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Post by dmsavage on Jan 9, 2018 4:08:33 GMT
I've been working with this campaign idea for a long time and am still fleshing out details, and I also just wanted to share it with all of you.
Plot: Asmodeus got drunk and went on a bender one night, impregnating ladies across the land with his smooth moves and low voice. Sadly, all the laides didn't survive childbirth and most of the children are put in orphanages. Fast forward 13 years and odd things start happening around these children, and then they begin to get kidnapped by a Cult of Asmodeus. The cult leader, a disgraced Rakshasa who hates Asmodeus, wants these children and their blood to perform a ritual that will let him control Asmodeus (unknown to the cult, who thinks they are just trying to summon him).
Story Start: Characters are enjoying a festival when an attack happens on the town hall. This attack is actually a distraction while the cult kidnaps all 13 year olds from the orphanage. Our characters try to help, resulting in one of the kids releasing his power. Imps fly everywhere and the cult is able to get away. A man whose half sister has been kidnapped as well pleads for you to help find them and discover the cult.
Eventual Plot Twist: The first ritual doesn't work and the cult is almost entirely destroyed by Asmodeus in his anger, but our characters will save the children just in time. The Rakshasa, badly burned, then holds an entire town hostage and commands you to figure out the proper ritual. The proper ritual actually needs the blood to be watered down by the alcohol Asmodeus was drinking on the night of inception. So begins a journey through the Outer Planes to find his drinking buddies and where they were drinking and what they were drinking.
I do have 30 pages written but I was hoping for some feed back and some ideas or encounters I could fit in.
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Rudolph
Squire
Posts: 39
Favorite D&D Class: Ranger
Favorite D&D Race: Firbolg
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Post by Rudolph on Jan 10, 2018 11:41:39 GMT
My first question is how the Rakshasa will hold an entire town hostage. Also, does Asmodeus come alone to destroy the cult or bring a force of other devils and set them loose on the world? It seems to me that this could really take advantage of the devils theme. Maybe the players meet Succubi or Incubi, Erinyes, or some other kind of devils trying to apprehend the Rakshasa once you begin "working for" it, which could provide all sorts of potential role-play and combat paths to steer down. Love the ideas!
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Post by dmsavage on Jan 11, 2018 1:15:24 GMT
My first question is how the Rakshasa will hold an entire town hostage. Also, does Asmodeus come alone to destroy the cult or bring a force of other devils and set them loose on the world? It seems to me that this could really take advantage of the devils theme. Maybe the players meet Succubi or Incubi, Erinyes, or some other kind of devils trying to apprehend the Rakshasa once you begin "working for" it, which could provide all sorts of potential role-play and combat paths to steer down. Love the ideas! The history of the area was that there was a huge war against the devils around 113 years ago. We won the war but the valley was destroyed. A circle of druids sacrificed themselves to bring life back to the valley, forming a ring of giant oaks. The ground in this circle is extremely sacred. Not even other druids are allowed to step foot in there, less they be ripped apart by vines and roots. It is the heart of the entire valley. Now I'm still working on this, but somehow...the Rakshasa gets inside the ring, and is pretty much holding it hostage. I was thinking all the trees by the nearby town start to bleed or act hostile towards everyone...almost barricading the town in. As for Asmodeus destroying the cult, I was thinking of him just letting lava pour through the opening. Not just pour...explode. He unleashed the heat of the Nessus into their ritual room, and thus it ends up destroying the whole castle (the vampires castle).
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Rudolph
Squire
Posts: 39
Favorite D&D Class: Ranger
Favorite D&D Race: Firbolg
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Post by Rudolph on Jan 11, 2018 11:13:25 GMT
The circle of trees is really cool. Is the castle near the town, or somewhere else? If the PCs are supposed to save the children and escape from Asmodeus, they'd have to do that while avoiding the lava that is everywhere. A scene where they have to navigate the exploding castle with the children would be really interesting to play with. If the drinking buddies aren't normal humanoids, might each of them be a boss (in the outer planes)?
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Post by dmsavage on Jan 12, 2018 5:16:37 GMT
The circle of trees is really cool. Is the castle near the town, or somewhere else? If the PCs are supposed to save the children and escape from Asmodeus, they'd have to do that while avoiding the lava that is everywhere. A scene where they have to navigate the exploding castle with the children would be really interesting to play with. If the drinking buddies aren't normal humanoids, might each of them be a boss (in the outer planes)? I was thinking the Castle could be near the town, on top of a mountain, but in the Shadowfell. So it's close but not actually easy to find. I wanna do a twist on the Vampire and make him more of a nerd than the usual Vampire Lord. His castle would be full of laboratory equipment and libraries and stuff. Now I just need a reason why the Rakshasa and him would join forcess. The escaping the castle while its falling apart is exactly what I had planned. I was thinking of making it like a "Choose your own adventure" escape. Lava starts pouring down the stairs behind you. In front of you are another set of stairs spiraling down, or a window that leads onto a ledge. Which way do you take?
As for drinking buddies, I was thinking that Grz'zt could have been one of them, and then some others from outer planes. I do have how they will get there planned out. There is a local Wizard of renown in the area, but he is also known as a drunk. (Maybe he gets his powers from booze?! Like a drunken monk). But the party asks him to do a Gate spell to get them so whatever plane they need to go to. He performs the spell, but keeps slurring his words, causing them to go to a bunch of different planes as he tries to get the spell right. So like: The wizard casts a spell. They end up in Mechanus. An army of Modrons chase them and they have to jump from gear to gear to gear and then protect the wizard as he makes another spell. And then.... They end up on a barge on the river Styx and have to fight off waves of undead as he tries to cast the spell again. And then.... They end up in Asmodeus's private chamber while he is in the washroom. The wizard quietly whispers the spell and then... They end up in the Elemental Plane of Air and are falling. The wizard loses his things and you have to sky dive around the collect them and then... You end up where you're supposed to be.
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Rudolph
Squire
Posts: 39
Favorite D&D Class: Ranger
Favorite D&D Race: Firbolg
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Post by Rudolph on Jan 12, 2018 11:26:23 GMT
I love the castle in the Shadowfell & the nerdpire. I don't know the vampire lore of your world, but it would make sense to me that they gain undeath and escape the Nine Hells via making a pact with Asmodeus or some other devil. Maybe the vampire has overstayed his time on the material plane and broken his contract with Asmodeus, so both he and the Rakshasa are enemies of Asmodeus.
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