der_kluge
Adventurer
Nice to see people keep bumping this thread for me. Great ideas, all.
(if by some fluke, you are playing in Curtis Bennett's campaign this fall, avert your eyes!) (none of my players read ENWorld, but better safe than sorry)
What I have thus far (from my own brainstorming):
(first, some background) - the world was plunged into an ice age like 200k years ago, and all civilizations that weren't killed fled to a central equatorial location and fortified it, making their way there. After the ice receded, man has started venturing out to explore those areas that were lost. Hence, the lost continent.
The campaign centers around the PCs and their voyage aboard an expedition to this continent to explore and learn as much as they can. Previously, a brash explorer set out to the open sea, and found it, and mapped a great deal of the coastline - though he never landed, knowing that he was ill-equipped for such a thing. He returned with his prized coastline map and was much lauded. A second explorer used the first's map and has yet to return - some 15 years have past now. A third expedition (enter our Heroes!) sets forth to explore the island, gather as much info as they can, possibly find out what happened to the second explorer, and return.
Once they reach the continent, the explorer and the PCs find the wrecked remains of the previous explorers ship in a harboer near the beach. He and the PCs board a skiff and head to the beach to investigate it. While they are there, a huge dragon flies overhead and attacks their galley, killed many of the crew, and destroys the ship. The PCs, their employer, and whatever crew weren't killed are now stranded. Inside the hull of the previous ship's remains, dire warnings about foul and evil things existing on the continent are scrawled. Too late for our heroes.
Anyway, some of what I have to populate the island with is:
The tomb of the lizardman king - this is the first dungeon I've drawn up, and is a highly complex tomb which has at the bottom the lizardman king and his queen in a temporal stasis.
Where the wild horses roam - a herd of wild horses has made a large grassy field their home where they graze and roam. They are led by a Horse of Legend named Equinox. Taming some horses would be a great boon to the PCs to help explore the island. Will Equinox allow the PCs to tame some of her herd?
The Grippli village - a village of Grippli's (Tome of Horrors) invites the PCs to stay for some rest, and maybe some minor bartering. The first friendly village the PCs come to, it's a welcome relief to the hostile environs that abound here. The Grippli's can offer some clues to the previous explorers whereabouts, because he left some of his journal entries here...
The cave of the colossal scorpion - Amidst a rocky plain, giant scorpions roam, viciously attacking anything they come near. A large cave houses the greatest of them all, a colossal scorpion. What is it protecting in that cave?
The valley of frogs - like the unusual scorpions, the frogs here are monstrously huge. The valley leads into a dismal swamp, where few animals dare wander. What lies at the heart of the swamp is anyone's guess.
The mushroom marsh - Giant walking mushrooms have made their home in this shadowy marsh. A natural limestone cave houses the greatest of these mushrooms.
(The three above locations I've tied together with a chaos sphere - a remnant of some ancient chaotic artifact that has instilled chaos into an otherwise ordinary environment (creating huge mushrooms, frogs, and scorpions in the process). I intend to tie the chaos spheres (the PCs eventually will have to collect all three) as some sort of plot device which I haven't fully realized yet)
The field of gears - These huge gears are out of place in this field. Gears, pulleys, rods, and pistons, all lying about. Automatons appear out of nowhere and attack all living things. Here, a great formian settlement thrives in the heart of it. Where have they come from, and what are their goals?
Black Ice Well - this is a module from MonkeyGod. It's designed for 6-8 13th-14th level characters. The basic premise is that it is a temple to some outcast demons who were responsible for destroying an ultra-powerful vampire dragon. I was going to try to tie the formians, and the chaos spheres into this somehow.
The previous explorer - The previous explorer encountered many tragedies, but the final was an encounter by a powerful vampire lord, who used a form of a magic jar spell to permanently take over his body. In this non-vampire form, the vampire was free to move about the countryside, and now seeks to tap into the power of the black ice well for himself.
...
Well, that's what I have thus far. Thoughts, opinions?
(if by some fluke, you are playing in Curtis Bennett's campaign this fall, avert your eyes!) (none of my players read ENWorld, but better safe than sorry)
What I have thus far (from my own brainstorming):
(first, some background) - the world was plunged into an ice age like 200k years ago, and all civilizations that weren't killed fled to a central equatorial location and fortified it, making their way there. After the ice receded, man has started venturing out to explore those areas that were lost. Hence, the lost continent.
The campaign centers around the PCs and their voyage aboard an expedition to this continent to explore and learn as much as they can. Previously, a brash explorer set out to the open sea, and found it, and mapped a great deal of the coastline - though he never landed, knowing that he was ill-equipped for such a thing. He returned with his prized coastline map and was much lauded. A second explorer used the first's map and has yet to return - some 15 years have past now. A third expedition (enter our Heroes!) sets forth to explore the island, gather as much info as they can, possibly find out what happened to the second explorer, and return.
Once they reach the continent, the explorer and the PCs find the wrecked remains of the previous explorers ship in a harboer near the beach. He and the PCs board a skiff and head to the beach to investigate it. While they are there, a huge dragon flies overhead and attacks their galley, killed many of the crew, and destroys the ship. The PCs, their employer, and whatever crew weren't killed are now stranded. Inside the hull of the previous ship's remains, dire warnings about foul and evil things existing on the continent are scrawled. Too late for our heroes.
Anyway, some of what I have to populate the island with is:
The tomb of the lizardman king - this is the first dungeon I've drawn up, and is a highly complex tomb which has at the bottom the lizardman king and his queen in a temporal stasis.
Where the wild horses roam - a herd of wild horses has made a large grassy field their home where they graze and roam. They are led by a Horse of Legend named Equinox. Taming some horses would be a great boon to the PCs to help explore the island. Will Equinox allow the PCs to tame some of her herd?
The Grippli village - a village of Grippli's (Tome of Horrors) invites the PCs to stay for some rest, and maybe some minor bartering. The first friendly village the PCs come to, it's a welcome relief to the hostile environs that abound here. The Grippli's can offer some clues to the previous explorers whereabouts, because he left some of his journal entries here...
The cave of the colossal scorpion - Amidst a rocky plain, giant scorpions roam, viciously attacking anything they come near. A large cave houses the greatest of them all, a colossal scorpion. What is it protecting in that cave?
The valley of frogs - like the unusual scorpions, the frogs here are monstrously huge. The valley leads into a dismal swamp, where few animals dare wander. What lies at the heart of the swamp is anyone's guess.
The mushroom marsh - Giant walking mushrooms have made their home in this shadowy marsh. A natural limestone cave houses the greatest of these mushrooms.
(The three above locations I've tied together with a chaos sphere - a remnant of some ancient chaotic artifact that has instilled chaos into an otherwise ordinary environment (creating huge mushrooms, frogs, and scorpions in the process). I intend to tie the chaos spheres (the PCs eventually will have to collect all three) as some sort of plot device which I haven't fully realized yet)
The field of gears - These huge gears are out of place in this field. Gears, pulleys, rods, and pistons, all lying about. Automatons appear out of nowhere and attack all living things. Here, a great formian settlement thrives in the heart of it. Where have they come from, and what are their goals?
Black Ice Well - this is a module from MonkeyGod. It's designed for 6-8 13th-14th level characters. The basic premise is that it is a temple to some outcast demons who were responsible for destroying an ultra-powerful vampire dragon. I was going to try to tie the formians, and the chaos spheres into this somehow.
The previous explorer - The previous explorer encountered many tragedies, but the final was an encounter by a powerful vampire lord, who used a form of a magic jar spell to permanently take over his body. In this non-vampire form, the vampire was free to move about the countryside, and now seeks to tap into the power of the black ice well for himself.
...
Well, that's what I have thus far. Thoughts, opinions?
