I am working on a plot arc for my campaign of 3 to 4 players. They are playing an episodic sandbox style campaign. I am working some overarching plot arcs leaning toward epic level (since the players want to gain high level characters). The campaign is based in Wildemount but only of the players has watch CR, not the second campaign though. Here is the story I have so far (mindful that I changed some of the lore to fit my story idea):
Before the rise of the Raven Queen the God of Death bore a child with the Hag Mother (I thought this would provide an interesting twist and cause for her cursed banishment to the material realm). This child was part witch and part demigod and I was thinking of using Vesh (changing her a bit to be and not including Kashaw thoughi am not dead set on using her and could create an entity all on my own). This child was mad with power and enjoyed causing undue pain, torture, death, and chaos. The God of Death decided to punish her by casting her into Pandemonium but he was obliterated by the Raven Queen before she could be released (I know there was already this idea with a corrupt Empyrean but I decided to shift it). Centuries passed after the calamity and the demigod only grew more mad by the powers of Pandemonium. Distraught by the banishment of her daughter the Hag Mother created a scheme to release her, unbeknownst to her daughters rising madness. She tricked a slew of residents of Molesymr to use the magics of Aoer believing they could transport their city to the Feywild but instead the opened a pathway to Pandemonium freeing the mad demigod and resulting in the fall of Molesymr. With her release the demigod seeks to ascend to full godhood and take her father's place however due to her madness she threatens the balance seeking death, chaos, and ruin. The gods will eventually learn of her presence in the material realm and quest for ascension seeking to conduct the ritual of prime banishment to protect the realm. This would be the ultimate climax of the arc where my characters will have to choose to aid the mad demigod in her quest for chaos or aid the gods in banishing another threat to the realm.
My thought for the ending of the arc depends on the whether the players choose to help the demigod, attempt to banish them, or come up with a completely different course of action. If the choose to aid the demigod then they would work to complete the necessary steps to ascension while combating the agents of the prime deities. If they choose to banish them then they would complete the quests to gather materials for prime banishment and face the demigod during their final moments of the ritual of ascension.
Where I need advice is the steps the demigod needs to take to complete a ritual of ascension. I know there is the ritual of seeding that the Raven Queen and Vecna used but they were both mortal. Since the demigod is part God I really liked the idea that she is attempting a forbidden ancient ritual to ascend but it would be different since she isn't mortal. My players like old fey lore as do I so I thought it would be fun to play on this. Maybe they learn the ritual from the Hag Mother but it's written like old fairy tale riddles so they have to decipher what the actual steps are to try and stop them. I am having some trouble writing the ritual riddles and am seeking advice or advice on what steps would needed to complete the ritual?
I hope this all makes sense and I would love to have any input since this is my first attempt at a homebrew campaign! Any input into my storyline and plot points would be hugely beneficial!
Using some info from the Crit Role Wiki, how about.....
The 'Child' returns to the material plane, not quite mad but prone to some erratic behaviour. Whilst seemingly mortal the Child has an overwhelming force of personality that others gravitate to. The Child, masquarading as a powerful wizard or srocerer, sends its followers out into the world seeking an item of great power; The Blade of Broken Mirrors. Once this Blade is in its possession the Child arranges for a series of murders and kidnappings. In each of the 7 major religions one Cleric is murdered and another kidnapped. The mudered Clerics are obvioulsy killed in some ritualistic way and always found in the temple they were part of. The kidnapped individuals eventually all wind up at Gatshadow Mountain although they are always taken by very circuitous routes to avoid a direct line being drawn.
Gatshadow is rumored to hold the imprisoned form of Tharizdun also known as the Chained Oblivion. The Child plans to use the Blade of Broken Mirrors to sacrifice the kidnapped clerics to weaken the 7 Prime Trammels that bind Tharizdun (one cleric per trammel). This takes some time as the ritual requires the sacrifice to be made on very specific days during the conjuction of specific celstial events (The first full moon, a solar eclipse etc). After the final cleric has been sacrificed the Blade of Broken Mirrors can then absorb the power remaining in the Trammels and allow Tharizdun to break open the Divine Gate. The Gods will then have to rally to rebind Tharizdun and in the insuing chaos the Child can usurp the power and position of its parent Diety.
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Hello!
I am working on a plot arc for my campaign of 3 to 4 players. They are playing an episodic sandbox style campaign. I am working some overarching plot arcs leaning toward epic level (since the players want to gain high level characters). The campaign is based in Wildemount but only of the players has watch CR, not the second campaign though. Here is the story I have so far (mindful that I changed some of the lore to fit my story idea):
Before the rise of the Raven Queen the God of Death bore a child with the Hag Mother (I thought this would provide an interesting twist and cause for her cursed banishment to the material realm). This child was part witch and part demigod and I was thinking of using Vesh (changing her a bit to be and not including Kashaw thoughi am not dead set on using her and could create an entity all on my own). This child was mad with power and enjoyed causing undue pain, torture, death, and chaos. The God of Death decided to punish her by casting her into Pandemonium but he was obliterated by the Raven Queen before she could be released (I know there was already this idea with a corrupt Empyrean but I decided to shift it). Centuries passed after the calamity and the demigod only grew more mad by the powers of Pandemonium. Distraught by the banishment of her daughter the Hag Mother created a scheme to release her, unbeknownst to her daughters rising madness. She tricked a slew of residents of Molesymr to use the magics of Aoer believing they could transport their city to the Feywild but instead the opened a pathway to Pandemonium freeing the mad demigod and resulting in the fall of Molesymr. With her release the demigod seeks to ascend to full godhood and take her father's place however due to her madness she threatens the balance seeking death, chaos, and ruin. The gods will eventually learn of her presence in the material realm and quest for ascension seeking to conduct the ritual of prime banishment to protect the realm. This would be the ultimate climax of the arc where my characters will have to choose to aid the mad demigod in her quest for chaos or aid the gods in banishing another threat to the realm.
My thought for the ending of the arc depends on the whether the players choose to help the demigod, attempt to banish them, or come up with a completely different course of action. If the choose to aid the demigod then they would work to complete the necessary steps to ascension while combating the agents of the prime deities. If they choose to banish them then they would complete the quests to gather materials for prime banishment and face the demigod during their final moments of the ritual of ascension.
Where I need advice is the steps the demigod needs to take to complete a ritual of ascension. I know there is the ritual of seeding that the Raven Queen and Vecna used but they were both mortal. Since the demigod is part God I really liked the idea that she is attempting a forbidden ancient ritual to ascend but it would be different since she isn't mortal. My players like old fey lore as do I so I thought it would be fun to play on this. Maybe they learn the ritual from the Hag Mother but it's written like old fairy tale riddles so they have to decipher what the actual steps are to try and stop them. I am having some trouble writing the ritual riddles and am seeking advice or advice on what steps would needed to complete the ritual?
I hope this all makes sense and I would love to have any input since this is my first attempt at a homebrew campaign! Any input into my storyline and plot points would be hugely beneficial!
Thank you!
Using some info from the Crit Role Wiki, how about.....
The 'Child' returns to the material plane, not quite mad but prone to some erratic behaviour. Whilst seemingly mortal the Child has an overwhelming force of personality that others gravitate to. The Child, masquarading as a powerful wizard or srocerer, sends its followers out into the world seeking an item of great power; The Blade of Broken Mirrors. Once this Blade is in its possession the Child arranges for a series of murders and kidnappings. In each of the 7 major religions one Cleric is murdered and another kidnapped. The mudered Clerics are obvioulsy killed in some ritualistic way and always found in the temple they were part of. The kidnapped individuals eventually all wind up at Gatshadow Mountain although they are always taken by very circuitous routes to avoid a direct line being drawn.
Gatshadow is rumored to hold the imprisoned form of Tharizdun also known as the Chained Oblivion. The Child plans to use the Blade of Broken Mirrors to sacrifice the kidnapped clerics to weaken the 7 Prime Trammels that bind Tharizdun (one cleric per trammel). This takes some time as the ritual requires the sacrifice to be made on very specific days during the conjuction of specific celstial events (The first full moon, a solar eclipse etc). After the final cleric has been sacrificed the Blade of Broken Mirrors can then absorb the power remaining in the Trammels and allow Tharizdun to break open the Divine Gate. The Gods will then have to rally to rebind Tharizdun and in the insuing chaos the Child can usurp the power and position of its parent Diety.