Hey, our DM is going for vacation for a few weeks and I was thinking I Could try dming some one/two-shot during that time with our group. I have some basic idea about the plot, but need help with fleshing it out a bit, connecting the scenes, placing the mcguffins etc.
What I Have so far:
Level: most likely starting at 1, ending at 2 or 3 Setting: standard DnD multiverse with spelljamming (but the story won't be in the "space") Party Backgound (aka. you don't meet in the tavern): PCs are (or can be) from various worlds (Toril, Eberron, ...) and each of them has been abducted by the "aliens" (some form of space pirates/slavers).
Intro: The party wakes up in a primitive hut, they are bruised, hungry, and have no idea where they are. Last things they remember are:
their abduction
the weeks they've spent locked in a cell of the pirate ship.
that the ship was attacked just before they all passed out
They don't know each other but know the others were there locked with them.There is also a Giff there (NPC), whom they also recognize as a prisoner.
A local shaman/elder enters the hut and explains to the party, that their ship has crashed near the village, and the natives were able to save only them. They were also able to salvage some gear (the starting equipment) and a spelljamming helm (that's the reason for the Giff NPC, he will be some sort of technician/pilot who will give the party info about the "space stuff"). The shaman also tells the party about the prophecy, about the people from the stars that will come and help his people (more on that later). He should also mention two other things:
The Gods - the idea is similar to the origin story of the Hadozee, or the cultures of SG1 - the natives were brought to the planet a few generations ago by a space ship (I am thinking about the dwarven Citadel Class from 2e), which crashed here. The natives might have been supposed to be either a part of the hadozee origin story, or maybe some sort of cheap labor force being transported from planet to planet (not sure yet). Anyway the race that brought the natives here is now revered by them as their gods. The crash of the ship is also the source of the prophecy - The Gods expected that some rescue ship will sooner or later come and help them escape, but the help never arrived, this idea however somehow entered the natives culture and the prophecy was born. The crashed ship is considered a home of the Gods and is off limits to the natives (it will be on a Forbidden Mountain, or in a Forbidden valley or something like that)
The "Others" - Two ideas here a) Heretics - splinter group of natives that doesn't revere the Gods, they share their "creation" myth, but they think the Gods were evil and brought them as slaves. b) Prisoners/menace - something other was transported on the ship (think about your favourite "evil species" like kobolds/goblins/orcs or maybe some animals or even some undead). Anyway, they cause troubles to the natives.
The middle (Dealing with the Others)
This is the part I am kinda lost at - i think there should be some quest related to the others, but not sure what exactly. I would prefer something not too railroady (so the party can choose what the outcome will be - killing the others, siding with them, stopping the hostilities, ...)
The End (The Temple of The Gods)
After dealing with the others the party goes to meet the gods (not yet sure why and how to lift the "off limits" part), I was maybe thinking there could be some mcguffin in the Others village needed to gain the entrance (maybe a pair of keys, one possessed by the others, other by the natives). The Temple of the Gods (aka the crashed ship) would be a kinda standard dungeon crawl, the enemies would either be a) some sort of defense mechanism of the ship (i would use some constructs for that) b) or something different, maybe undead created by some magical malfunction aboard the ship and the undead are the original crew. Finally, the party would clean up the temple, and meet the last surviving god (It would be a dwarf/elf/some other species with a long life span). He would tell them the ship lost its spelljamming helm during the crash (what a lucky coincidence), so he wasn't able to leave the planet. He might also somehow react to the crew being considered gods (not sure how yet)...
Anyway, if we ever continue with the party, the next adventure would take place a few months later, party+the giff managed to fix the ship and leave the planet...
Questions, Concerns, Etc:
Any comments are welcomed
Currently I am going for a jungle/tropical planet, any other ideas that could work better (except ice/snow, our current game is icy)?
I am kinda lost at the middle part, any ideas what could be a good quest/plot there?
I am stuck at the reason why the party should meet the gods
The Temple of the Gods seems a bit bland, any ideas how to make it a bit less "just a dungeon crawl" and bit more interesting?
Why did the God remained in the ship, why didn't he leave and joined the natives (if everything else fails, he was just stuck there due to the undead/ship defense, and was using a goodberries to survive). I was also considering some form of "stasis chamber" maybe.
Any other general ideas how to make the story a bit more polished/interesting?
An idea for the middle would be to come up with a plan the Heretics will use to try and attack the home of the gods. Perhaps the Heretics found a part of the god's crashed ship that tore apart when it landed, and they discovered a masterkey that will grant them entry into the God's home. Or they've unearthed a shelter deep within the mines/mountains that the gods originally used when they arrived, and the Heretics need the players to go down there and recover an artifact they believe will prove that their old masters are not gods.
If you want something in the native tribe, you can have your party see them worshiping a metal box as an idol, and after inspecting it, the party play a recorded message from the gods that will send them on a quest to recover an artifact that might be in Heretic territory (like Horizon Zero Dawn). Maybe natives are getting sick because the crashed ship is leaking a toxic chemical into the rivers, and the natives want the players to find a cure.
These should culminate into a climax where the players have to quickly get to the crashed ship where there's a battle waging getween the Natives and Heretics, and fight their way inside.
Oh these are all coll, the idea of heretics attacking the gods is especially nice. Thanks a lot, I'll surely use something from the stuff you've mentioned.
Sorry, I'm going to make another movie reference - could you go down an 'Alien: Covenant route'?
The ship that crashed was containing a bio-weapon that escaped causing a hazard lockdown (keeping the 'gods' inside). I was thinking some sort of take on Ravnica's Circle of Spores Druids (hey, they could still turn out to be the good guys). The whole area is infected with the spores which can create amazing plant life but also infect people and turn them into mushroom zombies - they would be trying to keep people away from the cause of infection but don't realise they are infecting others (or just mindlessly stumbling about - your choice). It's a sacred area because some of this new life provides beneficial properties (healing, etc.) but the perils of entering here mean that few return. You wouldn't need to lift an 'off-limits', just make it too dangerous.
When they get to the 'temple' - actually a science ship - they will find all manner of strange stuff - again, check out Ravnica, there's so much sci-fi but still fantasy stuff you might want to include. And don't forget the ghosts/holograms of the other pilots running through the corridors...
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(Sorry for the wall of text)
Hey,
our DM is going for vacation for a few weeks and I was thinking I Could try dming some one/two-shot during that time with our group. I have some basic idea about the plot, but need help with fleshing it out a bit, connecting the scenes, placing the mcguffins etc.
What I Have so far:
Level: most likely starting at 1, ending at 2 or 3
Setting: standard DnD multiverse with spelljamming (but the story won't be in the "space")
Party Backgound (aka. you don't meet in the tavern): PCs are (or can be) from various worlds (Toril, Eberron, ...) and each of them has been abducted by the "aliens" (some form of space pirates/slavers).
Intro:
The party wakes up in a primitive hut, they are bruised, hungry, and have no idea where they are. Last things they remember are:
They don't know each other but know the others were there locked with them.There is also a Giff there (NPC), whom they also recognize as a prisoner.
A local shaman/elder enters the hut and explains to the party, that their ship has crashed near the village, and the natives were able to save only them. They were also able to salvage some gear (the starting equipment) and a spelljamming helm (that's the reason for the Giff NPC, he will be some sort of technician/pilot who will give the party info about the "space stuff"). The shaman also tells the party about the prophecy, about the people from the stars that will come and help his people (more on that later). He should also mention two other things:
The middle (Dealing with the Others)
This is the part I am kinda lost at - i think there should be some quest related to the others, but not sure what exactly. I would prefer something not too railroady (so the party can choose what the outcome will be - killing the others, siding with them, stopping the hostilities, ...)
The End (The Temple of The Gods)
After dealing with the others the party goes to meet the gods (not yet sure why and how to lift the "off limits" part), I was maybe thinking there could be some mcguffin in the Others village needed to gain the entrance (maybe a pair of keys, one possessed by the others, other by the natives). The Temple of the Gods (aka the crashed ship) would be a kinda standard dungeon crawl, the enemies would either be a) some sort of defense mechanism of the ship (i would use some constructs for that) b) or something different, maybe undead created by some magical malfunction aboard the ship and the undead are the original crew. Finally, the party would clean up the temple, and meet the last surviving god (It would be a dwarf/elf/some other species with a long life span). He would tell them the ship lost its spelljamming helm during the crash (what a lucky coincidence), so he wasn't able to leave the planet. He might also somehow react to the crew being considered gods (not sure how yet)...
Anyway, if we ever continue with the party, the next adventure would take place a few months later, party+the giff managed to fix the ship and leave the planet...
Questions, Concerns, Etc:
An idea for the middle would be to come up with a plan the Heretics will use to try and attack the home of the gods. Perhaps the Heretics found a part of the god's crashed ship that tore apart when it landed, and they discovered a masterkey that will grant them entry into the God's home. Or they've unearthed a shelter deep within the mines/mountains that the gods originally used when they arrived, and the Heretics need the players to go down there and recover an artifact they believe will prove that their old masters are not gods.
If you want something in the native tribe, you can have your party see them worshiping a metal box as an idol, and after inspecting it, the party play a recorded message from the gods that will send them on a quest to recover an artifact that might be in Heretic territory (like Horizon Zero Dawn). Maybe natives are getting sick because the crashed ship is leaking a toxic chemical into the rivers, and the natives want the players to find a cure.
These should culminate into a climax where the players have to quickly get to the crashed ship where there's a battle waging getween the Natives and Heretics, and fight their way inside.
Oh these are all coll, the idea of heretics attacking the gods is especially nice. Thanks a lot, I'll surely use something from the stuff you've mentioned.
Sorry, I'm going to make another movie reference - could you go down an 'Alien: Covenant route'?
The ship that crashed was containing a bio-weapon that escaped causing a hazard lockdown (keeping the 'gods' inside). I was thinking some sort of take on Ravnica's Circle of Spores Druids (hey, they could still turn out to be the good guys). The whole area is infected with the spores which can create amazing plant life but also infect people and turn them into mushroom zombies - they would be trying to keep people away from the cause of infection but don't realise they are infecting others (or just mindlessly stumbling about - your choice). It's a sacred area because some of this new life provides beneficial properties (healing, etc.) but the perils of entering here mean that few return. You wouldn't need to lift an 'off-limits', just make it too dangerous.
When they get to the 'temple' - actually a science ship - they will find all manner of strange stuff - again, check out Ravnica, there's so much sci-fi but still fantasy stuff you might want to include. And don't forget the ghosts/holograms of the other pilots running through the corridors...