The Plan and the Constraints
Having completed Witches of Pikemaster, I was left with more story ideas and material to write a sequel. A sequel for high-level characters that would take the PCs through the many of the outer planes. There have been a few campaign set in the outer planes, such as the Planescape setting. While most are fine, none feel great. Adventures? Yes, they are many but there are not many campaigns.
So I had this idea for a campaign and I wrote up over 180 pages of material for it. It included dungeons, wilderness areas, NPCs, unique monsters, and a lot of planar information.
What I wanted to do was:
- Create a campaign that would have the PCs travel through the planes for a common goal.
- Have each plane be its own chapter, with unique challenges created by the environment or the inhabitants. The PCs may travel between one plane and the other, slowly advancing each plot. Basically, create a Planescape version of The Masks of Nyarlathotep.
- Serve as an introduction to many planes I knew (most of) my players never visited.
- The planes should each be their own environment, not just a copy of the Prime Material with angels or demons. The plane itself should be an obstacle or at least a concern when adventuring there.
That was the initial plan. I gathered the party for this.
Factions
The campaign had MANY factions involved. Many in fact. So many that I had to trim down the numbers to avoid creating a complete mess. Here are some of the major factions and how they got involved.
- Slaad The campaign really started with the "birth" of Gooz, a slaad of an unknown type. Throughout the campaign, the slaad were violent opponents. I added a new type of slaad, the brown (or mud) slaad, inspired by a 3.5 monster. Instead of hostile powerhouses, mud slaadi are weak and pathetic, dealing retributive damage when struck.
- Demons of Graz'zt Many demons in the service of Graz'zt are trying to stop/ control/ understand what is happening. They served as both enemies and occasional enemies of convenience.
- Devils A faction of devils managed to get their hands on one of the mcguffins and they wanted to turn it over to the PCs. However, they would not merely give it over, they had to get something out of it. They served as allies of convenience.
- Drow The drow also sought to understand what is happening. However, they are divided in many factions that work at cross-purpose and limiting their overall effectiveness. They were dangerous defending their holdings, but did not do much outside the Demonweb.
- Elves The elves were, for the most part, completely ineffective overall. They felt something was wrong but did not organize well. They were a friendly but
- Giants The giants of Ysgard, led by Uthgar-Loki, were one of the most active factions of the campaign, traveling the planes looking for something that was stolen from them. (Yes, it was the mcguffin the devils took from them.) The frost giants in particular were active, with the other giants being less interested in participating in the hunt. They served as direct opponents.
- Githyanki The githyanki appeared late in the campaign as a force trying to take control of the situation. With their typical tactics of killing everyone first... They were another faction of opponents.
- Githzerai The githzerai appeared early on. Their interest in the plot was cautious. The PCs did not stay long in Limbo for me to really involve them. I planned to use them as untrustworthy allies, friends with an agenda.
- Vikings The vikings were a faction that began as straight opponents but after a while, the PCs befriended them and used them to travel the planes.
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