Hi All,
I'm seeking suggestions, advice, creative ideas, and so forth for a campaign that I would like to put together for my players.
This is a campaign based on the 5e rules. The core idea of the campaign is to span the major life events of the PCs - perhaps 30 or 40 years of their lifetime. The PCs would start as young members of society looking to prove themselves and over time grow in power, and recognition, becoming the power players in their region. A major theme of the campaign could be the gradual increase in consequences of decisions made by the heroes. Initially, their decisions impact only themselves, but with increased power comes great responsibility and their decisions affect more and more lives. I'm considering adding a dash of mass combat/kingdom management rules from Paizo's Ultimate Campaign for the latter portion of the campaign (although this is not meant to be a major focus, it may decide some of the larger battles in the campaign). I plan for this to be a year long campaign - 52 sessions approximately which equates to a level every 2.5 sessions. If I were to equate this to Paizo's Adventure Paths, that could be 6 or 7 adventures (or points in time) each about 3 levels long. We don't use XP but I would like the pace to be a level every 2.5 sessions or so.
I'm considering setting the campaign in the Known World and I believe there are two interesting time periods for the campaign.
First the campaign could be set at the point where Duke Stefan Karameikos claims his new Duchy. The Duke is aided by second and third son nobles who flock to the lands to help build a new country - this would be the heroes of course. The Duke would rule the country but as the heroes show the Duke that he can put his trust in them, they gain in stature and are put in positions of power. I think this idea would fit in very nicely with Paizo's kingdom rules giving the heroes great authority without having the final authority. Since the Known World/Mystara timeline has progressed considerably from that point in time, there are numerous events that could be interesting for the campaign (such as the Marilinev Rebellion to launch the campaign).
The second time period could be set in the lands of Norwold after Duke Stefan offers lands to adventurers for settlement (IIRC). This setting has very little info but offers a different experience with rival kingdoms. The heroes have to fight for the survival of their domain but I think this "setting" would lack the great history that Karameikos has.
Currently I am leaning towards the first idea.
My big problem is how do I handle the time gaps? How do I string the adventures together leading to an explosive climax even though decades are passing? Obviously, the adventures are linked through a common villain or opposing force., but what would be the most interesting way of making use of this? There is plenty of material to use, but I am struggling with how to make the best use of it. This is where I turn to you, fellow gamers, and seek your collective wisdom.
Have you run a campaign that spanned gaps in time? How did you do it? And if you are familiar with the Known World, what material would you suggest I use, or would you suggest a different campaign world all together?
FWIW, I have every book for the Known World so I have access to a great deal of material.
Thanks all!
I'm seeking suggestions, advice, creative ideas, and so forth for a campaign that I would like to put together for my players.
This is a campaign based on the 5e rules. The core idea of the campaign is to span the major life events of the PCs - perhaps 30 or 40 years of their lifetime. The PCs would start as young members of society looking to prove themselves and over time grow in power, and recognition, becoming the power players in their region. A major theme of the campaign could be the gradual increase in consequences of decisions made by the heroes. Initially, their decisions impact only themselves, but with increased power comes great responsibility and their decisions affect more and more lives. I'm considering adding a dash of mass combat/kingdom management rules from Paizo's Ultimate Campaign for the latter portion of the campaign (although this is not meant to be a major focus, it may decide some of the larger battles in the campaign). I plan for this to be a year long campaign - 52 sessions approximately which equates to a level every 2.5 sessions. If I were to equate this to Paizo's Adventure Paths, that could be 6 or 7 adventures (or points in time) each about 3 levels long. We don't use XP but I would like the pace to be a level every 2.5 sessions or so.
I'm considering setting the campaign in the Known World and I believe there are two interesting time periods for the campaign.
First the campaign could be set at the point where Duke Stefan Karameikos claims his new Duchy. The Duke is aided by second and third son nobles who flock to the lands to help build a new country - this would be the heroes of course. The Duke would rule the country but as the heroes show the Duke that he can put his trust in them, they gain in stature and are put in positions of power. I think this idea would fit in very nicely with Paizo's kingdom rules giving the heroes great authority without having the final authority. Since the Known World/Mystara timeline has progressed considerably from that point in time, there are numerous events that could be interesting for the campaign (such as the Marilinev Rebellion to launch the campaign).
The second time period could be set in the lands of Norwold after Duke Stefan offers lands to adventurers for settlement (IIRC). This setting has very little info but offers a different experience with rival kingdoms. The heroes have to fight for the survival of their domain but I think this "setting" would lack the great history that Karameikos has.
Currently I am leaning towards the first idea.
My big problem is how do I handle the time gaps? How do I string the adventures together leading to an explosive climax even though decades are passing? Obviously, the adventures are linked through a common villain or opposing force., but what would be the most interesting way of making use of this? There is plenty of material to use, but I am struggling with how to make the best use of it. This is where I turn to you, fellow gamers, and seek your collective wisdom.
Have you run a campaign that spanned gaps in time? How did you do it? And if you are familiar with the Known World, what material would you suggest I use, or would you suggest a different campaign world all together?
FWIW, I have every book for the Known World so I have access to a great deal of material.
Thanks all!
