<<Midnight>> Calling all Midnight DMs

[Calico_Jack73]

In a HARD campaign, things like food and supplies don't usually play an important part in the game. In the VERY HARD campaign, such mundane things can be the most important aspect of an entire game session.

Good question. Actually a little of both. I run my campaigns in an "Episode" style (not unlike Star Wars) instead of one far reaching goal. At some points in it food will be a real issue and they'll be outnumbered and on the run. At other points they'll be allied with other members of the resistance to make strategic attacks on Shadow Outposts. It would be easy to switch one into the other if the majority of the resistance is wiped out and the Shadow's reinforcements have just arrived. I really liked most of the Adventure seeds as the majority were major moral decisions and I want to nail my party with those kind tough decisions. Example (for those who haven't read them): A farming community is raising crops that go to feed the legions of the Shadow but part of those crops also feed the community. Even if the players spare some of the crops for the community the Shadow's forces are still going to come in and take what little they have and leave the community to starve.

 

[Cannibal_Kender]

There is the sunderborn heroic path in Against the Shadow. It is pretty much for descendants of celestial or infernal creatures.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

<<EMERGENCY>>

Has there been a second printing run of Midnight? I went to the Fantasy Flight forums (since ENWorld was creeping along at a snails pace) and there was a very long discussion going on about how poorly the book was bound. People were complaining that the book was falling apart after looking at it for 3 HOURS!!! I'm hoping that there was a second printing run since then and my new book will be from that lot. If so hopefully the second run was better bound.

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

Chances are, yours will crumble. There was talk of a secon printing, but I'm not sure if it was ever done.

Mine fell apart after going through it only once. I sent it to FFG and they replaced it no questions asked.

 

[StalkingBlue]

CJ73 -

Looks like you hve plenty of ideas for scenarios already. If you run an episodic-style game you'll have opportunity to experiment and find out what suits your group. Sounds like fun!
Maybe look at Crown of Shadow for even more ideas when you get it. The campaign itself is a railroad from beginning to end (personally I wouldn't want to run it, nor play in it), but it has various nifty locales and colourful encounters only waiting to be mined.

And although I've never run or played Robotech, I can definitely see how you might borrow mood elements from another setting or genre. If running those settings worked for your players and for you, you must have been doing something right! In which case, returning in your mind to that old successful game can't be wrong.

Btw when I said that I couldn't see FR character concepts working so well in Midnight, I wasn't thinking about rules so much, I was thinking about PC personalities and motivations. IMO Midnight can really inspire players to think in new directions and make highly heroic characters - much more so than in the Realms, where adventuring is just another day job basically.
I don't mean to say porting characters over can't work, only that it might be cool for your players to have the options to think fresh thoughts (ie make a new, MN-tailored PC) if they liked.



Quick thought on starting out: I have six players in my Midnight game but for a number of reasons, I didn't want six PCs in the first session I ran - amongst other things I wanted the vulnerable, outnumbered feel that you get only in a small group. So I split them up. What with a couple of people having to drop out one night but being able to play on another, I ended up with separate first sessions on three nights: three PCs, two PCs and one (!) PC respectively, then on the fourth game night I brought the four survivors from the start-up sessions and the two replacement PCs together. Worked well for us, I'd do it again anytime in a Midnight game for a group of more than 3 PCs.

 

[mac1504]

I too recently bought up all the books available for Midnight and have been reading them all cover to cover. Unfortunately (or forunately, depending on how you look at it) my regular gaming group is playing in another campaign, so it will be some time before I get a chance to run a Midnight adventure.

Fortunately however, this has given me plenty of time to become an expert on Midnight and to begin working on some plot/subplot arcs. The beginning to the campaign is what I am most excited about. Although I can't recall the authors name right now, he has posted several story hours over Against the Shadow about a campaign he is running. In the story hour campaign, the group starts out play in Theros Obsidia, the capitol of the conquering forces of Izrador. This idea really intrigued me, and it got me thinking on how something along those lines could be run. I also purchased a PDF of the City of Skulls, an old (1st or 2nd, not sure) GreyHawk adventure that someone on the FFG boards had recommended for a Midnight-conversion. The adventure revolves around freeing an imprisoned NPC in the heart of the evil side's Kingdom (IIRC, Iuz). I think kicking the campaign off with the PCs escaping/fleeing Theros Obsidia, a City of Skulls conversion would make for a good climactic ending to the campaign- namely the PCs having to return to Theros Obsidia.

 

[Dirigible]

I think tieflings and aasimians work pretty well; they're ECL +1, whihc meshes with the rest of the MN races not too shabbily.

Also, there are two traditional MN campaign starters-

1) Giant Freakin' Wheel
The PC's start as slaves, and must escape, or an escape is engineered around them.

2) Go away, Mel Brooks! Go away!
The PC's village is raided by orcs/legates/traitors/all of the above, and burend to the ground.

 

[Paka]

Here are the adventure seeds I wrote up for www.againsttheshadow.org, a great Midnight resource if ever there was one:

1 - Steel Hill Slaves

They were all caught by the Shadow and sent to Steel Hill for slavery in the mines. On the way to the Hill they awake to find all of their Orcish Guards dead and the Legate a gibbering madman.

Who knows what happened, it is time to leave. Whatever destroyed the Orcs and left the Legate mad might come back.

Note: Aye, this one might work but if there's a Dwarf or an Elf in the party you should make it clear that they were to be used as some kind of stock for Izrador's breeding program or a meal for an Orcish feast as those demi-humans aren't often used as slaves.

2 - Dragonfriends

They are gathered by a Dragon who went to sleep before the final battle and awoke to find the world ruled by the Shadow in the North. He has gathered these humanoids toether to gather information and figure out how to best use the Dragon's considerable resources. They might seem like a diverse group to each other but to the Dragon they just seem like a bunch of mortal two-legs.

Note: Aye, this one might work for ya.

3 - Covenant Item Chosen

A group of Covenant Items in an abandoned Keep of the Fortress Wall are calling them one item for each party member. The items have histories and motivations all their own. Each player makes up his character and a rough idea of his Covenant Item, leaving the dirty work to the DM. The party meets on the road, each knowing that the other is looking for a sibling item to their own.

Note: A solid way to bring 'em all together.

4 - Good Folk Pushed Too Far

All of the PC's were keeping their heads down, keeping out of the fighting, trying not to perish. Then something happened. They met a hero or a villain or a child. They found something worth living for, or dying for or fighting for. On that same day they heard about the crucifiction of an old man for teaching a child some runes in the dirt.

On the same day, all of the PC's set off towards the tree that man is nailed to, deciding to be heroes.

Character creation should include that special something that turned them from people beaten by fear and Shadow into heroes.

5 - Northward for Vengeance

An Orchish Host ravaged everything during their trek North. Alledgedly they had found an artifact of Shadow so intense that it awoke a bloodlust that even frightened Legates and fellow Orcs. Everything the PC held dear was destroyed by this host.

The PC's meet on the trail north, following this berserker host on their path to Izrador's front door.

6 - The Jungle's Children

50 years ago a ragtag group made their way into the Aruun jungle in order to find a better life, out from under Izrador's rule. The entire group was decimated by the Demons and Beast of the jungle. Only their children were left.

Then a strange thing happened, the Demons and Beasts of the jungle, together in parliament, decided to raise the children. The party is made of these children, all raised by various inhuman factions within the Jungle. Some beasts tried to raise them according to their parentage and others treated the children like just another beast. Some children had the sad ghosts of their parents guiding them along and others will only know the laws of the wild.

Note: Okay, that one is a bit quirky and odd, I freely admit it.

7 - Dark Tower's Shadow

You were raised and trained at Theros Obsidia, the academy for the Shadow Legates. Your childhood friend is Legate,just about to be sent out into the Eredane. You will help him choose his Orcish Host and then set out to the city where he is stationed. Despite your childhood raised by the Shadow's tutors, your heart burns to fight against Izrador. How long can you pretend?

Note: This is the one I have used for my long-running campaign and it has worked beautifully but might not work with characters whose concepts aren't central to Midnight.

8 - Lulled Villagers

The Legate of your valley is a good man and the Orcish War Chief is sated so long as those above him on the ladder get their cut. The Legate teaches the children of the Shadow in the north, seeking to make peace in a terrible world. Everyone in town knows that your Legate isn't the norm, everyone knows how lucky they are.

The night before last the War Chief was killed by insurgents. Now an Orcish Host will make its way to your town in order to investigate. It is time to act, peace is over in this valley.

Note: Again, demi-humans could make this rough but it is workable.

9 - Snake Folk

Once there was another diety whose cunning and evil rivaled even Izrador. Her name has been forgotten, scrubbed from your minds by the Sundering and Izrador's progroms. However, deep in the Aruun Jungle you remember Her dark rites. The Yuan-Ti will send a delegation to Izrador, offering the Demonic Armies of the Aruun in return for Izrador piercing the Veil and letting one Dark Goddess back onto the earth.

Note: Admittedly, another really odd one.

10 - Dire Insurgents

You are the Kings and Queens of the Dire Beasts. You are meeting at the first Moot to be held for one hundred years and together, you will decide how your nations will strike out against the Shadow. The Queen is waiting in her forest home for too long now and it is time to leave her leadership and allow nature to run its course.

Note: Okay, I was reading, I admit it.

11 - Nexus Heroes

A Power Nexus is a potent place. The four greatest of these holy grounds are dedicated to the four prime elements each has a guardian, bound to the Nexus, unable to leave. They have gathered you, each linked to that element in a unique way to look for the fifth great Nexus, lost since the Sundering.

Note: Not bad.

12 - Demon's Valley

Your valley is ruled by a Demon, summoned in ancient days, stranded on Eredane since the Sundering. Through complex wheeling and dealing he keeps the Shadow at bay, offering his Demonic Seed for Izrador's Breeding Pits. All this benevolent Demon asks is that he may sleep with brides on the first night they are wed. His dark seed has permeated the entire valley.

Tomorrow your sister is getting married and she will allow no Demon to touch her.

13 - House Slaves

You are all house slaves for a hermit Shadow Legate, allowed to live out his days in seclusion for his valor during the Final Battle. His knowledge of ancient lore is vast and so he often answers missives brought to him by Astirax messengers, sent to him from Legates all over Eredane. Last night he died in his bed.



If you find any of these to your liking or actually run one, please let me know.

Good luck.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Thanks Paka! Some really great ideas. Actually I want to thank everyone who has so far contributed. It is really helping in the shaping ideas.

Now all I need to do is find a good bookbinder in the Washington DC area who isn't too expensive.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

See, I thought it would be neat if one of the Pit Fiends didn't particularly care for Izrador's rule and quietly began grooming the characters to serve as his champions/agents/scape goats. He'd appear to them in different forms (ala Polymorph) always giving them just the information they need at the most appropriate time. He isn't good by any means but in every other campaign the Devils, while they obey a command structure, they also wheel & deal and backstab their way to the next tier whenever possible. Having all 12 of the Pit Fiends faithfully serve Izrador is almost a little unbelievable. Especially if they are being forced to serve side by side with BALORS.

I was thinking that I'd introduce him at some point in a situation like this:

The party is on the run and is only one step ahead of a Legate and his overwhelming orkish warband. The party possesses a magic item but obviously it is too late to get rid of it. The Astirax is present in the form of a large crow and is circling overhead. The Pit Fiend would first make himself known as a large hawk or falcon which would attack and kill the crow thereby depriving the Legate of his tracker and allowing the party to escape.

In the end, Fiends (Demons & Devils) are all about gathering souls to condem to their plane. They are trapped on Aryth and all the souls of the dead are just stagnating on the prime. I can see some of the Fiends on both sides taking offense to the situation and working to get out of it. The party makes an easily discardable tool for a powerful fiend.