Need feedback for a campaign idea

[Flatus Maximus]

Idea: The campaign is set in an aggressively expanding, oppressive empire in which the use of magic or magic items is strictly controlled and unauthorized use is punished severely. The PCs will start out as low-ranking members of an investigation/enforcement branch of the military. There will probably be a race-based "caste" system, but I haven't decided which race is the dominant race yet. Of course, the PCs have authorization to use magic and magic items; in fact, I was thinking that the military will provide them with the necessary equipment (appropriate for their level).

I imagine that the campaign will start with the PCs investigating some newly-conquered city/state for illegal use of magic, but there's only so much of that we can do before it gets stale. So I'm wondering if any of you have ideas for adventures or plot threads. Keep in mind that the PCs should be free to fully embrace the "dark side" and climb up the ranks, or join a resistance group intent on overthrowing the empire.

Thanks in advance for any ideas or feedback.

 

[Cecil Solomon]

This sort of campaign can be a LOT of fun. It also gives you a lot of flexibility to increase or decrease the difficulty of a scenario.

When PCs are starting out on an adventure/mission, they should receive a mission briefing. Any intell that is available will be provided to the PCs. Sometimes that information will be spot-on, which means that their planning can be used to increase their effectiveness (which means you can increase the opposition's power).

Usually the information will be about 70-80% accurate. (Remember, the opposition is probably taking steps to ensure the information is not available).

In rare circumstances, the information is absolutely wrong and the PCs may be taken by complete surprise (is there a traitor in our midst?). In such cases, you will need to significantly reduce the power of the opposition.

If you run two parties, you can have a lot of fun, as the effects of one party can impact the mission of the other. This can also happen when/if the party needs to split up to accomplish two minor objectives nearly simultaneously.

The challenge is that the players may feel a bit lock-stepped by having to accomplish the mission. Ensure your players buy into the theme of the campaign.

This sort of campaign lends itself well to a series of one-shot adventures (if you need more info on that, let me know) that are tied together. It also allows the GM to augment the party and bring new players in and out fairly easily.

 

[Flatus Maximus]

Thanks, Cecil, for the intell suggestions -- that's a great idea -- though I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "If you run two parties." Do you mean if I run two separate games with two separate sets of players? I just have one group....

I think you're right that the players would have to give their approval before we start this. In fact, I think I'd probably have to get them to agree to all be of a neutral-to-evil slant or all be of a neutral-to-good slant, since otherwise the party would eventually fracture (some join the resistance, some don't) and I wouldn't know what to do. On the other hand, it sounds kinda fun to have one half of the group be "traitors," though I don't want this to turn into a player vs. player shoot-out, at least not until the very end if that is what must happen.

Any ideas you have for one-shot adventures that are tied together would be great! I have a couple of months before I run this, so right now I'm mainly concerned with whether or not there are enough things for a group like this to do. Barest sketch: The overall goal might be to overthrow the current "emperor" (probably some intelligent, high CR LE), either as members of the resistance (good guys) or as usurpers (bad guys).

 

[Cecil Solomon]

Actually, I do have some pretty decent scenarios along that line (more appropriate to the resistance movement). If you don't mind, I'd like to move some of that discussion off the list as I intend to present the material in a few months myself.

I'll be happy to give you some ideas and show what I used for some of the groups I've run.

Please email me at solomoncecil (at) yahoo (dot) com

 

[Jerrand Redband]

Ideals

BRAINSTORMING:

-pc's at low level are paper pushers who get the chance for leg work (lvl 1-3)
-they then learn what this empire is all about you know how oppersive (lvl 4-7)
-decide about mid level to help the people or betray them to rise in the ranks(this could lead to a big long debate by your pc's so your right you may want them to decide alignment compatability before starting) (lvl 8-10)
-a couple adventures either helping the resistance become stronger and not letting the empire know about what they are doing or adventures running the other way pretending to help (lvl 11- 14)
-at this lvl the pc's run into trouble the side they are betraying finds out or a powerful npc makes life difficult (making pc's live difficult is the dm's job after all) (lvl15-18)
-conforntation time pc's down but not out take on their rivals and hopefully come out on top bringing in a new world or taking over the old (lvl 19-20+)

Edit: hope your group doesn,'t get around to reading this

 

[Gilladian]

I ran something similar to this: my PCs lived in an area where an oppressive empire controlled all magic. The PCs were on the outside from the beginning, though, as one PC was a sorceress who had to hide her abilities, and one was druid (considered "legal" but "for the peasants"). Slavery was rampant, racism was the norm (humans good, everyone else bad) and the Emperor's secret police were everywhere.

They rapidly found the control of magic to be tiresome, and spent most of their time either in hiding or out in the wilderness. They helped several "underground railroads" to form, and also went up against the Emperor's men in rescuing magic items from a set of ruins at least once. Here's a link to my wiki with some info on the campaign, just in case you want to "borrow": http://vishteercampaign.pbwiki.com/Miran

 

[divinenathanica]

Here are my thoughts.

I don't know if it's necessary to decide which side the PCs will ultimately end up on -- you could try planning it for both ways. Make it a factional thing; you already have the BigBadEvilEmpire, which forms the 'rebels' out of necessity. Maybe throw in a third party which has it's own agenda, or maybe something as disinterested and agenda-less as a druidic circle which doesn't care if BBEE is taking over the place. Or, whatever factions you come up with.

Then, flesh them out a bit, not too-too much, but have a grasp at why the higher-ups are doing what they are doing. Controlling magic would seem to be based on trying to maintain power and fear (both of losing power and of magic itself). Maybe consider having the BBEE be lower magic then areas outside it's control - the PC's are a group of people trusted enough (for some reason) to wield magic in defense of the realm. You could also treat it in an almost Dark Sun light; maybe Magic, for one reason or another, is having very negative effects on the world, but many don't know or don't care. Or, even yet, Magic isn't havign this effect, but the leaders of BBEE think it does.

What does the BBEE want? What do the rebels want? (Will the rebels be any better than the empire?)

When you start getting ideas together, come up with a basic web of connections between people in the different groups. I recently started reading this thread t.r.a.p. and the way he goes about putting events together fascinates me. I haven't had the time to give it a go, but it could spark something. Have a mutable world that the PCs can interact with, can grow, and can ultimately decide what will happen.

Ideas for adventures, most of which are fairly cliché. This is mostly going to be ramblings.

Scout/raid an enemies magical storehouse.
Find the double-agent.
Prisoner exchange/hostage situation.
Getting another faction to support the PCs.
Covertly forcing/framing a faction to join the opposing side.
Put down a peasant uprising.
Start an uprising (so the BBEE has reason to send troops into an area).
Public-Image work
A McCarthian 'purge' of higher ranking members.
A suicide mission - when they are no longer useful.


Other things to help with the theme:
Situations where the party has to choose between two goals, e.x. Ordered to arrest/kill someone they know and respect
Having to choose between orders and their own values (house burning down, an illegal magic user casts a spell to put it out - they were on scene to witness the 'crime' and have been tasked with putting the criminal to justice)

Lastly, anything that would fit in 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 should work rather nicely. Also, Equilibrium; gun-kata fighting priests in a dystopian world.

Edit:
I forgot two points I wanted to mention.

1) Have a lose time line so that the PCs are near plenty of action. Maybe there's a 'planar conjunct' or similar pseudo-mystical technobabble which will ensure BBEE's conquest of the world. Everyone who is out to end the tyranny is kicking into high gear. Maybe, if Magic = dangerous, the world is at a 'mystical tipping point', so the BBEE feels it has to stamp out magic now. Or, the Death-Star is about to be fully operational, so the rebels need to hall-ass to Endor. The conclusion should be big.

2) I don't know if the PCs need to make a collective choice about what side to join. As long as they are never given missions to kill each other (Paranoia is such a fun game), they could manage to work separately for different sides. An enemy agent is not going to announce his allegiance to anyone who comes by. A PC who is fully indoctrinated might not automatically kill his co-worker, when he might be able to infiltrate the enemies society.

There. I think I've said everything I wanted to.