Hey guys, I'm starting a home brew campaign next week and wanted to kick off with a bit of a mystery tone. The group is very casual, so I don't want to have a huge overarching story, they are happy with moving from quest to quest and we will see how the plot goes based on their actions.
I was thinking of starting the players as being a group of adventurers travelling on a boat from baldurs gate up to neverwinter, but mid way through they hit a storm and need to dock at Saltmarsh to make emergency repairs to the ship. Whilst there, they are in a tavern and get arrested by the watch without explanation (they haven't done anything). It is here the campaign starts, whilst in jail a group of goblins or other monsters kill the guards and make their way to the jail cell and want the players killed or have information extracted from them. This should make the players think "why do they want us? have we done anything? are we being framed?"
I've got some story to think out obviously, but I was after some ideas as to why the players have been framed/mistaken?
Revenge for an adventuring party that has stolen loot from a goblin home, identities mistaken? They want their sacred idol back and wish to interrogate the last survivor? A contraband item has been planted on them to transport into the city by someone on the boat they hired? And they want it back?
This is only intended to be a 2 or 3 session adventure that I will lead in to a bigger story, there are 3 new players to the game and 1 experienced one, so I wanted it to be a bit of fun and open the session with a bang.
Hey guys, I'm starting a home brew campaign next week and wanted to kick off with a bit of a mystery tone. The group is very casual, so I don't want to have a huge overarching story, they are happy with moving from quest to quest and we will see how the plot goes based on their actions.
I was thinking of starting the players as being a group of adventurers travelling on a boat from baldurs gate up to neverwinter, but mid way through they hit a storm and need to dock at Saltmarsh to make emergency repairs to the ship. Whilst there, they are in a tavern and get arrested by the watch without explanation (they haven't done anything). It is here the campaign starts, whilst in jail a group of goblins or other monsters kill the guards and make their way to the jail cell and want the players killed or have information extracted from them. This should make the players think "why do they want us? have we done anything? are we being framed?"
I've got some story to think out obviously, but I was after some ideas as to why the players have been framed/mistaken?
Revenge for an adventuring party that has stolen loot from a goblin home, identities mistaken? They want their sacred idol back and wish to interrogate the last survivor? A contraband item has been planted on them to transport into the city by someone on the boat they hired? And they want it back?
This is only intended to be a 2 or 3 session adventure that I will lead in to a bigger story, there are 3 new players to the game and 1 experienced one, so I wanted it to be a bit of fun and open the session with a bang.
The king's death has been foretold in a prophecy that describes the killers in a way that fits the adventuring party, and the king is taking the prophecy seriously. The goblins are here because they also believe in the prophecy, which mentions Maglubiyet by name and can be interpreted to mean the PCs are his chosen ones (or his unwitting rubes - it's pretty ambiguous, like most prophecies), placing the party at the center of the goblin religion. The goblins want to know how the PCs are connected to their god.
You are thinking way way way way way way too far ahead and are going to rail road your players big time.
Just start with “the players are traveling on a boat”. Period. They can decide where they want to go and why, and prepare content around their decision for next session. In the meantime, the rest of your world advances its agenda.
I agree with samuel, just start with them traveling by sea, and if you want specifically a boat,
but if the players are fairly new to the game, you can railroad them a little bit, nothing wrong with railroading. starting off can be overwhelming sometimes, and had a plethora of times where my players just had so many options and such freedom of choice that they wanted to be railroaded a little
So here's what I would do: Have someone on the ship plant an important artifact on one of the players. Then have someone on the docks belonging to a faction in your campaign bump into them and steal it. The guards and goblins would think the players still have it - hence the chaos. The faction involved could step in and help the players and then become a potential quest hub. Just make sure to let the players make some choices as things are developing to avoid the railroad mentioned above. Maybe they try a jailbreak before the goblins show up. Maybe the faction agent show up while the goblins are fighting the guards and the players have to choose to run quickly or sneak away. Maybe the party escapes capture in the first place and are on the run, never meeting the goblins at all, but then still find the faction agent as they are laying low. Just be prepared to react to their choices and it should work out fine.
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Hey guys, I'm starting a home brew campaign next week and wanted to kick off with a bit of a mystery tone. The group is very casual, so I don't want to have a huge overarching story, they are happy with moving from quest to quest and we will see how the plot goes based on their actions.
I was thinking of starting the players as being a group of adventurers travelling on a boat from baldurs gate up to neverwinter, but mid way through they hit a storm and need to dock at Saltmarsh to make emergency repairs to the ship. Whilst there, they are in a tavern and get arrested by the watch without explanation (they haven't done anything). It is here the campaign starts, whilst in jail a group of goblins or other monsters kill the guards and make their way to the jail cell and want the players killed or have information extracted from them. This should make the players think "why do they want us? have we done anything? are we being framed?"
I've got some story to think out obviously, but I was after some ideas as to why the players have been framed/mistaken?
Revenge for an adventuring party that has stolen loot from a goblin home, identities mistaken? They want their sacred idol back and wish to interrogate the last survivor?
A contraband item has been planted on them to transport into the city by someone on the boat they hired? And they want it back?
This is only intended to be a 2 or 3 session adventure that I will lead in to a bigger story, there are 3 new players to the game and 1 experienced one, so I wanted it to be a bit of fun and open the session with a bang.
The king's death has been foretold in a prophecy that describes the killers in a way that fits the adventuring party, and the king is taking the prophecy seriously. The goblins are here because they also believe in the prophecy, which mentions Maglubiyet by name and can be interpreted to mean the PCs are his chosen ones (or his unwitting rubes - it's pretty ambiguous, like most prophecies), placing the party at the center of the goblin religion. The goblins want to know how the PCs are connected to their god.
You are thinking way way way way way way too far ahead and are going to rail road your players big time.
Just start with “the players are traveling on a boat”. Period. They can decide where they want to go and why, and prepare content around their decision for next session. In the meantime, the rest of your world advances its agenda.
I agree with samuel, just start with them traveling by sea, and if you want specifically a boat,
but if the players are fairly new to the game, you can railroad them a little bit, nothing wrong with railroading.
starting off can be overwhelming sometimes, and had a plethora of times where my players just had so many options and such freedom of choice that they wanted to be railroaded a little
So here's what I would do: Have someone on the ship plant an important artifact on one of the players. Then have someone on the docks belonging to a faction in your campaign bump into them and steal it. The guards and goblins would think the players still have it - hence the chaos. The faction involved could step in and help the players and then become a potential quest hub. Just make sure to let the players make some choices as things are developing to avoid the railroad mentioned above. Maybe they try a jailbreak before the goblins show up. Maybe the faction agent show up while the goblins are fighting the guards and the players have to choose to run quickly or sneak away. Maybe the party escapes capture in the first place and are on the run, never meeting the goblins at all, but then still find the faction agent as they are laying low. Just be prepared to react to their choices and it should work out fine.