I am currently running my first game LMOP and want to run a character oriented game, offering development and eventually tying the story line and adventures into the characters back story. My players have all created their own characters and back stories, which I am encouraging them to develop further so that I can pull from them for the story. One player came up with a great idea to have a guest PC character, for friends of players to come and play without committing to the campaign. I plan on implementing this character and turning it against them.
My idea is to have the character be a crazy / schizophrenic character, and when each guest comes to play him, I will give them seperate notes about what they know, and they can each play aspects of their personality. When there is no guest player, I can run them as an NPC. My Plan is to have each guest player know certain aspects of each characters unwritten history, and information that can tie them to a future narrative / adventure. basically through his different personalities he knows all about all the characters, but not all at once.
I would also perhaps like to have this character turn on them at some stage, later on when it turns out they are under the influence of their nemesis.
Specifically I am looking for ideas for the origin back story (written and unwritten) for this character. Maybe he is the (unknown) older brother of one of the characters who went searching for those responsible for the death of their parents and entire village, and encountered a magical item that was too powerful for him and drove him mad? (two of my players have created characters whos parents were killed soon after they were born, and they were raised by others, So i Figure this is a good way to work in a mutual enemy / nemisis) Maybe he is some kind of avatar for souls that have been absorbed into the septer of savras, who are all trying to get out through the possession of this being?
these are just some of my ideas so far, but its hard to brainstorm when I cant talk about my ideas to any of the players without ruining the surprise. So I thought I would post here instead to get some kind of brainstorm going, and see what might be able to develop. all ideas / questions / critique welcome!
Since its epic fantasy, how about going for a curse instead of schizophrenia?
In the battle of the mine 500 years ago one of the mercenary wizards helping the orca was a hag from a powerful coven. After the battle, seven (or whatever suits) dwarves, gnomes and humans where all that was left. A couple were hardened veterans, a few just regular folks and the last ones scholars of some kind. The survivors were the payment for the hags services, who in turn cursed them with life everlasting. An unlife, trapped inside a “vessel” where they would alternate popping out, not knowing what had happened recently. Over time, they’ve gotten aware of what the curse means and communicate through a great leather bound journal.
So, you have a number of roles you can set up, each with a few clues to the ancient history of LMP. They won’t be totally out of the loop about the rest of the PC:s (since they can read up in their journal, given new notes of course - something the guest can write via email after a session they were part of). Apart from giving the group a direct connection to the story, you could have them piece together they actual story in the end.
If you have a longer campaign going you can throw in the coven later as a powerful evil force, that the group then could be very motivated to fight. One big baddie down the road planted from the go.
The “vessel” can be any type of character you find suitable as usable enough for most. Due to the curse the bodd can live forever but who it once was is forever lost. The X number of cursed ones inhabit it. This can be for comic relief (unsuitable for some skills the cursed ones have) if need be. It can also be tormented and an object of pity as well as, occasionally, turn out to be surprisingly helpful/powerful. A bit of a tricky balance but possible (mediocre ability scores perhaps but some feats instead to weigh up and give flavor?). Sometimes knows this, sometimes that. The guests can pick class, spells etc for the cursed one they play, along with original race (which comes out in behavior, not look or abilities), name, personality etc.
Haha! That sounds AWESOME! An option you could try is that some random cult in the past massacred one hundred prisoners, and used their souls to create life for a flesh golem they had created. It could be a Frankenstein sort of thing, but with 100 different souls vying for one body. Each new player can be a different soul, some evil, some good,(some young, some old) but they ALL have one purpose they have to fulfill through whatever means they have. Its a command they have no choice but to obey. I don't know, but however it ends up, the character sounds amazing, and I'd love to see updates on how it works out!
An unlife, trapped inside a “vessel” where they would alternate popping out, not knowing what had happened recently. Over time, they’ve gotten aware of what the curse means and communicate through a great leather bound journal.
This is a cool idea. Having a prop that belongs to the character which guest players use to try and eleviate their confusion and figure out what is going in in character. I also kinda like the idea of giving the character random abilities or spells that are linked their past, but unexpected for the avatar. EG: give them fire ball without any explanation. so the new player is like. "ummmmm ive got fire ball. I will cast that. " Other players /characters: "youve got fireball! WTF how did you get that? that cant be right!" etc, but the guest player is as clueless as they are :)
Since its epic fantasy, how about going for a curse instead of schizophrenia?
Yes this is the idea I need to flesh out, and you have given some great ideas to ponder. As far as the players know, this character seems schizophrenic / crazy, and that is the description they get, when I explain the premise for the guest character. However, what is actually causing this, and what there is to discover is what I need help fleshing out.
I think maybe I should have been clearer about my desire for the personalities links to the characters. My intention is for the different personalities to know different things, insights about each of the other players characters background. And through the course of TLMOP drops hints and sets up narratives so that by the time we get to the end of wave echo cave, the players and characters are informed and motivated enough to go after the bigger arch story the first step that will lead to the big bad guy who killed their families, and entire village!. that ties in with them directly. if i can hook this up with the TLMOP story then all the better!
A little detail about the characters back stories to help with this: One is a halfling ranger. her parents were "killed" (were they though?) when their village was raided and decimated by an unknown force. She was then adopted by elven rangers who were chasing this force, and raised in their ways.
Another is an elven rouge, who was raised by centaurs not knowing his true family. he acted as their hunting scout until one day the entire (herd?) was wiped out by an unknown force.
a third is a soldier, who fled his station and went into exile when a decision that he made caused his entire battalion to be slaughtered (by the hand of the same force?)
So I am thinking that the overarching arc and nemesis can tie these stories together, and give the characters a chance to seek the answers to unknown questions, and absolution for their pasts.
Maybe the unknown force was some kind of entity (new to D&D universe, so not sure what is appropriate) who was going around gathering souls to power some larger aim of his (no idea what this would be), And maybe these souls are in-fact actually still salvageable? Maybe the guest PC reveals that actually the other characters parents are still not strictly dead, But imprisoned for evil purposes and salvageable, if only they achieve some mammoth task. Maybe the same goes for the soldiers of the lost batalion, and maybe these spirits manage to get a message out through the guest PC. But maybe this ends actually being a trap set by the force, in order to lure the adventurers into danger, so that thier own souls, can complete the last piece of the great work. The last souls needed to power the magic that will [insert nemises ultimate goal]
Something like that? Im really not sure on details. Ideas? critique?
Also, being a new DM I am not sure if after LMOP if I should launch straight into the this larger story hook, and make it up as I go along, or if I would be better to go into a pre written module like storm kinds thunder, but also work my story into it in parallel. Thoughts?
Hmmm, what if it is a vessel powered by 10 different sentient cursed items, and each cursed item has different qualities? Like one could be a medallion that is embedded in his forehead, or a coin embedded in his palm, and each one is in control at different times? Hooks for the characters could be things like, the soldier was part of the troop that recovered one of these cursed artifacts, or one artifact could have belonged to the herd of centaurs and was one of the reasons they were attacked. I don't know, it sounds like the ideas you have are really good, you just need a method to implement them. I'd recommend taking some existing homebrew builds and modifying them to fit your needs. That's always worked out well for me, and the creators of these are ingenious so there are sure to be some good stuff!
As far as the next part of the story, I am still newish to DMing too, but my preference is to homebrew my stories. I am a writer, so I love creating worlds and stories, but more importantly I best like the freedom that comes with homebrew. There is no mistake that running a ready written module is much easier on the brain though. It took me two months to put together a campaign, and that's only the outlines of everything. Details I usually have to spend the day of preparing. If you have a lot of time to prep, and you want a bit more freedom, I would recommend you try a short homebrew adventure at least once. It really helps deepen you knowledge of 5e rules and mechanics and there are opportunities for TONS of things.
My hombrew campaign has the players stuck in a hall with 12 doors that all lead to different worlds or rooms, and one is a dead world, where all the living things have been dead for hundreds of years because one of their deities, the evil god Time(known as The Destroyer) broke free during a sacrifice and consumed all the time left in the world. They can enter this dead world, full of husks of the dead which crumble when you touch them, and fight the god Time, who possessed the body of the young man that was sacrificed. Their first view of him will be an emaciated young man lifting himself from a crystal alter stained with blood, and they see him with an open bleeding wound on his chest, and no heart, behind him a pit full of bones. Pretty epic scene actually. :)
Anyway, through that, I'm actually able to make a hombrew oneshot I'm going to have them play, where they play students of a royal magic academy, right before the god breaks free, and they have to find their missing friend( the young man sacrifice Time will posses). It will go through the last day of this world, where they slowly figure out things that are happening, and they manage to escape to the Forgotten Realms through the sacrifice of their teachers right before Time arrives to consume them. It's a fun little Easter egg story to pull out if I need it.
All that to say, I don't know what kind of games you like to play, but just creating that has been amazingly fun and great for mechanics knowledge, so I do recommend trying it out.
-thechimericalcookie
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Hi everyone. New GM first time poster here.
I am currently running my first game LMOP and want to run a character oriented game, offering development and eventually tying the story line and adventures into the characters back story.
My players have all created their own characters and back stories, which I am encouraging them to develop further so that I can pull from them for the story.
One player came up with a great idea to have a guest PC character, for friends of players to come and play without committing to the campaign. I plan on implementing this character and turning it against them.
My idea is to have the character be a crazy / schizophrenic character, and when each guest comes to play him, I will give them seperate notes about what they know, and they can each play aspects of their personality. When there is no guest player, I can run them as an NPC. My Plan is to have each guest player know certain aspects of each characters unwritten history, and information that can tie them to a future narrative / adventure. basically through his different personalities he knows all about all the characters, but not all at once.
I would also perhaps like to have this character turn on them at some stage, later on when it turns out they are under the influence of their nemesis.
Specifically I am looking for ideas for the origin back story (written and unwritten) for this character.
Maybe he is the (unknown) older brother of one of the characters who went searching for those responsible for the death of their parents and entire village, and encountered a magical item that was too powerful for him and drove him mad? (two of my players have created characters whos parents were killed soon after they were born, and they were raised by others, So i Figure this is a good way to work in a mutual enemy / nemisis)
Maybe he is some kind of avatar for souls that have been absorbed into the septer of savras, who are all trying to get out through the possession of this being?
these are just some of my ideas so far, but its hard to brainstorm when I cant talk about my ideas to any of the players without ruining the surprise. So I thought I would post here instead to get some kind of brainstorm going, and see what might be able to develop. all ideas / questions / critique welcome!
Since its epic fantasy, how about going for a curse instead of schizophrenia?
In the battle of the mine 500 years ago one of the mercenary wizards helping the orca was a hag from a powerful coven. After the battle, seven (or whatever suits) dwarves, gnomes and humans where all that was left. A couple were hardened veterans, a few just regular folks and the last ones scholars of some kind. The survivors were the payment for the hags services, who in turn cursed them with life everlasting. An unlife, trapped inside a “vessel” where they would alternate popping out, not knowing what had happened recently. Over time, they’ve gotten aware of what the curse means and communicate through a great leather bound journal.
So, you have a number of roles you can set up, each with a few clues to the ancient history of LMP. They won’t be totally out of the loop about the rest of the PC:s (since they can read up in their journal, given new notes of course - something the guest can write via email after a session they were part of). Apart from giving the group a direct connection to the story, you could have them piece together they actual story in the end.
If you have a longer campaign going you can throw in the coven later as a powerful evil force, that the group then could be very motivated to fight. One big baddie down the road planted from the go.
The “vessel” can be any type of character you find suitable as usable enough for most. Due to the curse the bodd can live forever but who it once was is forever lost. The X number of cursed ones inhabit it. This can be for comic relief (unsuitable for some skills the cursed ones have) if need be. It can also be tormented and an object of pity as well as, occasionally, turn out to be surprisingly helpful/powerful. A bit of a tricky balance but possible (mediocre ability scores perhaps but some feats instead to weigh up and give flavor?). Sometimes knows this, sometimes that. The guests can pick class, spells etc for the cursed one they play, along with original race (which comes out in behavior, not look or abilities), name, personality etc.
Haha! That sounds AWESOME! An option you could try is that some random cult in the past massacred one hundred prisoners, and used their souls to create life for a flesh golem they had created. It could be a Frankenstein sort of thing, but with 100 different souls vying for one body. Each new player can be a different soul, some evil, some good,(some young, some old) but they ALL have one purpose they have to fulfill through whatever means they have. Its a command they have no choice but to obey. I don't know, but however it ends up, the character sounds amazing, and I'd love to see updates on how it works out!
-thechimericalcookie
cheers guys some great ideas for contemplation here!
This is a cool idea. Having a prop that belongs to the character which guest players use to try and eleviate their confusion and figure out what is going in in character.
I also kinda like the idea of giving the character random abilities or spells that are linked their past, but unexpected for the avatar. EG: give them fire ball without any explanation. so the new player is like. "ummmmm ive got fire ball. I will cast that. " Other players /characters: "youve got fireball! WTF how did you get that? that cant be right!" etc, but the guest player is as clueless as they are :)
Yes this is the idea I need to flesh out, and you have given some great ideas to ponder. As far as the players know, this character seems schizophrenic / crazy, and that is the description they get, when I explain the premise for the guest character. However, what is actually causing this, and what there is to discover is what I need help fleshing out.
I think maybe I should have been clearer about my desire for the personalities links to the characters. My intention is for the different personalities to know different things, insights about each of the other players characters background. And through the course of TLMOP drops hints and sets up narratives so that by the time we get to the end of wave echo cave, the players and characters are informed and motivated enough to go after the bigger arch story the first step that will lead to the big bad guy who killed their families, and entire village!. that ties in with them directly. if i can hook this up with the TLMOP story then all the better!
A little detail about the characters back stories to help with this:
One is a halfling ranger. her parents were "killed" (were they though?) when their village was raided and decimated by an unknown force. She was then adopted by elven rangers who were chasing this force, and raised in their ways.
Another is an elven rouge, who was raised by centaurs not knowing his true family. he acted as their hunting scout until one day the entire (herd?) was wiped out by an unknown force.
a third is a soldier, who fled his station and went into exile when a decision that he made caused his entire battalion to be slaughtered (by the hand of the same force?)
So I am thinking that the overarching arc and nemesis can tie these stories together, and give the characters a chance to seek the answers to unknown questions, and absolution for their pasts.
Maybe the unknown force was some kind of entity (new to D&D universe, so not sure what is appropriate) who was going around gathering souls to power some larger aim of his (no idea what this would be), And maybe these souls are in-fact actually still salvageable? Maybe the guest PC reveals that actually the other characters parents are still not strictly dead, But imprisoned for evil purposes and salvageable, if only they achieve some mammoth task. Maybe the same goes for the soldiers of the lost batalion, and maybe these spirits manage to get a message out through the guest PC. But maybe this ends actually being a trap set by the force, in order to lure the adventurers into danger, so that thier own souls, can complete the last piece of the great work. The last souls needed to power the magic that will [insert nemises ultimate goal]
Something like that? Im really not sure on details. Ideas? critique?
Also, being a new DM I am not sure if after LMOP if I should launch straight into the this larger story hook, and make it up as I go along, or if I would be better to go into a pre written module like storm kinds thunder, but also work my story into it in parallel. Thoughts?
Hey again bregiz!
Hmmm, what if it is a vessel powered by 10 different sentient cursed items, and each cursed item has different qualities? Like one could be a medallion that is embedded in his forehead, or a coin embedded in his palm, and each one is in control at different times? Hooks for the characters could be things like, the soldier was part of the troop that recovered one of these cursed artifacts, or one artifact could have belonged to the herd of centaurs and was one of the reasons they were attacked. I don't know, it sounds like the ideas you have are really good, you just need a method to implement them. I'd recommend taking some existing homebrew builds and modifying them to fit your needs. That's always worked out well for me, and the creators of these are ingenious so there are sure to be some good stuff!
As far as the next part of the story, I am still newish to DMing too, but my preference is to homebrew my stories. I am a writer, so I love creating worlds and stories, but more importantly I best like the freedom that comes with homebrew. There is no mistake that running a ready written module is much easier on the brain though. It took me two months to put together a campaign, and that's only the outlines of everything. Details I usually have to spend the day of preparing. If you have a lot of time to prep, and you want a bit more freedom, I would recommend you try a short homebrew adventure at least once. It really helps deepen you knowledge of 5e rules and mechanics and there are opportunities for TONS of things.
My hombrew campaign has the players stuck in a hall with 12 doors that all lead to different worlds or rooms, and one is a dead world, where all the living things have been dead for hundreds of years because one of their deities, the evil god Time(known as The Destroyer) broke free during a sacrifice and consumed all the time left in the world. They can enter this dead world, full of husks of the dead which crumble when you touch them, and fight the god Time, who possessed the body of the young man that was sacrificed. Their first view of him will be an emaciated young man lifting himself from a crystal alter stained with blood, and they see him with an open bleeding wound on his chest, and no heart, behind him a pit full of bones. Pretty epic scene actually. :)
Anyway, through that, I'm actually able to make a hombrew oneshot I'm going to have them play, where they play students of a royal magic academy, right before the god breaks free, and they have to find their missing friend( the young man sacrifice Time will posses). It will go through the last day of this world, where they slowly figure out things that are happening, and they manage to escape to the Forgotten Realms through the sacrifice of their teachers right before Time arrives to consume them. It's a fun little Easter egg story to pull out if I need it.
All that to say, I don't know what kind of games you like to play, but just creating that has been amazingly fun and great for mechanics knowledge, so I do recommend trying it out.
-thechimericalcookie