Post by thedragonmaster on Nov 28, 2006 21:15:54 GMT -5
I am new to GMing and have been authorized by the group I RP with to present a MURPG campaign. The last person who GMed a MURPG campaign for them changed the plot so many times and by such a wide margin that each player had 20 characters* before he was deposed. So I want to be sure that I do a good job drawing them into the game.
Here's what I have so far (I am still working through some of it, the main villain takes more stones than he should):
There have been a series of robberies in town recently. All of them with the same MO. The thief slips in, steals a religious icon, and slips out all without being spotted outside the building and without tripping any alarms except the one that is around the item he steals.
As for where I want it to go... The villain is "effectively" a vampire**. One of his challenges is he can't step foot on holy ground (so any artifact in a church, even sitting on the front lawn, is safe from him). The villain is collecting these items to build a "suit" of sorts that will allow him to control his mutation.
Now to jump ahead a little bit. My goal is for the PC's to play up their heroic sides. Then, have our villain will transport them to some place on the far side of the galaxy. They will have a mission or two there, then when they try to teleport back, one is left behind.
The other PC's will go on, still playing up the heroic, while the one who was left behind does whatever he can to get back***. Once the PC gets back, he will start off working with the group, but of course he won't be able to stand the limitations they put on themselves and will rebel against them, maybe even becoming the new villain.
At this point it will be revealed that the original villain was following a prophecy that one of our hero's was going to destroy "The World" though to what extent that takes us...
While I can see the Grand Arch**** of the story, it is the small archs and the missions that make those up that are giving me trouble. Anyone with more experience have some suggestions on how to break the larger arch into smaller archs?
* Seriously, I've seen the Character Sheets.
**For more details, check my post: murpg.proboards19.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1164354262
***Voyager fans will have an idea where I'm going with this. Think about the other Federation ship they met in the delta quadrant who were using the interdimensional beings as fuel for their ship. This character will be taken down that type of path (and will in fact be working from that angle, I can think of several RPers in the group who would love that challenge).
****A little introduction to the terms I'm using here. One Grand Arch is made up of three Major Archs. One Major Arch is made up of three Archs. One Arch is made up of three Minor Archs. One Minor Arch is made up of three Missions. The first of each unit of three will be the introduction. The second is where the PCs act on what they've learned. The third is where the PCs see the consequences of their response. I split it up this way to help keep me focused. The system is designed to keep you focused on the action, to keep things moving, so I figured I should set up some way to keep my story moving.
EDIT: Just about have the Main Villain finished, I'll post him when I do. I finally figured out how to lower his cost, and when I have a spare minute I'll be finalizing him and with any luck that will help me get an idea of the first three missions ( I know what information the first 2 will provide, just waiting for inspiration on the third.) I have a plan for it to go in cycles of three. One Minor Arch being 3 missions. An Arch being 3 Minor Archs. Then a Major Arch being 3 Archs.
EDIT 2: Been working more on the first Minor Arch. Here's what I have so far.
Mission 1: The Vampyr (Consisting of Missions 1-3)
This Arch will introduce the players to the Villain.
Minor Arch 1: The Museum Heist
After introducing the PC's to the environment (through a newspaper
one of which's articles will be about a new artifacts being delivered to local museums/art collections/etc. and the recent theft of one of them from a private collection)
Mission Objective - Find out:
1. what item was stolen?
2. who stole it?
3. why was it stolen?
Mission 2: The Suit of Armor
In this Mission the PCs will be introduced to the history of the artifacts (both stolen and otherwise). The general story will be that despite the vast differences in where they were found, they were all crafted by the same hands. Our villain (whether they have discovered this or not) has no control over most of his powers. Each piece of the suit will allow him control of one more of his Actions. The idea being that if they allow him to acquire them, he will be more of a threat the next time they face him. When all the pieces are worn together, they will allow his Vampiric form control in all forms (he has three forms and three psyches, not counting those alien to him). This information will be imparted through the use of yet another one of the artifacts (I'll provide a list of them when I have a chance).
Mission Objective - 1. Discover the purpose of the armor
2. Where/when did it come from?
3. Can it be defeated once assembled?
Optional Objective - A. Deny access to the armor to the Thief.
Mission 3: In the Lair of Darkness
Finally the face to face confrontation. The PC's have collected enough information on the Villain to track him to his hidden Lair (different than the one mentioned previously, that was more of a hideout while this is a permanent dwelling). This will be more of a Smash-N-Bash mission.
Mission Objective - 1. Infiltrate the Thiefs' Lair
2. Get to the Central Chamber before he escapes
At this point, they will see him face to face. The room will fill with Minions. While the Heroes are deciding what to do he will introduce himself. Tell them about the Prophecy (one that goes with the suit, and one that refers to them). He will put it on and vanish in a cloud of mist.
Optional Objective - A. Take as many pieces as possible back to the lab for analysis
Now the PCs are on their way back to their base, and store what pieces they have with any others they have collected. Once this is finished, they will hear a muffled sound in the vault. Turns out that the Thief (who has to have been someplace before to Teleport there) has just left the vault with all the pieces they had collected. (Seems like a waste I know, but You'll see where I'm going with this when I start the next Minor Arch.
Again, I'll have a character sheet posted as soon as I figure this guy out. I decided to add prescience (tied to teleportation) so that he can spirit away just before death and thus carry the story on. But I don't know how to fit it in (I've already sacrificed Close Combat to save stones and Action Boxes, Don't know what else I'll have to give up before this is over, since I have only 1 R left).
Future additions will be added as a separate post, keeping one Arch to a post. for simplicities sake. If you have any suggestions/Ideas/Comments/Complaints/Bizarre Randomness/Whatever, feel free to toss a post up.
Here's what I have so far (I am still working through some of it, the main villain takes more stones than he should):
There have been a series of robberies in town recently. All of them with the same MO. The thief slips in, steals a religious icon, and slips out all without being spotted outside the building and without tripping any alarms except the one that is around the item he steals.
As for where I want it to go... The villain is "effectively" a vampire**. One of his challenges is he can't step foot on holy ground (so any artifact in a church, even sitting on the front lawn, is safe from him). The villain is collecting these items to build a "suit" of sorts that will allow him to control his mutation.
Now to jump ahead a little bit. My goal is for the PC's to play up their heroic sides. Then, have our villain will transport them to some place on the far side of the galaxy. They will have a mission or two there, then when they try to teleport back, one is left behind.
The other PC's will go on, still playing up the heroic, while the one who was left behind does whatever he can to get back***. Once the PC gets back, he will start off working with the group, but of course he won't be able to stand the limitations they put on themselves and will rebel against them, maybe even becoming the new villain.
At this point it will be revealed that the original villain was following a prophecy that one of our hero's was going to destroy "The World" though to what extent that takes us...
While I can see the Grand Arch**** of the story, it is the small archs and the missions that make those up that are giving me trouble. Anyone with more experience have some suggestions on how to break the larger arch into smaller archs?
* Seriously, I've seen the Character Sheets.
**For more details, check my post: murpg.proboards19.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1164354262
***Voyager fans will have an idea where I'm going with this. Think about the other Federation ship they met in the delta quadrant who were using the interdimensional beings as fuel for their ship. This character will be taken down that type of path (and will in fact be working from that angle, I can think of several RPers in the group who would love that challenge).
****A little introduction to the terms I'm using here. One Grand Arch is made up of three Major Archs. One Major Arch is made up of three Archs. One Arch is made up of three Minor Archs. One Minor Arch is made up of three Missions. The first of each unit of three will be the introduction. The second is where the PCs act on what they've learned. The third is where the PCs see the consequences of their response. I split it up this way to help keep me focused. The system is designed to keep you focused on the action, to keep things moving, so I figured I should set up some way to keep my story moving.
EDIT: Just about have the Main Villain finished, I'll post him when I do. I finally figured out how to lower his cost, and when I have a spare minute I'll be finalizing him and with any luck that will help me get an idea of the first three missions ( I know what information the first 2 will provide, just waiting for inspiration on the third.) I have a plan for it to go in cycles of three. One Minor Arch being 3 missions. An Arch being 3 Minor Archs. Then a Major Arch being 3 Archs.
EDIT 2: Been working more on the first Minor Arch. Here's what I have so far.
Mission 1: The Vampyr (Consisting of Missions 1-3)
This Arch will introduce the players to the Villain.
Minor Arch 1: The Museum Heist
After introducing the PC's to the environment (through a newspaper
one of which's articles will be about a new artifacts being delivered to local museums/art collections/etc. and the recent theft of one of them from a private collection)
Mission Objective - Find out:
1. what item was stolen?
2. who stole it?
3. why was it stolen?
Mission 2: The Suit of Armor
In this Mission the PCs will be introduced to the history of the artifacts (both stolen and otherwise). The general story will be that despite the vast differences in where they were found, they were all crafted by the same hands. Our villain (whether they have discovered this or not) has no control over most of his powers. Each piece of the suit will allow him control of one more of his Actions. The idea being that if they allow him to acquire them, he will be more of a threat the next time they face him. When all the pieces are worn together, they will allow his Vampiric form control in all forms (he has three forms and three psyches, not counting those alien to him). This information will be imparted through the use of yet another one of the artifacts (I'll provide a list of them when I have a chance).
Mission Objective - 1. Discover the purpose of the armor
2. Where/when did it come from?
3. Can it be defeated once assembled?
Optional Objective - A. Deny access to the armor to the Thief.
Mission 3: In the Lair of Darkness
Finally the face to face confrontation. The PC's have collected enough information on the Villain to track him to his hidden Lair (different than the one mentioned previously, that was more of a hideout while this is a permanent dwelling). This will be more of a Smash-N-Bash mission.
Mission Objective - 1. Infiltrate the Thiefs' Lair
2. Get to the Central Chamber before he escapes
At this point, they will see him face to face. The room will fill with Minions. While the Heroes are deciding what to do he will introduce himself. Tell them about the Prophecy (one that goes with the suit, and one that refers to them). He will put it on and vanish in a cloud of mist.
Optional Objective - A. Take as many pieces as possible back to the lab for analysis
Now the PCs are on their way back to their base, and store what pieces they have with any others they have collected. Once this is finished, they will hear a muffled sound in the vault. Turns out that the Thief (who has to have been someplace before to Teleport there) has just left the vault with all the pieces they had collected. (Seems like a waste I know, but You'll see where I'm going with this when I start the next Minor Arch.
Again, I'll have a character sheet posted as soon as I figure this guy out. I decided to add prescience (tied to teleportation) so that he can spirit away just before death and thus carry the story on. But I don't know how to fit it in (I've already sacrificed Close Combat to save stones and Action Boxes, Don't know what else I'll have to give up before this is over, since I have only 1 R left).
Future additions will be added as a separate post, keeping one Arch to a post. for simplicities sake. If you have any suggestions/Ideas/Comments/Complaints/Bizarre Randomness/Whatever, feel free to toss a post up.
