Campaigns in a nutshell. Adventures in a sentence.

[fruitbane]

I just read this:
Oldest Sea Creatures Have Been Alive 4,000 Years

It reminded me of my previous post (above) and made me think- depending on how you think of corals mechanically (IOW, if they can be targeted by "Awaken"), you could potentially have some truly alien and powerful intellects in the deep waters of the world. Possibly even a challenge to Aboleths and the like.

Coral colonies, as I recall, grow by cloning themselves. Imagine, if you will, a coral polyp being awakened, then cloning itself over and over again, for thousands of years...a colony of intelligent clone-siblings.

A coral colony could be a truly formidable opponent, especially if the sedentary lifestyle of coral is unsatisfactory to the awakened polyps...and they go insane.

OTOH, they could also have quite a sophisticated culture.

Possibilities. Possibilities...

One key problem is that coral colonies are, well, stuck. They can expand, slowly, but they can't really move themselves once they are established. Awakened or not they simply lack the physical means. As for what a coral intelligence might be like, Corey Doctorow has a story that addresses that somewhat. At least, I know I read a story like that and I think Corey Doctorow wrote it. His stuff is CC, so check out "I, Rowboat". I think that's the right story. Even if it isn't it's good and should be freely available to you.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One key problem is that coral colonies are, well, stuck.

Right...which is why I said:

A coral colony could be a truly formidable opponent, especially if the sedentary lifestyle of coral is unsatisfactory to the awakened polyps...and they go insane.

Imagine being a human stuck in the deep sea for a few thousand years...You'd probably be a nutter.

I was thinking more along the lines of them using their time to develop unique magics or psionic abilities that let them expand their zone of influence.

They might even be a good alternative to the Elder Brains of Illithid biology...or there could be a little magical convergent evolution, and they could develop a motile form...

 

[fruitbane]

Sorry, I misunderstood the going insane part. My mistake.

Also, since coral reefs expand slowly, if the reef is awakened long enough who knows what kind of structures it could erect?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Enough people have complemented me on this campaign idea that I thought I'd add it to this thread:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...27-starting-new-m-m-campaign.html#post4793004

and hopefully re-energizing this thread in the process.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Cool stuff here:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/256538-pitch-your-homebrew.html

 

[rogueboy]

A reimagining of the races, with Moa-riding, nomadic, honey-farming humans as the best developed so far: http://www.enworld.org/forum/plots-places/256063-what-would-society-look-like.html

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

This sounds like a pretty cool campaign...and the guy could probably use some brainstorming help.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...were-mechs-aka-mecha-omega-design-thread.html

 

[kitsune9]

Let us gather a mighty hoard of adventure and campaign ideas, compressed to what was most important about them.

From me:

Tides of Homeland: Four heroes with no place to call home come together to stop a mind flayer's attempt to save his people by destroying all other races. The mind flayer seeks an ancient magic to drive all the world mad with rage, and after his first defeat he secrets himself into the mind of one of the heroes, Harley, a lost and emotionally vulnerable woman whom he uses to further his plots. Only the friendship formed within the group can free her soul and save the world.

The Fall: The son of a demon summoner discovers that his mother's dying bargain was to trade his soul for the death of a paladin order that had wronged her. The problem is, the demon never fulfilled its bargain, and the son finds himself in the middle of an infernal game. Temptations abound -- power, fame, and vengeance -- but even the corrupted can still fight a greater evil.

Winds of Change: A group of adventurers hire on as bodyguards for Vidania, an air mage apprentice on a pilgrimage to find places of great aeromantic power. In their journeys they discover an ancient air mage who was thwarted many times in the past is attempting to dissolve the world into the elemental plane of air. Will the winds blow in the party's favor, or has this villain's luck changed?

Scourge of the Burning Sky: As a world-spanning empire falls, generals and archmages scramble for power, threatening to destroy the world amid their warfare. Refugees from the empire assemble in a resistance and one by one take down these new emperors, walking the line between saving the world, and becoming its next tyrants. All the 'ancient artifacts' that might exist in a fantasy setting are created and used in this war, but the most powerful force is held by a would-be ally, hidden in ever-reflecting secrets.

The Graveyard of Steel: Three creators of a steamtech doomsday device flee to keep their masterpiece from destroying the world. Heroes could have discovered the true conspiracy and saved the world, but the best hope for salvation is a group of criminals, murderers, and madmen. The world (not to mention the GM's sanity) is doomed.

These are cool Ranger.

 

[RangerWickett]

My latest mini-campaign:

On a covert mission to infiltrate the organization of Sir Nicholas, a famous dragon-slayer, the PCs must face two wyrms -- the blind serpent Ugra Vyakti in his lair where the eyes of a dead mad god sear insanity into the minds of any who carry light, and the leper drake Wazir Ghul Khota, who holds a kidnapped princess in his canyon river labyrinth where he intends to sacrifice her on the summer solstice to break his curse -- in order to win Sir Nicholas's trust. Then they undertake their true mission: to fight alongside Sir Nicholas as he aids the prince of a warlike nation in a battle against Lsi Rae Bo, lord of the four winds, a mighty elemental dragon whom the prince must defeat in order to succeed his ailing father. Fighting atop a sentient airship in the chaos of a giant storm, the PCs must sabotage Sir Nicholas's efforts and ensure the prince dies, without implicating the nation that hired them.

 

[SteelDraco]

Reign of Steel, the King Returns: This one's set in the GURPS Reign of Steel setting, where the world has been taken over by Artificial Intelligences, and humans scrape out an existence where they can. In this world, the PCs are reborn Knights of the Round Table, questing to reawaken Merlin and Arthur and return England to humanity.

Lifewarpers: An heir of House Vadalis, the breeders and animal-herders of Eberron, starts breeding enhanced human shock troops to replace warforged... and intends to restart the Last War to make sure there's plenty of customers. Little does he know that the daelkyr are behind his inspiration, and seek to spread their lifecrafted creations through his House throughout the world.