I am planning an adventure for my campaign that I have elements for but little connection with. I'd appreciate some help with it.
Elements:
- Solo game (female paladin and her followers escorting the virginal bride of her liege lord, a duke, to a castle.)(followers include soldiers, a bard, a cleric and a ranger)
- necessity of diverting the normal civilized route due to (situation?)
- ancient abandoned dwarvish city
- monastery
- barbarian/orc inhabited territory
- few settlements--mostly fortified outposts that are either ruled by rough tough traders/miners/trappers/local warlords.
- potential lover of the future bride--an impetuous but brave and good hearted squire
- vicious rivalry between the duke and his sister. (the sister although evil pretends to be good and is very popular; the duke appears cynical, ugly and cold and yet is very good.)
Perhaps you are avoiding the civilized route due to a plague outbreak? Even with a paladin and a cleric, a major epidemic would put the bride and her retinue at risk.
Is the monastery inhabited? By who? Monks, we hope, but if not, then who's there and why? If there are monks, then perhaps they can meet up with the entourage and tell your PC about the plague (since higher level monks need not fear disease, they might be helping out the victims and trying to steer people away).
Sorry, not awake yet, can't add on that much just now.
Monastery: I would like it inhabited. Perhaps it could fit in with the sacred spring/shrine idea? Maybe there is a period of purification required before the pilgrimmage to the holy place is possible?
Sister: How about the sister having a spy manage to pull a Tristan and Isolde love potion thing on the squire and the young lady?
The barbarians/orcs: I think this would work if it is a traditional journey. Perhaps things have been getting worse and the player is warned about it, but the marriage simply won't be recognized by the people unless the young lady is pronounced to have visited the spring. (I may even have a holy emblem of marriage be nonfunctional if she hasn't gone there first, does this make sense?)
The dwarvish ruin: still haven't had anything on this one.
Maybe the bridge burned down, and the party has to travel to the ancient dwarven city near the old ford.
Maybe orc barbarians are burning down the bridge when the party approaches. They're traveling through idyllic forested hills when they see a column of greasy black smoke rising on the horizon.
I like the tradional test of purity done at the monastery idea a lot!
Perhaps the virginal bride is not so virginal after al. Perhaps she has slept with the squire or another lover and is even pregnant. She tries to hide this from the duke she is about to marry, and want to speed up the marriage in order to get her child accepted by the duke and guaranteeing a good future for the child.
Perhaps she is still in love with the squire and is having trouble choosing between them. She pretends she wants to travel to the monastery in order to spend a night praying in the chapel, to bring some kind of sacrifice to a goddess of marriage or for a similar reason. But in reality she is going to meet her secret lover there.
The duke's sister may have discovered the love relation and wants to ruin her brother's reputation for some reason or other, or she has her own candidate and wants her brother to marry that candidate, so that she can increase her influence. Some of the dangers along the route can be linked to the sister's manipulations (perhaps she has connections to the barbarian tribe because she has a barbarian bodyguard and paid them to stage an ambush) and she has put one or more assassins in the monastery, or she has rigged the situation so that the duke will discover the secret tryst.
The orcs have annexed the dwarves from their ancient city and the dwarves were forced to set up rudimentary trading posts and towns to get by. Some of the dwarves created a monastery to train as guards against the orcs, however they were all killed by a plague created by Vecna, who the orcs worship. Vecna's whispers have reached the evil sister and she plots a coup of the castle using her new undead minions (shes a sorcerer or cleric) and the orcish high priest dispatches a group of orcs to distract the PCs from getting to the castle on time. The orc priest uses stone shape or something to make a roadblock to make them have to go through the dwarven city. They teams up with the dwarves after camping in the monastery and take back the dwarven city. WHen they get back to the castle, they find it in chaos and fight the evil sister and her orc body guards and skeletons.
Thanks everyone for all the ideas!
This is what I'm thinking after sifting through stuff so far.
1. The barbarians are the ones who revere the dwarvish ruins. They misleadingly refer to them as the 'ancient ones' and guard them.
2. The monastery has legends about the ancient ruins but they don't know who built them. Dwarves are rare in this land and are referred to in the monastery records as 'the craftsmen'.
3. The sister is secretly a necromancer and had sent an adventuring party to scout the ruins for lore. Unfortunately this has bestirred the barbarians who do not differentiate between one party from the duchy and another. (this would be very secret--I've had her come across as simply a high ranking noblewoman.)
I should add that this is meant to be part of a series of adventures concerning the paladin getting the duke's bride safely to him; that's why she's involved.
4. I'm very tempted by the not so virginal thing--should it be a big deal? Is purity related to her virginity or is it her purity of heart? I should add that typically this marriage represents an important alliance for the duke. This would tie in with the idea of an escape--the sister may have provided necessary resources on the sly through an agent.
5. I'd like there to be certain relics or magic or something that has been taken from the ruins and must be returned.
6. I was thinking that perhaps whatever humanoids are in the dwarvish ruins I very much like the idea of the ancient dragon who is worshiped by the current dwellers.
If you keep her a virgin, perhaps you could add a relic that can only be carried by a virgin.
The sister was the favorite of their parents. She has always played up the innocent if naïve aspect. Even if the parents are no long around, she has convinced her brother their spirits still watch over them (with some help from her necromantic arts).
The team the sister sent to the ruins uncovered the skull of the dragon. She hopes to acquire the rest of the skeleton and animate her own skeletal dragon. Obviously, the barbarians are a bit put out with the head of their god being removed from the sanctuary.
The bride to be is not virginal, but the duke is willing to overlook this flaw for the alliance. However, he can not afford to loose face so this must be kept quiet. How cooperative is the bride? What is the duke offering her to keep her quiet? Maybe a position in the court for her lover?
Just another suggestion for why the party detours, maybe the bride to be must say her last goodbye to her parents. Who would begrudge her that?
Hm. Very interesting. What are some thoughts on the possible nature of this relic?
I like the idea of the capture of the dragon's skull. Maybe the reverent barbarians placed the different parts in different areas of the city and placed creatures and traps around them?
I do like the possible solution to the duke's betrothed being in love with the squire. And yeah, the sister is attractive, seems well meaning and public spirited.
Please forgive my randomness in advance.
As the wholesome undertaking begins to decline into the dangerous survival experience you are imagining, the party itself begins to crack.
One of the party members (NPC's) begins showing symptoms of something akin to possession. They are heard at night having muttered conversations with someone who is not there, but if 'woken' have no recollection of it. They develop pre-occupations with strange and obscure details and become inconsolably terrified at times, with no apparent cause.
Relations between two party members with very different personalities begin to fray under the pressure of the challenging journey, threatening to spill into violence.
A miserable change in the weather brings increasing pressure on the group. When the bard slips on the sodden earth into a dug pit of barbarian waste, no amount of lavish perfume will erase the stench from his or her fine attire.
The Paladin is frequently blamed for somehow incurring the ill will of the Gods.
Just some flavour - may or may not suit your appetite.
Hm. Very interesting. What are some thoughts on the possible nature of this relic?
How about a magic chalice? It has 2 primary effects.
1. Fill the chalice with water and spend a daily use of Turn Undead to create either Holy Water or a Cure Light Wounds Potion.
2. Fill the chalice with a potion and you may apply one of the following metamagic effects to the potion when it is drunk: Empower Spell, Extend Spell, or Maximize Spell.
The weight of the chalice is 1 pound for virgins, but 10,000 pounds for non-virgins.
I like flavour. The weather one is good, especially because it's just one of those things. So is falling into something unpleasant. (I actually did that one once , had a pc do an observation check and then upon them botching it had a slops pail emptied from an upper window onto them)Posession? Probably not but it doesn't matter if other people, particularly npcs, THINK the pc is posessed or ill affected or cursed. Happens, right? Look at "Master and Commander".
I really like the idea of the chalice. First of all it's a classic idea, and second the idea that the weight changes based on who is holding it is brilliant. The other clever thing is that the effects in question could technically be faked, so you'd have to have appropriate witnesses. But then the witnesses could be false...
This is my basic idea for the adventure. It consists simply of actually getting the young lady safely to the duke in her approrpriate state of purity. However there are obstacles along the way such as these:
1. Really horrible weather.
2. The monastery itself. The pcs arrive to find a couple of things are going on...
- some knights and their followers are there, two separate groups apparently doing a pilgrimage of their own. (the knights behave mysteriously at times--they are a red herring for the murder plot below and are in fact a loyal knight in the service of the duke and a foreign knight who are negotiating a military alliance on the duke's behalf, but it's supposed to be a secret in case it doesn't work)
- there was a murder shortly before the pcs' arrival, but the nervous monks will try to hide this because they don't want a scandal; they want to solve it themselves.
- The murder(s) will be done by a follower of an evil god (I was thinking of Demogorgon or Dagon since I've featured them as evil lords of chaos in the game before). Originally the murderer, who has long been disguised as a ranking member of the monastery, had intended merely to kill off the leadership of the monastery, but sees an opportunity in the corruption of the girl and spreading chaos to the realm itself.
- (Here's where I'm a little hesitant--the murderer may try the use of the love potion to simply corrupt the girl. Demonstrating that the young lady and her family are frauds might be far more devastating than killing or kidnapping her. On the other hand there is the possibility of fakery, in which case he might want to kill her. I had also had the thought of having him abduct her and making it SEEM like she ran away with the squire but that he in fact intends to kill her in some secret evil shrine in the dwarvish ruin. Thoughts?)
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I am planning an adventure for my campaign that I have elements for but little connection with. I'd appreciate some help with it.
The Monastary sounds like a lively spot to divert to if the Bride has fallen under the weather or needs to stop off for a bath after her Palanquin is damaged during the trip.
Might I suggest you review the Concept art of Aliens 3: It was originally going to be set in a Monastary Complex run by Monks in a more medieval setting. There is a cross section of the Monastary.
Just follow the links.
ps is this virgin twelve year old bride perhaps in the standard sack tied with a rope and bound for a mariage with a smelly old duke as is traditional?
About the chalice. What if its true weight is 1 pound, but when a non-virgin picks it up physically, its weight appears to be 10,000 pounds. This allows clever spellcasters to use Telekinesis, Mage Hand, or even Prestidigitation to move it around on the sly.
The monastery concept from Alien 3 is really cool--it's huge and cavernous. That's very tempting...
What if it is actually a part of the ancient dwarvish civilization? Like it was adapted from it and is something like an ancient fort or whatever? So that clues as to where the lost city is are there in the monastery, either in secret catacombs or a library or something?
The bride is going to be mid-teens, not twelve...what's with the weird burlap sack idea?
I am going with the idea that the chalice is fairly light but is very heavy if a non-virgin holds it.
How about this as an idea...the dwarvish city is known to exist by a very few of the monks, but they claim it is impenetrable. Somehow however the traitor has entered it. Magic cannot penetrate it due to powerful spells laid over it; the very stone structure is inherently powerful. There must be another entrance...
I thought there might be two possible back doors. One might be a waterway entrance, the other a sort of ventilation shaft or backdoor that is occupied by a humanoid tribe. The humanoid tribe vies for supremacy in the mountain region with a human barbarian tribe, so that the pc group cannot remain in the area for long without being possibly noticed and being hunted.
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The concept of the veil evolved from the containment of the bride in a sack - she was usually abducted from some other village and sold/married off to some smelly type against her will. As this evolved, the twelve year old bride to be was delivered in increasingly elaborate sacks as the process became increasingly "ceremonial".
The dark side of History is fun.
With the chalice, for extra medieval magic and virginal flavor, I suggest it be made out of unicorn horn.
One character you're forgetting should be the duena, the old lady with all the black lace in charge of escorting the bride everywhere and guarding her purity. In a D&D setting, giving her a few levels of Witch is appropriate. She'd also be a convenient source of prophecies and folklore, a surrogate victim when time comes for someone to make an attempt on the life of the bride, and a really cool undead if the duke's sister reanimates her later.
There is a problem with the duke's sister being popular while secretly being an evil necromancer since she lives in a world where squinty paladins can just say "But she's EVIL!" and be believed.
I suggest giving her a Soul Mask, which is a little necromantic trinket I should formally stat up, but the gist is this: Don't like the way your aura looks to awful judgmental paladin types? Simple! Murder someone with an aura you like better and their soul goes into the nice little locket you wear around your neck and you get to wear their aura instead. And if you want to switch auras later, just kill someone else. Soul A goes free and you get Soul B. Side benefit: Souls trapped in the locket can't be resurrected while they're there. (Requires Magic Jar or Trap the Soul.)
As for a reason to avoid a big swatch of territory, just have a forest fire. That's a disaster no one can deal with other than just avoiding it.
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The concept of the veil evolved from the containment of the bride in a sack - she was usually abducted from some other village and sold/married off to some smelly type against her will. As this evolved, the twelve year old bride to be was delivered in increasingly elaborate sacks as the process became increasingly "ceremonial".
The dark side of History is fun.
I agree. Bridesmaids were originally selected as bodydoubles/bodyguards for young women of affluence or nobility were to be married. Those who opposed the marriage(such as political rivals or just plain enemies) would try to murder the young bride, but then it became more difficult when you have 11 young women dressed alike and who each look similar. Its hard to be a blade in a crowd when the crowd all look like your target.
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If you are going to be in a natural or hewn from rock type dungeon, here is a page from my "Guide for Evil Dungeon Masters":
DUNGEONS: Designing for Subsidence and Cave-ins
Subsidence: This is determined by the ratio of the cross-sectional width to the height below surface (10%@w/h=0.1-0.5, 100%@w/h=1.1-1.5). The signs of Subsidence are transferred to the surface at 10% Subsidence and beyond. At 10% this amounts to cracks that probably wont be visible due to soil cover.
ex. 50’ cross-section dungeon below 20’ of surface is at 2.5 (>100%).
Columns & Pillars: These are used to reduce the subsidence to below 10%. Column Width (y) and Column Spacing (g) are determined by height below cover (y=0.12 x h, g=0.6 x h). A column designed to support the ceiling of a cave is rarely anything other than natural material that is left behind during cave excavation.
ex. Our 50’ cross section dungeon below 20’ cover will require columns in excess of 2.4’ width with no greater than 12’ distance between columns.
Signs of Failure: The failure of a cave is inevitable. The signs of failure begin at 10% subsidence where this initial stress is visible at the surface as cracking. This progresses toward 100% as Depression/subsidence bowls, Sink holes, Fissures, Chimneys, Block Collapse and Terracing occur.
The effects of failure extend beyond the cave area projected upward at surface (R=Sin 35 degrees x h).
SIGNS OF SUBSIDENCE
10%<------------------------>100%
Cracks* - Sagging – Depression Bowl
Cracks* – Fissures – Chimneys
Cracks* - Block separation – Terracing
Cracks* - Sagging - Sinkholes
*Cracks are not always visible at the surface due to topsoil
At 60% failure Cracks allow for transfer of water downward.
ex. Our cave has a cave height of 15’. When it collapses it is seen at the surface as a hole of 11.47 feet beyond the limits of the cave area.
Failure over time: The rate at which a cave is excavated determines the rate at which it shifts toward 100% subsidence over time. While mining by hand may take years, decades or even centuries to reach 100%, Instantaneous excavation (Disintegrate) pushes the ceiling to 100% before settling back to a subsidence based on cross sectional width vs. height of cover.