New Campaign Idea - Looking for Input

[Shane_Leahy]

I have a new idea for a Campaign and would like some input/suggestions.

Rule System: d20 Modern
Varient Rules: VP/WP for hits
Armor as DR
Characters: 32 point Buy
Premise:

The campaign spans hundreds of years. Basically the players will create characters in one era (thinking Roman to start) and have a series of adventures. Once they complete them (around 3-4 level) they make up new characters but with the same XP in a new era farther along in history. I am thinking Roman->Crusade->Pirates/New World->WWII->Modern->Future. With each era taking 3-4 levels.

Now the idea for the group would be one of two things.

1) Fighting the Evil Organization (EO). There is a family and their that constantly fights the EO thoughout the ages, trying to stop their neferious plans. Each Era would have a different player being the member of the family.

2) Protecting the Item. In this setup the players are members of an organization that protects some item (such as the Holy Grail) throughout the ages. In this situation, each era could have different enemies. Nazis in WWII for example.

I think my players would like this setup. You still have advancement but you get to play different characters and each era could have a different style. Modern could be more sneaky stealth kind, WWII commando style, etc.

Any ideas or things I may be missing?

Any suggestions on PDFs that may make my life easier for this system?

Thanks

 

[Kuld]

This sounds really interesting.

Happy hunting.

 

[sydbar]

Very cool idea, but make sure your players know that they can't use the same characters, so they aren't surprised that they can't use a beloved character.

 

[Baron Opal]

See if you can find a blurb on Nephilim by Chaosium. It has and interesting theme to it that you might find interesting given your set up. It is available as a pdf on DriveThru.

 

[Herobizkit]

Personally, your campaign concept is pretty sound... levelling through the eras and all that is always great. However...

As a vehement hater of character creation, being forced to make a new character every 3-4 levels would make me tear my hair out to relieve the pain.

What you're suggesting seems ok. In essence, if your new PCs retain all the previous knowledge, personality etc. from their former PCs, you're essentialy reincarnating them in each era. But still... from a mechanics POV, it still sucks to make new characters all the time.

Even if you change their PCs to match the necessary skills each era presents, it'll still be a pain in the ass.

I would suggest something similar to time travel. Let them follow their descendants through the ages, but keep the same character each time; influence the futures of each of their future selves and their antecedent (sp?) families. Everything they do has an effect, and they'll be able to see that effect with each era. THAT would be cool.

I mean, in theory, the only differences in each time period would be the skills they could learn. The base classes are all the same. So make them spend their points if they want to learn new skills in each era.

 

[Shane_Leahy]

The guys I play with don't seem to mind creating characters however...

I wonder if I could make skills and even feats generic enough that that the characters could be used over and over.

Weapon Focus (Main Weapon)
Skill - Drive/Ride (Car in modern, horse in past)

Alot more work but then its the same characters all the time.

Hmmmm...Gotta think about that.

 

[Tonguez]

Weapon Focus (Main Weapon)
Skill - Drive/Ride (Car in modern, horse in past)

Alot more work but then its the same characters all the time.

Hmmmm...Gotta think about that.

Actually I'd go with having them keep the same basic character (in terms of base class) but require them to take different occupations in each era and adjust accordingly ie change feats and skills with each iteration reflecting the new era they are in and differences in their respective childhoods- sort of a half-way character creation.

 

[fiddlerjones]

I agree. Let them play the secret iconic defenders of the Grail or something that are reincarnated every so many years when they're needed.

Mechanics-wise: Same abilities, same character level, new feats, new skills.