Campaigns in a nutshell. Adventures in a sentence.

Firedancer · Apr 23, 2007

A multifaceted campaign and its spin offs:

Incursion of the Kai'ane
A mighty empire knows once in a 1000years the realms of this world and that of an evil world align, allowing these powerful creatures access to this world. In the past they were thwarted, but at great cost to the land and peoples of the empire.

The last 1000 years have been spent preparing for the next Alignment (invasions of other lands for resources and power, to keep their edge - think Thay and Mulhorand mixed); it approaches now.

Core campaign; working for the empire gather together several items of power for the battle as Worldsmeet.

Sideline: assume the roll of mortal followers of invaders, try to scupper other plans (ran when player turnout was low).

Spinoff 1: The invasion was stopped, but at great cost to the Empire, their leadership decimated. The PC's decide the future for this Empire.

Spinoff 2: Several items were recovered from the time of the alignment, artifacts used by the foe to strengthen the link to the world of the players. This items are distributed and hidden away by the remnants of the leadership, to be kept safe until they can be destroyed. Generations have passed since Core campaign and Spinoff 1, the players now take on new characters who explore the world as after the events of spinoff 1 have settled. They soon discover mortal followers have been working for the other race, gathering the scattered items.

Spinoff 3: For low turnout: Players take on new characters within a country wherein the orignal PC's wrought much destruction and carnage. Tales of the Red Axeman, Lionhead, Gravestalker and others make this a haunted city that may never recover from the scenes of slaughter it witnessed.

Firedancer · Apr 23, 2007

Woods of Urllondra (inspired by tome of magic, I think).
Players take on the role of denizens of an ancient and undisturbed elven forest. They must defend their realm from humans, first a trickle, then a wave. Taking the fight to the humans they learn of the truth; a demon of great power, imprisoned for centuries past has evolved its consciousness, slipping the bonds of the prison that entraps it.

For centuries it has dealt with lesser creatures, aiming for its freedom. The leader of these humans, after decades of machination, is finally inplace to quash these elves and free its master. Unless the PC's stop him first.

Storm of Darkness
Something huge wanders the land, destroying all life it comes across. It's herald, a black roiling cloud, miles wide. At the end of a rampage it seems to vanish, leaving roving undead in its tracks.

Finally the PC's get to meet it, and it is devastating. In a vision the king learns of a weapon of power to destroy it and a race created to fight it. The PC's must find and deal with these creatures and then return the weapon to their king. The sword carries a terrible curse, as the wielder sinks into madness. Will any sacrifice themselves to destroy the beast at the heart of the storm?

Firedancer · Apr 24, 2007

Darkness Without
The PCs live on a continent where life is near utopia. The races live together in harmony, peaceful and prosperous. People prize endeavour, honesty, generosity. This has come about because of a little understood magical ritual that expels negative emotion and thoughts from the individual (supposedly a gift from The Serene).

Unbeknownst to the populace the ritual takes their emotions and deposits them into the pit. Over the centuries these thoughts have coalesced and started to take a loose, shifting form. The pit is now full. Cracks appear in its surface, hairline fractures that enable the smallest of these creatures through to the peaceful surface world.

The PC's must cope with these creatures, discern what they are and where they are from and devise a means to overcome them, lest their nation descends into unending chaos.

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 28, 2007

A different take on superheroics:
Aftermath
It was almost like the comic books...a flash of light of unknown origins that was supposed to herald the beginning of the Era of the Gods...the superheroes who now walk among us.

But it wasn't. It didn't.

In the comics, the only super powered beings were humans. Maybe some aliens who come to Earth- but that's it!

Instead, the Event empowered individuals of all species...

Shortly after the first superheroes and their arch-enemies appeared in epic battle over the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH, a supervirus wiped out Branson, MO to the last tourist and performer. A Galapagos turtle faster than a speeding bullet careened out of control at the London Zoo until it was killed. In Silicon Valley, a superintelligent colony of black mold got mental control of a school where helper animals were trained, and has had them build it an artificial body.

And then there was the Blue Whale that was seen flying over Hawaii, hunting krill with sonar powerful enough to kill...

Scientists estimate that 0.00001% of all members of all species have powers, but that small percentage is enough to wreak havoc. Just because a creature gets powers doesn't neccessarily mean its fundamental nature and intellect is changed- a great white shark with bulletproof skin is still a great white shark. Civilization is in chaos.

Something must be done...

Lord Zardoz · Apr 29, 2007

OMG Goblins: A brutal tribe of goblins has recently turned away from Maglubieyt and started worshipping The Great Mother, a goddess of birth and fertility. Oddly enough, it turns out that the embodiment of Birth and Fertility does not actually have any particular tenets other than "Go forth and Multiply". In addition to some other unusual rituals have resulted in Goblins that essentially mature to breeding age within days. The population surge has been impressive.

Save the Dragon from the Evil Princess: A young and beautiful princess decided that she did not like her arranged marriage. She also found an Orb of Dragonkind. She has since denounced the kingdom of her betrothed as being wicked in the eyes of the Holy Gods, and the populace of her nation has agreed since Metallic Dragons are now frequently attacking that kingdom.

END COMMUNICATION

Dannyalcatraz · May 3, 2007

(Semi-Victorian)

The Arboretum

The PCs are invited to a sumptuous dinner at the home of world-reknown inventor, Jules G. Vernes-Wells, to be followed by news of his latest invention. He's seeking both investors and publicity. The meal features all kinds of exotic side-dishes with ingredients and spices from his greenhouse.

After the meal, he leads them to his laboratory- located in his house's freestanding greenhouse- where he unveils...a Time Machine!

Just as he starts his demonstration, a massive bolt of lightning strikes the greenhouse's lightning rod, overloading the Time Machine's field. When the smoke clears, Verne-Wells is unconscious and his machine's gauges burned out. At least its controls seem fine...

But around the party's attendees, the windows of the greenhouse no longer look out on Verne-Wells' estate. Instead it looks out on a sunny, overgrown jungle- a veritable Garden of Eden. Venturing out, the party finds the garden inhabited by beautiful, gentle humans who speak in an unknown "cooing" tongue.

That night, though, the dark side of Eden is revealed- in the wee hours, fierce, clawed humanoids well up from under the ground, taking with them some of the passive inhabitants of the garden...and Verne-Wells' unconscious form.

Yet Eden has an even more sinister secret- the garden's bestial raiders are but thralls to an even greater evil... a race of octopus-headed, brain-eating overlords of the dark world beneath!

The party attendees must not only attempt to rescue the unconscious inventors, they must also find a way back to the eve of their departure...

But was it in the past or the future? And if they can't find the inventor?

blargney the second · May 3, 2007

Wow, I wanna play that one.

Dannyalcatraz · May 3, 2007

Heh- Thanks! I'd love to run it!

Unfortunately, my current game group would never go for it- too many of them are FRP only guys, and too many of them are D&D only guys. :\

That's the main reason I post in this thread- I've got a whole bunch of campaign ideas I probably can never use, but that are good enough that they should be used. Thus, I share with the world! (Well, ENWorld, at least.)

Perhaps a good GM somewhere else can use my ideas to breathe life into his own game.

And in case anyone is unclear, Yes- I'm aware that the plot above is but a tweek of Wells' "The Time Machine," but there have been a number of people on these boards asking about "Victoriana RPG plots."

Consider Verne's stories- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Mysterious Island, Robur the Conquerer, its sequel, Master of the World and, of course, Journey to the Center of the Earth are all IDEAL for cherrypicking for either campaign settings or adventure plots.

Wells' catalog is no different- War of the Worlds, The War in the Air, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The First Men in the Moon, Food of the Gods, The Shape of Things to Come are no less tasty.

All those and many more are ripe for the picking!

Dannyalcatraz · May 4, 2007

Other quasi-Victorian adventure ideas:

1) Solve a series of Jack the Ripper style killings (possibly a cult of C'thulhu worshipers?).

2) Find out who has been sinking ships in the Indian Ocean (again, devotees of someone like Dagon, or perhaps aggressive Atlanteans flexing their military might?)

3) Hunt down a pair of predators who are actual man-eaters by preference (like the lions upon which "The Ghost & The Darkness" movie was based).

4) Fight anarchists aboard a ship at sea.

5) Rescue someone lost in "deepest, darkest Africa."

6) Take down a ruthless Warlord or agitator who is raising a small army (conventional or covert operative or new tech) in some isolated backwater. (Popular theme- used in a lot of pulp novels)

7) Take sides in a battle between imperialist forces & natives. (Good reasons can be found on either side- the natives in question may not represent the wishes of the general populace, the Imperials may be brutal occupiers.)

Dannyalcatraz · May 7, 2007

Hot Zone

The PCs are all part of a UN Peace-Keeping mission in ____________. From a nearby village comes word of an outbreak of a horrible and contagious disease, and one of the local Warlords has been hijacking Red Cross supply convoys for drugs & equipment.

The PCs are assigned to the next convoy, containing a slew of experimental meds from a multinational pharmacology conglomerate.

If and when they get past the Warlord's bandits, they find a village ravaged by a plague with an 85% mortality rate. The medicines actually work, reducing the mortality rate of those infected to a still appaling but significantly lower 55%, and dropping the number of new infections to a mere trickle. Eventually, the mystery disease stops infecting anyone else.

The plague now over, those the PCs saved are grateful. A festival is held in their honor and to remember the dead.

...Then the dead start to rise up to slay the living!