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[griffinpup]

Hey, I really could use some of your guys' help on brainstorming good ideas for a D&D campaign.  A quick backstory on the world though, I guess.  For years the most powerful members of society had been making bloodpack oaths with demons.  This allowed them to grow very powerful for several years.  But one day, the demons came calling for their side of the deal, but the rulers had made such large deals for power that they were unable to pay.  Without being given payment, the demons were allowed into the world to gather their own.  In effect, this led to almost every single nation being invaded by demons, who then began harvesting their price in blood.  The demon forces are somewhat divided, different groups all vying against eachother, but all also subservient to the demon lord.  These demons are being fought in various areas by mobilized militias or guerrilla warfare, with mixed success.

Now somewhere in this world is a paladin, a rogue, and a warlock.  The one blank that I'm drawing, however, is what overarching plotline I should use.  I can't have them contract for a specific demon prince, as the Paladin's morals wouldn't allow it.  So anyone have an amazing idea?

[Harbingerjm]

Well, you have a Paladin and a demon invasion. I would say halting the invasion somehow, possibly by killing off the people that contracted with them, possibly by killing the demons that made the contracts... Kill the demon lord, too, quite likely. If that's too long-term, increasing the ability of the militias and such resisting them to do so successfully might be a good goal.
What kind of scale campaign are you looking at?

[JackOSpades]

Well, you have a Paladin and a demon invasion. I would say halting the invasion somehow, possibly by killing off the people that contracted with them, possibly by killing the demons that made the contracts... Kill the demon lord, too, quite likely. If that's too long-term, increasing the ability of the militias and such resisting them to do so successfully might be a good goal.
What kind of scale campaign are you looking at?

that's a pretty generic plot, sure.
or you could go the other route since the demons took over the world legally your party could be forced to serve under them and help the demons secure the conquest of the world. you know raiding cities, hunting down the resistance, doing dungeon craws through old holy sites filled with good aligned "monsters"
really depends on your players though remember you are trying to work with them to create an enjoyable experience for all, players hate being railroaded by plot as much as DM's hate plot lines getting derailed.

[griffinpup]

Well, you have a Paladin and a demon invasion. I would say halting the invasion somehow, possibly by killing off the people that contracted with them, possibly by killing the demons that made the contracts... Kill the demon lord, too, quite likely. If that's too long-term, increasing the ability of the militias and such resisting them to do so successfully might be a good goal.
What kind of scale campaign are you looking at?

that's a pretty generic plot, sure.
or you could go the other route since the demons took over the world legally your party could be forced to serve under them and help the demons secure the conquest of the world. you know raiding cities, hunting down the resistance, doing dungeon craws through old holy sites filled with good aligned "monsters"
really depends on your players though remember you are trying to work with them to create an enjoyable experience for all, players hate being railroaded by plot as much as DM's hate plot lines getting derailed.

I'm won't be railroading, certainly, but I do want a way to start the story, and then let them move in the way they so choose.  Unfortunately, the good aligned paladin absolutely refuses to work with demons, so that puts the kibosh on that.  Mostly, I need a temporary platform for the players to start on while they figure out what's actually happening in the world and what they want to do about it.

[JackOSpades]

 oh then you want more of a self contained starter plot where they can accomplish something relatively quick and easy but which allows them to get information about whats going on out in the world at large.

ok sure, take the standard village fetch quest, you know kidnapped girls/children/sheep and make the big bad connected with the demon invasion in some way, probably not a demon themselves though depending on relative levels involved.

perhaps one of the fools who had made a deal with a demon is now trying to hide out in a cave to save themselves but can't help but continue to practice evil ways, let them monologue then when the party beats them have the "master" show up to collect the soul personally but also taking something the party needs/wants to retrieve to finish their original quest.

[GreatWyrmGold]

or you could go the other route since the demons took over the world legally your party could be forced to serve under them and help the demons secure the conquest of the world. you know raiding cities, hunting down the resistance, doing dungeon craws through old holy sites filled with good aligned "monsters"

"A little less lawful, a little more good!"
Pretty much every sourcebook about paladins and such deals with the flaws in that kind of logic.


Alright. You need a way to let the players know what's going on. Have you considered a newspaper? Demonic invasions are pretty hard to miss.
What, exactly, you could do to give them more information depends on the information you want to give them. If you want them to know who brought out the demons, something that brings them into contact with an old servant of the diabolists would do well.

[Harry Baldman]

Mostly, I need a temporary platform for the players to start on while they figure out what's actually happening in the world and what they want to do about it.

Have you considered the idea that they may all be in their home village during the invasion, which happens to be the same place for all three of them? And now they're trying to defend it (and possibly their wives/children/siblings/parents/pets/treasures/laboratories) from demonic incursion?

To give you any more in-depth advice, I'd need to know more about this paladin, rogue and warlock, and approximately how evil each of them is supposed to be.

Or maybe you can go down the Ultima road and have all three of them be people from another world, called here by some force (say, an overpowered, yet useless king who's entered a pact with a demon and wants to get out of it) to solve the issues at hand.

[Ross Vernal]

that's a pretty generic plot, sure.
or you could go the other route since the demons took over the world legally your party could be forced to serve under them and help the demons secure the conquest of the world. you know raiding cities, hunting down the resistance, doing dungeon craws through old holy sites filled with good aligned "monsters"
really depends on your players though remember you are trying to work with them to create an enjoyable experience for all, players hate being railroaded by plot as much as DM's hate plot lines getting derailed.

My first thought was "Imagine if the lesser demons are trapped. They are in constant physical pain simply by being here, hate humans, and hate their overlords."

So let's say a few lesser -demons and humes organize The Resistance. And then let's say the boss demons go "Oh hey, a convenient way to find our enemies and direct their aggression in the way we want" and start manipulating them.

You could have them do something extreme that is totally justified in the cause,and then find out the whose truth.

[Remuthra]

Set the campaign in a fascist paladin theocracy. Once upon a time, the land was beset by evil, and the forces of [Stereotypical Righteous God(dess)] was forced to save the world. In response, they set up an Ultima-esque system of autocratic theocracy and virtues to prevent that sort of thing ever happening again. The party discovers evidence of some manner of subversive organization trying to corrupt the system, and they have to play the political espionage game to root them out. Sort of Shadowrun/WoD-ey.

[GreatWyrmGold]

If they're using the standard D&D cosmology, St. Cuthbert would work well enough. And that sounds like fun.

[griffinpup]

Thanks for the help, guys.  Also, if you just have any cool encounters, adventures, or challenges, I'd love to hear them.  I'm planning to incorporate most of your guy's ideas into my campaign, at least to an extent.

[Remuthra]

Go find a Monster Manual V and mess around with the Cult of Thoon.