| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
cyric657
Acolyte
USA
4 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Apr 2011 : 03:40:37
|
|
OK I have started work on the daunting task of creating a truely massive campaign set in the Dalelands. I have a decent script set up and i'm using the NWN2 toolset (SoZ overland map) if any of you are familiar with it. Well I have hit a few story snags along the way and could also use some side quests for the campaign. I will put some of the script up in my next post, hopefully you guys could give it a bit of tweaking as I really wanna make it bring the Dales to life.
|
|
|
cyric657
Acolyte
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 11 Apr 2011 : 04:06:31
|
Here is the first 2 pages of my script, nowhere near completion but hopefully you all can give me some help on refining it a bit.
On a night like any other, the story begins.
Setting: Forgotten Realms, The Dalelands
The pc's find themselves in they most well known and well established adventuring Inn within the realms. While in the Old Skull the pc's find out that that within the last few weeks all of the local drow raiding has ceased. No one knows exactly why or for what reason. Many rumors abound about they drow finding some sort of Netherese magic within Cormanthor. Others say that the drow are concentrating their efforts on killing each other off. Still others are convinced that there is some larger goal they are seeking to acomplish.
Our adventurers find out that the lord of Shadowdale. Lord Mourngrym himself will be giving a speech near near the Old Skull Inn tomorrow. The speech itself will be a call for adventurers to take on the dangerous mission of finding out exactly what the drow of Cormanthor are doing. A multitude of other adventurers will be present. The pc's can either take on the mission and Mourngrym will give them some gold to help equip themselves for the dangerous mission. Or they can refuse. If they refuse they will find themselves the target of a drow contract killing. Once they fend off the assassin they will find that he will have a contract on him, written in high drow sighned by none other than Jez the Lame. Unfortunately the only way to confront him and get the contract lifted would be to somehow stop it at it's source. Thereby still getting the pc's into the woods of Cormanthor. On either choice they will be heading into the dirrection of the next part of the story. Once in Cormanthor they will find themselves harried by multiple encounters with drow assassins and partrols. All will be led by drow males under the command of Jez the Lame and bearing a holy symbol (Lore check will tell them it's the holy symbol of Vhaeraun.) While working their way through the forest they will find themselves in a small glade able to overhear the conversation within one of the drow patrols. The conversation will reveal some information about an old ruined keep that the group is using as a stronghold. They also find that all of the other adventuring companies were slaughtered at the drow hands. The pc's are found overhearing, battle ensues. Our pc's will head tword the ruined keep only to find that it's highly guarded. They can search around the keep to find a way in. When they finially find a way in they will see a drow priestess (lore check will reveal the clothing and holy symbol as Lolth's) in shackles being dragged into the ruined tower of the keep. (Listen check will provide some distant chanting coming from within the tower) The pc's can fight their way into the tower past 2 very powerfull looking guards or can sneak their way in somehow. Once inside the tower they find themselves in a viewing area above the main floor of the tower. Looking down they can see the drow priestess in the center of some type of energy field with Vhaeraun priests and wizzards surrounding her and chanting. The incantations are led by a very well dressed drow mage holding an extremely old black scroll. (lore check provides that this is none other than one of the lost Netherese scrolls) The spell seems to be some sort of summoning spell (but the exact nature can only be found out by a successful spellcraft check) As the summoning proceeds the name Gwath is repeated over and over throughout. There will be a cutscene here where the drow priestess will begin screaming as her soul is ripped away and replaced by Gwath's.
The cutscene will continue with her finially taking over the priestess and walking out of the containment field. She will then ask why she is here and how she was returned to life.
The drow wizard will explain to her that he came into the posession of a Netherese scroll of great power and has brought her back, under his control. She is to help him find a way to reshape and twist the Myth Drannor mythal to the Vhaeraun drow's own ends. She begrudgingly accepts his proposal. (In her mind, secretly she begins to formulate a plan even while she is accepting the proposal to free herself from his control and restore her lost power and restore her lost keep and lost tower)
She asks for the Netherese scroll to study and is allowed only a brief glance at it. Unbeknown to the drow mage is that long ago she altered her perceptions so that she could instantly remember anything she has seen. She tells them that she must return to the ruins of her lost tower to begin research on the mythal and what it will entail to warp and twist it. She is given a small contingent of drow to help her (actually keep tabs on her) The players have only 2 choices seeing the massive amount of drow in the keep... They can either sneak their way back out, or attempt to fight their way out. Either way, they have learned that the balance of power will shift in Cormanthor AND the Dalelands if this plan comes to fruition.
Gwath leaves with them in tow and begins her trek into the Desertmouth Mountains to reach her hidden tower.
The pc's now should report back to Shadowdale and to Mourngrym. They can also feel free to roam and check out the cities and towns within the Dalelands. They will find many minor quests and small delimas in their travels should they wish to take any of them on, they will have decent exp bonuses.
Once back to Mourngrym, within the Twisted Tower. They can relate the entire story to Mourngrym.
When they are done they are asked to go see Elminster the Sage and find out what exactly he knows about this “Gwath” person. When the pc's get to Elminster's tower they are greeted by Lhaeo the sage's scribe. He explains to them that he was called away on some pressing planar buisness. (He thinks by Mystra herself) The pc's relate to him that Mourngrym desperately needs some information of the one known only as “Gwath” Seeing as how it is of utmost importance Lhaeo heads into the cluttered tower along with the pc's to do some poking around for some information on her. After a while Lhaeo comes across an extremely old Cormanthor history book entitled “The Westward Expansion of the Moon Elves” Inside the book the players come across a section entitled “Our Greatest Enemy: Gwath”
The section goes on the state that she was an extremely powerfull drow priestess who then turned away from her faith to study the arcane. She founded a keep known as Gwathburg aswell as creating a secret tower somewhere within the Desertmouth Mountians. It also goes on to describe that she disappeared to never be heard from again. Lhaeo also seems to recall Elminster saying something about a Gwath becoming a lich sometime in the past and being destroyed. Other than the small amount of information gleaned nothing else comes to light. Upon passing this information on to Mourngrym he asks the pc's to help him find a way to thwart both her and the drow. They are told he would usually just ask Elminster to look into the entire situation but since he is not available and all of the local adventuring companies have been slaughtered at the hands of the drow. And the pc's were the only ones able to survive that they should be the ones to help him. Mourngrym offers the pc's a charter as an adventurering guild and would even be willing to give them a large reward for their services to Shadowdale and the Dalelands. Mourngrym tells the pc's that they should find out as much information past what Lhaeo could give them. He knows of a noble in Scardale Town that is a collector of old books and that he might have in his posession some very usefull information about her. Unbeknownst to the characters with all the happenings in Zhentil Keep Fzoul has decided to try and infiltrate the weakened Scardale and begin to form an underground network there. The person leading this spy mission would be magicly disguised as the noble that the players are sent to meet with.
Now here's my problem, who would be the noble they would go to see? And who would be the Zhent Spy? |
 |
|
|
Xevo
Acolyte
USA
35 Posts |
Posted - 12 Apr 2011 : 15:54:37
|
| The noble could have originally been just an eccentric fellow who enjoys obscure tomes. To help ease PC suspicion, this noble could even have a few humorous quirks, but nothing too disabling. Now the the Zhentarim are not idiots and repeated efforts to solidify holdings in Scardale have failed. Perhaps, the noble in question is a doppleganger under the employ of Fzoul. The real noble...dead or whatever. However, a second spy from Fzoul has also been planted. This spy was tasked with keeping tabs on the "noble" and setting up a plan b if the doppleganger is discovered. |
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.
-Terry Pratchett |
|
|
|
Xevo
Acolyte
USA
35 Posts |
Posted - 12 Apr 2011 : 15:56:59
|
| The second spy should be extremely difficult to ferret out because he/she will have already been established in Scardale for a year or more before the arrival of the doppleganger. This ensures that she will have had time to become ingrained and accepted amongst the dalesfolk. |
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.
-Terry Pratchett |
|
|
|
Xevo
Acolyte
USA
35 Posts |
Posted - 12 Apr 2011 : 16:44:55
|
As far as a some side quests:
Rather than kill off all other adventuring parties, have one group take the place of competitive rivals. Spice can be added by making this other group stronger, smarter and better equipped. Despite these advantages, this other group also happens to be morally suspect. They do not have the welfare of the Dalelands in mind. Rather, they are looking only to line their own pockets or take the Scroll for themselves. To further complicate things, this other group might need something the drow have to save their own homes (Sembia, Cormyr, etc...). This would help to "justify" their acts and maybe cause the PCs to think twice about simply eliminating them. |
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.
-Terry Pratchett |
|
|
|
cyric657
Acolyte
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 13 Apr 2011 : 14:45:00
|
| Those are amazing ideas, matter of fact they are all going in. I love the idea of not 1 spy but 2. And the interaction with a second adventuring troupe would definately be a very welcome addition aswell. Thanks so much. I will repost a revision as soon as I get some more of the story done. |
|
|
|
cyric657
Acolyte
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2011 : 01:52:43
|
The Return of Gwath
Revision 1
On a night like any other, the story begins.
Setting: Forgotten Realms, The Dalelands
The pc's find themselves in they most well known and well established adventuring Inn within the realms. While in the Old Skull the pc's find out that that within the last few weeks all of the local drow raiding has ceased. No one knows exactly why or for what reason. Many rumors abound about they drow finding some sort of Netherese magic within Cormanthor. Others say that the drow are concentrating their efforts on killing each other off. Still others are convinced that there is some larger goal they are seeking to acomplish.
Our adventurers find out that the lord of Shadowdale. Lord Mourngrym himself will be giving a speech near near the Old Skull Inn tomorrow. The speech itself will be a call for adventurers to take on the dangerous mission of finding out exactly what the drow of Cormanthor are doing. A multitude of other adventurers will be present. Including the Comanpy of the Snow Leopard. A motley bunch led by an Air Gensai wizard named Pretulth. In his ranks are 4 others. A tall barbaric looking female shaman, a nefarious looking male Tiefling, aswell as a pair of burly human twins dressed in fine (yet nasty looking) piecemail. The pc's can either take on the mission and Mourngrym will give them some gold to help equip themselves for the dangerous mission. Or they can refuse. If they refuse they will find themselves the target of a drow contract killing. Once they fend off the assassin they will find that he will have a contract on him, written in high drow sighned by none other than Jez the Lame. Unfortunately the only way to confront him and get the contract lifted would be to somehow stop it at it's source. Thereby still getting the pc's into the woods of Cormanthor. On either choice they will be heading into the dirrection of the next part of the story. Once in Cormanthor they will find themselves harried by multiple encounters with drow assassins and partrols. All will be led by drow males under the command of Jez the Lame and bearing a holy symbol (Lore check will tell them it's the holy symbol of Vhaeraun.) While working their way through the forest they will find themselves in a small glade able to overhear the conversation within one of the drow patrols. The conversation will reveal some information about an old ruined keep that the group is using as a stronghold. They also find that all but one of the other adventuring companies were slaughtered at the drow hands. Somehow the Company of the Snow Leopard escaped. The pc's are found overhearing, battle ensues. Our pc's will head tword the ruined keep only to find that it's highly guarded. They can search around the keep to find a way in. When they finially find a way in they will see a drow priestess (lore check will reveal the clothing and holy symbol as Lolth's) in shackles being dragged into the ruined tower of the keep. (Listen check will provide some distant chanting coming from within the tower) The pc's can fight their way into the tower past 2 very powerfull looking guards or can sneak their way in somehow. Once inside the tower they find themselves in a viewing area above the main floor of the tower. Looking down they can see the drow priestess in the center of some type of energy field with Vhaeraun priests and wizzards surrounding her and chanting. The incantations are led by a very well dressed drow mage holding an extremely old black scroll. (lore check provides that this is none other than one of the lost Netherese scrolls) The spell seems to be some sort of summoning spell (but the exact nature can only be found out by a successful spellcraft check) As the summoning proceeds the name Gwath is repeated over and over throughout. There will be a cutscene here where the drow priestess will begin screaming as her soul is ripped away and replaced by Gwath's.
The cutscene will continue with her finially taking over the priestess and walking out of the containment field. She will then ask why she is here and how she was returned to life.
The drow wizard will explain to her that he came into the posession of a Netherese scroll of great power and has brought her back, under his control. She is to help him find a way to reshape and twist the Myth Drannor mythal to the Vhaeraun drow's own ends. She begrudgingly accepts his proposal. (In her mind, secretly she begins to formulate a plan even while she is accepting the proposal to free herself from his control and restore her lost power and restore her lost keep and lost tower)
She asks for the Netherese scroll to study and is allowed only a brief glance at it. Unbeknown to the drow mage is that long ago she altered her perceptions so that she could instantly remember anything she has seen. She tells them that she must return to the ruins of her lost tower to begin research on the mythal and what it will entail to warp and twist it. She is given a small contingent of drow to help her (actually keep tabs on her) The players have only 2 choices seeing the massive amount of drow in the keep... They can either sneak their way back out, or attempt to fight their way out. Either way, they have learned that the balance of power will shift in Cormanthor AND the Dalelands if this plan comes to fruition.
Gwath leaves with them in tow and begins her trek into the Desertmouth Mountains to reach her hidden tower.
The pc's now should report back to Shadowdale and to Mourngrym. They can also feel free to roam and check out the cities and towns within the Dalelands. They will find many minor quests and small delimas in their travels should they wish to take any of them on, they will have decent exp bonuses.
Once back to Mourngrym, within the Twisted Tower. They can relate the entire story to Mourngrym.
When they are done they are asked to go see Elminster the Sage and find out what exactly he knows about this “Gwath” person. When the pc's get to Elminster's tower they are greeted by Lhaeo the sage's scribe. He explains to them that he was called away on some pressing planar buisness. (He thinks by Mystra herself) The pc's relate to him that Mourngrym desperately needs some information of the one known only as “Gwath” Seeing as how it is of utmost importance Lhaeo heads into the cluttered tower along with the pc's to do some poking around for some information on her. After a while Lhaeo comes across an extremely old Cormanthor history book entitled “The Westward Expansion of the Moon Elves” Inside the book the players come across a section entitled “Our Greatest Enemy: Gwath”
The section goes on the state that she was an extremely powerfull drow priestess who then turned away from her faith to study the arcane. She founded a keep known as Gwathburg aswell as creating a secret tower somewhere within the Desertmouth Mountians. It also goes on to describe that she disappeared to never be heard from again. Lhaeo also seems to recall Elminster saying something about a Gwath becoming a lich sometime in the past and being destroyed. Other than the small amount of information gleaned nothing else comes to light. Upon passing this information on to Mourngrym he asks the pc's to help him find a way to thwart both her and the drow. They are told he would usually just ask Elminster to look into the entire situation but since he is not available and all of the local adventuring companies have been slaughtered at the hands of the drow. And the pc's were the only ones able to survive that they should be the ones to help him. Mourngrym offers the pc's a charter as an adventurering guild and would even be willing to give them a large reward for their services to Shadowdale and the Dalelands. Mourngrym tells the pc's that they should find out as much information past what Lhaeo could give them. He knows of an eccentric old man named Denaro who lives in Scardale Town. He has a rather large collection of insightful ancient tomes on the battles of the Moon Elves with the Drow during their wars of old. He tells the adventurers they will know him when they meet him as he has extreme agoraphobia. And lives on the Northern side of the town in an old wherehouse. Cutscene of Fzoul talking with a doppleganger saying, “I have a mission for you. Our spy in shadowdale reports the band of adventurers in question are heading twords Scardale Town. Meet with our agent there. Here are your orders. (Hands the doppleganger a scroll) Do not fail me Pale One or you will suffer a fate worse than you can imagine. And if you are successful you will gain my favor.” Doppleganger says, “As you command my lord.” (doppleganger walks away) Fzoul says to himself, “And I will be able to raise the most powerfull army all of Faerun has ever seen! All will fall before the might of Zhentil Keep!” (evil laughter as screen fades out)
The adventurers make their way to Scardale Town with normal random encounters. When they arrive and head to the only wherehouse in the northern part of Scardale Town they knock on the door only to hear a gruff old voice tell them to leave. He'll have nothing to do with them and wants no solicitors. The door will be barred and locked, with no other way inside the structure. The adventurers must find another way in. A passerby will tell them that he never leaves the old wherehouse and he only lets the local inn's tavern girl in when she brings him his nightly dinner. If asked about where inn is they will be directed to the nearby inn. Within the inn speaking with the inn owner leads them to learn that Aliwen his waitress takes Denaro his dinner everyday and that he gave her the key to his wherehouse. He tells them that she is just about to take him his dinner now. Enter Aliwen. A beautiful blonde maiden. (Secretly the doppleganger's Zhent contact and has been keeping the Doppleganger, also known as the Pale One informed on what's going on in Scardale Town since he arrived. And secretly reporting all of the local actions to Fzoul himself via a magical amulet she wears.) After asking her about delivering Denaro food she explains he dosen't like to go outside and he fears even stepping outside his front door. But if they want she can give them the key to the wherehouse as long as they promise to take him his dinner. (This is what the Zhents want as hopefully the ruse is complete) Upon entering the old wherehouse they find themselves in a massive library. The likes of whitch Elminster himself has never seen. An entire wherehouse filled with ancient books about the Elves and Drow of the Dalelands past and present. The old man finially appears and is furious that they have invaded his privacy and the wench at the bar should never have given them his key. (This also being part of the ruse to make the players unaware of the doppleganger impersonation of Denaro) Finially after the players explain that Lord Mourngrym himself has sent them for his knowladge on the one known as “Gwath” does he calm down and speak with the pc's. He tells the pc's that he has heard of her but the actual account of her was in a book that was stolen. He has asked a local mage to scry where it is, but the closest they can tell is it's somewhere in Feather Falls. He belives that it was taken to the “Temple Beneath the Falls” (This is actually not the case, but rather a way of disposing of the would be adventerers. For many months the Zhentarim have known that there exists a true temple to Cyric beneath the falls. And within the temple are all manner of ancient evil, aswell as cultists that serve Cyric and have become extremely active within the last fortnight. Once they are dead the Pale One can replace the pc's. If they do manage to survive and destroy the clergy of Cyric and their followers then that is just on less group of Cyrinists to deal with later. The Pale One will then kill the pc's himself and still take their place beginning Fzoul's plan of recovering the Netherese scroll for Zhentil Keep. ) The pc's begin to make their way to Feather Falls. After arriving in feather falls they are greeted by the town's Mayor. He asks if they are the ones he sent for from Scardale Town to help them find the missing town's children. (This was secretly intercepted by Aliwen and destroyed) When he finds out they are not, he appeals to their bravery and asks them to find out what happened to them. He belives that the old bedtime stories about the “Temple Beneath the Falls” are actually true as he and the town's tracker followed footprints to the falls the morning after all the children were abducted. He fears the tracks themselves were not human. And without the help of the milita from Scardale Town all of the villages children might be at stake. The pc's can now investigate the falls itself. Upon entering the area of the falls they will find footprints near a rather large boulder along the side of the falls. On closer inspection there is actually a secret door behind the boulder. Once entering they will encounter a host of non-sentient undead of all manner fighting their way down to the third level beneath the falls. Entering this area they will come across no more undead but all but they will be harassed at every turn by fighters and low lvl priests of Cyric. Finially they will come to the inner sanctum of the temple where the children are being sacraficed to Lord Cyric by the high priest. Interrupting him will cause him to cease his sacrafice and a brief dialog where he asks the pc's why they have come, and when the pc's reveal that they are there for a book he has stolen he tells them he has made no theft and the priest informs them that they will pay for killing his clergy and followers by becoming the next sacrafice.The priests in attendance will attack also the high priest will attack. Multiple swordsman who were in attendance will join the battle. The pc's kill all their adversaries and find that the children were all unharmed and are being held in cells in the high priests chambers where he can hear their cries, torment and pleas. (Of course enjoying every second of it) They release the children go back to through the temple and back out into Feather Falls proper. The mayor thanks them and they receive some exp for completing the side quest. Now the pc's find themselves at a loss. No book no info. They must confront Denaro about his lies. When the pc's enter Denaro's home they are attacked by not only Denaro (the Pale One) but by Aliwen. Aliwen is a powerfull spellcaster and the Pale One is a quite formidable fighter. Together they will put up an enormously tough fight. Once they are dispatched and they search the wherehouse they will find a badly burned book and letter in the fireplace. The letter is actually a set of Zhent orders sighned by Fzoul himself! On inspection of the book, it's burned pages reveal it's what they were looking for all along. It contains an autobiography of Gwath. Unfortunately it's badly mangled and much of it is burned beyond recovery. Much of what they find is dealing with her research on Mythals and speculation on how they can be warped by using the power of several minor artifacts known throughout the Dales. The usage of these artifacts utterly destroys them but gives access to the Mythals' innermost magical workings. Thus, allowing one to alter or reshape them to the caster's desires. It also says that she has a list of the artifacts she would need to complete her research and she hid the list in the deepest parts of the dungeons in Gwathburg. (Cut scene, Gwath reaches her tower with the drow entourage in tow. Before entering the tower under her breath she whispers the sylables to a powerfull spell she learned long ago. The drow behind her suddenly stop and become completely dominated by Gwath's will. She turns and says, “Don't you like that? I found how to dominate the true essences of most sentient beings long ago. Drow were the first I learned how to bend to my will”She tells them to wait for her. She disappears inside the tower. Moments later she emerges and gives them a potion bottle and tells them to go to Gwathburg's main hall and pour it's contents onto the ground and guard the keep with their very lives until she arrives and gives them further instructions.) The pc's have found a new dirrection to go. When they leave the wherehouse they will find a courrier waiting outside with news from Lord Mourngrym to return immediately and tell them what they have found.
|
|
|
|
Fingal
Seeker
56 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2011 : 14:05:55
|
quote:
Originally posted by cyric657
OK I have started work on the daunting task of creating a truely massive campaign set in the Dalelands. I have a decent script set up and i'm using the NWN2 toolset (SoZ overland map) if any of you are familiar with it. Well I have hit a few story snags along the way and could also use some side quests for the campaign. I will put some of the script up in my next post, hopefully you guys could give it a bit of tweaking as I really wanna make it bring the Dales to life.
Good luck mate. I used to love making maps and writing conversations and things like that, but the actual scripting was hit and miss; some stuff I wrote was fine, other times I just couldn't get them to work no matter what I did.
I always found that setting out a design document was most helpful: A page or two on locations, a page or two on NPC's including ideas on stats, abilities and equipment, what scripts I might need, and a plot synopsis threading the whole lot together.
I know how much effort is involved in making a NWN2 campaign. Even if you don't finish it I hope you have good time - the toolset is superb.
|
|
|
|
Xevo
Acolyte
USA
35 Posts |
Posted - 18 Apr 2011 : 04:44:47
|
Sounds pretty good. I think when the PCs go to encounter Denaro and Aliwen, a couple of "charmed" villagers alongside the Zhents could make an already challenging battle even more complicated.
Good luck |
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.
-Terry Pratchett |
|
|
|
froglegg
Learned Scribe
317 Posts |
Posted - 24 Apr 2011 : 06:17:29
|
Never had a chance to play NWN2.
Is it any good?
John |
Long live Alias and Dragonbait! Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb the Realms need you more then ever!
On my word as a sage nothing within these pages is false, but not all of it may prove to be true. - Elminster of Shadowdale
The Old Grey Box gets better with age! |
|
|
|
Fingal
Seeker
56 Posts |
Posted - 24 Apr 2011 : 20:27:13
|
quote:
Originally posted by froglegg
Never had a chance to play NWN2.
Is it any good?
John
Yeah, it's not bad at all. The first expansion pack for it, 'Mask of the Betrayer,' is worth getting the game for alone. It's set in Rashemen and is a lot darker than the vanilla campaign. Besides, anything that includes Red Wizards is already pretty cool.
There is a fair bit of user made scenarios and campaigns out there too. You should be able to pick it up pretty cheap by now, probably with both the expansion packs thrown in as well. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
The Return of Gwath: A NWN2 campaign
