Looking for some new plot/campaign ideas

[jnauman]

Hey, I'm an experienced DM, but I've run into a sort of "DM's (writer's?) block". I'm wondering if any of you could give me some good Plot ideas/Campaign fuel for the next campaign i'm going to be running.

I don't think it really matters what characters will be involved or how many players, I'm really just looking for some ideas that I can flesh out myself and format to fit my own group.

THANKS SO MUCH!!

 

[haiiro]

It would be useful to know what tends to interest you -- or not interest you, whichever list is shorter.

And if you haven't already, you might want to peruse back issues of the Roleplaying Tips newsletter (free) for suggestions on the topic: www.roleplayingtips.com.

 

[NewJeffCTHome]

Hey, I'm an experienced DM, but I've run into a sort of "DM's (writer's?) block". I'm wondering if any of you could give me some good Plot ideas/Campaign fuel for the next campaign i'm going to be running.

I don't think it really matters what characters will be involved or how many players, I'm really just looking for some ideas that I can flesh out myself and format to fit my own group.

THANKS SO MUCH!!

An old wizard discovers that some young innocents he knows (the PCs) are actually posess a great magical ring that an evil dark lord hopes to get so he can rule the world with its power... nah, not very interesting.

how about thinking of some non fantasy movies or books and adapting those plots to D&D?

 

[jnauman]

It would be useful to know what tends to interest you -- or not interest you, whichever list is shorter.

And if you haven't already, you might want to peruse back issues of the Roleplaying Tips newsletter (free) for suggestions on the topic: www.roleplayingtips.com.

Well, pretty much anything NOT involving undead...otherwise everything else is pretty much fair game. (although most undead type plots/adventures can just be substituted with a different type of BBEG)

Also, I'm actually sort of looking for overall campaign concepts...Sort of "BIG PICTURE" ideas. But if you have any short adventure ideas I'd be happy to hear them too!

AGAIN, THANKS VERY MUCH!!

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Gnolls invade.

Gnolls are underused. They have a favored class of ranger, so an army of Gnoll rangers and druids who consider humanity to be a blight on the world is something that can work well. Toss in a legion of troll half-fiends (fire? acid? they love that stuff!) for higher levels and you're in buisness.

Just try to keep everything "organic". No metals. Everything is made of lacquered wood or that cheesy magic wood stuff that works just like metal. Don't construct anything when you can do it with a creature.

Or instead of any of that you can just pull out some psionic lizardmen. They're always fun at parties.

 

[Dirigible]

I'd like to help you, but your post was as vague as a politician with the incorporeal subtype.

What campaign setting do you use? Will you be starting at first level? WIll it be a typical adventuring campaign, or did you want something more focused?

 

[jnauman]

I'd like to help you, but your post was as vague as a politician with the incorporeal subtype.

What campaign setting do you use? Will you be starting at first level? WIll it be a typical adventuring campaign, or did you want something more focused?

I guess I don't think any of that is necesarily relevant to coming up with a general campaign concept. Like I said, I just need some fuel for my own creative juices...I can adapt the ideas that are hopefully thrown out to my own campaign, all I need are some general ideas.

At any rate...we don't really use a specific campaign setting. Our campaign will start at low levels and go as far as we feel like playing. We don't have a focus at all yet (thus the purpose of this thread), so the answer to your final question is...YES!

 

[jnauman]

Gnolls invade.

Gnolls are underused. They have a favored class of ranger, so an army of Gnoll rangers and druids who consider humanity to be a blight on the world is something that can work well. Toss in a legion of troll half-fiends (fire? acid? they love that stuff!) for higher levels and you're in buisness.

Just try to keep everything "organic". No metals. Everything is made of lacquered wood or that cheesy magic wood stuff that works just like metal. Don't construct anything when you can do it with a creature.

Or instead of any of that you can just pull out some psionic lizardmen. They're always fun at parties.

THANKS!! this is a cool idea...Anyone else?

 

[Dirigible]

I guess I don't think any of that is necesarily relevant to coming up with a general campaign concept.

Really/ That's the bare minimum I'd need to come up with a D&D campaign. I guess we plan in very different ways

 

[resistor]

This one was originally conceived for Eberron, but I think it could be revised to fit another world.

Dream-beings are invading from the plane of dreams (if you're using Eberron, this is the Kalashtar/Inspired), but it is a silent invasion. Rather than entering the material plane physically, they bond to human hosts that they have manipulated through dreams and have, over the course of centuries, built an empire.

There are a few of these beings who rebelled against this evil, and bonded permanently with a human host, escaping the realm of dreams to help defend the world. For millenia they have been locked in an imperceptible battle for the future.

What few even of these beings know is that their projection into the material plane is secured through one being: the Dreamer. Many eons ago, the dream-beings invaded, and were turned back by the ancient Giant empire. The giant's used incredible magic to prevent further incursions from the plane of dreams.

But, in the aftermath of the invasion, many beings were touched by the power of the dream-beings. The Dreamer was one. He wielded the incredible power to project his dreams onto reality (see the Awakened Dreamer in Hyperconscious from Malhavoc). His dreams became nightmares, and he terrorized the world until a cryomancer (Frostburn) and a Great White Wyrm joined to imprison him in the Tomb of Frozen Dreams (Complete Book of Eldritch Might from Malhavoc). The dragon perished in the deed, but the cryomancer lives on guarding the tomb where the Dreamer dreams eternally in the ice.

But the Dreamer is not dead, and his dream continues. And it is through his dream that the dream-beings can gain influence in the material world.

As the PCs become involved in the conflict, they eventually discover the secret of the Dreamer and come to the Tomb. However, the Cryomancer knows something they don't: because the evil dream-beings are only temporarily bonded to their hosts, they will be expelled but not destroyed if the Dreamer dies. However, the good dream-beings are permanently bonded and will be destroyed if the Dreamer dies. And releasing a being as powerful as the Dreamer is a risky prospect at best...