Ideas for Plot

[Dojen]

I am DMing a custom campaign and I have come up with what I think is a good plot device to keep my characters going forward. They have been contracted by a shipping company to handle issues within one of their remote settlements. When they arrived they were informed by the supervisor of the settlement that the mine had been overrun by kobolds and their assistance was needed to clear the mine. At the end of that adventure they encountered a group of slave kobolds being forced to work the mine by mutated kobolds that were much larger and stronger than the others. The next adventure had the quartermaster of the settlement kidnapped by zombies and taken to the graveyard. I realized organized behavior is very strange for zombies but as the crew found out as they fought through the graveyard into an ancient tomb where they faced a zombie cheiftain, his zombie burial priests, and his zombie concubines there was a circlet buried inside his tomb that had the power to raise the dead and mutate the living. Also found inside his tomb was a collapsed tunnel that was filled with dead and mutated kobolds.

In the next adventure I am sending them from the settlement by ship to a relatively nearby town to start investigating the origins of the circlet as it does not seem to fit in with the other treasure found in the tomb.

Once they arrive in the new town they need to find someone to sort out the origin of the circlet. Then they will need to perhaps do a few quests to figure out more about the circlet. The goal is to have someone manipulating the region on purpose through various means trying to control and dominate it for their own personal gain.

As they continue to quest the settlement will be their base of operations and will grow over time. Currently it is a small Thorp with dilapidated wooden housing, but by the time they get back the housing situation will be resolved and the town will have grown a bit perhaps to the next level of city.

I would like to see what ideas pop into everyone's head now that you have heard the details of the campaign so far. What would you do, how would you evolve the storyline. Thanks in advance!

[Chris P. Bacon]

Sorry, just to clarifiy: are the PCs being hired to investigate the circlet, or is this something they've chosen to do themselves?

[Dojen]

I hadn't thought about that. One of my players had questioned if they could get additional compensation for going after the quartermaster in the graveyard, and I suggested that it was covered under their terms of employment with the settlement.

I feel like that should only apply to the settlement issues, but this seems to be taking them into more of a regional issue. I have no problem paying them though, and should probably just have the company pay them to figure it out. I aim to give them enough coin to keep them at the recommended wealth per level, so I can just subtract it from that.

To be fair if they pressed the issue I would have either given them additional funds to complete the mission or let the quartermaster die. And then perhaps had the zombies attack the town en masse.

[ShallowHammer]

I read this in a book series that I really liked, and am using it in a campaign I'm running...

BBEG who's manipulating the region is trying to distract the PC's from finding him. He's found a way to steal "attributes" from people (their vision, strength, dexterity, etc...) which disables them (he steals vision from someone, his vision improves, they go blind). Now the victims must be alive for him to keep the attributes, so he's keeping them alive in bad conditions. People have been disappearing...people in debt to him, who've offended him, etc...

I'd have this circlet be an artifact related to this attribute theft, and that he created with some devilish crafting skill. It was an early attempt, and it partially failed (the deformities of the living), so he found another use for it.

Of course, why is BBEG taking these attributes? He's not just greedy. He's preparing for an attack by a demon of some sorts. He's justified his actions to himself by wanting to defend the region from this demon he learned is coming to claim the area as his realm. He also feels that control of the region is a just reward for his benevolent actions and so he has a dual purpose (rule under him would be better than under a demon, right?).

I know it's kind of high level, but I hope you find this interesting and helpful...

[Corvino]

It may be a bit obvious, but if they're in the pay of a shipping company responsible for mining then why not have a rival company be responsible? Someone else wants to get their grubby mitts on the original settlement and the party's employer is an obstacle. By sowing chaos and discontent (or even just making the place unprofitable) they plan to drive off their competitors and corner the market!

Naturally such an organisation would be evil and underhanded. It offers all kinds of opportunities for you as a GM to build intrigue and have the party come up against a nemesis that is supported by the local authorities.

[Dojen]

I ended up taking Corvino's suggestion and created an organization that will be the bane of my characters employer. On the trip to Silbervale my group ran astray of some merfolk mercenaries and managed to capture a lieutenant so they can do all sorts of things to him to get information perhaps even a ransom.

I have quite a few hooks for them in Silbervale and this town should be a good source of adventures for them and have lots of intrigue due to their adventures catching the unwanted attention of this new conglomerate.

Silbervale is a Hamlet size seaside town and has a Blackball (groups employer) trading office. There are also some other scattered businesses that I will be fleshing out with small side quests to add intrigue.