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Help with Meta-plot ideas

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Fri, 2005-08-19 11:32
#1
Acme of Suffering
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Help with Meta-plot ideas

First, let me say that I've been lurking here for awhile and this site is by far, the best PS resource around. Thanks for all the hard work.

Here's my situation: I've got a group who I want to run a game for, and while I'm not new to DnD or Planescape, I've never DM'd before. So I'm looking for suggestions for a cool metaplot.

Since all of the players are new to Planescape, and DnD in general, I'm starting from the beginning of the timeline. Meaning none of the events in the modules and accesories have happened yet.

I'm starting them out at ECL 2 and they've already got characters mostly made:

  • Tiefling Sorcerer, Sensate. A Hive orphan and former light boy who using nothing but his charm and good looks, worked his way into high society. Has a latent megalomaniacal tendency that would be more befitting of a signer.
  • Human Fighter/Barbarian, No faction affiliation decided yet. I would expect the player to choose something along the lines of Indep. No real background yet either, probably hailing from Ysgard. Character concept is intented as something of a synthesis between Conan and Guts.
  • Aasimar Cleric, Athar. Hooray for godless clerics! No background yet, but I see this character being more tightly associated with their faction than the others.
  • NPC Human Rogue, non-cannon sect. Since there are currently only three players, I thought I'd throw in a rogue to round out the 4 basic monster food groups. Laughing out loud

All I've got currently is a vague idea for a means to an end for some undecided antagonist: Somebody is looking for/has found a means to rob mortals of belief. Basically a magical lobotomy that destroys the capacity adhere to abstract ideals and values. This would obviously be a very potent weapon, as applied on an indvidual it would emasculate and ultimately destroy them. Applied selectively to a large group, you would have the power to reshape the planes in very short order.

I figure that is definitely in the PS theme, and its something big enough to be the core of a big dark secret worth working months or more to uncover. But I can't figure out where to go with it. Who is attempting this, and most importantly, WHY? And what are some ways that I can wrap this up in many subplots and layers of indirection and obfuscation for maximum intrigue? Ideally including the core PS concepts, including the three rules, faction politics, exotic creatures and locations, et al. Especially anything that allows me to leverage off of the modules or other published materials.

And with subplots that directly involve the PCs. I have another vague idea for the Tiefling sorcerer, where he was originally intended to be the keystone of some dastardly plot by a demon lord to take control of a large chunk of a prime world, or some such, but something fell through at the last second and he ended up abandoned in Sigil.

I have a fairly good idea of a involving the development and resolution of the NPC rogue's background, but I wouldn't want to devote any time and effort to that untill I have something at least as interesting involving each actual player character on a personal level. Not to mention a meta-plot...

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I'm not obviously not wedded to anything I've mentioned, so feel free to tell me I'm way of base and suggest something totally different. I'm new to this and feeling very intimidated by the magnitude of it all, so anything is appreciated at this point.

Thanks in advance!

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Fri, 2005-08-19 17:04
#2
eldersphinx
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Help with Meta-plot ideas

Heh. You've got a very solid start, there. And you haven't gotten so big into your "big picture booga booga" that you're forgetting to keep the story on the players. Thumbs up, there. Laughing out loud

As far as the philosophy of Planescape and the Three Maxims go, let me suggest one slight modification to your original idea: The "belief-stealer", whatever it is, doesn't destroy belief. Instead, it liberates it - creating some entirely new construct. Or for even more entertainment value, two.

And then your PCs get involved by being the victims of an early test-run that doesn't completely destroy them, but does leave them knowing they've been kissed. Center of All - they've been hit where they live. Rule of Three - for each PC, a 'good guy' belief construct and a 'bad guy' one, plus the diminished original. (Or law/chaos, hope/despair, whatever dualism floats yer boat.) Unity of Rings - the PCs can (and should) eventually be made whole.

(Note that the above is only one possible suggestion. Take it, leave it, spin it, mock it as you like. I'm not picky. Cool )

As for who, what, why, and all the rest - pull out whatever resources you have to hand (Uncaged, Factol's Manifesto, the Planes boxes, Dead Gods, et cetera) and browse through them until something goes -click!- That's yoru hook - and probably, a branch into larger metaplot as well.

Best of luck...

Fri, 2005-08-19 19:03
(Reply to #2) #3
Acme of Suffering
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Help with Meta-plot ideas

Possible spoilers for PS: Torment and Dead Gods below
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Thanks a lot for your post!

Yeah, I think the idea of a freed belief becoming a manifestation briefly occured to me. Similar to the Nameless One in Torment, whose sundered mortality grows into a seperate powerful entity who seeks to destroy him from afar. The idea of an abstract concept given form and a consciousness of its own is too compelling and too uniquely Planescape to pass up. I will definitely have to do something with that...

I was looking through Dead Gods last night, and the Visages intrigued me. You see, I see belief and perception being tightly intertwined, one affecting the other. And since the Visages' primary power is the manipulation of perception, that makes them a natural fit into this idea. I was thinking that whoever ultimately lies behind all this somehow knew Orcus/Tenebrous could create the Visages, and thus indirectly precipitated his return in order to glean this secret from him as a necessary component of the larger belief stealing plot.

That way, I could run Modron March and Dead Gods and make them part of my own much larger, more sinister plot. :twisted:

As for your specific plot suggestion, that's definitely a very compelling idea and a great way to get the PCs directly involved in a personal kind of way. However, its an idea that I think I will hold off on. I pictured being bereft of belief as being incredibly destructive to a person's psychology; a berk'd become all listless and wishy-washy. It wouldn't be all at once either, a sod would keep goin' more or less as they are for awhile, with the inertia of habit keepin' 'em goin' fer a bit. Then, gradually they'd realize they can't figure out why they used to do all the things they used to do. They'd start forgettin' to even go through the motions of life, till one day they can't even remember how they used to do what they did. Divine spellcasters who channel their power based solely on the power of their beliefs would be hit hardest and fastest, because they'd lose all their spell casting abilities in a matter of days. But eventually everybody'd end up the same languid, and powerless shell. That ain't all either, without any beleifs to focus perception, a body's ears and eyes'd start goin too. First you'd just feel like ya was goin deaf an' blind, as the world started to get dull and hazy, and conversions started to sound jumbled and meaningless. Some berks'd start going barmy as their senses started firin' randomly with the lack of stimulation, and they'd start hallucinatin' and havin' paranoid delusions and such. In the end you'd have nothin' but a totally barmy sod without even the will to keep 'emself goin'. He'd be worse than an retired bleaker factol...

So you can see why I might not want to spring that kind of fate on low level characters, with players that are mostly new to roleplaying. Sticking out tongue

However, that's a great idea for when they start getting really powerful, and the campaign turns that coner where they start getting into the really important and dangerous stuff, and I want to get the characters into the real plot as dramatically and traumatically as possible. :twisted: It would certainly get them properly motivated and give them a nice sense of urgency. Cool

Thanks again for your input!

Fri, 2005-08-19 22:06
(Reply to #3) #4
Surreal Personae
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Help with Meta-plot ideas

Tell, tell more about your characters.

The One of Tainted Blood could be the chosen One. The One whose belief and imagination sustains the multiverse. Eliminate him and you eliminate the cosmos. His delusions of grandeur are not just mere illusions, or so the cultists of Doubt believe.

The Heroic One seeks fame and fortune yes? Glory in battle, honor in the field? But why wander the planes? What is behind these lofty goals? What something forgotten back on the glorious battlefield of Ysgard? Perhaps something intangible was lost back there?

The Believer in Nonbelief could use the Belief Removal as a scalpel. Surgically take out belief in the god frauds and you kill the tumor of their sustenance.

The rogue, the one who is a part of the group yet not a part of the group. He could be the Betrayer, the one whose only allegiance belongs to his Ideal, not to people.

An enemy, a nemesis, a belief unmade. The antithesis of belief is... doubt. Doubt, a state of continual questioning, nothing firm or concrete. It eats away and yet does not give back. Doubt is the end of Belief, the weapon sought.

A rival, a plague, a belief unbound. At the other end of the spectrum, Dogmatism. My way or the high-way, a freezing in place. Just an anchor, no adjustment, but fixed in place. Something unchanging, unmoving, unwavering.

In between, the bystander, the watcher, uncaring and unthinking. Indifference: apathetic and aloof. This does not apply to me.

Doubt devours, at the behest of Dogmatism. After all, if I can't have it my way, nobody can. And Indifference just stands by watching. And yet, these Three do not know that when mixed together they make One: Belief. The Three do not know the strength they have supporting each other.

But as it was once in the beginning, so shall it be in the end. The Three WILL combine into a one, but will it be the One? The bringing together can be a peaceful, productive birth, or it can be a stillbirth. It is up to the 4 protagonists, for right now they are the Center of All.

Sun, 2005-08-21 01:30
(Reply to #4) #5
Acme of Suffering
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Help with Meta-plot ideas

First of all, let me say "Wow". Those were certainly some very evocative and compelling suggestions. Definitely some things there I will have to mull over.

'Surreal Personae' wrote:
Tell, tell more about your characters.

Okay, at this point there is not a whole lot more to say. Two of the players haven't really come up with much yet, and the one player who has some level of a background for their character, got most of it from my suggestions. They are relatively new to the whole role playing thing, so I think they're almost as lost as I am right now. Eye-wink

Kismet Wellenreiter: Male Tiefling, Sor1. CN Sensate
(In my game, Tieflings still get a bonus to CHA, damnit) Cool
Kismet is an attractive and charismatic young man, who spends most of his time socializing and carousing at all the most posh parties in town, and is much like your typical hedonist Sensate. He has no real job per se, but rather lives off the kindness and generosity of wealthy socialites who do so enjoy his company... In other words, he's a professional boy-toy. :shock:

However, he wasn't always hobnobbing with elites and bilking them out of gifts. Kismet's earliest memories are of the Hive, and trying to desperately to stay alive from day to day. He quickly discovered that people could be easily swayed and manipulated with a few choice words and unspoken signals. Glibness in fact, seemed to be as much in his blood as whatever gave him those strange bright orange eyes and cloven fingers on his left hand. Eventually, he managed to get one of those lantern staffs, and was able to make a decent living for hive orphan.

Around the time he hit puberty, he began to develop an intrinsic understanding of magic and began to display small magical talents. Also around this same time, Kismet began to feel that what the multiverse really needed was a leader. With a good leader, all of the conflict and hardship would end and everyone could move forward to some greater destiny. And why couldn't that be him ruling over all?

Soon, he was able to make enough jink to keep himself clean and healthy looking, and even to get himself some decent clothes. One day he found himself outside of a formal gathering, and walked in like he was the guest of honor.

The past few years of constant revelry sensory indulgence have distanced himself somewhat from that boyhood dream of... "ruling all existence", but lately he's been once again been growing restless and yearning for more.

Lobo: Male Human, Bar1/Ftr1. N
Not much in the way of background or personality for this character yet. He's a big guy with a big sword type, though, and he makes his living as mercenary. The character concept is based mostly on Conan (from the movie) and Guts (from the Anime/Manga Berserk). Lobo is a rugged individualist sort, so Free League for faction.

The character is from Ysgard originally, and the closest thing I've gotten to for a reason for leaving is that he was sick of the petitioners and the monotony of the plane. Also, as a sellsword, its a bit hard to stand out and make a living on a plane totally dominated by warriors. This character is in desperate need of real conflict in their back story, he needs some figurative (or literal) demons to be running from.

As far as goals, fame and fortune are a good guess, although the character is old enough (28) that a lot of the more romantic notions would be behind him and he's now more content just to earn his next meal and jug of ale. But that's just pure speculation on my part.

Cal'lye, Female Aasimar Clr1, CG, Athar
This is the character that I have the least to go on so far. I don't have any information on personality yet other than what is indicated by class/race/alignment. Although, this character will be the most invested in their faction and its ideals.

As far as background, all I have is that the player indicated they wanted to be from one of the burgs on the Good side of the Outlands. The only other thing about this character I know of worth mentioning, is that she has max wisdom (20). Which is good, because Lobo has a lot of hit points, but a mediocre AC, so they'll need those 2 extra 1st level spells. Laughing out loud

Motoko, Female Human Rog2, NE.

Member of a sect I desperately need to name. Suggestions welcome. Smiling

Mo is the NPC rogue whose meta-purpose is to clear traps and provide combat support, since Lobo is the only PC with any real combat skill. Since Mo is fully under my control, she's by far the most detailed of the four. In fact, she's probably the single most detailed thing I 've created for the game. Years of playing D&D but never DMing has left me good at creating characters, and not much else. :oops:

Mo is a dour and serious individual with an occasional wry wit. She is intensely focused and borders on obsessive compulsive, especially when it comes to perceived weakness. One of her greatest motivating factors and greatest weaknesses is her profound fear of failure.

Mo is the member of a sect that teaches mastery of the self is the only true form of power and that if one has mastered them self, then there is nothing they cannot achieve. This sect is based in Plaguemort and fills the role that an assassins guild might fill in a conventional fantasy setting. In fact, the idea started out as just an assassins guild, but then I remembered that this is Planescape and everything is more fun revolving around a philosophy. Cool

While Mo was raised in this sect and still believes the tenets of the sect, she's not currently a member in good standing... You see, the leader of the sect is her foster father, and he has always maintained that her real father had been killed by a shadowy entity known as the Black Wind. Mo suddenly decided that she needed to find out who her father was and find out why this "Black Wind" killed him and what it is. Consequently, she set off across the planes, which of course upsets her foster father who feels that he's owed a little more than that, and that he might also be in breach of contract. Goons will occasionally be showing up to retrieve her.

Here's the real chant: Her father was the "Black Wind" and it was her foster father that killed him.

Her father was a prime fighter turned planewalker and mercenary who went by the title "The Black Wind". Eventually he met a woman and fell in love. Unfortunately, she was a wizard and Yugoloth sycophant who was just using him as breeding stock to create a child who was permanently magically bound to be a 'loth puppet. (This idea shamelessly stolen from Clueless' blue gem situation in Shemeska's story hour)

After she conceives and absconds with his heart and unborn child, Mo's father eventually tumbles to the dark of it, hunts her down and kills her. He sets off with his daughter to scour the planes for someone who can puzzle out what they did and how to undo it (and isn't afraid to piss off the 'loths).

The 'loths involved aren't going to let a little investment like that just get away. So, after a few years have passed, they learn he's passing through Plaguemort and hire a local assassin to kill the man and then raise the child until they come for her, and to "make sure she learns something useful". An odd contract for an assassin, but the pay is good and the girl turns out to be a promising student.

Of course, the major part of the payment for the contract is supposed to come on completion, so the 'loths decide they can kill two birds with one stone: testing their new tool and settling the contract. They are responsible for her sudden compulsion to find TBW, knowing that the assassin will stop at nothing to retrieve her, which will ultimately force a confrontation in which one of them will kill the other. If Mo kills her foster father, then they have a new toy ready for action, and if he kills her then obviously their little experiment was too weak to be useful and its back to the drawing board. Either way, the contract is voided.

However, once Mo and the party have defeated her foster father, they'll find the contract. When that is combined other strange things like Mo occasionally disappearing fro brief periods, or having strange seizures now and then, will open the door to further side plot involving unlocking the secrets of her origin and breaking the 'loth enchantment which I also have some ideas for.

This back story seems easy enough to tie to larger plots, as the 'loths can be pawns in someone else's grand scheme, or the 'loths could even just be replaced altogether. And looking back on how much adventure potential I have for just the one NPC, I guess what I really need to do is just come up with a good, well developed antagonist, and the plot will write itself... Laughing out loud

Hopefully next weekend will be our first game session. I'll definitely be hounding the players provide more character detail, under threat of me coming up with those details for them. :twisted:

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