The Campaign Builder's Guild

I begin to post this after the fourth session of the game I am DMing (1st Level), and I am really happy with how things are going (if a bit sadistically at times) and so I thought I'd share.  I doubt if any of my players are going to be on this site reading this, but just in case, if you are one of my players STOP READING NOW!!!!  Here's the rundown from Session 1 to Session 4:

 [spoiler=Session 1: Your GP or your HP!]
A Party of heroes assembles in Teneret--the military outpost in the North of Bizhentluus to await instructions.  The Church of Bethor has sent its agents--A newly confirmed Priest of Bethor by the name of Torin, a monk of questionable gender by the name of Yndraji, and a Paladin aspiring to be an Inquisitor, going by the name Fate.  The last brings with him a street urchin thief by the name of Adria, whom he caught in the act of theft, and has judged this a fitting way to teach said thief the meaning of honest work.  Summoned to Teneret, they receive word that New Farnesis--an outpost of the Issachar Empire beyond the borders of Sylvaea has requested aid.  There have been problems with the trade route between Teneret and New Farnesis:  On the path through the woods caravans have been dissappearing; presumably the work of Highwaymen, but there are suspicions that there might be some foul magick at work, and the heroes are sent to investigate.  They are given instructions to report to Captain MacHeath when they arrive.  The heroes set out for New Farnesis, and on the road are ambushed by none other than the dreaded Highwaymen!  In the midst of battle, the heroes slay the leader Ludevigo, and the remaining highwaymen flee into the woods swearing revenge.  Thus in victory, the heroes move forward to New Farnesis.[/spoiler]

 [spoiler=Session 2: Oh Captain, My Captain . . .]
Our heroes, upon arriving, split into two groups of two to conduct investigation.  The Paladin and his thief try the Tavern (The Chance's Cup) for information, while the Cleric and Monk meet with the Captain.   Adria discovers that the sewers do not seem to be working properly, causing the city to be pervaded with an awful stench.  MacHeath speaks to the Holy "Men" of the trouble with the highwaymen and introduces Horace Creedmoore, his sergeant and the town guards' representation in the group (a fifth PC).  Horace makes known his theory that it is all an elven conspiracy.  With little in the way of leads besides the sewers, our heroes decide to begin their investigation there. [/spoiler]

 [spoiler=Session 3: Its a trap!]
The heroes head to the entrance to the sewers, where they find three of the town guardsmen in fisticuffs witha force of Kobolds.  The Kobolds, being reduced to two, retreated into the very sewers he heroes were about to investigate!  The heroes gave chase only to regret their decison immediatetly.  They had been led into a trap--into the waiting arms of a larger force of Kobolds.  The Paladin was met by a hail of crossbow bolts and spears, and was unconscious and dying before the party knew what was happening.  After a desperate struggle commenced, with Torin coming to the rescue with healing spells and the party scrambling over one another to get into position to defend themselves.  Adria was brought to the negatives, but was stablized.  Horace and Yndraji leapt the river of sludge to confront the crossbowmen, but Yndraji unluckily failed his/her jump check and fell into the Sewer Water.  With Yndraji stuck in sewage, Adria unconscious, and Fate on the brink of Unconsciousenss himself, the robed leader of the Kobolds and his body-guard sat back and confidently observed the flow of the battle . . . [/spoiler]

[spoiler=Session 4:  Nettle?  Its those elves, I am telling you!]  
The action continuing (due to an untimely end to the third session) the heroes managed to drastically turn the tide of battle.  Horace struck down a crossbowman, Yndraji pulled himself out of the water and managed to take down another despite being covered in sewer waste.  Fate, receiving healing from Torin, was revitalized enough to safely move ahead, while the Robed One began to get nervous.  With a healthy Fate, and a no longer immobile Yndraji, the Kobolds' position was not so strong.  The bowmen fell quickly, and the Robed One sent his Barbarian bodyguards after the heroes, one after the weakened guard by the sewer entrance, and one across the Pipe bridge to where our heroes had now assembled, but in a sudden twist of fate, the Barbarian lost his footing and slid into the sewer water.  The Guard held his own, and the Robed One began positioning himself for strategic use of Burning Hands.  The First Barbarian was dispatched quickly, with the other being damaged, to be finished off the next turn.  The Robed One was struck down, even in the casting of his spell.
Thus victorious the heroes looted the bodies (and leveled up!) discovering of note, a surprising amount of gold for Kobolds, the high quality of their weapons and armore, and of particular note, the staff of the robed Kobold, which was headed with a vining plant of sharp leaves, easily capable of cutting through skin, and a note, written in the Sylvan alphabet which the characters were of yet incapable of deciphering.  Not sticking around for seconds, the heroes left for healing and rest, and to report back to Captain MacHeath, who refers them to the Alchemist Gershwin for help in identifying the plant and the message in the note.   After checking the tavern for more information, the heroes discover rumors of a shadowy figure beyond the walls of the town, observed by "Cutters" employed to cut back the plants that grow against the walls of the city at an unnatural rate.  Horace presumes this figure to be an elf, and that the weapons of the kobolds were provided by elves.  Gershwin revealed to them that the plant was Nettle, and upon translation of the note, they read: "Guard the Sewers.  The Tree must be kept safe for plans to come to fruit.  The spy is in place."  The note was signed "Nettle."  The fact that the note was writen in the Sylvan tongue and that there is obviously a conspiracy of some kind deepens Horace's convictions that the elves are behind it all.  They take this information back to MacHeath, who is infuriated with them:  the reason being that the Highwaymen have struck again, leaving the body of a wagon driver hung as a message and demanding revenge on "The ones who slew Ludevigo."  It is at this point that they reveal to MacHeath the presence of a spy, before preparing to meet the Highwaymen in the woods.  [/spoiler]


 [spoiler=I am EVIL] [spoiler=DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE IN MY CAMPAIGN]All this has been great fun, and I had to constrain myself from laughing maliciously when they agree they should tell no one but Captain MacHeath about the spy, for fear of word getting around to the spy that they were on to him.  Little do they know that the spy is none other than Captain MacHeath himself! :demon:   I had to restrain myself.  I was very amused.  Everything is going according to plan, the heroes are picking up on all the right clues, and do not even suspect the truth.  My fill of evil for the day has been had.  I am rather high on it. [/spoiler][/spoiler]

I read this, I enjoyed it, and that is my type of evil.  I did almost the same thing to one of my groups a few years ago.  Love it.