Blackberry
12-01-2004, 11:33 AM
Okay, so I'm running a Burning Wheel campaign in a world of my own design. Work has been really difficult and I haven't been on top of my game recently (not that I’ve ever been any good at designing plots). The next session is on Saturday. We've only played one session so far. I need some plot help!
The location:
- Sevrea, an area of land about 5,000 miles across, the focus of the campaign.
- Djeroon, biggest human city in the known world, about 50,000 population.
Djeroon is a huge city of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, due to the rather strict separation between nobility/wealthy folk and poor commoners.
For reference: http://www.anthrobunny.com/games/sevrea/sevrea.html
http://www.anthrobunny.com/games/sevrea/sev_places.gif
The PCs:
- Kaden, a 17-year-old local street tough trying to work his way into the underworld brotherhood, skilled especially at burglary and generally living off of someone else*s earnings.
Beliefs: It is wrong to steal from those with less; Bow to and serve no one
Instincts: Always sit where you can see the door; Snag unattended items
Traits: Street-Smart; Alert; Dexterity of the Cat; Nimble
- Kagadon, a washed-up soldier for life, conscripted at 13 and now past his prime, doing guard work here and there while searching for a new purpose or an end, whichever comes first.
Beliefs: Fighting is the last resort, but once you start, finish it; Life is always cheap; Pleasure is false but still worthwhile
Instincts: Always keep an eye on the quiet guy; Always eat all you can whenever you can; Fighting is boring -- talk first
Traits: World-Weary; Hairy; Resigned to Death; Iron Stomach; Driven
- Piotr, a spy and professional information-gatherer from the northern land of Eighentin, exiled and searching for his missing wife.
Beliefs: Never trust Djerooni; My wife is still alive
Instincts: Always sit with back to wall; Always keep aware of your exits; Always carry a weapon when on the job
Traits: Aura of Innocence; Familiar Face; Scavenger; Street-Smart
The background:
- Two hundred years ago, Djeroon was the nexus of an empire that encompassed all of the human lands. It fell under circumstances that aren't important here, but left behind remnants of its magic and technology. Other than the seven major cities, most people are animistic farm villagers with bronze age technology.
- Fifteen years ago, Venzaal, the ambitious son of an ambitious Djerooni noble family of grand influence, reclaimed power over the weak Djerooni council of merchants and began an autocratic seizure of all of the lands of the former empire.
- Only the northern lands fended him off, because his military was too strung out (not much of a strategist) and because Eighentin had discovered/rediscovered how to make steel -- especially into armor and crossbow bolts. Venzaal was taken down and pilloried by his peers because he failed. It is rumored that he left an heir, who is now fifteen himself, and who is being hidden by certain noble families who would like to see a return to the iron-fisted stability of empire.
- Five years ago, an insectoid race called The Hive swooped down from the mountains and took advantage of Djeroon's disorganized rebuilding state to raid and pillage, actually reaching the walls of the city itself. The city and countryside are still recovering from it.
The plot:
1) Piotr's wife is a master spy for Eighentin. Her mission was to infiltrate Djerooni noble society and make contacts in the faction that was opposing Venzaal's heir, to see if they could be a threat, could be ignored, should be taken out -- Eighentin would love another brash incompetent on Djeroon's throne. She left on her mission six years ago -- not even telling her husband about it, just leaving in the night. She reported to her contact once a month who reported back to Eighentin. She stopped reporting six months ago; her contact also stopped reporting back five months ago.
Eighentin's leaders also found out that, during the war, Bob had been spying for someone who later turned out to be a double-agent in Djeroon's employ. They exiled him, but privately gave him another mission -- as the only person who might recognize Eleva (his wife) in disguise and possibly the only one who could turn her back if she turnedcoat, he was to go to Djeroon and see if he could discover her fate.
2) Kaden's friend, Zarn, told Kaden of a manor in the noble tiers (actual tiers on the Royal Hill where the nobility live) which Zarn had been casing, where a noble woman lived, some sort of ambassador from a western or northern land. She lived alone, he knew that much, and in substantial wealth. The odd thing was that, six months ago, she vanished. Deliveries of food were made weekly as if someone still lived there, but when he finally evaded the city guards and broke in, he found fresh food, no servants, and no lady -- not even kitsch from any western or northern lands to be found.
After Zarn made a few profits off the place, some guards were hired to watch the manor while odd deliveries were made in the night -- magicians, alchemical vessels, and odd techno-magical machines from the Old Empire.
A month ago, the lady suddenly returned, along with a local Lord who lived there with her as if nothing had ever been different.
3) Kagadon is drinking away the coppers from his last big job -- a two-week long stint as a guard for a noble manor up in the tiers. He and a friend of his from the same old mercenary unit are paid well, and he doesn't inquire about the odd deliveries and even odder visitors during the time he's manning his post.
Our story so far:
4) Kaden tracks down one of the mercenaries who was hired to guard the manor (Kagadon); they discuss the strangeness and investigate the manor, both casing the place at night and talking briefly with Lord Haffel who now lives there with his lady.
5) After casing various taverns for several weeks, Piotr happens to overhear one street-rat bragging to another about a strange manor and a vanished lady from north-or-west. After following the burglar and mercenary, he cases the house himself and breaks in -- while the lord is sleeping. He discovers a secret passage in the wine cellar (but doesn't open it yet), hears two people sleeping upstairs and at least one maid downstairs, and opens one room to find an alchemists' research lab, casks of strange substances, and an oversized bizarre chair, seemingly made up of spikes and clasps that would bind and poke whomever sat in it.
6) Lord Haffel and his lady are scheduled to be married in one week. Piotr, with some Acting skill and some scribe training, hires himself on with the scribe who is working up the paperwork for the wedding.
I have some of my own ideas, but I'm curious -- where would you go from here?
The location:
- Sevrea, an area of land about 5,000 miles across, the focus of the campaign.
- Djeroon, biggest human city in the known world, about 50,000 population.
Djeroon is a huge city of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, due to the rather strict separation between nobility/wealthy folk and poor commoners.
For reference: http://www.anthrobunny.com/games/sevrea/sevrea.html
http://www.anthrobunny.com/games/sevrea/sev_places.gif
The PCs:
- Kaden, a 17-year-old local street tough trying to work his way into the underworld brotherhood, skilled especially at burglary and generally living off of someone else*s earnings.
Beliefs: It is wrong to steal from those with less; Bow to and serve no one
Instincts: Always sit where you can see the door; Snag unattended items
Traits: Street-Smart; Alert; Dexterity of the Cat; Nimble
- Kagadon, a washed-up soldier for life, conscripted at 13 and now past his prime, doing guard work here and there while searching for a new purpose or an end, whichever comes first.
Beliefs: Fighting is the last resort, but once you start, finish it; Life is always cheap; Pleasure is false but still worthwhile
Instincts: Always keep an eye on the quiet guy; Always eat all you can whenever you can; Fighting is boring -- talk first
Traits: World-Weary; Hairy; Resigned to Death; Iron Stomach; Driven
- Piotr, a spy and professional information-gatherer from the northern land of Eighentin, exiled and searching for his missing wife.
Beliefs: Never trust Djerooni; My wife is still alive
Instincts: Always sit with back to wall; Always keep aware of your exits; Always carry a weapon when on the job
Traits: Aura of Innocence; Familiar Face; Scavenger; Street-Smart
The background:
- Two hundred years ago, Djeroon was the nexus of an empire that encompassed all of the human lands. It fell under circumstances that aren't important here, but left behind remnants of its magic and technology. Other than the seven major cities, most people are animistic farm villagers with bronze age technology.
- Fifteen years ago, Venzaal, the ambitious son of an ambitious Djerooni noble family of grand influence, reclaimed power over the weak Djerooni council of merchants and began an autocratic seizure of all of the lands of the former empire.
- Only the northern lands fended him off, because his military was too strung out (not much of a strategist) and because Eighentin had discovered/rediscovered how to make steel -- especially into armor and crossbow bolts. Venzaal was taken down and pilloried by his peers because he failed. It is rumored that he left an heir, who is now fifteen himself, and who is being hidden by certain noble families who would like to see a return to the iron-fisted stability of empire.
- Five years ago, an insectoid race called The Hive swooped down from the mountains and took advantage of Djeroon's disorganized rebuilding state to raid and pillage, actually reaching the walls of the city itself. The city and countryside are still recovering from it.
The plot:
1) Piotr's wife is a master spy for Eighentin. Her mission was to infiltrate Djerooni noble society and make contacts in the faction that was opposing Venzaal's heir, to see if they could be a threat, could be ignored, should be taken out -- Eighentin would love another brash incompetent on Djeroon's throne. She left on her mission six years ago -- not even telling her husband about it, just leaving in the night. She reported to her contact once a month who reported back to Eighentin. She stopped reporting six months ago; her contact also stopped reporting back five months ago.
Eighentin's leaders also found out that, during the war, Bob had been spying for someone who later turned out to be a double-agent in Djeroon's employ. They exiled him, but privately gave him another mission -- as the only person who might recognize Eleva (his wife) in disguise and possibly the only one who could turn her back if she turnedcoat, he was to go to Djeroon and see if he could discover her fate.
2) Kaden's friend, Zarn, told Kaden of a manor in the noble tiers (actual tiers on the Royal Hill where the nobility live) which Zarn had been casing, where a noble woman lived, some sort of ambassador from a western or northern land. She lived alone, he knew that much, and in substantial wealth. The odd thing was that, six months ago, she vanished. Deliveries of food were made weekly as if someone still lived there, but when he finally evaded the city guards and broke in, he found fresh food, no servants, and no lady -- not even kitsch from any western or northern lands to be found.
After Zarn made a few profits off the place, some guards were hired to watch the manor while odd deliveries were made in the night -- magicians, alchemical vessels, and odd techno-magical machines from the Old Empire.
A month ago, the lady suddenly returned, along with a local Lord who lived there with her as if nothing had ever been different.
3) Kagadon is drinking away the coppers from his last big job -- a two-week long stint as a guard for a noble manor up in the tiers. He and a friend of his from the same old mercenary unit are paid well, and he doesn't inquire about the odd deliveries and even odder visitors during the time he's manning his post.
Our story so far:
4) Kaden tracks down one of the mercenaries who was hired to guard the manor (Kagadon); they discuss the strangeness and investigate the manor, both casing the place at night and talking briefly with Lord Haffel who now lives there with his lady.
5) After casing various taverns for several weeks, Piotr happens to overhear one street-rat bragging to another about a strange manor and a vanished lady from north-or-west. After following the burglar and mercenary, he cases the house himself and breaks in -- while the lord is sleeping. He discovers a secret passage in the wine cellar (but doesn't open it yet), hears two people sleeping upstairs and at least one maid downstairs, and opens one room to find an alchemists' research lab, casks of strange substances, and an oversized bizarre chair, seemingly made up of spikes and clasps that would bind and poke whomever sat in it.
6) Lord Haffel and his lady are scheduled to be married in one week. Piotr, with some Acting skill and some scribe training, hires himself on with the scribe who is working up the paperwork for the wedding.
I have some of my own ideas, but I'm curious -- where would you go from here?