I think I fucked up Veeky Forums. I might have finally broken my players.
They told me they wanted to follow a compelling set story for once rather than what I usually do which is adapt to their current situation and basically write the campaign weekly.
They said they were okay with me smudging the numbers a little in lieu of a great campaign for them to play through, and they promised to mostly stick to the point of the campaign but I think I might have overdone it.
On one hand this is clearly meant to make someone ask what you did.
On the other hand, this is one heck of a hook. Go on, elaborate.
I'm ready for an ebin greentext that totally, 100% happened.
I've got a few paragraphs written already, fear not.
My players never really play evil aligned characters, it's always either Good or Neutral for them.
Necromancy was strictly forbidden magic rather than just a taboo, anyone found to be practising it was either exiled or executed depending on the severity of their actions.
The world I designed had 4 moons and one large central continent, divided into four separate countries by nigh impassable mountain ranges. North, East, South, West.
Each country had their own moon that they associated with and worshipped, though not in the strictest sense, it usually came down to the country folk saying something like "Crops are growing well, praise Altenna" (Eastern Kingdom's moon)
A common and fanciful story was often told of the four moons. People said at the turn of the millennium the four moons would rise blood red in the night, and at the stroke of midnight would be aligned in such a way that they shone light directly into a gigantic fortress sitting atop the mountains at the dead center of the continent, tens of thousands of years old. Legend had it that whomsoever sat atop the fortress on the stroke of midnight would be granted powers unimaginable. However the enormous gates to the inner sanctum would only open on the dawn of the final day. Surely however that was just the ramblings of madmen, after all records did not stretch back that far and such tales would have been lost to the wind.
The story started on the first night of the XXX9th year, and the moons in the night sky were starting to glow a dull yet sinister shade of orange, a sign of what was prophecised to come.
On the first day of the last year the dead began to rise from their graves. It started in towns and settlements closest to the fortress in the mountains, but rapidly spread outwards towards the edge of the continent, where the respective countries' capitals were situated.
The four countries held a summit off shore. They needed to stop the invading undead masses stretching out like a plague threatening to cover the entire continent. By the time the countries had gathered enough capital and manpower, there were only three more months left in the year, and they surmised that a Lich had taken residence in the fortress and needed to be stopped. The villages were being ransacked by the undead, gold, diamonds, anything of value was being taken and brought back to the fortress atop the mountain.
I told my players that the campaign would heavily feature undead enemies, they were a Paladin, Ranger, and Fighter who the Eastern Kingdom had recruited amongst many others to end the undead menace, and so in our first session they set off towards the fortress, thousands of miles away, praying they would make it before it was too late.
They made good progress at first. The outer areas of the Eastern Kingdom were relatively free from undead save for a few here and there. They mostly helped evacuating villagers and sending everyone they could towards the Capital as per their orders. There were a few close calls early on, but nothing I had to alter my rolls for. They were making good progress until they reached about a quarter way. The undead were growing in number and I had to have them join forces with some NPC adventurers also hired by the Eastern Kingdom, which is where our first session concluded. They probably weren't prepared for the levels of assholery I was willing to stoop to to ensure they were invested in what was going on.
Our second session the week after is where things started to get a little iffy. When they arrived I told them that they wouldn't be needing their character sheets this week. I had made brand new character sheets for them. They were going to be playing the advancing force from the Western Kingdom as well. North and South were sending troops to deal with the undead, but that would have been too much for them to play at the same time, and not entirely the point of my campaign either.
The new heroes they were playing were a Sorcerer, a Rogue, and a Cleric. I let them choose among themselves which they would be, and they too set out towards the fortress atop the mountains to aid the other countries and rid their lands of the ghouls slowly over taking it.
The Western Kingdom was smaller than the Eastern Kingdom, but what they lacked in size they made up for in ferocity. The players from the Western Kingdom had higher stats allocated to them than I allowed their Eastern characters to have. The downside to a smaller kingdom however, is that the march of the undead was mainly impeded by vast stretches of countryside. Three months before the turn of the millenium and the undead were already grasping at the doors of the Western Kingdom's Capital city.
Things were going to be a lot tougher reaching the fortress from here. But my players enjoyed playing towards the same goal within two different armies.
Every week I would swap back and forth between the two groups, the Eastern group always had a much easier time, the undead on this side weren't nearly as vicious as what they were experiencing as the other group in the West. Still, both groups week after week made progress towards the fortress. Smiting undead, rescuing any villagers that were stupid enough to have stayed so close to the center of the continent.
They figured that I was going to have both groups arrive at the fortress on the last day, and have them team up with the NPC groups from the North and South in some grand battle against the Lich and his army.
However this isn't what I was doing.
Despite harder odds, a far more overwhelming number of foes, and a minimal amount of dice smudging on my behalf, the Western group made it to the base of the mountain path towards the fortress on their side of the mountain first. Battling hordes of undead they made it to the very top, and at dawn when the large stone slabs began to open inwards. I drew that session to a close.
They complained but I told them that if they could make time for it, our session next week would be twice as long, and they figured that they were right I was planning an epic conclusion to their battle, with all four countries fighting at each others side.
Our last session they took control of the Eastern group once again, and made their way up the side of the mountain, but something was wrong. The enemies they were facing were far harder than any they had fought before as this group, and they almost weren't equipped to deal with it. They could see the stone slab far atop the mountain open up, but they were miles from their destination, fighting swathes of unending undead. Larger undead that neither group had seen before joined the fray and fought tooth and nail to prevent the Eastern group from ascending as fast as they wanted.
I stopped them. And asked them to pick up where the Western group concluded last week.
The Western group marched inside the now open gates. The courtyard was swarming with undead and they could see now that the fortress was still completely segregated into the four cardinal directions. They couldn't see what was happening in any of the other courtyards. They didn't know if any of the other countries had made it.
It took them until nightfall to make their way to the tower in the inner sanctum, the four moons were drenched in the colour of blood, and once white crystals lined along the towers sides were beginning to glow with a dark shade of red.
Each corner of the tower had its own staircase to reach the top. No amount of perception rolls could let them hear beyond the fortress' thick walls to discern if any of the other groups from any of the other kingdoms had made it.
Bunpin
When they reached the staircase they sealed it off from the undead chasing them at the bottom and begun to climb.
At the top, in the darkness, they were met with a wizened man in a crimson robe. He was a Necromancer, not a Lich, but still Evil by any means.
In the center of the room sat a huge blood red crystal, and it was beginning to shine with the light of the four moons. The Western party leapt into combat with the Necromancer but he begged them to stop, and to listen to him. He had a reason.
Determined to snuff out evil at all costs the party paid him no heed. But the Necromancer was strong. Too strong.
The Cleric was the first to die. Necromancers don't enjoy the company of Clerics very much. The Cleric's arms and legs were broken by grasping skeletal hands that sprouted from the walls and floor behind him. His jaw was torn off and left to die on the floor. It happened far too fast.
Few of the Western party's attacks were landing on the Necromancer. The Rogue died next. Head wrenched from his shoulders by some abomination conjured out of thin air.
The red stone in the center of the room begun to glow bright and the Sorcerer took the hint. He cast the most powerful spell he could think of to shatter the stone, and the Necromancer screamed at him to stop. The giant ruby shattered and the Necromancer fell to the floor, sobbing. The sorceror strode over and ended his life. Any remaining undead in the room crumbled to dust and the Sorcerer had saved the day. Only then did he notice that something had fallen out of the ruby.
I didn't elaborate as to what. It was back to the Eastern group.
this is bretty gud, OP.
Both groups were separated by a millenia and the Western Sorcerer is the Eastern's BBEG?
Even though they were seriously pissed off with me for killing off two characters so quickly in such a short space of time the Rogue and Cleric got back into the swing of things as the Ranger and Paladin, smiting evil with a newfound bloodlust. Serious dice smudging came into play here.
It was the afternoon. They fought their way up towards the fortress.
It was evening. Into the courtyard.
It was night. Up the stairs.
They were expecting to arrive too late to the fray. To see the Sorceror standing there with the necromancer dead by his hand, with some new terror to face emerging from the ruby crystal.
They were indeed late. Later than they ever could have imagined.
The players burst into the top of the tower as the gems on the side were lighting up red as the moons begun to allign at each corner but the sight that greeted them was much different than what they had expected.
At the center of the room stood six rubies. In front of them was a Demi-Lich.
Ten points.
How did the players react to that?
This time they didn't leap into the fray immediately. They stood their ground and looked at the rubies in the center. They didn't contain abominations, one contained skeletal remains covered in a crimson robe. Another contained the skeletal remains of a woman in a bright white wedding dress. The others were empty.
"Friends, to my side once more" said the Lich. From the ground rose an undead hooded warrior, carrying two daggers and a bow upon his back. The dark recesses of his hood empty and without substance. Beside him floated a ghastly looking figure in white vestments. No arms or legs and a tongue hanging from a rotten non-jawed face.
"It's an honour to fight by your side once again after all these years" muttered the Lich under his breath. His undead servants had no will of their own, yet he held a one sided conversation with them while the Eastern group looked at me either in disbelief or disgust.
After talking with his former companions the Lich turned to the Eastern group and asked them why they were not attacking him.
"Tell me why" Demanded the fighter, who had been playing the Sorcerer in the Western group.
The Lich explained what had happened a thousands years ago after killing the Necromancer.
Good story so far
Yeah, this never happened.
When the necromancer had passed, the Sorceror looked over at the ruby he had shattered. Inside it was the skeletal remains of a woman in a bridal dress. With the ruby shattered as the clock struck midnight the room was bathed in a red glow from the moons. With nowhere now for the light to focus the Sorceror was filled with power. More power than he could possibly hope to control. Power that overflowed and that he could not keep a hold of. Phenomenal amounts of magic were cascading out of his fingers, his eyes, his mouth. He passed out.
When the Sorverer awoke he tried to revive his fallen companions with his new powers. They did not revive, for he did not contain enough energy to revive them.
He devoted his life to finding a way to revive his friends. He poured over the Necromancer's notes. The Necromancer had found a way to completely revive the dead, not just as undead minions with no mind of their own, but as themselves. They had to be sealed within a gem prison made of expensive and hard to find gems. Indistinguishable to normal folk from regular diamonds and gems.
The Sorcerer died.
So strong were his emotions that he died but he didn't pass on. He devoted his afterlife trying to revive his brothers. Any way he could think of, but he found no other way than the Necromancer's. But he had run out of power trying to revive them.
In the year XXX9 the moons begun to glow, and he slowly began to gain power from them. Raising legions of undead he scoured the continent for precious gemstones, for he needed more than was enough to make one ruby.
whether this happened or not, this is pretty interesting
This is why I said I might have broken them.
When the Lich's tale was done, my players didn't feel the need to fight. They lay down their arms and wished the Lich continue his work. It was almost midnight. and the rubies in the center of the room started to glow once more.
Waiting outside for the time to pass, beams of pure energy shot out of the open doors and windows of the tower keep. When it stopped the Eastern party peered down the tower and saw the masses of undead turn to dust. They were eager to meet up with their other selves from a thousand years past.
They walked into the tower keep atop the fortress and while before, only one of the Rubies had been broken. All six were now shattered and in pieces. Six of the rubies had failed to hold the power from the four moons. The Lich's skull lay inside one of the rubies. The Lich had passed on when his friends had not revived.
The Necromancer's notes had been wrong. There was no way to bring his wife back from the dead. The Sorcerer had wasted a thousand years as a Lich based on faulty research done by an old man who was stricken with grief when his wife passed away on his wedding day.
The legions of undead had crumbled as the Lich's will had been crushed and he willingly released himself from the mortal coil in despair.
The Eastern group were hailed as heroes back in their kingdom for defeating the Lich and his army of undead.
This is where the campaign finally ended last week. Should I have given them a happy ending? Or should they let go?
>Should I have given them a happy ending? Or should they let go?
You should stop posting on this board.
It's not necessarily a bad end, the world was saved, and what's more, there will not be another undead plague
It's sad, yes, but the mission is accomplished
Good thing I finished by the time you posted then isn't it?
I thought so too, I gave them what they asked for, a compelling story that they could get invested in, but now they say they want to go back to our normal way of doing it where I wing it weekly.
Still I might find some way to revisit the four kingdoms in the future.
From a narrative standpoint, it's a good story and an enjoyable read. Whether it actually happened or not.
But you've got to remember that your players aren't reading a book, they're playing a game. They play the game because they want to enjoy themselves. I for one love tragic but fulfilling endings, but not everyone does.
As a GM it is your job to understand what your players want out of a game, and bring aspects of that into play while telling a story you think is compelling.
If your players just hated the ending, disliked every aspect of it, and were left feeling as if all their progress was wasted, then, in my opinion, you've failed as a GM.
Players never know what they actually want. With this in mind, you did a good job.
>failed as a DM
That's a bit harsh. The story was good, and they enjoyed the journey, that's pretty much 90% of the way to being a good dm
And it actually had a resolution, unlike most campaigns
Seconding this.
Don't get me wrong, they enjoyed themselves and they wanted a change of pace from our usual sessions which is exactly what they got. I incorporated plenty of elements of the things they usually enjoy into each week, but with the main focus still on destroying the Lich, and I had the majority of the plot laid out before we had even started.
I think they would have preferred a happy ending but for now it's back to our regularly scheduled programming with me flying by the seat of my pants week by week.
Yeah, but even if the entirety of the game is fun up to the end. A bad ending (in their opinion) is going to ruin the entirety of it. Any in-jokes and awe inspiring moments are basically going to be invalidated by an ending where all the build-up seemed to be for nothing.
Firstly, I'd like to congratulate you on finishing this story. I pleasantly wasted a few minutes of my time, and I don't regret reading it.
However, that's no Captain Drake. It's no All Guardmen Party. It's not even Spiderwoods. Here's why. It's all going steadily from the beginning to the big twist, and that's all.
There's no life in your story. At no point the players make an ingenious decision. At no point they - or you, for that matter - make a gaffe. At no point they get off predetermined story's rails, even for a moment. It's all mental masturbation over one twist.
You couldn't even resist saying things like
>I might have finally broken my players
in the very first post.
As a read, it was decent. As a tabletop story, you can do better.
There's plenty of side stories I omitted from the writeup though. It's not as though they were all just plodding towards my plot hook constantly. For the sake of convenience and my fingers I didn't include everything the groups did. I did a decent amount of micro-seat-of-my-pantsing but with the overall goal still focused on stopping the legions of undead.
I suppose I should include more details of that should I ever type this out again to make it seem less like that's all they did.