Hey, everyone. I'm hoping I can get some help with ideas on how to start a new campaign I want to run for my wife and 3 kids. I'm struggling with the opening (actually, ALL of it, ha), so let me explain to you the basic premise and how I *hope* to have it open up. I am lacking a LOT of details, however, and so ideas are very welcome.
I want to have the campaign set in a remote area, possibly a small town (but bigger than a village) that is located in a valley surrounded by natural obstacles like dense forests and mountain ranges, which makes it easy to cut off from the rest of the world when forest paths become too dangerous or mountain passes get blocked. My basic idea is that something bad has happened, perhaps even cataclysmic, in the world at large and the natural world is sort of reacting like when Scar takes over in The Lion King. In that movie, it doesn't make much sense, but just because the "bad guy" is in charge, the grass dies and the rivers dry up and it is perpetually overcast. I maybe don't want to go to that extreme, but whatever has happened in the wider world has made it so that the natural world seems to be reacting, that crops don't grow as well, that the sun is constantly obscured by clouds, and what's more, the areas around the town are growing more and more dangerous. Dangerous wild creatures are coming closer and closer to town for unknown reasons. People who attempt to reach the outside world never come back, etc. The whole landscape seems to be growing more evil and malevolent.
And so my thought is that the group of adventurers come together to figure out what is going on and if there's any way they can put a stop to it. Something about this that I like is that this cataclysmic event probably doesn't even have anything to do with this remote town. Perhaps some other adventurers failed in their quest to stop The Big Bad in some other area of the world and now these folks are just trying to handle the fallout from that.
And one thought I had on how to start all this up is that in close proximity to the town is a wizard's mansion. But the town never knew about it because the wizard decided to settle in this remote location as a sort of retirement where he could study the stars and continue his arcane research in peace, and so all his holdings were under some sort of cloaking spell so the townsfolk never knew he was there. But then, by whatever means, he realized that this cataclysmic event was coming and he tried to put some sort of shield around the area of the town, or he tried to do something to protect the himself and the people from the cataclysm. And maybe it sapped so much of his power that he was on the brink of death, and with the last of his strength, he sent out a psychic message calling people to him in the hopes that they can do what it takes to protect the town. And perhaps the 4 adventurers were the only ones naturally attuned enough to receive the message in their dreams to seek him out. But having used the last of his power, the wizard passes away and so his "cloak" spell fizzles and his mansion and all his holdings become visible for the adventurers to find.
Now, these are all just incredibly rough ideas. Nothing is sacred, I am willing to change anything. I think there is something good here, but I'm having such a hard time getting a bead on *exactly* how to formulate all this.
Because one of the things I was also thinking about is not even having the party create their characters until they make their way to the wizard's mansion and they find his notes, or perhaps his ghost, or a recurring memory that delivers a message, or something.... and somehow the wizard, whether himself or though some artifact he left behind, imbues some power into the adventurers which explains why they are able to level up and gain magical powers and spectacular abilities inherent to DnD adventurers and such.
Again, I realize this is like a cat's hairball of ideas. What do you think of some of these ideas in terms of a basis for a larger story? My basic idea was that in the early stages of the campaign, the party would simply be clearing out and "cleansing" certain areas close to town. I'm not sure in what manner the "cleansing" would happen, but it'd be kind of cool if their progress was noted by brighter skies or the immediate surroundings of the town becoming safer. I want the party to see their exploits having an effect on the people of the town.
Does this inspire any ideas in you that might fill in the massive gaps I have left open? What ideas might you have? If this was your campaign, what direction would you take it? If you were going to play something with this basic premise, as a player, what would you like to see happen?
First of all, I like your idea. I think it is pretty neat and reminiscent of the 4th edition "points of light" setting (look it up -- there is a lot of good stuff there you can swipe).
I think in terms of the wizard protecting things -- I think it might be better if the wizard never really meant to protect the town. Maybe he was not even aware the town was even there, or didn't care. But the spell he cast to protect himself covered the whole valley, and by coincidence, saved the town. Maybe the spell only has one size AOE, and he couldn't make it any smaller -- perhaps it automatically fits into the boundaries of the geography, so he had to protect the town because of the AOE. I think the idea of a wizard who is reluctant to help the town, and maybe would be reluctant (if still alive) to help the party, would lead to more interesting RP. Personally, I'd have the wizard dead and they only have his notes to go from.
Regarding starting the party without character classes and having them "discover" them when they get to the tower - I think this is an awesome idea. Unfortunately there is no mechanical precedent for it in D&D, so you're going to have to homebrew something. Other games have the concept of a "level 0" character who goes on a short adventure to "discover" what his or her class will be. You might want to look into how Dungeon Crawl Classics does this. In that game, you roll up stats for 4 PCs per player, and run them through a "gauntlet" scenario, and whichever one survives becomes the player's PC (realistically, the one with the best stats probably makes it). I'd say you don't have to do that (probably shouldn't), but also in DCC, they have background charts for your starting "level 0" background profession. If you can find those tables somewhere online (maybe in a PDF preview or a wiki), you could use that chart (or one like it -- there are many random tables floating around out there). Have the players roll or pick a "profession" like pig farmer, brick layer, shop keeper, etc. Give them basic inventory from the profession (pitchfork, etc.), and then let them buy very basic gear. Start them at level 0 with all their stats at 10-10-10-10-10-10 for everything, tell them NO RACIAL BONUSES at this point (though they can pick race). Then give them an easy/simple "level 0" adventure with more player than PC challenges (puzzle rooms, riddles, etc) and when they get to the wizard's lab, do your thing where they get their abilities. Then have them do point buy or roll 4d6 drop 1 or whatever your method is, pick classes, and "level up" to level 1.
I for one would LOVE this kind of thing... but I would say talk to your players FIRST and make sure they think it's cool. If they're gonna hate it, no sense in doing it.
Your other option if they hate it is start them at level 1, but don't let them level up to pick subclasses until they get to the tower. That's a lot more boring IMO, but more typical.
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When creating a campaign, and certainly the premisse of it, I often focus on figuring out how the PCs are supposed to find out X/want to go to Y/have a reason to do Z. Once I know that, the remaining blanks in the story usually fill in themselves. You seem to be doing much the same thing, so keep doing that. Your ideas aren't rough, they're just pieces of the puzzle. Break it down, then take it step by step.
The PCs are in a remote, isolated location and the sky fell down on the world, metaphorically speaking. Good, that's your starting point.
Now you want the PCs to investigate, and to be able to find some initial answers to give them possible ways to deal with this. I assume players want to play and normally don't need to be forced into investigating, but the effects of the sky falling could be used to give them a nudge if they need it. All beer going sour will get the drinkers going, loved ones getting sick and wasting away should make those with families look for a cure, farmers' livestock going missing threatens their livelihood, and so on. How will they know where to look for answers? There's your idea of the dying wizard reaching out to them telepathically, leading them to his tower. Or maybe what kept the tower hidden failed when the sky fell, and a tower that suddenly appears out of nowhere just when the sky falls seems like a great first lead. Could be the wizard's protective magic against the falling sky made a dome spring up around the town that staves off the worst of it, and the tower is right at the center of it. Maybe the town isn't affected at all, but nobody living there can leave anymore: as soon as they reach its outskirts they find themselves magically walking back towards it, except for the PCs who arrive at the tower when they try that. If one or more of them is religious, their deity could steer them towards the tower (I'm thinking signs and compulsions like Richard Dreyfuss gets in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, if you've seen that movie).
Once at the tower (and possibly after overcoming a challenge to prove they are worthy of entrance), they should be able to acquire tools for a solution. To create these, you need to define the nature of the problem. Is it something spiritual, so the PCs can try to cleanse areas? Demonic influence in want of an exorcism? Foul magic to be warded against? Mental afflictions to be cured, or at least the symptoms suppressed? Could be several things at once as well, maybe allowing the PCs to enact a temporary solution (wards against magic could deteriorate over time, cleansed areas could slowly become corrupted again, and so on). Once you've determined this, you can decide what will empower the PCs to fix it. Could be recipes for potions, or instructions for a ritual, or directions to an artefact. Maybe it could be connected to one or more of their class, background or race choices - especially if they will only acquire some or all of their class abilities there and then. You could work a paladin's aura into this, or a ranger or druid's herb lore. A cleric could find divine inspiration, a wizard or sorcerer might find a spell or ritual implanted in their memory.
Again, your ideas aren't rough - they're small parts of a larger whole. As far as I can tell, you're doing everything right. Keep doing what you do.
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I can tell you a bit about my campaign, and perhaps some of the ideas are things you can steal/ modify for your own.
In my campaign, the group is based in a small town, at the foothills East of a large mountain range. They live on a huge island continent (think size of Australia). Approx 2 years ago, there was a massive earhquake inland, with the epicenter a little closer to the mountain range. It devastated the area. At around the same time, supposedly unrelated, there was another quake offshore, that created a tsunami that wiped out most of the largest coastal city, about 200 miles from my char's town.
These two events have laid waste to the regional economy. The char's town was a central hub for the mines West of the town, mostly based in the mountains. These mines were destroyed in the earthquake. Coupled with the coastal city being hammered, which was the regional trade hub, things are bad. The economy and its people are just starting to get back on their feet.
My chars started out doing small jobs in the area, primarily for the Constable of the town, a Paladin of the Crown. At one time, the Royal Garrison in town was close to 20 members, but the economic damage and deaths was so great that the Constable is now alone. The chars know and respect the Constable and are happy to help out. The chars started with some missing person issues (one farmer's child ended up being eaten by a Giant Pike), then slowly moved up to doing some escort missions for miners/ ore being transported as the local mines were slowly starting to re-open. Naturally, there are encounters and side quests that naturally happen with these jobs.
This led to the chars doing work for the Crown, escorting the refined ore, now ingots, to the regional city, where the ingots are processed into Coin of the Realm. As the group's successful work is done, they pique the interest of a nebulous, almost mythic crime syndicate, that in this case, is aligned with the good guys, in the face of a greater evil. That is a Dragon cult, bent on bringing back a Dracolich to control this continent, as a proxy for Tiamat.
That leads to all kinds of interesting options for the players, as they have met Drow, who are also throwing aside old hatred in the face of a greater evil, and direct encounters with the Cult, as well as introduction of long lost Dragons, all thought to be merely myth now.
There is a ton more backstory and history, but I don't want to bore you too much. If you are interested, I can fire it off to you. The chars started at level 1, totally impoverished, with not even the starting toys the PHB gives. They are about to level to 8.
I've made loads of videos on this sort of thing (see sig). Focus on bullet points. Get your ideas into five things. Ask the questions of, "why does it matter to my players?" "What would (and could) my players do about this?"
Check out my words of wisdom on "campaign design" and I'll reply here if you have any other questions or otherwise.
Really great ideas here. It sounds to me like you've got a lot more of this nailed down than you think you do. As for the cataclysmic part, I think if it 's localized (larger than the village, smaller than the world) it will be easier to play (unless you want this to be a major, long-running campaign). Maybe in the nearby mountains a necromancer has moved into an ancient, discarded tower and he's drawing life from the surrounding areas to feed his power. Maybe just past the forests there is a marsh/swamp where a black dragon has made a lair (since black dragons have adverse effects on surrounding areas for miles - fouled/poisoned drinking water, dying vegetation, thick fog, etc. Maybe a portal to the Shadowfell has opened near the town and Big Bad is allowing it to slowly corrupt the land before he makes his or her appearance.
Thank you guys for your responses, encouragement, and suggestions. You've already provided a lot to process, for which I am appreciative! I think I agree that the wizard should be dead when the PCs arrive, and you've spurred some ideas I'm not ready to put out there about just how he interacted with the cataclysm (I'll use that terminology for now, but what *actually* happened can morph with the story). Part of the process that leads the PCs to investigate the wizard's mansion/tower/whatever will be when that cloaking spell dropped and why. I might even drop the telepathic communication and have the simple fact that an up-to-that-point unknown wizard's residence popping up out of no-where being considered a haunted mansion and likely the cause of everything... because villagers are likely small-minded on such things, assuming that what is happening to them is focused on them, not realizing that what is happening is more of a world-wide thing and the "haunted mansion", instead of being the cause of the bad things happening is actually something that was trying to prevent those bad things.... I am also thinking that this wizards hold might end up serving as a base of operations for the group and perhaps more and more of the wizard's mysteries, hidden treasure rooms, or whatever, might become available to the group as they level up.
The point I'm really stuck on now is how the various areas around the town might be cleansed. For instance, let's say we have forest locations, the local mine that has been abandoned due to some sort of evil presence invading it, the ruins of an ancient fortress that has already been scavenged for building material and is more like a teenagers hang out spot than an unkown place, but now it, too has been invaded by evil so it becomes a target for renewed exploration and cleansing... spots like this... but I don't know what might cleanse them. Perhaps each area has a "heart" that has been infected in some manner.... and I think this comes from the problem that besides the effects of the cataclysm, I don't yet know what the cataclysm or the Big Bad who caused it actually is. So I'm taking ideas on that, too, haha!
So bigger picture slowly coalescing... I want the PCs cut off from the outside world, but perhaps the wizard's mansion is a source of increasingly powerful items or knowledge to keep them sustained. I want them to be able to "cleanse" areas so that progress can be seen, but I'm not sure exactly how that cleansing works. Or is it just *clearing* areas of hostiles rather than an inherent evil that is seeping in... maybe its a combination of both? I think it'd be good, especially at lower levels, that they're clearing out wild beasts or perhaps lower level evil things that are more symptoms of the greater evil. I know I want to stay away from demons and such. I'm totally fine with "evil," but as a family affair, I'd prefer to stay away from the demon/9 circles of hell aspect that DnD puts forward (just as background, I have no problem with these elements for adults, I just want to introduce my kids [ages 9 to young teens] to more generic evil things than straight up demons out of the gate, ha). Undead things are totally fair game, as well. skeletons and such are awesome fodder, in my opinion. I also love fantasy spiders (probably because I detest spiders IRL).
Anyway. Thanks to your replies, I feel better about instigating circumstances and even how to get the group into the adventure, though I'll have to work out the character level 0 aspects, because that sounds really fun if I can work it properly. So I think the next step is figuring out the nature of the cataclysm/evil that is affecting the area. Once I figure that out, then figuring out what makes sense in pushing it back/cleansing it, will fall more easily into place. Any suggestions on how this might work, what the source of the evil might be?
The point I'm really stuck on now is how the various areas around the town might be cleansed. For instance, let's say we have forest locations, the local mine that has
*snip
You know what you wrote.
Giant mirrors. On some level (on the outside) of the tower/mansion/wizard house, there's a ledge - like adding scaffolding to the topmost part of a pringles can. Anyway -
On the ledge are giant magic mirrors. These don't need to be explained. It's magic. Hand waive it (these aren't the droids..and so on). Each mirror can be rotated in any of the four cardinal directions but they can't be moved (from their spot). Each mirror points to one of the 'hot spots'. The bad guy zones - be it caves, dungeon entrance, haunted grove - whatever. Mirrors point "towards" the hot spots, regardless of how far away they are. Think of the 'wizard tower-mirror building' as a centrally located hub, nestled in the middle of all the theme park bad guy zones (hot spots).
Framing the mirror is.. well, the frame itself, which is fused to the ground - hence you can't move them. Within the frame of each mirror is a big hollow. A keystone point. A place to insert a massive gem into it.
And finally, we get to it! Each hot spot holds the gem that fits into the mirror. PCs need to explore/cleanse/do adventuring stuff in each of the hot spots to track down the gem. The gem can be looted from the final boss, hidden behind a secret puzzle door, etc. Once the PCs get the gem, they've won the zone/hot spot but it isn't cleansed. Only by bringing the gem back to the mirror, inserting it and ensuring the mirror is pointing at the hotspot do they cleanse it. A large beam of radiant light shoots down at the hot spot, engulfing the area in consecrated, angelic, good-aligned bad ass energy! It is cleansed.
Moving further, imaging wandering the countryside, hearing about these mirrors. On the horizon you see another tall structure/tower, etc. Beacons of mirror-light shine down in areas. Except one mirror isn't shining at all - that's a hot spot that has a hermit outside with a giant ! over his head). Another mirror-light, beacon thing isn't radiant, bright, and white. It's more of a muted, "greyish" color. What's the deal there?
Anyhow, hope it helps. Just ideas. Things to give visual to what the PCs see. Places for the PCs to interact. Something to grab (loot) after adventuring and most importantly, new places and interesting locales to explore (the other beacon spots in the world). We won't even get into what religion, faith, entity, faction, controls the mirrors, beacons, radiant energy, etc. What factions and villains send out hunters to destroy the mirrors, etc.
I like it.... is this something you thought up yourself or is it from another source material? If I use it, I just want to know where I am stealing from!
If I went with something like this, that starts to dictate what the nature of the overall evil/good conflict there is going on overall. Perhaps the wizard was part of a massive network of wizards who placed these towers and mirrors all over the region, wherever the cataclysm takes place. I like the suggestion above that perhaps this is a bigger than the town but smaller than the world type deal...
Hmm. You guys are all awesome. I'll have some time later this afternoon to come back and read through this thread again and work on some of those bullet-point questions that was mentioned above.
no. just came up with it as I was typing it. That being said, creativity doesn't exist in a vacuum and everything has been there and done that, so I'm sure something influenced it.
The only problem I have with the mirror idea is probably a really small one, but it would bother me as a DM. My wife and kids aren't going to care, but I'm always going to wonder, "How did the gems needed to power the mirrors get in the places of evil?"
This is one of my most difficult hurdles to overcome. I just have this desire to understand why things are the way they are. I don't like running standard dungeons because I'm like, "Why are all these critters in here?" Or if you're busting into a goblin stronghold, wouldn't there be an alert system? Entering room after room with more goblins makes no sense when the noise of one battle would raise an alarm, etc...
The only problem I have with the mirror idea is probably a really small one, but it would bother me as a DM. My wife and kids aren't going to care, but I'm always going to wonder, "How did the gems needed to power the mirrors get in the places of evil?"
This is one of my most difficult hurdles to overcome. I just have this desire to understand why things are the way they are. I don't like running standard dungeons because I'm like, "Why are all these critters in here?" Or if you're busting into a goblin stronghold, wouldn't there be an alert system? Entering room after room with more goblins makes no sense when the noise of one battle would raise an alarm, etc...
It could be slightly different. Maybe the gems don't need to be brought back to the mirrors, but they need to be cleared so the mirrors can be focused on them. The mirror and gem setup was created deliberately for some purpose or other, but the gems were left in disrepair after that purpose was filled. Maybe that original purpose was even the same as it is now, although that'd raise the question why the wizard didn't repair them. Then again, you don't absolutely need the wizard in the first place - he could have died centuries ago, and it's only his tower that has reawakened in response to the burgeoning evil.
edit: Or the gems could have been placed there in a long gone age, as part of some elder magic. You could have the PCs find a map (players love maps) that shows them positioned on leyline intersections, or how they are layed out to mirror a star constellation or form a geometrically perfect pentagram. Maybe the wizard built his tower there to study that magic, even. Unfortunately he never had the chance to conclude his studies, but when he foresaw the rising evil he came up with a way to counteract its effect by using the gems in conjunction with magic of his own - the mirrors. Lots of possibilities, and they can all lead to various ways to flesh out what you already created.
Wanting to understand why things are the way they are is a good thing. Maybe your players won't wonder, but then again maybe they will. Better to have that covered. It'll also help with figuring out what leads to give the players, what bread crumbs to leave lying about, and especially what you might come up with if they get stuck and need some inspiration.
The only problem I have with the mirror idea is probably a really small one, but it would bother me as a DM. My wife and kids aren't going to care, but I'm always going to wonder, "How did the gems needed to power the mirrors get in the places of evil?"
Legit concerns. Lean into whatever your wife and kids come up with - if anything. If they don't provide a reason at first, gloss over it. Ignore it (best you can). Later, they may become more invested and care, thus providing some insight or answer as to how the gems got there.
I approach so much of my DM creation stuff from the perspective of my players. I leave it open for them to discover and in turn, provide me with rhyme and reason. For instance, one of the most important things I do with puzzles is leave room for the solution to be determined by my players. What I mean is this -
I have a puzzle. It has tons of moving parts. One key part says that some specific word needs to be said in Abyssal (Gandalf and Moria). That's what it says on my notes. The worst thing you can do is set that in stone. Here's why. You know the answer. It's in front of you. It's in your notes. Your the DM.
So what happens is after 20 minutes of the players scratching their heads, one of the players says, "hey, I think I got it! You have to say the [keyword] in Dwarven. Because look! There's this depiction of the dwarven god, the dwarven this", etc.
Well guess what? Your notes say, the keyword must be spoken in Abyssal. Not anymore. Saying the key word in Dwarven now works as well. Because, that's just how things of this sort should flow. Otherwise you take away all of their ownership and effort simply because they can't piece together something that in the end - is the way it is because you wrote it that way.
See where I'm goin'? Let your players guide you to find the answers as to how, what, why, etc.
Maybe the places became corrupted now specifically because the gems were removed.
Maybe the valley was uninhabitable by humans and such before... wild and deadly. The wizard came in and cleared the land, and built his tower, and then put up mirrors with the gems to keep bad things out, purifying those areas and making the Valley habitable. With the Valley a decent place now, the town grew up in the area. Wizard maybe didn't like it but couldn't be bothered to deal with it, since they weren't really hurting anything much. Then, when the "cataclysm" came through he wasn't going to see all his handiwork go to waste cleaning up the corruption, so he defended the valley, but in the end it cost him his life, or he died soon afterwards. With the wizard dead, the bad things were able to sneak into his tower and take the gems away so their sites could go corrupt again. They hid them so that their sites can't be "cleansed" anymore.
I think the party should be members of the town rather than people that have been called from outside. They would have a higher stake in defending the town and if they were from the outside, they might want to go back to where it was they came from. I addition if they are from the outside you would have to give them information about the outside.
Consider having the wizard be a crazy hermit on the outskirts of the town borders. He's a nice guy but the stuff he says doesn't make any sense, until it does.
The wizard could also be old Uncle Willard who is keeping his past hidden because it was too horrific.
The reason to go to the mine could be simple family request. It's been abandoned for a long time due to cave-in but the mayor wants it to re-open. Send some young folk for labor and behold! Something(s) has moved in over the years. It doesn't even have to be a big evil or related to the major plot. Just giant spiders and some zombies.
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I like Bio's explanation of the gems and such, as well. Not sure that'll be how it works in the end, but it's definitely a good place to start.
So, I just sat down and started typing and this is what came about. It doesn't actually cover that much material, but it sort of sets a mood and sometimes I'm surprised (as Jacked_Goblin has indicated) how much stuff can work out just in the process. And I do like that explanation of letting the PCs gain ownership by adapting your story to what they come up with, especially when they don't necessarily understand how they shaped things themselves. But you're right, it definitely gives them ownership.
And absolutely, the PCs will be from the town, not from outside.
So here's some introductory, background, atmospheric (in this case, literally), stuff:
The Hammorjen Vale is nestled between two arms of the Great Barrier Mountain range, far to the north of the more civilized kingdoms which reside in the heart of the continent.
Three years ago, a brilliant flash lit the night sky of an autumn evening, dazzling all those who happened to be outside to see it in it’s fullness. Some felt this a bad omen, others cited an unusual occurrence of heat lightning.
The next morning, however, the sun was not to be seen. A turbulent and foreboding overcast blocked the rays of the sun in a way that the residents of the Vale knew to be unnatural. The sun has not been seen since, it’s light only feebly forcing its way through the bank of clouds, to bring a cold and joyless light to those who await it below.
Due to this unnatural overcast, crops only grow half-heartedly, producing fields of pitiful, sparse fruit.
The unnatural shroud in the sky seems to have brought with it more than short dim days and long nights of a seemingly preternatural darkness, for the once merry meadows and forests that graced the slopes of the foothills leading into the mountains now seem to harbor evil denizens. Stories range from ever increasingly ravenous wolves to the walking dead, and while none can lay solid claim to eye-witness reports of the more fantastical encounters, none are willing to venture too far from the safety of town to investigate more thoroughly.
Due to these fearful stories and other, seemingly unnatural mishaps, work at the quarry and the iron mine have come to a halt in recent months. Farmers tend to their crops as quickly as they can and return to their homes well before the sun sets. More and more families from outlying regions find means of moving closer to the town, if not within its confines, during nighttime hours, driven by an unexplained fear of what lies in the once-familiar lands around them.
As time passes, more and more town meetings are called, questions are raised and, incited by fear, tempers flare. No messenger who has been sent to the settlements outside the Vale have returned. No word has reached the Vale from the outside world for three long, fearful years. Construction has begun on a wall to encircle as much of the town as possible, though this has only increased the fears of those who would be left outside the walls’ bounds.
Adding to the fear and speculation, a week prior to the adventure’s start, a mysterious mansion and sentinel tower has suddenly appeared on a ridge line that extends down into the valley from the mountains in the west. The sudden appearance of such a construction has sent the town into a fluster of confusion with many demanding questions and yet none willing to approach the mansion to find the answers. [Enter noble adventurers!]
I think that sets things up without restricting things too much. Though the bounds defined by this are: Whatever it was happened, happened 3 years ago. The town is self-sufficient, but as things get worse, resources are growing more scarce and the people are growing more desperate. Inner strife might come to the town due to stress, fear, and outright paranoia. The wizards mansion/tower is only a recent discovery, probably indicating that the wizard has been at work in the last few years and has only recently passed due to whatever mishap. This might account for the fact that there is a means to cleans/beat back the evil/darkness, yet he did not survive to bring that act to completion, so the adventurers have to use his notes/whatever to complete the task. This certainly leaves room for the mirror/gem idea... perhaps he died from overexertion... maybe he died because his manor was assaulted by the evil things that came to put an end to his resistance, but they were unable to destroy the mirrors, so they took the gems...?
If there are already evil things in the mansion when the PCs get there, I have to abandon the level-0 character idea, but it would certainly make for a fun first session, the climax of which is when they break through to find the wizard's study/laboratory and find the first clues as to what is happening...
hmm.
*edit* One thing I do know is that the bright flash seen three years ago was something the wizard was trying to do to counteract the cataclysm, not an effect of the cataclysm itself. I want to hold on to the story element that the townspeople would naturally assume that the wizard's mansion and tower (and that flash) would be part of the problem when they were intended to be part of the solution.
Hey, everyone. I'm hoping I can get some help with ideas on how to start a new campaign I want to run for my wife and 3 kids. I'm struggling with the opening (actually, ALL of it, ha), so let me explain to you the basic premise and how I *hope* to have it open up. I am lacking a LOT of details, however, and so ideas are very welcome.
I want to have the campaign set in a remote area, possibly a small town (but bigger than a village) that is located in a valley surrounded by natural obstacles like dense forests and mountain ranges, which makes it easy to cut off from the rest of the world when forest paths become too dangerous or mountain passes get blocked. My basic idea is that something bad has happened, perhaps even cataclysmic, in the world at large and the natural world is sort of reacting like when Scar takes over in The Lion King. In that movie, it doesn't make much sense, but just because the "bad guy" is in charge, the grass dies and the rivers dry up and it is perpetually overcast. I maybe don't want to go to that extreme, but whatever has happened in the wider world has made it so that the natural world seems to be reacting, that crops don't grow as well, that the sun is constantly obscured by clouds, and what's more, the areas around the town are growing more and more dangerous. Dangerous wild creatures are coming closer and closer to town for unknown reasons. People who attempt to reach the outside world never come back, etc. The whole landscape seems to be growing more evil and malevolent.
And so my thought is that the group of adventurers come together to figure out what is going on and if there's any way they can put a stop to it. Something about this that I like is that this cataclysmic event probably doesn't even have anything to do with this remote town. Perhaps some other adventurers failed in their quest to stop The Big Bad in some other area of the world and now these folks are just trying to handle the fallout from that.
And one thought I had on how to start all this up is that in close proximity to the town is a wizard's mansion. But the town never knew about it because the wizard decided to settle in this remote location as a sort of retirement where he could study the stars and continue his arcane research in peace, and so all his holdings were under some sort of cloaking spell so the townsfolk never knew he was there. But then, by whatever means, he realized that this cataclysmic event was coming and he tried to put some sort of shield around the area of the town, or he tried to do something to protect the himself and the people from the cataclysm. And maybe it sapped so much of his power that he was on the brink of death, and with the last of his strength, he sent out a psychic message calling people to him in the hopes that they can do what it takes to protect the town. And perhaps the 4 adventurers were the only ones naturally attuned enough to receive the message in their dreams to seek him out. But having used the last of his power, the wizard passes away and so his "cloak" spell fizzles and his mansion and all his holdings become visible for the adventurers to find.
Now, these are all just incredibly rough ideas. Nothing is sacred, I am willing to change anything. I think there is something good here, but I'm having such a hard time getting a bead on *exactly* how to formulate all this.
Because one of the things I was also thinking about is not even having the party create their characters until they make their way to the wizard's mansion and they find his notes, or perhaps his ghost, or a recurring memory that delivers a message, or something.... and somehow the wizard, whether himself or though some artifact he left behind, imbues some power into the adventurers which explains why they are able to level up and gain magical powers and spectacular abilities inherent to DnD adventurers and such.
Again, I realize this is like a cat's hairball of ideas. What do you think of some of these ideas in terms of a basis for a larger story? My basic idea was that in the early stages of the campaign, the party would simply be clearing out and "cleansing" certain areas close to town. I'm not sure in what manner the "cleansing" would happen, but it'd be kind of cool if their progress was noted by brighter skies or the immediate surroundings of the town becoming safer. I want the party to see their exploits having an effect on the people of the town.
Does this inspire any ideas in you that might fill in the massive gaps I have left open? What ideas might you have? If this was your campaign, what direction would you take it? If you were going to play something with this basic premise, as a player, what would you like to see happen?
Thank you for your help!
First of all, I like your idea. I think it is pretty neat and reminiscent of the 4th edition "points of light" setting (look it up -- there is a lot of good stuff there you can swipe).
I think in terms of the wizard protecting things -- I think it might be better if the wizard never really meant to protect the town. Maybe he was not even aware the town was even there, or didn't care. But the spell he cast to protect himself covered the whole valley, and by coincidence, saved the town. Maybe the spell only has one size AOE, and he couldn't make it any smaller -- perhaps it automatically fits into the boundaries of the geography, so he had to protect the town because of the AOE. I think the idea of a wizard who is reluctant to help the town, and maybe would be reluctant (if still alive) to help the party, would lead to more interesting RP. Personally, I'd have the wizard dead and they only have his notes to go from.
Regarding starting the party without character classes and having them "discover" them when they get to the tower - I think this is an awesome idea. Unfortunately there is no mechanical precedent for it in D&D, so you're going to have to homebrew something. Other games have the concept of a "level 0" character who goes on a short adventure to "discover" what his or her class will be. You might want to look into how Dungeon Crawl Classics does this. In that game, you roll up stats for 4 PCs per player, and run them through a "gauntlet" scenario, and whichever one survives becomes the player's PC (realistically, the one with the best stats probably makes it). I'd say you don't have to do that (probably shouldn't), but also in DCC, they have background charts for your starting "level 0" background profession. If you can find those tables somewhere online (maybe in a PDF preview or a wiki), you could use that chart (or one like it -- there are many random tables floating around out there). Have the players roll or pick a "profession" like pig farmer, brick layer, shop keeper, etc. Give them basic inventory from the profession (pitchfork, etc.), and then let them buy very basic gear. Start them at level 0 with all their stats at 10-10-10-10-10-10 for everything, tell them NO RACIAL BONUSES at this point (though they can pick race). Then give them an easy/simple "level 0" adventure with more player than PC challenges (puzzle rooms, riddles, etc) and when they get to the wizard's lab, do your thing where they get their abilities. Then have them do point buy or roll 4d6 drop 1 or whatever your method is, pick classes, and "level up" to level 1.
I for one would LOVE this kind of thing... but I would say talk to your players FIRST and make sure they think it's cool. If they're gonna hate it, no sense in doing it.
Your other option if they hate it is start them at level 1, but don't let them level up to pick subclasses until they get to the tower. That's a lot more boring IMO, but more typical.
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When creating a campaign, and certainly the premisse of it, I often focus on figuring out how the PCs are supposed to find out X/want to go to Y/have a reason to do Z. Once I know that, the remaining blanks in the story usually fill in themselves. You seem to be doing much the same thing, so keep doing that. Your ideas aren't rough, they're just pieces of the puzzle. Break it down, then take it step by step.
The PCs are in a remote, isolated location and the sky fell down on the world, metaphorically speaking. Good, that's your starting point.
Now you want the PCs to investigate, and to be able to find some initial answers to give them possible ways to deal with this. I assume players want to play and normally don't need to be forced into investigating, but the effects of the sky falling could be used to give them a nudge if they need it. All beer going sour will get the drinkers going, loved ones getting sick and wasting away should make those with families look for a cure, farmers' livestock going missing threatens their livelihood, and so on. How will they know where to look for answers? There's your idea of the dying wizard reaching out to them telepathically, leading them to his tower. Or maybe what kept the tower hidden failed when the sky fell, and a tower that suddenly appears out of nowhere just when the sky falls seems like a great first lead. Could be the wizard's protective magic against the falling sky made a dome spring up around the town that staves off the worst of it, and the tower is right at the center of it. Maybe the town isn't affected at all, but nobody living there can leave anymore: as soon as they reach its outskirts they find themselves magically walking back towards it, except for the PCs who arrive at the tower when they try that. If one or more of them is religious, their deity could steer them towards the tower (I'm thinking signs and compulsions like Richard Dreyfuss gets in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, if you've seen that movie).
Once at the tower (and possibly after overcoming a challenge to prove they are worthy of entrance), they should be able to acquire tools for a solution. To create these, you need to define the nature of the problem. Is it something spiritual, so the PCs can try to cleanse areas? Demonic influence in want of an exorcism? Foul magic to be warded against? Mental afflictions to be cured, or at least the symptoms suppressed? Could be several things at once as well, maybe allowing the PCs to enact a temporary solution (wards against magic could deteriorate over time, cleansed areas could slowly become corrupted again, and so on). Once you've determined this, you can decide what will empower the PCs to fix it. Could be recipes for potions, or instructions for a ritual, or directions to an artefact. Maybe it could be connected to one or more of their class, background or race choices - especially if they will only acquire some or all of their class abilities there and then. You could work a paladin's aura into this, or a ranger or druid's herb lore. A cleric could find divine inspiration, a wizard or sorcerer might find a spell or ritual implanted in their memory.
Again, your ideas aren't rough - they're small parts of a larger whole. As far as I can tell, you're doing everything right. Keep doing what you do.
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I can tell you a bit about my campaign, and perhaps some of the ideas are things you can steal/ modify for your own.
In my campaign, the group is based in a small town, at the foothills East of a large mountain range. They live on a huge island continent (think size of Australia). Approx 2 years ago, there was a massive earhquake inland, with the epicenter a little closer to the mountain range. It devastated the area. At around the same time, supposedly unrelated, there was another quake offshore, that created a tsunami that wiped out most of the largest coastal city, about 200 miles from my char's town.
These two events have laid waste to the regional economy. The char's town was a central hub for the mines West of the town, mostly based in the mountains. These mines were destroyed in the earthquake. Coupled with the coastal city being hammered, which was the regional trade hub, things are bad. The economy and its people are just starting to get back on their feet.
My chars started out doing small jobs in the area, primarily for the Constable of the town, a Paladin of the Crown. At one time, the Royal Garrison in town was close to 20 members, but the economic damage and deaths was so great that the Constable is now alone. The chars know and respect the Constable and are happy to help out. The chars started with some missing person issues (one farmer's child ended up being eaten by a Giant Pike), then slowly moved up to doing some escort missions for miners/ ore being transported as the local mines were slowly starting to re-open. Naturally, there are encounters and side quests that naturally happen with these jobs.
This led to the chars doing work for the Crown, escorting the refined ore, now ingots, to the regional city, where the ingots are processed into Coin of the Realm. As the group's successful work is done, they pique the interest of a nebulous, almost mythic crime syndicate, that in this case, is aligned with the good guys, in the face of a greater evil. That is a Dragon cult, bent on bringing back a Dracolich to control this continent, as a proxy for Tiamat.
That leads to all kinds of interesting options for the players, as they have met Drow, who are also throwing aside old hatred in the face of a greater evil, and direct encounters with the Cult, as well as introduction of long lost Dragons, all thought to be merely myth now.
There is a ton more backstory and history, but I don't want to bore you too much. If you are interested, I can fire it off to you. The chars started at level 1, totally impoverished, with not even the starting toys the PHB gives. They are about to level to 8.
I've made loads of videos on this sort of thing (see sig). Focus on bullet points. Get your ideas into five things. Ask the questions of, "why does it matter to my players?" "What would (and could) my players do about this?"
Check out my words of wisdom on "campaign design" and I'll reply here if you have any other questions or otherwise.
All things Lich - DM tips, tricks, and other creative shenanigans
Really great ideas here. It sounds to me like you've got a lot more of this nailed down than you think you do. As for the cataclysmic part, I think if it 's localized (larger than the village, smaller than the world) it will be easier to play (unless you want this to be a major, long-running campaign). Maybe in the nearby mountains a necromancer has moved into an ancient, discarded tower and he's drawing life from the surrounding areas to feed his power. Maybe just past the forests there is a marsh/swamp where a black dragon has made a lair (since black dragons have adverse effects on surrounding areas for miles - fouled/poisoned drinking water, dying vegetation, thick fog, etc. Maybe a portal to the Shadowfell has opened near the town and Big Bad is allowing it to slowly corrupt the land before he makes his or her appearance.
Thank you guys for your responses, encouragement, and suggestions. You've already provided a lot to process, for which I am appreciative! I think I agree that the wizard should be dead when the PCs arrive, and you've spurred some ideas I'm not ready to put out there about just how he interacted with the cataclysm (I'll use that terminology for now, but what *actually* happened can morph with the story). Part of the process that leads the PCs to investigate the wizard's mansion/tower/whatever will be when that cloaking spell dropped and why. I might even drop the telepathic communication and have the simple fact that an up-to-that-point unknown wizard's residence popping up out of no-where being considered a haunted mansion and likely the cause of everything... because villagers are likely small-minded on such things, assuming that what is happening to them is focused on them, not realizing that what is happening is more of a world-wide thing and the "haunted mansion", instead of being the cause of the bad things happening is actually something that was trying to prevent those bad things.... I am also thinking that this wizards hold might end up serving as a base of operations for the group and perhaps more and more of the wizard's mysteries, hidden treasure rooms, or whatever, might become available to the group as they level up.
The point I'm really stuck on now is how the various areas around the town might be cleansed. For instance, let's say we have forest locations, the local mine that has been abandoned due to some sort of evil presence invading it, the ruins of an ancient fortress that has already been scavenged for building material and is more like a teenagers hang out spot than an unkown place, but now it, too has been invaded by evil so it becomes a target for renewed exploration and cleansing... spots like this... but I don't know what might cleanse them. Perhaps each area has a "heart" that has been infected in some manner.... and I think this comes from the problem that besides the effects of the cataclysm, I don't yet know what the cataclysm or the Big Bad who caused it actually is. So I'm taking ideas on that, too, haha!
So bigger picture slowly coalescing... I want the PCs cut off from the outside world, but perhaps the wizard's mansion is a source of increasingly powerful items or knowledge to keep them sustained. I want them to be able to "cleanse" areas so that progress can be seen, but I'm not sure exactly how that cleansing works. Or is it just *clearing* areas of hostiles rather than an inherent evil that is seeping in... maybe its a combination of both? I think it'd be good, especially at lower levels, that they're clearing out wild beasts or perhaps lower level evil things that are more symptoms of the greater evil. I know I want to stay away from demons and such. I'm totally fine with "evil," but as a family affair, I'd prefer to stay away from the demon/9 circles of hell aspect that DnD puts forward (just as background, I have no problem with these elements for adults, I just want to introduce my kids [ages 9 to young teens] to more generic evil things than straight up demons out of the gate, ha). Undead things are totally fair game, as well. skeletons and such are awesome fodder, in my opinion. I also love fantasy spiders (probably because I detest spiders IRL).
Anyway. Thanks to your replies, I feel better about instigating circumstances and even how to get the group into the adventure, though I'll have to work out the character level 0 aspects, because that sounds really fun if I can work it properly. So I think the next step is figuring out the nature of the cataclysm/evil that is affecting the area. Once I figure that out, then figuring out what makes sense in pushing it back/cleansing it, will fall more easily into place. Any suggestions on how this might work, what the source of the evil might be?
You guys are great. Thanks for the help!
Giant mirrors. On some level (on the outside) of the tower/mansion/wizard house, there's a ledge - like adding scaffolding to the topmost part of a pringles can. Anyway -
On the ledge are giant magic mirrors. These don't need to be explained. It's magic. Hand waive it (these aren't the droids..and so on). Each mirror can be rotated in any of the four cardinal directions but they can't be moved (from their spot). Each mirror points to one of the 'hot spots'. The bad guy zones - be it caves, dungeon entrance, haunted grove - whatever. Mirrors point "towards" the hot spots, regardless of how far away they are. Think of the 'wizard tower-mirror building' as a centrally located hub, nestled in the middle of all the theme park bad guy zones (hot spots).
Framing the mirror is.. well, the frame itself, which is fused to the ground - hence you can't move them. Within the frame of each mirror is a big hollow. A keystone point. A place to insert a massive gem into it.
And finally, we get to it! Each hot spot holds the gem that fits into the mirror. PCs need to explore/cleanse/do adventuring stuff in each of the hot spots to track down the gem. The gem can be looted from the final boss, hidden behind a secret puzzle door, etc. Once the PCs get the gem, they've won the zone/hot spot but it isn't cleansed. Only by bringing the gem back to the mirror, inserting it and ensuring the mirror is pointing at the hotspot do they cleanse it. A large beam of radiant light shoots down at the hot spot, engulfing the area in consecrated, angelic, good-aligned bad ass energy! It is cleansed.
Moving further, imaging wandering the countryside, hearing about these mirrors. On the horizon you see another tall structure/tower, etc. Beacons of mirror-light shine down in areas. Except one mirror isn't shining at all - that's a hot spot that has a hermit outside with a giant ! over his head). Another mirror-light, beacon thing isn't radiant, bright, and white. It's more of a muted, "greyish" color. What's the deal there?
Anyhow, hope it helps. Just ideas. Things to give visual to what the PCs see. Places for the PCs to interact. Something to grab (loot) after adventuring and most importantly, new places and interesting locales to explore (the other beacon spots in the world). We won't even get into what religion, faith, entity, faction, controls the mirrors, beacons, radiant energy, etc. What factions and villains send out hunters to destroy the mirrors, etc.
All things Lich - DM tips, tricks, and other creative shenanigans
I like it.... is this something you thought up yourself or is it from another source material? If I use it, I just want to know where I am stealing from!
If I went with something like this, that starts to dictate what the nature of the overall evil/good conflict there is going on overall. Perhaps the wizard was part of a massive network of wizards who placed these towers and mirrors all over the region, wherever the cataclysm takes place. I like the suggestion above that perhaps this is a bigger than the town but smaller than the world type deal...
Hmm. You guys are all awesome. I'll have some time later this afternoon to come back and read through this thread again and work on some of those bullet-point questions that was mentioned above.
I love this collaboration. Thank you all!
no. just came up with it as I was typing it. That being said, creativity doesn't exist in a vacuum and everything has been there and done that, so I'm sure something influenced it.
All things Lich - DM tips, tricks, and other creative shenanigans
The mirror idea is freaking awesome.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
The only problem I have with the mirror idea is probably a really small one, but it would bother me as a DM. My wife and kids aren't going to care, but I'm always going to wonder, "How did the gems needed to power the mirrors get in the places of evil?"
This is one of my most difficult hurdles to overcome. I just have this desire to understand why things are the way they are. I don't like running standard dungeons because I'm like, "Why are all these critters in here?" Or if you're busting into a goblin stronghold, wouldn't there be an alert system? Entering room after room with more goblins makes no sense when the noise of one battle would raise an alarm, etc...
It could be slightly different. Maybe the gems don't need to be brought back to the mirrors, but they need to be cleared so the mirrors can be focused on them. The mirror and gem setup was created deliberately for some purpose or other, but the gems were left in disrepair after that purpose was filled. Maybe that original purpose was even the same as it is now, although that'd raise the question why the wizard didn't repair them. Then again, you don't absolutely need the wizard in the first place - he could have died centuries ago, and it's only his tower that has reawakened in response to the burgeoning evil.
edit: Or the gems could have been placed there in a long gone age, as part of some elder magic. You could have the PCs find a map (players love maps) that shows them positioned on leyline intersections, or how they are layed out to mirror a star constellation or form a geometrically perfect pentagram. Maybe the wizard built his tower there to study that magic, even. Unfortunately he never had the chance to conclude his studies, but when he foresaw the rising evil he came up with a way to counteract its effect by using the gems in conjunction with magic of his own - the mirrors. Lots of possibilities, and they can all lead to various ways to flesh out what you already created.
Wanting to understand why things are the way they are is a good thing. Maybe your players won't wonder, but then again maybe they will. Better to have that covered. It'll also help with figuring out what leads to give the players, what bread crumbs to leave lying about, and especially what you might come up with if they get stuck and need some inspiration.
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Legit concerns. Lean into whatever your wife and kids come up with - if anything. If they don't provide a reason at first, gloss over it. Ignore it (best you can). Later, they may become more invested and care, thus providing some insight or answer as to how the gems got there.
I approach so much of my DM creation stuff from the perspective of my players. I leave it open for them to discover and in turn, provide me with rhyme and reason. For instance, one of the most important things I do with puzzles is leave room for the solution to be determined by my players. What I mean is this -
I have a puzzle. It has tons of moving parts. One key part says that some specific word needs to be said in Abyssal (Gandalf and Moria). That's what it says on my notes. The worst thing you can do is set that in stone. Here's why. You know the answer. It's in front of you. It's in your notes. Your the DM.
So what happens is after 20 minutes of the players scratching their heads, one of the players says, "hey, I think I got it! You have to say the [keyword] in Dwarven. Because look! There's this depiction of the dwarven god, the dwarven this", etc.
Well guess what? Your notes say, the keyword must be spoken in Abyssal. Not anymore. Saying the key word in Dwarven now works as well. Because, that's just how things of this sort should flow. Otherwise you take away all of their ownership and effort simply because they can't piece together something that in the end - is the way it is because you wrote it that way.
See where I'm goin'? Let your players guide you to find the answers as to how, what, why, etc.
All things Lich - DM tips, tricks, and other creative shenanigans
Maybe the places became corrupted now specifically because the gems were removed.
Maybe the valley was uninhabitable by humans and such before... wild and deadly. The wizard came in and cleared the land, and built his tower, and then put up mirrors with the gems to keep bad things out, purifying those areas and making the Valley habitable. With the Valley a decent place now, the town grew up in the area. Wizard maybe didn't like it but couldn't be bothered to deal with it, since they weren't really hurting anything much. Then, when the "cataclysm" came through he wasn't going to see all his handiwork go to waste cleaning up the corruption, so he defended the valley, but in the end it cost him his life, or he died soon afterwards. With the wizard dead, the bad things were able to sneak into his tower and take the gems away so their sites could go corrupt again. They hid them so that their sites can't be "cleansed" anymore.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I think the party should be members of the town rather than people that have been called from outside. They would have a higher stake in defending the town and if they were from the outside, they might want to go back to where it was they came from. I addition if they are from the outside you would have to give them information about the outside.
Consider having the wizard be a crazy hermit on the outskirts of the town borders. He's a nice guy but the stuff he says doesn't make any sense, until it does.
The wizard could also be old Uncle Willard who is keeping his past hidden because it was too horrific.
The reason to go to the mine could be simple family request. It's been abandoned for a long time due to cave-in but the mayor wants it to re-open. Send some young folk for labor and behold! Something(s) has moved in over the years. It doesn't even have to be a big evil or related to the major plot. Just giant spiders and some zombies.
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Bio:
I was just offering a random idea but after your answer, I'm runnin' with it, creating a world based on it and stealing your answer!
All things Lich - DM tips, tricks, and other creative shenanigans
LOL... my work here is done.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I like Bio's explanation of the gems and such, as well. Not sure that'll be how it works in the end, but it's definitely a good place to start.
So, I just sat down and started typing and this is what came about. It doesn't actually cover that much material, but it sort of sets a mood and sometimes I'm surprised (as Jacked_Goblin has indicated) how much stuff can work out just in the process. And I do like that explanation of letting the PCs gain ownership by adapting your story to what they come up with, especially when they don't necessarily understand how they shaped things themselves. But you're right, it definitely gives them ownership.
And absolutely, the PCs will be from the town, not from outside.
So here's some introductory, background, atmospheric (in this case, literally), stuff:
I think that sets things up without restricting things too much. Though the bounds defined by this are: Whatever it was happened, happened 3 years ago. The town is self-sufficient, but as things get worse, resources are growing more scarce and the people are growing more desperate. Inner strife might come to the town due to stress, fear, and outright paranoia. The wizards mansion/tower is only a recent discovery, probably indicating that the wizard has been at work in the last few years and has only recently passed due to whatever mishap. This might account for the fact that there is a means to cleans/beat back the evil/darkness, yet he did not survive to bring that act to completion, so the adventurers have to use his notes/whatever to complete the task. This certainly leaves room for the mirror/gem idea... perhaps he died from overexertion... maybe he died because his manor was assaulted by the evil things that came to put an end to his resistance, but they were unable to destroy the mirrors, so they took the gems...?
If there are already evil things in the mansion when the PCs get there, I have to abandon the level-0 character idea, but it would certainly make for a fun first session, the climax of which is when they break through to find the wizard's study/laboratory and find the first clues as to what is happening...
hmm.
*edit* One thing I do know is that the bright flash seen three years ago was something the wizard was trying to do to counteract the cataclysm, not an effect of the cataclysm itself. I want to hold on to the story element that the townspeople would naturally assume that the wizard's mansion and tower (and that flash) would be part of the problem when they were intended to be part of the solution.
Overcast sky could also be the Wizard trying to protect the people from something.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.