OK, so I'm not a lore junkie (I don't have that extensive a history with the official lore...)
So I'm trying to slowly brainstorm out a continuation of a campaign. I'm running the Acq Inc module, which is technically set in Forgotten Realms. The published adventure ends around level 6 as the PCs defeat one of six leaders of an opposing faction that has been trying to open a rift into the Far Realm. Great so far!
I think the players will want to keep going past that point, though. So long range I see some options that I could either sideline the Far Realm stuff and just move things toward an all-out corporate takeover confrontation with the opposing faction.
OR I can double-down on the Far Realm angle, the PCs will need to do some plane-hopping to gather power & allies to stop the invasion. (If cards are played right, even the Nine Hells and the Abyss might get involved, since you can't rule the world if it doesn't exist...)
My big question - in that case, who is the eventual big bad? I've done some reading and it could possibly be something cult-y that's being led by an avatar of Father Llymic with the (mostly unknown to the cult) aim of awakening him? Or my other thought would be an invasion of uvuudaum and assorted minions, but I have no idea yet how to stat that out appropriately for 5e. :)
So I'm basically just looking for big-picture ideas at this point. Somehow it would need to tie back into a cabal of six "mundane" baddies who are obsessed with getting revenge on the PCs at all costs. Thoughts?
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
The Demons don't want to rule the world, they want to destroy it. They would cooperate with the Great Old Ones from the Far Realm though. Asmodeus and the rest of the Devils, as well as the Yugoloths, would find opportunity in a war such as you described.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
True - I feel like Asmodeus and crew would have a vested interest in preserving the Material Plane (where else are they going to get their souls?) But they would definitely be looking to take advantage of the situation. They might not take part directly (aside from maybe loan of a pit fiend or two) but they might be willing to provide some powerful artifacts for a price.
The demon lords would be more difficult, but I think there could be a (possibly very difficult) path to convince one like Graz'zt or maybe Fraz-Urb'luu that 1) power is only worthwhile if there are others to exert your power upon, and 2) this might be an opportunity to take out Demogorgon (or Orcus. Or both.)
The star spawn have some interesting possibilities - that could work out really well. (From what I've read, awakening something like Father Llymic would be a pretty much guaranteed TPK and complete end of existence...)
I could see a big battle with star spawn and cultists that seems far too easy at first until an uvuudaum gets through a rift...
Major forces of chaos in motion might be an excuse to get some Githzerai in on the other side. It could turn into a big plane-hopping adventure at high levels.
Hmmmm. Ponderings. This could get messy (and really, really wacky.)
Tharizdun seems a popular pick...given that he is committed to essentially unravelling everything into oblivion and madness.
And while he IS the main boss of his own book campaign...the Mad Mage Halaster Blackcloak was said to have torn a hole into the Far Realm, which is what drove him mad to begin with. Maybe the random fool wants to do it again.
Interesting idea...perhaps one of the benevolent gods tried to do it...Mystra, Oghma, or a god of magic, knowledge or goodness.
Here me out...a lawful god who seeks to destroy evil cannot directly interfere with the other gods...but tearing a hole into the Far Realm violates no moral law...madness is neutral. Random.
Perhaps a good deity decided the only way to save the world would be to try and start over...thus releasing the Far Realm, and whatever survives is the new order.
Likewise, maybe some god of magic or knowledge got sick of the finite knowledge of the planes (there is a limit to magic, and knowledge...eventually there is nothing new to discover), and they went crazy. They decide the only way to find new magic or knowledge is to go beyond the planes...and BAM. Far Realm.
I'm currently using Atropus the World Born Dead as an Elder Evil villain in my Spelljammer campaign. They've provoked the wrath of a cult of Atropus that was masquerading as a religion dedicated to Saint Tropa the Eclipsed Light Reborn. The followers are cultists with strange otherworldly powers, star spawn, and undead.
Tharizdun is a great option, he has reason to want to destroy the world, but is still chained. He has whole races of creatures he has created, astral dreadnaughts, elemental cultists, so on. He has a lot of followers, and they don't even know they're following him most often.
Kyuss is another great option, worms can be creepy, also has another great motivation for destroying the world.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
If the characters are level 6, go into the encounter builder, or some other online tool and take a look at what "aberrations" would be the right level to serve as lieutenants and what would work as masterminds. The foot soldiers can be human cultists. Then they can work their way up to beholders and aboleths and final bosses.
If I were writing it, the Gith, both Githzerai and Githyanki would definitely be involved. As the longtime slaves of the mind flayers, they're the humanoids with the closest thing to actual Far Realm experience. The Githzerai build their monasteries in the plane of Limbo because only in that infinite howling chaos can they properly train their minds to confront the insanity of the Far Realm.
In my personal head canon, Tharizdun, Kyuss, Atropus, aboleths, beholders, mind flayers et al., are not themselves OF the Far Realm. They're of this multiverse. They're sort of like the footprint that was left on D&D reality after the last incursion by the ACTUAL Far Realm. ACTUAL Far Realm stuff is Cthulhu, or as close to it as Wizards can get without being sued. We all know that. But what that means is, the closer you get to the real Far Realm, the farther away you get from the comforting notions of high fantasy, where the heroic acts of legendary badasses actually matter even a tiny bit in a vast indifferent universe. An actual Far Realm campaign ends with the characters finally dinging level 20, catching a brief glimpse of the Big Bad and then their minds are annihilated and their souls are devoured without it ever noticing them. It's an acquired taste.
OK, so I'm not a lore junkie (I don't have that extensive a history with the official lore...)
So I'm trying to slowly brainstorm out a continuation of a campaign. I'm running the Acq Inc module, which is technically set in Forgotten Realms. The published adventure ends around level 6 as the PCs defeat one of six leaders of an opposing faction that has been trying to open a rift into the Far Realm. Great so far!
I think the players will want to keep going past that point, though. So long range I see some options that I could either sideline the Far Realm stuff and just move things toward an all-out corporate takeover confrontation with the opposing faction.
OR I can double-down on the Far Realm angle, the PCs will need to do some plane-hopping to gather power & allies to stop the invasion. (If cards are played right, even the Nine Hells and the Abyss might get involved, since you can't rule the world if it doesn't exist...)
My big question - in that case, who is the eventual big bad? I've done some reading and it could possibly be something cult-y that's being led by an avatar of Father Llymic with the (mostly unknown to the cult) aim of awakening him? Or my other thought would be an invasion of uvuudaum and assorted minions, but I have no idea yet how to stat that out appropriately for 5e. :)
So I'm basically just looking for big-picture ideas at this point. Somehow it would need to tie back into a cabal of six "mundane" baddies who are obsessed with getting revenge on the PCs at all costs. Thoughts?
Well for minions, Aboleths would definitely work, as would the Star Spawn from MToF. As for the BBEG, it could be any of these: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Elder_evil
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
The Demons don't want to rule the world, they want to destroy it. They would cooperate with the Great Old Ones from the Far Realm though. Asmodeus and the rest of the Devils, as well as the Yugoloths, would find opportunity in a war such as you described.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
True - I feel like Asmodeus and crew would have a vested interest in preserving the Material Plane (where else are they going to get their souls?) But they would definitely be looking to take advantage of the situation. They might not take part directly (aside from maybe loan of a pit fiend or two) but they might be willing to provide some powerful artifacts for a price.
The demon lords would be more difficult, but I think there could be a (possibly very difficult) path to convince one like Graz'zt or maybe Fraz-Urb'luu that 1) power is only worthwhile if there are others to exert your power upon, and 2) this might be an opportunity to take out Demogorgon (or Orcus. Or both.)
The star spawn have some interesting possibilities - that could work out really well. (From what I've read, awakening something like Father Llymic would be a pretty much guaranteed TPK and complete end of existence...)
I could see a big battle with star spawn and cultists that seems far too easy at first until an uvuudaum gets through a rift...
Major forces of chaos in motion might be an excuse to get some Githzerai in on the other side. It could turn into a big plane-hopping adventure at high levels.
Hmmmm. Ponderings. This could get messy (and really, really wacky.)
Tharizdun seems a popular pick...given that he is committed to essentially unravelling everything into oblivion and madness.
And while he IS the main boss of his own book campaign...the Mad Mage Halaster Blackcloak was said to have torn a hole into the Far Realm, which is what drove him mad to begin with. Maybe the random fool wants to do it again.
Interesting idea...perhaps one of the benevolent gods tried to do it...Mystra, Oghma, or a god of magic, knowledge or goodness.
Here me out...a lawful god who seeks to destroy evil cannot directly interfere with the other gods...but tearing a hole into the Far Realm violates no moral law...madness is neutral. Random.
Perhaps a good deity decided the only way to save the world would be to try and start over...thus releasing the Far Realm, and whatever survives is the new order.
Likewise, maybe some god of magic or knowledge got sick of the finite knowledge of the planes (there is a limit to magic, and knowledge...eventually there is nothing new to discover), and they went crazy. They decide the only way to find new magic or knowledge is to go beyond the planes...and BAM. Far Realm.
I'm currently using Atropus the World Born Dead as an Elder Evil villain in my Spelljammer campaign. They've provoked the wrath of a cult of Atropus that was masquerading as a religion dedicated to Saint Tropa the Eclipsed Light Reborn. The followers are cultists with strange otherworldly powers, star spawn, and undead.
Tharizdun is a great option, he has reason to want to destroy the world, but is still chained. He has whole races of creatures he has created, astral dreadnaughts, elemental cultists, so on. He has a lot of followers, and they don't even know they're following him most often.
Kyuss is another great option, worms can be creepy, also has another great motivation for destroying the world.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
If the characters are level 6, go into the encounter builder, or some other online tool and take a look at what "aberrations" would be the right level to serve as lieutenants and what would work as masterminds. The foot soldiers can be human cultists. Then they can work their way up to beholders and aboleths and final bosses.
If I were writing it, the Gith, both Githzerai and Githyanki would definitely be involved. As the longtime slaves of the mind flayers, they're the humanoids with the closest thing to actual Far Realm experience. The Githzerai build their monasteries in the plane of Limbo because only in that infinite howling chaos can they properly train their minds to confront the insanity of the Far Realm.
In my personal head canon, Tharizdun, Kyuss, Atropus, aboleths, beholders, mind flayers et al., are not themselves OF the Far Realm. They're of this multiverse. They're sort of like the footprint that was left on D&D reality after the last incursion by the ACTUAL Far Realm. ACTUAL Far Realm stuff is Cthulhu, or as close to it as Wizards can get without being sued. We all know that. But what that means is, the closer you get to the real Far Realm, the farther away you get from the comforting notions of high fantasy, where the heroic acts of legendary badasses actually matter even a tiny bit in a vast indifferent universe. An actual Far Realm campaign ends with the characters finally dinging level 20, catching a brief glimpse of the Big Bad and then their minds are annihilated and their souls are devoured without it ever noticing them. It's an acquired taste.
Good food for thought - thanks everyone!