To alleviate my boredom, I thought I would share with you all a bit of my current campaign. Details of the PCs, the NPCs, BBEGs, planned plot points/twists, etc. Then, as an ongoing thing, I'll post observations I make about the players as they happen in a more or less weekly recap.
The Setting
Valor's Triumph, a city of good. This mountain city was the site of a battle almost 300 years prior between the forces of good led by dragonrider Rilien Argentus and the forces of evil led by the black dragon Ebongale, who sought to destabilize the world in order to facilitate the return of the god of destruction, Rovagug.
The PCs
Gribbletoo the Mystic Theurge: A gnome druid of the god of weather Gozreh who entered into an apprenticeship to Archimedes, traveling summoner extraordinaire. He seeks to master both arcane and divine magic(through prestige classing) as well as alchemy and stage magic. On his adventure thus far, he has acquired a magical scythe created by Gozreh that gives him the power of lightning, and a modular ring that gives him bonuses to his eidolon, Mort. Has an almost obsession with pancakes.
Obrek the Half-Orc Paladin: Raised as an orphan by the Temple of Iomedae, he joined the clergy at a fairly young age. A member of the Silver Legion, a multi-faith organization of paladins, clerics and other holy warriors and protege of Lord Falric, Scion of Iomedae(more on him later) after saving the other warrior's life by taking up the Will of Iomedae(the Scion's magical artifact sword) against a demon, avoiding a TPK. Noble and loyal, but also prone to trying to use detect evil on any NPCs he's suspicious of, which is half of them, because he's paranoid. Became a paladin at the recommendation of Lord Falric.
The GMPCs
--In an effort to avoid allowing any one GMPC to steal spotlight while also having one to help keep the party from being ultra-vulnerable to SoD and SoS effects, I'm using a rotating cast of secondary party members. They'll have less access to equipment and no access to artifacts, to keep them behind the PCs in power despite the fact that they're all pure classes while the PCs are suboptimal Prestige multi-classes. Each will play a role in the overall story, through either connections, plot induced stupidity(generally off-screen) or by the nature of their dark secret, which most will have.
Samantha Maxwell: A half elven paladin of Ragathiel(a fiery Empyreal Lord) and fellow member of the Silver Legion, she's quick to anger. She's also Falric's cousin and is aware of the prophecy regarding him. Because of this knowledge, she's really conflicted about Obrek.
Lem Hilltopple: Gribbletoo's halfling bard roommate and the son of a wealthy wand maker and a caravan owner, he really looks up to the PCs. A lot. Like Seymour from Burn Notice. He's also a weapon smuggler.
Biggs and Wedge: Bumbling and cowardly town guards who admittedly overlook minor crimes by the thieves' guild in exchange for intel on bigger ones, such as murders and whatnot. Since they always adventure in a pair, they're fighters with about half the class bonuses missing. Also, Wedge's brother is the leader of the thieves' guild.
Veil: A mysterious sorceress who looks a lot like Holo(the wise wolf), this "Aasimar" claims to have been ordered to aid the PCs in seeking out and stopping the Necromancer(one of the BBEGs) by the Archmage of the Grand Academy. She's actually working on her own initiative. That's because she's actually Velandrathal Argentus, daughter of Rilien Argentus, more or less king of the city.
Magnus Merediel: This is a man of no secrets. He's a Devil in human form(his class based on Obrek's planned PrC) who opposes the true villain. He's just there to see if the PCs will work with evil to take down greater evil. He may not even end up being a party member depending on how it goes.
BBEGs
The Necromancer: Pretty straightforward, or so it seems. Trying to raise the dead for an army to kill the population of the city to fuel an even greater army. He plans to use the army to take on the true villian, because he's the only one who sees it coming. He's also the former apprentice of Archimedes, though no one knows the necromancer's true identity. As such he hates Gribbletoo. He was orphaned by the orc raid that led to the conception of Obrek.
The Devil Traitor: A female traitor to Devilkind who has joined the ranks of Demons, she's trying to gather the reagents of a spell to raise the ultimate villain of the campaign: The Black Dragon Ebongale. Plot Twist: She kills Falric.
The True Villain: The Black Dragon who led an army against the army of good 300 years ago. His victory will lead to tearing a hole in the world and connecting it to the Abyss, giving demons a second front to invade from.
NPCs of a notable sort
Lord Falric Wildantor: Holy paladin and Scion of Iomedae(goddess of righteous valor, justice and honor). While his deeds are legendary, most relevant to the story at hand is the time he led an expedition against a demon stronghold that had been constructed deep in the mountains. He took a number of paladins and a pair of young clerics with him to slay the threat. Unfortunately, the party was nearly wiped out by the nascent demon lord commanding the garrison. Only a single member of the party remained standing, and only by right of his half orcish ferocity. This member, a young cleric named Obrek, grabbed the closest weapon, Falric's legendary blade known as the Will of Iomedae and struck at the demon, slaying it. As a young man, Falric encountered a prophet who foretold that his death would come while returning the favor to one who saved his life.
Archimedes, traveling summoner extraordinaire: A master of magic and former adventurer, this quirky gentleman believes that his apprentices should learn by action instead of books. As such, he has been working behind the scenes to ensure that his "former" apprentice, Gribbletoo, is constantly put in the path of danger, which he feels will best train the gnome to become a great summoner. This is made much easier because he's also the Archmage of the Grand Academy. His sink or swim style of training has backfired before, contributing to the insanity of the Necromancer. He's also fond of stage performance, and as such all his apprentices are encouraged to dabble in forms of performance. He was also once a member of Falric's old adventuring band.
Daven Battleheart: A dwarven paladin and commander of the Silver Legion. He was a paladin initiate alongside Falric. Once they became full fledged members of their orders, they began adventuring together, along with several others.
Rilien Argentus: Hero of the great battle and founder of Valor's Triumph, this champion of justice is an ever-present entity in the city. The truth of the matter is that it was not Rilien who led the army of good, but his silver dragon companion, Apotheosis. It is also true that Rilien died during the final battle with Ebongale. As he lay dying, he begged Apotheosis to fulfill his dream of a city where members of all good faiths could come together in peace to champion the causes of good. So it was that Apotheosis took on the form of his fallen friend and assumed his identity, so that all credit would go to Rilien. He fell in love with one of the celestials who often visit the city and in time their daughter was born.
Velandrathal Argentus: Daughter of Rilien Argentus(Apotheosis) and a Vulpinal Agathion, she is a strong believer in protecting the weak. Her lineage has manifested itself in a half-elf aasimar appearance, or so it would seem. Since her mother's death at the hands of a demonic assassin, her father takes great strides to protect her, forbidding her from leaving her home's grounds without an escort. This has left the girl feeling a bit like a caged bird, causing her to sneak out to seek adventure in her true humanoid form, going by the moniker Veil.
A Twisting of Fate
In addition to the three factions(The Good, The Undead and The Demons), there is a fourth organization manipulating things behind the scenes. Mothmen, mysterious agents of fate, are responsible for much that is happening with the first two factions. Because of a death over a thousand years ago, the hero who would have defeated the demons was never born(his ancestor was killed in a war with the fey, which will be further explored in my next campaign). In order to set fate's course right, they have done all of the following in order to ensure that someone would rise that could take on Ebongale.
- Ensured the success of the raid on a village that led to the Necromancer, Simon, being orphaned. The orphanage is where Archimedes took him on as an apprentice.
- Ensured the success of the raid on a village that led to Obrek being conceived.
- Helped Obrek's mother escape the orc camp and encouraging her to leave the child with the Temple of Iomedae.
- Revealed to Simon the course fate was on, telling him what he needed to do to avert it. This caused Simon's Start of Darkness.
- Revealed to Falric that his destined death had been postponed and that he would die returning the favor to the man who would save his life.
- Moved a single stone which later lodged in the hoof of Archimedes' horse, causing him to make camp early and discover Gribbletoo that evening.
Revealed the exact time the Necromancer would need to strike to slay Falric, who would stop his plans to save the world.Helped a single member of Falric's squad survive, so that the players would learn that it was Simon who slew Falric.
And perhaps more, but that's all I have right now.
Edited, Apr 26th 2012 6:27am by Poldaran
Edited, Apr 26th 2012 6:28am by Poldaran
Edited, Jun 25th 2012 2:25am by Poldaran