Things to do in Darkon when you're not dead

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Well, the Gears was a smashing success, thanks to all the help I got here. Campaign logs and online "module" coming soonish, since we're not playing for a while due to two weddings in the group, so I have time to catch up, rather than prep for next time.

But... it's never too soon to start plotting. They couldn't WAIT to get out of Falkovnia (can you blame them?) and have decided to hop back across the border into Darkon. Their plan is to hit Mayvin (to see the lab of the Mad Clockmaker Gustav Malvoni), Tempe Falls (to see the home of Vir Stannum, the Clockwork Man), Viaki (to meet up with Goodman Raimien of the Stygian Attendants), Il Aluk (to see the University), and end up in Neblus in 7 months to meet up with Gondegal and head through Via Corona to Nidala.

So, what's some good Darkon related plots out there?
There's the plot hook bank here, of course, some good ideas there, although some are post-Requiem, and my campaign is Post-Conjunction, but pre-Requiem. I am definately going to use my memory-loss plot hook to run at least the first part of From the Shadows. (my current idea is that Az wants to undo his mistake of the GC, by sending this group of PC's back to the wedding to stop the last group he sent from removing the Holy Symbol from the Castle. Thus, Azalin of the Past will be prevented from rushing the conjunction and screwing it up by getting the order wrong. This plan, of course will fail somehow, but such is Azalin's life.)

Also, I've been planting some Darkonian seeds all campaign that should come to fruition soon. There's Andres Duvall (RLMCII), father of one of the PC's, who (in my version) was once a Kargatane outer circle, tried to quit, and got dragged back to Darkon and turned into a lich. And there's Andres's contact in the Kargat, Lord Valric, who the PC's recently killed. And Severed Hand, Azalin's former Vassalich, who the PC's recently crossed. This past adventure, Azalin took a direct interest in the party's True Innocent, as they passed through Darkon, sending two zombies with "The voice of Azalin" ("ToR:Crucible of Dr. VR") to chat, but she won't be going back to Darkon with them, so that thread is dead for now.

Any good stuff in the CotN's, BoS's, QtR, or USS that comes to mind? (with the Kargatane Catalogue down, this is tougher than it used to be.) I'd like to use Bleak House sometime in the future, any ideas on setting it up? (I don't think I'll be using Grim Harvest any time soon, although I've hinted at it as a far off future event.) Not many other published modules take place in Darkon. I've combed the Gaz for leads, but didn't find much in the Central/Eastern Darkon area that I want to use. Thoughts?

[Ail]

Sorry but I just had to comment on the title.
It reminds me of a book I saw for sale the other day with a title that was

"Things to do after you're dead"

It was from someone that believed in gurus and reincarnation.
As for Darkon, sorry, I haven't explored that side yet.

Ail

[Joël of the FoS]

Let's see...

Forgotten Children 98 Dunkel Kralle (Crawling Claw) - was an interesting, if short, side trek.

Bo Secrets 1999 had Azalin’s Crown. Mix Death with it, or possibly the Apocalyptic hosemen by JWM, and it's a cool ride.

Bo Souls 1997 Burke & Hare were in Darkon. I had forgotten those two, but they are fun.

Bo Sorrows 98 had the Haunts of Lockwood Manor set in Darkon.

For something different, Bo Shadows 2000 featured Umbran (Shadow Lich). This guy could ask the PCs for his research.

Haunted Sites 98 (I love this atmospheric netbook) had Cell Number 4 - in the Martyra Bay prison, and City of Lost Hope (with adv hooks).

Chilling Tales had the Gazing in the abyss mini adventure, the one with the vassalich, but I wasn't really sold to this one.

VRG Ghosts had the Phantom Army - adventure hook: kargats (their leader: Karuk Abjen) killed by mongrelmen.

Forbidden Lore had this infamous society: the Dark Delvers

The TSR Jam adventure was set in Darkon

CotN vampires featured Mulger d'Ajust (dwarven vampire), but I wasn't keen on this one either.

You have also good old Salizarr, with two options for his background (Gaz2 IIRC, or the VRGttMists creepy option)

The infamous Forged of Darkness had a few items in Darkon, and some in the Grim Fastness Vault.

Chris Nichols wrote 2 good NPC in Darkon Sir Bartholomew Nylreave (BoSorrows) and Professor Abelhous Nicholsi (BoSouls)

Dragon 238 had Silent Sheeshan, a neutral (evil) thief 7, dwarf, with forked tongue. If you do not have this issue, let me know.

And Gaz 2 should give you many other hooks, of course. With Ebb, Kazandra, Ludzig and the possible 138th invasion by Falkovnia.

I think that's it...

The trouble will be to decide what you want to do

Have fun,

Joël

[Ail]

Let's see...

The trouble will be to decide what you want to do

Have fun,

Joël

If my experience can be any guide, this is the best suggestion one can give you. Make a list of everything you want to do, threads you want to cover, people you want in, scenes you'd like to have (even if at first they don't fit into any thread). Then, put the scenes and people into threads and decide where your players have to be for these scenes to be played out. That's how I made my sub-campaign in Irvanika and although I had surprises, it has gone mostly as I expected and has been really rewarding.

Ail

[HuManBing]

I would still be a strong proponent of a "mess with their heads" scenario where their memories start to alter.

Have them keep encountering the same encounter (maybe somebody who thinks they recognize them from long ago, and hails them loudly in a side street) but change it subtly each time. Or use a series of descriptive paragraphs, and then later on work the same passage in an actual conversation with an NPC.

If there's a famous piece of literature or a television series or a movie that all your players are dimly familiar with, try inserting incongruous passages from there. (This was used to good effect in David Lodge's Small World, with a lengthy derivative passage from T. S. Eliot's The Wasteland.)

Let them wonder whether they're going crazy, or their memories are being manipulated by an outside force. This could be a memory campaign similar to Memento. The natural solution for this would be to leave the domain, but if your PCs are extremely brash (or if your plot plans call for it) they could be lured into Castle Avernus to deal with the Book of Names. If need be, this can easily lead them into an encounter with Azalin.