This is my first time dm-ing a homebrew world and I've hit somewhat of a rut in the story. The tl:dr is the pretty common tale of finding the seven magical artifacts to seal away the bbeg.
My party has just returned to the capital with their first artifact which was easy enough to to give incentive to do. (The quest giver gave them their first lead) But don't want this campaign to turn into a series of going out and returning over and over as I can see that getting repetitive and boring.
If you all have any advice, I looking for a way to organically lead into one artifact from the last.
My current ideas are maybe giving them multiple leads and letting them choose where to go next or possibly giving them hints for artifacts while they're out on a search for a different one.
Also they're at the capital now so I don't know if there's a way I can kick off this more natural storytelling now without having their quest giver being like "Good job! Now go here next!"
This looks like a perfect opportunity to use the five by five system for adventure creation (google it). They already have their first artifact. Let’s say that by virtue of having it, they can now find out about the next five. Then you just have the final artifact that you can arbitrarily require the previous six before the party can go after it.
So take each of the five artifacts and for each of them, come up with five encounters. For instance, if one of the artifacts is the sword of magic wonder, then your first encounter would be with the person who can present the journey to them. Maybe a scholar or an old priest knows a legend about where it was last seen or a battle where it was used. So the party needs to get this info from him. Maybe several people have parts of the legend.
The second encounter could be the journey to the place where the legend says the sword is. There may be adventure along the way, monsters to fight, puzzles to solve, people to bribe. Think Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider.
The third encounter Ian figuring out how to get to it. Navigating the ancient temple with no obvious entrance. Figuring out the riddle inscribed on the base of a statue of a hero holding the sword. Exploring the dungeon below the temple.
the fourth encounter is the showdown with the big bad who has / guards the sword. This may be a fight or a challenge to get it from a monster way too powerful to fight head-on.
The fifth encounter is the journey home which leads into the next artifact.
the beauty of this system is that you let the players decide which path they want to follow since they have hooks for all five. If you want to take it to the next level, you can have each story tie into one or two other stories along the way so that the party automatically has hooks for other artifacts while they work on the first. I have used this system myself and while it may seem like a lot of work to come up with 25 encounters, they start to flow and build in each other like a video game where you can only go so far on one path until you unlock another one.
then when it is all done and the party has the five artifacts in addition to the one they have now, THEN you can give them the hook for going after the big #7 and finishing up the whole story arc.
I would consider having the original quest giver tell them of a magical tome that a high level magic user in the next big town (city) has that has information on other elements (not promising any specific number). They would then have to travel to the town just to meet him. The party would have to obtain an audience with the mage and then get him to share the tome or at least share what he remembers from the tome concerning these artifacts. (He may not trust them enough to show them the tome itself.) Now they have information on finding some of the other pieces.
Rather than recycle this approach on another mage in another city, I would have clues about the other items in the locations where these next few were found. I might even have one of the bosses give a clue when he is dying about where the big boss is and how he is going to kill the party off. This could be part of the setup for the final encounter to get the last piece, and to get the last piece maybe they have to bring the other pieces with them, risking that the big boss also has his chance to get the whole set together too.
The party meets several lore masters to help them figure out the whereabouts along the way too. Good luck.
Dang this was useful. I super appreciate the help. This is my first time hearing about the 5x5 system and its definitely changing how I view things. Looking back to the first artifact I think I had about 3 encounters to get to it?
As I start to connect the five encounters that lead to each artifact it would be sweet to find ways I can pepper in hooks they can look out for alternative artifacts and make this web of information they can discover.
To kick off this new approach I'm actually going to lay siege on the capital they're in. Forcing them to leave and, in a way, breaking that fetch quest cycle before it had a chance to start. After they fend off or flee from the siege the original quest giver for the first artifact, on their dying breath, will tell to seek out a power magic user in a small town. The magic user being one of my character's estranged father.
I'm not much of a DM so one with experience might want to see if this is too convoluted or not, but, how about having another organization that has good intentions for the completed artifact but for whatever reason is wary about relying on those from the Capital to stop the BBEG with it. Perhaps they have some insight that the BBEG has a spy embedded in the Capital to keep an eye on it which is why once the party brings one back its assailed?
Have them already possess 1 artifact which they've shifted to protecting as they've come up dry on other leads to the others. Perhaps the artifact they hold was once in possession of the Capital and they managed to recover it themselves before BBEGs minions managed to fully hide it. They might be aware of the Father but he can be stubborn and difficult to work with so they keep a spy nearby to see who he interacts with. From there they might be inclined to have someone follow the party or put someone close by (have an npc try to join the party) to keep an eye on them.
From there depending on whether or not they notice the spy and how diplomatic the party is they can either -Pursue the Fathers leads either unaware of the spy or murdering him without learning anything thinking hes part of the BBEG group -Pursue the Fathers leads with promises of a new ally and support from this third faction if they bring it to them instead -Pause the Fathers artifact to meet this third party directly where they might have a slightly more vague lead of their own they haven't been able to piece together themselves, they might know of a general location or near a specific town where they'll have to investigate themselves to really uncover
If they side step the shit out of this, after they find the 4th or 5th artifact the third party can potentially introduce themselves or just make their own moves in the Capital which is super disruptive as their actions gives an equal opening to the BBEG. Also depending on which back story you give the third party you can drop little hints to their existence that might pull one of them out of hiding if they start making more noise asking around for information.
They can get the Third Party's artifact by full on murder hobo-ing this group, or by uprooting the BBEG's spy from the Capital thus by removing their biggest fear, trying to silently steal the artifact from them or possibly depending how stubborn you want to make them and what the party has accomplished so far, just a series of really high skill checks to convince them to hand their artifact over. Or perhaps the party agrees that the artifact pieces are safer here and they end up needing to steal the artifact from the Capital instead which can be dealt with similar flavored challenges.
Also depending on how they navigate this power dynamic they could potentially have 2 allies or 2 enemies depending how they handle everything. If the players destroy this third party maybe the BBEGs minions become more active with them having less to contend with and develop a bigger presence with reports of monsters savaging small towns possibly distracting the party from their big goal. If they only betray the third party but leave it intact maybe their antagonizing opens up possibilities from BBEGs minions to make moves but not just stomp their way through. If they manage to unite the 2 groups they gain additional support from each as their cooperation lessens each of their burdens.
If you have a big finale fight for the 7th artifact or the defense against BBEGs assault to stop it you can add extra fodder for each of the factions to chip away at from the periphery. I say periphery so it doesn't slow things down with actual rolling of NPCs 'in the party' but depending on the location or fighting style of the party you can describe a champion or group of each faction holding back or engaged in their own fight with the BBEGs minions. Paving the way, thinning the herd or acting as decoys to pull a "main force away" while simultaneously scaling it so they fight the same amount of enemies but potentially getting a clutch assist from each if things get dicey.
=== A much smaller scale idea along the same vein, is still have a third party holding an artifact but they're splinter members of the Capitals scouts that have doubts the artifact would be safe in the Capital itself. This way you can incorporate a similar plot hook without so much foreshadowing that might otherwise be needed but still have similar consequences and boons for diplomacy or murder-hobo-ery. They might just need some other work done or problem solved that helps bolster its security so they can trust that the artifacts are indeed safe in the Capital. Something that can either directly contribute to its safety, ease their work so they can focus on finding the spy themselves, obtaining a magical item that is guarded by an enemy they can't overcome themselves, helping develop a stronghold so they have a more advantageous foothold. It can be one big thing that has its own several encounters, find the spy themselves, or a series of several small encounters leading up to a big one, weaken a supply line to an enemy strong hold, then taking it over, then holding it while reinforcements from the enemy attempt to retake it while awaiting for the Scouts to fortify their own position. Depending how active your BBEG is they can be struggling to deal with them or little bad evil guy, Bandit encamptment, a hag who has settled in an ideal foothold outside the feywild, Sahuagin in an abandoned port and lighthouse.
Something like this at least guarantees they aren't 'fetching' an artifact, and lets you really expand on what the party has to be able to deal with outside of a dungeon crawl etc
Try and incorporate your PC's backstories if possible to increase personal stakes in the adventure. Maybe some of the artifacts have already been claimed by other groups and, being highly magical in their own right, various factions could also be squabbling over them.
This would be if you wanna try for more RP drama or even an attempt at political intrigue.
I'm not much of a DM so one with experience might want to see if this is too convoluted or not, but, how about having another organization that has good intentions for the completed artifact but for whatever reason is wary about relying on those from the Capital to stop the BBEG with it. Perhaps they have some insight that the BBEG has a spy embedded in the Capital to keep an eye on it which is why once the party brings one back its assailed?
I love this idea. It kinda give me Fallout 4 vibes. Where there's just a lot of grey. This third faction, after reading your post, sounds a lot like the Railroad. The underdog organization done with good intentions in the shadows. Definitely going to see what I can do with that. Might also let me explore some of my other players backstories.
This is my first time dm-ing a homebrew world and I've hit somewhat of a rut in the story. The tl:dr is the pretty common tale of finding the seven magical artifacts to seal away the bbeg.
My party has just returned to the capital with their first artifact which was easy enough to to give incentive to do. (The quest giver gave them their first lead) But don't want this campaign to turn into a series of going out and returning over and over as I can see that getting repetitive and boring.
If you all have any advice, I looking for a way to organically lead into one artifact from the last.
My current ideas are maybe giving them multiple leads and letting them choose where to go next or possibly giving them hints for artifacts while they're out on a search for a different one.
Also they're at the capital now so I don't know if there's a way I can kick off this more natural storytelling now without having their quest giver being like "Good job! Now go here next!"
This looks like a perfect opportunity to use the five by five system for adventure creation (google it). They already have their first artifact. Let’s say that by virtue of having it, they can now find out about the next five. Then you just have the final artifact that you can arbitrarily require the previous six before the party can go after it.
So take each of the five artifacts and for each of them, come up with five encounters. For instance, if one of the artifacts is the sword of magic wonder, then your first encounter would be with the person who can present the journey to them. Maybe a scholar or an old priest knows a legend about where it was last seen or a battle where it was used. So the party needs to get this info from him. Maybe several people have parts of the legend.
The second encounter could be the journey to the place where the legend says the sword is. There may be adventure along the way, monsters to fight, puzzles to solve, people to bribe. Think Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider.
The third encounter Ian figuring out how to get to it. Navigating the ancient temple with no obvious entrance. Figuring out the riddle inscribed on the base of a statue of a hero holding the sword. Exploring the dungeon below the temple.
the fourth encounter is the showdown with the big bad who has / guards the sword. This may be a fight or a challenge to get it from a monster way too powerful to fight head-on.
The fifth encounter is the journey home which leads into the next artifact.
the beauty of this system is that you let the players decide which path they want to follow since they have hooks for all five. If you want to take it to the next level, you can have each story tie into one or two other stories along the way so that the party automatically has hooks for other artifacts while they work on the first. I have used this system myself and while it may seem like a lot of work to come up with 25 encounters, they start to flow and build in each other like a video game where you can only go so far on one path until you unlock another one.
then when it is all done and the party has the five artifacts in addition to the one they have now, THEN you can give them the hook for going after the big #7 and finishing up the whole story arc.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I would consider having the original quest giver tell them of a magical tome that a high level magic user in the next big town (city) has that has information on other elements (not promising any specific number). They would then have to travel to the town just to meet him. The party would have to obtain an audience with the mage and then get him to share the tome or at least share what he remembers from the tome concerning these artifacts. (He may not trust them enough to show them the tome itself.) Now they have information on finding some of the other pieces.
Rather than recycle this approach on another mage in another city, I would have clues about the other items in the locations where these next few were found. I might even have one of the bosses give a clue when he is dying about where the big boss is and how he is going to kill the party off. This could be part of the setup for the final encounter to get the last piece, and to get the last piece maybe they have to bring the other pieces with them, risking that the big boss also has his chance to get the whole set together too.
The party meets several lore masters to help them figure out the whereabouts along the way too. Good luck.
Dang this was useful. I super appreciate the help. This is my first time hearing about the 5x5 system and its definitely changing how I view things. Looking back to the first artifact I think I had about 3 encounters to get to it?
As I start to connect the five encounters that lead to each artifact it would be sweet to find ways I can pepper in hooks they can look out for alternative artifacts and make this web of information they can discover.
To kick off this new approach I'm actually going to lay siege on the capital they're in. Forcing them to leave and, in a way, breaking that fetch quest cycle before it had a chance to start. After they fend off or flee from the siege the original quest giver for the first artifact, on their dying breath, will tell to seek out a power magic user in a small town. The magic user being one of my character's estranged father.
Thanks!
I'm not much of a DM so one with experience might want to see if this is too convoluted or not, but, how about having another organization that has good intentions for the completed artifact but for whatever reason is wary about relying on those from the Capital to stop the BBEG with it. Perhaps they have some insight that the BBEG has a spy embedded in the Capital to keep an eye on it which is why once the party brings one back its assailed?
Have them already possess 1 artifact which they've shifted to protecting as they've come up dry on other leads to the others. Perhaps the artifact they hold was once in possession of the Capital and they managed to recover it themselves before BBEGs minions managed to fully hide it. They might be aware of the Father but he can be stubborn and difficult to work with so they keep a spy nearby to see who he interacts with. From there they might be inclined to have someone follow the party or put someone close by (have an npc try to join the party) to keep an eye on them.
From there depending on whether or not they notice the spy and how diplomatic the party is they can either
-Pursue the Fathers leads either unaware of the spy or murdering him without learning anything thinking hes part of the BBEG group
-Pursue the Fathers leads with promises of a new ally and support from this third faction if they bring it to them instead
-Pause the Fathers artifact to meet this third party directly where they might have a slightly more vague lead of their own they haven't been able to piece together themselves, they might know of a general location or near a specific town where they'll have to investigate themselves to really uncover
If they side step the shit out of this, after they find the 4th or 5th artifact the third party can potentially introduce themselves or just make their own moves in the Capital which is super disruptive as their actions gives an equal opening to the BBEG. Also depending on which back story you give the third party you can drop little hints to their existence that might pull one of them out of hiding if they start making more noise asking around for information.
They can get the Third Party's artifact by full on murder hobo-ing this group, or by uprooting the BBEG's spy from the Capital thus by removing their biggest fear, trying to silently steal the artifact from them or possibly depending how stubborn you want to make them and what the party has accomplished so far, just a series of really high skill checks to convince them to hand their artifact over. Or perhaps the party agrees that the artifact pieces are safer here and they end up needing to steal the artifact from the Capital instead which can be dealt with similar flavored challenges.
Also depending on how they navigate this power dynamic they could potentially have 2 allies or 2 enemies depending how they handle everything. If the players destroy this third party maybe the BBEGs minions become more active with them having less to contend with and develop a bigger presence with reports of monsters savaging small towns possibly distracting the party from their big goal. If they only betray the third party but leave it intact maybe their antagonizing opens up possibilities from BBEGs minions to make moves but not just stomp their way through. If they manage to unite the 2 groups they gain additional support from each as their cooperation lessens each of their burdens.
If you have a big finale fight for the 7th artifact or the defense against BBEGs assault to stop it you can add extra fodder for each of the factions to chip away at from the periphery. I say periphery so it doesn't slow things down with actual rolling of NPCs 'in the party' but depending on the location or fighting style of the party you can describe a champion or group of each faction holding back or engaged in their own fight with the BBEGs minions. Paving the way, thinning the herd or acting as decoys to pull a "main force away" while simultaneously scaling it so they fight the same amount of enemies but potentially getting a clutch assist from each if things get dicey.
===
A much smaller scale idea along the same vein, is still have a third party holding an artifact but they're splinter members of the Capitals scouts that have doubts the artifact would be safe in the Capital itself. This way you can incorporate a similar plot hook without so much foreshadowing that might otherwise be needed but still have similar consequences and boons for diplomacy or murder-hobo-ery. They might just need some other work done or problem solved that helps bolster its security so they can trust that the artifacts are indeed safe in the Capital. Something that can either directly contribute to its safety, ease their work so they can focus on finding the spy themselves, obtaining a magical item that is guarded by an enemy they can't overcome themselves, helping develop a stronghold so they have a more advantageous foothold. It can be one big thing that has its own several encounters, find the spy themselves, or a series of several small encounters leading up to a big one, weaken a supply line to an enemy strong hold, then taking it over, then holding it while reinforcements from the enemy attempt to retake it while awaiting for the Scouts to fortify their own position. Depending how active your BBEG is they can be struggling to deal with them or little bad evil guy, Bandit encamptment, a hag who has settled in an ideal foothold outside the feywild, Sahuagin in an abandoned port and lighthouse.
Something like this at least guarantees they aren't 'fetching' an artifact, and lets you really expand on what the party has to be able to deal with outside of a dungeon crawl etc
Try and incorporate your PC's backstories if possible to increase personal stakes in the adventure. Maybe some of the artifacts have already been claimed by other groups and, being highly magical in their own right, various factions could also be squabbling over them.
This would be if you wanna try for more RP drama or even an attempt at political intrigue.
I love this idea. It kinda give me Fallout 4 vibes. Where there's just a lot of grey. This third faction, after reading your post, sounds a lot like the Railroad. The underdog organization done with good intentions in the shadows. Definitely going to see what I can do with that. Might also let me explore some of my other players backstories.