So I'm pretty new to DnD and got a few new timer friends to play. I'm going to DM them for my first time and would love to receive feedback/inspiration/pointers/adjustments to my homebrew campaign. So this is the idea of it;
The world has 4 gods which represent the 4 pillars that hold the world in balance (i haven't decided yet if they are the only gods or not but that's not important at this point). They are; Time, Death, Magic, Knowledge.
Our BBEG is the trickster god of chaos which was sealed away by these gods in a combined effort since he wants to push the world into chaos (obviously). For him to break free he needs the break the seal that holds him, to do that he needs to weaken each god's part in the seal. The way I see it; the seal is built on each god's unquestionable element, so by proving their power is not absolute they are weakened and after covering all four he can break free. Our trickster god will manipulate smaller BBEG to achieve each goal by passing it as a way for them to advance their personal agenda.
The way it"ll be done is (roughly) this:
Death - bring back an undead monster. In this case, maybe a dr. Frankenstein's monster type situation with a mad scientist that has a god-complex or just wants to create something that has never been done before, or maybe just a plain old necromancer that wants undead army for some purpose.
Time - while there is a full solar eclipse make the moon-sun stuck in place making it eternal (no days. no seasons...). in this case, it may be an underground Drow society that wants to return to the surface but can't stand the sun.
Magic - [inspired by Mystra and her 7 daughters] Magic's daughters hold the magical net around the worlds which lets you tap into arcana. When one daughter is kidnapped the net is incomplete and magic starts to lose focus and control (any pc spellcaster will be affected of course). In this case, some sort of strength-based monster (like orcs) that want to take away their enemy's magical upper hand on them.
Knowledge (this one I'm not 100% sure about) - there is a secret library of all knowledge that hides inside a dragon turtle's shell (doctor who-tardis style) that is guarded by a Wyram (as a book worm spin-off idea). This library holds the knowledge of EVERYTHING, for humans that include the knowledge of how to naturally speak or walk on two legs, for animals it's how to hunt and survive and among those, knowledge of all events and people in the world. In this case, a secret cabal of elitists (would love a more solid representation of the figures/leader if anyone has any) that want to steal the natural knowledge of "creativity" from humans. That way the can keep the people stupider and more dependent on the higher classes. Maybe have them want to have to power to bestow "creativity" on the higher-ranked people that serve their agenda. [not the most wholesome idea - would love inputs on it].
*Side note: maybe have each god grant them an item/favor/power as a reward for helping their element stay safe. something that will help in the final event.
So even when the PC's win every event it's still enough (sense it proved the point of them not being absolute) to release our main BBEG and have them battle him at the end.
I'm also thinking of having him maybe follow them around and pop up so he can tease them on their quest while possessing NPC's to walk around unchecked but without any powers. Just small trickery, nothing too big.
I also have a general idea how to kick it off but would love any suggestions (although that's not as important at this point).
I think you should drop in like temples devoted to the Gods, but otherwise, not have them mentioned at all. As in, just foreshadow their importance, don't explicitly state it. Then, what I would do, is put the group in moral situations where the "right" thing to do is preserve death, time, magic, and knowledge, but the "moral" thing to do is go against it.
For example, Death would be a friend to the group has their daughter killed, either murdered for some extra quests, or drowned in a terrible accident. Either way, if the party likes the girl, then she will be brought back.
Time: You could go with your example, or slightly borrow from The Last Airbender and say that the evil army is powerless (or at least weaker) in the solar eclipse, and that if they can freeze the sun/moon in place, then they can defeat the army.
Magic: Literally so many things you can do with this lol
Knowledge: I like your example. I think you could push it further with this secret library having the knowledge to do something, again "moral", but goes against the "right-ness". So something like maybe an entire village is sick and dying, and the library holds the cure, however getting into the library requires the blood of 5 members of the village, maybe there are even volunteers.
There's a lot of potential there and I think you have a great concept!
great pointers man. i like your take, that i should give my PC the chance to make choices that have big implications that might shist things. ill have to think about how i can use your notes for the plot.
was your thought that the moral dilemmas be actually orchestrated by the trickster god? just so im on the same page as you are.
be sure ill let you know if i need explanations to some of youre ideas.
They don't necessarily have to be. I think it's better if the moral dilemmas are brought on by the PCs lol but that might be harder to pull off, but the dilemmas could totally be planned by the trickster God or his puppet BBEG. Either one works.
Also, weird note lol there was one of those Scooby Doo movies, some kind of ghost lady. One of her relatives (like grandson or great-grandson probably) brought her back because he wanted her to be all powerful and he thought that would help him out in the world, but instead when she came back, she abandoned him, and I can't remember what she did with him. I don't think she killed him because it's scooby doo lol but I remember watching that as a kid and was like, "What a b----!"
ANYWAYS I say that to say that your minor BBEG could have like never even spoken to the trickster god and could think that if he orchestrates (tricks) the players into doing these things that the trickster god would make him a minor deity or something, but instead the trickster god kills him or abandons him or just treats him like anyone else. Just a thought!
What do you think about the following adjustment; So the one wanting to be free is a trickster god according to folklore/legend/rumors but actually is the god of chaos- THE OG GOD - ALL FATHER, basically the force of entropy that brought about everything. So the pantheon of gods want total control over their domains without his meddling (elements of randomness) so they trap him as a mortal man (or maybe just sealed away). The heros help cause certain chaotic events as a moral choice because of impossible dilemmas i present them and this eventually frees him.
All this proves the gods are also not absolute and have a "weak point" to a force above them and also brings about the tough choice we have to make sometimes.
That leaves me with 2 main questions:
Is my party on some sort of main quest to stop him (thinking he is a trickster - which for some reason can't let anyone know the truth) or is this actually all happening behind the curtains of my world? Maybe he's like a crazy old man that forgot who he actually is... Maybe at first, the party wants to stop the supposed trickster from being freed but then the truth is revealed and now want to help him? Maybe the way the find out is through the smaller boss bad guy and his cult who are actually a surviving faith that is trying to free him and have the party help the cause (insert big reveal).
Would my 4 god pantheon still work? How would Death/Time/Knowledge/Magic look (/make the world look) if the were strictly non-chaotic? [Still open to new/better fitting domains, I'm open for suggestions] Who would be the forces benefit from each species chaos free element?
So I'm pretty new to DnD and got a few new timer friends to play. I'm going to DM them for my first time and would love to receive feedback/inspiration/pointers/adjustments to my homebrew campaign. So this is the idea of it;
The world has 4 gods which represent the 4 pillars that hold the world in balance (i haven't decided yet if they are the only gods or not but that's not important at this point). They are; Time, Death, Magic, Knowledge.
Our BBEG is the trickster god of chaos which was sealed away by these gods in a combined effort since he wants to push the world into chaos (obviously). For him to break free he needs the break the seal that holds him, to do that he needs to weaken each god's part in the seal. The way I see it; the seal is built on each god's unquestionable element, so by proving their power is not absolute they are weakened and after covering all four he can break free. Our trickster god will manipulate smaller BBEG to achieve each goal by passing it as a way for them to advance their personal agenda.
The way it"ll be done is (roughly) this:
Death - bring back an undead monster. In this case, maybe a dr. Frankenstein's monster type situation with a mad scientist that has a god-complex or just wants to create something that has never been done before, or maybe just a plain old necromancer that wants undead army for some purpose.
Time - while there is a full solar eclipse make the moon-sun stuck in place making it eternal (no days. no seasons...). in this case, it may be an underground Drow society that wants to return to the surface but can't stand the sun.
Magic - [inspired by Mystra and her 7 daughters] Magic's daughters hold the magical net around the worlds which lets you tap into arcana. When one daughter is kidnapped the net is incomplete and magic starts to lose focus and control (any pc spellcaster will be affected of course). In this case, some sort of strength-based monster (like orcs) that want to take away their enemy's magical upper hand on them.
Knowledge (this one I'm not 100% sure about) - there is a secret library of all knowledge that hides inside a dragon turtle's shell (doctor who-tardis style) that is guarded by a Wyram (as a book worm spin-off idea). This library holds the knowledge of EVERYTHING, for humans that include the knowledge of how to naturally speak or walk on two legs, for animals it's how to hunt and survive and among those, knowledge of all events and people in the world. In this case, a secret cabal of elitists (would love a more solid representation of the figures/leader if anyone has any) that want to steal the natural knowledge of "creativity" from humans. That way the can keep the people stupider and more dependent on the higher classes. Maybe have them want to have to power to bestow "creativity" on the higher-ranked people that serve their agenda. [not the most wholesome idea - would love inputs on it].
*Side note: maybe have each god grant them an item/favor/power as a reward for helping their element stay safe. something that will help in the final event.
So even when the PC's win every event it's still enough (sense it proved the point of them not being absolute) to release our main BBEG and have them battle him at the end.
I'm also thinking of having him maybe follow them around and pop up so he can tease them on their quest while possessing NPC's to walk around unchecked but without any powers. Just small trickery, nothing too big.
I also have a general idea how to kick it off but would love any suggestions (although that's not as important at this point).
Let me know what you guys think :)
I think you should drop in like temples devoted to the Gods, but otherwise, not have them mentioned at all. As in, just foreshadow their importance, don't explicitly state it. Then, what I would do, is put the group in moral situations where the "right" thing to do is preserve death, time, magic, and knowledge, but the "moral" thing to do is go against it.
For example, Death would be a friend to the group has their daughter killed, either murdered for some extra quests, or drowned in a terrible accident. Either way, if the party likes the girl, then she will be brought back.
Time: You could go with your example, or slightly borrow from The Last Airbender and say that the evil army is powerless (or at least weaker) in the solar eclipse, and that if they can freeze the sun/moon in place, then they can defeat the army.
Magic: Literally so many things you can do with this lol
Knowledge: I like your example. I think you could push it further with this secret library having the knowledge to do something, again "moral", but goes against the "right-ness". So something like maybe an entire village is sick and dying, and the library holds the cure, however getting into the library requires the blood of 5 members of the village, maybe there are even volunteers.
There's a lot of potential there and I think you have a great concept!
Published Subclasses
great pointers man. i like your take, that i should give my PC the chance to make choices that have big implications that might shist things. ill have to think about how i can use your notes for the plot.
was your thought that the moral dilemmas be actually orchestrated by the trickster god? just so im on the same page as you are.
be sure ill let you know if i need explanations to some of youre ideas.
thanks
They don't necessarily have to be. I think it's better if the moral dilemmas are brought on by the PCs lol but that might be harder to pull off, but the dilemmas could totally be planned by the trickster God or his puppet BBEG. Either one works.
Also, weird note lol there was one of those Scooby Doo movies, some kind of ghost lady. One of her relatives (like grandson or great-grandson probably) brought her back because he wanted her to be all powerful and he thought that would help him out in the world, but instead when she came back, she abandoned him, and I can't remember what she did with him. I don't think she killed him because it's scooby doo lol but I remember watching that as a kid and was like, "What a b----!"
ANYWAYS I say that to say that your minor BBEG could have like never even spoken to the trickster god and could think that if he orchestrates (tricks) the players into doing these things that the trickster god would make him a minor deity or something, but instead the trickster god kills him or abandons him or just treats him like anyone else. Just a thought!
Published Subclasses
awesome inputs man, ill work on it. thanks!
No problem! Cheers and good luck!
Published Subclasses
*Edit:
What do you think about the following adjustment; So the one wanting to be free is a trickster god according to folklore/legend/rumors but actually is the god of chaos- THE OG GOD - ALL FATHER, basically the force of entropy that brought about everything. So the pantheon of gods want total control over their domains without his meddling (elements of randomness) so they trap him as a mortal man (or maybe just sealed away). The heros help cause certain chaotic events as a moral choice because of impossible dilemmas i present them and this eventually frees him.
All this proves the gods are also not absolute and have a "weak point" to a force above them and also brings about the tough choice we have to make sometimes.
That leaves me with 2 main questions:
Is my party on some sort of main quest to stop him (thinking he is a trickster - which for some reason can't let anyone know the truth) or is this actually all happening behind the curtains of my world? Maybe he's like a crazy old man that forgot who he actually is... Maybe at first, the party wants to stop the supposed trickster from being freed but then the truth is revealed and now want to help him? Maybe the way the find out is through the smaller boss bad guy and his cult who are actually a surviving faith that is trying to free him and have the party help the cause (insert big reveal).
Would my 4 god pantheon still work? How would Death/Time/Knowledge/Magic look (/make the world look) if the were strictly non-chaotic? [Still open to new/better fitting domains, I'm open for suggestions] Who would be the forces benefit from each species chaos free element?
Thoughts?