D&D 5E Campaign Idea: Very Rare Magic Items at Lv. 1

[doppelgangerstudios]

Been workshopping an idea for a new campaign. All characters start at 1st level, standard rules except for one important addition: every player may choose one (1) Very Rare magic item. It can be from any book, and the DM has no say in the matter. They can incorporate that item into their history and begin play with it.

PLOT TWIST: during the first session, the players end up facing a difficult choice, the BBEG will blow everyone away unless they fork over the items. Using the items in any way also results in the characters being disintegrated. It’s made abundantly clear the choice is lose your items or die, leaving the campaign.

PLOT TWIST: The players are left with some clues as to where the BBEG went.

PLOT TWIST: When they find the BBEG’s lair, the BBEG is gone but the items have all been destroyed.

PLOT TWIST: The players hear of an archmage that may be able to repair the items.

PLOT TWIST: When they finally get to the archmage, the mage tells them the items have been permanently destroyed. Enterprising players may interpret the campaign gimmick as a goal, and may suggest finding a way to create new versions of the items, maybe even using the pieces to model the items.

PLOT TWIST: If the players try to get around the destruction, they are greeted with another difficulty. Not only have the items been destroyed, the magic that created them was permanently warped. Those particular items are now impossible to recreate, they are effectively globally banned from the campaign world.

PLOT TWIST: Every once in awhile an NPC suggests that maybe there is hope if the BBEG is defeated. Once the party kill him, they find it changes nothing. Other NPCs periodically suggest that the items were important in some way or that something may still be done to get them back. Unfortunately, it’s always a ruse, a pretext to waste the party’s time or accomplish the NPC’s selfish goal. As the campaign progresses, the ruses become less convincing and the NPCs voicing them become less motivated to do so, moving from “I’m using you by lying about the items” to “I’m mocking you, knowing that mentioning them angers you” to a final, terminal energy of “I’m half-heartedly mentioning what is certainly a lie about the items for no apparent gain”.

Basically the rest of the campaign writes itself. Ideally, the BBEG is dead by level 4 and the rest of the action is whatever. The important part is the items and how they’ll never, ever make it into the campaign. Even future games set in the world should not feature them.

Not sure if it needs any more spice, but anyway that’s the idea

 

[Savage Wombat]

Maybe you have different players than I'm used to, but this seems to me like a recipe to frustrate and anger your group. Sorry.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

By halfway through the first “plot twist” (you keep using that word…), I’d ask the DM what the point of the campaign is, and if they give a straight answer tell them no, and that they should have been upfront when pitching the campaign in the first place.

 

[doppelgangerstudios]

By halfway through the first “plot twist” (you keep using that word…), I’d ask the DM what the point of the campaign is, and if they give a straight answer tell them no, and that they should have been upfront when pitching the campaign in the first place.

This is fair, but I think I’d tell the player that if I were to reveal my twists or the point, I’d be ruining the surprise. But you bring up a valid point. If you asked what the point was, I’d tell you something true: that you choosing those items is important to the rest of the campaign abd you’ll see soon that the decision changed the campaign world forever. That way, it’s true AND you’re still surprised (the way the world changes being that it’s impossible to have those items anymore)

 

[doctorbadwolf]

This is fair, but I think I’d tell the player that if I were to reveal my twists or the point, I’d be ruining the surprise. But you bring up a valid point. If you asked what the point was, I’d tell you something true: that you choosing those items is important to the rest of the campaign abd you’ll see soon that the decision changed the campaign world forever. That way, it’s true AND you’re still surprised (the way the world changes being that it’s impossible to have those items anymore)

No. This would be a great way to get an entire group to never want you to DM again.

 

[doppelgangerstudios]

Maybe you have different players than I'm used to, but this seems to me like a recipe to frustrate and anger your group. Sorry.

Players are often quite clever and lay the best plans to waste. One advantage this idea has I think is the ability to continue to challenge players that often find circuitous routes to success. It’s more for a veteran group, who will find no such route exists

 

[CleverNickName]

Welcome to ENWorld, @doppelgangerstudios!

I strongly recommend against giving them something that you are just going to take away in the first gaming session. That is always going to feel like a sucker-punch, and you are always going to look like a jerk. You can keep calling it a "plot twist," but your players are not going to call it that (they're gonna call it something else entirely.)

A better hook would be to tell your players to pick one magic item from any book, as you describe. Tell them that they aren't going to start the game with that item per se, but rather, they get to start with a fragment of it and have to find the rest of the pieces. Or they'll start with a treasure map that will lead them to the item's location. Or something along those lines. Let them know that as they complete different quests, they will be rewarded with that item by the time they reach a certain level, so that they can take that into consideration when rolling up their characters and choosing the item.

But don't give them something just so they can watch you take it away, over and over again, as "a ruse, a pretext to waste the party’s time." Very few players will stand for that.

 

[Maxperson]

This is fair, but I think I’d tell the player that if I were to reveal my twists or the point, I’d be ruining the surprise. But you bring up a valid point. If you asked what the point was, I’d tell you something true: that you choosing those items is important to the rest of the campaign abd you’ll see soon that the decision changed the campaign world forever. That way, it’s true AND you’re still surprised (the way the world changes being that it’s impossible to have those items anymore)

If it were me and I was given a rare item at 1st level to incorporate into my backstory, I'd be pissed that it got taken away and destroyed like that. A temporary loss would be okay, but it shouldn't take long to get them back.

I think you'd be better off just leaving them with the items and compensating by making the encounters a bit harder to keep things balanced. It will be much more fun for them.

 

[doppelgangerstudios]

No. This would be a great way to get an entire group to never want you to DM again

If it were me and I was given a rare item at 1st level to incorporate into my backstory, I'd be pissed that it got taken away and destroyed like that. A temporary loss would be okay, but it shouldn't take long to get them back.

I think you'd be better off just leaving them with the items and compensating by making the encounters a bit harder to keep things balanced. It will be much more fun for them.

That’s an interesting idea but I’m not sure it works with the BBEG concept, which is “this enemy is here to destroy the items”. His big speech in the 1st adventure “Good! You’re here. Now hand me your magic or be blasted to dust. I will permanently destroy them all” barely makes sense. If he doesn’t target the items, it’s confusing. If he fails, he’s hardly big bad and evil now is he?

 

[doppelgangerstudios]

Welcome to ENWorld, @doppelgangerstudios!

I strongly recommend against giving them something that you are just going to take away in the first gaming session. That is always going to feel like a sucker-punch, and you are always going to look like a jerk. You can keep calling it a "plot twist," but your players are not going to call it that (they're gonna call it something else entirely.)

A better hook would be to tell your players to pick one magic item from any book, as you describe. Tell them that they aren't going to start the game with that item per se, but rather, they get to start with a fragment of it and have to find the rest of the pieces. Or they'll start with a treasure map that will lead them to the item's location. Or something along those lines. Let them know that as they complete different quests, they will be rewarded with that item by the time they reach a certain level, so that they can take that into consideration when rolling up their characters and choosing the item.

But don't give them something just so they can watch you take it away, over and over again, as "a ruse, a pretext to waste the party’s time." Very few players will stand for that.

Thank you for the welcome! I’m thinking this one over. I think the one confusing thing is, I wouldn’t be taking the item, it would be the BBEG. The players will have an opportunity early along to slay him for what he’s done. They’ll just also see the damage has already been done. The NPCs wasting their time are similiarly vulnerable to attack—they’ll learn that certain problems though can’t be undone solely through violence

 

[aco175]

Giving the players a choice to die or hand over my father's watch- which his POW buddy hid in his ass for years until he could escape and find me to finally give me my birthright, is not a good choice to give in the first hour of the campaign. Unless you tell the players up front. Yes it is a cool twist- for you. It is similar to capturing PCs and starting in a jail with no choice in the matter.

Just start the campaign with all of you are gathered at the local inn because your families have been burglarized over the last few days and family heirlooms have been stolen and you decided to band together to get them back.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Thank you for the welcome! I’m thinking this one over. I think the one confusing thing is, I wouldn’t be taking the item, it would be the BBEG. The players will have an opportunity early along to slay him for what he’s done. They’ll just also see the damage has already been done. The NPCs wasting their time are similiarly vulnerable to attack—they’ll learn that certain problems though can’t be undone solely through violence

But you’re setting out to “gotcha” your players, and even stated in the OP that they just cannot successfully regain these items. Ever. They can’t make new versions without them being corrupt versions, even.

It’s not a campaign, it’s a lecture.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Thank you for the welcome! I’m thinking this one over. I think the one confusing thing is, I wouldn’t be taking the item, it would be the BBEG.

You are the Dungeon Master. You are running the BBEG. Thus you are the BBEG in the eyes of the players. Thus the removing of these magic items in the first session after asking them to choose them is you basically buying them an ice cream cone and then throwing it on the ground before they can eat it. Is it a "twist"? Sure. But not all twists are worth doing. The players would probably rather just not have gone for ice cream at all.

 

[doppelgangerstudios]

You are the Dungeon Master. You are running the BBEG. Thus you are the BBEG in the eyes of the players. Thus the removing of these magic items in the first session after asking them to choose them is you basically buying them an ice cream cone and then throwing it on the ground before they can eat it. Is it a "twist"? Sure. But not all twists are worth doing. The players would probably rather just not have gone for ice cream at all.

Want to clarify something after reading the last two comments (this is a lecture, this is ice cream they can’t have). It’s not just a twist where they can’t “eat their ice cream”. It’s that they chose one specific flavor and that flavor becomes impossible to reproduce, ever. Let me give an example. Say they choose the Amulet of the Planes. The twist (like an ice cream twist!) is that the amulet is destroyed, cannot be rebuilt, and there is a permanent amulet of the planes shaped hole in the campaign world. The players will learn that choosing any other item would have allowed for the possibility of attaining one, but instead their desire has been transmuted into lack, an unrequited love, a marriage never consummated, an “objet petit a” if you will.

This twist creates capability of drama and invention. There will be frequent flashbacks to the first 10 minutes of the campaign where the players held their magic items, stressing their loss and irreversible absence. It also may be a clue in of itself—say the PCs meet a roguish man who says “there are more amulets of the planes out there”—they’ll be able to deduce he’s a shifty character just saying what they want to hear (the truth being there was only one and now it’s gone and can’t be recreated)

Another aspect of the twist is that most everything seems mutable in dnd, even death itself. The novelty is, while players can remove curses, diseases, rise from the dead and be reincarnated, there is no means to restore the magic. The world has a binding eliminationist logic to these items.

 

[Krachek]

PLOT TWIST : The party refuse the offer and kill the BBEG right at the first session.

 

[aco175]

Let me give an example. Say they choose the Amulet of the Planes. The twist (like an ice cream twist!) is that the amulet is destroyed, cannot be rebuilt, and there is a permanent amulet of the planes shaped hole in the campaign world. The players will learn that choosing any other item would have allowed for the possibility of attaining one, but instead their desire has been transmuted into lack, an unrequited love, a marriage never consummated, an “objet petit a” if you will.

Hey paladin- you get to start the game with a holy avenger.
Yes, that rocks.
Psych, I'm going to take it from you and make you earn it.
Oh! I guess that can work. I'll just need to adventure and get it back.
Psych again. I'm going to make it so you can never get it. Ever!
Ever?
Yes, isn't that a cool plot twist?
No, it kind of sucks.
It is your fault for wanting that item in the first place. You should have chosen a healing potion as your family heirloom.
What would have happened if I chosen that?
There would be no more healing potions in the world.
Wow.

 

[doppelgangerstudios]

Healing Potions aren’t a Very Rare magic item so it would be a strange choice. I’d wonder why you went with that, but would probably allow it even though it specifically goes against the earlier stated constraints. As a DM, I think it’s generous to make allowances from time to time to earn the goodwill of the players

 

[Mort]

Want to clarify something after reading the last two comments (this is a lecture, this is ice cream they can’t have). It’s not just a twist where they can’t “eat their ice cream”. It’s that they chose one specific flavor and that flavor becomes impossible to reproduce, ever. Let me give an example. Say they choose the Amulet of the Planes. The twist (like an ice cream twist!) is that the amulet is destroyed, cannot be rebuilt, and there is a permanent amulet of the planes shaped hole in the campaign world. The players will learn that choosing any other item would have allowed for the possibility of attaining one, but instead their desire has been transmuted into lack, an unrequited love, a marriage never consummated, an “objet petit a” if you will.

This twist creates capability of drama and invention. There will be frequent flashbacks to the first 10 minutes of the campaign where the players held their magic items, stressing their loss and irreversible absence. It also may be a clue in of itself—say the PCs meet a roguish man who says “there are more amulets of the planes out there”—they’ll be able to deduce he’s a shifty character just saying what they want to hear (the truth being there was only one and now it’s gone and can’t be recreated)

Another aspect of the twist is that most everything seems mutable in dnd, even death itself. The novelty is, while players can remove curses, diseases, rise from the dead and be reincarnated, there is no means to restore the magic. The world has a binding eliminationist logic to these items.

What you are effectively doing is asking the players to pick their favorite item to start with and then ensuring they never ever get access to that item, it's a really HARD sell.

A few years ago I played in a Star Wars game at Gen Con. The description was that of a fun courier adventure and pregens were provided. Wanted to try the system so my friend and I signed up.

6 players at the table and each of us picked the pregens they wanted. Someone picked the face, someone picked the strong heavy weapons specialist, etc.

Ok, everyone has the character they like and is ready.

5 minutes into the adventure there's some kind of disturbance and "something" happens but the GM is vague on what and the courier mission continues.

As the mission continues and we interact with the adventure we realize the PLOT TWIST was that the "disturbance" put us in some kind of "opposite world." Strong characters are weak, face characters can't talk their way out of a paper bag, ranged specialists couldn't hit the broad side of a barn etc.

Essentially, everyone was stuck with the exact opposite of the character they picked/wanted.

Far from being a fun experience it was an extremely frustrating/tedious 4 hours that I would not care to repeat. And sadly, it soured me on the d6 version of star wars for years.

Point is, promising a premise and then yanking that premise away for some supposed fun payoff later? IME, it results in frustrated, disappointed players.

 

[doppelgangerstudios]

PLOT TWIST : The party refuse the offer and kill the BBEG right at the first session.

The BBEG is invulnerable during the first combat, as his hand is on the disintegration wand and he makes it clear that not only is he protected by powerful magic, he’ll reduce everyone to ashes if they attack outright.
This is later remedied when the find him around lv 4, fat and happy, no longer interested in adventuring or defense since he’s already accomplished his goal (irreconcilably destroying the objects the party most loved)

 

[humble minion]

This is later remedied when the find him around lv 4, fat and happy, no longer interested in adventuring or defense since he’s already accomplished his goal (irreconcilably destroying the objects the party most loved)

What sort of a goal is that? Who is this guy supposed to be, that his big ambition in life is to destroy a couple of magic items? He needs more personality than that. Right now he only exists to be a deus ex machina, and then get killed in revenge, assuming your players don’t just flip the table and leave after the ‘big plot twist’ stuffs up their character backgrounds.