Epic Quest Ideas sought

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

I was just reading through some old Dungeon Mags tonight, planning for
the next time I DM, and a thought occurred to, based on the last
scenario I looked at... Details on the party make-up and background are
at the very end of my message.

The adventure involves an elven ghost woman, whose song is
hypnitic/entrancing and its causing the various problems D&D adventures
like to have. To solve the problem, by the book, involves finding out
avbout the ghost, finding her harp, and using it to soothe her.

The harp, of course, is supposed to go with her.

I had the thought that, what if the elven ghost were in some way tied to
the history of the half-elven bard? Then, if he ended up with the harp,
what if it were the key to a greater mystery later?

Then I thought, that that sure puts one PC at the center of things for
the entire campaign, or a long stretch of it.

Then I thought, what if I were to find a way to foreshadow not just this
adventure, but several of them, and tie them together such that the
'McGuffins' in each, while they solve a particular adventure's problem,
also, when used together, will solve a BIGGER problem later?

That got me thnking abot the party makeup. First thing I see that begs
to be used is the swordsmithing fighter and his family. Perhaps one of
the 'lost branches' of the family has discovered a potent formula for
creating a weapon, usuable by any, which might, potentially be world
shattering?

Then I started trying to think of other interesting party stories, and
totally blanked....

What I am trying to come up with is something like where, when all the
pieces of the puzzle are put together: The harp, the weapon, the
'whatnot', in the right place and time, the Portal to the Abyss, or
whatever, is closed.

So, I'm asking for any ideas, either for a Grand Arc tying it all
together, or for bits and pieces that might spark an idea for a Grand Arc.

Hopefully, this basically string of consciousness post made some sort of
sense...

If it helps, I have every issue of Dungeon starting with #7, so if any
of them strike chords with this idea, Let me know.

Thanks for any help you can throw out. I figure I've got a couple weeks
before I have to have a plan, so I can start inserting hints, and
foreshadowing into ongoing sessions (It always seemed cheesy to me when,
suddenly, a portal to the abyss is discovered open, and, hey, could you
guys go close it?... where were the warning signs?)

Thanks again.
DWS


The Party (some of you are familiar with the setup).

Player A - Half-Orc Barbarian - Glarok - adopted by a tribe of halflings
while very young, after his orc village was destroyed by mercenaries
during the last war.

Player A - Halfling Sorceress - Coria - best friend of the Half-Orc, was
the one who found the half-orc, who was hiding, dirty and hungry, in the
woods

Player B - Human Fighter - Hammond - Descendent of a long long of
weaponsmiths, obsessed with his family tree, the player has it worked
out for five or so generations. Dropped out of Paladin training early.

Player B - Human Ranger - Oneilson - Father was murdered by Pirates who
got rowdy one night in the tavern his father owned. Was a petty street
urchin type, using strength and anger to protect his friends until a
Priest took him off to be trained as a Paladin, to channel his emotions
into something more useful. Dropped out, before he could be kicked out,
due to a tendency to Challenge Authority.

DM1 (me) - Elven Wizard - Ansar - Father and Mother were librarians to
the Elven Royal Household. While poor, they were happy. When the PC
showed an aptitude for magic, they hired a string of cut-rate tutors
(the best they could afford). After learning all that his tutors could
teach him (sadly, not much), he set out on his own to hone his skills,
and wants to find someone he respects to admit that, after all, he is
VERY good. hasn't happened quite yet.

DM2 - Half-elven Bard - Troy - Son of a Human Gypsy woman, father was
one of a series of lovers his mother had met. When he came of age, he
set off on his own to discover who he was.. he never fit in with the
wagon train, being the only non-human, and doesn't seem to fit into
civilized society, either.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

You could relate ancestors of your party with various artifacts and
historical plots, both to make them feel special and to introduce many
good motivations (unfinished business, pride and honour, revenge,
helping relatives...).
The ghost can be revealed to be your bard's grandmother (maybe a bard
herself), with a tragic and important story; the half-orc can discover
he is the heir to the throne of the Orc (or Human?) Kingdom and he
needs a long lost crown; the family of the halfling sorceress can keep
all sorts of supernatural secrets and magical artifacts, ready to be
bestowed upon her as a surprise or awarded after some initiation; the
genealogist weaponsmith can be persuaded to collect a set of legendary
weapons made by his family; the ranger can discover the involvement of
his father, killed by fake pirates, with a grand secret
society/conspiracy centered on some artifact (what is the equivalent of
the Holy Grail in your campaign?); the wizard, son of librarians, can
look for a book containing either enormous magical power or
earth-shaking revelations.
Putting these characters together should be enough to change te world,
they only need a clear objective (probably an enemy to crush) and a
feeling that time has come to tie some loose ends.

Lorenzo Gatti

David Serhienko wrote:
> I was just reading through some old Dungeon Mags tonight, planning
for
> the next time I DM, and a thought occurred to, based on the last
> scenario I looked at... Details on the party make-up and background
are
> at the very end of my message.
>
> The adventure involves an elven ghost woman, whose song is
> hypnitic/entrancing and its causing the various problems D&D
adventures
> like to have. To solve the problem, by the book, involves finding
out
> avbout the ghost, finding her harp, and using it to soothe her.
>
> The harp, of course, is supposed to go with her.
>
> I had the thought that, what if the elven ghost were in some way tied
to
> the history of the half-elven bard? Then, if he ended up with the
harp,
> what if it were the key to a greater mystery later?
>
> Then I thought, that that sure puts one PC at the center of things
for
> the entire campaign, or a long stretch of it.
>
> Then I thought, what if I were to find a way to foreshadow not just
this
> adventure, but several of them, and tie them together such that the
> 'McGuffins' in each, while they solve a particular adventure's
problem,
> also, when used together, will solve a BIGGER problem later?
>
> That got me thnking abot the party makeup. First thing I see that
begs
> to be used is the swordsmithing fighter and his family. Perhaps one
of
> the 'lost branches' of the family has discovered a potent formula for

> creating a weapon, usuable by any, which might, potentially be world
> shattering?
>
> Then I started trying to think of other interesting party stories,
and
> totally blanked....
>
> What I am trying to come up with is something like where, when all
the
> pieces of the puzzle are put together: The harp, the weapon, the
> 'whatnot', in the right place and time, the Portal to the Abyss, or
> whatever, is closed.
>
> So, I'm asking for any ideas, either for a Grand Arc tying it all
> together, or for bits and pieces that might spark an idea for a Grand
Arc.
>
> Hopefully, this basically string of consciousness post made some sort
of
> sense...
>
> If it helps, I have every issue of Dungeon starting with #7, so if
any
> of them strike chords with this idea, Let me know.
>
> Thanks for any help you can throw out. I figure I've got a couple
weeks
> before I have to have a plan, so I can start inserting hints, and
> foreshadowing into ongoing sessions (It always seemed cheesy to me
when,
> suddenly, a portal to the abyss is discovered open, and, hey, could
you
> guys go close it?... where were the warning signs?)
>
> Thanks again.
> DWS
>
>
> The Party (some of you are familiar with the setup).
>
> Player A - Half-Orc Barbarian - Glarok - adopted by a tribe of
halflings
> while very young, after his orc village was destroyed by mercenaries
> during the last war.
>
> Player A - Halfling Sorceress - Coria - best friend of the Half-Orc,
was
> the one who found the half-orc, who was hiding, dirty and hungry, in
the
> woods
>
> Player B - Human Fighter - Hammond - Descendent of a long long of
> weaponsmiths, obsessed with his family tree, the player has it worked

> out for five or so generations. Dropped out of Paladin training
early.
>
> Player B - Human Ranger - Oneilson - Father was murdered by Pirates
who
> got rowdy one night in the tavern his father owned. Was a petty
street
> urchin type, using strength and anger to protect his friends until a
> Priest took him off to be trained as a Paladin, to channel his
emotions
> into something more useful. Dropped out, before he could be kicked
out,
> due to a tendency to Challenge Authority.
>
> DM1 (me) - Elven Wizard - Ansar - Father and Mother were librarians
to
> the Elven Royal Household. While poor, they were happy. When the PC

> showed an aptitude for magic, they hired a string of cut-rate tutors
> (the best they could afford). After learning all that his tutors
could
> teach him (sadly, not much), he set out on his own to hone his
skills,
> and wants to find someone he respects to admit that, after all, he is

> VERY good. hasn't happened quite yet.
>
> DM2 - Half-elven Bard - Troy - Son of a Human Gypsy woman, father was

> one of a series of lovers his mother had met. When he came of age,
he
> set off on his own to discover who he was.. he never fit in with the
> wagon train, being the only non-human, and doesn't seem to fit into
> civilized society, either.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

David Serhienko wrote:
> I was just reading through some old Dungeon Mags tonight, planning
for
> the next time I DM, and a thought occurred to, based on the last
> scenario I looked at... Details on the party make-up and background
are
> at the very end of my message.
>
> The adventure involves an elven ghost woman, whose song is
> hypnitic/entrancing and its causing the various problems D&D
adventures
> like to have. To solve the problem, by the book, involves finding
out
> avbout the ghost, finding her harp, and using it to soothe her.
>
> The harp, of course, is supposed to go with her.
>
> I had the thought that, what if the elven ghost were in some way tied
to
> the history of the half-elven bard? Then, if he ended up with the
harp,
> what if it were the key to a greater mystery later?

Perhaps the ghost is the spirit of an elf woman who was jilted by her
lover for a human woman. A gypsy woman, perhaps, who could be an
ancestor of the half-elf bard, or even his own mother.

>
> Then I thought, that that sure puts one PC at the center of things
for
> the entire campaign, or a long stretch of it.
>
> Then I thought, what if I were to find a way to foreshadow not just
this
> adventure, but several of them, and tie them together such that the
> 'McGuffins' in each, while they solve a particular adventure's
problem,
> also, when used together, will solve a BIGGER problem later?
>
> That got me thnking abot the party makeup. First thing I see that
begs
> to be used is the swordsmithing fighter and his family. Perhaps one
of
> the 'lost branches' of the family has discovered a potent formula for

> creating a weapon, usuable by any, which might, potentially be world
> shattering?
>
> What I am trying to come up with is something like where, when all
the
> pieces of the puzzle are put together: The harp, the weapon, the
> 'whatnot', in the right place and time, the Portal to the Abyss, or
> whatever, is closed.

Some thousands of years ago, humanity acquired the secret of
Duman'gloinn, or "soulforging" from the dwarves. This is the practice
of encasing a fragment of a creature's soul into an item, granting it
magical powers and an unpredictable nature. The art was closely
guarded, since it originates in the same techniques used by Moradin
himself to create dwarvenkind.

Every soul is unique, so every "gloinngrundr" or soulsmith creates
unique items. However, these smiths cannot simply walk into a forge and
whip up a vorpal sword; the art of Duman'gloinn requires a soul filled
with great passion to encase into these items, granting them power.
Deepest love, boundless loyalty, abundant compassion, etc. Humanity is
a young race of fleeting lifetimes, powerful feeling and fiery
passions, so they made the art their own, forging items containing
darker emotions that otherwise remain well-tempered in dwarves. Hubris.
Ambition. Obsession. Cowardice. Greed. Rage.

So potent were the items created by human gloinngrundr that they
fostered intelligence of their own, and fully unbeknownst to humankind,
began to set the course of history. One sword, one crown, one scepter,
one dagger, one shield...and one harp.

>
> So, I'm asking for any ideas, either for a Grand Arc tying it all
> together, or for bits and pieces that might spark an idea for a Grand
Arc.

If you don't mind a bit of prophecy and destiny (read: cheese), several
PCs might be remotely tied to one or more of these items. The bard is
tied to the harp, the fighter is descended from the original
gloinngrundr, and may hold the key to destroying each item. The
barbarian could be tied to an item that was indirectly responsible for
the wiping out of his tribe, and so forth.

Otherwise, the party at some point may figure out how they are
intertwined with the story of these items, and may opt to begin seeking
them all out once it is made clear that if these items are allowed to
influence the world unchecked, a Bad Thing will eventually happen.
Perhaps an ancient enemy of the Dwarven gods influenced the easily-led
human soulsmiths, and is now acting through the items to work his will
upon the world over millennia. The party may have been brought
together by the subtle workings of Dumathoin or Moradin himself to deal
with these items.

Oh, and for God's sake, no rings. That's been done.

--
Jay Knioum
The Mad Afro

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

Malachias Invictus wrote:
> "David Serhienko" <david.serhienko@ndsu.nodak.edu> wrote in message
> news:115nshbruvaq6b6@corp.supernews.com...
>
>>Malachias Invictus wrote:

>>>2) The barbarian uses the berries. He will run out of those
berries, >>>and any problem they present will be solved.
>>
>>That is my preferred solution, and I'm trying to:
>>
>>1 - increase the enoucnters per day
>>2 - add waved/ranged attacks to force the barb to deal with fatigueing
>>once in a while, and de-emphasize his hand-to-hand supremacy once in a
>>while
>>3 - Learn to play act better so the party doesn't know the difference
>>between a Mook Fight and a BBEG fight... thus making the decision to
>>NOT rage during mook fights far more difficult
>>4 - begin foreshadowing an odor/discoloration on the berries, leading
>>up to them hatching Rage Demons at some point.
>
> It sounds like you have a good proposed system for achieving your
> goals. As for #4, you could turn that into a full-blown plot. For
> example, what if some evil sect of Orcs was keeping a hatchery going,
> so that all their clan could essentially Rage at will? Scary thought.
> Perhaps long-term use slowly makes the recipient more and more in tune
> with Rage Demons, and less and less in control of their "humanity,"
> eventually resulting in their enslavement to Chaos and Evil. This
> hatchery could actually be part of a long-term plot on the part of a
> Demon Prince to corrupt souls, unbeknownst to the Orcs.

OOOOOO! Even more fun for me!

I could have Rage Demons show up even before I start having the berries
in the party start to hatch. Just a couple of them, hanging around a
camp of corrupted Vile Orcs.

The Orc Sect is trying to 'hatch' the Grand-daddy of all Rage demons,
using whatever Vile means suits your fancy: sacrifices of treaure and
victims, etc etc.

The Grand-daddy Rage Demon can have whatever mechanitions he likes, but
this gives me an angle for tying the Half-Orc into the Epic Quest.
Perhaps the Prophecy would have a line like: "The Fury tamed, the Beast
caged, Anger's Heat Broken", or something better. To break the Rage
Daddies Egg requires the Barbarian to focus all of his Rage on it, or
something.

Which suggests that this part of the prophecy somes later, I suppose.

I dunno, but this should be part of it, for sure. Nto sure how, yet.
DWS

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

madafro@sbcglobal.net wrote:
> David Serhienko wrote:
>
>>I was just reading through some old Dungeon Mags tonight, planning
> for
>>the next time I DM, and a thought occurred to, based on the last
>>scenario I looked at... Details on the party make-up and background
> are
>>at the very end of my message.
>>
>>The adventure involves an elven ghost woman, whose song is
>>hypnitic/entrancing and its causing the various problems D&D
> adventures
>>like to have. To solve the problem, by the book, involves finding
> out
>>avbout the ghost, finding her harp, and using it to soothe her.
>>The harp, of course, is supposed to go with her.
>>I had the thought that, what if the elven ghost were in some way tied
> to
>>the history of the half-elven bard? Then, if he ended up with the
> harp,
>>what if it were the key to a greater mystery later?
>
>
> Perhaps the ghost is the spirit of an elf woman who was jilted by her
> lover for a human woman. A gypsy woman, perhaps, who could be an
> ancestor of the half-elf bard, or even his own mother.

I could make that work... One of the captured souls is the Bard's
father. His father is crying out for help, and can't find anyone else
to help him.

The bard gains the harp, which will have a later use. I'm thinking
something along the lines of fulfilling part of a prophecy: "And the
Song of the Wildwood shall soothe the Fire" or something a bit more cryptic.

So, the Bard will play a song on his harp,
dispelling/bypassing/unlocking part of the Big Bad Final Bit, whatever
that turns out to be.

Malachias had an excellent suggestion, which I'm throwing into another
followup to yoru post.

>>Then I thought, that that sure puts one PC at the center of things
> for
>>the entire campaign, or a long stretch of it.
>>
>>Then I thought, what if I were to find a way to foreshadow not just
> this
>>adventure, but several of them, and tie them together such that the
>>'McGuffins' in each, while they solve a particular adventure's
>problem,
>>also, when used together, will solve a BIGGER problem later?
>>
>>That got me thnking abot the party makeup. First thing I see that
> begs
>>to be used is the swordsmithing fighter and his family. Perhaps one
> of
>>the 'lost branches' of the family has discovered a potent formula for
>>creating a weapon, usuable by any, which might, potentially be world
>>shattering?
>>
>>What I am trying to come up with is something like where, when all
> the
>>pieces of the puzzle are put together: The harp, the weapon, the
>>'whatnot', in the right place and time, the Portal to the Abyss, or
>>whatever, is closed.
>
> Some thousands of years ago, humanity acquired the secret of
> Duman'gloinn, or "soulforging" from the dwarves. This is the practice
> of encasing a fragment of a creature's soul into an item, granting it
> magical powers and an unpredictable nature. The art was closely
> guarded, since it originates in the same techniques used by Moradin
> himself to create dwarvenkind.
>
> Every soul is unique, so every "gloinngrundr" or soulsmith creates
> unique items. However, these smiths cannot simply walk into a forge and
> whip up a vorpal sword; the art of Duman'gloinn requires a soul filled
> with great passion to encase into these items, granting them power.
> Deepest love, boundless loyalty, abundant compassion, etc. Humanity is
> a young race of fleeting lifetimes, powerful feeling and fiery
> passions, so they made the art their own, forging items containing
> darker emotions that otherwise remain well-tempered in dwarves. Hubris.
> Ambition. Obsession. Cowardice. Greed. Rage.
>
> So potent were the items created by human gloinngrundr that they
> fostered intelligence of their own, and fully unbeknownst to humankind,
> began to set the course of history. One sword, one crown, one scepter,
> one dagger, one shield...and one harp.

Or perhaps the Harp is needed in the crafting of special
Gloinngrundr-made tool/weapon?

>>So, I'm asking for any ideas, either for a Grand Arc tying it all
>>together, or for bits and pieces that might spark an idea for a Grand
> Arc.
>
> If you don't mind a bit of prophecy and destiny (read: cheese), several
> PCs might be remotely tied to one or more of these items. The bard is
> tied to the harp, the fighter is descended from the original
> gloinngrundr, and may hold the key to destroying each item. The
> barbarian could be tied to an item that was indirectly responsible for
> the wiping out of his tribe, and so forth.

That's the kind of thing I was thinking. The Rage Demons (from the Rage
Berries) should be worked in here somehow, cuz that's a cool idea, and I
don't want it to be over =)

> Otherwise, the party at some point may figure out how they are
> intertwined with the story of these items, and may opt to begin seeking
> them all out once it is made clear that if these items are allowed to
> influence the world unchecked, a Bad Thing will eventually happen.
> Perhaps an ancient enemy of the Dwarven gods influenced the easily-led
> human soulsmiths, and is now acting through the items to work his will
> upon the world over millennia. The party may have been brought
> together by the subtle workings of Dumathoin or Moradin himself to deal
> with these items.

Or to create a set to oppose them?

> Oh, and for God's sake, no rings. That's been done.

heh =) Also to avoid is the 'big bad portal to the outer outer planes'.
Although, since two of the three players are brand new, it won't be
cliche to them.

DWS