Hello there I'm currently writing a very short mini campaign so that our DM can get a chance to be a PC for a little while and have some fun. Well I've run into a problem with the story I am trying to tell.
The story is about a Cult of Malar "the Beastlord" doing a giant hunt with people they have captured and at the end sacrificing them all to bring the God Malar here to the Material Plane.
My problem is after reading what seems like an endless amount of D&D lore, is that I'm not sure that Gods can even come to the Material Plane? Or would even want to if they could? So I feel as though I've lost the motivation for the "bad guy's" of the story. If this Cult of Malar cannot actually bring Malar into/onto the Material Plane then what would their end game motivations be? I never knew writers block was a real thing until I tried writing this story. Ha!
Forgotten Realms gods spend so much time on the Material Plane, I'm amazed they still have followers. Buddha shows up on your front door and your mind is blown. Buddha is still sleeping on your couch, eating your food and watching TV all day a month later, it's not quite as impressive. So don't worry about that at all.
If you have writer's block, the only sure-fire trick is to keep writing. Don't worry about Malar or the story or whatever, just write. Maybe the story you want to tell isn't the story you thought it was.
The whole premise of the Rise of Tiamat adventure is cultists trying to bring Tiamat into the realms, if I remember correctly. Regardless, the cultists of Malar only have to think that the ritual hunt would summon it for them to be motivated. A different god (Mask perhaps), dragon or hag could be using the cult to their own ends, tricking them by polymorphing into an "ancient sage-beast". They could have gotten their hands on forged book of rites a down-on-their-luck con artist was trying to pawn off, etc. As long as the cult believes that the hunt will summon Malar they are likely to attempt it.
Do the cultists know whether or not the god even wants to come to the Material Plane? Is it possible that the cultists want to summon the god and the god doesn't really care one way or the other about them.
Some cultists think that they can summon a powerful being to the Material Plane and somehow tap into the being's power as a reward for the deed or steal power against the being's will. (I've never heard/read of a case where that didn't go poorly for the summoners... or most anyone in the vicinity.)
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Also remember that this is your story and your version of the world. D&D lore is there for you to use or discard as is necessary for your game. Even if you're playing in the Forgotten Realms, running a published WotC adventure, and pulling info right from the books....you can change whatever you want! So if you want the cult's plan to work and be a real threat, it is!
Ask me about the Destruction of Red Larch one of these days. :D
That being said, I have another suggestion. It sounds like the important thing in your mini-campaign is that the CULT thinks it will work, and are doing some pretty horrible things in the process. All that really matters is that your cultists believe it will work, and that your PCs want to stop them from doing horrible things. Maybe it actually doesn't work. Maybe it does. Maybe it works but when the cult succeeds Malar shows up, looks around, announces that this place sucks and they're going home, and immediately leaves. The hook for your players remains; stop cultists from doing horrible things!
The whole premise of the Rise of Tiamat adventure is cultists trying to bring Tiamat into the realms, if I remember correctly. Regardless, the cultists of Malar only have to think that the ritual hunt would summon it for them to be motivated. A different god (Mask perhaps), dragon or hag could be using the cult to their own ends, tricking them by polymorphing into an "ancient sage-beast". They could have gotten their hands on forged book of rites a down-on-their-luck con artist was trying to pawn off, etc. As long as the cult believes that the hunt will summon Malar they are likely to attempt it.
Thanks for the reply. You've got some great ideas here! And now I'm going to have to look into The Rise of Tiamat adventure and see if those cultist manage to pull off bringing Tiamat over to the Material Plane.
Do the cultists know whether or not the god even wants to come to the Material Plane? Is it possible that the cultists want to summon the god and the god doesn't really care one way or the other about them.
Some cultists think that they can summon a powerful being to the Material Plane and somehow tap into the being's power as a reward for the deed or steal power against the being's will. (I've never heard/read of a case where that didn't go poorly for the summoners... or most anyone in the vicinity.)
My whole idea was for this mini story was that the head "Blood Priest" of this cult worships Malar very devoutly, and wants to bring civilization back to the "good old days" before cities and castles littered the countryside, before entire forests were cut down for their lumber. Back to the age when it was just man versus beast. But he doesn't have the power to accomplish such an enormous task. Well this guy prays to Malar about this A LOT until one day Malar speaks/ shows himself to him and tells him he will grant him the power he desires if he will free him from his outer plane prison. So that's where I'm stuck if the Gods can't actually come to/exist on the material plane.
Also remember that this is your story and your version of the world. D&D lore is there for you to use or discard as is necessary for your game. Even if you're playing in the Forgotten Realms, running a published WotC adventure, and pulling info right from the books....you can change whatever you want! So if you want the cult's plan to work and be a real threat, it is!
Ask me about the Destruction of Red Larch one of these days. :D
That being said, I have another suggestion. It sounds like the important thing in your mini-campaign is that the CULT thinks it will work, and are doing some pretty horrible things in the process. All that really matters is that your cultists believe it will work, and that your PCs want to stop them from doing horrible things. Maybe it actually doesn't work. Maybe it does. Maybe it works but when the cult succeeds Malar shows up, looks around, announces that this place sucks and they're going home, and immediately leaves. The hook for your players remains; stop cultists from doing horrible things!
I should've been more specific in my original post in that I am trying to write this story as close to the "pre-established rules?" and canon that already exist with the current official lore that that's already published. I'll fill in the blanks as necessary along the way. I was just hoping that maybe there was some previous instance that I haven't came across where Gods were on the Material Plane because they wanted to be here for some purpose that was important to them. I like your ideas though. In the end the heroes do need to stop the cultists from doing horrible things.
I should've been more specific in my original post in that I am trying to write this story as close to the "pre-established rules?" and canon that already exist with the current official lore that that's already published. I'll fill in the blanks as necessary along the way. I was just hoping that maybe there was some previous instance that I haven't came across where Gods were on the Material Plane because they wanted to be here for some purpose that was important to them.
1358 - The Time of Troubles. Literally the first big FR campaign. The launch event for 2e, iirc.
Forgotten Realms gods spend so much time on the Material Plane, I'm amazed they still have followers. Buddha shows up on your front door and your mind is blown. Buddha is still sleeping on your couch, eating your food and watching TV all day a month later, it's not quite as impressive. So don't worry about that at all.
Replace Buddha with being that can do the things these dieties can do and you will still worship them even if you sit next to them on a couch.
Sidebar: Personally, I always viewed the FR worship as less of a matter of Faith and Belief and more like a matter of Duty and Service, akin to a King. Just one that you offer prayers to instead of pay taxes.
You'll be scared of them. You'll pay them off like a mob boss. You won't be impressed with them. You won't follow their rules or teachings or whatever. I think we're both saying the same thing.
The gods were mostly forced to not contact Toril anymore after the Time of Troubles, Spellplague, and Second Sundering, the Overgod Ao wanted to affect the Material Plane less, and the gods that didn't agree to leave Toril lost a lot of their power, (Myrkul, Bhaal, and Bane are all still roaming the Sword Coast with decreased powers).
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
So after three major, continent-shattering incidences of divine intervention in 100 years, there are only three actual gods wandering around at the moment that we know of.
Again, I don't think the OP should get bent out of shape about a storyline where cultists want to manifest a god on Toril. It's honestly pretty common.
That's the whole plot of Rise of Tiamat (granted Tiamat is different as she is imprisoned in the Nine Hells on Avernus), but it definitely isn't unheard of on Toril for gods to visit by finding some loophole in Ao's plan, or something like that. Lolth lives in the Abyss, and would likely be able to visit if enough Drow participated in a ritual with some legendary magic items or something like that. There are other gods that could possibly fairly easily visit the prime material plane, but it is uncommon. Ao basically told them to leave, or lose power, so most of the gods that already weren't imprisoned or dead had to cut off most contact with the world. This only applies to the human gods, as far as I know, but I'm sure it would still be difficult for Bahamut or Corellon to visit the world if they wanted.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
That's the whole plot of Rise of Tiamat (granted Tiamat is different as she is imprisoned in the Nine Hells on Avernus), but it definitely isn't unheard of on Toril for gods to visit by finding some loophole in Ao's plan, or something like that. Lolth lives in the Abyss, and would likely be able to visit if enough Drow participated in a ritual with some legendary magic items or something like that. There are other gods that could possibly fairly easily visit the prime material plane, but it is uncommon. Ao basically told them to leave, or lose power, so most of the gods that already weren't imprisoned or dead had to cut off most contact with the world. This only applies to the human gods, as far as I know, but I'm sure it would still be difficult for Bahamut or Corellon to visit the world if they wanted.
So if the "Rise of Tiamat" cultists were able pull off bringing Tiamat over to the Material Plane then I think that my Cultists shouldn't have too hard of a time helping Malar cross over to the Material Plane. Tiamat is an evil God and so is Malar, so their respective cultists probably will have similar motives.
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Hello there I'm currently writing a very short mini campaign so that our DM can get a chance to be a PC for a little while and have some fun. Well I've run into a problem with the story I am trying to tell.
The story is about a Cult of Malar "the Beastlord" doing a giant hunt with people they have captured and at the end sacrificing them all to bring the God Malar here to the Material Plane.
My problem is after reading what seems like an endless amount of D&D lore, is that I'm not sure that Gods can even come to the Material Plane? Or would even want to if they could? So I feel as though I've lost the motivation for the "bad guy's" of the story. If this Cult of Malar cannot actually bring Malar into/onto the Material Plane then what would their end game motivations be? I never knew writers block was a real thing until I tried writing this story. Ha!
Forgotten Realms gods spend so much time on the Material Plane, I'm amazed they still have followers. Buddha shows up on your front door and your mind is blown. Buddha is still sleeping on your couch, eating your food and watching TV all day a month later, it's not quite as impressive. So don't worry about that at all.
If you have writer's block, the only sure-fire trick is to keep writing. Don't worry about Malar or the story or whatever, just write. Maybe the story you want to tell isn't the story you thought it was.
The whole premise of the Rise of Tiamat adventure is cultists trying to bring Tiamat into the realms, if I remember correctly. Regardless, the cultists of Malar only have to think that the ritual hunt would summon it for them to be motivated. A different god (Mask perhaps), dragon or hag could be using the cult to their own ends, tricking them by polymorphing into an "ancient sage-beast". They could have gotten their hands on forged book of rites a down-on-their-luck con artist was trying to pawn off, etc. As long as the cult believes that the hunt will summon Malar they are likely to attempt it.
Do the cultists know whether or not the god even wants to come to the Material Plane? Is it possible that the cultists want to summon the god and the god doesn't really care one way or the other about them.
Some cultists think that they can summon a powerful being to the Material Plane and somehow tap into the being's power as a reward for the deed or steal power against the being's will. (I've never heard/read of a case where that didn't go poorly for the summoners... or most anyone in the vicinity.)
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
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InsiderAlso remember that this is your story and your version of the world. D&D lore is there for you to use or discard as is necessary for your game. Even if you're playing in the Forgotten Realms, running a published WotC adventure, and pulling info right from the books....you can change whatever you want! So if you want the cult's plan to work and be a real threat, it is!
Ask me about the Destruction of Red Larch one of these days. :D
That being said, I have another suggestion. It sounds like the important thing in your mini-campaign is that the CULT thinks it will work, and are doing some pretty horrible things in the process. All that really matters is that your cultists believe it will work, and that your PCs want to stop them from doing horrible things. Maybe it actually doesn't work. Maybe it does. Maybe it works but when the cult succeeds Malar shows up, looks around, announces that this place sucks and they're going home, and immediately leaves. The hook for your players remains; stop cultists from doing horrible things!
Find me on Twitter: @OboeLauren
Thanks for the reply. You've got some great ideas here! And now I'm going to have to look into The Rise of Tiamat adventure and see if those cultist manage to pull off bringing Tiamat over to the Material Plane.
My whole idea was for this mini story was that the head "Blood Priest" of this cult worships Malar very devoutly, and wants to bring civilization back to the "good old days" before cities and castles littered the countryside, before entire forests were cut down for their lumber. Back to the age when it was just man versus beast. But he doesn't have the power to accomplish such an enormous task. Well this guy prays to Malar about this A LOT until one day Malar speaks/ shows himself to him and tells him he will grant him the power he desires if he will free him from his outer plane prison. So that's where I'm stuck if the Gods can't actually come to/exist on the material plane.
I should've been more specific in my original post in that I am trying to write this story as close to the "pre-established rules?" and canon that already exist with the current official lore that that's already published. I'll fill in the blanks as necessary along the way. I was just hoping that maybe there was some previous instance that I haven't came across where Gods were on the Material Plane because they wanted to be here for some purpose that was important to them. I like your ideas though. In the end the heroes do need to stop the cultists from doing horrible things.
1358 - The Time of Troubles. Literally the first big FR campaign. The launch event for 2e, iirc.
Replace Buddha with being that can do the things these dieties can do and you will still worship them even if you sit next to them on a couch.
Sidebar: Personally, I always viewed the FR worship as less of a matter of Faith and Belief and more like a matter of Duty and Service, akin to a King. Just one that you offer prayers to instead of pay taxes.
You'll be scared of them. You'll pay them off like a mob boss. You won't be impressed with them. You won't follow their rules or teachings or whatever. I think we're both saying the same thing.
The gods were mostly forced to not contact Toril anymore after the Time of Troubles, Spellplague, and Second Sundering, the Overgod Ao wanted to affect the Material Plane less, and the gods that didn't agree to leave Toril lost a lot of their power, (Myrkul, Bhaal, and Bane are all still roaming the Sword Coast with decreased powers).
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
So after three major, continent-shattering incidences of divine intervention in 100 years, there are only three actual gods wandering around at the moment that we know of.
Again, I don't think the OP should get bent out of shape about a storyline where cultists want to manifest a god on Toril. It's honestly pretty common.
That's the whole plot of Rise of Tiamat (granted Tiamat is different as she is imprisoned in the Nine Hells on Avernus), but it definitely isn't unheard of on Toril for gods to visit by finding some loophole in Ao's plan, or something like that. Lolth lives in the Abyss, and would likely be able to visit if enough Drow participated in a ritual with some legendary magic items or something like that. There are other gods that could possibly fairly easily visit the prime material plane, but it is uncommon. Ao basically told them to leave, or lose power, so most of the gods that already weren't imprisoned or dead had to cut off most contact with the world. This only applies to the human gods, as far as I know, but I'm sure it would still be difficult for Bahamut or Corellon to visit the world if they wanted.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
So if the "Rise of Tiamat" cultists were able pull off bringing Tiamat over to the Material Plane then I think that my Cultists shouldn't have too hard of a time helping Malar cross over to the Material Plane. Tiamat is an evil God and so is Malar, so their respective cultists probably will have similar motives.