campaign ideaL Macguffin collectors

[Mystify]

There is an idea for a campaign I've been toying with for a while, and I wanted some feedback on it from other players.

The setting as a whole is no-magic. There aren't casters running around, there are not magic items, no magical beasts, its just a normal medieval setting. Or so the players think. It is also an explicitly low-level campaign, the players will probably be at level 1-2 for the vast majority of the time, and so should design their characters with this in mind.

The first session would keep to these paramaters, and let the players get used to the setting. Deal with some wolves, track down a theif, basic, mundane tasks that can pose a challenge to a gaggle of level 1s.

The next session, things really kick off. The party will be in town, going about a normal day, and hence not wearing all of their equipment. Then a guard on the wall lets out a cry, and they start closing the gates. A man makes it through right before it closes, and continues running into the town square. He shouts out for people to take cover. Then, this hairy, manlike beast leaps onto the top of the wall, looks down at the man, then leaps down after him.

The party would not be told this, but this beast is a werewolf, and hence has DR 10/silver. The town guards will be worthless, and he will just swat them aside. If a party member tries to attack(without their weapon or armor, no less), it will easily be able to knock them to negative hp to lay there dying. Hopefully all of this will be enough to encourage the other party members to seek cover nearby.

The werewolf will eventually reach the man, and they will battle. The man is obviously very skilled at fighting, but is clearly losing the battle. Eventually, he manages to knock the werewolf down, and dives behind some nearby cover.

If a party member is there, he will pull out a small object, press it into their hand, look them in their eyes, and say "Keep them safe", before running out of cover and trying to escape. That is the ideal situation, if that is not possible, he will stash as small box behind the peice of cover, where a party member can see it, then run.

The werewolf gets back to its feet, and chases down the man, killing him this time. He searches the body, then obviously not finding what he wants, searches it again more frantically. Tossing the body aside in frustration, he then flees.

When the party looks at the object they were given, or retrieves it from the hidden box, they find what looks like a golden pocket watch, inscribed with odd symbols. opening it reveals that it is a compass. Anyone trained in survival, or who makes a DC 10 untrained check, will realize that it is not pointing north.

From there, the bulk of the campaign will kick off. The compass leads them to the magical MacGuffins, ancient artifacts of potent magical powers. Of course, other groups are working to collect the MacGuffins as well. The werewolf is one such character, and the party will encounter a wide spectrum of colorful characters searching for it, with a variety of goals, methods, an motivations. The compass is also highly contested, as it allow the user to track down new MacGuffins.

The PCs will be low-level, but their power will rise as they gain more MacGuffins and figure out how to use them to the best effect. The MacGuffins can also be stolen by the NPCs, the party can try to steal them back, while also trying to obtain new ones.

If you have ever seen xia lin showdown, it will have many similarities. The MacGuffins would be comparable in power to the shen gong wu.

My hope is that this structure will make combat more involved than "I swing my sword at the beast", as the party won't have the raw power just to brute force their way through an encounter. However, proper utilization of their Macguffins can lead to their victory.

[The Glyphstone]

So, let's start with the first pitfall:



Hopefully all of this will be enough to encourage the other party members to seek cover nearby.


Assume, immediately, that this does not happen. Seeing one of their own go down encourages the rest of the party to rush the monster, rather than hide and watch your scripted NPC-on-NPC battle. What happens next?

What if they get lucky and hurt it (say, the Raging Barbarian hits with a Greataxe and rolls a 5+ on his D12), or severely wound it (say, the Raging Barbarian crits with his Greataxe for 3d12+18, not something even DR/10 will shrug off harmlessly)?

[Mystify]

So, let's start with the first pitfall:



Assume, immediately, that this does not happen. Seeing one of their own go down encourages the rest of the party to rush the monster, rather than hide and watch your scripted NPC-on-NPC battle. What happens next?

What if they get lucky and hurt it (say, the Raging Barbarian hits with a Greataxe and rolls a 5+ on his D12), or severely wound it (say, the Raging Barbarian crits with his Greataxe for 3d12+18, not something even DR/10 will shrug off harmlessly)?
They don't have their weapons. If they insist on bringing their weapons, explain that they are not level 15 adventures, they are just normal people in a medieval town and walking around with a greataxe is not appropriate. Later, when they are being hunted by various groups for their possessions and seeking out powerful artifacts, such measures are reasonable, but not now. If they really try to push the issue, explain that it is illegal to walk around in this town while armed unless you are a guard.

And if you have a tableful of players who are going to charge an opponent like that instead of being prudent, you have the wrong players for a campaign like this, and you should be running something more appropriate for them. They are generally going to have to outsmart opponents, so if they can't even handle not commiting suicide on the werewolf, this isn't going to work. Even if they all charge, as he quickly starts droping them, somebody should be prudent enough to retreat.

[AtlanteanTroll]

And if you have a tableful of players who are going to charge an opponent like that instead of being prudent, you have the wrong players for a campaign like this, and you should be running something more appropriate for them.

This isn't a question about Glyphstone's players, it's a question about your players. What sort of people are they?

[Person_Man]

I've found that players almost never retreat from combat, and only occasionally avoid combat, regardless of the level of danger. (DM: "The huge red dragon lands on top of the castle, and eats a guard. You are standing 200 feet away, outside of the castle, near the city gates." Player: "My first level Fighter runs toward the castle.") This is true even when I explicitly tell them prior to the start of the campaign that some enemies will be much higher CR then they are, and can only be defeated with careful planning, tactics, special items, diplomacy, trickery, etc. The only way to truly prevent them from entering deadly combat is to make it physically inaccessible to them (ie, the castle's gate is closed - all they can do is watch, run away, or slowly climb the castle walls).

[Mystify]

This isn't a question about Glyphstone's players, it's a question about your players. What sort of people are they?

My current group would be fine, but I am moving soon, so I'm not sure what the group would be like. If they would not be suited to a campaign like this I would run something else.

Let us presume we have players who are smart enough to survive that initial battle.

[Mystify]

I've found that players almost never retreat from combat, and only occasionally avoid combat, regardless of the level of danger. (DM: "The huge red dragon lands on top of the castle, and eats a guard. You are standing 200 feet away, outside of the castle, near the city gates." Player: "My first level Fighter runs toward the castle.") This is true even when I explicitly tell them prior to the start of the campaign that some enemies will be much higher CR then they are, and can only be defeated with careful planning, tactics, special items, diplomacy, trickery, etc. The only way to truly prevent them from entering deadly combat is to make it physically inaccessible to them (ie, the castle's gate is closed - all they can do is watch, run away, or slowly climb the castle walls).

Perhaps. This initial combat would serve as a test. If they get killed here, they would not be able to handle the campaign, and you go and run something else.

In regards to the "what if they manage to defeat the beast anyways?" argument, I am also a very flexible DM. The man will be impressed by their skill/resourcefulness, and ask for their help. The campaign then proceeds normally, only they have managed to earn a mentor.

[Zale]

They don't have their weapons. If they insist on bringing their weapons, explain that they are not level 15 adventures, they are just normal people in a medieval town and walking around with a greataxe is not appropriate.

But Krug need greataxe. Krug's greataxe has sen-ta-men-tal value. If Krug leave greataxe alone, greataxe be sad!

Do you want Krug's greataxe to be sad? :smallfrown:

I have to ask, though, how do you plan on handling healing sans magic/magic items?

[The Glyphstone]

Perhaps. This initial combat would serve as a test. If they get killed here, they would not be able to handle the campaign, and you go and run something else.

In regards to the "what if they manage to defeat the beast anyways?" argument, I am also a very flexible DM. The man will be impressed by their skill/resourcefulness, and ask for their help. The campaign then proceeds normally, only they have managed to earn a mentor.

That works then. Your initial idea read exactly like the opening narration to a video game, assuming the players would act and react exactly the way you need them to for setting up the plot. A skilled DM prepares multiple 'what-if' eventualities, since you can never predict 100% what players will choose to do. As long as you've got those contingencies readied, you'll do fine.

You've covered what happens if they fight despite overwhelming odds (like a barbarian or paladin would). What if they don't sit and watch the cutscene, but, say, run back to the inn to get their weapons, or just run back to the inn and hide until the noise stops? That'd be a very smart thing to do for characters in a world where you explicitly told them certain fights would be over-CRed.

[Mystify]

But Krug need greataxe. Krug's greataxe has sen-ta-men-tal value. If Krug leave greataxe alone, greataxe be sad!

Do you want Krug's greataxe to be sad? :smallfrown:

I have to ask, though, how do you plan on handling healing sans magic/magic items?
Natural healing will actually carry a lot of weight. This is not going to be "fight through 10 encounters a day". A battle will be a serious confrontation, which may requires a couple of weeks to recover from. It won't be "oh no, we hit a trap! oh wait, I'll just cast a spell and it doesn't matter". There are also going to be far fewer random encounters.

I will also add in more aggressive hospitilization rules. Normal rulesallow for the heal skill to be used to double the natural healing. I will say this represents basic medical care. If you can get the person to a dedicated medical facility for care, they can increase it to quadruple the normal rate.


Later on, there will be macguffins with healing powers to help with the increased danger level.


That works then. Your initial idea read exactly like the opening narration to a video game, assuming the players would act and react exactly the way you need them to for setting up the plot. A skilled DM prepares multiple 'what-if' eventualities, since you can never predict 100% what players will choose to do. As long as you've got those contingencies readied, you'll do fine.

You've covered what happens if they fight despite overwhelming odds (like a barbarian or paladin would). What if they don't sit and watch the cutscene, but, say, run back to the inn to get their weapons, or just run back to the inn and hide until the noise stops? That'd be a very smart thing to do for characters in a world where you explicitly told them certain fights would be over-CRed.

I try not to sit around and prepare for every eventuality. I almost never prepare a mostly-scripted scene like this. As you say, you can never predict 100% what players will choose to do. So, I don't even try, and instead design scenarios, and let the players do what they will. My entire campaigns tend to run on improv, so I feel confident in my ability to improv this scene. The scenario I presented is not really as linear as I made it out to be, I primarily laid out the entire scene to present a possible way it could unfold, so you have a concrete scene to imagine.

So, with the "we run to the in to get our gear" scenario, when the first person is returning, they see the werewolf on the ground, and the man hiding the box behind some cover, then watch the kill before they can manage to get back.

The important thing is that the players get the compass, one way or another. Such a specific outcome is normally something I try to avoid accomplishing, but it is the cornerstone of the campaign. And it should be fairly easy to get the party to pick up loot.