So for as long as I've been DMing I've always had this one NPC that the characters have a chance to interact with.
Basically through a series of unlikely rolls (Nat 1 on a d100 followed by a second nat 1 on a d100) the players can encounter an old travelling fortune teller. Old and blind she offers to tell a party member their fortune for a unreasonable sum of gold 10 - 10000gp depending on the party level. Now if they take the route that makes sense and tell her to take a hike, the encounter ends. However if they agree to have their fortune told they get a pull from the DnD 3.5 Deck of many things. They don't really know this, I just pull a card for them, say the meaning cryptically and some time in the next month it will happen. For example, if the get a small keep and a large sum of gold, some time in the next month a long lost relative might have passed and left his wealth to the PC. Now last session a PC rolled two 1/100s and then paid the 100g cost to have his fortune told. He pulled true wish on the fortune telling of his future. I worded it "Your future is your own, you are the master of your own path. If you wished it even the inevitability of death could be avoided. So, what do you wish for your future?" And...
He wished for Glory above all things. What the hell am I supposed to do with that. I've had people slowly starting to recognize him more and more. In this world he's a full Orc and Orcs are essentially mongolian horse lords from Genghis Khan's time.
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Well...
You could give him an extravagantly GLORIOUS DEATH! I am not 100% sure how mongolian horse lords viewed glory but most martial society strive for the greatest death in combat believing that to be the most glorious thing ever. He could die gloriously and essentially become immortal as the tale of his death is SOOOO great that it would live on indefinitely.
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I think the answer is simple. Make him a Khan, as the story progresses have Orcs gather to him in a horde...slowly at first and then flocking in numbers under his banner. Make him take Leadership, etc. Near the end of the campaign have them all go off into the aether to go conquer someplace and make a kingdom of their own.
Start the next campaign with some average encounters, caves, goblins, blah blah blah, and then have them encounter Orc scouts. Give them rumors that a huge Orc hoarde was spotted in the Mountains and that their leader is the physical embodiment of the Orkish god of War, that other Khans have sworn under this mighty Orc and he seeks to conquer purely for the glory of battle.
Long story short, have the PCs of the next campaign end up putting a stop to this PCs glorious campaign ending in the most epic death you can possible pull off. Probably involving a climatic duel in a volcano, or perhaps on the moon...
Or keep this campaign going long enough to let him dive into a Tarsque with the might of a Wish behind him and 80,000 vials of alchemist fire or some other type of explosion and rule that his wish for Glory above all expends itself to permanently kill the Tarsque ala 3.5 rules.
Basically, make this as awesome as possible. The double 1 happened, the wish has been made, and now it is up to you to see it through ^_^
Also, while I remember my Pratchett, in the last hero the oldest heroes of the world attempt to return fire to the gods...with interest. If you want a good plot hook for a second campaign over and above a glorious orkish crusade, have the orkish hoarde quest for a method to push their Khan to godhood so that he may challenge even the gods to a duel.
Because the only thing more fun than a crusade is an Ork mad enough with power to try and take on all the gods at once.
You could pull the prophecy card and imply his character is destined for great things, garnering the attention of multiple extremely powerful Orc Lords. Pit the Lords against one another as they try to vie for the right to raise the "chosen one" as a member of their own clan. Whichever clan gets the PC becomes the ruler and unites the clans under one banner. Live or die, the struggle has the potential to be glorious. Maybe the PC will become a great and wonderful or maybe they'll become a tyrant. Best part is that they don't need to be in their role the entire time; all they need to do is eventually accomplish a great deed that will be remembered for ages.
I think the answer is simple. Make him a Khan, as the story progresses have Orcs gather to him in a horde...slowly at first and then flocking in numbers under his banner. Make him take Leadership, etc. Near the end of the campaign have them all go off into the aether to go conquer someplace and make a kingdom of their own.
Start the next campaign with some average encounters, caves, goblins, blah blah blah, and then have them encounter Orc scouts. Give them rumors that a huge Orc hoarde was spotted in the Mountains and that their leader is the physical embodiment of the Orkish god of War, that other Khans have sworn under this mighty Orc and he seeks to conquer purely for the glory of battle.
Long story short, have the PCs of the next campaign end up putting a stop to this PCs glorious campaign ending in the most epic death you can possible pull off. Probably involving a climatic duel in a volcano, or perhaps on the moon...
Or keep this campaign going long enough to let him dive into a Tarsque with the might of a Wish behind him and 80,000 vials of alchemist fire or some other type of explosion and rule that his wish for Glory above all expends itself to permanently kill the Tarsque ala 3.5 rules.
Basically, make this as awesome as possible. The double 1 happened, the wish has been made, and now it is up to you to see it through ^_^
Also, while I remember my Pratchett, in the last hero the oldest heroes of the world attempt to return fire to the gods...with interest. If you want a good plot hook for a second campaign over and above a glorious orkish crusade, have the orkish hoarde quest for a method to push their Khan to godhood so that he may challenge even the gods to a duel.
Because the only thing more fun than a crusade is an Ork mad enough with power to try and take on all the gods at once.
My god that's so damn simple I'm dissapointed I didn't think of it myself. They're in a country north of said Horse Lord Orcs, where a lot of Half Orcs and "Civilized" ones are used as cheap (almost slave) labour. The idea of like, a orc assassin trying to take him out cause of some crazy prophecy and him just wrecking that dude in such a spectacular way that the City orcs start banding behind him. Leadership is pretty important in this campaign to boot. Shit thanks man. :D
Take a look at some of the following: ultimate campaign influence and such, bard celebrity archetype, noble scion prc, etc, maybe adopt some of the mechanics relating to having some local/national/world renown
I'm normally for twisting wishes horribly, but did this player actually know he was getting a legit wish spell from the fortune teller? If he did, yeah, twist that mofo, but if he didn't know it was a true wish spell and he just got a vague prophecy, which is how I read it, perverting his wish for glory is infringing on dick move territory.
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"Your future is your own, you are the master of your own path. IF YOU WISHED IT EVEN THE INEVITABILITY OF DEATH COULD BE AVOIDED. SO, WHAT DO YOU WISH FOR YOUR FUTURE?" And...
I would be jumping up and down in dick move territory myself...with no regrets or remorse. :D But that's just me. I grew up on dm's that perverted wishes no matter how well stated and clarified unless there was absolutely no room for interpretation. Everyone should learn the lesson of a terribly worded wish. I am not as strict as the gm's/dm's that I have been under for the last 23 years of my life but making a wish with the desire of "Glory above all things" is definitely time to let my inner pit fiend shine.
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I don't get why people always try to twist even the simplest wish into unbearable agony.
Wishes actually have to have come true at some point in history for people to ever consider making them. Devils and Djinns would be out of business if every DM was like you guys.
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I hope that wasn't a response to my suggestion, DominusMegadeus - an amazing sky battle should be exhilarating, not agony (at least, not any form of agony a Mongol Orc wouldn't welcome - maybe oxygen deprivation makes him so euphoric for this battle he gets a 'natural' greater heroism for the duration of the battle!).
I meant in general, your idea seemed pretty cool actually.
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I'm an agreement with DominusMegadeus, there's no need to always twist wishes and be as cruelly imaginative as possible. If the wish isn't incredibly selfish and especially if it offers the GM the chance to work in a great open ended story... go with it! If every wish got twisted into something awful it would be known to the point where no-one would ever wish.
Being cruel just to be cruel or because another GM screwed with you is a rather mean way to run a game, try to have fun and look at the opportunity it provides to further the story whilst still keeping things balanced, not just screw players over.
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I wouldn't be cruel just to be cruel really and it's not because I have been screwed by other gm's wishes that I want to make my pc's endure the same thing. I learned that making the players think hard and get it just right as an in character thing helps encourage creative thinking and is much more fun and beneficial in the long run. The gm/dm's that did this to me were doing it not just to do it but to help me think harder and learn how to roleplay my characters better and get a more well thought out response than...
To just say
"I wish I had vorpal bastard sword" is a rather bland and unimaginative in character response to receiving a wish. It's pretty open to twisting around.
At which point I would say (as my mentor gm/dm's have done on many occassion)..."You just remembered you once 'had' a vorpal bastard sword but can't remember for the life of you where you left it."
To instead say...
"I wish for an enchanted bastard sword, sharp enough to behead the jabberwocky with ease, so that I may now use it to defend the people of Vordenghein from the depredations of the evil tyrant Kleotharc the Black Skald. They have been overshadowed for far to long and I shall be the hero to free these good folk from his tyranny with the might of such a blade! Off with his head!"
A wish stated like that would and should be rather well rewarded for the person actually showing that he was excited enough to think out how his character would make his wish instead of just an indifferent and vague response that show's they are just there for the G and not the RP.
(It's called an Role Playing Game for a reason and people who are in it strictly for "roll play" are missing out on the best part of the game.)
I understand different folks different strokes and respect their opinions. Like my previous dm/gm's I just want players that challenge their minds to greater heights than "Glory above all things."
Anyways I think I may have ranted a bit there lol. Sorry guys.
But in all seriousness...
"Play the character, don't let the character play "you" and for you 'roll players'...Save the wrists! Down with carpal tunnel!"
"Hi. My name is Glory. I'm a useless level 1 bard, but I can follow you around and play you theme music. I can also do Robin's minstrels song."