So guys I have had a rush of creativity but somehow I now have come to a halt and need a little push in the right direction. Maybe you guys have some ideas.
So I am running a campaign in Wildemount where one faction will be at war with the other at some time in the adventure. The two factions are the "Dwendalian Empire" (humans) and the "Krynn Dynasty". The dwendalian are secretly summoning a demon lord with illegal materials and the krynn want the same materials for other purposes. The war will break out because of that but the players will probably think for some time that the war is just like "I want to have a bigger territory than you, give me your land!"
So the Krynn will be planning to start the war in this adventure. They will smuggle weapons to dwendalian land over a mountain pass and the weapons will then be located in a small outer town of dwendalian territorry.
One of my PCs is a relative to one of the leaders of the Krynn Dynasty. The PC will get a letter from a friend (the friend does not have that much backstory so I could make some good things up here) of hers which she has not seen in a while and so the party will probably go there. I somehow then want them to go over the same pass where the weapons will also be smuggled over so that they can see this.
But I need a reason for them to go there. I initially though that maybe some Perytons will kidnapp a child or even the friend of my PC and fly off. So the PCs will probably go and rescue the friend of the PC. But somehow I think that is kind of a "loose" or not well enough thought out hook/plot. They will find the friend again in a cave where the Perytons are but somehow I think something is lacking here.
Why does it have to be in this particular pass? I ask because even if you jump through all these hoops (and why would a flock of perytons start kidnapping children, anyway?), the characters could end up finding some other way to get from point a to b and still miss the pass.
Why not just have the smugglers be wherever the characters are, whenever you decide it’s best for the party to notice them.
But why wouldn’t the perytons just eat them on the spot? I guess they’re smart enough to save them for later, though I wonder why they would keep them alive; they are also smart enough to know something dead won’t try to escape. And it seems like, unless the PCs are right there when it happens, the kidnapped child would be eaten before they could hear about it and then go find their lair, either way.
If you want someone kidnapped, instead of just murdered, there should be a reason the kidnapper would keep them alive. Ransom or extortion or something, I think, would work better than stocking the pantry. And you could probably tie that more easily into the overall plot. Like the kidnappers are working for the enemy, and taking the kid as a hostage so the friend will look the other way during the smuggling operation.
I've never used Perytons so here's a little bit of throwing stuff and seeing what sticks....
According to the Monster Manual, Perytons were first created either as part of a curse or as part of a ritual to win back the love of a cheating husband. So, have a Hag in the mountains, she has looked after/cared for the eggs of some Perytons and when they hatched they imprinted her as their mother. With the advent of war and the Krynn forces marching into the mountains the Hag and her Perytons feel threatened. The Hag sends her"children" out to raid local settlements and abduct women and children in a move to disuade the Krynn forces from going any further. She would have normally sated the Perytons hunger with raids on local bandit camps.
A messenger arrives at the party's place of residence bearing a message from the family friend you mentioned requesting the party go into the mountains and eradicate the Perytons with payment of 500gp +100gp per Peryton head they bring back (or whatever monetary reward you think appropriate). The party are warned of Krynn military in the area but due to other issues they are not able to deal with the threat. The family friend witholds one vital piece of infomation, the Hag has left messages at each kidnapping site telling the Krynn forces to stay out of the area. If the party agree they are given an amulet to show any Krynn officer which will allow them passage through military encampments should the need arise as well as a map with a rough indication of where the Perytons are lairing.
If the party kill any Perytons then the Hag starts a ritual to bestow a curse on those they captured to turn them into more Perytons viewing it as justice to turn them against their would be rescurers and former friends and families in their towns.
When the party advance into the area have them watched by Peryton flying overhead and they find an old shack in a small glade or cave with an old lady (the Hag in disguise). She will be amiable and friendly and tells them "its all stuff and nonsense and those "eagles" are all riled up because those knights keep comng and going", she can otherwise seem somewhat delusion thinking the Perytons are eagles. Then you can roleplay it out and see if she can persuade the party to leave. If the party get a bit aggressive then she can Dimension Door or Polymrph and fly away and she starts her ritual on one of the kidnapped townsfolk.
If the party agree to help the Hag she will tell them of another forgotten pass through the mountains, they just need to visit the Officer incharge of the local forces and tell them to stay clear of the area due to "insert made up reason" and flash the amulet they were given, the officer will agree and divert forces to the new pass the Hag made the party aware of, the party then report back to the Hag who then releases the hostages.
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* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
How do you come up with ideas like this? I will maybe tweak it a little bit because I slowly want the player to get to know that there is a war going on but this is extremely helpful and creative. Wish I would have had the ideas for some of this stuff myself. Thank you very much!
If you wanted to go a little less heavy on the magic you could also replace the Hag with one or more Ranger/Beastmasters training Monstrousities instead of Beasts which might be a little more flavourful with them each having a Peryton as an animal companion.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
So guys I have had a rush of creativity but somehow I now have come to a halt and need a little push in the right direction. Maybe you guys have some ideas.
So I am running a campaign in Wildemount where one faction will be at war with the other at some time in the adventure. The two factions are the "Dwendalian Empire" (humans) and the "Krynn Dynasty". The dwendalian are secretly summoning a demon lord with illegal materials and the krynn want the same materials for other purposes. The war will break out because of that but the players will probably think for some time that the war is just like "I want to have a bigger territory than you, give me your land!"
So the Krynn will be planning to start the war in this adventure. They will smuggle weapons to dwendalian land over a mountain pass and the weapons will then be located in a small outer town of dwendalian territorry.
One of my PCs is a relative to one of the leaders of the Krynn Dynasty. The PC will get a letter from a friend (the friend does not have that much backstory so I could make some good things up here) of hers which she has not seen in a while and so the party will probably go there. I somehow then want them to go over the same pass where the weapons will also be smuggled over so that they can see this.
But I need a reason for them to go there. I initially though that maybe some Perytons will kidnapp a child or even the friend of my PC and fly off. So the PCs will probably go and rescue the friend of the PC. But somehow I think that is kind of a "loose" or not well enough thought out hook/plot. They will find the friend again in a cave where the Perytons are but somehow I think something is lacking here.
What do you think?
Why does it have to be in this particular pass? I ask because even if you jump through all these hoops (and why would a flock of perytons start kidnapping children, anyway?), the characters could end up finding some other way to get from point a to b and still miss the pass.
Why not just have the smugglers be wherever the characters are, whenever you decide it’s best for the party to notice them.
Because the perythons would kidnap them and then eat them, that would be the story hook for the players. but you think it is not a good idea?
But why wouldn’t the perytons just eat them on the spot? I guess they’re smart enough to save them for later, though I wonder why they would keep them alive; they are also smart enough to know something dead won’t try to escape. And it seems like, unless the PCs are right there when it happens, the kidnapped child would be eaten before they could hear about it and then go find their lair, either way.
If you want someone kidnapped, instead of just murdered, there should be a reason the kidnapper would keep them alive. Ransom or extortion or something, I think, would work better than stocking the pantry. And you could probably tie that more easily into the overall plot. Like the kidnappers are working for the enemy, and taking the kid as a hostage so the friend will look the other way during the smuggling operation.
I've never used Perytons so here's a little bit of throwing stuff and seeing what sticks....
According to the Monster Manual, Perytons were first created either as part of a curse or as part of a ritual to win back the love of a cheating husband. So, have a Hag in the mountains, she has looked after/cared for the eggs of some Perytons and when they hatched they imprinted her as their mother. With the advent of war and the Krynn forces marching into the mountains the Hag and her Perytons feel threatened. The Hag sends her"children" out to raid local settlements and abduct women and children in a move to disuade the Krynn forces from going any further. She would have normally sated the Perytons hunger with raids on local bandit camps.
A messenger arrives at the party's place of residence bearing a message from the family friend you mentioned requesting the party go into the mountains and eradicate the Perytons with payment of 500gp +100gp per Peryton head they bring back (or whatever monetary reward you think appropriate). The party are warned of Krynn military in the area but due to other issues they are not able to deal with the threat. The family friend witholds one vital piece of infomation, the Hag has left messages at each kidnapping site telling the Krynn forces to stay out of the area. If the party agree they are given an amulet to show any Krynn officer which will allow them passage through military encampments should the need arise as well as a map with a rough indication of where the Perytons are lairing.
If the party kill any Perytons then the Hag starts a ritual to bestow a curse on those they captured to turn them into more Perytons viewing it as justice to turn them against their would be rescurers and former friends and families in their towns.
When the party advance into the area have them watched by Peryton flying overhead and they find an old shack in a small glade or cave with an old lady (the Hag in disguise). She will be amiable and friendly and tells them "its all stuff and nonsense and those "eagles" are all riled up because those knights keep comng and going", she can otherwise seem somewhat delusion thinking the Perytons are eagles. Then you can roleplay it out and see if she can persuade the party to leave. If the party get a bit aggressive then she can Dimension Door or Polymrph and fly away and she starts her ritual on one of the kidnapped townsfolk.
If the party agree to help the Hag she will tell them of another forgotten pass through the mountains, they just need to visit the Officer incharge of the local forces and tell them to stay clear of the area due to "insert made up reason" and flash the amulet they were given, the officer will agree and divert forces to the new pass the Hag made the party aware of, the party then report back to the Hag who then releases the hostages.
Wow Rob, this is insane, thank you!
How do you come up with ideas like this? I will maybe tweak it a little bit because I slowly want the player to get to know that there is a war going on but this is extremely helpful and creative. Wish I would have had the ideas for some of this stuff myself. Thank you very much!
If you wanted to go a little less heavy on the magic you could also replace the Hag with one or more Ranger/Beastmasters training Monstrousities instead of Beasts which might be a little more flavourful with them each having a Peryton as an animal companion.