Hello! Newish DM here and I have an idea of a campaign and I would llove to hear ideas on ways to connect everything and create some kind of campaign structure.
This campaign will take place in a post war society. 30 years ago there was a continental war and it ended because of the destruction of Ebonreach. A Sprawling Metropolis filled with arcana and the highest and most condensed magic in the realm. The destruction of Ebonreach sent shockwaves all over the continent and began to sprout Rot. Rot that would begin slowly taking over everything.
There steps my players, My players would be aspiring Rotweavers (Blanket term for anyone who takes care of new growth of rot) and the blanket goal for them is to do missions for the Rotweavers. Cleansing Rot and helping villages and towns, etc... with this, as they deal with new mutations and such that hasn't been seen before. This would be the main campaign idea and loop that ties everything together until they level up a bit and than through whatever interaction I can come up with, they meet or unleash the bbeg. A Prime Deity that was "awoken" By the ripple effects of the shockwaves 30 years prior. At the point the campaign with turn into doing things with the goal of stopping this new bbeg.
My question is I am having trouble with coming up with ways I could tease or hint at its existence and coming up with ways to interconnect everything and make the party care. What are some tips any of you may have on the subject? I would really love to know. The coming up with the initial concept and how to present that is always a struggle for me. Anyways thanks for reading.
I think you have it all. Things start out with a focus on the Rot (nice path for Druids & Rangers!) and then the BBEG starts to show up more and more. First as a theme, then as a target of worshippers, and finally as a manifestation of the awoken power for the climax.
You can seed these things with recurring symbols (the deities), cults always popping up 'behind' the edge of the Rot, and eventually full on Prime Deity clerics and Paladins who are actively pushing the message of the Rot as the Rebirth or something like that (they are in safe cities spreading the message vs. sitting in a dark temple out in the middle of nowhere waiting for combat).
I think you can tie it all together by having the characters search for the fundamental cause of the rot. It seems to appear randomly, spread and be attempting to essentially swamp the world. Behind the scenes, the magical explosion that destroyed Ebonreach partially ruptured the containment of your BBEG who was imprisoned aeons ago (thousands of years) such that even rumors of their existence are likely only fairy tales and mostly inaccurate these days. As the characters dig into the mystery, it culminates with them breaking into a tomb to find out what the source of the contagion might be and plan to stop it. Breaking in destroys the last seals, freeing the trapped creature.
If the trapped creature/demigod can take on a humanoid form then they might even pretend to have been accidentally trapped when the "elder elves" or whoever they decide to say imprisoned them tried to stop the rot the first time. He then turns and points at a magical artifact and claims that it is the source of the rot. The characters take the artifact. The BBEG thanks the characters profusely for their timely rescue, promises to keep in touch, sets up a base and then begins to more consciously and selectively corrupt the world. The characters think they have won for a time until it becomes apparent that something is still wrong. At which point, the BBEG, who had put up a front of living in a local town, is now found to be missing. If the artifact given to the characters is actually useful, the BBEG will try to get it back. :)
There are lots of ways you could turn the plot to get the outcome you are looking for ...
Hello! Newish DM here and I have an idea of a campaign and I would llove to hear ideas on ways to connect everything and create some kind of campaign structure.
This campaign will take place in a post war society. 30 years ago there was a continental war and it ended because of the destruction of Ebonreach. A Sprawling Metropolis filled with arcana and the highest and most condensed magic in the realm. The destruction of Ebonreach sent shockwaves all over the continent and began to sprout Rot. Rot that would begin slowly taking over everything.
There steps my players, My players would be aspiring Rotweavers (Blanket term for anyone who takes care of new growth of rot) and the blanket goal for them is to do missions for the Rotweavers. Cleansing Rot and helping villages and towns, etc... with this, as they deal with new mutations and such that hasn't been seen before. This would be the main campaign idea and loop that ties everything together until they level up a bit and than through whatever interaction I can come up with, they meet or unleash the bbeg. A Prime Deity that was "awoken" By the ripple effects of the shockwaves 30 years prior. At the point the campaign with turn into doing things with the goal of stopping this new bbeg.
My question is I am having trouble with coming up with ways I could tease or hint at its existence and coming up with ways to interconnect everything and make the party care. What are some tips any of you may have on the subject? I would really love to know. The coming up with the initial concept and how to present that is always a struggle for me. Anyways thanks for reading.
I think you have it all. Things start out with a focus on the Rot (nice path for Druids & Rangers!) and then the BBEG starts to show up more and more. First as a theme, then as a target of worshippers, and finally as a manifestation of the awoken power for the climax.
You can seed these things with recurring symbols (the deities), cults always popping up 'behind' the edge of the Rot, and eventually full on Prime Deity clerics and Paladins who are actively pushing the message of the Rot as the Rebirth or something like that (they are in safe cities spreading the message vs. sitting in a dark temple out in the middle of nowhere waiting for combat).
I think you can tie it all together by having the characters search for the fundamental cause of the rot. It seems to appear randomly, spread and be attempting to essentially swamp the world. Behind the scenes, the magical explosion that destroyed Ebonreach partially ruptured the containment of your BBEG who was imprisoned aeons ago (thousands of years) such that even rumors of their existence are likely only fairy tales and mostly inaccurate these days. As the characters dig into the mystery, it culminates with them breaking into a tomb to find out what the source of the contagion might be and plan to stop it. Breaking in destroys the last seals, freeing the trapped creature.
If the trapped creature/demigod can take on a humanoid form then they might even pretend to have been accidentally trapped when the "elder elves" or whoever they decide to say imprisoned them tried to stop the rot the first time. He then turns and points at a magical artifact and claims that it is the source of the rot. The characters take the artifact. The BBEG thanks the characters profusely for their timely rescue, promises to keep in touch, sets up a base and then begins to more consciously and selectively corrupt the world. The characters think they have won for a time until it becomes apparent that something is still wrong. At which point, the BBEG, who had put up a front of living in a local town, is now found to be missing. If the artifact given to the characters is actually useful, the BBEG will try to get it back. :)
There are lots of ways you could turn the plot to get the outcome you are looking for ...