I know I'll be able to handle my own world, I'm very creative and have everything laid out already. Three main cities and plenty of places for my players to go (three people, all of which I'm very close to) and I'd like some tips and potential ideas for the world, so I'll outline the world itself and the main "villian"
The campaign will take place on a continent by the name of Trosten. For a general layout and this point is important for one major city, there is a huge range of mountains dividing Trosten from the rest of the land to the north, these mountains are said to be crafted by the gods to keep terrible monsters out and chained down to keep Trosten safe, due to this everyone living in Trosten has agreed to never settle within 5 miles of the mountains, a magical barrier was set up to indicate when someone is getting close, they'll get a sick feeling and be urged to turn around, the barrier is kept up by an artifact in the capital. Now, there are three main cities: The port city capital, Trostentall. Trostentall itself is on a cliff, but has large docks going down to the water and allowing trading between other nearby continents (which I might outline in the future), Trostentall is a normal city, minus the fact the (oddly) long living leader has a strong hatred for Tieflings. Then there is Ceithir, the heart of the city is on the central island of a delta, while the rest of the city is on the other three islands, Ceithir is extremely relaxed and is the most diverse city of them all, two of my three players originate from the city due to being more obscure races (Air Genasi and Kalashtar). The last of the three main cities is Chrysos, ruled by a very wealthy family of High Elves (The Goldenrivers) they live off of Golden-Depths lake, they're very far to the north and are close to the 5 Mile Dead Zone as detailed above, one of the three main NPC's is part of the Goldenriver family. There is a druid community that lives where two main rivers meet (Central and Barren) where another one of the three main NPC's comes from, the last NPC's comes from a city/town wiped out by a plague, and that part is a work in progress but will be done soon.
Now the main villain is the oddly long living leader is an aasimar archfey warlock, her name is Silo Pilos. She organizes this annual event for aspiring mercenaries and adventurers, it allows them to get their name out there in the world, kickstart the lives they want through exploring. Silo is a classical morally grey villain, she made a pact to gain the life of an elf so she can rule of Trostenwall and Trosten for a lot longer than her ancestors in the past (leadership is passed down to the first born aasimar child of the previous leader) and got some extra powers with it. She hides it and many other things she's used her abilities to tuck away and hide from anyone in Trosten. I want her to become an ally to the party that slowly and subtly becomes more and more villainous(??) as she is corrupted by her power and desire for more and more control.
Thank you for reading and I am very much open to ideas and potential criticism. I want this to be fun and ejoyable for myself and my players as I've been told I'd make a good DM while helping my father (who DM's as well) remember rules and being one who writes a lot of stories lol
Why not use her annual event as her way of identifying potential threats. Has no one realised that winners of this annual event are never heard of again. She packages them off on a quest which is basically a suicide mission or she wipes them out herself (away from prying eyes naturally). Does anyone from your party have any links to any of these missing adventurers? The party finds out her big secret, but no one believes them. How are they going to prove it and possibly bring down the whole political structure and economy by deposing a leader. Will the leaders of the other cities come to their aid, if they can get back their safely? Maybe the other leaders (especially the elves) suspect what is going on and have given the task of finding proof to your party? Hope this helps, it's helped me take a break from brain numbing paperwork lol
I played my group, taking them on a two and a half year journey and dropping the ultimate betrayal on them that began on their 5th or 6th session. It sounds like you could do the same, and you're ripe for the tools.
First you want her to become benevolent and a patron for the players. This is easy since she hosts this event, have them present for two or three other groups being handed their missions, this way they can see the major undertakings that they'll have to accomplish. Then, as the group's turn comes up, she recognizes a surname or maybe one of the party has had ancestors that were friendly to the throne. She chooses a task for them that will bring more acknowledgment and perhaps a greater reward, and says something kind to them almost motherly.
From there she will start to give them other tasks and these tasks will be claimed to be "for the throne", however they're becoming increasingly more for her power grab. When the players start to question things, she can diffuse the situation for a time. Eventually the party will come across evidence of something wrong, either people shunning them, or places they've been are no longer the bright and peaceful places they left. As this happens it's a pretty good bet they'll confront the throne, and you lay the final betrayal on them.
This is just a random sampling of things I would throw into that world, or things that would interest me if I was a player, in no particular order.
Someone is living inside the 5 mile dead zone. An old hermit, or a peaceful-seeming elderly couple with no apparent powers, and they are unaffected by the magic. Why? How? The party are on a journey and see the cottage in a small valley from a distance. How do they get there to check it out?
Monsters invade from the north, through the mountains. Someone created an artifact, a staff, that 'parts' the magical barrier and allows the bearer, plus people following right behind, to pass through unaffected. The party needs to take the staff and journey north to find out where it came from.
Turns out, the magical barrier extends over the whole mountain range--anyone coming from the lands to the north is also affected and must return north. But there is a city hidden in the mountains, city surrounded by farmlands in a valley. They exist in a small pocket where the barrier magic does affect them. Not enemies, but not allies, they believe that nations to the north and south are mythological. No one has left the city for a thousand years.
The Elves, the Goldenrivers, have made a pact with dark powers. Because they are elves and they secretly aren't so high and mighty :)
The villain is trying to get access to the realms north of the mountains (but doesn't know about the hidden mountain city). She'll want the PCs to take the staff an investigate for her.
This looks like a really interesting world to explore.
A few questions to possibly spark ideas:
- Why does Silo despise tieflings?
- What is life like for tieflings who live in the cities? Perhaps there is an underground movement where tieflings plot to embarrass or overthrow Silo?
- If the party are competing in the tournament, how will Silo notice them?
One idea on that last point; the party could uncover a plot to assassinate Silo speaking to the other participants of the tournament. One of them could be a disguised tiefling assassin who is stopped by the party. They might save her life, which would lead to an audience with her.
From there she may slowly gain their trust and start sending them on missions that slowly reveal her to have malicious intentions. Perhaps the party will be tasked with sacking a tiefling settlement under her orders and decide that what they're being asked to do is wrong, incurring her wrath for not carrying out orders ... maybe then yours PCs will want to remove her from power and can start finding out about how she came to power and how she is so long-lived.
A rebellion started by the PCs could grow and grow, leading to Silo become more desperate to defeat them and stooping to greater and more villainous actions.
Given that you have also made Silo a warlock, you could also insinuate that a once benevolent leader has become evil due to her ties to an evil patron. An antagonist who used to be heroic is going to make for one hell of an end game, there'd even be scope to pursue the patron if they defeat Silo. Could this then trigger the collapse of the barrier?
There are so many plot threads you can weave from your first post, that's just one that sprang to mind in 5 minutes!
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Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1!
Thank you all for your wonderful ideas! I definitely do like the sound of Silos getting close with the party and slowly betraying them- I'm definitely one for heartbreak and want to invoke emotions in my games and this seems like the way to do it.
And a little more on Tieflings: They aren't accepted in Trostenwall but there is an assassins/thieves guild in the underground of the capital, lead by Akamakos Limani, one of the PC's is an assassin Air Genasi and they are part of this guild, tying one of them into the Tiefling conflict.
I will 100% try to incorporate all of these ideas in one way or another. Thank you all so much for your help! I love getting advice from others- and these are all great ideas <3
edit: and one of the three main NPC's is part of the Goldenriver family, the dark pact could have cursed poor Percival and caused a curse that makes him go into a barbarian-like rage (that is more harmful than helpful)-- his main initiative is probably going to be to find a way to get rid of it.
New DM here! hello!
I know I'll be able to handle my own world, I'm very creative and have everything laid out already. Three main cities and plenty of places for my players to go (three people, all of which I'm very close to) and I'd like some tips and potential ideas for the world, so I'll outline the world itself and the main "villian"
The campaign will take place on a continent by the name of Trosten. For a general layout and this point is important for one major city, there is a huge range of mountains dividing Trosten from the rest of the land to the north, these mountains are said to be crafted by the gods to keep terrible monsters out and chained down to keep Trosten safe, due to this everyone living in Trosten has agreed to never settle within 5 miles of the mountains, a magical barrier was set up to indicate when someone is getting close, they'll get a sick feeling and be urged to turn around, the barrier is kept up by an artifact in the capital. Now, there are three main cities: The port city capital, Trostentall. Trostentall itself is on a cliff, but has large docks going down to the water and allowing trading between other nearby continents (which I might outline in the future), Trostentall is a normal city, minus the fact the (oddly) long living leader has a strong hatred for Tieflings. Then there is Ceithir, the heart of the city is on the central island of a delta, while the rest of the city is on the other three islands, Ceithir is extremely relaxed and is the most diverse city of them all, two of my three players originate from the city due to being more obscure races (Air Genasi and Kalashtar). The last of the three main cities is Chrysos, ruled by a very wealthy family of High Elves (The Goldenrivers) they live off of Golden-Depths lake, they're very far to the north and are close to the 5 Mile Dead Zone as detailed above, one of the three main NPC's is part of the Goldenriver family. There is a druid community that lives where two main rivers meet (Central and Barren) where another one of the three main NPC's comes from, the last NPC's comes from a city/town wiped out by a plague, and that part is a work in progress but will be done soon.
Now the main villain is the oddly long living leader is an aasimar archfey warlock, her name is Silo Pilos. She organizes this annual event for aspiring mercenaries and adventurers, it allows them to get their name out there in the world, kickstart the lives they want through exploring. Silo is a classical morally grey villain, she made a pact to gain the life of an elf so she can rule of Trostenwall and Trosten for a lot longer than her ancestors in the past (leadership is passed down to the first born aasimar child of the previous leader) and got some extra powers with it. She hides it and many other things she's used her abilities to tuck away and hide from anyone in Trosten. I want her to become an ally to the party that slowly and subtly becomes more and more villainous(??) as she is corrupted by her power and desire for more and more control.
Thank you for reading and I am very much open to ideas and potential criticism. I want this to be fun and ejoyable for myself and my players as I've been told I'd make a good DM while helping my father (who DM's as well) remember rules and being one who writes a lot of stories lol
Why not use her annual event as her way of identifying potential threats. Has no one realised that winners of this annual event are never heard of again. She packages them off on a quest which is basically a suicide mission or she wipes them out herself (away from prying eyes naturally). Does anyone from your party have any links to any of these missing adventurers?
The party finds out her big secret, but no one believes them. How are they going to prove it and possibly bring down the whole political structure and economy by deposing a leader. Will the leaders of the other cities come to their aid, if they can get back their safely? Maybe the other leaders (especially the elves) suspect what is going on and have given the task of finding proof to your party?
Hope this helps, it's helped me take a break from brain numbing paperwork lol
From Within Chaos Comes Order!
I played my group, taking them on a two and a half year journey and dropping the ultimate betrayal on them that began on their 5th or 6th session. It sounds like you could do the same, and you're ripe for the tools.
First you want her to become benevolent and a patron for the players. This is easy since she hosts this event, have them present for two or three other groups being handed their missions, this way they can see the major undertakings that they'll have to accomplish. Then, as the group's turn comes up, she recognizes a surname or maybe one of the party has had ancestors that were friendly to the throne. She chooses a task for them that will bring more acknowledgment and perhaps a greater reward, and says something kind to them almost motherly.
From there she will start to give them other tasks and these tasks will be claimed to be "for the throne", however they're becoming increasingly more for her power grab. When the players start to question things, she can diffuse the situation for a time. Eventually the party will come across evidence of something wrong, either people shunning them, or places they've been are no longer the bright and peaceful places they left. As this happens it's a pretty good bet they'll confront the throne, and you lay the final betrayal on them.
This is just a random sampling of things I would throw into that world, or things that would interest me if I was a player, in no particular order.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
This looks like a really interesting world to explore.
A few questions to possibly spark ideas:
- Why does Silo despise tieflings?
- What is life like for tieflings who live in the cities? Perhaps there is an underground movement where tieflings plot to embarrass or overthrow Silo?
- If the party are competing in the tournament, how will Silo notice them?
One idea on that last point; the party could uncover a plot to assassinate Silo speaking to the other participants of the tournament. One of them could be a disguised tiefling assassin who is stopped by the party. They might save her life, which would lead to an audience with her.
From there she may slowly gain their trust and start sending them on missions that slowly reveal her to have malicious intentions. Perhaps the party will be tasked with sacking a tiefling settlement under her orders and decide that what they're being asked to do is wrong, incurring her wrath for not carrying out orders ... maybe then yours PCs will want to remove her from power and can start finding out about how she came to power and how she is so long-lived.
A rebellion started by the PCs could grow and grow, leading to Silo become more desperate to defeat them and stooping to greater and more villainous actions.
Given that you have also made Silo a warlock, you could also insinuate that a once benevolent leader has become evil due to her ties to an evil patron. An antagonist who used to be heroic is going to make for one hell of an end game, there'd even be scope to pursue the patron if they defeat Silo. Could this then trigger the collapse of the barrier?
There are so many plot threads you can weave from your first post, that's just one that sprang to mind in 5 minutes!
Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1!
Never tell me the DC.
Thank you all for your wonderful ideas! I definitely do like the sound of Silos getting close with the party and slowly betraying them- I'm definitely one for heartbreak and want to invoke emotions in my games and this seems like the way to do it.
And a little more on Tieflings: They aren't accepted in Trostenwall but there is an assassins/thieves guild in the underground of the capital, lead by Akamakos Limani, one of the PC's is an assassin Air Genasi and they are part of this guild, tying one of them into the Tiefling conflict.
I will 100% try to incorporate all of these ideas in one way or another. Thank you all so much for your help! I love getting advice from others- and these are all great ideas <3
edit: and one of the three main NPC's is part of the Goldenriver family, the dark pact could have cursed poor Percival and caused a curse that makes him go into a barbarian-like rage (that is more harmful than helpful)-- his main initiative is probably going to be to find a way to get rid of it.
thank you once again!