C.A.R.P.S.

Plot Submission Template

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Title: Nightmares of War

Level: Low Mid High Role-Play/Non-Combat
Hook: Job Board Standard Special
Detail Hook: (Job Board Note, name of NPC, or other details for hooking the Plot)
My husband Gerard has been missing for three weeks. But when the sun goes down I
can hear his screams among the trees. Any
-Allison Thatcher

Primary Goal: Rescue Gerard Thatcher from his own nightmares of the Horde Wars.

Synopsis/Blurb: Gerard is a long retired soldier who became a master smith after he
failed in his service. He has always been prone to fits of rage or paranoia but a few
weeks ago he abandoned his wife Allison and went into the woods to "find the enemy."

Now his dreams and nightmares have been made reality by a being know as The Enemy.
The Enemy is a creature from the depths of Nightmare that takes pleasure in twisting
the dreams of the innocent and feeds on the nightmares of the guilty.

Progression:

(Encounter(s) usually include mini goals, NPCs, monsters, etc… Don’t worry about providing
stats for the monsters, just what they are and roughly how many. The GM can provide stats
based upon the Level the Plot is designed for.
Location is the ideal OOG site where the encounter will take place. Examples include the Cave
Building, Basketball Court, Fire Pit, Altar Hill, Trail, Small Field Behind NPC Camp, etc…)

Encounter 1: The PCs encounter Gerard squaring off against a group of "orcs",
determined to find Commander Voss. The "orcs" are actually nightmare beasts created
by The Enemy. Gerard pleads the PCs to join his unit and save his Commander, surely
they would get a promotion is they did.
3-6 NPCs
Location: Behind NPC shack.

Encounter 2: If the PCs follow Gerard into his nightmares they will arrive to the a
battlefield where the corpses of Silverthorne soldiers clutter the landscape. They will
begin to rise as "undead" and ask why Gerard and his men failed them. They were
supposed to arrive as reinforcments, but they never came.
Location: The basket ball court

Encounter 3: Gerard's final confrontation. "The Enemy" sits within a circle of protection
(3 resist disenchants), doing the ritual to feed off of Gerard's immense guilt and sorrow.
This causes Gerard to hit the ground, lost in his nightmares.
 C.A.R.P.S. Plot Submission Template

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Surrounding "The Enemy" is a battalion of "Gromm's Orcs" all of which are nightmarish
and twisted. They are trying to reach Gerard to end him and The Enemy can consume
him completely.

If the PCs can defeat the "Orcs", find a way to interrupt The Enemy's ritual or awaken
Gerard then The Enemy will see that winning is unlikely and open a portal back to the
Dream and release a Nightmarish Troll from it.
Location: The fire pit or the beach

Reward/Treasure: (Suggestions are welcome on type of loot; Coin, Gems, Influence, Sticks,
Teaching, etc… Final quantities will be determined by the GM concurrent with the difficulty of the Plot.)
If the PCs are successful in saving Gerard then he would offer to teach them smithing
skills up to Master. Most soldier/combat skills up to expert.

Future Plot Related Items left within the ritual circle when The Enemy fleas.
- Eye of The Enemy. A 2x/Re-Pop Evoke Fear magic item.

Other items that could make sense.

- Peasant influence from his wife.
- Some coin from his coffers.
- Red sticks from his own supplies.
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