Thoughts and feedback for adventure arc

[BlueCloud2k2]

Story Arc I'm planning for my Pathfinder game as my players aren't enjoying adventure paths:

 

The pcs are going to be finding an ancient artifact that creates a bridge to other worlds, and will wind up stranded on a homebrew world I created called Thera. The Empire of Aldar is gripped in a civil war over the succession of the imperial throne. Imperial law dictates that only a paladin in good standing can sit on the Sun Throne, yet tradition says the eldest child of the sitting Emperor.

 

Problem is, the eldest child failed the trials to become a Paladin and has generally been a bad boy. He even fell in with the remaining vampire lords (the Empire was founded of the remnants of the Vampiric baronies after Ald performed the miracle of switching night and day, ending the tyranny and predation).

 

If the PCs want to get home, they are going to need a mage to reactivate the bridge. The Order of Ald doesn't have many mages and will expect assistance in ending the war in their favor.

 

The newly restored Vampire Baronies have mages a plenty, but are just as likely to kill the PCs as aid them.

 

Basic adventures I'm planning (assuming they help the paladins):

 

1. Clear out a fortress occupied by orcs that the Order of Ald needs. They can either storm the gates or sneak in through some catacombs under the fortress and take it from the inside. Either way, same encounters. One of the Order's mages is presently held prisoner here.

 

2. Intercept a supplies caravan en route from one of the key strong holds and either capture or destroy it. Caravan is guarded by werewolves and also includes slaves for a blood feast.

 

3. The PCs find out an NPC hero (a paladin who is a descendant of Ald) is being held in a prison called "The Pit." They will need to break in and rescue him. Complication 1: The prison holds many political prisoners the Vampires can't kill out of necessity and aren't friendly to the Order. Complication 2: The NPC hero is not in good standing and will need an Atonement if he is to claim the throne and sway the Neutral provinces.

 

4. The NPC needs strong allies to join him in his Atonement. The PCs will need to choose whether to assist him or not. Quest will involve breaking into the Tomb of the Night Mother (where the vampires imprisoned their creatrix when she went insane) and kill her. Doing so is supposed to kill all but the strongest of vampires. Complication: The previous Emperor's son drained her of her powers to ensure the baron's loyalty.

 

5. The PCs will need to sneak into the capitol and face down the would be Emperor. Once the war is over, the mages can repair the bridge and send the PCs home.

 

But will they actually return from whence they came?

[drunkonduty]

I like it. 

Um.. not much to add in way of suggestions at the moment. But if something occurs I will chime back in. :-)

[Balabanto]

It would be much better if they started there. This sounds like a fantastic setting. You should develop it.

[bubba smith]

you mean they have already used ...and lost the artifact ?

[BlueCloud2k2]

The Bridge Stones have to be charged by arcane energies.

 

The Bridge that sends them to Thera is in Thassilonian ruins in the Inner Sea region (Pathfinder). They will be working for an arcane mage who is experimenting with the stones and will be killed when the Bridge Stone connects to the one in Thera.

 

The party consists of an Aritficer (magical Gadgeteer), a Ranger (Archer), and a Ranger/Bard (who specializes in fighting with a quarterstaff and dancing)

 

I should point out that the Pole Dancing bard is my wife.

 

And yes I realize just how much I am a lucky bastard

 

Anyway, since the only way to charge the bridge stones is to burn arcane spell slots the party doesn't have the means to charge the stones. So they need to find a mage.

 

Added complication: The Stone on the Thera side is damage and needs repairing.

[BlueCloud2k2]

It would be much better if they started there. This sounds like a fantastic setting. You should develop it.

 

 

I was working on it as the setting for a fantasy novel I was writing, but while yes I can write well, and I excel at writing short fiction I can't seem to get past short stories.

 

But some more info on Aldar and Thera:

 

Humans (and Vampires) immigrated from across the sea, displacing Dwarves, Elves and Goblins.

 

The Vampire clans held dominance over humans thanks to their power over Lycanthropes, and after enslaving the Dwarves, Elves and Goblins failed, they started importing orcs to use as slave labor. Since Orcs were too wild, they bred them with humans to tame them down a bit.

 

Ald was born of man, and after rising through the military ranks (The Vampires did use human soldiers in their efforts to seize lands held by Elves and Dwarves), and managed to build an army to fight the Vampires. After using the Half-Orcs as shock troops and securing allies amongst the Dwarves and Elves, Ald laid siege to the Vampiric Capitol and in the middle of the night performed a miracle by turning night into day, in theory killing all of the vampires. Declared as a living god, humans made him their emperor and he created the first paladins.

 

Ald eventually abdicated to his son, and ascended fully into god-hood. Aldar continued strong for centuries until Darghas murdered his father and brother, seizing the throne and throwing the nation into a civil war. As Darghas had the backing of the Barons (human descendants of the Vampire Lords), only the Northern Provinces protested a non-paladin ascending to the throne.

 

With Darghas on the throne, the vampires once again began to assert power.

 

Aldar consists of 22 Provinces, not quite divided in thirds: those who support Darghas, those whom seek to force him from the throne, and those who remain neutral. If the Order of Ald can find someone of Ald's line who is a Paladin in good standing, then most of the Neutrals will begin acting against Darghas.