dailyadventureprompts:Drafting an Adventure: The Blades of the Realm Campaign Starter Want to take y
dailyadventureprompts:Drafting an Adventure: The Blades of the Realm Campaign Starter Want to take your party from a group of disparate nobodies to a well regarded group of heroes ready to take on your main campaign? Well have I got an adventure arc for you. While I already have a large number of “Starter” adventures on offer, I thought it’d be fun to consolidate a few different ideas into what amounts for a runway for other people’s campaigns, something that serves only as “act 1″ of a story without defining the rest of the goings on. As an adventure, Blades of the Realm is intended to take a party from character creation out into the wide wilderness of classic adventuring, and can probably see the characters grow from levels 1-5. The Adventures Involved: New Glory from Old Roots: While traveling to visit a tourney in a nearby city, the party hears tell of a nearby dungeon and is urged to visit it by a helpful goblin gambler who thinks the experience will be informative for them. Within they find the haunted heirloom armor of one of the realm’s great champions, who promises to aid them in the coming battle, not to mention reward them when returned to their family. Tourney, Treachery, and Tumult: Distractions abound once the party reaches the tourney grounds, but not so far as to disguise the fact that there’s something sinister going on behind the scenes. One of the competitors aims to assassinate a noble heir in attendance, and has used illegal magic to cheat his way up the bracket in the name of doing the deed during the awards ceremony. Stopping this slaughter will put the party in the noble’s debt, and in the public eye, starting them off on the road to become champions. Duchess Sahvrina’s Boar: This most recent tourney has been heavily sponsored by the powerful duchess Sahvrina, who seeks to find strong warriors capable of ridding her lands of a monstrous boar that’s been running rampant throughout. Little does anyone suspect, this boar is in fact divine punishment from the goddess of the wilds, sent after Sahvrina snubbed the deity during the yearly sacrifices. Untangling this curse will require more than brute strength, and may see the party cut lose from their noble patron after it snares her in dramatic irony. Who are the party playing?: The party is made up of a group of travelers heading to the big city for the grand tournament and festival that’s being held there. They’ve grouped up in ones and twos along the journey, and have decided to stick together for the time being for safety along the road. During character creation, encourage the players to think of what they hope to find at the tourney, as this will both give them motivation and let you prep personalized adventure hooks when they reach their destination. Here’s some ideas: Far more than just knights jousting, there’s all manner of competitions and prizes to be won at the tourney, ranging from archery contests to duels to melees. A warrior with talent and resolve can earn quite the windfall if they come out on top. Nobles are known to congregate en-mass around the tourney grounds, taking in the entertainment and seeing who among the competitors might be a good retainer. Catching the eye of one of these elite might earn a hero a powerful benefactor. Alternatively there’s no better way to seek out a noble your character happens to have beef with, as they’ve left behind most of their guards and fortifications for the sake of enjoying the entertainment. Earning glory in the tournament to rep your particular town/order/faction. The Festival brings all manner of people to the city, and at a reliable time too, which is the perfect opportunity to meet up with a long lost friend / make introductions to an influential stranger who’s thought to be in attendance. Keep reading -- source link