So this week was another difficult week at work. Getting to work early and by the end of it feeling like my brain had been put through a blender has made it difficult to work on any particular story. However somewhere between stupor and sleep I did happen to craft the bones of an idea for a Pathfinder campaign which might make a fun story. I have always wanted to play a campaign where you were part of something bigger, not like the Kingmaker campaign, but your parties efforts are actually working towards something that is bigger then you realize. Also I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So I attempted to connect the two for what I would call a bit of a fun campaign.
You would start out low level and introduced to the Adventurers guild. A group of people who take on Adventurers of all levels, assists in finding them work and helps defend the city etc. Outside of any specific government jurisdiction they are are the defenders of the people. The guild itself would be old, I would like to say hundreds, but realistically it would be as old as the city that it resides in. Originally set up as a base of operations for a group of adventurers who helped protect the city when it was in its infancy, it became a place that all adventurers could start out and forge their own path. The original group being heralded as heroes and hold a place of honor in the cities history. It is said that their deeds were so great that the gods themselves bestowed upon them a relic so that they better defend their homeland. However even heroes suffer from mortality and each ended up going back to their home land once they had passed beyond the mortal realm. Their legacy lives on within the adventurers guild and that is where players begin.
Initially the players party is tasked with a goblin clear out and a bandit quest. It is during the bandit quest that actually that they find out that they were in fact tomb robbers who had learned the location of one of the legendary heroes relics, which they sought to steal for themselves. Deciding to trust the player party, the head of the adventurers guild decides to let the party in on the secret location of the initial tomb, and asks that they seek out the relic that is within to ensure that it does not fall into the wrong hands. So off the players go, seeking out the first tomb which they find more bandits and other monsters who have taken up residence in the ancient burial chamber.
Once the players return they are advised the guild master has contacted the other adventurer guilds around the realm to work out if there has been any increased activity in their respective areas. The party is then directed to the next one where they are again tasked with investigating the appearance of these bandits. It turns out that the bandits are actually cultists, being led by a yet unknown leader seeking out the relics from history. The players are then put through a series of trials in their attempts to secure the relics. These relics are actually weapons, armour and other magical items which enhanced the founders abilities, and subsequently would enhance the players abilities as well.
There is even a quest to seek out the tomb for one of the founders, as the last one didn’t say where they were going. After going on a bit of a fact finding mission it turns out that the Druid is actually now a tree that lies at the heart of a “cursed” forest. They are then informed that there was actually one more relic that was gifted by the gods, there was a 6th member of the founders who was corrupted by the relic, as it was tainted by a dark god, jealous that these mortals were wiping out their followers. This 6th fonder was kept from the history books because of the terrible acts they committed once they began to use their relic. Whats more is that if one was to gather all the relics together, the corruption would spread to the others and bring forth the dark god. The Druid trust her relic to the party in the hopes that they can defeat whoever is behind this plan before it comes to fruition.
The players must then transport the relics they have back to the original adventurers guild, being told that arrangements have been made to store them in the city vault, a known well guarded fortress, until those behind this plan can be stopped. Once they arrive at the guild, it is revealed that it was the original guild master who was behind it this whole time, having found the 6th relic years ago began to see out the others, effectively using adventurers over the time to seek them out. It wasn’t until the players got there that he finally had a chance to do it.
He would then proceed to destroy each of the relics to get to their “god soul” housed within to combined it with the one that he has and thus transforms into an aspect of the Dark God. After laying waste to the city, the players must then commit to stopping this being before they can summon forth the Dark God themselves.
So yeah … that is the overview of the campaign. Its funny what your brain can come up with when you are tired. I know its a bit cliche and derivative, but still it would be a fun campaign to play.
