I wanted to ask you for help in filling the gaps for the adventure I'm currently planning for my group.
We're currently running RL over PF2, and have just finished the adventure "Child of the House". The heroes, though still level 1, have made a reputation for themselves in the village of Talanka (Western Darkon) and their deeds have reached the ears of potential patrons.
As you've probably guessed from the title, in my RL I've ruled that trains and railroads exist... So, there are several businessmen and engineers in Talanka trying to build a railroad from Martira Bay to Rivalis to circunvent the old road to Il Aluk (Now Necropolis). That's actually something that was established in the adventure, though it mentioned "roads", not "railroads".
So, that takes me to the adventure...
The hook
The idea is that the PCs are hired to protect the passengers of a high-class inaugural train route (Working Title: The Mistpiercer, though I'm open to suggestions) that departs from Martira Bay and travels through the core, but also goes to several clusters and islands of terror.
How? Well, the engineers of the company have managed to create a "mist-compass" that allows the train to navigate through the mists unerringly. They have marketed the first trip as a breakthrough and have sold tickets at huge prices. However, as they approach the date of the trip, they have started to receive veiled threats... Some routes have been sabotaged and there have been messages indicating that the train would never reach its destination. They don't know whether the culprits are competitors, luddites or even some other group, but they're concerned about the safety of their train, their investments and their reputation.
The adventure
What I have envisioned is a mashup of "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Alien", with a little intrigue to spice things up. My overall plan goes as follows:
- The PCs get aboard the Mistpiercer and meet several of the passengers, most of them very rich, and just a little suspicious.
- The train departs, and the PCs have the opportunity to see the landscape and to chat with the passengers. The idea here is to give them a feel of what's happening in the world and to create hooks for future adventures (Making some of them into potential patrons), but also to make them feel that most of the passengers are hiding something.
- The train enters the mists, and there will be an opportunity for the PCs to (roughly) see what's going on, and how the mist compass works.
- In the second jump, in the middle of the night, the mist compass is stolen and its operators murdered (Perhaps there's a distraction to get them away from the main engine). From there, it's clear that without the mist compass, the train will be lost in the mists forever, so the first priority should be to retrieve the compass.
I'd also like to have some kind of creature or creatures (I'm thinking something like the creatures from the movie Pitch Black or the batlike creatures from the last season of Stranger Things) emerging from the mists and becoming like a ticking clock: If they don't get the compass in time, they will rise in number until no one is left alive in the train.
What's Missing
Now, while I'm in love with the outline, I still need to fill in the gaps of several plot holes:
- Who would want to steal the compass? (As I said above, there could be competitors and luddites, but I would like to have several candidates to account for red herrings and other suspects)
- Why wouldn't they just use the compass to get out of the train?
- What kind of creatures they encounter? (They should pose little threat for 1st level characters individually, but should become very dangerous in large groups)
- Why are these creatures lured to the train? Is there someone behind it? Or is there something they're after?
Than you in advance!