Plot ideas, pick your favorite.

[Agent Oracle]

Hey everyone. I know this isn't a "Is this Fair?" thread, but I've got a poll anyway. I want to create a game where my players will be somewhat out of their element...

1. Toy Soldiers.
The players' souls were captured by an evil wizard. They wake up as animated children's toys. (Wooden duck on a string, teddy bear, tin soldier, jack in the box... the toy will be reflective of the character class and player). The wizard evidently got married at some point, and now has a kid. Upset by his son's crying, he just enchanted these toys to keep him occupied and happy... A few days later (and some free form adventuring, maybe the barbarian will figure out that killing a squirrel that's bigger than he is gives EXP). Once the players are used to being toy-sized (Think: Everything else in the world is scaled UP instead of them scaled down), something happens (i was thinking, other evil wizards) and the older wizard is slain and the child is kidnapped. Depending on how the players perform, they could regain their flesh and blood bodies as early as 7th level.

2. Once around the world...
Steampunk-like game, borrowing heavily from movies like "Those amazing men in their flying machines", The players have gotten together explicitly for an amazing, colossal race. Once around the planet, using d20 past rules and Etherscope rules regarding certain vehicles. Expect sabotage, wild cross-cultural encounters, and healthy competition between the players and assorted NPC characters. The grand race is expected to only take about 5 levels to complete, so this will be a "quickie" campaign. Players rarely think in terms of "how fast can I get from A to B using only a derigible. I look forward to it.

3. Deep Si, er... four.
Underwater campaign. The aquatic races from nearly any book are allowed. we'll start at level 3 to accommodate level adjustments. Combat underwater is combat in three dimensions, so it's possible to flank someone from below.

 

[Menexenus]

I vote for #3. Options #1 and #2 are very specialized campaigns that will only appeal to certain kinds of players.

#1 emasculates the players. And what player is going to get psyched about playing a character who is so weak that a squirrel is a serious challenge? 'Nuff said.

Honestly, I just don't get #2. I'm just having trouble visualizing how having a race in blimps is a role-playing game. You say they will gain levels, but I'm not seeing how. (BTW, I acknowledge ahead of time that this is almost certainly a failure of imagination on my part. So don't bother flaming me.)

#3 is the only one that is recognizable as a standard role-playing game that players could get excited about. The underwater setting would present an interesting change of pace from the usual fantasy campaign. If my DM said we were changing campaigns tomorrow, #3 is the only one I'd be excited about participating in.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The expected durations of #1 and #2 are too long, IMO. If you tell your players they'll be lucky to get back their bodies back by level 7, you'll be lucky if they don't Bobbit you.

 

[Sejs]

Great race, all the way.

Handled well it sounds like an absolute hoot. It'd be very personality driven, though. Your opponents need personality, the places you go through need to have personality, and hell, even the reward needs to have some style to it.

Great start, though.

 

[Masquerade]

One is an interesting idea and a campaign that I would enjoy playing in, but it clearly is NOT for everyone.

Three is difficult to judge because the idea is less developed. Could be fun, but I wouldn't consider it without some more clear ideas.

I voted for two. I love steampunk, I love d20 Past, and I love Etherscope. Just make sure to have plenty of interesting encounters planned. A day of travel in the game world often translates to a few sentences to the players, and a campaign that consisted entirely of a race could conveivably be over almost instantly. If the DM was able to string interesting encounters together without it feeling "forced," I would love to participate in this sort of campaign. I can see vehicle to vehicle combat scenarios being extremely fun, but they risk individual PCs losing their ability to shine in their respective fields. If your players are more into RP and don't require constant combat to remain entertained, this would be an ideal campaign starting point.

Just my two cents.

 

[LostSoul]

The Great Race sounds really cool.

The way I'm imagining it, the meat of the adventure isn't in the actual racing, but all the stuff that you have to do during the down-time.

Travel to amazing locations!
Get shot down by the locals!
Visit your relatives who are scattered across the globe!
Discover ancient ruins and astounding treasures, the like of which no man has ever seen!
Meet interesting people such as:
Dr. Lightning, a power-mad industrialist who wants everything to run on his brand of electricity!
Mistress Natasha, who is even more deadly that she is beautiful (if that's even possible)!

etc.

I see a typical adventure like this:

You're flying along, but then your rival, Hemingway Jones, cheats and your ship crashes in Cairo. One of the PCs has a contact there, Dr. Mystery, who has the MacGuffin that will get the ship back in working order. But he's been kidnapped! By the forces of Evil (proto-Nazis)! Who are in the race, and if they win, civilization is doomed!


Cool. But make sure that the players have a strong buy-in to this situation, because it could get tedious if they don't.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

An aquatic game would certainly be fun.

 

[Someone]

I don´t think the Race idea will work. Probably the PCs will kill the other competitors and win by default.

 

[pogre]

I like the Great Race idea, but I would add checkpoints and tasks to give some variance. Keeping the race lively with a real feeling of competition might be difficult though.

 

[Fat Daddy]

While the toy soldiers sounds interesting, I think it would be better for a 'mini' campaign (pun intended). It might be fun for a while, but it would get old pretty quick, well before level 7 IMO. I know as a player I'd get pretty annoyed playing a duck on a string for 7 levels (or a teddy bear or a toy soldier or whatever) especially if I had worked up a background and put a lot of effort into creating a character.
The great race is a great idea also, it's just not my cup 'o tea.
I voted for the underwater campaign. This is a very under utilized area in most campaigns (IME) that as a player I would be very excited about. Plus, there are some great undersea villains that don't get as much play time as they should (Kraken and Aboleths, I'm lookin' at you). Get them characters to swimmin'!