D&D General High Level Adventures Where the World Isn't at Stake

[the Jester]

You can have gnarly, epic level problems that don't threaten the world. Here are a few epic adventure ideas, many drawn from things I've run over the years in various editions.

• In 4e, phoenixes were changed from smart outsiders, but had become dumb elemental firebirds. Nobody knew why, but one true phoenix remained. The pcs in my game went on a quest to free the Final Phoenix from where Torog, the god of torture and the underworld, held it caged in one of his dens of torment deep in the Underdark. No real consequences for failure, but success might reinvigorate a powerful force for Good.
• The pcs set out to conquer the world. Failure doesn't destroy the world, but rather maintains the status quo (or close to it).
• The pcs seek to gain control of a moon and turn it into a spaceship. Not a world-ender.
• A plot is afoot to resurrect a powerful dead entity of godlike power (see Dead Gods, from 2e's Planescape line). The pcs must decide whether and how to get involved. The world doesn't end if they fail, but it does grow another powerful villain.
• One or more pcs quest to become (a) god/s. Not a world-ender/
• The pcs are swept up in political maneuvering in Hell and are forced to choose sides, dealing with legal battles in diabolic court, treachery, elements of the Blood War, etc. The situation won't even affect the Prime Material Plane directly if the pcs don't get involved, but will empower one diabolic faction over another.
• The pcs' adventure centers around a plague sweeping over a whole continent and more. They must somehow arrest its progress and prevent it from doing enough damage to throw civilization into tumult. The disease won't end the world, just hurt it.
• The pcs must stop a heretical and fast-spreading faith that has already gained considerable political power. Simple violence isn't an option, for the cult has indoctrinated the leaders of the land already. The cult won't end the world, just brainwash the majority of it.

 

[Reynard]

The PCs are dropped the information that shows what Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious is planning. Stopping him is imperative (triggering the Clone Wars is part of his plan) but the PCs must be delicate about it, or they will fire the first shots. How do you take apart an economic empire and political machine? And, can you get anybody else to believe this convoluted tale of double identities, enough to help you out?

See, this is exactly the opposite of what I was thinking about. The stakes described in this example are kingdom level -- which is essentially "earth shaking" from a narrative standpoint.

Other folks have suggested similar ideas and other situations in which the PCs are hobbled from using their powers. Stories like that can be interesting every now and again, at almost any play tier (the captain of the guard is corrupt but politically connected so the low level PCs can't just gank him, etc) but it's fun to be a super powered badass.

I like the idea of getting embroiled in personal conflicts and adventures based on old enemies and rivals.

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

IMNSHO, the best way to give something high stakes is to make it personal. Some ways to apply this to quests:

- One character's ...

• A character ...
• A character's ...

- A character's dog ...

And the other characters of the party?

 

[S'mon]

See, this is exactly the opposite of what I was thinking about. The stakes described in this example are kingdom level -- which is essentially "earth shaking" from a narrative standpoint.

I definitely like running kingdom-level stuff at high level. Unlike "The Fate of the Multiverse is At Stake!" it still has real world parallels, eg WW1 and WW2, and is more relatable than literal WET.

I'm currently running my level 20 Golarion Runelords campaign; the threat of the Runelords is basically national/regional but as 10,000 year old BBEGs they definitely make appropriately epic villains. With three Runelords (Karzoug Krune & Zutha) having re-established their realms, and Sorshen lurking in the shadows, there is a fair bit of politics and maneuvering among the dungeon bashing.

 

[Lanefan]

This must be a hold over from the old days, but I don’t understand why high level characters are expected to have kingdoms etc? Talk about getting a desk job!

If I were a bold and skilled adventurer, I’d immediately delegate that to some capable underling and get back on with the adventuring Or not even bother with a kingdom at all.

I'll take the kingdom all day long, thanks.

Sure I might be a bold and skilled adventurer, but adventuring is a very risky and dangerous way to make a living and I've seen far too many friends die in the process. So, once I've piled up enough of a stash and enough of a reputation to get myself out of the field and into rulership somehow, I'm out. It's the equivalent of being on a sports team as a player and then moving behind the bench as a coach - you're still in the game but you're not on the front lines any more.

After that I might hit the field once ever year or two just to keep my hand in, but it won't be full-time and where possible it'll be on my terms.

 

[Lanefan]

You can have gnarly, epic level problems that don't threaten the world. Here are a few epic adventure ideas, many drawn from things I've run over the years in various editions.

• In 4e, phoenixes were changed from smart outsiders, but had become dumb elemental firebirds. Nobody knew why, but one true phoenix remained. The pcs in my game went on a quest to free the Final Phoenix from where Torog, the god of torture and the underworld, held it caged in one of his dens of torment deep in the Underdark. No real consequences for failure, but success might reinvigorate a powerful force for Good.
• The pcs set out to conquer the world. Failure doesn't destroy the world, but rather maintains the status quo (or close to it).
• The pcs seek to gain control of a moon and turn it into a spaceship. Not a world-ender.
• A plot is afoot to resurrect a powerful dead entity of godlike power (see Dead Gods, from 2e's Planescape line). The pcs must decide whether and how to get involved. The world doesn't end if they fail, but it does grow another powerful villain.
• One or more pcs quest to become (a) god/s. Not a world-ender/
• The pcs are swept up in political maneuvering in Hell and are forced to choose sides, dealing with legal battles in diabolic court, treachery, elements of the Blood War, etc. The situation won't even affect the Prime Material Plane directly if the pcs don't get involved, but will empower one diabolic faction over another.
• The pcs' adventure centers around a plague sweeping over a whole continent and more. They must somehow arrest its progress and prevent it from doing enough damage to throw civilization into tumult. The disease won't end the world, just hurt it.
• The pcs must stop a heretical and fast-spreading faith that has already gained considerable political power. Simple violence isn't an option, for the cult has indoctrinated the leaders of the land already. The cult won't end the world, just brainwash the majority of it.

I think that other than maybe the phoenix one those might all be bigger-scale than the OP was looking for.

 

[Reynard]

I think that other than maybe the phoenix one those might all be bigger-scale than the OP was looking for.

I am guessing I was not particularly clear.

 

[jayoungr]

The stakes described in this example are kingdom level -- which is essentially "earth shaking" from a narrative standpoint.

Depends on how much your PCs travel. If they spend their entire adventuring careers in one kingdom, then yeah, changes to the kingdom would affect the only macro-location they've ever really experienced. In that case, affecting one major town would be the biggest you could go and still meet your criteria. But if the PCs regularly go to several different kingdoms, then a major change to one of them is about the same relative scale as changing one city in the earlier scenario.

 

[Krachek]

There is always a cat stuck at the top of a tree.
of course the tree is Yggdrasil the world tree,
and the cat is not really a cat...more like an archFey
and I dont even start to tell the reason why she’s stuck there,

 

[the Jester]

I am guessing I was not particularly clear.

There's a whole world of difference in the stakes between "extinction level event" and "knocks down a kingdom". "End of the world" is even higher stakes. But fair enough.

I guess I am not certain where you want the stakes at. You can run any adventure with epic pcs, but a simple dungeon crawl or "rescue my husband, he got lost in the mine!" kind of thing won't feel very epic.

I think if you want to avoid high stakes adventures, but you want the feeling of epic play, you need to go for high difficulty. Things like:

• The pcs must raise a sunken island or continent back to the surface.
• They must unearth a buried and dead city.
• They must perfectly recreate a lost work of lore that no longer exists.
• One of them woos a god or other powerful entity.
• They must journey to the Sun to fix a problem with it. (This needn't be a deadly problem- maybe it's just growing dimmer.)
• They must persuade the finest chef in the world to make them the best cake ever as a gift for a powerful friend or ally who is getting married.
• They must persuade the head of a major religion to give up her faith.
• They must restore a lost forest to health.
• They must clean a giant lake of the pollution that has accumulated in it.
• They must create a work of art that will last the ages.
• They must deal with a major fire sweeping through a huge city.
• They must solve a 1,000 year old murder mystery.
• They must reincarnate as first level youths and go on an adventure that would be easy for their normal selves.
• They must deal with time travel in some way without disturbing the timeline.

I hope some of these are more in line with what you're looking for!