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Gnaritas
2010-07-30, 02:58 AM
Hello,

is there a list of storylines to use for a new d&d 3.5 campaign?

I just need a basic story line, i can fill in the rest. My ideas so far seem a little too common, i was hoping to find something a little less common.

examples:
"Party is imprisoned by an evil empire. They are fighting in the Arena for the amusement of others. They need to escape and take down this empire."

"Evil Wizard guy (or demons or drow or ...) is planning to destroy the world, party needs to stop him."

"Extremely powerfull item is needed to save this world. Party needs to retrieve said item."

hamishspence
2010-07-30, 03:56 AM
Even traditional storylines can be given a twist. Maybe the Empire is mostly good, the gladiatorial battles have begun in a far-flung part of the Empire that is becoming corrupt, and the party have to put a stop to it before the corruption spreads.

Ossian
2010-07-30, 04:08 AM
Hello,

is there a list of storylines to use for a new d&d 3.5 campaign?

I just need a basic story line, i can fill in the rest. My ideas so far seem a little too common, i was hoping to find something a little less common.

examples:
"Party is imprisoned by an evil empire. They are fighting in the Arena for the amusement of others. They need to escape and take down this empire."

"Evil Wizard guy (or demons or drow or ...) is planning to destroy the world, party needs to stop him."

"Extremely powerfull item is needed to save this world. Party needs to retrieve said item."


What about a radical change? The PCs are not pillagers and murderers who get away with everything, but professionals with a family and friends (i.e. something to lose, and something that is not a CR 20 but a cute girlfriend or a younger brother). A massive feud starts between the "entity A" (Empire, Municipality, Duke, Family of PCs) and "Entity B" (other family, trade guild etc..).

Each family has literally hundred of henchmen, thugs, advisors, deckhands, blackguards, men at arms, simple affiliates.

In town, stuff like murder (even of a criminal, imagine that...) or to blast your way through buildings is illegal (that does not mean that it won't happen).

Sounds like a Mafia war? Maybe, maybe not...but it's cool, bc it is fantasy and it has endless possibilities. Next to that, your PCs won't finish the campaign at level 20 looking like christmas trees with every slot occupied by an "item of XY" and more wands in their store than spaghetti in a box, but like hard core BA streetwise forces to be reckoned with.

my 2 cents...

Soren Hero
2010-07-30, 04:11 AM
the party gets a prophecy about the end of the world, and its "implied" that the party will be there to stop it, but in actually, the actions of the party result in the end of the world

DabblerWizard
2010-07-30, 04:15 AM
Group 'X' needs the party to obtain item 'Y' ... their 'Z' reasons are known, unknown, unimportant, crucial... etc.

NPC 'X' has negative thing 'Y' happen to them... players are told to do 'Z' in turn.

NPC 'A' wants to bring about 'B' against NPC 'C', and needs the players' help.


Whatever story line you use whether forms of the above or others, I suggest using some creativity to change it from the standard line.

Use plot twists to make the story more interesting and surprising.

- The baron's daughter wasn't actually stolen by the orcs, she left with them willingly.

- The entire adventure taken on by players during the session, while legitimate seeming, is actually a test, a ruse, a set up, a red herring, a bluff, a distraction... etc.

BooNL
2010-07-30, 04:25 AM
One thing I can suggest is to scale down from 'saving the world' to 'saving your backyard'.

I know, I know, epic stories are cool and all, but most of them are cliched and unbelievable. I can't see any evil power trying to conquer the world, until they have conquered their surrounding countries or established a decent foothold while they work their magics.

A war scenario is always cool, an impending war scenario is even better. The players will never know when the enemy might attack or another skirmish breaks out. Intrigue, reconnaissance and quick thinking are the name of the game. There's tonnes of stuff to do before reaching the end boss.

I mean, even protecting a city/keep/village/pass from an invading army is a campaign unto itself.

hamishspence
2010-07-30, 04:56 AM
- The baron's daughter wasn't actually stolen by the orcs, she left with them willingly.

This. Races don't have to occupy the traditional roles- an orc band could be a relatively peaceful bunch, trading between towns, being disreputable but not villainous:

"What care I for a feather bed?
With the sheets turned down so bravely, O?
Tonight I will sleep in a cold open field
Along with the raggle-taggle orcses, O."

(that said, you don't want races to be confined to the same role always, for that leads to Unfortunate Implications).

Vitruviansquid
2010-07-30, 05:21 AM
1. The players are the honor guard/mercenaries/guides of a model hero prophesied to save the world.

Said hero dies in the first session.

2. The first arc has the heroes being the assistants and apprentices of a knight from a famed order that supposedly represents all that is good and heroic in the world (Find convenient ways to keep the knight away when the players fight battles, so you don't DMPC them). Have the arc unfold like the movie Training Day, which results in the players finding out that the order is actually completely corrupt (make the knight himself the "boss fight" at the end of the arc). Second arc is the players having to put an end to the order.

3. The heroes have just finished some kind of epic battle in which they saved the world. Now they must make their way back home, though the journey will be fraught with peril.

Have a map for the campaign, and allow the players to see themselves making visible progress. Of course, throw them a curve ball at the end, like the hobbits got in Return of the King.

4. The party inadvertently travels to a different world.

You can take this any direction you want, from them having to save the world, escape the world, or just survive in it. The best part about this kind of story is that everything will be new to the players and you can manipulate the backstories of any character/monster/race to actually give the players something new to discover.

hamishspence
2010-07-30, 05:33 AM
While it might not be suited to more serious campaigns, taking ideas from folklore, folk songs, etc, and giving them a D&D twist, could be fun.

A port town is haunted by the ghost of a fishmonger. The players have to lay the ghost to rest. When they question the ghost, they find out that the fever she died of was not natural- there is a cancer mage in town and the party have to bring him to justice for the ghost to rest peacefully.

Snake-Aes
2010-07-30, 07:15 AM
Hmm... "New and uninvented plots" is kinda complicated because with 7 billion people on the world, "New" stuff is kinda hard to find. Maybe the evil empire does the bloody thunderdome amusement parks because it's a ritual that wards off eldritch abominations?

Quincunx
2010-07-30, 08:13 AM
Nah, ritual slaughter is only concerned with the deaths--the gladiatorial games are just people trying to put the best possible face on a bad situation. Just imagine the riot that would blossom if the party did so much as try to shut down the betting touts without refunding bets already taken (or, even if they had intention to give refunds, before they can enact them).

Campaign: Party is hired to map the borders of the known world, taking taxidermic samples of EVERYTHING they encounter, by force if necessary and by guile if they don't wish to kill the races of good they may encounter. Players being players, the chances of them striking off into the unknown side of the border is high. . .

Campaign: Timequake. Overnight the world reverts to as it was 100 years ago, dumping them out of their beds as the inn was not yet built. Why? Do they restore the world as they knew it? Does anyone else remember the world as it was/was going to be?

Campaign: Party follows an invitation to meet with a person of power. After succeeding in her tests, and hopefully after they stop for the parley before attacking her themselves, she announces that they have all won the chance to be her successor. ONE of them may be. She has obligations suitable to a person of power, as well as power itself, and goodies. Will they accept? Will they still work together? She wanted only one successor.

Gnaritas
2010-07-30, 08:51 AM
Ok, i am working on the following right now. But i could use some more help:

The party will be abducted by a race from another plane. The partymembers have been chosen because they are strong among their race (this allows the party to start at higher level, as well as be any race or background they have, since they need not have met before). They will be used as gladiators in an Arena.

Question: can you give me examples on what race would fit the above description as abductors?

The party needs to escape and probably want to return home (families and such).

Planeshift will be banned, the only way to travel to another plane is by a gate.

Question: isn't there a spell Find Portal/Gate? i cant find it...

They will have to overcome tons of dangers, occasionally running into the aforementioned race. When they find a gate they will travel to a different plane (which i create, i will not use all the normal planes as well as i will add others). Each plane will be quite special and different and they will keep needing to find gates until they finally are home (that's another plus, i can stop when i want!).

I have probably created a sort of "Sliders", but i guess my players will enjoy this.

Any comment on this idea?

hamishspence
2010-07-30, 08:55 AM
Interesting. The abductors will probably have to be both powerful and nasty. Maybe Unseelie Fey, or some fiendish race (devils, yugoloths, demons, etc)

In the Savage Tide Adventure Path (Dungeon magazine), to win Orcus's support, you have to fight his champions in the arena- so demons do have arenas.

Snake-Aes
2010-07-30, 08:56 AM
Ok, i am working on the following right now. But i could use some more help:

The party will be abducted by a race from another plane. The partymembers have been chosen because they are strong among their race (this allows the party to start at higher level, as well as be any race or background they have, since they need not have met before). They will be used as gladiators in an Arena.

Question: can you give me examples on what race would fit the above description as abductors?

Does it have to be a single race? Something more cosmopolitan makes sense for a group that can abduct like that.

hamishspence
2010-07-30, 08:59 AM
Hence "demons" or "devils" or "the Unseelie court"- these vary greatly in power, and vary somewhat in attitudes and goals as well. Demons of Malcanthet will behave somewhat differently to demons of Demogorgon.

That said, "The Unseelie" might have the advantage of being covered in very little detail, even in Manual of the Planes, allowing you to make almost everything up.

Alternatively, it could be some single faction that has a very varied form- like "The Regulators" from the Epic Handbook, whose followers are Lawful, but who vary a lot.

AtwasAwamps
2010-07-30, 09:04 AM
Players must rescue a dragon from a princess!

Expanded: Players are asked by a noble metallic dragon to save its child, which has been captured by a princess...the daughter of an evil warlord. The daughter, being a spellcaster of some kind, intends to use the dragon in horrible experiments.

Gnaritas
2010-07-30, 09:21 AM
I tend towards Devils, but i will have to look into the Unseelie Fey.

What about Formians or Githyanki? Illitihids? Rakshasa?

hamishspence
2010-07-30, 09:24 AM
Githyanki might be good- because the Astral Plane is already full of natural gates to other planes (colour pools). If they dive through the pools because they're being pursued, and they have with them a item that can recall them back to the Astral Plane, you could have a plane-hopping pursuit.

Formians are extremely Lawful- and somewhat emotionless- they might not see a point in gladiatorial battles.

unimaginable
2010-07-30, 09:32 AM
The local human government made a deal with a demon about 50 years ago, gaining wealth in exchange for only a very tiny bit of land being tainted; at the time they figured it wouldn't cause any problems, but now it's spreading, and has tainted a few magical beasts in the area. Rather than fix it, as they didn't know how, they banned access to the area. Eventually, as people kept speaking out about it, the government felt that dissent was becoming more of a major risk, and so use the threat of attack from the outside to militarise and crack down on their own citizens as well.

Now the population is divided. Many of the citizens love the increased control and security presence, and think those who object to it are just troublemakers and deserve whatever they get. Others are concerned about the direction of their country, but are afraid to justify increased control by acting violently, so it just gradually gets worse and worse. PCs start there and eventually have to sort things out.

... wait, I think I just described the current state of Canada.

Soren Hero
2010-07-30, 12:48 PM
Ok, i am working on the following right now. But i could use some more help:

The party will be abducted by a race from another plane. The partymembers have been chosen because they are strong among their race (this allows the party to start at higher level, as well as be any race or background they have, since they need not have met before). They will be used as gladiators in an Arena.

Question: can you give me examples on what race would fit the above description as abductors?

The party needs to escape and probably want to return home (families and such).

Planeshift will be banned, the only way to travel to another plane is by a gate.



I think in order to be "original" you might want to refluff a standard race...for instance...maybe its a race of orcs from a different material plane....and on this plane, they are super advanced technologically/magically and have established a global empire, and they import slaves/gladiators from other planes, much like the Ithillids

Snake-Aes
2010-07-30, 12:49 PM
I think in order to be "original" you might want to refluff a standard race...for instance...maybe its a race of orcs from a different material plane....and on this plane, they are super advanced technologically/magically and have established a global empire, and they import slaves/gladiators from other planes, much like the Ithillids

Warhammer did it.

unimaginable
2010-07-30, 02:18 PM
Neogi are the interplanetary slave traders. Intelligent, scheming spider creatures who keep unusually strong Umber Hulks as pets and have access to spaceships = hell yes.

hamishspence
2010-07-30, 02:22 PM
Heroes of Horror had in interesting take on illithids- they are emotion junkies- they have people do horrible things to each other, and soak up the emotions via their telepathy.

Combine that with snail-like illithid spelljammers, and you have both the spacefaring abductors, and the gladiatorial battles.

Neogi are greedy- wouldn't they think its a big waste of the effort they've put in, to have them fight to the death in the arena?

Whereas for illithids of the emotion-junkie kind, it makes more sense.

A bit like Dark Eldar- but with telepathy and tentacles.

unimaginable
2010-07-30, 02:44 PM
Are you implying there's no profit to be had from operating a gladiatorial arena and therefore the motivation couldn't be greed?

Knowing the Neogi, they'd probably have plans to use the arena to test which of the slaves are worth taking on their ship and carrying to the next continent/planet/whatever. Space is precious.

Soren Hero
2010-07-30, 04:54 PM
Warhammer did it.

orly? i had no idea...im not very familiar with the Warhammer mythos...it would still be an awesome idea for a campaign, mb not with orcs as the bad guys, mb some other slighted race that pc's use as xp

unimaginable
2010-07-30, 05:01 PM
I've always preferred Hobgoblins over Orcs as the "nonhuman enough" race of warlike creatures. Better equipment, better tactics, less silly. The way most DMs use Orcs, Hobgoblins are almost entirely interchangeable with them anyway.