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Campaign Help

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
emjaysmash
Jul 09, 2007 11:43:08 Hey all.
I just want to start off by thanking those of you who helped me out with my last question. It really helped.

But now I've got another one. I'm not quite sure where to go with my campaign. Here's the Set-up:

The PCs are currently in Hazlan, and were recruited to collect a little boy from the academy there who is literally a ticking time bomb unknowingly waiting to kill Hazlik (Thanks to FoS for the hook). Well so far, the PCs have managed to become part-time teachers in the academy, and are awaiting thier first day of teaching.
So, thier job is to get the boy, and return him to the Uncle who asked them to collect him. Assuming they will eventually get away with the boy, they will travel back to the Uncle's house, only to walk/ follow the boy into the dark void of his house and fall unconscious.
They will awake in a town without their equiptment, seemingly passed out in an alleyway. there will be a bustle in the town square where they will find the boy bloodied and tied up. Again, I assume they will try and save the boy.
Once they get out of town, they will probably question the boy as to how he got into that situation. The boy will tell them he woke-up just like them, and was arrested for being a "spy" of some evil guy in the area. (I dont know where this leads them...)

:Breath: Thats all I have so far. Eventually I want the boy to be the whole orchestrator of the whole thing, but I don't have any reasoning why he would do this to the PCs... The boy is a Psionic, so maybe to release him of a curse and regain his former power? But how would the PC's learn of all of this?

Any suggestions you have will be very appreciated.
-Emjaysmash
*Edit: This is just a rough outline. Scary things will happen in school, the way to the uncles house, etc. I'm just trying ot get major plot points down.
#2
sptjanly
Jul 09, 2007 14:24:17 What sort of Psion is the boy? Is the Uncle a Psion as well? I'm guessing in the Red Wizard styled domain this boy is an extreme outcast if found out, so how has he hid his abilities where even sorcerers aren't liked?
#3
emjaysmash
Jul 09, 2007 16:22:03 The boy is Technically a Psychic Warrior, but thinks of himself as a Wizard. He doesn't really know he is a psionic. See, when Hazlik was out killing off "magic folk", the boy's parents took him to a "wizard" (actually a psion) who made him into a nice little time-bomb for whenever Hazlik reached thier family. (Both parents were magic users, and were killed in the persecutions.) Then, Hazlik lifted the inquisitions, and the boy was sent to the academy.

The uncle has no special powers, and really was only used to get the PCs to retrieve the boy. The uncle wont be around when they go back to the creepy-teleportation-to-god-knows-where house.
#4
sptjanly
Jul 09, 2007 16:25:47 What are the specifics of the "ticking-time bomb"? Is he brain washed to act in a certain event or something along those lines?
#5
emjaysmash
Jul 09, 2007 17:06:33 I don't have the specifics really. In my mind if the Boy comes in contact with hazlik (or is affected in a harmful way by any of Hazlik's magic) it would prove disasterous for Hazlik. I don't know what form that this would take but it would end up with Hazlik dead. I never got into logistics because 1) the boy doesn't know he is a time-bomb, so he wont go looking for trouble and 2) Hazlik knows the boy has some form of great power, and generally stays away form him. He doesn't know that he is a psion, or that the boy indirectly wants to kill him. Hazlik keeps him under close observation in the academy for research reasons.
#6
burningspear
Jul 09, 2007 17:20:01 then why don't they just kill the little bugger?
add power checks anyway, for that thought
#7
emjaysmash
Jul 09, 2007 17:42:50 Heh, they could do that, but the Uncle told them he would tell thme where there was a Witch that could get them out of Ravenloft. This means that the boy must be still alive.
#8
sptjanly
Jul 09, 2007 17:57:45 What is great about having set up a plot like this is not quite knowing the end results yourself. When I started running my current game I had quite a few plot hooks laid out without the loose ends that tied them together. At first it frustrated me, because I thought I was doing something wrong. I came to realize the players always bring new light to story hooks and put the pieces together for me in their interactions with the world. They are none the wiser, but I always thank them for the undisclosed breakthroughs I have.
#9
sptjanly
Jul 09, 2007 18:10:27 Also, this kind of reminds me of the story line for the tv series Heroes. I'm not saying that you designed it that way, but they do say, "An artist borrows, a great artist steals."

The wizard wants him close and something bad is going to happen, whether or not he even has full control or thought of the scope of the destruction this "time bomb" will bring. Quite possibly it just wont be Hallik that gets destroyed. A whole city perhaps and the party is at great risk. A race against the clock is always a good pace setter. Scheduling timed events they can avert or just be to little to late. Even throwing something along the lines of the Dark Lord himself asks for assistance, but keeps them very much in the dark about what is really going on.

All around it sounds like it is going to be very climatic.
#10
emjaysmash
Jul 09, 2007 22:54:51 Thanks for the Help! ( No, I haven't seen Heros, but I wish I had.) I will let them play this out and see where it all leads. Once again, I appreciate all the help.
#11
burningspear
Jul 10, 2007 17:05:14
Heh, they could do that, but the Uncle told them he would tell thme where there was a Witch that could get them out of Ravenloft. This means that the boy must be still alive.

this only makes me wonder how "Uncle" knows about "Ravenloft" and getting out of what he should consider to be a perfectly normal world to live in, if so, uncle himself would want to get out anyway...

#12
emjaysmash
Jul 10, 2007 23:13:45 Heh. It was more like the PC's told him thier story and he suggested that he would tell them where a witch might be who might actually know what they are talking about. Heh. Probably Should have mentioned that before, but I didn't want to make this a bore fest.
#13
burningspear
Jul 11, 2007 6:44:23
Heh. It was more like the PC's told him thier story and he suggested that he would tell them where a witch might be who might actually know what they are talking about. Heh. Probably Should have mentioned that before, but I didn't want to make this a bore fest.

NP...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 emjaysmash Jul 09, 2007 11:43:08	Hey all. I just want to start off by thanking those of you who helped me out with my last question. It really helped. But now I've got another one. I'm not quite sure where to go with my campaign. Here's the Set-up: The PCs are currently in Hazlan, and were recruited to collect a little boy from the academy there who is literally a ticking time bomb unknowingly waiting to kill Hazlik (Thanks to FoS for the hook). Well so far, the PCs have managed to become part-time teachers in the academy, and are awaiting thier first day of teaching. So, thier job is to get the boy, and return him to the Uncle who asked them to collect him. Assuming they will eventually get away with the boy, they will travel back to the Uncle's house, only to walk/ follow the boy into the dark void of his house and fall unconscious. They will awake in a town without their equiptment, seemingly passed out in an alleyway. there will be a bustle in the town square where they will find the boy bloodied and tied up. Again, I assume they will try and save the boy. Once they get out of town, they will probably question the boy as to how he got into that situation. The boy will tell them he woke-up just like them, and was arrested for being a "spy" of some evil guy in the area. (I dont know where this leads them...) :Breath: Thats all I have so far. Eventually I want the boy to be the whole orchestrator of the whole thing, but I don't have any reasoning why he would do this to the PCs... The boy is a Psionic, so maybe to release him of a curse and regain his former power? But how would the PC's learn of all of this? Any suggestions you have will be very appreciated. -Emjaysmash *Edit: This is just a rough outline. Scary things will happen in school, the way to the uncles house, etc. I'm just trying ot get major plot points down.
#2 sptjanly Jul 09, 2007 14:24:17	What sort of Psion is the boy? Is the Uncle a Psion as well? I'm guessing in the Red Wizard styled domain this boy is an extreme outcast if found out, so how has he hid his abilities where even sorcerers aren't liked?
#3 emjaysmash Jul 09, 2007 16:22:03	The boy is Technically a Psychic Warrior, but thinks of himself as a Wizard. He doesn't really know he is a psionic. See, when Hazlik was out killing off "magic folk", the boy's parents took him to a "wizard" (actually a psion) who made him into a nice little time-bomb for whenever Hazlik reached thier family. (Both parents were magic users, and were killed in the persecutions.) Then, Hazlik lifted the inquisitions, and the boy was sent to the academy. The uncle has no special powers, and really was only used to get the PCs to retrieve the boy. The uncle wont be around when they go back to the creepy-teleportation-to-god-knows-where house.
#4 sptjanly Jul 09, 2007 16:25:47	What are the specifics of the "ticking-time bomb"? Is he brain washed to act in a certain event or something along those lines?
#5 emjaysmash Jul 09, 2007 17:06:33	I don't have the specifics really. In my mind if the Boy comes in contact with hazlik (or is affected in a harmful way by any of Hazlik's magic) it would prove disasterous for Hazlik. I don't know what form that this would take but it would end up with Hazlik dead. I never got into logistics because 1) the boy doesn't know he is a time-bomb, so he wont go looking for trouble and 2) Hazlik knows the boy has some form of great power, and generally stays away form him. He doesn't know that he is a psion, or that the boy indirectly wants to kill him. Hazlik keeps him under close observation in the academy for research reasons.
#6 burningspear Jul 09, 2007 17:20:01	then why don't they just kill the little bugger? add power checks anyway, for that thought
#7 emjaysmash Jul 09, 2007 17:42:50	Heh, they could do that, but the Uncle told them he would tell thme where there was a Witch that could get them out of Ravenloft. This means that the boy must be still alive.
#8 sptjanly Jul 09, 2007 17:57:45	What is great about having set up a plot like this is not quite knowing the end results yourself. When I started running my current game I had quite a few plot hooks laid out without the loose ends that tied them together. At first it frustrated me, because I thought I was doing something wrong. I came to realize the players always bring new light to story hooks and put the pieces together for me in their interactions with the world. They are none the wiser, but I always thank them for the undisclosed breakthroughs I have.
#9 sptjanly Jul 09, 2007 18:10:27	Also, this kind of reminds me of the story line for the tv series Heroes. I'm not saying that you designed it that way, but they do say, "An artist borrows, a great artist steals." The wizard wants him close and something bad is going to happen, whether or not he even has full control or thought of the scope of the destruction this "time bomb" will bring. Quite possibly it just wont be Hallik that gets destroyed. A whole city perhaps and the party is at great risk. A race against the clock is always a good pace setter. Scheduling timed events they can avert or just be to little to late. Even throwing something along the lines of the Dark Lord himself asks for assistance, but keeps them very much in the dark about what is really going on. All around it sounds like it is going to be very climatic.
#10 emjaysmash Jul 09, 2007 22:54:51	Thanks for the Help! ( No, I haven't seen Heros, but I wish I had.) I will let them play this out and see where it all leads. Once again, I appreciate all the help.
#11 burningspear Jul 10, 2007 17:05:14	Heh, they could do that, but the Uncle told them he would tell thme where there was a Witch that could get them out of Ravenloft. This means that the boy must be still alive. this only makes me wonder how "Uncle" knows about "Ravenloft" and getting out of what he should consider to be a perfectly normal world to live in, if so, uncle himself would want to get out anyway...
#12 emjaysmash Jul 10, 2007 23:13:45	Heh. It was more like the PC's told him thier story and he suggested that he would tell them where a witch might be who might actually know what they are talking about. Heh. Probably Should have mentioned that before, but I didn't want to make this a bore fest.
#13 burningspear Jul 11, 2007 6:44:23	Heh. It was more like the PC's told him thier story and he suggested that he would tell them where a witch might be who might actually know what they are talking about. Heh. Probably Should have mentioned that before, but I didn't want to make this a bore fest. NP...