Greenfield
Adventurer
As our group closes in on level 17, I have to look ahead to the close of the campaign, probably at or about level 20. We've played campaigns up to level 30 in the past, but most end right around the time we go epic.
Unless D&DNext/5e comes out and/or looks really good by the end of the year, we'll probably be starting the next one with either D&D 3.5 or Pathfinder.
In any case, while the campaign is on hiatus (we're off until the end of May), it seems like a good time to start dreaming up our next campaign challenge.
For those unfamiliar with the Round Robin mechanic, here's how we play it: Someone (often me, but not always) comes up with a theme, a long running quest or goal to be pursued. Then we pick a map (it hardly matters what it looks like), and every player picks a country or homeland for their character. They make up their character and the city/state/nation that they call home.
Whichever one of us is the current DM runs the game in his/her character's homeland, and that character becomes an NPC, or is just plain absent.
As for quests: One game world was based around the idea that, when the gods made our world they also made a crystalline copy of that world, an artifact. Our world's crystal, however,got broken, shattered by a conflict among the good and evil gods, and the pieces were sent flying all across the world. Our world, consequently, was dying. Our mission, under the guidance of the Temple of Ancient Light, was to find and retrieve the pieces of this crystal so it could be reassembled.
There can be as many pieces as are needed for the game to continue, and they're just an excuse to travel to the different lands and have adventures.
Another campaign was run when we had some players who had never played 3.anything before, so we designed it as a sort of transition from 2e to 3e. In this version, the world had been at peace for a long time, and the gods liked it that way. Mortals had at one time hoarded certain bits of knowledge as trade secrets, or the basis for secret orders. As is the way of such things, secrets either cease to be secret after a time, or they simply cease to be at all. So we started the campaign with many feats, spells and prestige classes simply not available. No one knew how to make permanent magic items, for example. Ninth level spells, as a group, were simply not known. The gods kind of liked having a world where they didn't have to worry about Epic heroes with custom made gear constantly trying to break prophesies, and/or knocking on the gate of the heavens demanding admittance, or worse yet, a change in the way things worked. But the gods foresaw a time when dark forces would rise, and they knew that mortals would once again need to remember the things that were lost. So they sent word through their clerics that each nation should send a representative to form a group, and that this group should seek out the lost secrets of the ancients, and spread the knowledge to all lands as they went.
That was a fun campaign,largely because our characters weren't expected to be friends. Instead, we were often from nations that had a history of being at war with one another, so we were there more or less to keep an eye on our opposite numbers, and ensure that our own lands got included in the shared knowledge. Now permanent items existed, and were the stuff of legend. Every magic sword was known, and had a name and a particular family it was associated with. Same for armor, shields, etc., all with glorious histories. It made for an oddly high/low magic game, where wands and potions were fairly common, yet things like cloaks and bracers were rare as hens' teeth.
Anyway, it's time to come up with a new long term quest.
For some reason I'm in an Egyptian mood. Perhaps we need to oppose an immortal, undead king/tyrant. He was cursed/blessed with his immortal state when a tomb was looted and certain bits of wealth were taken and spent. Think of Captain Barbosa, from the first Pirates movie. We need to track down all the missing temple/tomb loot and return it.
After writing that, it sounds less Egyptian and more seafaring. Not sure how I like that...
Any suggestions? Thoughts? Ideas?
Having several campaign ideas at the same time is a good thing. We let the players vote on which way the game should run.
Unless D&DNext/5e comes out and/or looks really good by the end of the year, we'll probably be starting the next one with either D&D 3.5 or Pathfinder.
In any case, while the campaign is on hiatus (we're off until the end of May), it seems like a good time to start dreaming up our next campaign challenge.
For those unfamiliar with the Round Robin mechanic, here's how we play it: Someone (often me, but not always) comes up with a theme, a long running quest or goal to be pursued. Then we pick a map (it hardly matters what it looks like), and every player picks a country or homeland for their character. They make up their character and the city/state/nation that they call home.
Whichever one of us is the current DM runs the game in his/her character's homeland, and that character becomes an NPC, or is just plain absent.
As for quests: One game world was based around the idea that, when the gods made our world they also made a crystalline copy of that world, an artifact. Our world's crystal, however,got broken, shattered by a conflict among the good and evil gods, and the pieces were sent flying all across the world. Our world, consequently, was dying. Our mission, under the guidance of the Temple of Ancient Light, was to find and retrieve the pieces of this crystal so it could be reassembled.
There can be as many pieces as are needed for the game to continue, and they're just an excuse to travel to the different lands and have adventures.
Another campaign was run when we had some players who had never played 3.anything before, so we designed it as a sort of transition from 2e to 3e. In this version, the world had been at peace for a long time, and the gods liked it that way. Mortals had at one time hoarded certain bits of knowledge as trade secrets, or the basis for secret orders. As is the way of such things, secrets either cease to be secret after a time, or they simply cease to be at all. So we started the campaign with many feats, spells and prestige classes simply not available. No one knew how to make permanent magic items, for example. Ninth level spells, as a group, were simply not known. The gods kind of liked having a world where they didn't have to worry about Epic heroes with custom made gear constantly trying to break prophesies, and/or knocking on the gate of the heavens demanding admittance, or worse yet, a change in the way things worked. But the gods foresaw a time when dark forces would rise, and they knew that mortals would once again need to remember the things that were lost. So they sent word through their clerics that each nation should send a representative to form a group, and that this group should seek out the lost secrets of the ancients, and spread the knowledge to all lands as they went.
That was a fun campaign,largely because our characters weren't expected to be friends. Instead, we were often from nations that had a history of being at war with one another, so we were there more or less to keep an eye on our opposite numbers, and ensure that our own lands got included in the shared knowledge. Now permanent items existed, and were the stuff of legend. Every magic sword was known, and had a name and a particular family it was associated with. Same for armor, shields, etc., all with glorious histories. It made for an oddly high/low magic game, where wands and potions were fairly common, yet things like cloaks and bracers were rare as hens' teeth.
Anyway, it's time to come up with a new long term quest.
For some reason I'm in an Egyptian mood. Perhaps we need to oppose an immortal, undead king/tyrant. He was cursed/blessed with his immortal state when a tomb was looted and certain bits of wealth were taken and spent. Think of Captain Barbosa, from the first Pirates movie. We need to track down all the missing temple/tomb loot and return it.
After writing that, it sounds less Egyptian and more seafaring. Not sure how I like that...
Any suggestions? Thoughts? Ideas?
Having several campaign ideas at the same time is a good thing. We let the players vote on which way the game should run.
