I posted here a while ago, asking for info to prepare my campaign. Well, now I got all the source material I need, I came up with the following plot:
One of my players characters is a templar. Fresh from training, she's been taken under the wings of Xodat, her former instructor. Xodat, like all templars, craves for more power and will want to use Aquell (the templar PC) to attain it. Here's how he'll do it:
- First scene of the campaign is at the arena in Draj. Kosh, a mul gladiator employed by the Dedys Consortium, is securing his 17th win in a row against a duo of half-giants. I describe the scene in detail, ending in the defeat of the duo. The templars do a little talking, and agree on meeting later that evening.
- Scene two: Aquell arrives at the templars home, and hears a lot of noise. She witnesses an attempt on Xodats life by the very gladiator they witnessed earlier today. In reality, it's a scam set up by Xodat, but the gladiator fakes his escape and gets himself killed voluntarily (he was promised the release of his loved one in exchange). Xodat obviously survives the incident, asking Aquell to come back the next morning.
- Scene three: Aquell is ordered to investigate the accident, and what pushed the mul in attacking Xodat. Two PCs are ordered to help Aquell in this. These are members of the Dedys Consortium, who are of course looking bad as it was their mul that attacked the templar. We have a party...
Plot:
- the mul was cheated into his own death by Xodat
- a lieutenant of Chaam (Xodat's direct superior) was the last man seen speaking to Kosh. This lieutenant was bribed by Xodat, but will appoint Chaam as the responsible person for the attack if questioned. He will also hide a forged document in Kosh's cell that point in that direction.
- Chaam will of course deny everything, and confront the PCs if necessary. Chaam prolly dies, Xodat gets promoted in his place and Aquell rises to Xodat's former position. The foodchain has been served.
This is the rudamentary plot I had in mind. Any comments or tips for a first-time Dark Sun DM?
, that's a compeling plot to get your game started with. I wish I could come up with some advice to give, but I'm drawing a blank...
--I need to know these sort of things before I offer any advice?
- templar lvl2 NE
- fighter 1 /defiler 1, NE, House of Terg
- psion lvl 2, NE, House of Terg
NPCs:
- Kosh: gladiator 5, CG
- Xodat: templar 5 / defiler 1, LE
- Chaam: templar 6, LN
These things aren't set in stone of course. They are up for tweaking depending on the parties strength when they confront Chaam.
Another thing:
- Afterwards, the PCs believe they have removed a corrupt NPC from the system. A while later, Xodà t makes a little remark (don't know the details yet), revealing to Aquell that Xodat actually faked the entire thing: Chaam was innocent, Xodat removed him to gain power. This is where Aquell (and her player) realizes that corruption is part of the templar system.
- Scene three: Aquell is ordered to investigate the accident, and what pushed the mul in attacking Xodat. Two PCs are ordered to help Aquell in this. These are members of the Dedys Consortium, who are of course looking bad as it was their mul that attacked the templar. We have a party...
This hole scenario seems quite well thought out. I do, however, have a few questions/suggestions. It would seem to me that Xodat would want as little attention drawn to this as possible - just enough to get himself promoted, as is his goal. So, why get the Dedys Consortium involved?
- a lieutenant of Chaam (Xodat's direct superior) was the last man seen speaking to Kosh. This lieutenant was bribed by Xodat, but will appoint Chaam as the responsible person for the attack if questioned. He will also hide a forged document in Kosh's cell that point in that direction.
You might wish to change the evidence to something else - as any documents provided would be presumed unreadable to slaves/gladiators. Remember, reading/writing is illegal, and punishable by death, to all but templars and nobles (so how would Kosh have read them?)
Maybe something along the lines of a stone with a magic mouth spell encoded onto it, made to sound like Chaam's voice, or some such.
This hole scenario seems quite well thought out. I do, however, have a few questions/suggestions. It would seem to me that Xodat would want as little attention drawn to this as possible - just enough to get himself promoted, as is his goal. So, why get the Dedys Consortium involved?
A) Half my PCs are from the Dedys Consortium. It's my way to tie them into the plot.
B) The gladiator Kosh was owned by the Dedys Consortium. I figured they might provide some assistance to prove that they were not responsable for the attack on the templar.
You might wish to change the evidence to something else - as any documents provided would be presumed unreadable to slaves/gladiators. Remember, reading/writing is illegal, and punishable by death, to all but templars and nobles (so how would Kosh have read them?)
Maybe something along the lines of a stone with a magic mouth spell encoded onto it, made to sound like Chaam's voice, or some such.
Excellent idea! I totally forgot about the reading part... :embarrass