Keldora Campaign

[Xathan]

So I'm back again. It's been a rough few months, but I'm back on my feet and doing well. Also, more excitingly, I'm running a game in Keldora! First time, in my long career as a DM, I've gotten to run a game in one of my worlds.

Here's the booklet I provided my players. Gives them a bit of an overview of the setting.

I'm starting them on Orphebe, under the unsleeping eyes of Erebaz. They're in one of the slumtowns, a ramshackle village in the shadow of Erebaz's Zigurropolis - literally, in fact, and the town spends three hours a day without direct sunlight. We have a gnome artificer and a human rogue for the party. I'll be filling out the other roles with GM PCs that will rotate in and out as the story demands unless the player's really get attached to them.

The players, as Daeva, are going to be contracted to investigate a forbidden building near the town. The hiring individual is a cleric of Shabenex, who wants to know what her brother's up to. They're supposed to retrieve an artifact from inside and take it to the cleric, but they'll be met by a complication, a cleric of Erebaz, who is going to make them a counteroffer once they've circumvented the building's defenses: kill the cleric to send a message.

Either way, they'll have to fight the cleric, and will find more jobs coming from whichever side they ended up supporting. The artifact in question is a powerful gem that holds a tiny sliver of Erebaz's power - one that could be used to  actually injure one of the First Ones, the Fecund Dreamer, and the one Erebaz believes to be responsible for the horrors of sleep. If the player's help Erebaz's cleric, it'll mean war with one of the Outer Spheres later on. IF they give it to Shabenex's cleric, they'll have to deal later with a war between Vernomia and  Orphebe.

I'm going to be keeping track of their choices when it comes to clerics of various gods to determine which one they eventually piss off enough to come after them: around 5th level, they'll be attacked by a Lesser Avatar (a CR 7ish creature I'm working on the stats for) of a god, and knowing my players, will likely be what sets them on a course of outright war with the God they've angered, and killing that God will be capstone of the campaign.

And now what I"m looking for help for: what other kind of jobs do you think would be good for low level Daevas in this world? I always struggle the most about this when dealing with cyberpunk type games, and I don't want every job to be a major plot point, and only have about one in four jobs be plot related.

As far as system, we're doing DND 5e. I'm allowing the Mystic and Artificer from the Unearthed Arcana on WOTC's website. I'm also using a house rule called "Rule of Cool:" If the player wants to do something in a more awesome way, they don't need to roll, just do it so long as it fits their character. If the rogue wants to slide down a railing as opposed to running down stairs, she can. If the Alchemist wants to make a successful check to pick a lock be done via a small explosive, it is. Simple as that, which goes against RAW a bit but overall it leads to a more fun experience.

[Steerpike]

I'm going to be keeping track of their choices when it comes to clerics of various gods to determine which one they eventually piss off enough to come after them: around 5th level, they'll be attacked by a Lesser Avatar (a CR 7ish creature I'm working on the stats for) of a god, and knowing my players, will likely be what sets them on a course of outright war with the God they've angered, and killing that God will be capstone of the campaign.

I really, really like the idea of tracking PC actions to see which gods they please/provoke, especially if it's a zero-sum game where pleasing one god inevitably means displeasing another.

I'm also a fan of "pick your faction" stuff where the players aren't being prodded to support a particular employer.

[Xathan]

I really, really like the idea of tracking PC actions to see which gods they please/provoke, especially if it's a zero-sum game where pleasing one god inevitably means displeasing another.

Thanks! It's not always a zero-sum game, but even doing things that aren't opposed by another god for one will give the impression to others that you favor that one.

I'm pretty sure the endgame will be to take down a god, and I want the players choices to determine which one.

I'm also a fan of "pick your faction" stuff where the players aren't being prodded to support a particular employer.

Same. I want to enable them to control what happens, but I also want those actions to have consequences.