Campaigns in a nutshell. Adventures in a sentence.

[jcbdragon]

A series of Masters Tourney adventures that we wrote/ran for a Con one year, where the party has been tricked into taking on a task that will actually help a great evil power. All through the first two rounds, traditionally goodly NPCs keep attacking them, and traditionally evil NPCs keep showing up to heal them, etc. Final round, they're given the introduction and a few minutes to add non-magical gear, etc... then get told to hand their character sheets back in. They get handed another copy of the same character, but this time they only have their magic items -- because they're now in the realm of the dead, and those are the items that were buried with them.


Same year, same Con, the non-Masters-level tourney had one round where the adventure started with the characters waking up in a cave, with only a linen tunic and a stick with feathers attached along one edge. They'd been captured and were intended to be sacrifices (the sticks were to represent a sword in the ritual of sacrifice). They had to escape the room and make their way back to freedom. It was particularly interesting seeing the mage recognize things that could be used as spell components.

 

[Iron Sky]

Hm, thought I'd posted on this thread when I first saw it early last year... guess not. Here's a summary of all the major campaigns I've run, in chronological order:

One Elf to Rule them All
One of the PC's older brother, heir to the largest elven kingdom in the world strives to become a god, eventually engulfing the whole world in war as he makes alliances with otherworldly dark powers and brings them into the world. He methodically and mercilessly eliminates anyone who stands in his way until he ascends to godhood.

The Valley
Young adventurers are caught by the winter snows in a magically-warmed valley deep in the mountains. While there, they learn that agents of a recently crushed evil empire fled to the valley and are attempting to subvert it so they can use it as a base to re-establish their empire.

Thank God, It's Only Vampires
A stunt driver, a mechanic, a rugby player, and an image consultant get drawn into the shadow world beneath the surface of our own. Hunted by horrific monsters, tracked by dark organizations working with darker powers, confronting righteous human hunters killing anything non-human be it good or ill, caught between angelic and demon forerunners scouting the terrestrial battlegrounds of the fast-approaching end times, and used by vampires trying to get off the world before it all hell literally breaks lose, the PCs must somehow cope, learn, escape, survive, and maybe find some way to stop the end of the world.

(The title comes from an actual quote from one of the players during the game)

Splinters of an Empire
An ex-legion merc looking for revenge, a Nomad shipwright that believes in aliens, a telepathic courier that's too powerful for anyone's good, and a diplomat that isn't a diplomat are stuck together on a ship blown out of warp-space by terrorists hell bent on taking the ship. They must retake the ship and get it back on course before a rebellious colony splinters and starts a galactic civil war.

Rise of Felskein
A necromantic terrorist state, a bugbear dictatorship declaring war on their militaristic human neighbors, a secret society of dragons divvying up the world, the echoing sins of an extinct race, a besieged nation built amidst the ruins of an even older race, an expansionist construct army falling from the skies, and the PCs stuck in the middle.

The Hegemony of Man
The world is many points of light scattered in the wilderness - or at least was before the xenophobic, human-supremacist Hegemony with its weapons of stupendous power and arcane-enhanced super soldiers began conquering everything in sight. No one knows where they suddenly acquired their
"magitech" might - or from who... or what. Nor do they know how they can be stopped before the whole world is under their rule and all non-humans eradicated.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Some nice stuff in there!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Alt-Hist/Urban Fantasy:

Lords of the Earth:

In 1863, the English built what was to become known as The London Underground- the world's first subway.

With time & technology, others followed suit.

However, it soon became apparent that things down there were...a bit strange. People simply disappeared down those tunnels sometimes. Then, in 1922, it all became clear: unlike mines, subways were always located under highly populated areas, and once upon a time, others had lived there before.

In short, subways were piercing the barriers behind which creatures of legend- most notably the Fey- had been trapped, and now, some of the worst of them were making their way back into the world. Indeed, at least one researcher believes that Jack the Ripper was one of these evil Fey...and may still be prowling the deep dark tunnels of The Tubes.

One thing is for sure- it's dangerous down there. You could be eaten by a Grue...

 

[Tomn]

The Great Change

The world is ending. But, like a pheonix, new life will rise from the ashes. A group of cultists who worship Erythnul work to bring about the Great Cleansing --a ritual which will destroy the great wall separating our world from the sea of monsters. If they succeed, all life will be destroyed in the resulting flood and monstrous ravagings. The cultists gather the largest army ever seen, composed of every evil dragon, lich, and demon that they could find who would wish the world to be wiped clean. Rising up against them are all the goodly races, working together even with evil creatures to try and preserve the world that they all share.
And this is only one diety's nefarious scheme...

The Great Change is coming, and it will alter the very laws of reality. Even the gods will find their powers leaving them. However, even as the gods disappear in flashes of glory, working to make one final contribution to their cause, new dieties will arise. These new dieties, those few heroes and villains who will rise above all others, will decide the fate of the world in this new era.

Enter the PCs, who have just finished putting down the Terrasque once and for all. They have felt the rumblings of war as ancient beasts rise from their slumber, and as miracles and divine will affect the world in ways never before seen. These heroes will have to join forces with some of their greatest foes in order to stop the destruction of The Cleansing. But, can they stop it? Or will the great waters wash away all that they have worked so hard to save?

 

[Rabbit503]

There was a “jack and the bean stalk” type adventure idea floated on here a while ago. I really liked the idea and ran with it. The campaign was built around how players decide to interact with the different races/factions living in and around the cottage while trying to find a way home:

Major Factions to include;

Chimera (with the head of a giant tabby cat): rules the cottage and keeps the other inhabitants on the defensive. The players might not realize it right away but the chimera also serves as a balance to the cottage’s power struggle. She gets locked outside, locked inside, or killed the balance shifts as pointed out below.

Wererats (never in human form, always hybrid or dire rat): their greatest enemy is the Chimera and they are sure that if she was gone they could rule the cottage. They have little interest in the world outside the cottage. They will use the players as much as the players let them, but never completely trust them.

Myconids: the fungus people live in the cellar and are the most "good" creatures in the cottage. They will help where they can and know a fair amount about the house.

Harpies: the harpies hate the Chimera but fear direct assaults. They are content terrorizing everyone else living outside the cottage and have little interest in what remains inside the cottage.

Formians: From the start formians can be seen throughout the entire cottage. Mostly inside but also in the yard. The formains go about their business collecting supplies and fixing things as long as they are not disturbed. BUT, if the chimera no longer threatens the cottage (dead or locked outside) the formains will build up an army and launch an assault on the other inhabitants.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That is a NICE first post- looks like a lot of fun!

 

[Rabbit503]

Thanks! I was trolling the interbot for ideas and stumbled upon this thread/site. Worked out so well I wanted to share.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

For Spelljammer, inspired by this thread: http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/325500-sialia-doodles-again.html

Awful Cute Things From Outer Space

The Gnomes have marketed Giant Space Hamsters (including the Miniature Giant Space Hamsters) to buyers throughout the Sphere, and for very good money indeed.

Some cunning minds asked why couldn't the Kobolds do likewise? Alas, they had no luck with hamsters- the Giants were too big for the warrens, and the Dwarf ones were...too tasty.

So the craftiest of the crafty figured they could sell something they knew better...Mimics. But not the full sized ones...mini-Mimics!

Though initial sales were slow, some spacefarers found the mini-Mimics to be perfect for clearing ships of vermin. So the trade began to blossom.

Then an unscrupulous Kobold merchant (What?) sold off a litter of immature standard Mimics as adult mini-Mimics to a ship in a hurry. At first, they did as expected, and the infestation that inspired the purchase was wiped out.

Then crew & passengers began to disappear...

 

[blargney the second]

aka The Misfortune With Mimics.