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Post by DM Stretch on Nov 21, 2015 4:54:45 GMT
Salutations!
I'm a fairly new DM, trying his best to entertain the players that have come to frequent my table. I have been running my own homebrewed campaign for about nine months now, and things are on the "home stretch" as it so happens. Since its inception, I've had a very definitive vision on how to end it, and a few moments that I want to include in the campaign.
So here it is: I'd like some feedback on a few of these ideas that have been simmering in my brain for some time now. Let me know how I can tweak these moments to make them better for the players, and the game as a whole!
Idea 1: (Not So) Final Battle The party has finally managed to corner the archliche in his phylactery chamber; after narrowly defeating it, an archangel will burst forth into the fray, allowing for the party to destroy the archliche's phylactery.
Idea 2: Betrayal, Total Party Kill & Revenge The archangel commends the party's efforts, but now demands their aid in his genocidal 'cleansing' of the impure, nonhuman races of the world. Should they refuse (most likely scenario) the archangel will summon their legendary weapons to his person, intent on destroying the impudent mortals that defy him. Upon their deaths, the party members are lead through the aether to the distant future where they see the fruits of their labours: a dystopian world bereft of any free will. Travelling once more through temporal chaos, the spirits of the party battle the true source of the archangel's corruption: a fallen archangel from another planet.
Idea 3: Payback The party faces down against the one responsible for the destruction of their comrades tribe: a rakshasa and his "menagerie", a band of lycanthropes forced into his service.
Idea 4: War of Reparations Two estranged kingdoms are set to battle over the ownership of a critical trading port: victory means wealth to the victor, and poverty to the loser. The party has access to vital resources that could prove decisive in the upcoming conflict; with both sides seeking any advantage they can over the other, will the party choose to aid either of the two kingdoms, or will they sit back and watch a futile struggle further devastate the two nations?
Thanks for reading, any advice or feedback will be carefully considered.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2015 6:26:45 GMT
1) Has this archangel made an appearance in the campaign before? If not, his sudden appearance might bring more confusion than satisfaction. In any case, beware of overshadowing the PCs efforts with NPCs. It feels more rewarding to the players when they own the victory.
2) Are the players going to have any idea what the heck is even going on? Are they going to feel invested against this new enemy? Have you foreshadowed him at all? Again, this sounds like a rather abrupt introduction. The players may regard him more as road block than an interesting and compelling antagonist.
3,4) Sounds fine
It's not readily apparent which if these idea are meant to lead up to the conclusion, or if they are the conclusion. More clarity on chronology would help us help you.
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Post by joatmoniac on Nov 21, 2015 9:11:56 GMT
1) I agree with Nevvur in that if the archangel hasn't shown up before it could be a bit much to have it just show up to help out. I think if they are narrowly getting defeated and one of the religious characters seeks out help from their god that could be a cool way to have that happen.
2) I think that it could hit home more if the players had called in the archangel, however I could see the archangel showing up now as if it were looking for someone to help it on its quest for 'cleansing' impure nonhuman races. and leading to a battle that they actually fail.
3) This one sounds awesome especially if you put in a bunch of different types of were creatures in the "menagerie." I would definitely stat them out though to be very similar, but giving each a distinct move that they can use that relates to the animal that they are.
4) I really like this one because it puts the players in a really tough situation that has no really good outcome. Have fun with that one players! Haha.
Great ideas, and it definitely sounds like things are coming to a head for your campaign.
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Post by DM Stretch on Nov 22, 2015 6:07:35 GMT
I also agree with the above posts: the big reveal would be a bit of a dud without proper foreshadowing. Allow me to give a little backstory on what's been going on.
From the get go the players were each handed a muguffin (in the form of an ancient scroll) in separate solo sessions before sitting down together. Unfortunately, the scrolls were illegible, written in the script of celestial angels; they were each pointed in the direction of a town where a "runeologist" (Thanks Robert Brown) was situated who would be able to translate the seven scrolls for the party.
Through various trials they managed to hunt down the gnome runeologist "Alvastar Tremmel", who was able to reveal to the party an apocalyptic prophecy. The party decided to try and thwart this cataclysmic event by following directions the scrolls gave them to intensely powerful artifacts, with the intent on releasing "The Voice" (the players knew that this was most likely the archangel that history says sacrificed himself).
So, while trying to hunt down these celestial tools, the party has witnessed strange events hinting that they have outside help interested in their success. This is, of course, The "sacrificed" archangel they were sent to release! His ploy is to deviate from the plans of the creator, and bring about the "purity" that I mentioned earlier.
I hope this is enough subtle foreshadowing, as I'm about to be overt with hinting at what's going on. Next session I plan on the party bearing witness to a massive battle between angels and the archliche's undead minions (liches, vampire monks, death knights, mummy "priests", and lots of cultists/skeletons!). I shall be using a dose of 'angellus ex machina' for this one!
As for chronology, I had planned events to shape out roughly as so:
1->Find the scrolls 2-> Reveal the prophecy 3-> Find the artifacts 4-> Provide the red herring (archliche), hint at the presence of the divine archangel 6-> defeat the archliche 7-> archangel 'rewards' party, reveals (insane) plan 8-> Party destroyed by archangel using the artifacts they collected 9->archliche aids party, provides explanation 10-> Final Climactic battle against the odds ->epilogue
Thanks for your feedback! It's great to actually be able to chat about this (finally).
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