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Campaign Ideas
Doc
Registered User, ClubPA regular
Registered User, ClubPA regular
I thought it would be nice to start a thread of campaign ideas. I'll go first.
Genre/Setting:
Any
The Hook:
A lord/politician is being blackmailed. He sends your group out to retrieve the evidience that's the source of his embarrassment.
Possible Twists:
What if the "embarrassing evidence" is his diary, where he discloses that he's murdered someone? What if it's an illegitimate child that he may have dubious plans for? What if the blackmailers are a group of druids that are trying to stop him from clear-cutting their forests?
Genre/Setting:
Any
The Hook:
A lord/politician is being blackmailed. He sends your group out to retrieve the evidience that's the source of his embarrassment.
Possible Twists:
What if the "embarrassing evidence" is his diary, where he discloses that he's murdered someone? What if it's an illegitimate child that he may have dubious plans for? What if the blackmailers are a group of druids that are trying to stop him from clear-cutting their forests?
Doc on
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I changed "genre" to genre/setting, in case it's specific to WWII or Sci-fi or whatever.
Sorry about the double post, I put this in the other thread while you were making this one.
http://www.akajimmy.net/Istan.txt (It's plain text, save to notepad and turn on word wrap).
Here is the link to just the map: http://www.akajimmy.net/Shian.png
The short version: The great houses of the islands of Istan have discovered a new land. Already settlements spring up along the coast. Although the forests and mountains are home to many creatures, none are found who could have built the strange relic known as Gregor's Beacon. A tall, slender tower overlooking the sea the skill required for its creation surpasses that of the most learned of the house of Builders.
Born to the first generation to truly call Shian home, your characters stand on the frontier of the known world.
Edit:
In terms of gameplay (I've run a couple games in this setting thus far) the characters tend to be young, ambitous frontier types. I generally start characters out and have several adventures planned out throughout the Greenwater valley.
The primary drivers for the plot are:
1) Discovering / exploring the ruins of the civilization that built Gregor's Beacon.
2) Intrigue between Lochan and Tirnat / House Hule vs House Mendaev.
3) Rebuilding / expanding and protecting the settlements destroyed by the dragon
In one game the players were in a mining outpost which was among the first to be reopened after the war. Following a seam, the miners had broken into a series of caves / ruins. The youngest son of the Graf had recently arrived on a tour of Greenwater and insists on inspecting the ruins personally. The characters have to escort / protect him.
for the lay mans: 2 royal houses rule over the universe one using the powers of order and the other powers of Chaos. This focuses on the family of the order side, which in the past had a huge fight over the throne involving brother and sister deaths. Sand is a chracter refered to in passing as having left the family hundreds of years ago.
My first Major event I have planned on is Sand coming back to the Royal Family to help keep things in balance. Sand will also be bringing a newborn son to amber (his other parent is unkown to the players at this point) Sand's newborn son will be played by me. (Ya, I gotta get in on the fun to with a GM character) He has recently taken the pattern just before the homecoming feast (family dinner number 2 of the campaign) for him and Sand. Sand shortly after the dinner is found dead (havent decided how some kind of foul play) and the Son has fled into shadow. Fingers and Blame are thrown as suspision and intrique go wild, was it the son? was it an old fued renewed?
This probly wont come in tell session number 2, giving me a session to learn the basics of GMing an Amber Campaign and give the players a bit to develop some plans and set them in motion, that way a major event will give them something to deal with.
The Plot thickens:
events before:
Sand returns with a Son (Ive named him Arthur)
Sand is Murdered and the Son is missing (keep in mind he also recently took the pattern)
The Royal Dinning Room is unusually quiet. Small whispered conversations drew the attention of the whole gathering, mostly about the decor, the food, or the weather. Random unable to stand the brooding silence ordered in the Musicans, after which the uncomfortable silence was broken, but the unease stayed. (PC's im guessing would take this time to observer others, try and lip read, and engage in some quick political fencing.) After Supper Random calls the family together, the usual topics for the unfortunatly familiar setting of a murdered family member were brought up.
"Perhaps, an old feud or disagreement?"
"Few of us here are old enough to have a feud of such long standing, there must have been something political or personal in the motivation."
"Sand has been gone so long surely nothing could be gained politicaly(sorry if i get this wrong its been along time since I read the part purtaining to Sand I can rember if it was a he or she so Im going with my gut and saying a she) by her death, she had no standing other than a part of the Royal family."
"Then it must have been Personal, either agianst her or agianst us."
"Agenets of Chaos then?"
"My son would have never sent anyone to kill a family member, hes fond of us, and Sand posed no threat to Chaos or Amber" - Corwin
"Perhaps the Son then? It would not be the first time in our history a son and parent tried to kill each other."
"You must remeber that he just took the pattern he could have wander off, eager to test his new power. We all know the wanderlust well enough."
"We wont get anywhere without anymore Information, I want Fiona and Bleys gathering information on our current enemies. (player names) I want you to track down Sands Shadow of origin. Corwin I want you to Investigate any clues that might surface from her Aut-topsy (spelled wrong for sure, sound it out) and Benidect I want this place safe from further assinastion attempts. I want reports from everyone, espically from you (number of players), Is that clear?" - Random
_____________________________________________________________
This is my basic set up looking for some ideas on clues to have left on Sands body (alougth I want some hints that Arthurs father/ mother is of a blood line capable of walking the pattern, basically Im playing into Sand took either a brother or a sisters blood line and inbreed it to get Arthur)
I also need to create a shadow world that Sand ruled over/ or lived in. Suggestions appreciated, looking for inspiration.
My current gut feeling is that an yet unkown player in the blood lines is going to emerge as the other parent, possibly someone stated as dead but maybe is instead hiding in shadow, and had a shadowself killed in thier place.
More to come...
Story: In a village/town/city, weird pranks begin to occur. People's possessions are not where they left them, items are left where people trip over them, buckets of water are dumped on people, as so on. As time goes on, the pranks become more frequent and more serious in nature. Clues lead the PC's to a nearby mountain. To cut to the chase, an ancient copper dragon lives in the mountain and is lonely, and was hoping someone would follow the clues to keep him company. Unfortunately, this is a very long-winded dragon who loves to tell long, boring stories, so the PC's are probably not thrilled about sticking around too long.
The PC's have to figure out a way to keep the dragon happy without being trapped there forever themselves.
Fantasy/DnD
The Hook:
A brand new far-off continent has been discovered, untouched by civilization. A number of colonists have already departed for the "New World", seeking a fresh start, a chance to escape the rule of the King, a place to practice a religion that is not favorable by the current ruling society, or just to seek fame, fortune and adventure.
Possible Twists:
The King could send the adventurers there to find a rumored artifact that could secure his place on the throne.
The adventurers could just be part of a small colony, trying to make it in the New World and establish a foothold on the shores of a new and forbidding continent, while looking for wealth, survival, fighting back invasions from the wild creatures that lurk in the forests and mountains nearby, or even seeking out new civilizations. The colonly starts with only the supplies that it brought over with it on the ship, and must stake their claim on the land, find a safe place to live and build homes and gather enough food before winter falls.
The PCs could be part of a plot to assassinate a traitorous cult leader who is setting up a colony of his own, escaping imprisonment by the King.
The PCs could be escaping the tyrany of an unjust King, seeking sanctuary on this virgin continent, where they will be free to set up their own colony away from the iron fist of the Monarchy.
I ran a campaign with a similar hook. A crazy druid was causing plagues to stop the "incursion" of settlers on his lands, and they had to stop him.
How did it work out? Did the PCs work on building the colony, or did they just sort of use it as a base of operations?
It just sort of popped into my head when I opened this thread, and the more I thought about it the more interesting opportunities I imagined it having. A fresh, untouched and uncharted world would make for some very nice settings for both the DM and the adventurers, I'd imagine.
Focus
Players are low level go-fers pretty much. Enforcing local laws and such taking their orders from a higher up (woulda been a relative in power of one of the PCs. Not direct, like cousin or uncle/aunt or something).
Set
The players eventually start getting higher level jobs but they rarely physicly see their superior anymore. And the jobs start taking on a more menecing twist.
Strike
Eventually the players discover that the superior was slowly being corrupted by evil and to prove themselves to thier clan(s) they must dispatch the evil. Also, because they have had dealings with the dark forces, they are pretty much always under suspecion after that.
I was going to say just this.
Present Day
The Hook
Ever since the dawn of man there has been a near infinite number of religons, myths, legends and gods. The Greeks, the Norse, the Egyptians, they all had their own gods and beliefs, and they all have died out, their gods with them.
But....What if the gods did not die? What if when their reign came to an end they assimilated into humanity, subtly guiding us in our lives. Some of our major historical figures were infact gods in disguise. Hitler? Ares. Benedict Arnold? Loki. George Washington.(I think he qualifies, but just barley) King Arthur.
For millenia there had been a balance between order and disorder, right and wrong, yin and yang. (I haven't figured out how yet, so....Let's go with H4XS for now.) The side of "evil" has found a way to break this tenuous truce. Forcing this world to become once more a world of epics, and legends. A world where gods once more walk the earth. A world of one last Odyssey.
Possible Twists
What if some gods are not as they seem? Loki, the god of mischief would obviously work for chaos....but what could be more mischevious than tricking the side of order into thinking your an enemy while secretly assisting them? Also, what if the gods ressurect their followers Earth's population would go from 6 billion to around 12 billion. A world where Hoplites,Vikings and Commandos fight side by side.
Yes I posted this in Games you'd like to play/run I wasn't sure which one it fit in better.
This actually started out as a comic book but some people said it would make a good Pen and Paper game, so here we are.
THE PARTY: Mr. Met, Mariner Moose, Bernie Brewer, Izzy the Strange-Ass Mascot Of the '96 Summer Olympics.
THE VILLAIN: The Notre Dame Leprechaun and his army of USC Trojans.
Abilities at the start could be part built-in (the Leprechaun has a high luck quotient, the Trojans have pretty good swords, Bernie Brewer has high fortitude from building up a tolerance for alcohol), and part based on their respective teams (the Leprechaun's Notre Dame swimming in money, for example).
RESEARCH NEEDED: The DM needs to Google as many mascots as possible. Research their teams. At the end of the session before starting, pass out a list of all the mascots you found and their teams, tell them to pick one. Go back and do some extra research on those mascots/teams since you'll be using them a lot. In the case of mascots tied to a competition, research that competition- for Izzy, look at the '96 Summer Games. (Giving Izzy access to explosives would fit, but would be in bad taste.)
Eberron
The Plot
The Lord of the Blades is trying to give himself a dragonmark, the players have to stop him.
The Twist
If i told you, none of you would play the game now would you?
I remember one adventure where all of the NPCs and villains were named after states. For instance, the girls in the bar (this was a western) were named Miss Issippi and Miss Ouri. The main bad guy was called D. C., and his last name ended up being Washington.
I really like this idea. Too bad my D&D circle is too unreliable to play a game. I need to find a new circle.
Jordan of Elienor, Human Shaman
It's named Jehova's Witnesses - The Second Coming Project and it's actually planned as two different campaigns, each focusing on a different time span of the arching plot.
To sum it up, the players are a special forces unit of sorts in the JW church, and they go around the world doing missions for the organization. An unknown body of great power uses it's influence to create a clone of Jesus christ from recently found remains (dubbed The Second Comping Project) and in the second campaign, they reveal him to the world as the son of god reincarnate.
So I can basically take this to all sorts of directions - not really a jesus clone; A jesus clone, but just that - not a messiah, just a man; An actual prophet of judgment day... It could go all kinds of places. If I just keep the mystery and the amount of odd things going on high enough, it should rock.
I have these two paragraphs from a .txt I wrote for myself:
Part I
Jehova's Witnesses - The Second Coming Project is a roleplaying campaign set in the near future of Earth. It is a story of intrigue and conflict, politics and mindgames, played out between different religious and national groups. The player characters are a secret unit of the Jehova's Witnesses, one that deals with the orgnization's dirty work around the globe. Each PC is a speciallist in different areas, and all are trained to be effective in firefights and tense situations. Through random missions around the world, the party get exposed to a secret plan, known to them only as the SCP, being carried out by powerfull beings cloacked in shadows. In the first part of the story, the players get aqquainted to international struggles between the different christian churces, they solve different puzzles and unveil secrets that will eventually lead them to a dead end. All seems to revlove around the mysterious SCP.
Part II
The second part of Jehova's Witnesses - The Second Coming Project takes place about twenty years after the party's last assingment. The world has gone into an even more chaotic shape, more wars have broken, and there is more unrest in the US. It is at this time that the third and final part of the Second Coming Project takes place. "The Enemy" have revealed the Jesus-Clone to the world and have announced of the Second Coming. Unsurprisngley, this causes even more chaos, as different streams of Chatolisem fight amongst themselves to find out the truth and to claim ownership over the alleged son of God.
But Doc, we should participate in a game sometime. What you described there was Shadowrun GM'ing 101.
Hook: While sailing (to their next adventure | to the next part of their current adventure), the party's ship is commandeered by the naval arm of a city under siege.
Line: Stuck on an island city, the players must deal with the situation until they can find a way to escape. Do they seek out the wounded and poor to protect them from harm? Meet with the city's leaders and offer to help find a diplomatic solution? Steal a ship and escape? Sell information to enemy spies, allowing them to capture the city? Join the navy and fight back? Or just hole up in a sheltered tavern and wait it out?
Sinker: What if the city's leaders are evil bastards, and the besieging forces are seeking to free the city's people from tyranny - though they may be killing hundreds in the process?
What if the city's leaders are basically good and just rulers whose city is in a depression, and the whole war is orchestrated by a handful of conspirators to garner support and sympathy from their neighbors and/or bait potentially traitorous allies into attacking them?
How will the players react to these situations?
"You must display the truth as objectively as possible."
"But, Boss Giglione --"
"No buts. I'll rip your spleen out for anything else."
A low-level party wouldn't be able to stand up against a press gang. Having them all get clubbed unconscious and wake up on a ship that's half a day out to see would be the shit. You'd have so many options from that point... that campaign would rule.
The leader rolled a critical success in Diplomacy and managed to get them to let them off at the nearest port..
which wasn't really anywhere they'd ever heard of.
I keep wanting to run this, but it keeps not happening for one reason or another.
Also, about Press Ganging: I tried it once, but the party were so offended by the idea they kept fighting the pressers at all turns and basically never got to be concious. I gave up after two hours. They're better now though probably; this was a long time ago.
Alright, Campaign Idea:
Genre/Setting: Fantasy
The Hook: You are Gubshikkrakktsa "Great Braggarts" Clan Goblin, children of Arggmaddsug, the late great goblin warrior and today is the day of your (collective including the rest of the party who are all part of your litter) fifth year where you reach adulthood. This should be a happy day, but Seiishumeddga has slept with her fourth new mate who is part of a splinter faction that you've been dragged into through clan politics. What should be a proud day is a red one as blood pours down the mines and you're forced to escape and flee the mines with a small troupe of fellows. Now you scour the countryside, serving your shaman, brothers and other members, forced to fend for yourselves, build your own hovel, and try to survive and prosper.
Names included for effect.
Possible Twists:The expulsion begins in winter and you're forced to immedately raid a human town. Experience the Goblin raid from the other side of things. Your new leader is weak and the party overcomes him to restore power to the Shaman, matron, or to take it for themselves. Dig into the mountain and deal with whatever comes from below. Subjugate other goblin tribes and breed your way into superiority with the eventual hope of destroying your original clan. Escape the pointless turmoil of goblin life and become goblin adventurers only to scurry from town to town and hide from those you seek to aid. Get pissed and eat people. Become subjugated by roving bands of orcs, the dragon whose lair you accidently dug into, or by the dark god that seeks to use you as a tool to lay waste to this wretched planet. Rebel. Fight the good fight. Fight the bad fight. Fight the fight that makes your clan prosper.
1920-1940s era aerial adventures in a land where there are no livable lowlands. Humanity lives on mountains and plateaus and uses giant dirigibles to get from mountain range to mountain range. Short range fighters rule the skies in aerial combat and downed pilots find themselves at peril in the savage jungles below. Wars are fought for naturally occuring scalium (lot more lift than hydrogen and not as burny) vents, metal mines, and arable land.
Plot/Hook
Lots of ways I could go. The most obvious is fighter jocks fighting the good fight in an epic war. Then there is the mercenaries/general pirates take where the players have their own blimp and get into general misschief hunting for lost treasure in the jungles, exploring mountain caves, getting beat up by hostile goverments and rival pirates and maybe occasianally saving the lone mountain spire isolated monastary from destruction. Of course this says nothing of the political intrigue that could occur.
And what if I change it up a bit? How about low powered supers (I'm actually considering this)? Or a small amount of magic?
I've got a setting and nowhere to take it!
By the by, this is not inspired by anime/pulp action films/'Sky Captain and the World of Tommorrow'. I've been drawing skies full of zepplins since I was 6.
caffron said: "and cat pee is not a laughing matter"
Fantastic Sci-fi, a 'what if?'/A new World. Literally. Neither the creatures nor the places have names yet and the gods who created the world still walk, shaping it to their whim.
The Hook:
You awaken as a primitive tribes person with knowledge but no experience, the voice of (a) god ringing in your ears: "Go forth and multiply, my children! Use the knowledge I have given you to feed and shelter yourselves and do as you see fit with this new world..."
You have knowledge equivalent to an adult caveman circa -30,000CE but no idea who or why you are.
The plainsland you awoke in is brightly lit and scattered about with what you recognise to be animal carcases. As you approach, the voice comes again: "Behold the bounty I have prepared for your First Day. Use it wisely, for its like shall not be given so freely again."
Only then do you detect the others of your kind stirring behind you and the voice speaks one final time: "Congratulations little Mortal, you were first to awaken and first to explore, therfore you shall be first to lead."
You are now Chief of a tribe of primitives who all look to you for instructions on what to do next...
Obvious problems/why it'd never happen:
One, I can't think of a numerical system that would cover even half of what needs doing, so most of it would need to be freeform.
Which needs a good, dedicated GM and quite a few genuine Role-Players.
Two, it's a kinda long-term project more than an RP...
Three, Will Wright already did it.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Genre/Setting: fantastical steampunk Mars
The setup: Earth is in a bad place.
The Age of Steam never ended, and the dawn of the 20th century was bright. Then the Great War began. As Europe battled, new ways of manipulating steam were developed, and advanced, and advanced again. One by one every nation on earth was dragged into the bitter war. Alliances were made, broken, and reformed. The very reasons men are fighting have long since been forgotten. Clockwork men, copper plated titan mecha, and sky spanning zeppelins send forth rains of death.
In the late 1940s, however, an astonishing discovery was made; through vast expenditures of pressurized steam, huge capsules containing men and women could be launched vast distances. Unsurprisingly, the first applications were martial in nature. However, it was not long before a war weary group of citizens, known only as pilgrims, bought and utilized a massive capsule and launching pad to launch themselves to another celestial body entirely: Mars.
They found beauty. Fragrant forests of purple-leaved trees, dewy meadows, canals of water sweet as wine, cold cobalt deserts, and fragile martian cities bleached white by the sun that had lain dead for aeons. These first pilgrims built and prospered, founding colonies and forgetting thoughts of Earth.
Alas, Earth did not forget them.
The Adventure: the warring nations on Earth, hungry for men and material, are beginning to probe the burgeoning Martian colonies. Annexation and warfare seem inevitable. Adventurers are assumed to be from Mars, and trying to either diffuse or simply eliminate the dangerous situation between themselves and Earth. Not to mention strange occurences that suggest the ancient Martian peoples are not as dead as they first appeared...
But, yeah, the starting tech level is one variable it'd be very easy to mess with.
Also, the precise form of the natives is up for grabs too...
And now, for your entertainment, the further adventures of "steal an Idea and claim it as your own" Man (sometimes known as William of the Portals, but we won't hold that against him. This time).
Yeah, another blatantly stolen world idea, but I don't think she'd mind too much. Based on a short story and accompanying materials by Faith Erin Hicks:
Genre/Scenario
Fantay western/Post independance America, with a twist.
Hook
The war of independece didn't go quite as planned: After the British Navy destroyed all the ships France was sending as aid, the rebels were rapidly running out of supplies, chief among them blackpowder. Resolving to fight on regardless, the soldiers guns were melted down and reforged into swords, pikes and maille, the men retrained to fight in the old styles of agincourt and the hundred years war.
To everyone's surprise, it worked; the British troops, whose supplies were being diverted to the war in Europe were unaccustomed to the ferocious charges and rains of arrows unleashed by the newly energised rebel armies and were slowly driven North into Canada before the losses sustained on both sides, together with the inhospitable terrain forced a stalemate. Seeing that there was nothing to be gained by continuing to fight on two fronts, especially as one fron was several thousand miles away from being a threat to his sovreignty, the King sued for peace with the rebels.
After the treaty signing, the Founding Fathers of the new Union declared that, in honour of their successful repurposing of much of the available stock of guns, blackpowder weapons would be specifically outlawed in the constitutionof the Union, and all blackpowder imports would be heavily taxed and regulated "for scientific purposes only".
You are a swordslinger in the new wild west, a free man whose only defense is his sword arm. You can become a lawman in the lawless west, or a bounty hunter, hired to bring in the worst of the worst. Or you could join the criminal underworld, rustling cattle, robbing banks at swordpoint and smuggling illicit goods at night...
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
*Start the group out at a high level. Give each one good item or weapon. Add an NPC controlled by the DM, who also has a good item or weapon. Throw the book at them. The goal is to get through the last line of defense on the way to the main enemy/final boss.
*We'll assume they all live. They rush to the main enemy, who, seeing he's about to get his ass kicked and see everything he worked for fall apart, activates a machine that, through whatever means, turns back time to the very beginning of the campaign.
*Back to the beginning. Now everyone's at their level 1 selves. Have the NPC explain that those items are essential to the campaign's success, as well as the set levels, and that the goals are threefold:
1. Attain the needed items and levels. Other items and additional levels are of course fine, but those are the minimums.
2. Seek out and destroy the time machine so that the boss can't pull that stunt again.
3. Go back and smack the crap out of the boss.
New World of Darkness
The Hook:
the players are a squad of american spec ops soldiers, sent into the jungles of South/Central America to asses and asist with a "disturbance" in a small village.
Possible twists:
What is the disturbance? Who ordered your squad to the village? What do you do after the the dust settles? What else might be lurking in the jungles?
You've played Crimson Skies, right? That's more or less what you are describing.
Anything with magic or superpowers.
Plot/Hook
A nearby village with no previous history of strange going ons is suddenly enveloped in a shimmering dome of energy, objects can be sent through the dome but nothing has come back. Somebody i.e. you, has to go inside and find out whats going on.
Twist
What if the people inside have no idea whats going on and don't believe your wild ramblings of a shimmering dome in the sky. Also at 7:30 pm every day the village resets to 7am of the same day, all the villagers are sent to their homes and the party end up on the outskirts of the village where they first come in (the villagers forget the entire day but the party retain their memories) + any items they picked up are gone and any items they used are returned. What is casuing this to happen every day? What happens at 7:30 to cause this?
Any where ruling positions are determined by ineritance
Plot / Hook
Civil war is brewing
The current ruler has no children -- Getting pregnant hasn't been a problem, but the ruler (if female), or his wife (if male) hasn't been able to carry a baby to term, and it's getting close to the end of her childbearing years. The ruler has two siblings who do not stand to inherit (due to gender or whatever reason), but each of them has a child who is in the line of succession. Both children stand approximately equal chance of inheriting if no heir of the body is produced, and hold approximately equal support from the nobility / populace.
A small contingent is convinced the ruler will eventually produce an heir, and refuses to support either of the other claimants.
The Twist
Which faction do the PCs support? Or do they even care about politics? What if they find confirmation that one or more of the siblings / spouses / children is responsible for the repeated miscarriages, either directly or through hirelings?