The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.

1. The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.

   #1

   The problem that i have at the momment is this: I have an idea for a main quest and alot of side quest to fill in the gaps but no idea how to end my main quest in a memorable way! I want it to stand out in the players mind - at least for a little while since this is my first game back after a 4 year break, and i want to show i still got it, sort of... :oops:
   
   Here's a tast - see what you think - any advice appreciated!!
   
   The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.
   
   It starts off, like most adventures do, in some inn in a nodescript town.
   Your party of would be heros might be relaxing after a hard days work... the fighters might be arm wrestling or holding a drinking contest - as the brain-in-their-byseps type like to do. The thief - picking up this and that, that does not belong to him. The mage - reading/studing and keeping himself to himself.
   Then all of a sudden a man that has been sitting at the bar but yet managed to remain almost unseen untill now starts to speak - the man is clearly a bard and speaks thus:
   "Adventurers beware - for my storys are the stuff of ledgends, and can make any who dare listen wealthy beyond imagenation. I speak not of kings or queens or hords of gold but of dragons and the knowledge they posses!"
   From here the bard continues by telling them of a dragon who was so fascinated by the written word - and the power it posseses - that he spent all his long life studying it. When it became evedent to the dragon that it was dying - he used his wast amounts of power to cast his very essens into a pen which was crafted from one of its own claws. The pen is said to contain all the knowledge that the dragon has aquired over the years and would bestow it to any one who can find it, and write the dragons real name with it.
   After the bard finishes his story he asks the group to find him this pen, he will of course reward them hansomly for there efferts. The only clue he gives them is the name and location of a historian that might be able to help...
   
   Que side missions ect., but how does it end??

2. The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.

   #2

   To be honest, Stefan, this is a rather stereotypical adventure set-up. So much so that I'm willing to bet that this game will be with some flavour of *D&D...
   
   If you want to make the ending really memorable, put a contingency & earthquake spells on the pen, which of course is located in a subterranean dungeon. When the pc's pick it up, as Davan of SomethingPositive said, "Rocks fall; everyone dies."

3. The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.

   #3

   Thanks for the tip kinslayer.
   Your right - this is a stereotypical adventure set-up and it is for a D&D setting.
   The reason behind this is because 3 of the 5 players in my group are new to the RPG seen and i want to break them in slowly. I have found that if you start newbies off on a mission that is to complicated they soon lose interest in playing.
   I was also thinking along the lines of some kind of trap on the pen - but do you think it wise to kill off your entire group on the first adventure out?
   Can you still remember your first character?
   How quickly did you get attached to it?
   Don't you think it will spoil the whole gaming exp. if you kill them off to soon?
   Just a thought...
   Still like your idea quite allot though and will keep it in reserve for a future game!!
   
   Keep the ideas coming please!!

4. The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.

   #4

   I'm not sure if this is possible in D&D, but what about this:
   
   The spell the "Dragon" had used wasn't 100% successfull. Yes, the spell did transfer a majority of the dragons, power, knowledge, essance etc into the pen but it had one nasty side-effect.
   
   It created a human shell that the remaining conciousness of the dragon now inhabits. Say that of a bard? What happens when the bard finally gets the pen?

5. The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.

   #5

   Anything is possible in D&D Preacher - just like in any other RPG the only limitation is your imagination.
   I like your idea VERY much, thanks for the input and keep it coming!!! What indeed will happen if the bard finally gets the pen....?! :twisted:

6. The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.

   #6

   I thought that would be the case. :lol: I tried putting myself in the mindframe of what it would be like for a dragon's conciousness and personality to be trapped inside a human,
   
   Here are a few different potential scenarios;
   
   1. Since the dragon went from being the top of the food-chain to being trapped in the body of a weak pathetic fleshling, it has slowly driven him a little mad over the years. What if the body has an abnormal life-span of say a few centuries? The dragon could be quite mad. (mad=either angry or insane or even both)
   
   2. Being trapped in this weak body has given the dragon a new appreciation for these fleshlings. Maybe he's trying to get the pen back to help educate and teach them.
   
   3. Variation of #1: there are two personalities within the bard, the dragon personality and the bard personality, both constantly warring against each other. This one is my favorite, as you could really play up the Bard, such as eating only raw bloddy meat, refers to people as fleshlings, meat-in-a-can (warriors) etc...
   
   4. When the bard gets the pen back, he has been hoping to return to his old form. What if he does? What if he doesn't? What if he's decided to be a sort of Mentor for the Human race, to educate them with his vaste renewed knowledge? How will the players react?
   
   I hope this helps spark a few ideas.

7. The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.

   #7

   Thanks preacher!
   Love the "meat-in-a-can" idea! I think i'll go with the insane one as well. So the body has a long life span - but maybe the only thing that the players might notice that is not quite right about the bard is his eyes... Nothing that they can put there fingers on though - they just notice something is not quite right....
   So the bard gets the pen and uses it - change to a insane and angry dragon - of course the players (being of low level) will not be able to defeat the dragon on there own....
   Now i have to give them a easy out - but nothing to obvious...
   A few ideas come to mind but i would like your input...

8. The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.

   #8

   That could easily be solved by having another split personality type thing. They fight the dragon, lose (but not die) and at the crucial point the "bard" walks out of the shadow and just mumbles something to the dragon, who then leaves.
   
   That gives the players both a reacuring villan, if you play up the history of the dragon during the quest, and interesting NPC bard to play around with,

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