I'm planning my campaign around a party member trying to resurrect his fallen celestial ancestor to form a peasant rebellion. The twist is that the imprisoned ancestor is actually a sentient item containing his soul. The question I'm debating is:
1. Should I reward them with the item in the first scenario (a short tomb delving puzzle) and move the plot forward.
2. Give them a clue in the tomb that leads to an multi session find the thing quest.
3. Make them run around the city figuring out the legend of the tombs occupant and his Pythagorean like mathematical wizard cult to decipher the location of the hidden tomb (starting to favor this one personally).
Any personal history with this sort of thing? Logic is telling me to build up as much tension as possible before the reveal. Haven't seen much debate on this point either, seems like a good talking point concerning campaign writing. I'm really interested in attempting to get the rhythm of a good ol' Robert E. Howard/Conan/Sword and Sorcery vibe. They just feel so good.
Here's an idea: ALL THREE! There are some mystery writers that craft their stories in such a way that any character could have killed the victim, and they don't have to decide who actually did it until the end. Maybe you could try something similar, where you give them an item early on that could plausibly end up as the soul vessel, lead them on a quest to find a different object, and seed the entire thing with rumors and tidbits of the tomb legend and cult. This has two benefits:
First, it lets you put off the decision. I've lost track of how many times I committed to one plan, twist, or story progression, only to wish I'd chosen another one or had the players take things in a completely different direction that it weakened my original plan. If I wait, then I can decide which works best. If it's more interesting for them to have had the celestial ancestor with them the entire time, then option 1 is the correct one, and the other avenues were just red herrings. If you ultimately feel that the players need to be substantially rewarded for their quest, then it's the second item. If the rumor hunting will have the most effective payoff for the group, then third time's a charm!
Second, it leaves some opportunity for the players to give input. I'm not sure how it is at your table, but the games I play have a good deal of speculation concerning the motivations of villains, true natures of magical items/forces, etc. It behooves the DM to listen to those conversations, as a better idea than the established campaign details may present itself. Then, on top of the freedom to choose the most satisfying twist, your players can enjoy the fact that they had an active role in the course of the campaign (beyond their already substantial influence as protagonists).
Not a bad idea but, unfortunately it won't really work in this situation. I'm going to need to plan this one out in quite a bit of detail to avoid plot holes and I only have a few days left, so 3 paths might be a bit overwhelming. I think I'm going with option 3 and see how they approach the problem.
I love Robert E Howard and think more than anyone he mapped out the D&D universe. A brilliant story teller, a master at drawing the reader in and making us believe.
For your dilemma I would set up the scene, and see where the story takes them.
I find the more options the party have, the easier my job, since they begin to steer the significant plot lines. The option I saw as a side quest becomes their main objective.
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I'm planning my campaign around a party member trying to resurrect his fallen celestial ancestor to form a peasant rebellion. The twist is that the imprisoned ancestor is actually a sentient item containing his soul. The question I'm debating is:
1. Should I reward them with the item in the first scenario (a short tomb delving puzzle) and move the plot forward.
2. Give them a clue in the tomb that leads to an multi session find the thing quest.
3. Make them run around the city figuring out the legend of the tombs occupant and his Pythagorean like mathematical wizard cult to decipher the location of the hidden tomb (starting to favor this one personally).
Any personal history with this sort of thing? Logic is telling me to build up as much tension as possible before the reveal. Haven't seen much debate on this point either, seems like a good talking point concerning campaign writing. I'm really interested in attempting to get the rhythm of a good ol' Robert E. Howard/Conan/Sword and Sorcery vibe. They just feel so good.
Here's an idea: ALL THREE! There are some mystery writers that craft their stories in such a way that any character could have killed the victim, and they don't have to decide who actually did it until the end. Maybe you could try something similar, where you give them an item early on that could plausibly end up as the soul vessel, lead them on a quest to find a different object, and seed the entire thing with rumors and tidbits of the tomb legend and cult. This has two benefits:
First, it lets you put off the decision. I've lost track of how many times I committed to one plan, twist, or story progression, only to wish I'd chosen another one or had the players take things in a completely different direction that it weakened my original plan. If I wait, then I can decide which works best. If it's more interesting for them to have had the celestial ancestor with them the entire time, then option 1 is the correct one, and the other avenues were just red herrings. If you ultimately feel that the players need to be substantially rewarded for their quest, then it's the second item. If the rumor hunting will have the most effective payoff for the group, then third time's a charm!
Second, it leaves some opportunity for the players to give input. I'm not sure how it is at your table, but the games I play have a good deal of speculation concerning the motivations of villains, true natures of magical items/forces, etc. It behooves the DM to listen to those conversations, as a better idea than the established campaign details may present itself. Then, on top of the freedom to choose the most satisfying twist, your players can enjoy the fact that they had an active role in the course of the campaign (beyond their already substantial influence as protagonists).
Not a bad idea but, unfortunately it won't really work in this situation. I'm going to need to plan this one out in quite a bit of detail to avoid plot holes and I only have a few days left, so 3 paths might be a bit overwhelming. I think I'm going with option 3 and see how they approach the problem.
I love Robert E Howard and think more than anyone he mapped out the D&D universe. A brilliant story teller, a master at drawing the reader in and making us believe.
For your dilemma I would set up the scene, and see where the story takes them.
I find the more options the party have, the easier my job, since they begin to steer the significant plot lines. The option I saw as a side quest becomes their main objective.