I have an idea for a campaign, but I need some help with it
The basic premise is that a long time ago, a Lich used some magic from the far realm to make himself into an elder evil and nearly conquered the world with his undead army. He was foiled when a group of heroes managed to seal him away using powerful magic. In the present day however, the seal is weakening and the elder evil will soon be free. The players could learn of this and be tasked with finding a way to weaken this elder evil so they can defeat it when it emerges.
What I want to know is how could the PCs weaken an elder evil in a way that a campaign could be centered around it.
The first and most important question you need to answer is: WHY NOW?
And, for the record, "because it's been awhile" doesn't quite cut it. There needs to be a definite reason. My suggestion here, for your idea, would be that some wannabe-powerful necromancer or other has found out about all this and is giving it their all to weaken the seals and release this evil in the hopes of gaining great favor/power from this baby Elder Evil.
This gives you numerous things: A multi-arc plot in the form of this Co-Antagonist (wannabe-powerful necromancer) who must weaken the Seals (3-4 is a great number for this) which must be in remote locations (because they wouldn't be just anywhere) utilizing powerful magic that requires special components (which the Co-antagonist must gather first) and powerful magic (which, when the Co-Antagonist is performing, will drain them). This gives you a TON of ways to have the plot happening in the background while the PCs go about their business.
My favorite piece of DMs advice comes from "How to be a Great GM" and it is this: your plot is "Someone wants something badly but is having trouble getting it."
Your Co-antagonist wants very badly to free this Supposed Elder Evil (SEE) but are having trouble doing so because they need to A) gather special materials that are hard to come by for the rituals; B) perform powerful magic that they might not yet be capable of doing without help; and C) find those Seals which are in remote locations, which they might have to pay others to find for them. This gives you more minor antagonist opportunities.
The trick with this method is that the Co-Antagonist will REQUIRE at LEAST one of the PCs, somehow and in some way, to accomplish their goals; AND something they are after will put them in direct conflict with the PC group's goals. You can do this by looking at the PC backstories and finding at least 1 interesting thing that you can somehow tie into this Co-Antagonist's goal of A) materials, B) powerful magic, and/or C) location of seals. Say you have a character from a remote location, clan, village, etc; turn that into the location of one of the seals! A PC with some minor nobility? Their family has long protected some McGuffin Of Ancient Power, and they may or may not even know about it until one of their relatives finds them and dramatically tells them to come home and help defend the family against an attack! A PC who has traveled, is a hermit, or who is from the outskirts of civilization? In their travels they have stumbled upon a site of magical power, which the Co-Antagonist may seek out to defile to gain more powerful, or may even be a Seal! A renown bard? Knows a story-legend that ends up to hold the secret to finding a Seal! A faction agent or merchant? Has a shady contact who sets them up with the C-A early as a Questgiver offering double-the-going-rate for special ingredients/herbs/components/rare finds/etc!
Whatever the Co-Antagonist does, and however the PCs intervene, the C-A still manages to find a way to release the SEE unless outright killed; but they might be a lich themselves anyway, which I'd suggest, so that they keep coming back much to the frustration of the players, unless they destroy the phylactery.
Due to the "Why Now?!" reasons, the SEE will be brought back. The C-A is very likely NOT the only one going around trying to free the SEE, after all! That said, the PCs successfully interfering in the Breaking Of The 3-4 Seals will inhibit the SEE. But when the SEE managed to emerge anyway, in a weakened but still powerful state, one of the Heroes From Long Ago (perhaps a dwarf, gnome, elf, or other long-lived entity, who may have been in Magical Slumber somehow, or trapped in the Feywild) suddenly appears, finds the PCs, and tells them how to Re-do the Seals to further weaken SEE to a state where the PCs can actually take the SEE on in combat to banish them - the climax of your game.
Or. Yknow. Something like that. Disclaimer: Wall of text because I'm too drunk to shorten it lol.
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I have an idea for a campaign, but I need some help with it
The basic premise is that a long time ago, a Lich used some magic from the far realm to make himself into an elder evil and nearly conquered the world with his undead army. He was foiled when a group of heroes managed to seal him away using powerful magic. In the present day however, the seal is weakening and the elder evil will soon be free. The players could learn of this and be tasked with finding a way to weaken this elder evil so they can defeat it when it emerges.
What I want to know is how could the PCs weaken an elder evil in a way that a campaign could be centered around it.
The first and most important question you need to answer is: WHY NOW?
And, for the record, "because it's been awhile" doesn't quite cut it. There needs to be a definite reason. My suggestion here, for your idea, would be that some wannabe-powerful necromancer or other has found out about all this and is giving it their all to weaken the seals and release this evil in the hopes of gaining great favor/power from this baby Elder Evil.
This gives you numerous things: A multi-arc plot in the form of this Co-Antagonist (wannabe-powerful necromancer) who must weaken the Seals (3-4 is a great number for this) which must be in remote locations (because they wouldn't be just anywhere) utilizing powerful magic that requires special components (which the Co-antagonist must gather first) and powerful magic (which, when the Co-Antagonist is performing, will drain them). This gives you a TON of ways to have the plot happening in the background while the PCs go about their business.
My favorite piece of DMs advice comes from "How to be a Great GM" and it is this: your plot is "Someone wants something badly but is having trouble getting it."
Your Co-antagonist wants very badly to free this Supposed Elder Evil (SEE) but are having trouble doing so because they need to A) gather special materials that are hard to come by for the rituals; B) perform powerful magic that they might not yet be capable of doing without help; and C) find those Seals which are in remote locations, which they might have to pay others to find for them. This gives you more minor antagonist opportunities.
The trick with this method is that the Co-Antagonist will REQUIRE at LEAST one of the PCs, somehow and in some way, to accomplish their goals; AND something they are after will put them in direct conflict with the PC group's goals. You can do this by looking at the PC backstories and finding at least 1 interesting thing that you can somehow tie into this Co-Antagonist's goal of A) materials, B) powerful magic, and/or C) location of seals. Say you have a character from a remote location, clan, village, etc; turn that into the location of one of the seals! A PC with some minor nobility? Their family has long protected some McGuffin Of Ancient Power, and they may or may not even know about it until one of their relatives finds them and dramatically tells them to come home and help defend the family against an attack! A PC who has traveled, is a hermit, or who is from the outskirts of civilization? In their travels they have stumbled upon a site of magical power, which the Co-Antagonist may seek out to defile to gain more powerful, or may even be a Seal! A renown bard? Knows a story-legend that ends up to hold the secret to finding a Seal! A faction agent or merchant? Has a shady contact who sets them up with the C-A early as a Questgiver offering double-the-going-rate for special ingredients/herbs/components/rare finds/etc!
Whatever the Co-Antagonist does, and however the PCs intervene, the C-A still manages to find a way to release the SEE unless outright killed; but they might be a lich themselves anyway, which I'd suggest, so that they keep coming back much to the frustration of the players, unless they destroy the phylactery.
Due to the "Why Now?!" reasons, the SEE will be brought back. The C-A is very likely NOT the only one going around trying to free the SEE, after all! That said, the PCs successfully interfering in the Breaking Of The 3-4 Seals will inhibit the SEE. But when the SEE managed to emerge anyway, in a weakened but still powerful state, one of the Heroes From Long Ago (perhaps a dwarf, gnome, elf, or other long-lived entity, who may have been in Magical Slumber somehow, or trapped in the Feywild) suddenly appears, finds the PCs, and tells them how to Re-do the Seals to further weaken SEE to a state where the PCs can actually take the SEE on in combat to banish them - the climax of your game.
Or. Yknow. Something like that. Disclaimer: Wall of text because I'm too drunk to shorten it lol.