has always been a bit melancholy since you've known her, you think it has to do with an old heartbreak, but she's never told you the whole story. You know it happened long before you were born, and that she doesn't like to talk about it, but sometimes she spends days at a time holed up in an underwater cavern full of old trinkets and keepsakes. The one time you peeked in, you saw her caressing what looked like a shard of a broken sword, before she hid it and shooed you away.
Lately, she has been spending more and more time near shore, particularly when a young fisherman is plying his craft. She looks up at him from the lake bed with longing and even scares fish into his nets, but refuses to actually speak to the man."
So you can have both of them have a piece of the blade, but both of them think it's the only surviving piece. Jhonen doesn't know of Elisia's existence, that could be left up to the PC.
What do you think?
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
I think this is the perfect example of when you stare at a problem to long and cant see the simplest of answers staring you back. lol you did in what I presume to be minutes in what I've been stuck in for a couple days.
I love it!
as for the shards...
I kinda want them to be more than simply the two meet and boom the swords back together and the PC's now have this really powerful magic item for this module. I feel like there needs to either be a 3rd piece that they have to find or maybe one gets stolen and they have a lovely fetch quest lol. Maybe Arveiaturace has the 3rd piece in his hoard on the Dark Duchess. (one PC has the Cannibal secret that will lead them back there). Perhaps instead there is some curse that needs to be lifted so she wont turn to water when she meets him. Like re-forging the blade.
I love the idea of a DM rewarding a player by incorporating their backstory.
Your quest sounds very interesting. I don't know of the "old content" you are referring to and I am confused about a few things...
Is Jhonen the Triton Ranger PC or just an NPC in the nearby town?
Were you saying Aihonen is Jhonen's distant relative?
Is it important that the PC looks identical to Elisia?
Do you want the shards to move along the plot to the PC's individual quest or the entire parties?
If the PC (is not the fisherman) and unknown to the two as of yet, he could come to know the Sea Spirit when she saves him while swimming (he gets caught in old netting or attacked by monster). If PC is grateful and wants to repay the Spirit she could ask him to facilitate the relationship between her and the fisherman.
I guess I would have one of the shards be in with a treasure that the whole main party finds. It detects as magic, and maybe water magic more specifically if the Sea Spirit is the one to reforge it. The party lets the Triton have it because he's a "water" PC. Either the Fisherman or the Spirit are shocked to recognize it on the PC. They tell the story of Aihonen and that if all shards are found maybe the Spirit could reforge the sword. The Fisherman and Spirit spend time together and are excited to help the PC learn the location of the other shard(s). They could learn of it's location while the PC adventures with his main party. When information is gained the whole party could help retrieve the shard (which could be a hook to take them where they needed to go in the first place) or the PC goes alone sometime.
Since a Sea Spirit is reforging the sword I would have the bonus attack and damage apply to sea creatures or scaled creatures as well. The sword holder could be able to breathe underwater (even though a triton already can). It could give aquatic invisibility like a Nereid. If the PC is lower level maybe the sword allows them to use their fog cloud, gust of wind, or wall of water at an earlier level or more than once per day.
I'm getting carried away...
Good luck with your story I hope you make something memorable for your PC!
Hmm ... how would you feel about the spirit of Aihonen being present and trying to get Elisia to move on from her (you didn't say, but I thought it might be nice) death? She could be present in the fragments of the sword and unable to do more than nudge things on a subconscious level, which draws them to try and reunite the pieces, however many of them you want there to be. The more pieces come together the stronger the presence of Aihonen becomes. Maybe after the two fragments from the potential lovers come together the urge becomes strong enough that the two of them know what must be done, but not why, and after enough fragments come together, Aihonen herself manifests and allows Elisia a chance to say goodbye, get closure, and move on with Jhonen.
Also, I don't understand the circumstances that would make Elisia turn to water.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
It's from the Icewind Dale PC games from the early 2000's.
Jhonen is an NPC and the Triton Ranger is the Player, named Corlyn.
Yes.
No, it just happened to work out that way. I thought it may help spark some creativity...
I'm not entirely sure what your asking here? Its a personal quest, however it will ultimately involve the entire party. Where one goes they all go.
I forget too at this point its been so long ago, but I think it was simply a plot barrier to keep them from meeting until something was done.
I kind of like the idea of there being a curse on her. I'm thinking Arveiaturace the Ancient white Dragon put it on her after her lover killed the last White Dragon Matriarch in the North. and the blade was shattered into 3 pieces. Elisia was able to claim 1, Aihonen's family got 1, and Arveiaturace took the other. Once they are all reassembled it will lift the curse, because "GM Fiat" lol.
as an added bonus, this way gives me 3 different way to proc the quest, not including what the PC already knows.
Thanks, I read through some wikis of the Icewind Dale PC games. Never played through those but the lore I read was super interesting.