BACK

The Chosen One

This is a good high-level adventure, and it will keep most players interested throughout the entire game. It contains several surprises that will drive the players to find out more.

The players should be of mostly the same class, but be sure to have a mage or healer in the party. The adventurers should all live in the same town, but shouldn't know of each other.

One day, the town is attacked by a band of mercenaries who are looking for someone (but the players cannot know that the mercenaries were looking for someone). The person they are looking for is a member of the party (try to make it the most experienced player, or the one that is best at role-playing)(the character must have a strange tattoo on his left wrist, but he must not know why), but it is imperative that none of the players know. The mercenaries destroy the town and kill everyone, except for the party members and very few townspeople. Have the players meet however you wish. Also, have one of the surviving townspeople advise the players to go to the capital, and seek help from the king (you will need to draw a map of an entire continent, with at least three large towns on it, and the capital).
   
Make the task seem very important. Once the players agree, have a townsperson give them the map. Once the players set out, make it seem like there are people following them. You can do this in a number of ways: sounds at night, mysterious shadows in the distance, ect. Have some random encounters set up for them, something like a pack of wolves, or even a dragon (remember, these characters should be high level.

The first two points of interest should be totally leveled towns. Within the ruins, the characters should find nearly dead survivors mumbling about how the mercenaries were searching for someone. You can also have the players find notes on the ground, containing orders about whom the mercenaries were searching for. Once the players finally realize that one of their own is the one the bandits seek, they must reach the capital immediately for protection. Make it obvious now that the bandits are searching for him.

Right before the players reach the capital, have the special character get kidnapped by thieves wearing black robes. Force the remaining players to go to the capital. When the other players arrive, they talk to the king. Have the king say something about an ancient prophecy, something about the "one" who will bring peace to the continent, but could also destroy the continent (which is named whatever you want). Have the king disband a regiment of knights to track down the kidnappers. That night, a man wearing a dark purple cloak wake the players and tell them he knows where the special character is, and that he wants you to help him rescue the special character.

During a random encounter, have the purple-clad man (who is armed with a quarterstaff) use Psionicist powers to drive away the foe (whatever you decide it to be). The man reveals that he I a man who was once a member of a secret order that acted as the king's personal protection service.

After as many random encounters as you want, have the players encounter a cave, which, of course, they will enter. Within the cave, they will encounter a red dragon (however powerful you want). Once they defeat it, they will gain entrance to a secret hideout, which belongs to the mercenaries that kidnapped the special character.

While all this is going on, the special character is freed by another Psionicist, who takes him to a secret part of the cave. You can draw a map of the cave for the special character, but the other players cannot see it. Have the special character find an armory, filled with several different types of weapons. He should have to fight several low level thieves.

Eventually, the characters will reunite at the entrance to the hideout. The will both enter, and make their way to a secret chamber filled with gold. There, they will encounter a powerful wizard, who turns out to be the king. The door shuts behind them, and they are trapped in the room.  They have a long discussion about the prophecy, which can be altered however you see fit, but still have it retain the basic point: a chosen one will do something important for the kingdom. The king wants the special character's powers for evil, and you must stop him. At that point, a showdown begins in which the players must battle the wizard and a few high-level thieves (who kill the two Psionicists).

Will the players defeat the evil king and fulfill the prophecy? Or will the king succeed in turning the "chosen one" evil? The fate of the continent is up to the players.

Contributed By Marshal Galamison

********************************************************
Send us a copy of your adventure ideas today! 
Send them to submissions@nggnet.com.