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Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
So I was introduced to pathfinder just over a year and a half ago by my friends. We get together once a week on Saturdays and play. To give back to our GM, and let him play I started to work on a campaign two months ago.
Normally characters are limited to the core races. So to spice things up a bit and hopefully get a bit more personality out of some of the players I opened it up to all non-evil races 13RP and under, and said there would be no humans in the campaign. This presented me with two problems. First I did not know anything about the other races. Second, how do I populate a map if the most common race is gone?
So I started reading and drawing up a map. It was the first map I have ever made and still have a lot to add, but I have there starting area kind of prepped. Preview here. So to link all the nations together I created a trade society to link them together that was founded by the Kitsune, Halflings, Dwarfs, and Elfs. With the Drow having taken to the surface in the North West in an area shrouded in darkness.
So I have a party of 6 lvl 4 PC’s
LN Ifrit Sorcerer
LN Ifrit Inquisitor
LN Dhampir/Elf: Bard (Archaeologist)
LN Tiefling/Samsarans: Fighter (Archer)
NG Samsarans: Druid
?? Tengu: Rogue
What they gave me to work with: Traits were used as rewards for those who gave me backstory’s and goals.
The two Ifrits are orphaned brother and sister that ow a debt to the followers of Asmodeus and now work for them collecting, making, or enforcing contracts. They want to buy their freedom or bring down the organization and don’t care too much about who get hurt along the way so they have LE tendency’s on that matter.
The Dampir made a living as a guide to adventures, but came home one day to a burned down house, and the severed hand of his wife and spent a few years hunting down her killers before returning to his home, a bit less sane now. He now spends his down time raising funds doing his old job or looking for ways to bring her back.
The others gave me little or nothing to work with so far and we start this weekend.
So to get them working together, my master plot is to leverage the Samsarans culture. I plan to have their reincarnation ability be a gift from Tsukiyo. I want to make it a national treasure that causes there reincarnation to happen. While out on a quest with different motives they finally make their way to a Drow that the Ifrits need to collect on. Where they learn of plot by the drow to steal the artifact and now have to stop them.
The Samsarans should have interest just because of their heritage. The Dhampir wants to use it to bring back his wife. I want to tie the Ifrits into this by having the followers of Asmodeus being involved. The Tengu is not sure about yet.
Does this seem like a good starting point? And does anyone have any plans as of how to tie Asmodeus/the Ifrits freedom into all this?
I’m not very good with spontaneous things and am a logical thinking Introvert. So I’m trying to have as much prepared as possible.
I think it's a reasonable starting point.
Like you, I'm not big on improvisation nor talented at spontaneity -- though I do have my moments. And I'm a nut for internal consistency and logic.
With that in mind, my advice to new DMs includes the law of Plot-Train Avoidance.
You need to leave plenty of room for the Players to move the campaign forward. ESPECIALLY with experienced Players. What if, for example, the PCs first meet the Drow and decide, EVIL-- Kill, Kill, Kill, and you are so fixed to your railroad-tracks that have the Drow leading the PCs to the next part of the campaign, you could be in trouble. ....Now, that may not be a good specific example; maybe your Players would never respond to a Drow that way. But the fact remains that if, for whatever reason, they don't like, or don't notice, or don't realize the importance of a particular NPC's presence, you have to be prepared to shift the importance to another NPC or something. ....Likewise, if they fixate on another NPC, an unimportant & undeveloped, even unnamed at first, NPC -- you gotta be prepared to use that NPC to help move the campaign forward.
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I try to have a brief concept and background of the NPCs, and a good flavor and theme of the settings, before I begin. Like what you have so far. Then, as the PCs meet NPCs, I know that with the little framework I have already, I can build on the NPC as needed, when the PCs finally meet said NPC.
Then I try to anticipate what all will be introduced in a particular session, and really consider all the material I'll need to deliver for that session.
In your campaign, I'd have a good idea of the big picture for each culture (Kitsune, Drow, Samsaran, etc.), and then have several NPCs plotted out for each -- a general idea of who's who regarding alignment, personality, goals, resources and description. Just a brief idea.
Then figure which two or three or four will most likely be introduced in the upcoming session and really get into those two or three or four. If (and it will happen from time to time) the PCs go left instead of right and meet someone you hadn't specifically prepped for, you can fall back on the brief outline you already have and build him or her up as you go. At least you have something with which to work.
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To me it sounds as if you have a reasonable idea for the campaign and the who's who for culture and society -- but too little for the first session.
How prepared are you for the first few hours of gameplay?....
Ifrits, the published version at least, are Chaotic. Asmodeus is Lawful; moreover, he's anti-Chaotic. It's cool that the PCs are LN (evil tendency).
....Maybe if the Ifrit society has a history of helping break contracts, even a little, that could be the source of your Asmodeus/Ifrit connection. Somehow an Imp or Contract Devil got the ancestor into a contract, gleeful it was to an Ifrit (and is the source of the Bloodline!). ....Of course, this idea is based on my incomplete understanding of the PCs.
Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
First of thank you for your input.
They have different levels of expirance, with our DM having the most, But my friend playing the Dhampir helps the most by being creative. The Tiefling has the second most expiration with no backstory.... or goals.
Law of Plot-Train Avoidance.
Lol, one of my friends who is not good at planing, and has DMed in the past once or twice thought that I would do that. I have several idea in my head about ways to go depending on what they pick, I plan on typing up a lot of stuff tonight and tomorrow.
Knowing how quick the group is at going through content so far I have 2-4 sessions worth of stuff to get them going.
Going through the cultures is something I have started to do to help me come up with ideas.
The Ifrit's were not raise by Ifrit's so I'm not sure how much of there culture they would have. So at this point I'm just trying to think of a contract or a way to get them involved.
how are you going to change things like half orcs, half elves and half giants as well as all other things that are predominantly half human?
Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
Lady-J wrote: how are you going to change things like half orcs, half elves and half giants as well as all other things that are predominantly half human? Depends on the race. Most half/ext just don't exist, where others are adapted and I let the play pick there patent/host race, with in reason of course
morairtym wrote: Lady-J wrote: how are you going to change things like half orcs, half elves and half giants as well as all other things that are predominantly half human? Depends on the race. Most half/ext just don't exist, where others are adapted and I let the play pick there patent/host race, with in reason of course thing is the abilities they have are based around having a human parent so your going to need to change some of them
also how exactly are you condemning races to be "evil" and unplayable
Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
Lady-J wrote: Thing is the abilities they have are based around having a human parent so your going to need to change some of them
Yep I, have made adjustments with two of my players for that. By reviewing the patents race traits and and making adjustments case by case.
Lady-J wrote: also how exactly are you condemning races to be "evil" and unplayable There are a few things I used to determine this but normally I used the Society, Relations, and Alignment/Religion sections for each race. If they did not have one to go by I looked at there bestiary. To simplify things I gave them a pre-approved list about a month ago for playable races I would allow. If it was not on the list they just needed to run it by me first. I even ended up adding back in Suli and Aasimar which are out side the RP limit I set, but they were not picked.
Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
W E Ray wrote: Ifrits, the published version at least, are Chaotic. Hmm, the way it read to be was more or less true neutral. The bestiary also list them as so. So in that regards I saw them that way, but like all races there are always those who live out side the norm.
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