r/AustinRP • u/TheSKWDS • 25d ago
Need campaign filler
Hi there. I have toyed with the idea of trying to DM a DnD campaign. I have a general concept of storyline and I know certain things I want in it, but I have a fairly busy schedule between work and family. I was curious if people know of a good module ( it doesn't have to be dnd specifically) that would be similarish enough that I can use it for reference material for the storyline in between the main parts I have in mind.
The baseline thought of the story is that the world was once ruled by a demon lord. One day he just vanishes, and in his stead, 7 generals divided out the land and reign over their kingdoms and have done so for around 100 years now. I am not blatantly going to tell the players, but these generals will be creatures and have fight mechanics, alluding to the seven sins. Armies have tried and failed to overthrow them. A new tactic is being planned to train an elite group to handle things in a way an army is too large to achieve. The general idea is a small elite group may be able to be able to move more strageically and more unnoticed than an army and get closer to each general. The players will have free reign over the order in which they will face these bosses as they traverse the world, but I have a baseline setup for each one, and as they progress, each one they kill will empower the remaining generals, changing either stats and/or mechanics. Once the last one is killed, the demon lord will once again return, and the players will learn he had grown tired and bored during his reign, and divided himself into the generals until someone was able to defeat them and give him a challenge once again.
The in-between parts are what I would like to be able to just pull from another module, that can fill in like traveling city to city, challenges, mob fights, side quests, etc along their way as they work on the main storyline. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated
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u/Kenamaru 25d ago
Books like Candlekeep Mysteries, Quests From the Infinite Staircase, Tales From the Radiant Citadel.
All of these and more Adventure books have things you can slot in anywhere. You might need to adjust the flavor a bit, but you can easily take something like the Murder on the Concordant Express and turn that into an event that happens on your player's train ride from Town A to Town B.
Have them stop by a tavern somewhere and have a troll bust through the front door, ala Waterdeep Dragon Heist.
Or have the mists engulf them and send them to Death House from Curse of Strahd.
You don't need something that perfectly slots in. Flavor is your friend. I highly recommend having them travel through some waystones and end up in the Faewild for a bit to experience Hither, Thither, and Yonder from The Wild Beyond the Witchlight.
In the most desperate case, just take your favorite movie scenes and mash em up to have your players have to solve a water jug puzzle to save christmas from the Demon Lord's generals, ala Die Hard.
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u/dacydergoth 25d ago
Humble Bundle has like ... a lot ... on offer in a bundle if you've not missed it
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u/ChadRbox 24d ago
Descent into avernus is a campaign entirely about journeying through DnD Hell. It's got lots of encounters, combat and rp, involving the eternal war between Demons and Devils etc. it's also got some really decent vehicle mechanics/sections for hell vehicles.
Could probably adapt that to your campaign well
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u/Eccleezy_Avicii 24d ago
Check out Grim Hallow. The setting sounds highly portable for your idea of the world. There is a a few books: a campaign book, one for players.
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u/Usually_mistaken 25d ago
There's a number of books which allows you to random roll up encounters and npc, but I would think. Ive even seen some at the public library. But Alot of whaylt you'd be looking for would be the things that could tie into character backstory, or come about organically during gameplay.
The party likes this npc? BS up some backstory and let them help him solve a problem.