Monster Hunter campaign 1-30 (4e)

[GamerRay]

I'm currently running a custom campaign where the players will end up killing the god of magic, ushering them into the world of Dark Sun. The end is only a few months off, and I'd like to start developing the next campaign in my free time.

My players have always enjoyed the "treasure hunter" quests I've given to them; they're more than just fetch quests, they're an opportunity to gain a real trophy in the game. After reading today's Dungeon article on monster hunters, I mentioned it to my players and they thought it'd be a really fun campaign for them, especially since I'd have an excuse to make elaborate "boss fights."

My problem is that I can't think of a way to make it last from 1-30 (they like the complete feeling of playing their characters to the end). I can see making a heroic campaign out of it, building up their skills and arsenal to take down the big quarry. However, Paragon and Epic seem like they should deal with more than simple monster eradication, and I'm stuck as to how to keep them "trophy hunting" while gradually increasing the scope of the campaign.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice, or even some resources that I could look at to start crafting the basics of the campaign?

 

[King Nate]

I thought about doing this as well, but it would be a long way out of my way before I get to do this since my current campaign is only at level 7.

The idea I was thinking was

Heroic: Hunting generic monster types that live on the world and the higher the level the more unique the monster type becomes.

Paragon: Hunting monsters not living on the world, the players would have to travel to other planes to hunt these monsters.

Epic: Hunting named monsters, throughout the campaign the players have heard about a vampire named Strahd, now they must hunt him down.

 

[Gilladian]

Building somewhat on King Nate's ideas - they could go on several quests at the paragon levels that would earn them items they will need to fight the "Name" creature(s) at Epic Levels.

I mean, finding and recovering the lost dragonslaying sword of Beowulf could be a long quest - first they must travel to his kingdom, speak with his great grandson, discover that the sword was sent with him on his burning ship pyre, and then must visit the undersea realm of the sea god and request that he allow them to return the sword to the above-sea world. And why would he be willing to give it up? Why, because they are willing to do a little job for him...

Etc...

Just because monster-hunting is a theme, doesn't mean it has to be ALL they do.

 

[krupintupple]

as an avid fan of Monster Hunter Tri, i can't help but suggest the following:

make certain magic items rare. not 2e rare, but unless they're making items themselves, i'd multiply the price by two or three. however, if they have parts from monsters, they can use them "in place" of the normal prices. perhaps every HD of a certain monster type can stand in for a certain amount of wealth, becoming a commodity in its own right?

for instance, if you want to add bonuses to weapons, 6HD is equivalent of a +1 bonus, 12HD is equivalent of a +2 bonus, etc.

ie: to buy a +1 sword would cost (2000gp x3), 6000gp. however, if you had recently slain a creature with the dragon type and it had at least 6HD, you could use a certain "XYZ" from it to empower the item for the normal cost of 2000gp, the magical part making up the difference between the normal price.

off the top of my head, i'd suggest that abberations, dragons and magical beasts be considered for magic arms/armour or stat-boosters, and creatures with the elemental or elemental subtype be considered for things that grant or reduce elemental damage.

your thoughts?

 

[Mercurius]

Another way to go about this is to think of a monster for each level, from 1-30 - so 30 monsters. When the PCs kill that monster they get to the next level, so you would design a lair or short adventure (2-5 sessions) for each monster).

For example, 1st level could be a kobold boss. 2nd level could be an orc boss. Think of 30 monsters or foes that you like, from kobolds and orcs to the Tarrasque, an Ancient Red Dragon, and Demogorgon, or whatever floats your boat.