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I'm planning on running a campaign for my wife. I don't know what character class she is planning on playing yet. But she will be only playing one PC.
I have a basic idea for the start of the game. Basically a group of Cultists who worship a Deity of the Dark Tapestry have gotten their hands on a minor artifact that has the power to stop the wind from blowing. It would only stop the wind from blowing in like a 10 miles radius.
So I turn to my fellow forumites. Why would these cultists want to stop the wind? I'm thinking it's in preparation for summoning something nasty. I humbly ask for your assistance in developing this idea.
1. They need perfectly clear (or perfectly clouded) sky during the summoning when the stars are right.
2. They want to posion the area with cloud of alchemical toxins. Either to kill the population within area as a sacrifice or maybe as an environment for entity they'll summon.
3. Entity they summon has fragile stellar wings that are very susceptible to breath of earth (i.e. wind) so they need to silence that breath before the creature lands.
4. Wind stops blowing because the artifact creates enormous hurricane around the area (which acts as an eye of the hurricane) that will devastate land beyond the barrier of wind.
They could be extorting a local farming village: pay us or we stop the wind that brings the rain you need.
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I'm also planning on having the head cultist be an important NPC in the town. I want he or she to be a behind the scenes recurring villain. Someone who gets thwarted at the end of the first adventure, but their identity somehow remains secret. I'm thinking maybe the head cultist has someone under her who is conducting the ritual, but doesn't know her true identity. Kinda like a Darth Sideous character. A trusted NPC who is the master villain all along.
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1. They need perfectly clear (or perfectly clouded) sky during the summoning when the stars are right.
2. They want to posion the area with cloud of alchemical toxins. Either to kill the population within area as a sacrifice or maybe as an environment for entity they'll summon.
3. Entity they summon has fragile stellar wings that are very susceptible to breath of earth (i.e. wind) so they need to silence that breath before the creature lands.
4. Wind stops blowing because the artifact creates enormous hurricane around the area (which acts as an eye of the hurricane) that will devastate land beyond the barrier of wind.
I really like 1 and 3. 3 could also be the key to defeating the thing if it actually gets summoned. A weakness to even the smallest breeze.
1. No wind means no sailing. Devastating to a port city.
2. No wind is kind of the same thing as saying no airflow, so your artifact could prevent fresh air from being drawn into a Dwarf city/fortress.
Maybe a localized famine? No wind means no seed dispersal, no pollen blowing in the wind, etc.
Maybe it's a protective device, and someone else has an artifact that creates 100 mile wide monsoons or hurricanes or tornados?
Does it prevent breath weapons from being dangerous?
Something else is that your artifact could be used to stall a ship or fleet, and cripple a port city.
Speaking of cities, no wind can also be take to mean no airflow. So if you set it off over a Dwarf mine/fortress/city it would likely prevent fresh air from reaching all but the topmost levels.
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Thanks for all the suggestions.
But now I'm more interested in the "Why is the cult doing this?" I like the idea of them wanting to summon something "not of this world". But now I'm trying to think of continuity. How can I develop this idea into a mini campaign so to speak?
Also, I'm trying to decide if I should have them worship a specific Ancient One. Nyarlathotep is always a good choice. Plus I might be able to involve the Mi-Go somehow.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
But now I'm more interested in the "Why is the cult doing this?" I like the idea of them wanting to summon something "not of this world". But now I'm trying to think of continuity. How can I develop this idea into a mini campaign so to speak?
Also, I'm trying to decide if I should have them worship a specific Ancient One. Nyarlathotep is always a good choice. Plus I might be able to involve the Mi-Go somehow.
1. There's always the standard, "we will purify the world" or "once our masters remake the world we will be KINGS!" shtick.
2. The cult leader is trying to manufacture a "prophesied" event to drum up converts ("Let's see...I dyed the river red two years ago, last year I assassinated a bunch of firstborn children, this year...I know! Summon an eldrich horror!")
3. Cult of the god of magic. They're summoning the creature in order to study it.
4. Cult of lycanthropes. They're trying to summon a "Moon Creature" so they can eat it and gain ULTIMATE POWER!!!
5. Cult is secretly being run by merchant's guild. The summoning is part of a lunatic plot to control a trade route. (Works well with no. 2)
6. "Cult" is actually a intelligence operation being run by a nearby country in order to weaken the local government prior to an invasion.
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1 and 2 are what I'm leaning towards. 3 is a really cool idea.
4 really pops out at me. I'm thinking of doing something like that. Maybe the leader of the cult is a Were creature.
Or maybe I could forego the werecreatures and have the "thing" they summon possess someone. The PC can rush in and save the bound captive child too late. For all intents and purposes it could look like the rescue was pulled off, the cult thwarted, and the ritual stopped. Then the real cult leader/important local NPC (who escaped and who's identity still remains unknown) offers to adopt and raise the child.
Hmm... ideas, ideas.
They want to summon a creature as bait for an even more mind-bogglingly horrific entity from beyond the stars which they are incapable of summoning directly.
YOUR PLOT HAS POTENTIAL! I'M TALKING EPIC ADVENTURE GOLD HERE DUDE! Here's my little idea for ya:
An eon or two ago, an ancient war raged across the entire Multiverse; fought between two great factions of elemental powers. One faction was the Acromentals; elemental lords dedicated to benevolence and good. These consisted of Sunnariel (the Truestone Princess), Zapharim (the Phoenix Prince), Chenru (Duke of Gales), Nebsis (The Coral Empress), and Raigoros (The Thundering Monarch).
The other faction consisted of the Archomentals, the polar opposite of the Acromentals, consisting of Ayrzul (the Fossilized King), Hshurha (The Storm Tyrant), Kelizandri (Brackish Emperor), Ymeri (Queen of the Inferno), Lucigon (The Smoldering Prince), Blimbaros (Overlord of Mud), and Cryax (The Frostfell Tyrant). Despite scoring many victories, in the end, the Acromentals became desperate for despite their tendency to quarrel amongst each other the Archomental’s forces had great advantage over their foes; sheer numbers!
The Acromentals then obtained information concerning the location of a extraordinarily powerful artifact which had once been used to lay low Mishka (The Wolf Spider [mightiest of the Qlippoth Lords]) in the ancient war between Law and Chaos. This artifact was known as the Staff of Nine Segments and it was capable of sealing away a being even as mighty as a deity and containing that being within one of it's nine segmented (yet connected) parts. As the Acromentals discovered, the Staff of Nine Segments lay on a world in the Material Plane, called Golarion.
Immediately, they sought it out, only to fall straight into the hands of their foes's trap. Yet all did not go completely according to the Archomentals plan. In the ensuing near world shattering battle, not only where all five Acromentals sealed within the staff but Lucigon, Blimbaros, and Cryax were imprisoned as well. To add insult to injury, the Empyreal Lords manifested in the aftermath and drove the weakened Archomentals off of Golarion thus prevented the Archomentals from destroying the Staff of Nine Segments (if they had then all contained in the staff would have ceased to exist and thus perish).
The Empyreal Lords then set about a way to free the Arcomentals and yet, they could not find one. With heavy hearts, the Empyreal Lords used their power to seal the Staff of Nine Segments in a great palace, hidden from sight and divination magic by a powerful barrier which drew power from the very four elements the remaining Archomentals exemplified (an irony not lost upon the Archomentals to be sure). Thus the Empyreal Lords ensured that the Archomentals themselves could never find the palace nor even break the barrier itself in order to finally finish off their hated foes for good.
Yet now, in the present day of Golarion, extraordinarily disturbing and destructive events have taken place in Golarion. The wind has died. The seas are raging. The earth has begun to rot. Something is disrupting the elements of the world. The element of fire has yet to become affected but seers, scholars, and prophets across the continent claim it is only a matter of time. Divination magic has revealed only a single hint to adventures seeking to save the world; the enemy's plan can be found in the ruins of the "Temple of Elemental Evil".
Yet the adventures who seek to restore the elements to their rightful working order shall soon discover that the ruined Temple of Elemental Evil is but the first stepping stone of their journey. They must enlist the aid of the elves of Kyonin by lifting the Drow's curse on Queen Telandia’s son. They must travel to Ustalav to slay an ancient vampire who guards a vital clue. They shall find themselves descending into the Darklands to destroy a Lich, venturing into the heart of a volcano to smite a demon, travel to an underwater shrine to crush a Kraken, and fly to a forgotten Azlanti sky fortress to kill a dragon! After all this is accomplished and their foes lie dead at their feet, they shall then face their greatest challenge!
For despite their immense efforts, the barrier on the long forgotten palace containing the Staff of Nine Segments has weakened just enough to allow a champion of Chaos and it’s elite force to penetrate the palace! Can the party prevent the Elemental Lords's plan from succeeding?