| Aramyle |
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Fairly new to running tabletop now, trying out a home brew campaign for the first time. All I’ve run in the past are Pathfinder adventure paths. I’ll skip a lot of details to keep this easier but I’m prepping for session 2 now and would love help brainstorming.
Last week we started off with PC’s already friends arriving at a City for a festival/competition. 3 of the 4 pcs were in 3 seperate competitions, archery, melee and magic. During the magic trial a demon was summoned unknown to the young npc who did it and was slain. 2 other portals were opened at the other 2 games to cause chaos.
A member of the Arcane Society helped set it all up with the help of a shape shifting demon (Gallu) who walks the city as a human. 4 demons escaped the city, (Yaenit, Schir, Hala, Vermlek). Yaenit will overtake Gnoll tribe, Schir will be his lietenant, Hala creates storms and abducts people in an outlying village, Vermlek took over Npc corpse that had been killed in original summon.
Arcane Society member leaving city hoping to pass as missing person as Gallu demon remains in city abducting people to bring to him to convert/torture to increase power with cult. A Pc is being mentored by another member of the Arcane Society also, thinking of using him as a false lead somehow.
Baphomet might be my end game Demon Lord villain behind it all, not sure. Right now the PCs have only dealt with initial invasion and sent on a side quest to eliminate spiders chased out of woods by the demons/gnolls.
Any help brainstorming, changes to current hooks or future hooks. Anything at all to help get this campaign rolling in a higher gear. Thanks
| Mark Hoover 330 |
Demons gate in other demons, so this could easily be a "monster of the week" type game. Each adventure session involves 1. prologue to the main plot: the PCs hear something about the evil cult, or the gnolls, or whatever in the background, looming over the horizon; 2. immediate threat: while investigating the bigger plotline the PCs are swept into dealing with a more minor, but more immediate threat like a schirr minion stirring up a bunch of villagers with petty grudges to take their revenge; 3. a short, self-contained monster hunt: PCs investigate the immediate threat, follow a linear set of clues, and take the fight to the "monster of the week," defeating it; 4. epilogue: the party learns that by destroying this minor threat they're one step closer to the main plot
Every so often you'd need to throw in a "big picture" adventure that pits the party directly against the baddies of the main plot. Depending on what advancement track you're planning to use this might be after 2 minor adventures or even after 10.
A low level example might be:
Adventure 1: PCs learn that the Schirr demon was spotted in the neighborhood of Hulenburgh, a village famous for its wizard ruler, Baron Hule, and his prejudice against orcs. As the party approaches the village they find markings of demon cult activity in a cave outside the village, the cave has some monsters; they are defeated for some minor experience and treasure. From these creatures and cultists the party learns that the Schirr indeed has plans for Hulenburgh
Adventure 2: PCs arrive in the village which seems to be perfectly normal. If any of the party are 1/2 orcs however they find that they are severely judged. The PCs learn that recently a strange visitor met with Baron Hule; since then he's been fairly reclusive, pursuing a personal vendetta against neighboring orcs in the wilderness. In the village however the local sheriff, in lieu of the baron being here, asks the party to rid the woods of danger. The "danger" ends up being a small, wilderness "dungeon" of unrelated threats but it turns out that these villains are working with a mystery cult in the area.
Adventure 3: by now the party understands that there's a cult hidden somewhere within Hulenburgh. The adventure opens as the party, returning to the village and meeting that evening with the sheriff, are attacked openly by cultists. Defeating them, the party is presented with some clues: odd mud on the cultists' clothes, some info they hinted at while they fought, and finally a map without names but noting a massive tor. The sheriff identifies this as a landmark near the village and suggests that the cult must be meeting at some verboten caverns near the top. The party goes there, defeats the remainder of the cult, and returns to Hulenburgh victorious!
Adventure 4: Baron Hule is back and wants to toast the success of the party. They are invited to the wizard's castle - Baron Hule is, say, about 7th level and optimized to fight against orcs. The banquet in the party's honor is going well until somehow the wizard knocks them out - a spell, powerful drugs in the food, or just unleashes massive damage on the party and has his staff stabilize/heal them. The party wakes up in the dungeon beneath the baron's castle but the sheriff is with them. Down here the party has to contend with demonic minions, captured orcs and so on while learning that the baron has purposely invited the orc horde to a final showdown in the plains outside the village. The party escapes but must make it to the battlefield
Adventure 5: the PCs have got to stop Lord Hule from the battle as he is under the influence of the Schirr demon. Arriving they find a small army of villagers, pumped up on pure rage which has been magically inflated by the demon's vitriol and mental powers. On the other side the orcs, fueled by their own rage, are well set to wipe out the wizard and his puny force once and for all. This adventure COULD be ended by the party just inserting themselves in the war, but also the Schirr demon is supposed to be close at hand, monitoring his puppets, so they can also take the battle directly to it instead.
And by the end of all that, based on Medium advancement, I'm guessing the PCs are about 3rd level. If they succeed well in Adventure 5 they've saved the village of Hulenburgh and maybe even made an ally with the sheriff or possibly Baron Hule himself. They also have defeated one major plot of the demons and thwarted one of the many cult cells which have popped up because of the demons' influences.
| Aramyle |
I guess I’ll add in some preferences for my PC’s also. Currently Elf Rogue, Elf Witch, Dwarf Fighter, Half-Orc Druid and soon to be Ranger it sounds like another friend is joining up. Medium progression until 6 then we go to slow. They are heavy into combat and character builds. Rp is something they enjoy also, to much of it though and they start getting antsy. Edit: When I say RP, I just mean any encounters that don’t involve kicking somethings teeth in or puzzle solving really.