A hundred and one campaign ideas

Psychotic Jim · Jul 17, 2010

So with all the pathfinder goodness out there (especially with the new classes coming out), it could really make for some interesting campaign and adventure ideas. So I figure, let's see what ideas we can brainstorm, and maybe we can get ideas for a hundred and one of 'em. Here's the short and sweet format I'll be using:

Campaign Or Adventure Name
Short Hook: Brief zinger to get their attention
Scope: The most likely duration of the idea (long term, short term, etc), classification (adventure, adventure arc, campaign, mini-campaign, etc), and scope (global, regional, local, etc)
Premise: General description
Player Characters: The likely traits suitable traits PCs will have for this game, possibly including personality, alignment, class, and race
Starting Level: the ideal starting level

So for example, here's one:

Ye Olde Alchemy Shop
Hook: Young alchemist, your departed uncle has left you a store to run in his stead.
Scope: Longer duration adventure or mini-campaign, most likely local in scope
Premise: So you've been bequeathed a rather out of the way shop in a distant land from someone you don't know. But the note the messenger gave you says that he wants you to have it. With your listed contact in hand, it's up to you how well the business does now, welcome to being your own man. Of course, the area you're in might not be the safest, and sometimes you'll have to go through some nasty critters to get those rare potion components. So you're gonna need a guard or two to watch your back. And the competition may not be friendly, so you're gonna need a face man to represent you in the community.
Player characters: Any alignments (it's up to you how honest the shop will be run!), any races that are socially accepted. The owner of the shop will ideally be an alchemist (Advanced Player's Guide) or at least somebody with high ranks in Craft (alchemy) and the Brew Potion or Master Craftsman feat. The guard will likely be a warrior of some kind, or another martially skilled person. And the face man representative will likely be a skill monkey (bard or rogue with social skills) but may also be an enchanter or sorcerer. Any left over slots could be filled by other characters who would want to get involved (perhaps a cleric from the god of artifice has an interest in this shop doing well?)
Starting Levels: 1 (for an alchemist), 3 (for spellcasting characters with the brew potion feat), or 5 (nonspellcasters with Master Craftsman)

Dannyalcatraz · Jul 18, 2010

Its been done before, but there's always room for more...

http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...6-campaigns-nutshell-adventures-sentence.html

And I'll cross link this thread with that one over there as well...

Dannyalcatraz · Jul 18, 2010

Long Way Home

Short Hook: Young, inexperienced PCs on a training mission with experienced NPC must find their way home after NPC becomes seriously injured.

Scope: Most of the time, this is a 1-3 part adventure arc. However, depending on how its done, it could serve as a springboard for an entire campaign. If, for instance, the training mission was held a long way away from "home", the story arc could be long indeed.

Premise: A group of students at an academy are on a "live" training mission with their group leader along for guidance & supervision.

(Depending on campaign, this could be urban or wilderness.)

At some point, their supervisor is seriously injured, killed, or otherwise separated from his charges.

(Falls ill due to disease, takes an accidental fall, is assaulted by criminals, natural disaster strikes, gets arrested, etc.)

From this point on, the PCs are on their own. Not only must they (possibly) complete their original mission, they must now find their way back home while (hopefully) rescuing their mentor.

Player Characters: The PCs should be young and raw. They have some training, but they're not a well-oiled team. In fiction, typical group makeups will include some kind of leader, a rebel (either in general or someone opposed to the "leader"), someone who is quiet and reserved, someone on the edge of panic or is perpetually nervous. They may come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. There may be rivals within the group.

Starting Level: Regardless of system, the PCs should be "Starting" level.

Glade Riven · Jul 20, 2010

The Hunt for the Great White Boar

Hook: Gather one and all, for the annual Hunt for the Great White Boar is now upon us! Fame and fortune to the person who successfully brings in the Great White Boar!

Scope: A session or three mission or introductory mission to a larger campaign.

Premise: The Hunt for the Great White Boar is an annual countryside event to kill a great white boar. Sinister deeds are in the works, however, as the party finds themselves hunted by a noble scion who has taken to hunting the hunters. Makes a great start to a campaign as all sorts of interesting things can be done with the fall-out of battle with the scion and his friends (did he escape or die? Will the PCs seek vengeance or the scion's family?).

Starting Level: Any. Because the main threat to the players is a party consisting of a noble scion and his/her ruffian friends, the situation is easily scalable.

The Feasting House of Mad Thom

Hook: Weary from a day's worth of travel, the players come upon a lodge of revelry by the side of the road. Not all is as it seems, however.

Scope: A session or three mission or introductory mission to a larger campaign.

Premise: The lodge is a trap by a number of fey. The players have a number of skill checks and saves to see if they notice something is amiss. For example: A tune plays in the background of a popular ditty called "The Feasting House of Mad Thom" (a successful check and they remember the lyrics to the song, bards get a bonus for being bards). A series of saves are given at each juncture (one to keep from falling asleep, another to resist a spell to change them into another race (like goblins), a third to wake up before permanency is cast upon them). Continual failure (or if a PC that does succeed on a check is a jerk and lets the others succumb) and everybody wakes up in an empty field the next day as a goblin. The fey are not interested in a fight, so once the gig is up they vanish.

Fallout: If anybody is permanently turned into a goblin, it makes a great quest to get changed back. Otherwise, within 24 hours the spell wears off and the party has to suffer the trama of having been a goblin for a day.

Spell note: the effect that turns them into goblins is essentially a limited wish, with the permanency effect a second limited wish. Rule bending? Probably, but that's XDMing.

Starting Level: When I did it, the PCs were at level 2. The PCs should be at a low enough level that they can't get easy access to limited wish to break the spell.

Psychotic Jim · Jul 23, 2010

I can't believe that I had forgotten about the "Adventures in a nutshell" thread (very cool!). We're off to a good start here, here's another idea:

He who Controls the Mines, Controls the World, or Diamond Mines are Forever

Hook: Some evil genius has taken control of the mines. Why should you care? All those expensive material components you need for your spells? For your weapons? Well, there's no more of them.

Scope: Could be local, national, or even global, depending on how wide the mine takeover has gone. Could vary from a one-off, several session adventure (for one to a few local mines being taken over) to a multi-adventure arc or even mini-campaign if the mines have been systematically taken over.

Premise: In many ways, this hook might be a deconstruction of sorts for the typical fantasy Pathfinder/D&D world. The world of your typical fantasy land is perhaps even more dependent upon mining than in the real world (large amounts of gold needed for wandering adventurers, expensive and rare mineral and metal material components for spells, rare materials like adamantine for weapons and armor). Not to mention, for dwarves it's their livelihood. A sufficiently intelligent and evil overlord seizes upon this opportunity and decides he can take control of society by taking control of the mines. So now everybody else is denied access to the mines' resources until the evil overlord's demands are met (maybe he would blow all the mines up?)

Player characters: Dwarven PCs would be a natural for such a campaign. Elves surprisingly, or perhaps not so with their dependence on magic, may want to pitch in here too. This could work for any dungeon-delving classes (rogues and characters with knowledge [dungeoneering] would be especially needed). Pragmatic concerns could naturally draw in spellcasters, especially clerics of trade or adventuring.

Starting Levels: Any (depending upon scope), though mid to higher levels may be best-suited here. If the group has a lot of available teleportation magic, you may use an Underdark teleportation block set-up, or you may have the caverns so far spread apart that it requires the use of it.