A blending of Diablo and Dnd.

[Alexander123]

I thought I post a 3.5 campaign idea I had. I have always liked playing Diablo (2, L.o.d.) and I have been thinking of blending certain aspects of Diablo with D&D. I’m not sure if this idea is original, but here goes.

First, the backdrop would be the Diablo setting, a homebrew world although I do intend to incorporate FR material into the campaign. There would be no gods, only paths you could choose, and the benefits which a cleric receives by worshipping a certain god is received by the path they walk on. The powers of a cleric would be less alignment based, and they could use the power of the path which they have walked on for good or for evil. The second difference being that epic characters would not exist to a certain extent, although the heroes could reach to whatever heights they chose to. Yes, the armies which would be defending the world would be able to hold their ground, but there would be no situation where epic characters could be relied upon to solve these issues, so the path would be clear for the heroes to deal with the menace facing the world. Dragons would not exist. While angelic forces may exist, it will be up to the heroes to combat this evil, an undercurrent of “man is stronger than the angels” type thing. Of course the heroes will be free to combat this evil or not as they see fit. As far as encounters for experience, I intend to have system of random encounters, and quest encounters suited to their level, but increasing in CR as they advance. The idea being that through this process they are both honing their skill and fighting their way towards the evil.

Now some people may say, why shouldn’t I just play Diablo instead of this. My answer would be you are free to do so, this campaign is not meant to be a substitute for Diablo, rather it is incorporating certain RPG elements of Diablo into D&D because 1, I want to play D&D, and 2, I have always liked the Diablo demons. (bosses. The other monsters will be from D&D.)

Thoughts?

 

[El Mahdi]

I know you are planning on homebrewing most of what you want, but for reference you may find the following useful (if you can actually find them anywhere).

I know the first one is AD&D 2E, but it still should be good for setting info.

Diablo_II:_The_Awakening

Diablo_II:_Diablerie

Diablo_II:_To_Hell_and_Back



And Welcome to ENWorld!

 

[Jhaelen]

Welcome to ENWorld!

I was just wondering: Have you looked at [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Diablo-II-Diablerie-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786917601]this[/ame]?

To be honest, If I was trying to use Sanctuary as a setting I wouldn't incorporate anything from FR into it. First of all I don't like FR, and more importantly I don't think it fits very well.

Sanctuary is very much a points-of-light setting and FR is a vanilla epic fantasy setting. Taking some inspirations from the Midnight setting from FFG would probably be a much better fit.

 

[Alexander123]

Thank you, just one question. You said Diablo is a points of light setting while FR is a vanilla epic setting. I was wondering whether you could explain what a points of light setting is and a vanilla epic setting is. I didn't really understand those two terms.

 

[CWBush]

I assume by 'points of light' he means that it is a dark world in which the traditional ideals of good (and therefore most of human civilization) is restricted to small bastions surrounded by darkness.

Whereas Forgotten Realms, with the exception of certain nefarious organizations and races, is a generic world similar to how our own medieval period would have operated - albeit with monsters, magic, and other races.

 

[Jhaelen]

Thank you, just one question. You said Diablo is a points of light setting while FR is a vanilla epic setting. I was wondering whether you could explain what a points of light setting is and a vanilla epic setting is. I didn't really understand those two terms.

Here's the WotC article explaining what 'points of light' means.

Classic FR is the opposite, which is why WotC decided the setting had to go through a cataclysm to fit the pattern they wanted to establish for their 4e settings.

I call FR 'vanilla' because it doesn't have any 'flavour' of its own that stands out from the masses of well-known established fantasy settings. That's intentional because the setting aims to appeal to the largest crowd of players, just like 'vanilla' according to studies is the most popular flavour of ice cream.

 

[fireinthedust]

which is why 4e FR tanked.

FR was really popular, it had been the premier fantasy setting for D&D for years. Greyhawk may be the default, but it wasn't detailed in splatbooks and novels the way FR was. Granted, there were issues with it (ie: Elminster and co always win for the PCs; there are high-level NPC good guys who run things, and are basically the RL designers' player characters, etc.).

I don't think WOTC realized that by changing the setting so that all the old stuff was gone, they were ruining what was good about the setting along with the bad stuff. Granted, there are 4e fans, but I don't think the original fan base was too pleased.

Really, they should have done a conversion for those who liked it the way it was, and then focused on a new setting that was great for 4e. Eberron they didn't change so much as adapt, as in a way it's already POL.

One more thing: in your setting you said you wanted the only Epic-level characters to be the PCs. That's a great idea. PoL settings have that, and I think it works.

What are the *adventures* you have planned? Setting is the atmosphere, the flavor. What encounters are you planning?

 

[Alexander123]

Thank you, that clears things up. As far as encounters, they would start in act 1 (I assume everyone is familiar with Diablo 2), the broader issue would be that Andariel has corrupted the surrounding country side and has taken over the main rogue fortress so that the rogues have been forced to retreat to an encampment. The first quest would be to clear out a cave which has been taken over by kobolds and which is infested with undead as well. As far as the undead, since you need an explanation for why these undead are here, I am going to attribute that to the corrupting influence of Andariel and here followers. (since any sort of necromancer would probably be too much for them to handle at lvl. 1.) From there, I have an encounter with a half-fiend ranger planned, who has drawn some of the rogues (not the class.) to her side. (blood raven in the game.) Afterwards, having defeated blood raven and plundered a crypt which she had been using as a base of operation, they are going to go rescue Decard Cain. (Now one of my concerns has been that Decard Cain does not become one of those NPCs on which the P.C.s rely on for everything. If you remember the game, Decard Cain is not the fighting sort, and in fact it is the P.C.s who do most of the fighting. I'll probably deal with this by choosing a class for Decard Cain which does not make him suited to adventuring and battle.) Now having gained a few levels, they are going to have to travel to retrieve the scroll of inifuss to open the way to tristram. I intend to have the tree of inifuss guarded by a troll/s (perhaps more than one, but most likely separate encounters, unless their lvl is high enough.) Once they have retured with the scroll, Akara will tell them that this scroll is actually a map with a hidden entrance to Tristram. The actual entrance will have been blocked (via rockslide or something of the sort, whether through magical means or natural catastrophe.) Once they reach tristram they will be faced among other things by minotaurs, a spellcaster of some sort (perhaps a necromancer? I might make him the one responsible for the undead in the den of evil.) and a half-golem. (the half-golem is the replacement of Griswald, for those who have played Diablo 2.) From there the P.C.s will continue their adventure, coming up on an abandoned wizards tower for them to plunder. The tower will be filled with a wraith and his spawn. (perhaps some other denizens also.) After they have plundered the wizards tower, they will be asked by Charsi to retrieve a hammer which she left at the barracks. The hammer will be guarded by a golem, something to petrify them, and other occupants of the barracks. Once they have retrieved the hammer for charsi, they will get their reward (whatever I decide for that to be.) and Decard Cain will tell them that the time has come for them to set out for the final encounter with Andariel. The encounter in the game took place in the catacombs, where it will also take place here, but for those who remember, there was a cathedral above the catacombs where the entrance to the catacombs lay. I intend to have a death knight here, Andariel's right hand. From there they will make their way down the catacombs facing various traps and monsters until they reach Andariels lair. (Andariel will fight to the death because she does not want to face the humiliation of having to report failure to her superiors.) I have not decided yet what Andariel should be, although in the next act they are going to be facing driders and possibly making a trip to the underdark, so most likely she will be supported by driders. (or they will face driders fighting their way to Andariel.) That's act 1. Tell me what you think.

 

[Alexander123]

I also intend to create an adventure around a (possibly more than one for different point in the game.) set items or a unique item (not an artifact.), I think the Diablo 2 equipment offers many opportunities for role-playing considering that they each have a background etc. etc. I do not intend to have artifacts in my games since I don't use items which can't be crafted, but they would be items which have history. (possibly custom made items.)

While I like the FR setting, I found N.P.C.s like Elminster etc. to be too oppressive so I decided to get rid of them and FR organizations generally like the shadow thieves or the red wizards seemed like not-to-be-touched organizations which cannot be changed so I eliminated them, and have homebrewed organizations instead. Although as far as gods and goddesses in the FR setting, I actually like the different churches and their interrelation, but not the existence of gods and goddessess. So I thought that while there would be clerics who worship the different gods and goddesses, these churches would be paths that people follow, each with their own philosophy and benefits from following a certain path. (most likely I would use FR churches.)

As a note, FR gives me the feel of a world that has been tamed (this is probably because most of the evil forces in FR are organizations.), most or all of the wild elements don't exist. (not saying they are completely absent.) Whereas Sanctuary gives me the feel of a world which is largely untamed. (although not in the sense that the persons in sanctuary are primitive.) Whereas in FR even evil is organized, in Sanctuary evil gives you the feel of raw power. Such as when facing Andariel or Diablo. (my favorite bosses.) Also i might make Lolth the spider queen one of the bosses.

Part of the reason why I like the Sanctuary (this doesn't mean I don't like the FR setting.) setting is because things don't become oppressive, in the sense that N.P.C.s and organizations like elminster, the red wizards etc. give you a feeling of being railroaded. Also I don't like the fact that N.P.C.s exist to deal with everything. (including you, if you decide to become evil, lol.)

Also one of the reasons why I may have said I would incorporate material from the FR setting is because the only two settings I am familiar with are FR and Dragonlance.

I definitely want my campaign to be a PoL setting, but I like the existence of civilization so we'll see how I blend the two.

 

[Jhaelen]

which is why 4e FR tanked.
[...]
I don't think WOTC realized that by changing the setting so that all the old stuff was gone, they were ruining what was good about the setting along with the bad stuff. Granted, there are 4e fans, but I don't think the original fan base was too pleased.

I agree.

While I like the FR setting, I found N.P.C.s like Elminster etc. to be too oppressive so I decided to get rid of them and FR organizations generally like the shadow thieves or the red wizards seemed like not-to-be-touched organizations which cannot be changed so I eliminated them, and have homebrewed organizations instead.

Yup, and that's exactly why I argued against using FR as a base for a homebrew Sanctuary setting. But I understand you have and know the setting, so you want to get some use out of it.

Although as far as gods and goddesses in the FR setting, I actually like the different churches and their interrelation, but not the existence of gods and goddessess. So I thought that while there would be clerics who worship the different gods and goddesses, these churches would be paths that people follow, each with their own philosophy and benefits from following a certain path. (most likely I would use FR churches.)

That sounds similar to Eberron's approach to deities. Noone knows, if the gods are real and you don't require a particular alignment to worship them (alignments are rather fluid in Eberron, anyway), nor are you limited to just worshiping one of them.

As a note, FR gives me the feel of a world that has been tamed (this is probably because most of the evil forces in FR are organizations.), most or all of the wild elements don't exist.

Exactly, hence it's not a PoL setting.

I like you ideas for starting the campaign. I have only one other recommendation at this point: Don't plan any farther ahead. If you do, you'll be tempted to influence your players to follow your script which will probably cause them to feel railroaded. Instead, watch their actions, determine what they're interested in, and work with that. Good luck!