D&D 5E New 5e Campaign idea, want some diffrent thoughts on it

[MarkB]

One potential concept to play with in regard to the painting dungeons: What if someone with the right skill, knowledge and magical pigments alters the painting while someone is inside it? That could have all sorts of creepy effects, from wildly distorting the environment to mutating its inhabitants.

 

[Oofta]

Sounds like a good overall theme, and I don't have a lot to add that other people haven't already mentioned.

My only big suggestion would be to have fun with, and play up the differences between the feywild, shadowfell, and paintings. All are equally dangerous, just in their own way.

The feywild is full of life and color to the point where it's almost overwhelming. The sun glittering off a cobweb wet with dew sparkles like diamonds, a babbling brook nearby seems to be making mystical music that entices you to just sit and listen forever. A huge danger is the shear beauty of the place entrancing mere mortals. And, of course, fey creatures may not technically be evil but they are wild.

The shadowfell is dark and dreary, with the color washed out of everything to the point where nearly everything is black and white. The sun is dim and distant, and it would be so easy to just sit and give in to the despair.

You can have just as much fun with the paintings. All the buildings, streets still look like they're made of paint. Perhaps some "creatures" are mere two-dimensional backgrounds that don't really impact anything, the 3-dimensional creatures are the ones you have to look out for. Because the walls are made of paint they may not be quite as solid as they seem.

The point is to make the feel different, not just from each other but also from the "real" world.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

=

I have a couple thoughts you might like to use.

1) Some of the paintings could be something other than a minidungeon. Specifically, they could lead to various domains of dread from Ravenloft. Probably the really small ones, with a single village if even that. If they find a way into these domains you have more NPCs to play with, neat little social-focused sidequests that don't have to interfere with the main setting.

that's a cool idea...the painting is of a town, or a forrest...I hadn't even thought of that...thanks

2) This also deals with the paintings, but separate from the first idea. I'm thinking you could have multiple painting linked to the same minidungeon. This way, the players might be able to access an otherwise not accessible location by entering one painting, navigating the dungeon to get to the exit into the second painting . . . the idea here being that the Necrodemon used these paintings as a sort of teleport network.

that is brilliant, and is a good reason to keep 2 or 3 in his castle that link to 2 or 3 different places...

Sounds like a good overall theme, and I don't have a lot to add that other people haven't already mentioned.

My only big suggestion would be to have fun with, and play up the differences between the feywild, shadowfell, and paintings. All are equally dangerous, just in their own way.

The feywild is full of life and color to the point where it's almost overwhelming. The sun glittering off a cobweb wet with dew sparkles like diamonds, a babbling brook nearby seems to be making mystical music that entices you to just sit and listen forever. A huge danger is the shear beauty of the place entrancing mere mortals. And, of course, fey creatures may not technically be evil but they are wild.

The shadowfell is dark and dreary, with the color washed out of everything to the point where nearly everything is black and white. The sun is dim and distant, and it would be so easy to just sit and give in to the despair.

You can have just as much fun with the paintings. All the buildings, streets still look like they're made of paint. Perhaps some "creatures" are mere two-dimensional backgrounds that don't really impact anything, the 3-dimensional creatures are the ones you have to look out for. Because the walls are made of paint they may not be quite as solid as they seem.

The point is to make the feel different, not just from each other but also from the "real" world.

yes I totally want the fey world to be bright and full of life, and the shadowfell dark and full of undead...the idea of the painting looking paintingish in the demi plane is a great one

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One potential concept to play with in regard to the painting dungeons: What if someone with the right skill, knowledge and magical pigments alters the painting while someone is inside it? That could have all sorts of creepy effects, from wildly distorting the environment to mutating its inhabitants.

...and it just so happens that the Easel, Brushes, and Paints used to create the extant paintings are still present within the castle.

 

[Sadras]

Sounds great.

Perhaps as a result from the meddling necromancer and due to the instability you mentioned, the island and the sea around the island experiences severe storms, creating temporary portals, negative-zoned areas, wild magic and maybe if you want to explore (time portals) or just offer clues (time visions/memories).

You can also play up a power struggle between a greater evil in the shadow realm, a fey lord and the necromancer if he is still around/trapped (or another unseen hand behind the curtain) with the PCs having to choose what is best for themselves and the island. Gradually build a romantic interest to complicate matters between the players.

It will take several games before the PCs find out about the shadow and fey realm connection, but I think it will open up new ways to play with the options.

(snip)

So I have a really small island you could walk across it in 3ish days, and I have a few sites (docks, fishing village, three women’s hut*, a keep on a hill, a mining village, a valley(inside the valley is the necromancers castle), a swampy area, and some cliffs...but by then having shadow and fey versions I triple that up.

This is interesting (bold emphasis mine). Kinda like Stranger Things. The Bigfish game Dark Parables: Rise of the Snow Queen has something vaguely similar with a darker version of the same place.

 

[MarkB]

...and it just so happens that the Easel, Brushes, and Paints used to create the extant paintings are still present within the castle.

It might even be how the Necromancer was originally defeated. Instead of being killed, he was literally painted into a corner.

 

[Satyrn]

It might even be how the Necromancer was originally defeated. Instead of being killed, he was literally painted into a corner.

That is not just a cool pun, it is an awesome idea that I really think ought to get used.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It might even be how the Necromancer was originally defeated. Instead of being killed, he was literally painted into a corner.

Oohhhh, imagine the smug look on the Bard player's face after THAT reveal!

Bards: when you need the painting to look like the one on the left, not the right.