Brain dead, need Campaign Idea.

[paqman]

At 29 years old, I finally have to acknoledge that my imagination is slowly lacking. Not completely, I still can make new monsters, I can make starships stats or draw new dungeons with no problem, BUT... I can't find a good story synopsis for my new Dragonstar campaign. I mean, I would like to do something epic with my players. For the last 3 or 4 years my players have been playing in stories that are not world shaking in any way, they do small things, some time I even wait for them to initiate something and then react to their actions. I take the opportunity, between gaming session, to prepare for what they want to do. But the interest is slowlly lacking on my side to simply react to what they want to do all the time.

I want to get them in something big, with levels of plots within plots and subplots and interesting characters and all the stuff that can make a story Epic and long going. BUT my imagination is gone. Can't come up with something not fishy.

So.... What I need is help from you guys and gals. Ideas, web sites with interesting campaing Idea that would put the characters in the middle of the whole situation, novels, comics, tv series, manga,

anything....

 

[CWD]

How about a secret plot by the good dragons to overthrow the evil ones?

How about a human (elf, dwarf, drow, etc.) plot to overthrow the entire empire and install themselves?

Maybe technology is slowing sapping the magic from the universe, causing spells to fail. What would happen if the dragons (being creatures of magic) found out?

Maybe magic is unravelling the fabric of the universe, causing the laws of physics to get less predictable.

Maybe the empire could be invaded by a new species? Maybe there is a mind flayer empire or a beholder empire for the dragon empire to go up against?

The PCs discover a super-powerful artifact that could change the balance of power in the galaxy. Huge chase to see who gets it?

The dualists attempt to overthrow the unification church.

The unification church attempts to destroy the dualists once and for all.

A monotheist heresy springs up.

It turns out the races were created by a super-powerful ancient race and not the gods. The PCs find out. They get pursued by clerics who want to shut them up.

Whew! I'll think of more later.
CWD

 

[Henry@home]

This may sound totally unrelated, Beholder, but... how long have you been DM'ing this group? When is the last time you played a PC?

If you have DM'ed an appreciable length of time non-stop, then it doesn't matter how many plot ideas you get, you will get burned out regardless, and this can really hurt the nuances of your game style.

Sorry I don't have many Dragonstar related answers, but just thought I'd raise the question.

 

[paqman]

Whooo, thanks CWD, there are a lots of good basic ideas in there, are you aware of other non DS specific game stuff that I could use and insert in my campaing, something as special and elaborated as the Shrike secret from hyperion, the mysteries of the returning deads from the Neutronium alchemist, the super plot line of Dunes, the Balgariads or the wheel of times. You know something special that has to absolutely involve my players, they would be the center of the events (like starwars of Dragonlance).

Something like your 2 following ideas :
- The PCs discover a super-powerful artifact that could change the balance of power in the galaxy. Huge chase to see who gets it?
- It turns out the races were created by a super-powerful ancient race and not the gods. The PCs find out. They get pursued by clerics who want to shut them up.

But very detailed, that is why I ask about sites or novels, comic books or espacially a very good Manga/Japanimation movie or series.

This may sound totally unrelated, Beholder, but... how long have you been DM'ing this group? When is the last time you played a PC?

If you have DM'ed an appreciable length of time non-stop, then it doesn't matter how many plot ideas you get, you will get burned out regardless, and this can really hurt the nuances of your game style.

Sorry I don't have many Dragonstar related answers, but just thought I'd raise the question.

I have been DMing this group for more than 15 years, we have currently 3 different campaign running at this time, I DM one of them and 2 other people DMs the others 2. I have been the main DM (DMing about 95% of the time) for more than 13 years. 2 years ago I complained about the fact that I did not play a lot, and so I stopped DMing all the time and started playing more, to my joy.

So I don't mind If you don't have Dragonstar specific ideas, anything can be incorporated in this Setting.

And Yes I have to say that I have been quite burned out in the past, but with new Ideas and details comming from the outside of our group, I would be able to surprise my players with something that they would not expect from me.

Thanks for the replies

 

[nopantsyet]

I still can make new monsters, I can make starships stats or draw new dungeons with no problem, BUT... I can't find a good story synopsis for my new Dragonstar campaign.

Put the two of us together and we'd make one hell of a DM. I'm fine with the plots, subplots, plot threads, plots, plots, plots! But monsters, dungeons, towns...the devil sure is in the details!

I like epic plots...groups trying to shift the balance of power, preferably with some personal tie-ins to PC backgrounds. Make it personal. One player wanted to explain his presence in a certain area by saying he stole an unidentified magic item from an somebody then fled. Now he's being hunted and no less than three groups are trying to get their hands on this item. And the party has only recently learned a very small part of what the item (really artifact) is. I'm a big fan of tying the characters up in a plot that directly affects them rather than the "walk in and solve problem/clean out dungeon" style.

 

[paqman]

Re: Re: Brain dead, need Campaign Idea.

Put the two of us together and we'd make one hell of a DM. I'm fine with the plots, subplots, plot threads, plots, plots, plots! But monsters, dungeons, towns...the devil sure is in the details!

I like epic plots...groups trying to shift the balance of power, preferably with some personal tie-ins to PC backgrounds. Make it personal. One player wanted to explain his presence in a certain area by saying he stole an unidentified magic item from an somebody then fled. Now he's being hunted and no less than three groups are trying to get their hands on this item. And the party has only recently learned a very small part of what the item (really artifact) is. I'm a big fan of tying the characters up in a plot that directly affects them rather than the "walk in and solve problem/clean out dungeon" style.

Hehe, well, do you have some stuff writen electronically that could inspire me?

I also like plots that implicates the players personaly. I don't like the unrelated series of adventure just for the sake of adventure. I don't really beleive that any sane person would go out of their way to go battle monsters left and right for no apparent reason. That is why I need a goooood plot.

I have to say that my game as already started and since the campaing setting book of the Dragonstar world isn't out yet, I keep my players aside from the rest of the Dragon Empire.

So the game as already started and the players come from an old gigantic colony generation ship that got intercepted by Ork space pirates after millenias of travelling in space. (The ship is something similar to the colony ship from the Phantasy star III (a series of 6 domes connected together)). The players fled with a corvette and are now back to the old world from where the colony ship left at the begining. The world is in an Ice age now and that only living creatures in the area lives in an old space station that gravitates around the planet and that is still partially operationnal. The station habitants are aware of the existence of the Dragon empire and the players succeeded in finding a star coordinate that is at the border of the Dragon Empire. I want to continue with something special in the comming game session to implicates the players in the super plot I intend to use.

 

[JoeGKushner]

You need to find a copy of Dark Space, an old Spacemaster/Rolemaster horror/science fiction setting and steal from that religiously until you have designed a campaign that pits the players against what is basically the Old Ones in space.

 

[Nightfall]

Some very bold yet unknown group are stealing dragon corpses for profit. Trail leads to a city where necromancers pay handsomely for powerful monster corpses, along with those of fairly potent adventurers.

Okay not completely original BUT it's definately a good one in my book!

 

[jollyninja]

when i'm dry in the idea tank, i just rip off history.

overzealous religous zealots whip a powreful nation into a frenzy and embark on a mission of conquest, in the process violating the entire philosophy on which their religion is based and becoming little more then butchers.

the worlds peasants begin revolting against the nobility, indiscriminately killing or imprisoning the rulers of the nations.

three dominant factions struggle bitterly for absolute power power in a large nation.

or i rip off the last video game i played

or books that i know my group have not read.

or i download an adventure hooks file and try to find ways to link a few of them into a somewhat coherant campaign concept.

or i just let the players do whatever they want to in hopes that they will do something to set off the "this is a possible campaign" lobe of my brain. unfortunately this usually ends with completly incoherant or verry confusing first few sessions. as i try to figure out what kind of campaign the players want to be involved in. or gets a campaign started that players will only be interested in for a short time.

 

[Clear Dragon]

Here is a device I am planning on icorporating more in my next campaign. If the group has been doing the typical do-gooder and or greedy adventurer normal things, raiding dungeons, slaying evil things, finding lost treasure, resucing fair maidens then turn things around. Make it so the people that gave them the quests or benifited from them are not the people they thought they were. That spellbook you recovered for that kind old wizard was cursed and he is now a power hungry evil SOB, nice conflict in trying to stop someone who used to be an ally. Long vacationing bad guys come back to find their minions slain, dungeon ransacked, and their stuff gone are out to find the theives. The princess they resuced turns out to be a Pandora. Best is if they have been on a string of missions for a group, then have the good organization/person they were working for trun out to be a patsy/puppet of a larger organbization with less the desirable goals(world domination, armageddon, rendering good dragons powerless through some means).

YMMV depending on how attached your players get to things at low levels. But having former employers or allies turn out to be agents(willing or unwilling) of their enemies should leave a sour taste in their mouths and a strong and epic sense of direction.

I guess this really wasn't too much of a plot suggestion as a much as a way to make an epic plot more personal. Too often have I played in the "save the world" style campaign without feeling my charcter has any pressing reason to do it. Either it seems contrived(the king is hiring a band of 1st level nobodies as his only hope) or bland (well your char is good aligned so of course he/she will want to save the world from destruction).

gee, this turned out a bit onger and more off topic than I intended. sorry