I'm not necessarily having writer's block but I am having some difficulty connecting threads for the next leg of the campaign. Background, the players just killed a Big Bad and now get to choose a location to be transported to, sort of a fresh start so to speak. They opted to go tropical.
So I have an idea for a chain of islands with various cities. I am building my main plot to involve Asmodeus (the campaign is about the party constantly interacting with the Gods) and him collecting the demon shards to rebuild the demon crystal so he can bring all demons into his ranks then turn devils and demons alike to his goal of universal conquest.
I'm thinking of him corrupting, or empowering a recovering ancient civilization as his foot soldiers (through manipulation) in the islands (maybe even Warcraft style Naga) I'm just not sure how to tie it altogether so it doesn't seem forced and how I can play him as behind the scenes.
I know it's more of a premise but I'm having difficulty fleshing any of it out, I'd like to not borrow to heavily from ToA if I can avoid it as some players at my table have ran it already.
It really depends on how long you want this part of the campaign to last.
Maybe it starts with small stuff. Maybe there's a gang war in the players' base town, and one of the gangs turns out to be an infernal cult. The infernal cult turns out to have ties to some rich noble or similar influential figure who's sponsoring expeditions to the forgotten city of [insert name here], where he believes part of the abyssal crystal is hidden. He pretends to be a faithful servant of Asmodeus, but actually wants to use the shard for his own nefarious deeds. Of course, Asmodeus is five steps ahead, and maybe has one of his other servant (or him personally) pose as a helpful patron of the party. At the pivotal moment, the noble tries to use the crystal shard, but it turns him into a demonic figure instead. One epic boss battle later, the noble-demon is defeated, and Azzy shows up to claim the shard. Since the ancient civilization used to worship it, he can use it to bring them back as his servants.
Now things have gone to shit, and the players need to find some way to taket the crystal back/sever its connection to the undead army, before Azzy can use it to find the other crystals hidden in the mortal realm. The crystal needs to stay on the prime material in order to influence the army, so maybe Azzy leaves it there guarded by a powerful fiend.
I'm not necessarily having writer's block but I am having some difficulty connecting threads for the next leg of the campaign. Background, the players just killed a Big Bad and now get to choose a location to be transported to, sort of a fresh start so to speak. They opted to go tropical.
So I have an idea for a chain of islands with various cities. I am building my main plot to involve Asmodeus (the campaign is about the party constantly interacting with the Gods) and him collecting the demon shards to rebuild the demon crystal so he can bring all demons into his ranks then turn devils and demons alike to his goal of universal conquest.
I'm thinking of him corrupting, or empowering a recovering ancient civilization as his foot soldiers (through manipulation) in the islands (maybe even Warcraft style Naga) I'm just not sure how to tie it altogether so it doesn't seem forced and how I can play him as behind the scenes.
I know it's more of a premise but I'm having difficulty fleshing any of it out, I'd like to not borrow to heavily from ToA if I can avoid it as some players at my table have ran it already.
Thanks for any and all help
It really depends on how long you want this part of the campaign to last.
Maybe it starts with small stuff. Maybe there's a gang war in the players' base town, and one of the gangs turns out to be an infernal cult. The infernal cult turns out to have ties to some rich noble or similar influential figure who's sponsoring expeditions to the forgotten city of [insert name here], where he believes part of the abyssal crystal is hidden. He pretends to be a faithful servant of Asmodeus, but actually wants to use the shard for his own nefarious deeds. Of course, Asmodeus is five steps ahead, and maybe has one of his other servant (or him personally) pose as a helpful patron of the party. At the pivotal moment, the noble tries to use the crystal shard, but it turns him into a demonic figure instead. One epic boss battle later, the noble-demon is defeated, and Azzy shows up to claim the shard. Since the ancient civilization used to worship it, he can use it to bring them back as his servants.
Now things have gone to shit, and the players need to find some way to taket the crystal back/sever its connection to the undead army, before Azzy can use it to find the other crystals hidden in the mortal realm. The crystal needs to stay on the prime material in order to influence the army, so maybe Azzy leaves it there guarded by a powerful fiend.
I like it!