The game will start in the City of Corralis; I am going to steal Waterdeep for this and rename it, and making it into the capital city of, the Kingdom of Eredluin. An oppressive totalitarian monarchy ruled over by a single Dynasty and governed by Dukes - reskinned Lords of Waterdeep. The Kingdom of Eredluin, welcomes everyone, as long as their bloodlines are pure, and they swear allegiance to the Crown and the Dukes; however, halfbreeds and other demihumans are not welcome in the Kingdom of Eredluin. Although outside of the City of Corralis, where the law and the propaganda hold less sway, they are tolerated, barely, as long as they keep to themselves, within the borders of the capital city, the law is strictly enforced. Where you will find many elves and dwarfs etc., living and working alongside humans, within the capital city, you will not see any halfbreeds, although some do exist. Mostly half-elves, who can pass as either elf or human.
You won't see other kinds of demihumans, however, such as Teiflings, which brings me to the main NPC and her family of the first arc.
I have an NPC mother and father whose child is a demihuman (Tiefling) sorceress. When the child was very young, she looked fully human, other than a tail which she was able to hide under her clothes; but as she got older, she started to grow horns, and her magic began to awaken spontaneously.
As stated earlier, demihumans may not live within the borders of the capital city, and the law is clear, any demihuman found within the city's borders must be immediately arrested. They will then be sent to trial, where they will be found guilty of crimes against morality and sentenced to death. During the trial, advocates will argue for and against the existence of demihumans, but the verdict will always be the same, guilty, and the sentence will always be death. The trial is nothing more than theatre, designed to make the people believe that justice has been done and that their government and the monarchy have the peoples best interests at heart.
The law says that the child should be handed over to the authorities, and placed on trial so that her existence can be evaluated, but her parents know what will happen to her if they do that. They have seen it happen before. The advocates will be summoned, and the court convened, the argument will go back and forth and eventually, she will be found guilty of "crimes against morality" and sentenced to death. It doesn't matter that she is a child, because no matter the age, the verdict and the sentence are always the same. The love that these people have for their child is complete and unconditional, however. They don't care that their child is a Tiefling; they love her anyway because she is their daughter, and for that reason they have kept her hidden all her life, hiding her the best they can, disguising her tail under loose clothes and not sending her to school, or letting her play with others. Until now, they have been successful in keeping their daughter safe, but now that she is starting to grow horns, and her magic is beginning to awaken, it is becoming increasingly difficult to protect her. Sooner or later, she will be discovered, taken away, put on trial and executed, for no other reason than she is different and not fully one thing or the other.
I intend for my players to come across this family, who will ask for their help. They want my players to help them escape the city and assuming that their characters agree, I am going to have another NPC see them, attempting to escape with a demihuman child, and report them to the guards. There will then be a battle at the guard station, as they exit the city, during which the child's parents will be killed, and my player's characters will escape with a young Tiefling girl. Soldiers will be sent to bring them back while they are still within the outer borders of the city. Still, I want them to escape with the child, making it out of the city, and into the wider Kingdom, where it will be easier for them to avoid the soldiers sent to arrest them.
Having just escaped from the capital city, the party will now have custody of a thirteen-year-old Tiefling child. She can't go back, and she doesn't know anybody outside of the city where she was born. She does, however, have something they need. As she was unable to play with other children or socialise with anyone but her parents, she has spent most of her life hidden away in her room, reading books that her parents would buy, trade or steal for her and as a result, has read many stories, legends and myths. At first, I want it to seem as though she is just talking about her parents, trying to process the grief she feels at their loss. Where that is true as far as it goes, I want my players to finally realise that the stories she tells and the things she says, could hold the answers to the riddle that will allow them to decode a map, showing the way to the Church of Light, a shrine, built by the Lýsa (the illuminated ones), to house the first of the legendary weapons.
Once they have reached the Church of Light and acquired the weapon, the sisters of the Church of Light will offer to care for the girl, as the journey they are about to embark upon is not one for a child, as it will be full of many dangers and trials along the way. The sisters will promise to take care of her, raising her as one of their own and teaching her how to control her burgeoning magic. I am hoping that the party will agree to leave the girl in the care of the sisters, they will then be able to attend an initiation ceremony, in which the girl becomes an Acolyte of the Church of Light, with the sisters becoming her new family. She will then give the party her promise that she never forget what they have done for her, and that she will always consider them to be her friends.
The sisters of the Church of Light will then bless the journey that the party is about to take, placing upon them marks of light, to protect them from the shadows in which they must now walk, to recover the second of legendary weapons.
Recovering the second weapon will be the second arc of the story.
I would also note that the party was hired by the main villain, to recover the weapons, on the pretence of preventing them from being gathered together and used by the faux villain. In the beginning, the player's characters have no idea that the person they are working for is actually the true villain, as he has spent years building up his own reputation as being a force for good in the world, while also creating the faux villain. The campaigns faux villain is a real person, whom the real villain has pushed over the edge into madness and grief.
In much the same way that crusaders in the real world were often tricked into believing that what they were doing was right, and for the good of the people, the player's characters have tricked into thinking that their benefactor wants to stop the end of the world. The game will start with the party already assembled. They already have the map and have travelled to the capital of Kingdom of Eredluin, to find someone to decode it for them. What they find, however, is the family mentioned above. The mother is a scholar who can decode the map but will only do so if the party will help them escape with their child. After both parents are killed during the escape, it will seem as though the party will need to find someone else, until they realise that the child can help them.
So, that's it. That is all the notes that I regarding the overarching themes of the first arc of the story. As fellow DMs, storytellers and world builders, can I have your thoughts, opinions and criticisms, please, on both the ideas that I have, as well as how I might improve upon them, and whether or not you think that it will make an interesting first arc?
That sounds great! If I was one of your players, I would definitely enjoy your campaign!
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
First of all, I love the storyline, it sounds like a lot of fun. The only thing I would take care about is the fact that the characters will most likely want to save the parents if they can. If having them die isn't critical then I would say whatever happens, happens.
I have no problem with the idea of lifting Waterdeep or anything of the likes and the general story (save child, find magic artefacts, be betrayed by the questgiver) is pretty standard and straight forward and usually works pretty good if that's the kind of game you and your players enjoy. To be perfectly honest though, it seems that you are more interested in telling the story of the NPC instead of the stories of the PCs.
By making the the NPC tiefling girl the center of the plotline you basically make the players sidekicks in their own adventure, which is never a good idea. Maybe none of the players cares about breaking the law and risking the ire of the government. Then they have basically no reason to be part of the campiagn. You will either have to railroad your players completely or most of the plot will be lost.
Then of course we have the general problem of bringing along a 13 year old child on the kind of murderous crime spree that is your average D&D campign. The poor child will probably quickly be traumatized after not too long.
To be perfectly honest though, it seems that you are more interested in telling the story of the NPC instead of the stories of the PCs.By making the the NPC tiefling girl the center of the plotline you basically make the players sidekicks in their own adventure, which is never a good idea.
Thanks for your reply. Thinking specifically about what you said regarding the players being sidekicks in their own adventure, do you have any suggestions on how I could avoid this, while still keeping the same themes?
Also; related to this question, is what you said about the age of the NPC.
Then of course we have the general problem of bringing along a 13 year old child on the kind of murderous crime spree that is your average D&D campign. The poor child will probably quickly be traumatized after not too long.
Do you think my idea would work better if the NPC were already an adult, and it that it is her; not the mother, who is the scholar, offering to trade her expertise, for the parties help?
Cheers
Forge XD
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
To be perfectly honest though, it seems that you are more interested in telling the story of the NPC instead of the stories of the PCs.By making the the NPC tiefling girl the center of the plotline you basically make the players sidekicks in their own adventure, which is never a good idea.
Thanks for your reply. Thinking specifically about what you said regarding the players being sidekicks in their own adventure, do you have any suggestions on how I could avoid this, while still keeping the same themes?
Also; related to this question, is what you said about the age of the NPC.
Then of course we have the general problem of bringing along a 13 year old child on the kind of murderous crime spree that is your average D&D campign. The poor child will probably quickly be traumatized after not too long.
Do you think my idea would work better if the NPC were already an adult, and it that it is her; not the mother, who is the scholar, offering to trade her expertise, for the parties help?
Cheers
Forge XD
I think that as long a you treat the NPC as a sort of sidekick to the players, not the other way around, it should work out fine. In my opinion, having the NPC be a child will make the players more invested in protecting her from harm, since she cannot protect herself.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
To be perfectly honest though, it seems that you are more interested in telling the story of the NPC instead of the stories of the PCs.By making the the NPC tiefling girl the center of the plotline you basically make the players sidekicks in their own adventure, which is never a good idea.
Thanks for your reply. Thinking specifically about what you said regarding the players being sidekicks in their own adventure, do you have any suggestions on how I could avoid this, while still keeping the same themes?
Also; related to this question, is what you said about the age of the NPC.
Then of course we have the general problem of bringing along a 13 year old child on the kind of murderous crime spree that is your average D&D campign. The poor child will probably quickly be traumatized after not too long.
Do you think my idea would work better if the NPC were already an adult, and it that it is her; not the mother, who is the scholar, offering to trade her expertise, for the parties help?
Cheers
Forge XD
I think that as long a you treat the NPC as a sort of sidekick to the players, not the other way around, it should work out fine. In my opinion, having the NPC be a child will make the players more invested in protecting her from harm, since she cannot protect herself.
You still have the problem that the story revolves around the NPC and not the PC. The entire premise for this campaign is literally to have the players act as sidekicks for the NPC, at the very least until they go on the fetch quest for magic weapons. Nothing in it even mentions what the players characters could achieve or how they could go grow and evolve.
I'm sure everything I say has already been said but whatever, I think the story is great and a well written twist villain that doesn't appear to fall into the usual tropes, I also think the first arc is super interesting but you will have to anticipate for your characters not doing what is expected like potentially ignoring the plot or finding a way to protect the girl's parents.
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Mythology Master
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Hi,
The game will start in the City of Corralis; I am going to steal Waterdeep for this and rename it, and making it into the capital city of, the Kingdom of Eredluin. An oppressive totalitarian monarchy ruled over by a single Dynasty and governed by Dukes - reskinned Lords of Waterdeep. The Kingdom of Eredluin, welcomes everyone, as long as their bloodlines are pure, and they swear allegiance to the Crown and the Dukes; however, halfbreeds and other demihumans are not welcome in the Kingdom of Eredluin. Although outside of the City of Corralis, where the law and the propaganda hold less sway, they are tolerated, barely, as long as they keep to themselves, within the borders of the capital city, the law is strictly enforced. Where you will find many elves and dwarfs etc., living and working alongside humans, within the capital city, you will not see any halfbreeds, although some do exist. Mostly half-elves, who can pass as either elf or human.
You won't see other kinds of demihumans, however, such as Teiflings, which brings me to the main NPC and her family of the first arc.
I have an NPC mother and father whose child is a demihuman (Tiefling) sorceress. When the child was very young, she looked fully human, other than a tail which she was able to hide under her clothes; but as she got older, she started to grow horns, and her magic began to awaken spontaneously.
As stated earlier, demihumans may not live within the borders of the capital city, and the law is clear, any demihuman found within the city's borders must be immediately arrested. They will then be sent to trial, where they will be found guilty of crimes against morality and sentenced to death. During the trial, advocates will argue for and against the existence of demihumans, but the verdict will always be the same, guilty, and the sentence will always be death. The trial is nothing more than theatre, designed to make the people believe that justice has been done and that their government and the monarchy have the peoples best interests at heart.
The law says that the child should be handed over to the authorities, and placed on trial so that her existence can be evaluated, but her parents know what will happen to her if they do that. They have seen it happen before. The advocates will be summoned, and the court convened, the argument will go back and forth and eventually, she will be found guilty of "crimes against morality" and sentenced to death. It doesn't matter that she is a child, because no matter the age, the verdict and the sentence are always the same. The love that these people have for their child is complete and unconditional, however. They don't care that their child is a Tiefling; they love her anyway because she is their daughter, and for that reason they have kept her hidden all her life, hiding her the best they can, disguising her tail under loose clothes and not sending her to school, or letting her play with others. Until now, they have been successful in keeping their daughter safe, but now that she is starting to grow horns, and her magic is beginning to awaken, it is becoming increasingly difficult to protect her. Sooner or later, she will be discovered, taken away, put on trial and executed, for no other reason than she is different and not fully one thing or the other.
I intend for my players to come across this family, who will ask for their help. They want my players to help them escape the city and assuming that their characters agree, I am going to have another NPC see them, attempting to escape with a demihuman child, and report them to the guards. There will then be a battle at the guard station, as they exit the city, during which the child's parents will be killed, and my player's characters will escape with a young Tiefling girl. Soldiers will be sent to bring them back while they are still within the outer borders of the city. Still, I want them to escape with the child, making it out of the city, and into the wider Kingdom, where it will be easier for them to avoid the soldiers sent to arrest them.
Having just escaped from the capital city, the party will now have custody of a thirteen-year-old Tiefling child. She can't go back, and she doesn't know anybody outside of the city where she was born. She does, however, have something they need. As she was unable to play with other children or socialise with anyone but her parents, she has spent most of her life hidden away in her room, reading books that her parents would buy, trade or steal for her and as a result, has read many stories, legends and myths. At first, I want it to seem as though she is just talking about her parents, trying to process the grief she feels at their loss. Where that is true as far as it goes, I want my players to finally realise that the stories she tells and the things she says, could hold the answers to the riddle that will allow them to decode a map, showing the way to the Church of Light, a shrine, built by the Lýsa (the illuminated ones), to house the first of the legendary weapons.
Once they have reached the Church of Light and acquired the weapon, the sisters of the Church of Light will offer to care for the girl, as the journey they are about to embark upon is not one for a child, as it will be full of many dangers and trials along the way. The sisters will promise to take care of her, raising her as one of their own and teaching her how to control her burgeoning magic. I am hoping that the party will agree to leave the girl in the care of the sisters, they will then be able to attend an initiation ceremony, in which the girl becomes an Acolyte of the Church of Light, with the sisters becoming her new family. She will then give the party her promise that she never forget what they have done for her, and that she will always consider them to be her friends.
The sisters of the Church of Light will then bless the journey that the party is about to take, placing upon them marks of light, to protect them from the shadows in which they must now walk, to recover the second of legendary weapons.
Recovering the second weapon will be the second arc of the story.
I would also note that the party was hired by the main villain, to recover the weapons, on the pretence of preventing them from being gathered together and used by the faux villain. In the beginning, the player's characters have no idea that the person they are working for is actually the true villain, as he has spent years building up his own reputation as being a force for good in the world, while also creating the faux villain. The campaigns faux villain is a real person, whom the real villain has pushed over the edge into madness and grief.
In much the same way that crusaders in the real world were often tricked into believing that what they were doing was right, and for the good of the people, the player's characters have tricked into thinking that their benefactor wants to stop the end of the world. The game will start with the party already assembled. They already have the map and have travelled to the capital of Kingdom of Eredluin, to find someone to decode it for them. What they find, however, is the family mentioned above. The mother is a scholar who can decode the map but will only do so if the party will help them escape with their child. After both parents are killed during the escape, it will seem as though the party will need to find someone else, until they realise that the child can help them.
So, that's it. That is all the notes that I regarding the overarching themes of the first arc of the story. As fellow DMs, storytellers and world builders, can I have your thoughts, opinions and criticisms, please, on both the ideas that I have, as well as how I might improve upon them, and whether or not you think that it will make an interesting first arc?
Thanks
Forge XD
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
That sounds great! If I was one of your players, I would definitely enjoy your campaign!
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
First of all, I love the storyline, it sounds like a lot of fun. The only thing I would take care about is the fact that the characters will most likely want to save the parents if they can. If having them die isn't critical then I would say whatever happens, happens.
Keep your friends close, and enemies closer.
I have no problem with the idea of lifting Waterdeep or anything of the likes and the general story (save child, find magic artefacts, be betrayed by the questgiver) is pretty standard and straight forward and usually works pretty good if that's the kind of game you and your players enjoy. To be perfectly honest though, it seems that you are more interested in telling the story of the NPC instead of the stories of the PCs.
By making the the NPC tiefling girl the center of the plotline you basically make the players sidekicks in their own adventure, which is never a good idea. Maybe none of the players cares about breaking the law and risking the ire of the government. Then they have basically no reason to be part of the campiagn. You will either have to railroad your players completely or most of the plot will be lost.
Then of course we have the general problem of bringing along a 13 year old child on the kind of murderous crime spree that is your average D&D campign. The poor child will probably quickly be traumatized after not too long.
Thanks for your reply. Thinking specifically about what you said regarding the players being sidekicks in their own adventure, do you have any suggestions on how I could avoid this, while still keeping the same themes?
Also; related to this question, is what you said about the age of the NPC.
Do you think my idea would work better if the NPC were already an adult, and it that it is her; not the mother, who is the scholar, offering to trade her expertise, for the parties help?
Cheers
Forge XD
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
I think that as long a you treat the NPC as a sort of sidekick to the players, not the other way around, it should work out fine. In my opinion, having the NPC be a child will make the players more invested in protecting her from harm, since she cannot protect herself.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
You still have the problem that the story revolves around the NPC and not the PC. The entire premise for this campaign is literally to have the players act as sidekicks for the NPC, at the very least until they go on the fetch quest for magic weapons. Nothing in it even mentions what the players characters could achieve or how they could go grow and evolve.
I'm sure everything I say has already been said but whatever, I think the story is great and a well written twist villain that doesn't appear to fall into the usual tropes, I also think the first arc is super interesting but you will have to anticipate for your characters not doing what is expected like potentially ignoring the plot or finding a way to protect the girl's parents.
Mythology Master