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Cleric Generic
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
565 Posts |
 Posted - 06 Nov 2009 : 12:39:02
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Good afternoon people!
Here I am, once again seeking the vast wisdom of Candlekeep.
Right, I'm running a new FR campaign for a crew of complete Realms virgins, and I've been trying to think how I can feed them little bits of lore without causing mass confusion and information overload, especially of material that is essentially irrelevant to the campaign in question.
This has lead me to the realisation that in all my years of DMing the Realms, I've never really waved any major setting NPCs at the party (the exception being a brief encounter with Khelben in a previous game, as well as Halaster's favourite SPOON!!!)
I think it might be fun both for me as a DM to play with someone like Drizzt or Elminster and the players, especially as they have little in the way of preconcieved ideas about the characters that my protrayal will offend. Of course, the encounters would require a bit of setup to have significance, and I'd want to do them as authentically as possible.
Anyone else dropped big names into their games? any players encountered such a thing? How did it go? etc, etc, advice please!
Also, should is prove relevant, the game is set in the Silver Marches and involves some tomfoolery with Gargauth being put back on a leash by Asmodeus and being used to Take Over The World (tm).
Cheers in advance!
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Cedric! The Cleric Generic and Master of Disguise!
ALL HAIL LORD KARSUS!!!
Vast Realmslore Archive: Get in here and download everything! http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/archfr/rl
2e Realms book PDFs; grab em! - http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/2010/07/working-around-purge.html |
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Kilvan
Senior Scribe
Canada
894 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2009 : 16:59:49
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quote:
Originally posted by Cleric Generic
Anyone else dropped big names into their games? any players encountered such a thing? How did it go? etc, etc, advice please!
Cheers in advance!
I do use major NPCs from time to time. When I do, my players are actually intimidated, which is great for role-play. To achieve that, I must not only understand the character (if one can really understand someone such as Elminster) and not use it too often. |
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Tyranthraxus
Senior Scribe
Netherlands
423 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2009 : 17:00:45
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Does your campaign take place after the Spellplague or before?
I used some NPC's like Storm, Alias & Dragonbait, and even an avatar of Finder once (though they didn't know it was him) in my campaigns to give the characters a bit of advice or help 'em out a little (giving directions to a specific location ect.).
Keep in mind that the characters are the heroes of your campaign and don't let the major NPC do everything for them. |
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Cleric Generic
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
565 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2009 : 18:45:48
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Good stuff...
Yes, my game is post spellplague, but as I understand it, the north came out relatively unscathed. I've also read a couple of Drizzt books (cant remember the name) and Elminster: The Making of a Mage (which I thought was awesome).
Yes, keep it PC-centric and be sparing with big name use, indeed.
The PCs current mission is the investigation of their old tutor's disappearance. He was/is a high ranking Harper and a powerful old wizard/scholar/adventurer that the PCs are somewhat in awe of. As such, it amuses me to imagine, for example, Elminster meeting the PCs and muttering beneath his pipe about him being an excitable young pup, or some such (they having met on previous occasions, the PCs tutor mabye having studied under Elminster). |
Cedric! The Cleric Generic and Master of Disguise!
ALL HAIL LORD KARSUS!!!
Vast Realmslore Archive: Get in here and download everything! http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/archfr/rl
2e Realms book PDFs; grab em! - http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/2010/07/working-around-purge.html |
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Tyranthraxus
Senior Scribe
Netherlands
423 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2009 : 20:51:49
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You might want to check out Dungeon 171. It has an article called Hero Battle: Drizzt, in wich the players meet Drizzt and have to defend themselves while they convince the legandary ranger they're not enemies.
This could be interesting if the players don't know Drizzt and prejudge all drow as evil. |
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Gang Falconhand
Seeker
United Kingdom
85 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2009 : 08:46:28
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My current campaign is set in Waterdeep, and so far the group has briefly met Dove, done some work for Laeral (that Khelben doesn't know about), and later Qilue, rescued Peirgeiron's daughter, and been summoned before the Open Lord on suspicion of treason against the Lords.
It's usually plot-based expositional stuff that sees them interacting with the big names. Although there was a vaguely epic encounter with a Sharn, and a magically-maddened member of the Gray Hands atop a belltower that saw Laeral step in to help out.
None of my players read FR novels, but some of them are aware of the names from sourcebooks and such, so it's not really a big deal for them because of who they are, more because of their position of power. |
"If you have a quality let it define you." |
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Thauramarth
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
729 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2009 : 10:09:14
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My longest-running campaign started off in the 1350s, with all PCs starting out as hirelings or henchmen of the Nine, prior to them being split apart (or killed) by the influence of the Crown of Horns. The first adventures of the campaign had the PCs dodging bullets from the Nine, who were getting madder and madder by the minute, and then provided Khelben Arunsun with some information and some tools to overcome the possessed Laeral.
They became low-level agents of the Blackstaff, who oriented them to the lands of Daggerford, much like (in canon) the Blackstaff had encouraged the Knights of Myth Drannor to go to Shadowdale and set themselves up as the rulers. Aside from the "Spellfight at the Unicorn Run Corral", however, Khelben and Laeral acted mostly as points of contact rather than "save-the-day" deus (dei?) ex machina. |
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Cleric Generic
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
565 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2009 : 11:23:36
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Yeah, actually making the big names relevant to the PCs without going 'Dude! It's Elminster! He's, like, Gandalf or some sh*t for Faerun!' might be tricky...
Also don't want deus ex machina roles, just want to swing them around for flavour and seasoning. That Drizzt scenario does sound pretty cool, though.
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Cedric! The Cleric Generic and Master of Disguise!
ALL HAIL LORD KARSUS!!!
Vast Realmslore Archive: Get in here and download everything! http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/archfr/rl
2e Realms book PDFs; grab em! - http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/2010/07/working-around-purge.html |
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Advice Request: Major NPCs in the Game
