Turning a piece-of-the-puzzle map into a campaign-long story arc

[darkbard]

Greetings, insightful GM minds near and far! I'm looking to brainstorm some ideas with this collective of inspired and creative thinkers.

Here's the sitch: The "glue" to this new story arc is drawn from one of the character's backstories: She is a Druid on the Burnt World of Athas (Dark Sun; read: a combination of Mad Max: Fury Road, Dune, and REH's Conan stories for those unfamiliar with the setting, i.e. a largely scorched desert of a post-apocalyptic world, with small pockets or oases of human (and other) habitation, many of these organized into city-states ruled by tyrannical Sorcerer-Kings). In her formative years, she had a mystical encounter with ... *something* ... in some sublime and sacred natural wonder. This event fused within her some sort of primal power, a power that occasionally floods her with visceral memories of an ancient time before the world was destroyed, when water still flowed freely and the world was green instead of dust and ash.

An elder mentor believes this event to be foreshadowing of the character's destiny: to bring some sort of healing to the world, and thus she has imparted to the the character a piece of a map, directing her to one of the great city-states and where her destiny will begin to unfurl. The campaign will begin with political unrest, chaos, and violence in this location after the assassination of the ruling Sorcerer-King, with the initial stages of adventure involving the PCs making the political connections and alliances necessary to gain access to the walled King's Gardens, the site indicated on the character's map.

Now, to my questions in solicitation of your ideas: In what exciting and interesting ways can I turn this simple map of a plot device into a campaign that will involve not only the central character discussed but also two other characters across 15 or so levels of play? What does the map reveal within the King's Gardens? Where might it lead next? How might this impel the characters forward on a long-game story arc that includes many, smaller satisfying steps and milestones along the way?

Thanks for lending an ear and contributing some portion of your creativity!

 

[Gilladian]

Hmm, maybe they discover that the garden is a nexus point and an artifact there must be charged. And some other number of nexus points must also be found and charged. How and with what is up to you. You could either tie the locations to other PCs, or the charging method, depending on their classes and backgrounds. Once everything is ready, a ritual that is now lost must be reinvented or recovered, and performed in the center where all the nexus lines cross. Probably in a dangerous or difficult to access spot. Again, possibly one that is tied to another PC. But beware of PC deaths in such a situation.... don't make the links too concrete too early!

 

[darkbard]

Hmm, maybe they discover that the garden is a nexus point and an artifact there must be charged. And some other number of nexus points must also be found and charged. How and with what is up to you. You could either tie the locations to other PCs, or the charging method, depending on their classes and backgrounds. Once everything is ready, a ritual that is now lost must be reinvented or recovered, and performed in the center where all the nexus lines cross. Probably in a dangerous or difficult to access spot. Again, possibly one that is tied to another PC. But beware of PC deaths in such a situation.... don't make the links too concrete too early!

Thanks for the response! There are some fine ideas here! I like the idea of the garden being a nexus point for artifact/ritual focus. What might make it so? How might the character's visit to the garden reveal this information?

I should note that unless this turns into a full epic-scope campaign (highly unlikely), I wouldn't want the character to alter significantly what the Burnt World is. This should be a step in healing, not a complete transformation of the world, which would limit possible further campaigns there with the group since the post-apocalyptic vibe is at least half the appeal.

Any other ideas to add on here, folks?

 

[magnusmalkus]

Sounds like you've got a great lead on the 'Hero's Journey'. Just continue to carry it through and you should find some inspiration...

You've got the Ordinary World, the World of Athas.

The druid has received The Call to adventure with her sublime encounter.

Next is the Refusal, but I've never understood the purpose of the Refusal in a game-story featuring 'adventurers'. After all, What kind of adventurer REFUSES the call to adventure?!

So we move onto Meeting With the Mentor, where your druid receives the piece of the map.

Next up is Crossing the Threshold, which you've got covered in the obstacles involved with entering the Walled Garden.

Which should bring the situation to the current. It seems the PC's should encounter Tests, Allies & Enemies.. after which they Approach the Inner-Most Circle, then must Undergo the Ordeal.

How about the garden contains a reflecting pool containing a potential magical ally who can give them aid, direct them further, and 'fill in the gaps' regarding the coming steps of the journey. The reflecting pool could be have guardians to defeat in order to consult the magical ally within.

The magical ally could reveal the Suffering and Ordeal to come and detail the reward to be had (fulfilling her destiny - but not in the world-changing kind of way). Her Ordeal is where she'll need her allies, the other PC's. Each of their skills will be necessary to navigate the trials and tribulations of the 'underworld'. The ally may be able to point this out.

For the Approach to the Inner-Most Circle, put a Henge in the garden. The magical ally can tell them that's where they need to go and will give them the remainder of the map. The map contains directions on how to active the Henge in order to get to the 'underworld', where the Ordeal awaits.

The remainder of the map doesn't chart the surrounding mundane landscape of Artas as one might suspect, but instead maps whatever 'underworld' the Druid must enter (the Garden was just the entry point). Maybe some hint of the maps other-worldly origin may be hinted at. Maybe the material the map-scrap the mentor gives the druid is of some strange unidentifiable material with unique qualities (doesn't burn, can be infinitely folded, glows in moonlight...)

In this 'underworld' the druid must 'seize the sword' or 'bear the mark' or whatever ordeal you can think of.

Then fill in the blanks with the Road Back and the Ressurection after that.

 

[darkbard]

And *this* is why I post for feedback rather than just contemplate by my lonesome. I never would have thought of framing the narrative arc in terms of Campbell's "Hero's Journey," but you're absolutely right: I've already begun doing so!

I'm not sure which of the specific elements you outline I will make use of for this story, seeing as fitting some of the elements to Athas will require some adaptation. But as an overall narrative? What a great start!

Thanks so much!

Edit: upon a bit of research, I see that the terminology you use is drawn from Christopher Vogler as much as Campbell, the more familiar figure to me. Nevertheless, it's the same structure....

 

[Gilladian]

Thanks for the response! There are some fine ideas here! I like the idea of the garden being a nexus point for artifact/ritual focus. What might make it so? How might the character's visit to the garden reveal this information?

I should note that unless this turns into a full epic-scope campaign (highly unlikely), I wouldn't want the character to alter significantly what the Burnt World is. This should be a step in healing, not a complete transformation of the world, which would limit possible further campaigns there with the group since the post-apocalyptic vibe is at least half the appeal.

Any other ideas to add on here, folks?

The idea of being a nexus point came to me because gardens must be incredibly rare in Athas (I presume - I've never actually read the campaign setting, just heard of/about it). But the rarity of the garden and the fact that it reflects what she wants to do to the entire world - render it green again - seems to make it a perfect focal point. As far as what the garden reveals - perhaps the very shape of the garden is a map. There could be hedges forming a maze that match the various points that, in the real world, need to be visited and charged to form a network of lines. And no - this one single ritual need not transform the world. But it could awaken a new sense of life being reborn, instead of slowly dying. Once each point has been visited and charged, then the ritual at the center (marked by a pool in the garden?) could change some single thing about how Athas functions - relieving some source of damage to the world, or bringing some trace of greenery back, etc... that future campaigns could build on. OR, it could just create a series of oases that, on their own, will not change the world, but will allow people of the future to have some hope and respite from harshness.

And of course, you could work the hero's journey tasks into the striving to visit each site, and the stages of visiting each of the sites.

 

[Lanefan]

A few adventures could simply revolve around finding more bits of the map...but, to avoid the whole thing being centered on just one character* all the way through, I'd highly recommend other characters end up with the other map bits.

* - never a good idea for two reasons:
- as time goes on all the other characters risk ending up becoming little more than sidekicks of - or expendable resources for - the special one, and-or
- sure as shooting the special PC who has all the requisite information will be the first to die, and will do so before passing the knowledge on to anyone else.

I really like the story idea as a whole. I just wonder if there's a better way to approach it than by highlighting one PC over the others.

Lan-"and making any character death-immune has its own issues"-efan