I'm currently writing and arranging an Exandria campaign. It's going to start as a level 5 start, with experienced party. Here's my little snippet regarding the intro.
This story begins in the year 825 PD (Post Divergence), ten years later after Vecna's defeat by Vox Machina. The Earth Titan, with the ruins of Thar Amphala still remaining on top of it, is on its knees just at the base of the Heaven's Stair, a giant mountain that overlooks the entirety of the city and bisects the northern portion of Vasselheim. This Titan was left there to cast a reminder over the people of what could have been if it wasn't for the bravery of Vox Machina and their allies.
However, that legacy is not the focus of this story as deep underground, the sounds of chains resonating through thousands of tunnels, shifting and rattling, grinding against one another. Source less. Water dripping into small pools and echoing against walls. Sounds of slithering and skittering of many denizens of the underdark.
Within a cell deep underground, our figures of interest began to groan as they come to consciousness, bodies aching painfully and their wrists and ankles bounded by rope. The only light sources are three small sconces; two on opposite walls, and one outside of the cell but burning very low and casting dim light. Thankfully, enough to reveal a small room with a presence of furniture.
You all blink your eyes and shake your head. Your minds are heavy with fog and having no memory of who they are or how they got there, surrounded by strangers.
So, I'm trying to find subjects to fill in the holes for plot and I'm struggling to settle on why the party was ambushed and knocked out.
Considering there were followers of Vecna that had scattered after the conflict, I thought maybe they were the group that is trying to make a come back. The group were to be sacrificed but the cult's plan were interrupted by a conflict they weren't expecting. I'm trying to think of what or whom.
I'm not thinking about another group of heroes or a rescue party. I'm thinking along the lines of they accidently stumbled upon something and being utterly destroyed by influences that worship or belong to other betrayer gods, like Tharizdun, Zehir, or Asmodeus.
Or it could be a creature that ruined their day. Any recommendations are welcomed and appreciated.
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"The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true."
Easiest way to do this is to simply have their summoning ritual go wrong before the sacrifice.
That said, I truly dislike this concept. Ambush and knocked out are typical story tropes that are totally unrealistic, but viable story hooks because hey, magic! The real problem is not the ambush and knocked out, but the Amnesia. In the real world amnesia does not work like that, but with magic sure, let's pretend it does. Problem is why? Little to no reason to ever knock people out and take away their memories that thoroughly. ESPECIALLY if they keep their 'non-personal' memories, such as languages, skills, levels, etc. It is pointlessly cruel while at the same time keeping them powerful. It is almost certain to create a group of focused enemies that will hunt down their memories and go after the guy that did it. Moreover, if you can erase their memories that thoroughly, it is easier to let them keep their memories and simply move them to another plane. Not like a level 5 character is going to planeshift home.
That said, there is a GOOD reason for people to wake with no memory surrounded by total strangers:
They are not naturally born people, but instead newly created life given basic memories of language, levels, and skills. Think of them as celestial/fiendish souls given bodies. Perhaps they have also been given some hints or hidden instincts to point them in the right direction to do their Creator's bidding.
Why do this? To make it difficult for your god-like enemy to find them. Nothing they say or do will accidentally reveal they work for the Creator. No Divination can every reveal their association because even they do not know of it.
You could have some enemies interrupt the Creator before he had completed his work, but he easily kills them, leaving their bodies around as he finishes his 'birthing' process.
That's my take on this classic story hook. They have no memories because they are in truth new born babes in the woods. Any enemies nearby tried to stop your birth, but failed miserably.
I'm going to completely disagree with Mog and say that the amnesia is perfectly reasonable, given that you're dealing with a cult of Vecna. He's the god of evil secrets. Deleting knowledge from a bunch of adventurers is well within Vecna's portfolio, and it's logical that he'd empower his followers with limited abilities to do the same.
Maybe during the ritual, the cultists stumbled on a prophecy that the party was actually destined to destroy Vecna's followers once and for all; they tried to kill the party and a mysterious force (another god or benevolent being) intervened. Maybe a different betrayer god got involved and plans to use the party as leverage against Vecna. Maybe there was a magical explosion at the exact moment of the sacrifice where everyone in the area became briefly immortal. Maybe one of the cultists in the sacrifice was actually a member of the Cobalt Soul in disguise and managed to disrupt the ritual in time; now they're being hunted and could run into/team up with the party in the future. Or, as Mog suggested, maybe the cultists just didn't do the ritual correctly and need more supplies to try it again, hence the incarceration.
I thought the same thing but to each their own regarding likes and dislikes. There's a difference between amnesia through physical reasons and magical suppression. They obviously didn't get 'amnesia' through being ambushed. There's many items and potions that can be created to temporarily (or permanently suppress things). And it is going to be temporary.
The effects of leaving the Faewyld has magical suppression so why can't magic reasons have similar effect. And you're right, the aspect of Vecna and being a entity of evil could have been at play. I actually like that. About a member of the Cobalt Soul in disguise ****ed their shit up.
Thanks for the a good handful of hooks too. I wrote them down. The game hasn't started yet so I have time until. I wonder how Vecna would feel if other Betrayer god's are getting involved now that he's part of the pantheon.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true."
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I'm currently writing and arranging an Exandria campaign. It's going to start as a level 5 start, with experienced party. Here's my little snippet regarding the intro.
So, I'm trying to find subjects to fill in the holes for plot and I'm struggling to settle on why the party was ambushed and knocked out.
Considering there were followers of Vecna that had scattered after the conflict, I thought maybe they were the group that is trying to make a come back. The group were to be sacrificed but the cult's plan were interrupted by a conflict they weren't expecting. I'm trying to think of what or whom.
I'm not thinking about another group of heroes or a rescue party. I'm thinking along the lines of they accidently stumbled upon something and being utterly destroyed by influences that worship or belong to other betrayer gods, like Tharizdun, Zehir, or Asmodeus.
Or it could be a creature that ruined their day. Any recommendations are welcomed and appreciated.
"The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true."
Easiest way to do this is to simply have their summoning ritual go wrong before the sacrifice.
That said, I truly dislike this concept. Ambush and knocked out are typical story tropes that are totally unrealistic, but viable story hooks because hey, magic! The real problem is not the ambush and knocked out, but the Amnesia. In the real world amnesia does not work like that, but with magic sure, let's pretend it does. Problem is why? Little to no reason to ever knock people out and take away their memories that thoroughly. ESPECIALLY if they keep their 'non-personal' memories, such as languages, skills, levels, etc. It is pointlessly cruel while at the same time keeping them powerful. It is almost certain to create a group of focused enemies that will hunt down their memories and go after the guy that did it. Moreover, if you can erase their memories that thoroughly, it is easier to let them keep their memories and simply move them to another plane. Not like a level 5 character is going to planeshift home.
That said, there is a GOOD reason for people to wake with no memory surrounded by total strangers:
They are not naturally born people, but instead newly created life given basic memories of language, levels, and skills. Think of them as celestial/fiendish souls given bodies. Perhaps they have also been given some hints or hidden instincts to point them in the right direction to do their Creator's bidding.
Why do this? To make it difficult for your god-like enemy to find them. Nothing they say or do will accidentally reveal they work for the Creator. No Divination can every reveal their association because even they do not know of it.
You could have some enemies interrupt the Creator before he had completed his work, but he easily kills them, leaving their bodies around as he finishes his 'birthing' process.
That's my take on this classic story hook. They have no memories because they are in truth new born babes in the woods. Any enemies nearby tried to stop your birth, but failed miserably.
I'm going to completely disagree with Mog and say that the amnesia is perfectly reasonable, given that you're dealing with a cult of Vecna. He's the god of evil secrets. Deleting knowledge from a bunch of adventurers is well within Vecna's portfolio, and it's logical that he'd empower his followers with limited abilities to do the same.
Maybe during the ritual, the cultists stumbled on a prophecy that the party was actually destined to destroy Vecna's followers once and for all; they tried to kill the party and a mysterious force (another god or benevolent being) intervened. Maybe a different betrayer god got involved and plans to use the party as leverage against Vecna. Maybe there was a magical explosion at the exact moment of the sacrifice where everyone in the area became briefly immortal. Maybe one of the cultists in the sacrifice was actually a member of the Cobalt Soul in disguise and managed to disrupt the ritual in time; now they're being hunted and could run into/team up with the party in the future. Or, as Mog suggested, maybe the cultists just didn't do the ritual correctly and need more supplies to try it again, hence the incarceration.
I thought the same thing but to each their own regarding likes and dislikes. There's a difference between amnesia through physical reasons and magical suppression. They obviously didn't get 'amnesia' through being ambushed. There's many items and potions that can be created to temporarily (or permanently suppress things). And it is going to be temporary.
The effects of leaving the Faewyld has magical suppression so why can't magic reasons have similar effect. And you're right, the aspect of Vecna and being a entity of evil could have been at play. I actually like that. About a member of the Cobalt Soul in disguise ****ed their shit up.
Thanks for the a good handful of hooks too. I wrote them down. The game hasn't started yet so I have time until. I wonder how Vecna would feel if other Betrayer god's are getting involved now that he's part of the pantheon.
"The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true."