Fellow Dungeon Masters; 

My community group has been running a campaign for almost a year now and it has been totally awesome.  I have really enjoyed watching all the kids learn to play Dungeons and Dragons and I have especially enjoy watching them come out of their shells, to really delve into roleplaying their characters.  We have had such an awesome time together that I decided when Campaign 1 ends, we will have a three week break and then start Campaign 2 - to run throughout 2019.

I have been working on the premise of this new campaign and how the party would be assembled and I would like your input regarding the clicheness of my ideas.

FOLLOWING ON FROM CAMPAIGN 1

First of all, I decided rather than creating a whole new world for campaign 2, we would just play in the same world and the second campaign would follow on from the first.  I also decide that we could keep the same party members we have had through campaign 1 as by the end of the first campaign, the party will be level 10 and campaign 2 will kick the action up a notch.

For this reason, let me give you a little bit of background on the world I have created thus far.

The world that campaign 1 has taken place in exists in the Forgotten Realms setting and is called Lumaria.   Throughout Lumaria there are Temples of Light which are maintained by the monks of a religious order called The Order of the Dawn Star.  The Monks of the Dawn Star, worship a sacred item called The Dawn Crystal.  In the libris tribus - De Natura Deorum (the three sacred books) it is claimed that the Dawn Star is an elemental crystal that was created by the Gods at the dawn of time as way of housing the left over power from the creation of the universe - and thus, contains the divine magic of creation.

The Monks of the Dawn Star, spend their entire lives learning to channel the divine magic of this crystal and use it to bring peace and happiness and long life, to the world of Lumaria. 

By the end of campaign 1 our heroes will have already saved the world of Lumaria from being destroyed and will have dealt with the big bad of this campaign.  A misunderstood beholder, who wants to use the ancient secrets of a lost tome of magical knowledge to alter the past and turn the rest of the beholder race from evil beings into champions of law and doers of good.

It will finally be revealed at the very end of campaign 1, that the book was created by an unknown entity and infused with an evil spirit.  Its purpose was to seed chaos in the world and ultimately tare a hole in reality, allowing an imprisoned evil goddess to escape from the Abyss.

This would be Lolth, although I don't plan on actually telling the players this.  Campaign 1 will end with the world being saved and a mystery that remains unsolved.

THE OPENING OF CAMPAIGN 2

In the opening sessions of campaign 2, the Dawn Crystal will be stolen by "shadow agents" and the monks divine powers will begin to fade.  With their powers fading, the head monks will send the keepers to inspect the chamber in which the Dawn Crystal is kept and it will be discovered that the crystal has been stolen.  Once the monks realise that the Dawn Crystal has been stolen, they will summon five mighty heroes.

These heroes will be the party members from campaign 1 - who have helped the monks before and already saved the world.

The monks will tell our heroes of the dawn crystal and its power, explain that it has been stole and give them the quest to recover the crystal and return it to temple known as Sanctuary.  If the players characters question the monks further, the monks will reveal a dagger and explain to the heroes that this dagger is used by a band of mercenaries known as "The Shadow Agents."  

If the characters don't question the monks, they will learn the same information through their investigation.

AS CAMPAIGN 2 PROGRESSES

When the heroes investigate the shadow agents, they will discover that they had been hired to steal the crystal for an evil human sorceress, Josephine Black - who is the alter ego of the Crown Princess of Lumaria, who has been driven mad by the loss of her mother, Queen Lumaria, herself.

Princess Josephine of Lumaria; already was of a Lawful Evil alignment but the loss of her mother has pushed her over the edge into being Chaotic Evil and in this madness, she hatched a plan.  She would make all Lumaria feel her pain by stealing the Dawn Crystal from the Monks of The Order of the Dawn and delivering it to the Drow, who have long sought the crystal for themselves, but who have been kept at bay by the light of Sanctuary.

Thus, the Drow will be able to bring down their most ancient enemy - The Order of the Dawn, and in exchange; Princess Josephine plans to rule over Lumaria as the first Human Priestess of Lolth.

THE BETRAYAL OF THE BETRAYER

The Drow however, have a different plan.  They have long sought the Dawn Crystal as a way of breaking their Goddess Lolth free from her prison in the Abyss.  If they manage to get the crystal and perform the Ritual of Undreaming - Lolth will be able to break free from the Abyss and in her avatar form - destroy her ancient enemy, the surface elves who cast her into the Abyss in the first place.

It will also be revealed at this point that Lolth has been trying to escape the Abyss for untold centuries.  She has tried many different ways, including instructing her followers to create a book of powerful ancient magic, into they should infuse a demon's soul.  This is the book the Beholder in campaign 1 tried to use - the same book that almost destroyed the world.

If the heroes haven't already killed Princess Josephine by this point, the Monks of The Order of The Dawn, will be able to break her out of her madness and she will join the party as an NPC for the final battle of the campaign. 

If the heroes have killed Josephine, they will be joined by her sister, Princess Rose.

THE END OF THE CAMPAIGN, THE END OF THE WORLD

Should the heroes fail to prevent the Drow from freeing Lollth, she will stride across the world in her avatar form "a giant demonic spider" - at first she will focus her attention on the surface elves, intent on destroying every last one of them - if she succeeds in this, she will turn her attention to the rest of the world and with the power of the Dawn Crystal, she will be able to cast Eternal Darkness  - blocking out the sun and turning the surface world dark.

At this point, the Drow and other creatures of the Underdark - the children of Lolth, will be able to come forth unto the world above and the final fight will be a battle of armies as the armies of Lumaria battle the armies of Lolth, with our heroes taking the lead.

If the the party manage to stop the Drow from freeing Lolth, the final battle will be against the denizens of the Underdark, as the our heroes try to escape.

Either way, if the heroes win the final fight.  They will be able to take the Dawn Crystal back to Sanctuary.  The Monks of The Order of The Dawn, will be fully restored and Princess Josephine will be crowned becoming the new Queen Lumaria.

If the heroes killed Josephine, it will be her sister; Princess Rose, who becomes the new Queen Lumaria.

If the players fail to stop the Drow and then fail to stop Lolth, the world will turn dark, the Monks of The Order of The Dawn will be scatters and their temples will be destroyed - Princess Josephine will be possessed by the spirit of Lolth and be crowned as Queen Josephine. 

If the heroes killed Josephine, it will be Princess Rose that Lolth posses and she will become Queen Rose.

Sanctuary will become known as The Sanctuary of Shadows and Lolth, in the body of Queen Josephine or Queen Rose, will rule over a dark world.

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So that is my basic premise of campaign 2, from the heroes being summoned, to their discovery of the The Shadow Agents, the showdown with Princess Josephine, the battle with the Drow (and Lolth if this happens) and either a final good or bad ending.

My question is though, is this premise too cliche for a campaign and does it sound like something that teenagers might enjoy?

Premise seems fine, though some of the names of things seem a little cliche. 

Quote from Metamongoose >>

Premise seems fine, though some of the names of things seem a little cliche. 

Thanks Metamongoose, any ideas on how I could improve the names?  Keeping in mind that the stuff from the first campaign

• Lumaria
• Queen Lumaria
• Temple of Light
• Dawn Crystal
• The Order of the Dawn Star
• Monks, of the Order of The Dawn

Were already in campaign 1 and as campaign 2 is a continuation of campaign 1, those names will have to stay the same.  There are names that are exclusive to campaign 2:

• Sanctuary
• The Shadow Agents - a mercenary guild
• Shadow Agents - the members of the guild
• Princess Josephine
• Princess Rose
• Josephine Black - alter-ego of Princess Josephine

Although the Princesses were mentioned in campaign 1, they were only referred to by order and title, so in campaign 1, Princess Josephine was called The 1st Princess Royal and Princess Rose; The 2nd Princess Royal, respectively.  So their names were not known in campaign 1 and as such could be changed for campaign 2.  At the very end of campaign 1, I am going to have the Royal Family throw a celebratory banquet for the saviours of Lumaria and that was where I plan on introducing the names of the Princesses.

Off screen so to speak, Queen Lumaria will be assassinated - resulting in Princess Josephine's descent into madness, which is important for campaign 2.  I am going to have this happen off screen (out of game) so that the players cannot affect the outcome as this event is an important event that has to happen for the setup of the second campaign.

The assassination will be done by a fanatical follower of Lolth and a courtier in the royal court of Lumaria - to set up this whole thing in the first place.  

Who actually assassinated Queen Lumaria won't become known until campaign 3 (basic ideas currently) and rooting out the traitors will become part of campaign 3s story arc.  So I have ideas of campaign 3 being about finally saving the world, if the heroes don't manage it in campaign 2 and beginning to rebuild with a subplot of political intrigue running throughout.  (rooting out the traitors, reestablishing order and so on).

I also have some possible ideas for a campaign 4.  Campaign 4 will take place in the same world but about 200 years later.  The royal family will have become corrupt, using order and law to ensure they remain in power, essentially turning Lumaria into a totalitarian regime.  I am thinking this campaign will tell the stories of a band of renegade adventures come resistance fighters - descendants of the heroes from 200 years before.  That's all I have right now since this is so far ahead.

In general though, this is all why  I was wanting names that will last as the world progresses and changes.  So any ideas on how I could improve the names not already established would be most welcome.

Shadow Agents need a cooler, less generic name like "The Ebon Hand" or something else that can also be conveyed with just a symbol that you can sprinkle into the game in random places. The first princess needs a less obvious alter ego name as well, though I don't have any good suggestions at the ready right now.

Thanks again,

I had chosen Josephine Black as a name because it was obvious.  I wanted the players to fall into the trap of thinking she was actually the BBEG - I wanted the players to believe they had worked out my story, when in fact, Josephine was just a pawn.

Her madness and actions orchestrated by the true villan.  Who is actually Lolth, acting through her followers at this point.

I see what you mean though.  I could have a much less obvious alter-ego who has possessions and things that all point to her being the princess.

That way, my players would still fall for the trap - the attention would still be directed away from the Drow and Lolth at first and the sense of achievement my players get, if they realise that Josephine is not actually the BBEG, will be much greater when the truth is revealed.

So perhaps I should be more subtle in my misdirection.

Cliches are fun. There is nothing wrong with them and an obvious villain that isn't the real villain could be fun too.

The other thing to consider is that some parts that you have described are already a known fabric of your campaign. You don't have to mess with it if the players enjoy it. Using shadow agents initially is fine too. The players can find out what they are really called later.