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Seguile Daengz
2010-04-26, 04:11 PM
Well, hello there. I started this thread in the hopes of some advice- maybe some experienced fellas out there can give me a clue or two to work out how this particular idea of mine might make for a great campaign.

First and foremost: in this campaign, the players, along with a whole pirate gang (which some are part of), discover the fountain of eternal youth, becoming immortal. Quick regeneration, no mopey stuff, absolutely no hidden flaws... They don't even have to kill each other until one remains Highlander style.

Of course, I'm not simply giving them immortality and be done with it.
First, one of the crew turns crazy and tries to kill off his fellow-immortals.
Second, there is one, exactly ONE specified way of truly killing immortals, by having their still-beating heart consumed by another immortal, making said crazy guy an actual threat.
Third, the world is currently on the brink of war- the greatest powers in the world find out about some immortal pirates and, naturally, try to get their grubby little hands on their secret, sending their strongest troups (and I MEAN strongest, like, ten levels higher). They quickly catch on as to what their opponents are, so they definitely won't just "kill" them and think they're finished- no sir, they're gonna catch them some immortals!
Fourth, the island which the fountain is housed on immediately sinks once they've become immortal- because, as they later find out, something from the depths below actually wanted to unleash immortals upon the world. But that's the plot, not what I'm actually concerned with right now...

So basically, by becoming immortal, the pirates (and thus the players) are thrown into a huge power struggle encompassing the entire world. They're hopelessly overpowered everywhere, so they have to be smart, secretive, and downright abusive of their power to solve the big mysteries.

So, fellas- what do you think of this? I really want to make this campaign special and memorable. The players actually have no idea they're going to have immortal characters. What would you suggest how to deal with this?

All advice greatly appreciated!

P.S.: Yes. Pirates of the Carribean and Baccano have played a certain part in this. How'd you know? :smallwink:

Godskook
2010-04-26, 04:41 PM
What's the question?

Flickerdart
2010-04-26, 04:45 PM
In D&D, there are many fates worse than death. Make it clear very quickly that these can and do happen.

Seguile Daengz
2010-04-26, 04:53 PM
Yeah, I figured there'd gotta be a threat somewhere. That's why one of the immortals goes crazy- employing the immortal's weakness while no doubt sharing that secret. Also, I thought of many "immortality traps"... like being sunk in the deepest abyss of the sea, unable to move due to sheer pressure for millenia. Or dropping into a volcano. Or being dissected, with the parts prevented from flowing back together, endlessly immobile and in pain. Stuff like that.

And, yes, there isn't really a question- I asked for advice. As it is, this is the first roleplay-heavy campaign I'm DMing, so I wanted to avoid as many traps as possible... Such as, how do I motivate someone who can't even die?

And, as with all plans, it often takes another set of eyes to discover the most glaring flaws...

Eldonauran
2010-04-26, 05:10 PM
Such as, how do I motivate someone who can't even die?

And, as with all plans, it often takes another set of eyes to discover the most glaring flaws...

Knowledge, wealth and love.

Creatures that immortal have all the time in the world to do everything. Learning the secrets of the universe is usually a goal that few grasp and even less that come to realise that goal. Wealth helps finance whatever the player's plan on doing. Make money hard to get.

Love, now there's a good one. Have one of these immortal hunters learn of one of the player's family and kidnap some of them. This will be a major motivating force, even for evil characters.

TurtleKing
2010-04-26, 05:12 PM
Other than having the players try to "survive" what stake do they have in the power struggle. One way to motivate an immortal character is to have something or someone they care about in distress. If the player does care for that something or someone they should try to protect or save it. From your post you could have them slowly lose their sanity from watching all they care for wither up and die or be destroyed. This could be a very effective method to motivate them.

I have played an immortal character where I still tried to fulfill my quest given to me by my beloved where I could not stop her death, but I could bring her back by going on the quest.

Should have noticed what was posted right above mine.

Seguile Daengz
2010-04-26, 05:23 PM
That sounds good already- some of the players are heartless bastards (well, they're pirates!), but that's some good motivation already.

Here's another thing: how to keep the players together? Given that their followers are mostly trying to get their hands on SOME immortals, the original crew will definitely lose some members, some to hunters, some to bribe, some to good ol' betrayal. Initially, I thought the fact that they're all in the same boat could help; they're all very loyal to their captain, and they all want to solve the mystery of their immortality, ideally stopping the whole world from hunting them down / dissecting them / using them in worldwide political struggle.

Would it be bad to have the captain determine their next course of action at times?

Eldonauran
2010-04-26, 05:30 PM
Would it be bad to have the captain determine their next course of action at times?

Depends on two things. How well the captain is paying them and if the captain is a DM controlled character (NPC).

Immortal characters have nothing but time. How they fill that time is up to them but pirates can lose themselves to wine, women and gambling for years on end without missing a beat. Getting paid enough should keep them in line and in their cups. If the captain is an NPC, be sure not to railroad the characters too much and give them enough freedom, since once a boat lands, the crew can come and go as they please and don't usually fall under the captain's thumb unless on the boat or contracted to work for him for a time.

Now, if the captain's daughter was captured or something similar, and the pirates are very loyal (ie, well paid), that could be the beginnings of an adventure hook.

Seguile Daengz
2010-04-26, 05:51 PM
Well, the captain, he's an ambitious one. I thought what a drunk, overjoyed pirate crew would probably do first once they escaped from the island of eternal youth: make up big plans. So most of the crew will suggest pulling the ultimate heist and living like kings forever afterwards (not exactly well-thought out, but hey, Intelligence is for navigatin'). The captain's suggestion?

Pull the ultimate heist, topple a country, make it your own, and THEN live like kings in it!

So basically, there's this huge, nigh-impossible longterm goal, and lots of short term ones (such as not being continously burnt alive as an "unholy abomination" of the enemy's wicked magic). I think making the player characters the core of that central endeavour could make things very interesting indeed. Maybe they even ditch the captain halfway through.

Any suggestions on how to handle the mechanical aspects of immortality? I think they should take damage normally; after a minute has passed without injury, they gain slow fast healing. If they died, they'll reform after a minute as well, going back up to 0 HP (so that enemies have a chanceq of restraining/imposing horrible fates worth than death upon them). Everything that doesn't kill them still applies, so poison and disease still have effect; the they just "bounce back" once they'd die. So they could have zero Dexterity and lie around, being the immortal brick they are, but once they have zero Constitution, they'd gain a SINGLE point of CON after a minute- but nothing more.

How about that?

Ormagoden
2010-04-26, 06:09 PM
Tell them "There can be only one." all issues will be solved shortly after this statement.

Jack_Simth
2010-04-26, 06:26 PM
Any suggestions on how to handle the mechanical aspects of immortality? I think they should take damage normally; after a minute has passed without injury, they gain slow fast healing. If they died, they'll reform after a minute as well, going back up to 0 HP (so that enemies have a chanceq of restraining/imposing horrible fates worth than death upon them). Everything that doesn't kill them still applies, so poison and disease still have effect; the they just "bounce back" once they'd die. So they could have zero Dexterity and lie around, being the immortal brick they are, but once they have zero Constitution, they'd gain a SINGLE point of CON after a minute- but nothing more.

How about that?
That'd work. Ability Damage (what you get from most poisons) goes away on it's own with rest, so they'll recover. Ability Drain.... is a way to keep them down for a good long time. If you're "killed" by negative levels/level drain you're restored to being a level 1 character after a period of time.

Another way to handle it would be Regeneration 0/- plus a few hand-waves - any "you die" effect is switched to "You take nonlethal damage equal to your full normal hit points. All damage is nonlethal, but only recovers naturally (which is still faster than natural healing). Watch out for Ability Drain.

Another way to handle it is a timed event - every day at dawn at the spot where you became immortal, if you're dead, you get a True Resurrection, Greater Restoration, and Regeneration effect. If your body no longer exists, you reform where you drank from the fountain... which is now a spot X feet over the ocean. The benefits only apply if you're actually dead - if you're simply incapacitated, the effects don't apply.

Godskook
2010-04-26, 06:39 PM
"Immortal" doesn't mean "Immune to defeat". If governments are decidedly interested in capturing them, and have a high enough level to do so, I say make it happen early. Have bounty hunters capture some or all of them early in the story, and have them muck up the "transporting the prisoners" part some how, possibly by interference from a competing hunters.

This'll show them that they can't just do nothing. That course will lead to the bigger enemies capturing them permanently to be used in experiments until they die or regret not dieing.

TurtleKing
2010-04-26, 06:43 PM
Those are some good ways to keep them down. The way my immortality worked for the character I played is when reduced to O hp I am unconscious, but will recover with natural healing. I could be killed by a very powerful deity. On multiple times one such deity blasted me, but did not kill me due to having to much fun.

As for goals that is obtainable. I played an immortal embodiment of failure- a prinny- whose quest was to bring back the dead human gods, and he did it. Nigh-impossible ... yes. Doable yes.

Private-Prinny
2010-04-26, 07:10 PM
As for goals that is obtainable. I played an immortal embodiment of failure- a prinny- whose quest was to bring back the dead human gods, and he did it. Nigh-impossible ... yes. Doable yes.

I... I have no words for how amazed I feel.

Sowelu
2010-04-26, 07:43 PM
An idea similar to the previously-suggested "resurrect them where they drank from the fountain": "resurrect them approximately near the other immortals", so they share some kind of fate. If one immortal goes off on his own and dies, he'll soon find himself in the middle of what the others got into. If the party wipes, the whole party ends up getting involved. If all the immortals are in two main groups, you come back somewhere in the middle. And if the big bad villain can capture enough of the immortals, well, he'll still have all of them forever, even if they die. Capturing a few and then killing the others wherever you find them becomes a strategy, as the ones you kill keep resurrecting closer and closer to your base, but killing yourself to escape captivity is also a valid strategy as long as your comrades are far enough away.