Crazy campaign idea: Paranoia meets the Masquerade meets generic fantasy.

[Janx]

Paranoia as a game has it's own silliness and style.

I'm assuming the OP isn't interested in recreating that game, so much as the concept that the PCs are that which they hunt. And as such, are paranoid.

I think it'll be more sustainable if the world still is "mostly" human, and the party is partly "non-human" but pretending to be. Then, if each PC is hiding it (perhaps they are of different races and as such, unaware of each others nature).

then, each player is trying to hide their secret, in a mostly human world.

If every NPC was non-human, the cat would be out of the bag after a few encounters (and the non-human PCs would have qualms about this discovery).


But with part of the party human, and part "secretive", everybody has a true enticement to look and act human. And suspect anybody who isn't. Especially when the NPC non-humans are really really bad. You want the majority to NOT like non-humans. Thus, the pretenders have to blend in.

The campaign could go 2 ways:
a) the pretenders side with their brethren in a big party clash
b) the humans could side with their non-human party members

 

[Saeviomagy]

I think it would work fine as a campaign setting, however the main reason for that is this:

The players would never know. They would just assume that, even though noone THEY ever fight is actually human, that it's just because they're adventurers. Your great secret would be protected by the assumptions of the typical D&D campaign: that the PCs are unique special butterflies fighting unusual threats.

And, for all intents and purposes, it would work out pretty much the same as a normal campaign(well, a normal campaign where the PCs are all secretly monsters). After all, it's essentially a minor reflavouring of unimportant details of unimportant NPCs. You never normally know anything about the average peasant, so if he's secretly a werewolf or selkie, it doesn't make much difference. In any campaign you're playing right now, you could feasably be the only demi human in the entire campaign and you would never know.

This is all only really applicable if this is happening because the supernatural creatures are all assuming that the majority of the world is still human, and they fear discovery. Anyone who shows themselves to be a monster is hunted down by their own kind on the assumption that otherwise the rest of the world will start looking a little too closely, and hunted down by everyone else because that's what humans would do, and they need to fit in.

 

[NoWayJose]

If every NPC was non-human, the cat would be out of the bag after a few encounters...

Maybe I'm confused about you meant to say, but in real-life, people believed in demons and fairies for hundreds of years, despite nobody ever seeing a real-life demon or fairy. And in real-life, dictators have used propaganda to pacify the public for many years. Surely, in this world, it's somewhat believable never to see a non-human and yet maintain the conspiracy for some considerable length of time.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The secret societies would be a hoot...especially if you lift them wholesale from Paranoia.

The pro-human ones especially- imagine them all dressing up as closely as possible to a normal human being...

 

[Janx]

Maybe I'm confused about you meant to say, but in real-life, people believed in demons and fairies for hundreds of years, despite nobody ever seeing a real-life demon or fairy. And in real-life, dictators have used propaganda to pacify the public for many years. Surely, in this world, it's somewhat believable never to see a non-human and yet maintain the conspiracy for some considerable length of time.

in real life, if you accuse somebody of a witch, and kill them for it, you have no more or less proof than you did before.


In D&D, if you kill a non-human, it's pretty obvious during the fight and examining the body that it wasn't human. The critter will use its abilities to survive, rather than hide them and die. THen the body will have details that are not human, or it will likely revert to form.

furthermore, once the party starts killing NPCs, they'll notice that EVERY one of the isn't human. A trend will become obvious.

 

[jdrakeh]

The critter will use its abilities to survive, rather than hide them and die.

This seems to assume non-intelligent opponents who cannot/do not consider the value of maintaining the masquerade.

furthermore, once the party starts killing NPCs, they'll notice that EVERY one of the isn't human. A trend will become obvious.

This is only true if they attempt to kill EVERY NPC. Hopefully most D&D games don't end up like that.

 

[Janx]

This seems to assume non-intelligent opponents who cannot/do not consider the value of maintaining the masquerade.



This is only true if they attempt to kill EVERY NPC. Hopefully most D&D games don't end up like that.

I may be assuming that each NPC thinks HE is the only one who is not human

If there are no humans, it is just a matter of time before that becomes obvious through somebody getting killed or trying to avoid it.

keeping a secret that "you're a commie" is a lot easier than "you're a dopel-ganger" The biology gives it away eventually. WHereas if you mind your business and don't keep any evidence lying around, there is no difference between a commie in a fight and a human accused of being a commie in a fight.

 

[NoWayJose]

Looks like I misunderstood the original premise. I now agree with Janx that it would be difficult to maintain the masquerade in practice. I think it should be a world of mostly humans, or (shameless plug) something like post #10.

Unless the players really aren't very inquisitive, it seems like a big risk to assume that they won't predict the secret early on (and then all of the rest of the adventure is just pointless).

 

[Huw]

I can fix the dead NPC problem by having a dead shapechanger stay in whatever form it was when it died.

I still can't think of a way to make a whole campaign of this work, but thanks for the ideas. I could start a campaign like this, and have the shapechangers confined to an island or peninsula. Then, when the players realise what's going on and try to get out, they'll have to cope with genuine human guards who really do have reasons to fear a huge population of shapechangers taking over their society.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

This is only true if they attempt to kill EVERY NPC. Hopefully most D&D games don't end up like that.

When was the last time you played Paranoia?

EVERYBODY is a target, including and possibly especially your fellow PCs.

NPCs? They might as well be wearing bulls-eyes.