Need some advice on a new 3.5 campaign.

[Melkor]

My group's DM has had too much to do in the way of his job to continue planning the campaign we are currently playing, so he has asked me to step up and run something for the forseeable future.

I would like to run a 3.5 campaign, and I would like to make it "memorable" and "different".

My players get tired of "always making up low-level characters" and "starting a campaign but never finishing it" - we tend to switch games mid-stream, or do a "reboot" if a campaign gets stale. So I want to make this memorable, even if it is a one-shot.

The idea I only two ideas that I want to run with:

The first is to make up all of the characters based on what the players would like to play.....starting at 5th level, with no limitations on classes/prestige classes/races.

The second is that the characters wake up in a set up crystal caverns, and have no idea why they are there, where they came from, or who they are. I want to explore this angle, because it's something we have never done. We tend to always play the "you are hired to do this or that" or "you meet at the tavern" or "you are childhood friends".....I would like to go for that "old school" D&D feel - like the "Return to Brookmere" D&D Endless Quest book.

Given the above two bits of information - I'd like to open this up to the EN World community to help me flesh out a plot/adventure.

Cheers!

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I would like to run a 3.5 campaign, and I would like to make it "memorable" and "different".

KILL ALL THE CHARACTERS!!!

No, I kid.



How about having the characters be members of a unit during a war? The war can be in the background while their commander sends them on missions to recover magic items that might help their side. They'll all be starting off together and they'll have a plausible reason why they've earned combat experience at a young age.

 

[Guillaume]

Running with the idea that they are members of a unit during a war, you could have the PCs wake up in a prison with their memories wiped. This would explain why they are int the Crystal Cavern and they do not know who they are, what they are doing there, etc. You could push this a little further by plaguing them with nightmares about their past, which ultimately would push them at trying to escape their prison.

Another idea is that they were imprisonned by their own forces. Maybe they were a particularly bloody unit, killing machine sort of thing, that the, once the war was over, country had very little use for. When they escape, chaos ensues, but their experience has left them much changed.

My 2 cp worth,

 

[howandwhy99]

Have all the characters start out as prisoners in strange, individual, force-globe cells in the back of a gargantuan hoard of gold. Each has different memories of where they last were, but only a few clues as to the Who and How of their abduction. Give each player just enough information for the whole group to peice together that they are all somehow related to each other in some bizarre manner (perhaps they were all on different quests for the same item? or have the same father? or whatever you find fun).

The odd one out is an insectoid creature (or your choice of NPC) that is buzzing about in its own prison. Periodically it emits a high, piercing screech because of its inability to escape (presumably the effect that finally awoke the PCs). Suprisingly, the character have all of the equipment and are otherwise unhurt. Make sure to sprinkle some unconventional tools around the cells that can be used to free the whole group once one gets out. Freeing the insect-monster can be a dilemma for the group depending on how much you want to play it up. (is it angry or is it cute?)

Regardless on if the group splits up after escaping the cells or doesn't even free each other, those that move past the gleaming hill of gold nuggets will soon learn that they all have another problem in common. Surveying the vast cavern behind the pile, their eyes see what appears to be a monstrously-colossal dragon sleeping. But after some closer inspection they should notice the dozens of insectoid creatures that parade up and down its unmoving form.

If the players haven't figured it out by now, they are all actually only 1/2" inches tall! (why would their collector take away their gear then, right?) To escape the cavern, the must travel past the insect guards and dragon body in their path. The exit simply leads to a mountain pass, but it should be enough of a challenge to daunt the players. (if they want to travel home at their current height, you've reached adventure #2)

Success lies in finding what secrets are within the insect's fort made from the dead dragon's body. This should be difficult enough to require the help of everyone in the party (in case they purposefully left some behind). Their fellow insect prisoner may serve useful or not. Play up the exploration of the dragon's body making a map including whatever areas you feel are fun (heart, eyes, stomach, firebreath gizzard). When finally reaching the treasure room or throne room (maybe there is an insect queen? who knows), they find....

...well, anything that makes them large again, presumably. Perhaps a 'huge'-sized wand of dispelling that causes the recipient PC to burst up out of the dragon form to normal height? Use whatever device you think works best, as long as it makes sense within a dragon's hoard.

Once one character is normal-sized the insects should no longer be a big problem (pun intended). The device doesn't necessarily need to work for every PC depending on how RatBastard you want to be. Maybe the PC's know the number of charges or effects ahead of time? Maybe it affects their insect prisoner buddy, too? The hoard of gold nuggets should be equivalent for their usual treasure take. For the sake of reasonability, you will want to give the insects a prison-making device (rather large compared to them). And a reason for the dragon's death that would leave its treasure intact (I suggest a blown up shrinking machine).

Depending on how you played up the character's connection to begin with, (why the dragon collected them in the first place) you should have some interesting plot points for the group to figure out. Not the least of which is who the dragon originally was and why it choose them.

There. Memorable and different. I personally like the 30's and 40's throw back to early SciFi stories*.

*Go read William Tenn's "Of Men and Monster's" for one of the best.

 

[howandwhy99]

Hmm... reading it over I still see plenty more here to flesh out.

Maybe the insect buddy in the prison cell is ugly, but kind. This may be the reason his fellows locked him up in the first place. (he won't stand up for himself, that is; they're all ugly) He will honestly aid the PC's, however... The downside is, (besides not speaking the PCs language) he is scary-looking ugly in that way you can't bear to look at, but also won't stand next to with your eyes closed.

The size changing device really begs to be redone. The wand and dragon-killing blown machine should probably be one item. Maybe it could be a small funnel where living creatures go in one side (the big end) and come out the other at 1/2" size. Maybe the insects are born slightly larger than there PC-equivalent size (making them Ogrific foes) and over time their culture has adapted the Magic Cone as a coming of age device. Mature bugs willfully shrink themselves to become masters of their large young. (think of the Slaadi) The cone doesn't work like most D&D shrinking which gives a ratio size change, but simply makes everything 1/2" size.

Swallowing the cone was probably what did the Dragon in. Why? another mystery. I'm out of ideas for now.

 

[Melkor]

Thanks for the great ideas folks - keep up coming, I am going to farm them all for good ideas. I have until next Wednesday to create enough background and material for the first session - based on some input from the players, I decided to go wacky with the player races/classes because it's something my gaming group never does, so it will help the change of pace aspect of the game - so here's what I'm going to create for PCs (all 5th Level):

Male Human Monk
Female Tiefling Rogue
Male Dwarf Cleric
Male Gnoll Fighter
Female Drow Warmage

 

[der_kluge]

howandwhy99 has already beat me to it, but I was going to suggest shrinking them to the size of a pinhead somehow, and then have them fight "giant" beetles, and whatnot. Would be interesting, but would require a bit of work since all the creatures would obviously be non-standard.

Another idea would make them all Feys, (a nymph, a leprachaun, a fairy, a dryad, etc) and have them all be representatives of their people to stop some sort of incursion into the forest. That would be pretty unique.

Still another different kind of game would be to have them all make undead. They could all be ghosts, or vampires.

We played a game where we were all demihumans - orcs, kobolds, goblins, and ogres. Our whole schtick was just running around burning and pillaging villages. It was great fun.