Help - Front 2: Fishing Village

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azato

  • 43
Help - Front 2: Fishing Village
« on: May 17, 2012, 11:14:04 PM »
After the shipwreck they get to the island only to find an abandoned village...that has recently been terrorized by ghouls. (more fronts and a background coming)

Feel free to critique, correct and generally harass me about any part of this.







Front: The Fishing Village

Impending Doom: Whatever caused the villagers to disappear may be the death of them.

Grim Portent:

An abandoned village with animals and livestock walking around.
Blood spatters on the ground and buildings. Items overturned.
Sounds coming from inside a building...somebody moving around.
Meet a ghoul who is somewhat lucid from having finished a heavy meal.
Screams and shrieks coming from the woods.
Ghoul finds the evidence of the shipwreck
Ghoul runs around to gather a hunting party

Moves:

* A lucid (meaning he just fed) and remorseful ghoul begs the party to kill him.
* A lucid (meaning he just fed) ghoul tries to carry on a normal conversation with the party.
* The party hears somebody pleading
* A group of ghouls notice the party
* A survivor is seen running into the woods
* A survivor is seen being chased by ghouls.




Danger: Ghouls (new)
Talons d6 w/ 1 piercing
6 HP
1 Armor
Group, Close, Messy, Putrid, Gory
-----------------------------------
Having willingly eaten human flesh consecrated to the evil goddess, starts the transformation of man to ghoul. During this period the ghouls hunger requires large amounts of human flesh. During this time, there is no reasoning, there is no thinking, there is only the all-encompassing hunger. The more the ghoul eats the more lucid he becomes. While there is always the ever present hunger, the mature ghouls exercise more self-control and become more crafty in their hunt for fresh human flesh.

* Call the pack
* Talk in a lucid but confused manner
* Throw self mindlessly upon a fallen human.

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noofy

  • 777
Re: Help - Front 2: Fishing Village
« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2012, 11:25:45 PM »
Hey Azato, I think I see where you are coming from here. You have this story idea of the PC's being washed ashore after a shipwreck and encountering a village of ghouls with presumably another prod to the subsequent plot 'point'.

I might just gently remind you of some advice for GM's that DW relies on:
Quote
The one thing you absolutely can’t bring to the table is a planned
storyline or plot. You don’t know the heroes or the world before
you sit down to play so planning anything concrete is just going to
frustrate you. It also conflicts with your Agenda: play to find out
what happens.

Your fronts need to have concrete consequences if the player's don't interact with them, so much so that the choices they make determine the direction of the story played out at the table. As it stands, the players must be shipwrecked, so why have that as a scene? It sounds like a great prologue to the village of ghouls, but only if something is at stake. You need a tension between what the antogonists want and what the player's want out of the game. The system has a lot of this tension built in, but you still need to work out your front's motivations and how they antagonise the players.

So step back a bit, share with us your 'situation' or Dungeon. The Village seems to me to be a component of a much broader concept, a location danger (cursed place) rather than a Front. Connect it to the players, why have they been there before? How do they know the inhabitants? Is their fish renown about the place? etc. Your Grim Portents then segue quite nicely into GM moves or this particular Danger - the ghouls being the monsters vomited forth.

So.... What's the big picture? The Impending Doom you seem to be driving toward is either Pestilence or Destruction right? How does that effect the players? What happens to them and their world around them if they choose to ignore the Dangers or fail to overcome them? What do they risk? This will change the setting in some drastic and irrevocable way.
Quote
Making sure that these effects are felt and significant to the NPCs,
places and life of the campaign world is a big part of making them
feel real.

So as a GM I would want to know the cause of the ghoulish pestilence (unless you wanted to fly by the cuff and generate that cause through playing to see what happens....) I would want to have a figure of note, a Danger that resonated with the goulish iteration. An Arcane enemy perhaps? A Planar force? A Horde?

Off the top of my head:
*Perhaps the storm was caused by a death priest wanting more souls to feed his goulish horde with which he hopes to overrun the sorrounding lands and make this village the source of his operations...
*The angry Sea god rumbles as vile practices in the village have awoken his arch-nemesis the God of decay. An Unsavoury Champion of undeath has arisen, with a horde at his beck and call. The God of the sea seeks a champion to protect the nearby ancient temple of the Briny Deep, carved into the rugged coastline that is threatened by this ghoulish horde...
*The Pirate Lich needs a ship -and more crew- so he can wreak unholy vengance on those (someone connected to the PCs) that hung him, sent him to davy jones' locker and forced him to make a deal with (un)death.

Then you outline a few locations, make a map if you like, or generate it through play, but you have this un-ignorable situation that the players are embroiled in, that they have to react to... Where does the story go? That's why you play! To see what happens :)

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azato

  • 43
Re: Help - Front 2: Fishing Village
« Reply #2 on: May 18, 2012, 11:49:01 PM »
Don't have much time to write this but here is the skinny..................

The island is kinda like St. Helna where Napoleon had his last stay. There exists two things...a military presence and small fort for holding certain prisoners and a village.

Thousands of years ago there was a dark priest who worshipped this evil goddess and was slain before he could get too far. He was put into a magic circle (on the island). Well certain events took place and while his body is dead his spirit is free. The spirit took possession of a rather neurotic individual and now he is trying to establish his presence. He make a pact with the inmates (and a couple guards) and they turned into ghouls and have over taken the island.

I would say this is a Hellboy/BPRD type story......


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azato

  • 43
Re: Help - Front 2: Fishing Village
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2012, 07:52:14 AM »
In my mind I had it set up the following:
1. Shipwreck
2. The Village
3. The fort/prison

and if they find it
4. The sanctum which has the ghost priests body.


The "big pictures" time line.
1. Earthquake happens
2. The circle is broken and his ghost is free.
3. He finds a willing host
4. The foul pact that turns the people into ghouls
5. the destruction of the village
<------------------------------------Players arrive
6. The corruption of the mage (npc)
7. The coming of the supply ship
8. Escape into the world




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noofy

  • 777
Re: Help - Front 2: Fishing Village
« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2012, 09:43:13 PM »
That's more like it, Azato!
Remember to leave blanks yeah? (To fill in with questions and moves during play).  You have enough already to have a great adventure.

Description & Cast
Thousands of years ago there was a dark priest who worshipped an evil goddess and was slain before he could get too far. His remains were put into a magic circle sealed for all-time on an island far removed from meddling. While his body is dead his spirit is still contained. The Island has since become a prison with an attached fort, to hold the most nefarious criminals of the realm: Dark Priests, murderous knights, sorcerors, intelligent monsters.

An [definately arcane!] earthquake, combined with a fearsome magical storm has rocked the island and broken the seals... The spirit took possession of a rather neurotic individual [who?] and seeks to establish his presence by creating an army of ghouls and taking over the island before reestablishing his cult and harvesting souls anew for his dark gods.
* Ancient Spirt of a Dark necromantic priest. Name?
* Warden of the Prison - Name?
* A Powerful Mage imprisoned in the dungeons - Name?
* The Captain of the Re - Supply Ship (Make them connected to the Players)

Stakes:
* Who caused the magical tempest that set these chain of events in motion?
* The 'willing' host is someone connected to the players, Who?
* Will the criminal mage side with the players or the Spirit of the Dark Priest?
* How will the Warden respond to the tumultuous events on 'His' Island?
* What dark artifact lies 'contained' in the prison's treasury?
* What fabled monster lies imprisoned in the most secure cell?

Locations:
* shipwreck
* Village
* Fort & Attached prison / dungeons
* Sanctum.... Like a shrine or altar?

I would merge your Big Picture Timeline with your Grim Portents. DW works really well when you tie the players to the setting and situation. Re-incorporate as much as you can. Don't have 'play before play' with backstory, allow that to develop and be revealed through play - that's what discern realities and Spout Lore do oh so well! Remember that nothing is set in stone until it is revealed in play, and if you have established 'in your mind' a rigid backstory, its almost as stifling as a GM plotline you railroad the players to. Come up with motivations, stakes and agendas instead.

Grim Portents
*(magical?) Earthquake causes tsunami causes Shipwreck in the night
* The circle is broken and his ghost is free.
* He finds a willing host and makes a foul pact that turns the village people into ghouls and quickly ensures the destruction of the village
* A Mage is offered a prize he cannot refuse to ensure his corruption and assistance. They plan their escape off the Island with their ghoulsih Horde
*The Prison falls to the Dark Priest's army of Ghouls and he offers freedom to the prisoners if they join his dark cult
* A re-Supply Ship arrives offering sactuary and a means to spread pestilence and fear

Impending Doom: Pestilence / Destruction

Dangers
* Dark Spirit
* Ghoulish Horde
* Prisoners
* The Fabled Monster

So now you just have to write up the Cast's impulses and stat blocks if you feel like it, a few custom moves (like the infection as a ghoul) and perhaps some 'impressions' of the locations like Marshall has in his dungeon starters and you are good to go!

I'd run or play this adventure, it's a great outline!

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azato

  • 43
Re: Help - Front 2: Fishing Village
« Reply #5 on: May 19, 2012, 11:59:56 PM »
OK...I redid this. Before I imagined about four fronts now have it down to two....the Shipwreck and The Island.   

Still have some work to do....but feel free.....



Front: The Island

Impending Doom: The evil priest - Sha’ta’vahn - will escape the island and lead the the ravaging of the world in the name of his goddess Eteris.

Stakes:
Why does this island seem so familiar?
Was the god of party’s paladin responsible for the initial slaying of Sha’ta’vahn?
How does the party’s mage know Bren-then?
Does the party’s bard, know the lore of the dark goddess Heh-ta-res?
Will the party figure out that the spear sticking in the corpse of Sha’ta’vahn is the secret to slaying him and a tranformed Bren-then


Grim Portent:
The Ghouls realize there was a shipwreck and start looking for survivors
The torture combined with the dark rites turn Mel-nor into something twisted and wrong.
Melnor’s mind and body are broken
Melnor’s spirit is broken
Melnor is taken to the site and the rites are performed and the takes place.
The search for survivors is given full attention
All the surviving captives are eaten.
The next resupply ship arrives only to commandeered by the Sha’ta’vahn.
Sha’ta’vahn goes in hiding with his ghouls until he gains enough strength to complete his next move.


Village And Woods Moves:

* A lucid (meaning he just fed) and remorseful ghoul begs the party to kill him.
* A lucid (meaning he just fed) ghoul tries to carry on a normal conversation with the party.
* The party comes across a group of hiding children
* A group of ghouls notice the party
* A survivor is seen running into the woods
* A survivor is seen being chased by ghouls.

Cast:
Sha’ta’vahn – The evil wizard priest spirit
Mel-nor – The psychotic criminal who has become the channel for Sha’ta’vahn
Denna – a young female villager who has kept some of her family and friends safely hidden from the ghouls.
Bren-then – The young wizard being tortured for a nefarious purpose.




Danger: Ghouls (new)
Talons d6 w/ 1 piercing
6 HP
1 Armor
Group, Close, Messy, Putrid, Gory
-----------------------------------
Having willingly eaten human flesh consecrated to the evil goddess, starts the transformation of man to ghoul. During this period the ghouls hunger requires large amounts of human flesh. During this time, there is no reasoning, there is no thinking, there is only the all-encompassing hunger. The more the ghoul eats the more lucid he becomes. While there is always the ever present hunger, the mature ghouls exercise more self-control and become more crafty in their hunt for fresh human flesh.

* Call the pack
* Talk in a lucid but confused manner
* Throw self mindlessly upon a fallen human.



Danger: Sha’ta’Vahn
Damage: Dependant on the host....generally does not fight
HP - 10
Armor - Depends on host - normally 0
Special Quality - Insubstantial

Impulse: To carry out the dark designs of his mad goddess - Eteris

Description: Centuries ago Sha’ta’vahn’s ascent to power came to an end when his trusted priest drove a spear though his chest and then inscribed a magic circle on the floor around Sha cutting off contact with the mad goddess. While his body died and mummified, his spirit remained, bound in the prison until recent earthquakes broke the circle of power. He is free to communicate with the living and is able to possess those willing. Those he possesses takes on his appearance including a horrid wound in the chest and a halo of fire above his head.

Moves:
Perform dark and twisted rites
Communicate remotely with his followers
Make offers of great power.
Possess another willing host.



Danger: The newly transformed Bren-then
Damage: 0
HP - 10
AC - 0
Special quality - Made of flies.
Impulse: To cover the world with pestilence and rot.
Description: With his head, arms and legs twisted backwards and skin covered with puss-filled boils, Bren-then is quite a horrifying sight. Having become the avatar of such for the dark goddess, Eteris, there is nothing left of poor Bren-then other than his twisted body. Currently Bren-then is disoriented and has not come into his full power.

Moves:
Vomit forth an endless swarm of flies.
Devilish embrace



-----------------------------------
Locations
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1. The beach
2. The Village
3. The fort prison
4. Sha-ta-vahn’s cave.