Campaign Ideas Needed

[dren]

A few weeks ago I just ended my campaign, and now I am slowly working on ideas for a new one which I hope to start sometime in July. I know the mood I want to conjure, as well as most of the people and the politics in the region, but I'd like to get some ideas from the masters here at ENW.

This is the gist: the region is one penisula formally controlled by one empire, which is based in one city which is at the centre of a magical node. Most clerics and sorcerers never leave the city because all of their spells are enhanced by the node. Rangers, paladins and druids are majorly needed because of the constant threats from the hinterlands...they have no standing army because there are no official military threats. Monks are rarely found in the city, as they have monasteries at scattered sites throughout the region. The vast majority of rogues are mobsters called the under-houses, which are self-recognized "noble families" that become legit if they bribe the right people enough money.

The city is essentially Rome, as it is the heart of both the magical, clerical, financial and political events, but as the PCS will eventually discover, it is ripe for abuse as the under-houses manipulate many of the important events, especially with the religious houses. Officially the city temples are not allowed to use violence agaisnt each other, but that is where the mob comes in. They do at night what can't be done during the light of the day.

The major enemies are several types of lesser and more powerful goblins, which are not living creatures, but spawned aberations. Think of the earth, spewing forth vile, rotten impurities which if left to coalesce eventually forms gobs and hob-gobs, or if in infects living creatures, turning it into a protean scourge type creature (see the MM3). Druids fight these dangers but there are waves of goblins every dozen or so years, and soon a new wave is about to hit.

What ideas do the pros here at EN World have for me. Any intersting thoughts that jump to your heads? What protections should the rangers/paladins have?

Thanks All,
dren

 

[Torm]

Inspired by the old video game Archon, I'm thinking maybe this node could be one of a set number of power points in the world, the control of which would allow the controller to conquer the world/dominate the world/become a god/summon unlimited numbers of glazed donuts/etc. Could provide lots of motive for conflict. If you haven't figured out why the node is there already, that is.

 

[Torm]

Another thing that occurs to me is that perhaps in your world, the Spirituals (Celestials, Infernals, etc) are less opposed to each other than they are as a group to Elementals - some sort of clash between spirit and material. In which case, you might model any changes you make to paladins around powers more in line with spirit - Spiritual Weapon 1/day instead of Smite Evil, some sort of Ethereal Jaunt ability or such instead of a faithful steed, and so on.

Oh, and look at the Grues in the MM3, too, if you haven't already - a couple of those might be useful in diversifying the ranks of Earth based scum.

 

[dren]

Inspired by the old video game Archon, I'm thinking maybe this node could be one of a set number of power points in the world, the control of which would allow the controller to conquer the world/dominate the world/become a god/summon unlimited numbers of glazed donuts/etc. Could provide lots of motive for conflict. If you haven't figured out why the node is there already, that is.

It is one of many direct conduits to the astral planes / heavens that are located through-out my homebrew world. Most are controlled by the various faiths as shrines. In this region, rather than having dozens of them over thousands of miles, there is only one but it is titantic in both size and energy and becomes the focal point for virtually all magic in the region. (This is one region in my world, but each region has varying adjustments to the magic and racial rules, this way I have five types of campaigns rather than just one. )

Another thing that occurs to me is that perhaps in your world, the Spirituals (Celestials, Infernals, etc) are less opposed to each other than they are as a group to Elementals - some sort of clash between spirit and material.

That's not where or what I was thinking but it's a really interesting idea. It's more of the political reality than simply holy wars raging all the time, and that's why all of the churches come together in the city to try and work together for the benefit for all; at least that's the way it works officially. But, your idea does work really well in the hinterlands.

 

[palleomortis]

OOOOOOooooooh. THE WAR FOR TROY!!!!!

 

[dicechild]

I like it

Sounds good. Are you starting with new pcs or old experienced ones. I commonly have to write all of that down. Have you figured out general geograpy and climate. You could make the goblin uprisings coincide with a certain astronomical period, and make it inevitable that they will come. Goblins that could really be being driven by a more powerful entity. I like the idea though, lots of inginuity and imagination. PM me for more.
Dicechild

 

[monkeynova]

How big is your city?

If your city is large enough, conceptually it could become difficult for intra-city communications, even with the assistance of magic. If, say, small shrines dotted the city, whose chief purpose was to act as "message relay" (i.e., you visit the local cleric or priest, deliver a message while at the same time making a small donation, and *poof* your message is "sent" to another small shrine elsewhere in the city), the city's rulers may decide to enlist the under-houses as protection for the shrines that are some distance away from the city center. (This could at least partially explain the under-houses' powerbase and influence in the city's political goings-on). If the city was subdivided in such a way that each section of the city came under control of some minor nobility, and if the under-houses weren't universally used by each noble (or, some had worse relations with the under-houses than others), that might lead to spotty or non-existant communications with some sections of the city; that might also lead to under-houses having greater control in those sections (or more combat between under-houses vying for control in those sections).

Also, if the city is large, I would think there would be a large police force or standing militia; because of the under-houses, there might also be a lot of "irregular" forces, specifically devoted to keeping really blatant abuses of the under-houses power in check. If there are a lot of rangers running about (to deal with the threat from the hinterlands), it might be a good idea to make most if not all of the rangers encountered within the city the urban variant of ranger.

As far as paladins, I guess that would depend on what kind of threat you're facing from the hinterlands; the rangers make sense, but I'm not sure if knights might not be more appropriate than paladins (unless there are a lot of evil- or undead-type monsters). Fighters or knight protectors might be more of a common sight than paladins. OTOH, if you're using the "message relay" shrines from the first paragraph, having at least one paladin (who's probably more ceremonial or administrative than adventuring) at each shrine might make sense; if there are message shrines outside of the cities, the majority of the adventuring paladins might be charged with defending those (especially, if communication with faraway imperial outposts is difficult -- the goblins may find the horses of message couriers to be an especially tasty or prized meal, for instance). In fact, having mostly templars guarding city shrines, and paladins guarding shrines outside the city might make more sense.

Those thoughts immediately jump out me, anyway.

monkeynova

 

[gizmo33]

The major enemies are several types of lesser and more powerful goblins, which are not living creatures, but spawned aberations.

IMC I develop my villains more because PCs spend a lot of time battling against them. The Underhouses sound like another source of trouble. Are there intelligent goblins amongst the pack? What do they really want? If they march around just mindlessly attacking until they get whacked by PCs, then IMO it runs the risk of becoming like a video game.

I'd plan for some "gee whiz" kind of revelations. Maybe an evil sect of druids that's causing this whole thing for some reason (although that one's almost cliche). Maybe the energy that spawns the goblins is the bones and blood of the dead slain in battle - so that perhaps the villains behind the scenes are demons who delight in carnage and war, their allies being unscrupulous war profiteers connected to the Underhouses. If it's a situation like Rome, then I suppose there have been enough rebel generals - though you say there are no standing armies currently, perhaps in the recent past, disbanded because of rebellion (I assume you've removed armies to give the PCs some motive to adventure and not expect an army to fight the goblins for them?)