|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm going to be running the RotRL campaign in the near future, but I thought I'd start it off with a short mini-campaign set during the Late Unpleasantness. I don't know yet what all of my players are going to be playing, but I know that some of them won't be Sandpoint locals. I'm thinking about having my local characters playing themselves five years younger. But, for the out of town characters, I think I'm going to let them play some of the major npcs involved in saving the town.
My plan for the story is to split up the group. One plot will be for the town militia, trying to hunt down Chopper, which will be more martial pcs. My second plot will be likely be shorter. For younger pcs (under 21), or more vulnerable characters, I plan on having the prologue focus more on the fear of Chopper.
I know that I want to end both prologues with the Sandpoint Church fire, because that is the event that sets up the start of the actual campaign.
I want to play up the darkness and fear in this prologue, so I can contrast it with the brightness and happiness of the Swallowtail Festival. It's more of a celebration if the players actually have something to celebrate as well.
I guess what I need help with is some ideas for how to fill out each mini-campaign. I know I want to run each in one session or about 4 to 5 hours. I haven't really run that much horror or mystery type campaigns, so I'm at a loss here.
Any advice on how to introduce Stoot himself would be great, also. I don't want him to be too obvious; my players tend to latch onto any really detailed npc as important. So, should I try to put as much detail into several minor npcs as well, just to throw them off track?
I was also wondering about including Nualia briefly. What is she up to during this time? Was she in her coma during the whole thing or had she woken up?
I'm going to be working on a timeline for the Late Unpleasantness and an actual list of chopper's victims. If anyone else is interested, I will post it once it's done. I will try to come up with some ideas for how they may have wronged him.
I was thinking of doing something like this myself, but only one person ended up with a PC that actually grew up in Sandpoint (all the others were linked in some other way) so I scrapped the idea. Almost wish I pursued it in the end, would have made BO run a little better.
As for notable NPCs, there's lots of extra ones you can throw in, and if you can, explain as many of them as possible, so that it'll make it more difficult for your group to pick up the more important ones. The heads of the 'noble' families would be known to all in town, so I'd work on Kendra Deverin, Titus Scarnetti, Lonjiku Kaijitsu and Ethram Valdemar, and any of their close families if time permits. The public confrontation between Lonjiku and Tsuto at the funeral of Lonjikus wife would make a memorable event that ties in excellently if you can RP that.
Any PC tied with the church (the Sandpoint resident in mine was an acolyte there) will know Ezakien Tobyn well, and Nualia by association. Any that were about her age will know a little of the childhood torment she suffered (all the jokes and jibes she got from the other kids) so that ties in easily.
Like GeraintElberion said, Stoot is easily introduced via his work. All the kids in town will know about sporting a Stoot.
As for other NPCs, I'd try and flesh out as many of the notables that you can, like Casp Avertin, Savah Bevaniky, Belor Viskalai (as he was then), Larz Rovaniky, Das Korvut, Cyrdak Drokkus, Ilsoari Gandethus, Jargie Quinn, Ameiko Kaijitsu (pre-adventuring days), Jasper and Hayliss Korvaski, and finally Ven Vinder and his two daughters. These are all well known around town, so it'll be good for your PC's to see how they change with the effects of Chopper, the fire and the campaign itself.
|
When I read about the Late Unpleasantness and all the gory details that were included, I knew I wanted the players to have that information, but from a first-hand perspective. I wanted them to be as upset about the events as the townsfolk were, so I ran the party through a couple of 0-level adventures, to set this up, as well as let them experience how the town has changed in the last 8 years. Other side encounters were later thrown in to expose them to various aspects of Varisia and the surrounding areas as well. You can find that thread *HERE*
I also made up a list of Chopper's victimes, especially since I wanted their deaths to be personal impacts on the players. One in particular was Jorgie Quinn's wife (you have to read the thread to understand) who the players formed a close bond with as young children. That thread can be found *HERE*
Hope this helps with ideas and such. It worked well for our group, and my players are really invested in Sandpoint and the surrounding area.
|
|
Redcelt32,
I just scanned through your posts, and I think you definitely have some ideas that I can use. I noticed that you had some trouble filling Chopper's list, too. I remember somewhere on the forums someone wrote a sidequest that involved Das Korvut's wife being one of Chopper's victims, and his son was kidnapped by Chopper to be his protege. Or something along those lines. Sorry I'm sketchy, it's been a long day at work.
One of the ideas that I had to fill out the list, aside from friends and relatives of the characters, is to add in a few names based on people my players and I know in real life. For example, in my town watch prologue, the first victim they are going to see is one of their real-life ex-girlfriends.
On a side note, I'm going to carry this over into the main campaign, too. The family in the Monster in the Closet encounter is going to be one of the guys we work with, along with his wife and kids. They like the guy, so I am going to give them a chance to save him, if they hurry.