If you campaign had introductory text a la Star Wars..

"The death of heirless King Harald has left the country without leadership. His privy council, the legendary "Six Dukes" have fallen to suabbling as each vies to wear the Crown of Daggers.

As they war on one another using Armies, Spies and Sorceries, the Great Powers of the world--The Grune Empire and The Vasgothian Hegemony--set their greedy eyes upon a nation in chaos; A fruit ripe for the plucking.

As the land is swept by War, few notice the rise of the Witchmen; priests of the long-dead God Zara-Morda...they promise peace, prosperity and long life to all, for a very reasonable price...."
 

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This is the introduction to Barsoom:

The glory of a pale pink sky, the desolate sea bottoms long since dried, caravans winding their way across the trackless desert...

...changing shadows as the moon races overhead, breezing past the golden sparkle of the three Sentinels, hanging motionless against the wheeling stars...

...pterodactyls croak and flap in the air on leathery wings...

...triceratops bellow, angry at the lashings of drovers...

...wagons rattle out the gate, soldiers watching...

...dust in the air...

...no breath of wind to stir it...

...life on Barsoom in the time of the Tyrant's Shade.
 

Hmm, something like this <center code stole from OrbitalFreak>

<div align=center>

For thousands of years, the age of ice reigned.
The world was covered in ice, that all but wiped out civilization.
Evil reigned in the land, and life was difficult.

Now, the ice has receded.
That which was previously unknown is being discovered again.
New lands, new civilizations, some of them friendly.
Some of them... not.

Our intrepid adventurers have set sail to explore a new land.
A land no one knows anything about.
A land that a previous explorer has not come back from.

What might they find there? What evil awaits beyond its shores?
Will they return?
 

This was the intro for the campaign I've been running for the past couple years, titled "Generation of Heroes." Each adventure takes place a year after the last (and a level later).

(We're up to year 16 now, with about six months left on the campaign.)

------------------------------------------
The year is 7853, and the realm has been ravaged by war...

YEAR ONE: The Spectral Mount

The Goblin High Chieftain Urgazz has forged a pact with Allumaine the Ghost King, and together they have nearly brought human civilization to its knees. Bolstered by armies of dwarves and elves, the humans have beaten the invaders back, but at great cost. Countless cities lay in ruins. Hundreds of thousands are dead. Resources are dwindling, and armies are maintained through forced conscription.

The goblins and undead forces have withdrawn to the Spectral Mount, Allumaine’s stronghold, to regroup. This is the critical moment. Perhaps the last best chance to defeat the marauders before they sweep back to finish their work.

The humans have assembled a new phalanx of soldiers to lead to the Spectral Mount. Barely adults, ordered from their homes, they nonetheless go forth to do what must be done. The heroes of the land, Wolfric the Paladin and his companions, are missing. The cause of victory is now the duty of the new generation.

The history of the world is about to be decided. The adventure of a lifetime begins today....
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Nightfall said:
I'd keep it short:

"You guys got picked. Why? Cause some powerful archmage said so. You don't like it? Tough. So where are you going? Probably some place you don't want to be. Why? Cause again the Archmage said so!"

Hmm. Which campaign would this be for? Somehow, it seems to fit them all... :D

Mine:

Gods are eternal. Gods are immortal. Gods are unchanging.

Wrong.

Gods are fallible, and can die. They have been killed in the past, and will be killed again.

However, they do not always stay dead.

In the Year of Wild Magic, the dead gods are moving in the North, and a band of adventurers swept up in events that dwarf them are the only thing that can thwart their return.
 

NiTessine said:


Hmm. Which campaign would this be for? Somehow, it seems to fit them all... :D

Well, it does talk about archmages, which are a prestige class in the Forgotten Realms. And we all know that Nightfall's favorite campaign setting is the Forgotten Realms, so there you have it! :D
 

Five hundred years ago, mankind was freed from slavery to dragon-fiends by GIANTS who came from the east. However, some felt they only switched from one tyrant to the other.
The giants built fantastic cities and continue to rule from the DIAMOND THRONE despite a growing resistance movement among the other races.
Five years ago, the steward of a small region was nearly assassinated; his closest advisor was killed in the process. As a reaction, new guards have been hired and security runs high these last years.
But all that is PAST.

Today, the traditional spring regatta will be held in the coastal town of BLUEWATER. For the next three weeks, there will be much rejoicing and frollicking among the residents. Money will be wagered, women and men will be bought, and beer will flow in gallons.
But all is not well. A mysterious guest resides in the ACADEMY, and a dark figure walks the streets at night, silently and untiring.
Darkness has crept into the alley of bluewater, and a sinister force seems to taint the annual CARNIVAL.
Dark proceedings abound, and hope would seem to be a scarcity in bluewater - if not for the group of young friends, finally meeting again after pursuing their own careers. These intrepid youths hold the future of their hometown in their hands, but they must grab it tightly, lest it slip away...
 

Baraendur said:


Well, it does talk about archmages, which are a prestige class in the Forgotten Realms. And we all know that Nightfall's favorite campaign setting is the Forgotten Realms, so there you have it! :D

Oh, no, no, no, no, you have it all wrong.

The Archmage is now in the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Core rule books are, as we all known, supposed to assume Greyhawk is the default setting. There's where Nightfall's true love lies.

Some of us, however, prefer the Scarred Lands.

Heh.

And, speaking of which, why not throw in my own two entries?

The first takes place in the setting love of my life, the Scarred Lands. Admittedly, perhaps not the most original of beginnings I could have, but then again, the plot hooks are there for a reason, now aren't they?

"150 years ago, both god and titan fell. The first overcome by treachery, the second, religious zeal. In the wake of this event, the gods followers, noble elves of joyous and vibrant spirits, had vengeance wreaked upon them by the fallen titan, Chern, who cursed them with disease, and their future generation of children with hideous deformities. In the past century and a half, these once virtuous creatures, bereft of their god, bereft of children, and bereft of their former vitality, have had their spirits tried, tested, and ultimately, broken. Without their god, they have fallen to apathy, and unchecked decadence.

Yet, a few still remain of that ancient, noble breed of creatures, whose faith has not faltered in those many long years. These very few seek to bring back their god, and hopefully, the spirit of their people. But in trying to revive their god, they, too, have lost sight of their ideals, and faith has given over to fanaticism. Even now, two of these now forsaken elves compete to find the last shards of their patrons essence, and great are the sins that lay at their feet and future. One may yet breathe life back into their god, but at what cost? In resurrecting the source of their faith, they very well may lose it, succumbing to the very act which took their god in the first place: betrayal of one another, with a path laced in the blood of those who needn't have died.

At what price will they bring back their god?"

And, there's my Ravenloft game, which, doesn't quite have a theme for it yet, but I think I can sum up well enough for an into:

"Four souls, four paths, intertwine, brought together for reasons each their own. One, little more than a child, latching on to those who would accept her. Two, a listless pistoleer, driven away by his family, his purpose lacking, his life adrift on the wind. Third, an innocent, seeking out answers, only to find his gentle spirit growing more calloused with each one he finds. Fourth, a bastard minstrel taken to seeking out a foul creature come to his village one night, following each stray rumor of fiendish beings in the hopes, at last, one leads him to his quarry. Haunted each, in their own way, and bound together by the twistings of fate, each seeking something different, but brought together by those very desires. Goodly spirits making their way through a dark, and foreboding land, their destination not entirely known to them, and the dangers which lurk in the misty darkness only serving to bring them closer together, strangers that they may have started out as mere months ago"

There we go...a decent intro for each, I believe.
 

My was:

From the senior priest and the town mage:

"You are the best that this town can spare so you'l got the job. Find out where all those blasted rabid wolves are coming from.

Don't get into trouble. Don't try to fight them. Just find out where they are coming from. "


(As the characters leave). From mage to priest: You don't think they aren't going to try and be hero's do you?

Of course they are. I just hope we get one of them back.
 

Great thread question, Krug. When we started the campaign, our introduction would have been:

"It is a time of desperation for the free city of Restenford. A Frost Giant army gathers in the North, and a kingdom of regimented monks toys with devils and enslaves all non-humans in the South. The Tables meet long into the winter nights discussing how to resist..."

That was three years ago. Since then, the heroes were victorious in the Frost Giant War, and the monk kingdom in the south collapsed when they were thwarted (not by the PCs) in their efforts to call forth an avatar of their dark god.

Now, the introduction would be something like,

"It is a time of prosperity in the free city of Restenford. Gnolls, humans, orcs, and dwarves sit together on the Tables, and gold is the lubrication in the machinery of racial relations. But while Hammerite colonists have been dispatched to fill the power void in the south, a new draconic menace has arisen in the North..."
 

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