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hushblade
2011-10-15, 06:25 PM
I've decided to start everyone out as a slave forced to be a gladiator in a quasi-Roman setting. Partly because I love the setting idea, and partly because it gives me an excuse to start them off in 1 on 1 fights to get the feel for things, and the king can spare their lives if I manage to over-challenge them.

This is what I have so far, forgive the shifting tone, it was mostly just written for my own use:

You wake up to find yourselves shackled in the back of a caravan with wrought iron bars preventing any possibility of escape. An armed guard says: “Good, you’ve finally all woken up… We’re headed to the Grand Arena’s training ground. You’ll all learn a fighting style and then fight for the crowd’s and our king’s amusement. If you fight bravely, you may just earn your freedom.”
You commence to tell how you’ve wound up in this situation, giving a good opportunity for in-party role playing and character exposition.

(Ideas: Prisoner of war, Forced into slavery from debt, Felt the call of the arena and sold self into slavery voluntarily ect…)

[Select your classes, train to the appropriate level(2-5 depending on level adjustments people choose)]

2 months later

You’ve finished your intensive training yesterday. You’re awoken by a man wielding a large spear ushering you into a line leading a stage. You quickly pick up on the fact that you are being auctioned as gladiators today. (player characters names, NPC party member names) were all sold to a man wearing a dark cloak, but still a somewhat regal air about him. He has strikingly attractive elven features, long white hair, very pale skin, and violet eyes.
Everyone rolls a spotcheck and A Knowledge: Arcana(religion?) check to see if they notice that he’s undead(he's a necropolitan elf)
A guard escorts you all to your new owner. The man introduces himself self as Griffisu and proceeds to say in a very amicable “I’ve been in this business for a long time, and I’m confident that I’ve paid for the very best. In a few weeks, The Grand Arena will have a gladiator team tournament. If you win, I will be given a substantial prize, as well as bragging rights amongst the nobility here. If you do this for me, I promise your freedom and 1000 gold pieces to each of you. I promise I am I fair master and I will honor my word and treat you humanely. Does anyone have any questions?”
They now have a chance to practice interacting with NPCs and learn more about their predicament.
You get on the back of his cart and soon arrive at a small cottage at the back of a large mansion. Griffisu says “You’ll all be living here” You see its stocked with all the rations you’ll all need, practice weapons, and a large room with 6 bedrolls.
Chance to interact before bed
You all sleep.
The next day you are awoken by Griffisu. “You all have your first bout today, as fresh combatants; you’ll all have a 1-on-1 match”
If they don’t ask anything, they all load up onto the cart, arrive at the arena and each commence to have their first match 1 on 1 against a level 1 generic warrior.
Win: He is lying on the ground, helpless, the crowd is cheering, chanting “KILL KILL KILL!” Do you do it?(nice introduction to moral decisions)
Lose: You fall to the ground helpless, as he is about to deliver the killing blow, the king decides you’ve fought valiantly, and lets you live.
(Middle stuff: Fighting as the party against other groups, speaking with people in the Arena about the world you live in, the champion of the arena ect...)

(Ending stuff: facing the final team in the tourney, mostly a mirror of the party, facing the arena champion, being set free and starting your own adventure[general direction dictated by the party])

Griffisu will probably be recurring, unsure as to his alignment or intentions, but it's clear he's honorable enough to let them go. The arena champion will probably be a cohort for a bit of the manage to beat him, He's a Goliath frenzied berzerker.


Anyway.... The group is pretty mixed as far as experience. I have 2 previous DMs in the group that will probably help me on the fly if I don't know something, but I can't ask them before hand because I don't want to spoil it. I have 2 players that have minor experience, and I have 1 total newbie.

So I guess I'm looking for any advice, thoughts or feedback, story or otherwise. I want my first campaign to be sucessful.

bloodtide
2011-10-15, 06:52 PM
Your first problem will be Equipment. In D&D characters need stuff. It's kinda hard to say a prisoner has a spellbook, holy symbol, exotic weapons and such. A lot of players will feel down if they can't equip their character. Say someone makes a ranger archer, will he even have a bow and arrows in the arena? What about a familiar?


Next, a lot of players don't like the 'forced plot'. They don't want to have the DM play the character(as your saying 'you must fight' and they get no choice). They may just ignore your 'Arena plot' and try to escape. If they refuse to fight, what will you do?

DM:Dong says:"You must fight in the arena!"
Player 1:"Lame, boring...I drop my sword and ignore Dong."
DM:Dong gets mad and says ''fight or die!"
Player 1 hands character sheet to DM:"Fine kill my character I'm going home."

Even if they like the Spartacus plot, you want to make an 'out', so they won't get trapped there. Avoid the never ending arena fights.

Remember to add drama to the arena...not just fights.

hushblade
2011-10-15, 07:08 PM
As far as Equipment goes, They should be well equipped with what they need from their owner. I'm not opposed to their attempting an escape(but I won't make it easy), but I think I'll make it pretty clear that if they win the tournament they win their freedom.

I definitely agree that drama in the arena is a bit lacking, perhaps a rival team owned by their owner's rival? Screaming fangirls of these men of the arena? Any other ideas?

Kol Korran
2011-10-15, 09:55 PM
General stuff: you should limit which classes play in this- some classes (especially the casters of tier 1 & 2) might makethe game very problematic, ending battles with 1-2 spells, but more than that- they can easily escape- fly, gaseous form, teleport, dimension door, meld into stone. hey, even disguise self could prove useful!

second of all- don't be afraid to kill players- no danger, no fun, and players will resent you for "sheltering" their characters. this is Arena battle, it should be bloody, to the death. unlike many other campaigns- you have excellent resource for extra characters- the extra slaves!

thirdly- don't bring just gladiators against them. the king's troops catch other treats for the games- animals, dire animals, magical beasts, aberrations, undead, perhaps even a construct? maybe even a dragon with clipped wings? will make things exciting, especially for the new player.



[SPOILER]You wake up to find yourselves shackled in the back of a caravan with wrought iron bars preventing any possibility of escape. An armed guard says: “Good, you’ve finally all woken up… We’re headed to the Grand Arena’s training ground. You’ll all learn a fighting style and then fight for the crowd’s and our king’s amusement. If you fight bravely, you may just earn your freedom.”
You commence to tell how you’ve wound up in this situation, giving a good opportunity for in-party role playing and character exposition.

(Ideas: Prisoner of war, Forced into slavery from debt, Felt the call of the arena and sold self into slavery voluntarily ect…)

[Select your classes, train to the appropriate level(2-5 depending on level adjustments people choose)]


This you do BEFORE the game even starts- let theme know of the general theme of things, know what to expect (and this way you may avoid the general "don't want to fight in the arena" kind of thing, and the players can arrange characters- 5th level characters can take time to arrange, so it's preferred to do this before game.


You’ve finished your intensive training yesterday. You’re awoken by a man wielding a large spear ushering you into a line leading a stage. You quickly pick up on the fact that you are being auctioned as gladiators today. (player characters names, NPC party member names) were all sold to a man wearing a dark cloak, but still a somewhat regal air about him. He has strikingly attractive elven features, long white hair, very pale skin, and violet eyes.
Everyone rolls a spotcheck and A Knowledge: Arcana(religion?) check to see if they notice that he’s undead(he's a necropolitan elf)
A guard escorts you all to your new owner. The man introduces himself self as Griffisu and proceeds to say in a very amicable “I’ve been in this business for a long time, and I’m confident that I’ve paid for the very best. In a few weeks, The Grand Arena will have a gladiator team tournament. If you win, I will be given a substantial prize, as well as bragging rights amongst the nobility here. If you do this for me, I promise your freedom and 1000 gold pieces to each of you. I promise I am I fair master and I will honor my word and treat you humanely. Does anyone have any questions?”

They now have a chance to practice interacting with NPCs and learn more about their predicament.

Griffisu is not a good name. the players will either make fun of it, forget it/ distort it, or both. instead, pick a title. titles are much easier and more memorable. "The gentleman", "the benefactor", "the master" , "the gauntlet" and so on.

don't let know throw religion checks- it's an immediate reveal (most chances they'll think he's a vampire) instead, roll for them yourself, secretley, even before hand.

as to learning about the predicament- prepare more NPCs (the master's servant, healer, blacksmith, perhaps adult children?)



You get on the back of his cart and soon arrive at a small cottage at the back of a large mansion. Griffisu says “You’ll all be living here” You see its stocked with all the rations you’ll all need, practice weapons, and a large room with 6 bedrolls.
Chance to interact before bed
You all sleep.

don't do this- you are forcing plot on the players. and more- if you get them out of the Arena, they WILL try to escape. instead, have the master "rent" space for his gladiator in the slave quarters of the arena. this way they are still kept secure.

i suggest allowing them to talk to other slaves, even other teams, learn more about them, their styles and so on. now and as you continue, develop dynamics in the holding pen. it might make battles more interesting later on- between friends and so on.



The next day you are awoken by Griffisu. “You all have your first bout today, as fresh combatants; you’ll all have a 1-on-1 match”
If they don’t ask anything, they all load up onto the cart, arrive at the arena and each commence to have their first match 1 on 1 against a level 1 generic warrior.
Win: He is lying on the ground, helpless, the crowd is cheering, chanting “KILL KILL KILL!” Do you do it?(nice introduction to moral decisions)
Lose: You fall to the ground helpless, as he is about to deliver the killing blow, the king decides you’ve fought valiantly, and lets you live.

first battle should not be 1 on 1. they are trained to fight as a team! (plus, while you handle a battle for 1 player, the rest are bored, and you lose them.

also, why a 1st level warrior? aren't they supposed to be 5th level or so? (according to what you wrote above) since your campaign FOCUSES on the arena, the battles should be glamorous, dangerous, full of exciting possibilities. also, since there is usually just one battle a day, they should be of a high CR for the group (+2 to +4)


(Middle stuff: Fighting as the party against other groups, speaking with people in the Arena about the world you live in, the champion of the arena ect...)

ok, just keep in mind that a good campaign needs more than "talk with fellow slaves and master/ arena fight!/ talk with fellow slaves and master/ arena fight!" and so on... you'll need to develop characters aspirations, and present a more compelling environment to interact in.


Ending stuff: facing the final team in the tourney, mostly a mirror of the party, facing the arena champion, being set free and starting your own adventure[general direction dictated by the party])

Griffisu will probably be recurring, unsure as to his alignment or intentions, but it's clear he's honorable enough to let them go. The arena champion will probably be a cohort for a bit of the manage to beat him, He's a Goliath frenzied berzerker.

Don't be set on champion until you know how the party fights, and then tailor it to be a challenge. berserkers for example have really low will saves. keep the champion a mystery (there is a punishment of death for any gladiator knowing who he is, or telling a gladiator) but there are rumors, guessing, and so on.



So I guess I'm looking for any advice, thoughts or feedback, story or otherwise. I want my first campaign to be sucessful.

you have a good spirit, determination and desire to do well. this will serve you. you will make mistakes, well do. do not despair. use it to growand evolve.

and don't forget to have fun yourself!!

hushblade
2011-10-16, 07:36 AM
Thank you my good sir! That was Exactly the kind of advice i was looking for, I'll be sure to implement many of your ideas(though i'm a bit to wed to the idea of roleplaying the whole shackled in the back of the cart thing to drop it)

You've given me the inspiration to make this something great.

Endarire
2011-10-17, 02:52 AM
Remember, magic changes things. The PCs' starting ECL determines what 'tech' (spells and powers) they can access. Gaseous form, fly, knock, and alter self are quick ways to circumvent a typical "must be caged" plot.

I know many say, "Don't railroad," but the group needs a compelling reason to work together. I revise the "Don't railroad" sentiment into "Don't railroad more than necessary." You still must set the stage. Also, if you make the clues desirable enough, the group will logically take the hints. (It's what they want to do, after all.)

Remember, tabletop is about options. Forcing people to fight for an extended period (and expecting them not to try to mess with things as much as possible) is asking for trouble. A starter fight or 2 is expected to get the group thinking tactically and coordinating teamwork.

This document gives suggestions on how to challenge parties in practice by level (http://antioch.snow-fall.com/~Endarire/DnD/Challenging%203.5%20and%20Pathfinder%20Parties%201 %2031%2011.doc).