During the last session, my players had an early fight against the BBEG, a fight they were clearly meant to flee from. But due to my inexperience, and some very, very lucky rolls. They actually managed to beat the boss, who was forced to flee from his city. This has forced me to change my plans a bit, and i was thinking of letting my players pierce together some of my villains plans, as a way to let them chose where they want to go.
The scene is as follows.
With a bit of help from some rebels, who have been trying to stop the villain for years, the party will gain acces to the villains, now abandoned study. In this room they will find several letters, maps and journals that contains orders to varius henchmen around the world (and near places that are relevant to the players) describing their mission in the area, without being too specific. The plan is for the party to choce one ``plotline´´ that i will then prepare for the next act of the stoty.
The 2 main areas are.
1: A kingdom, in which the unknown hencman is to provoke a war against another nation, thus weakening both, and perhaps to try to murder the king. (The henchman is a noble)
2: A city ruled by a number of opposing mercenary armies, who the BBEG wants to avoid banding together against him.
So my question is this
What are some good clues i can give my players? without it revealing too much of the villains plans?
So far i have:
1. Varius vague letters. (Which i intend to print and give to the players)
2. A merchants ledger which shows that a large quantity of expensive poison was sold to someone.
First off, big ups on rolling with the punches and letting your villain lose! Too many DMs are so attached to their story, they don't do that. Good job doing it right!
I love the letters idea, that'll be super cool. What if there's some random, unusual objects, like a kitten's paw or a dead king's seal, that are kept in a stupidly secure box in the desk? They'd appear worthless, but, when the players visit more places later in the adventure, they might see them show up again, pointing them to investigate places they'd otherwise pass by.
I really like your idea:) I am actually in need of some way for the players to find the villains final stronghold later in the campaign, so i think i can use your idea as a way to give them a clue for where to look later.
Reading over this. I think it might help the clues you leave if you know the bad guys plans Incase he was ever defeated or had to leave. Maybe he would have hidden the items at a different location or didn’t write anything down. The players may not find any information at all that route. But have to go other ways to find him. Idk.
One of the hardest things have been to avoid it sounding too much like a bad villain speech. The ones where the villain stupidly reveals his entire plan.
It could be a good idea to spread the clues out a bit more.
Thieves guild would be good, hell any of the guilds could know something. and it could lead to adventures as the party has to find an item or information to trade.
Thieves guild would be good, hell any of the guilds could know something. and it could lead to adventures as the party has to find an item or information to trade.
It would also be an opportunity to connect things with your players, if any of them have any contacts (present or former) at any of the guilds.
None of my players really have any connections to any thieves guild, but your advice gave me another idea. I have made a map of trade routes going out from the city, as well as a merchants ledger. Some of the letters will descripe how the villain has sent out items that can help his hencmen, but not where they are heading, if the party uses the map and the ledger together, they will be able to figure out precisely where the hecnmen are, and which plot is going on in which city. They will also be able to talk to the varius merchant offices to gather more info.
This is a more dificult clue, meant to give the party a chance to figure out how the henchmen is to carry out their tasks. They will also be givien some more obvius clues to make sure they at least has somewhere to begin looking.
Maybe reference to or communique from/to a spy within the group of rebels. That could lead you in some interesting directions for dolling out information.
They don’t really need connections to the Thieves’ Guild, as long as the villain has connections to the Guild it gives you alternate ways to keep the party off balance while still portioning out clues to them from various sources. Churches and rival governments also work great for that. And even if it doesn’t suit in this scenario, keep it in your toolbox for later.
Hello everyone, i need a bit of advice.
During the last session, my players had an early fight against the BBEG, a fight they were clearly meant to flee from. But due to my inexperience, and some very, very lucky rolls. They actually managed to beat the boss, who was forced to flee from his city. This has forced me to change my plans a bit, and i was thinking of letting my players pierce together some of my villains plans, as a way to let them chose where they want to go.
The scene is as follows.
With a bit of help from some rebels, who have been trying to stop the villain for years, the party will gain acces to the villains, now abandoned study. In this room they will find several letters, maps and journals that contains orders to varius henchmen around the world (and near places that are relevant to the players) describing their mission in the area, without being too specific. The plan is for the party to choce one ``plotline´´ that i will then prepare for the next act of the stoty.
The 2 main areas are.
1: A kingdom, in which the unknown hencman is to provoke a war against another nation, thus weakening both, and perhaps to try to murder the king. (The henchman is a noble)
2: A city ruled by a number of opposing mercenary armies, who the BBEG wants to avoid banding together against him.
So my question is this
What are some good clues i can give my players? without it revealing too much of the villains plans?
So far i have:
1. Varius vague letters. (Which i intend to print and give to the players)
2. A merchants ledger which shows that a large quantity of expensive poison was sold to someone.
Any more ideas?
First off, big ups on rolling with the punches and letting your villain lose! Too many DMs are so attached to their story, they don't do that. Good job doing it right!
I love the letters idea, that'll be super cool. What if there's some random, unusual objects, like a kitten's paw or a dead king's seal, that are kept in a stupidly secure box in the desk? They'd appear worthless, but, when the players visit more places later in the adventure, they might see them show up again, pointing them to investigate places they'd otherwise pass by.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
I really like your idea:) I am actually in need of some way for the players to find the villains final stronghold later in the campaign, so i think i can use your idea as a way to give them a clue for where to look later.
Thanks! Glad I could help! :-)
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Reading over this. I think it might help the clues you leave if you know the bad guys plans Incase he was ever defeated or had to leave. Maybe he would have hidden the items at a different location or didn’t write anything down. The players may not find any information at all that route. But have to go other ways to find him. Idk.
Thanks for the tip :)
One of the hardest things have been to avoid it sounding too much like a bad villain speech. The ones where the villain stupidly reveals his entire plan.
It could be a good idea to spread the clues out a bit more.
The local Thieve’s Guild always knows something about everything that goes on in their city....
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Thieves guild would be good, hell any of the guilds could know something. and it could lead to adventures as the party has to find an item or information to trade.
It would also be an opportunity to connect things with your players, if any of them have any contacts (present or former) at any of the guilds.
Sorry for the late reply :)
None of my players really have any connections to any thieves guild, but your advice gave me another idea. I have made a map of trade routes going out from the city, as well as a merchants ledger. Some of the letters will descripe how the villain has sent out items that can help his hencmen, but not where they are heading, if the party uses the map and the ledger together, they will be able to figure out precisely where the hecnmen are, and which plot is going on in which city. They will also be able to talk to the varius merchant offices to gather more info.
This is a more dificult clue, meant to give the party a chance to figure out how the henchmen is to carry out their tasks. They will also be givien some more obvius clues to make sure they at least has somewhere to begin looking.
One of the letters could say something to the effect of
We have made arrangements for you to stay at the [name of the inn] when you get to [name of the kingdom]. (Nothing much else about the kingdom.)
[Bad guys name] has found the key. He will not give it to me but says he will give it to you when you arrive.
[Nice guys name] has been spending little time away from his study. We think he has stumbled onto some information. We are looking into it.
The treasury is believed to be flush. We need to move quickly.
We have heard [evil sounding woman's name] is come here soon. It would be better if you were here when she arrives.
Your concept sounds promising. Good luck and have fun.
Maybe reference to or communique from/to a spy within the group of rebels. That could lead you in some interesting directions for dolling out information.
They don’t really need connections to the Thieves’ Guild, as long as the villain has connections to the Guild it gives you alternate ways to keep the party off balance while still portioning out clues to them from various sources. Churches and rival governments also work great for that. And even if it doesn’t suit in this scenario, keep it in your toolbox for later.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting