Campaign finally over! Now to start a new one! [My players stay out!]

Morrus · Nov 10, 2004

After 18 months of play, I've managed to finish my current campaign. This is the first time I've actually managed to reach the planned end of a campaign in 20 years of gaming - the world has been saved, disaster has been averted, and evil has been defeated (for now).

The campaign has ended with the 7 PCs at level 12-14. I now have to decide what to do next. The players are pretty set on continuing with the same characters, and I'm pretty set on moving them into the planes. I ended the campaign by having them go through a portal - destination unknown, in search of a child who has been kidnapped and spirited from the Prime Material. Haven't planned much further than that, yet, though!

So, I'm thinking - I'd like to do something a bit Planescapey, fairly wide-ranging, encompassing a long search for the child. I haven't any Planescape material - and I only want to use it as inspiration anyway, as I fully intend to make the planar aspect something the players aren't expecting. It's my chance to throw some really unusual situations at them.

Any ideas? Are there any cool online resources I've missed which provides in-depth detail about stuff planar (I'm thinking free adventures, that sort of thing)? Any general tips and advice from those who have run successful planar campaigns?

I have until next Tuesday to come up with something.

BSF · Nov 10, 2004

Well, I know there is the Free Abyssal Campaign linked in somebody's .sig. Alas, I can't remember whose. I believe there is a layout of Hell over on Dicefreaks. For pay, Malhavoc has Beyond Countless Doorways and Book of Eldritch Might III: The Nexus, which are both good and available in print or PDF. Phil Reed also has a PDF detailing some planar stuff.

That's all off the top of my head and I am tired, so I am challenged to come up with more at the moment.

Congratulations on finishing the campaign out though. Too many campaigns fall apart before you reach the end. It is always nice to wrap things up.

Addendum: There is the obvious - EN World. I know Rel had some requests on how to make a trip to Hell special for his group a while back. I know you have search capabilities, but I can dig up some links for you. You should also check out the Iron DM threads for adventures. I know I have seen some with extra-planar stuff.

Piratecat · Nov 10, 2004

Russ, what'd they do with the Evil child?

sir_ollibolli · Nov 10, 2004

Two Things come to my mind...

- Queen of Lies and later The Harrowing from Dungeon #85
- the githyanki incursion

LicheHazel · Nov 10, 2004

You could always stand them infront of one of the gods, who asks them to atone for there sins

Its enough usualy to make most clerics and Palladins cry

Whimsical · Nov 10, 2004

Oh, I recommend that you don't stretch out the "find the kid" hook too long, or else it will get really frustrating and feel really hopless if they aren't able to find the kid after a couple of adventures. I was in such a game where we were tasked to find the elven children that were kidnapped and while we were destablizing a pirate city's organizaitions and governments, I got upset and reminded the group that we are off-mission and that we should stop screwing around and do what we were supposed to do. We did eventually find the kids on the plane of air where mind flayers were forming groups of psionic humanoids into borglike units where they form a Swarm-like superorganism where they all share their hitpoints and minds to form unbeatable units of destruction. But that is after doing a lot of adventures which seemed to not be connected to any of that and felt like we were swimming in mud. So, I recommend that they find the kid after a couple of adventures which of course then hooks them into a new adventure.

Zelda Themelin · Nov 10, 2004

Maybe you could make finding the kid pretty quick - one or two game sessions, but make return trip longer. I suggest making it a lot more complicated than simply getting lost.

Maybe they discover that something more evil going on, and they don't have time to get child back, or some kind of "stars are right" stuff re-aligns the planes so, that they arent' able to return to their home. Or simple have enemies after them, so they have to take longer route, and get involted into all kind of things along the way.

Maybe get them some alternate time-line realm/mirror-realm adventure too, when they finally reach home.

Kid with them could be made to evolve into something interesting and of course there might still be those creatures after them, that wanted the kid in the first place. Characters perhaps manage to kick around those people, mercenaries perhaps, that were supposed to deliver the kid... somewhere.

Jupp · Nov 10, 2004

Let them enjoy the immersive chaos that is Sigil (pre-war, that is). From there on you have a thousandandone plot hooks for them. Also the task of finding a child in a city the size of Sigil will probably hard enough for them

Jürgen Hubert · Nov 10, 2004

Have you worked out some basic planar geography yet? That will have a huge impact on your adventures...

What was the general tone of your campaign so far? Are the gods rather distant entities? Or is it obvious to most mortal that the gods are waging a Cosmic War right on the material plane (Good vs. Evil? Law vs. Chaos? Chicken vs. Egg?) Are the gods abstract forces or individualy with a real, recognizeable personality?

Frequently, the Outer Planes seem to revolve around human belief - if you would tell us some more about your campaign so far, it would be easier to come up with appropriate ideas for planar adventures.

And what should the overall tone of the future campaign be? Happy, picaresque travelling from one spectacular sight to the next? Or a desperate struggle against some otherworldly Evil?

Henry · Nov 10, 2004

Big suggestion - if you have the funds, check out Beyond Countless Gateways by Malhavoc. I saw a print copy recently, and it looked pretty interesting in concept. If nothing else by being a source of unusual planes, you could link them together as THE planes - in other words, make them the only alternate planes there are, apart from the ones you've already introduced (like the positive, negative, and elementals possibly). That will definitely set a different tone from the usual "Beastlands, Heavens, Bytopia, Hells, Hades, Abyss, *yawn*. (Well, not that bad, but my point it made.)