Topic: Dark backstory to my campaign... this will change adventuring for my players...

[Druss_the_Legend]

My campaign is based in Sanctuary, Thieves World. Until this point pretty much all adventuring has been in, under or around a single city. This is about to change and my campaign is going to become a bit more epic. The factions and places used in my campaign are from the Thieves World Gazetteer and are grounded in a number of off-the-shelf modules but this backstory is my own work.

This backstory will introduce the main villain, to my players... a defeated lich and a cabal of 'destroyed' vampire lords. The players in my campaign have just uncovered a stronghold to the Bloody Hand Cult. They have no idea of this backstory yet, as I have just created it but my plan is to 'drip feed' the epic plot to them through specific NPC's they encounter, maps they find and rumours/clues.

Glossary:
Order of the Blue Star - a guild of good magicians
Bloody Hand - a guild of fanatical cultists, chaos and human sacrifice are their hallmarks
Dyareela - blood thirsty goddess worshiped by the Bloody Hand
Firaqa - a city of magic famous for its colleges of magic

Centuries ago Murmaranus, a powerful lich created a cabal of shadowmage vampire lords. There were four vampire lords who made up the cabal. They had many names: The Soul Stealers, The Sons of Dyareela and The Assembly of Chaos. The cabal were destroyed by the Blue Star Magicians at great cost to their order. Murmarandus was banished and imprisoned in an astral plane 'The Plane of the Damned'. As a safeguard the remaining magicians of the Blue Star Order used their magic to trap the 'soul' of each vampire within a stone. These were the Soul Stones. One Soul Stone was created for each vampire lord. These artifacts were scattered and hidden throughout the Known World. The secret location of the Soul Stones was closely guarded. Even though the vampire lords were destroyed, evil of this level of power is never totally eradicated. The Bloody Hand have been searching for the Soul Stones for centuries... gathering power and followers... Secret lore about the Soul Stones was found in catacombs in the Dark Library below Firaqa, the city of magic. Using dark rituals the cult plan to resurrect the Soul Stealers. Each stone is unique and allows a specific vampire lord to be resurrected. The dark rituals must be fueled by a suitable sacrifice, a righteous person such as a powerful high priestess, cleric, or blue star magician. The timing of the ritual is very specific. It must take place during a Blood Moon. These do not occur often, once every two years. There is however a rare event called a lunar tetrad where four lunar eclipses occur in a row, six months apart. The Blood Cult plan to resurrect all four Soulstealers using the lunar tetrad. Once the Assembly of Chaos have returned they will have enough combined power to free Murmarandus from his exile in the Plane of the Damned. When a Soul Stone is found the Bloody Hand Cult must build a new temple for the specific purpose of the Blood Moon Ritual, gathering followers and sacrifices. Some of these sacrifices are merely used to consecrate the temple foundations and others used to summon foul beasts to protect the temple, strengthening its defenses so that the Blood Ritual can be carried out uninterrupted.

Currently the party are hunting for a Blue Star Magician that has has vanished (most likely taken by the Bloody Hand). They have also uncovered a Cult of Dyareela stronghold in the hills out of the city and are planning to assault a new Bloody Hand temple that recently appeared in the city.

Once the backstory becomes known the party will be swept up in a quest by enemies of the Bloody Hand. Their goal will be to find the other Blood Hand strongholds/temples and destroy them before they can resurrect the Vampire Lords... the price of failure will be the return of the major villain... Murmarandus the undead Shadowmage!

[Druss_the_Legend]

This backstory will set them on new adventures to islands and remote areas of the continent.
They will need some help to deal with such powerful enemies, I plan to have two other factions... who share a common enemy allocate a champion to help complete such an important quest.

[vector]

Great campaign plan! I always loved sending my players on quests into dramatically different lands and cultures than they are used to.

It looks like the stakes are high and room for failure very limited. Should be a lot of fun.

[Druss_the_Legend]

Great campaign plan! I always loved sending my players on quests into dramatically different lands and cultures than they are used to.

It looks like the stakes are high and room for failure very limited. Should be a lot of fun.

cheers! this story has has evolved rapidly over the past month. Its my job to get everything, well almost everything to make sense... things happen for a reason and npc's have motivations and a purpose.
one of the pc's had an encounter with a lich as part of their character history so iv been trying to build that into the campaign... due to timing issues i am creating a 'bridging' villain who is the Disciple of the main badguy. He is also a lich/necromancer/bloodmage but is more of an apprentice with the goal of bringing his master back.
This new villain will be linked to the blood cult and is using them to find the soul stones.
i was thinking of making the pc an ancestor of the lich Murmarandus... the main villain... now that would be a twist... this link will span 500yrs and many generations... it would explain why the apprentice lich didnt kill him when they met previously.
yes the stakes are high. the pcs will need to find and destroy 4 more temples. They already have their hands full with the one in the city where they are. its defenses are very strong and they have not been able to get inside... have lost a few teams of npcs they have sent to recon the temple and although they found a 'backdoor' through the sewers... this is guarded by werewolves
.

[Druss_the_Legend]

flashback memory... this was given to one of my players recently.. this player had an encounter with a lich when he was a boy. The lich destroyed his village. He was the lone survivor. The lich he encountered is a disciple of Murmurandus the Lich lord leader of the Vampire Lords.

Start of Flashback memory...

A young boy, perhaps 8 or 9 years old stands impatiently beside a pool in a secret glade in the woods. He is skimming stones across the surface of the pool. Behind the boy is a shrine, moss covered and ancient. The boy first discovered the glade by chance, while exploring near his village. Now, as before the stranger appears from inside the shrine. He is blind and very old. He is a hermit but more importantly... a storyteller".
Hermit "I see you have returned eh? That curiosity of yours will get you into trouble when you are grown".
Boy "Can you see the future? Was that the price you paid for your sight?"
[The hermit ignores the question and leaning heavily on his wooden staff sits on the stone steps leading into the shrine]
Hermit "Now where were we... the story... do you remember?"
Boy "The Vampire Lords... and the Soul Stones..."
Hermit "Ahh... of course... now I remember".
[The boy sits on the steps next to the hermit, trying not to look at his pale cloudy-white eyes].

Hermit "Centuries ago Murmaranus, a powerful lich created a cabal of shadowmage Vampire Lords. There were four Vampire Lords who made up the cabal. They had many names: The Soul Stealers, The Sons of Dyareela and The Assembly of Chaos. The cabal were destroyed by the Blue Star Magicians at great cost to their order. Murmarandus was banished and imprisoned in an astral plane 'The Plane of the Damned'. As a safeguard the remaining magicians of the Blue Star Order used their magic to trap the 'soul' of each vampire within a stone. These were the Soul Stones. One Soul Stone was created for each vampire lord. These artifacts were scattered and hidden throughout the Known World. The secret location of the Soul Stones was closely guarded".

Boy "So, the Blue Magician's army defeated the Vampire Lords and their hordes, they were victorious!"

Hermit "Even though the Vampire Lords were destroyed, evil of this level of power is never totally eradicated. The Bloody Hand have been searching for the Soul Stones for centuries... gathering power and followers... Secret lore about the Soul Stones was hidden in catacombs in the Dark Library below Firaqa, the city of magic. If that lore is ever recovered the Bloody Hand could use dark magic to resurrect the Soul Stealers. Each stone is unique and allows a specific vampire lord to be resurrected. The dark rituals must be fueled by a worthy sacrifice".

Boy "By worthy you mean a blue star magician or cleric or priest".

Hermit "Exactly. However the timing of the Blood Ritual is very specific. It must take place during a Blood Moon. The Soul Stones on their own are not enough to bring back the Vampire Lords. Should a Soul Stone be found the Bloody Hand would need to then build a new temple for the specific purpose of the Blood Ritual, gathering followers and sacrifices. Some of these sacrifices will merely used to consecrate the temple foundations and others used to summon foul beasts to protect their temple, strengthening its defenses so that the Blood Ritual can be carried out uninterrupted. If the Vampire Lords were to ever return and unite once more they will have enough collective power to free Murmarandus from his exile in the Plane of the Damned.

End of Flashback memory.

The hermit in this flashback was actually a Blue Star magician in disguise. Unknown to the pc he was being trained for a future task. This Blue Star magician is an essential NPC ally in the current campaign we are playing.

[Druss_the_Legend]

a plot device i have been using which is working well is the use of fortune tellers. 3 of my players love this but one is anti any of the gobbledy gook as he calls it although i think thats more his character than him as a player He is an excellent role-player and will stubbornly stick to the ideals of his character, even at he determent of finding out information that might help his character!

here is a reading from tarot cards that were used to tell the pcs near-future...

S'Danzo Tarot Card #12: Treachery and Betrayal
​One of your allies is a traitor. It is not who you suspect it is. IIlyra closes her eyes. Using her gift of sight. Illyra "I see a storm. Dark storm-clouds are gathering. There are birds circling. Hawks. One of them changes to a storm crow. Screeching a warning to the others. No not a warning but alerting other crows. The new crows are twice the size of the hawks. Their talons elongated. Razor sharp and poisoned. They are being led by the storm crow that was once a hawk. The traitor. The traitor changes once more. Back into the hawk. It is smaller than the other hawks. A female".

S'Danzo Tarot Card #3: Knight of Swords
​I see a great warrior. He has great strength and courage. He is the lion who slays other lions. He is dangerous to his allies. Fearless but reckless. Vashanka's servant. He has killed many. Some were his allies. The sword he carries. The singing blade. It drives his rage in battle. He is dangerous. His enemies have marked him. He is hunted. As you are my cousin. The hunters are closing in. His luck has run out. He has made the eight but the assassin's blade has done it's work. The poison. Illyra closes her eyes once more "I see a flower... a white flower... the blade was poisoned by White Lotus". His strength is fading. Faster than he knows".

both sets of information reveal valuable clues about the plot that are not lost on the player. The likely identity of a traitor in the party and info about the type of poison used on a wounded ally.

[vector]

a plot device i have been using which is working well is the use of fortune tellers. 3 of my players love this but one is anti any of the gobbledy gook as he calls it although i think thats more his character than him as a player He is an excellent role-player and will stubbornly stick to the ideals of his character, even at he determent of finding out information that might help his character!

Great work! The use of fortune tellers or any sort of knowledge spells could be their own thread. I'd have a hard time if I allowed too easy access to all the divination spells in Spell Law. I've always had to keep a tight reign on them to avoid plot breaking effects. I like what you are doing with the Tarot cards!

Once my players needed information they couldn't logically expect to learn, so they went to a seer. I had a fun time role-playing the man as a complete crank and a fraud while he gave them completely reliable information. One of the players insisted the seer was full of it and wanted the party to discard the seer's advice.   

[Druss_the_Legend]

a plot device i have been using which is working well is the use of fortune tellers. 3 of my players love this but one is anti any of the gobbledy gook as he calls it although i think thats more his character than him as a player He is an excellent role-player and will stubbornly stick to the ideals of his character, even at he determent of finding out information that might help his character!

Great work! The use of fortune tellers or any sort of knowledge spells could be their own thread. I'd have a hard time if I allowed too easy access to all the divination spells in Spell Law. I've always had to keep a tight reign on them to avoid plot breaking effects. I like what you are doing with the Tarot cards!

Once my players needed information they couldn't logically expect to learn, so they went to a seer. I had a fun time role-playing the man as a complete crank and a fraud while he gave them completely reliable information. One of the players insisted the seer was full of it and wanted the party to discard the seer's advice.

Thanks again V. Iv gone all-in with the tarot card concept and created my own digital 25 cards deck to use for fortune telling. its become a nice way to end chapters in the campaign as we typically play for just two months of the year. I get the players to make 3-4 rolls and i take the most suitable 3 rolls and apply them to the tarot cards. Its surprisingly easy to weave 'vague' but 'true' information into the divinition although of late i have notices the players are relying on it a bit much so i think ill try something new next season (we are playing season3 now in real time each season is a year 10-11 months apart).
most recently the seer revealed the 'possible' identity of a traitor in the party but with shapeshifters about this could actually be anyone... has just given the players a lead to explore in case its true

[Mordrig]

A question.  Are you writing the back storey or are the characters?  Or is there some form of a combination of the two?  I ask because I work with the characters to develop their background, and never tell them their background.  I want them to be more involved in the character development.  If they have come up with these hooks all the better.

[Druss_the_Legend]

A question.  Are you writing the back storey or are the characters?  Or is there some form of a combination of the two?  I ask because I work with the characters to develop their background, and never tell them their background.  I want them to be more involved in the character development.  If they have come up with these hooks all the better.

its a bit of a collaboration. they initially write the background themselves. i might make a few suggestions or tweeks if needed but mostly its theres to flesh out... the lich backstory/history was the players idea. i took it and worked it into the current plot/story. i have tried to keep as many story elements hidden in the beginning with this specific character... he was saved by a magician from the gallows... i hen created a reason why that happened and linked it back to his idea of he lich. none of this was known to the player until recently...
they player characters drive the story... i guide them... give some clues... but they are the driving force... their actions impact on the story and create twists and turns in the story...

my long term goal is to give each player character their time to shine and base an adventure around their past or hometown or an event specific to them. sort of a like a spin-off movie from the main trilogy

[Mordrig]

Awesome, honestly I find the best games are player driven.  Collaboration between the GM and the players in the character creation process gives the GM handles he can use later, and gets the player invested in his or her character. 
Players who give no or few handles make the GM job much harder.

[Druss_the_Legend]

Awesome, honestly I find the best games are player driven.  Collaboration between the GM and the players in the character creation process gives the GM handles he can use later, and gets the player invested in his or her character. 
Players who give no or few handles make the GM job much harder.

as a GM the best players are players you can bounce off. they discover angles and plot ideas you had overlooked. You fed off one another.
In my current campaign the party totally misread/misunderstood a clue id left for them. they were searching for an evil cults secret stronghold and were sure the clue id left revealed its location outside the city (they were wrong but i didnt let one and i prepped a new 'secondary' base that didnt exist. I had 3-4days between sessions so could easily create an underground lair for the cult that didnt exist... at first. The players never missed a beat, explored the above ground buildings and 'discovered' the  stronghold underground. A good example of the players driving the story.

[Mordrig]

In one of my long running campaigns I set up a random events table, every session I would do a set of random events.  In one a player encountered an NPC, the table made a few decisions for me and it was a hostile encounter.  The player was challenged to a duel.  The player decided to fight to first blood.  He lost, but spent quite a while speaking with the NPC and managed to bring him around as a friend and potential ally.
The whole encounter chewed up two gaming sessions, but it was worth it.  After the player told me the encounter seemed so detailed he felt it must be important.  He never knew I had to wing it from a random encounter making more detail as time progressed.