Campaign Concept, help?

[BigUndeadDaddy]

So I have been away for playing for quite some time and am looking to get back into it. So I am starting a campaign that I will be GMing

But I am hoping some folks might have some time to assist with brain storming the concept to flesh it out further. I feel like there are some questions that are left unanswered with what I have thus far.

So here is the basic plot.

PC’s are level 1

A nobleman has escaped an assassination attempt and currently lies unconscious in a forest cottage of a female spell caster. (Not sure what kind of spell caster would be best yet). His pursuers, two Halfling assassins, have decided to go to a nearby village to seek help at finishing the job. Disguising themselves as children and attempting to enlist the party or any that will help by saying some witch has abducted their father and they need their help to save him before it’s too late.

So questions I need to answer are:

1) Who wants this nobleman dead?

2) Why are the Halflings afraid to do this themselves? Is it because the “witch” is to powerful for them on their own? But at the same time, she has to be someone the PC’s can fight and possibly be victorious, so how powerful can she be without her fighting them leading to their imminent defeat.

3) Do the villagers know of the witch? Do they think her malicious? Why? I don’t want her to be an evil character.

4) Does she know the nobleman? Did he go there seeking her protection?

Some starting notes that I had regarding the NPCs involved.

Click and Clack
Level 2 Assassins - Halflings

Pretending to be Paneak’s children in town and seeking help to save their unfortunate father from the Evil witch, Maddam Em.

During each interaction with the PC’s Click and Clack must make an acting check to stay “in character” and be believable as human children. If they fail the PC’s can make a wisdom check to tell something just isn’t quite right with a +2 bonus to their roll.

Madam Em’s cottage is a day’s journey into the dark forest. Click and Clack are too scared to go, they’re just kids after all. Madam Em has gone out of her way to steer clear of the villagers due to her misshapenness. She knows how cruel and judgmental people can be. The rare occasions she does go to town she imbibes a potion to disguise herself. She also does all she can to keep trespassers away from her cottage and her antics for warding off unwanted visitors and nosey villagers should definitely lend themselves well to the villagers believing she is a witch.

The idea of an evil witch living so close and has the people in a bit of a panic. Click will shadow the adventurers with his last potions of invisibility. If the party ends up figuring it out Click will magically tell Clack who is back in town. Clack will abduct a child and blame the witch, saying he saw her appear and disappear after grabbing the child. Sending the townsfolk into a fury. The party will encounter the angry mob, led by Clack.

Paneak Daleborn
Level 3 Nobleman - Human
Currently unconscious. Carries a Dagger +1. Em found him in the forest nearly dead and brought him to the safety of her cottage before Click and Clack could catch up to him.

Madam Em
Level 5 Druid - Human
Madam Em (Emily Faybough) lives in the forest a day from the village. She is a spell caster and potion maker that was hideously disfigured long ago. Due to her magical powers and misshapen form a lot of the town’s folk believe her to be a witch. The Assassins play upon that to hire the PC’s

[Mythic Evil Lincoln]

1) His Wife.

2) They're trying to foil future scry attempts by creating layers of obscurity to the architect of the misdeed.

3) Sure. This depends on the level of magic in your world. Is superstition and fear a thing?

4) Yes and yes, for no other reason than you suggested she might. This happily raises more questions for you to answer, thus fleshing out your world.

Remember the Y-Cubed rule. Ask Why, then ask why of the answer, then ask why of that second answer. After three whys, your plot point should withstand reasonable scrutiny, and frankly that's all you will ever need.

[BigUndeadDaddy]

1) That could work. Amazing I didn't think of that.

2) Hmmm, thats an interesting idea.

3) Well since we are just starting I'm not sure. I like the superstition and fear thing. But at the same time I know I have two players that want to be elven spell casters. I was thinking maybe due to being disfigured and sort of a hermit the people might think she's bad based on biases and ignorance. So although she has never done anything up to this point, they wouldn't dis-believe the possibility.

4) true.

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts MEL.

I want to link this together into an ongoing reverse fairytale concepts that keep stringing together. In this one, the children are evil and the witch is a good guy. Saw some posts on this concept on other forums and the concept intrigued me. So now I am trying to flesh out the initial plot line.

Also I am at another point of indecision. Where to start the players...

Do they know eachother? are they just all in the same inn when the "children" show up spinning tales and riling the villagers?

Perhaps the players are from the village?

[Bwang]

They are the current draft of the village's youth, doing their term of civic duty. It is the local custom for coming of age to toss the crew into the deep end, solving the problem being their proof of maturity.

[BigUndeadDaddy]

Neat idea. Hadn't thought of that. I suppose as long as everyone has a race that would make sense for that.

[Bwang]

I used this concept several years back and it worked well, but then I have very cosmopolitan cities.

[John Kerpan]

They could be asking the party to do it because the witch knows the halflings personally. Alternatively, they could be using the party as a distraction so that they can kill the man while the witch is busy engaging the party.

[Stereofm]

BigUndeadDaddy wrote:

PC’s are level 1

So questions I need to answer are:

1) Who wants this nobleman dead?

2) Why are the Halflings afraid to do this themselves? Is it because the “witch” is to powerful for them on their own? But at the same time, she has to be someone the PC’s can fight and possibly be victorious, so how powerful can she be without her fighting them leading to their imminent defeat.

3) Do the villagers know of the witch? Do they think her malicious? Why? I don’t want her to be an evil character.

4) Does she know the nobleman? Did he go there seeking her protection?

Some starting notes that I had regarding the NPCs involved.

Nice ideas.

1) It could be a fellow nobleman. It could be for financial reasons, or because of extra-marital activities.
2) How about they are afraid of magic, because of the humilation that even low level spells can heap on a fighting class ? (Create Pit) ?
If not this, there's purely roleplaying old-fashioned superstition
3) yeah, definitely. What they think of her depends a lot on your world though. And her god/patron too.
4) She may know him, but that is not necessary : She may be a good samaritan, or she may even want him as a sacrifice (when the stars are right), or for her larder.

Best,

[BigUndeadDaddy]

I think I like the idea of the towsfolk being superstitious and afraid of magic. However having this be the case, the fact that two players want to be magic using elves might become a bit of an issue.

I am breaking in 2 new players so I want to make sure it's a lot of fun for them, so I don't really want to limit their class choices to just fighter or rogue. although I am definitely going to suggest that just because it would be easier for them.

1) Jury is still out on this one.

2) Villagers are superstitious of the woods. They are bad and nothing that lives in them can be very good.

3) The villagers don't really "Know" her per-say, but they know of her presence.

4) The witch is indeed a good aligned character keeping to herself due to her terrible scars and the villagers superstitious beliefs.

So now it looks like I need to figure out WHY the assassins are after him and why they don't just take care of it themselves. I am toying with expanding on the idea John posted, where the halflings know the witch AND the nobleman. Perhaps they were old adventuring partners.

Then again. Maybe they aren't halflings at all, but goblins with an alterself spell cast so they can blend in with the villagers...?

All in all the concept of the campaign will be to lead the players from one twisted fairytale to the next where the roles are as reversed as possible.

So once they save the nobleman they will have some downtime and be summoned to help one of the noblemans friends with another task like putting the sword back in the stone.

Or where its an evil princess attempting to kill the goodly queen. Or putting the sword back in the stone because taking it out was a bad idea. stuff like that and I would like to string the stories and characters back and forth so I have some redundant NPC's throughout the campaign.

[Tacticslion]

Dot.

[BigUndeadDaddy]

ok I think I have it.

Background:
Two Halfling assassins, by the names Click and Clack are attempting to join the Red Mantis Assassins guild. To do so they must assassinate someone they know in order to prove fidelity to the brotherhood
They have opted to kill an old adventuring partner who has become a bit of a minor nobleman by the name of Paneak Daleborn, they never really liked him anyway.

Paneak, having known the two for some time knew something was amiss by their mannerisms when he met with them. However the two were able to harm him. In a short battle Paneak was poisoned but managed to get away on horseback into the Tanglebriar Forest where another adventuring partner had settled down.

During the chase, Paneak, although quite a ways ahead of his pursuers fell from his horse but a mile or so from Tanglebriar and proceeded to hobble the rest of the way. The Halflings caught up just in time to see Paneak fall unconscious in front of his friends house. A friend they also used to adventure with. A druid by the name of Madam Em. Who finding her old friend collapsed on her door step brought him inside.
The Assassins need proof that they have killed their quarry, while also making sure no one knows it was them that did it. They are pretty sure they cannot take on Em in her own home head on. So they devised a plan.

The Plan:
Using disguise kits, and their already small stature, they make themselves up to be human children and head for the nearest village. Where they will seek assistance from would be hero’s to rescue their “father” from the clutches of a creepy old forest hag who has taken him.

Villagers:
The villagers know of Em, but not much other than she is there. She lives a life of solidarity, which makes the villagers a bit fearful of her. No one lives in the Tanglebriar alone. It’s dangerous and full of nasty creatures. The villagers think Em is some crazy old hermit woman. So the idea that she has kidnapped someone to feast on them doesn’t really surprise them. Actually it would make sense because, evil things live in the forest.

The Offering:
Click and Clack, appear in frantically in the village center, crying and yelling and carrying on about how some nasty Crone, hag etc… has subdued their father and taken him to her cottage to eat him up. They recount the tale of how they escaped, thanks to their father holding her off. They beg and plead for assistance in rescuing their father. This is where the PC’s should step in.

Playing Click/Clack
Click will offer to lead the players to where it happened. But he will not be there when Em is confronted due to how “scared he is”. If the players are defeated, or Em convinces them that the Children are the bad ones, Click will use a potion of Whispering Wind to send a message back to Clack that the jig is up and begin on his way back to the village to help stir the locals.

If Click Sends Clack the message, Clack will do whatever he can to rally the villagers with pitchforks and torches to go kill the Witch. Saying that she has put a spell on the PC’s and is now controlling them.
This would be a good chance for some serious roleplay for diffusing the situation. The PC’s should be met by about 10-15 villagers on their return trip, or perhaps the villagers meet them at Em’s cottage, ready to burn the witch and her home to the ground.

Playing Em:
Em is a druid. Her home has protective magics in place (what would be good spells to protect her home?) especially now that one of her friends has shown up dying on her door.
She will use whatever means necessary to protect herself and her unconscious guest.
She will attempt to subdue the PC’s not slay them.

[Mark Hoover]

If the PCs are from the small village... try this info to color their initial reaction to The Plan:

You have lived in (insert small village name here) all your lives, but five years ago Auntie Em came. Since then your world has never been the same.

She arrived in town, trading herbs and pelts from the Tanglebriar. She is a comely woman, easy on the eyes and charming by nature. Old Bannick fell under her spell and begged for her hand. She coyly seduced him for months, but in the end rejected him. He made his way to her cottage to confront her... and he saw her true face.

You see, Auntie Em is a witch; of this there is no doubt among the townsfolk. She is hideous to behold, her aged face twisted and gnarled. Em uses her spells to conceal her visage from others and even to ensorcel the weak-willed like the old bachelor, Master Bannick of the tannery.

He saw her that night and fled back to town. Since then he has been a broken shell of a man drowning his fractured mind in rye. Auntie Em for her part has become a recluse in the woods, though there are those foolhardy souls who brave the trek to the witch's cottage to seek her counsel or potions. None have since seen her face, though this may be because of the charms the people wear.

Ever since Auntie Em came to the Tanglebriar, the animals have not been the same. The fey grow brazen; the wilds more primal. It has long been feared that Auntie Em is somehow infecting the already dangerous Tanglebriar with her witchcraft. For some time now it has been felt that something ought be done about wicked Auntie Em.

Now two young lads have come to the village from the nearby city of (insert Click and Clack's hometown here). They were traveling nearby when creatures from the Tanglebriar attacked. The boys were mercifully spared but their father, a merchant named Daleborn, was taken by Em and her agents. The boy's own story confirms seeing her horrible visage through the trees.

Now they seek aid in ending the crone and saving their father from whatever terrible fate she may have in store for him. Will you brave the Tanglebriar and save Panaek Daleborn from the clutches of the evil Auntie Em?

The real story:

Five years ago Em and her then boy-toy Daleborn had a falling out. She retired to the Tanglebriar for solace while he grew his public career as a merchant noble. After a few months of exile and seeking public company once more Em arrived in the small village in disguise and met Bannick the Tanner.

She seduced the man but he wanted more of her than she was prepared to give. Em tried many times to end it with him but Bannick was... insistent. Finally he tracked her to her cottage (near IMPOSSIBLE so this shows you how crazed he was) and busted in on her. He tried to... get physical with Em and in the struggle her Hat of Disguise (or maybe some other item of Disguise) was dislodged, revealing her true form. She used the distraction to defend herself and Bannick fled (maybe he's cursed, permanently afflicted with a wound or whatever).

Em then got the rep of being a witch and she went with it. Over the years she's used the solitude the identity affords her to then attempt to tame some of the darker elements of the Tanglebriar. In her efforts she's made friends w/the fey, though she's wary of their capriciousness so she keeps them at arm's length. In order to keep tabs on them as well as whatever nasties there are in the woods Em's befriended several animals to use as spies and informants.

Now after all this time Daleborn shows up, poisoned and on the run. The halflings know of the woman's reputation, so they play upon this to get the job done. The party then begins under the false-pretense of a witch hunt.