Man on Fire
2012-04-18, 05:55 PM
Since joining the site I realized I have quite a lot of campaing ideas, but all for D&D, in which I will probably never GM anything and I'm in too many games already to go into more, so I decided to make a thread where I can dump my campaing or adventure ideas I probably won't use in near future, for anybody to use as they wish. And for other people to do dump their ideas here too, because why not.
Campaing Ideas:
* Heroic Fantasy Campaing
System: D&D
Max 3-4 players
The goal is to emulate the feel of classic Heroic Fantasy, where brave hero tryumps over the cult of great evil by his muscles, wit and limited magic. In this campaing classes and prestige classes specializing primarily in casting (Druid, Wizard, Sorceror, Cleric, Paion) are forbidden, but guys like Rangers, Paladins, Bards, Duskblades and others who uses magic only as support to their battle abilities, are allowed, similiarly with prestige classes (no Archmages or Mystic Theurges, but yes for Dragon Disciples and Eldritch Knights). This is because in classic heroic fantasy heroes rarerly can do a lot of magic and if they can, it's only addition to heir other skills (Gray Mouser).
Type of game: Mostly fighths and traps. Rarerly will players meet magic oponents - wizard or cleric in this setting is a powerful Tusla Doom Jurnior who leads a cult to summon Cthulhu, final boss of the adventure, big bad sitting at the end of every dungeon raid, the bastard who demanded Fighter's girlfriend to be send as a sacrifice to him, that kind of guy. Aside from that enemies are rarerly magically powered. This forces players to think how to outsmart the enemy, how to use their wit to kill powerful mage.
For: Open minded players and creative DM who can balance ecounters to playing without magic support won't be unfair.
*Low-Magic Campaing
System: D&D
Max six players, recommended four, max 2 casters
This type of game has opposite restictions than previous - no bards, no paladins, no Rangers, no duskblades - nothing that gets magic as a bonus. Here magic is rare, limited to only few chosen people, who are feared and shunned by the rest. You can be clerics, wizards, psions or sorcerers, but there cannot be more than two casting characters in the game and you will rarerly meet other casters. This game puts emphasis on roleplay - your casters are experiencing great loniless and isolation, some could never have meet anybody as them, until joining the party (which is why upper caster limit at 2 casters - two is a companion, three is a crowd).
Type of game: Mostly roleplay, strong emphasis on how casters feels isolated and how non-casters must protect them.
For who: Again, open-minded players, interested more in roleplaying than getting XPs, and creative DM.
*His Majesty's Special Forces
* System: D&D or any other fantasy.
This is an idea that had come to my mind in Warfare In Fantasy Setting thread. Basically, players are an elite force assembled by the king for strategic missions during the war, prefferably builds that can do well both in magic and combat but not necessary. Powerful battle builds, high level, all things go. This is a campaing made to make emphasis on player's strenght and make them feel special - they are the elite and they need to feel it.
*Kidnapped Familly
System; Any will do.
This is simpler than previous ones and requires players who are both into this for roleplayig and the fighting. The basic idea is simple - each one of characters has somebody close, who was kidnappd by the villain and is hold hostage. Now players must do something for a villain (what it is can vary) if they want to see their loved ones again.
Variant: Additional possibility is to let other players play as the loved ones who got kidnapped and escaped and now are running away, trying to reunite with the heroes and escape villain's pursuit.
Variant 2: Even Evil Has Loved Ones - to make game more fun on roleplay, I suggest limiting character alignment to only evil ones. Now players are bunch of criminals, bandits, warlords, murderers, Blackguards, drows, who all share one theing - even they have somebody they care about, a weakness someone decided to explore, to force them to do a dirty work for him. May be combined with Variant 1 for amusing interactions once two groups will meet.
Adventure Idea:
Something for high-level party in any system, who didn't started that way but earned every single level - a adventure during which they need to face their past. Every person they wronged, every villai nthey slained, everyone they failed to save - and now they see visions of them all, haunting them. It gives a lot of possibilities, including battle again with some of bigger challenges GM threw at players, among other things. Can make for a good nostalgic story, or an epic campaing finale.
Feel free to share your own ideas.
Campaing Ideas:
* Heroic Fantasy Campaing
System: D&D
Max 3-4 players
The goal is to emulate the feel of classic Heroic Fantasy, where brave hero tryumps over the cult of great evil by his muscles, wit and limited magic. In this campaing classes and prestige classes specializing primarily in casting (Druid, Wizard, Sorceror, Cleric, Paion) are forbidden, but guys like Rangers, Paladins, Bards, Duskblades and others who uses magic only as support to their battle abilities, are allowed, similiarly with prestige classes (no Archmages or Mystic Theurges, but yes for Dragon Disciples and Eldritch Knights). This is because in classic heroic fantasy heroes rarerly can do a lot of magic and if they can, it's only addition to heir other skills (Gray Mouser).
Type of game: Mostly fighths and traps. Rarerly will players meet magic oponents - wizard or cleric in this setting is a powerful Tusla Doom Jurnior who leads a cult to summon Cthulhu, final boss of the adventure, big bad sitting at the end of every dungeon raid, the bastard who demanded Fighter's girlfriend to be send as a sacrifice to him, that kind of guy. Aside from that enemies are rarerly magically powered. This forces players to think how to outsmart the enemy, how to use their wit to kill powerful mage.
For: Open minded players and creative DM who can balance ecounters to playing without magic support won't be unfair.
*Low-Magic Campaing
System: D&D
Max six players, recommended four, max 2 casters
This type of game has opposite restictions than previous - no bards, no paladins, no Rangers, no duskblades - nothing that gets magic as a bonus. Here magic is rare, limited to only few chosen people, who are feared and shunned by the rest. You can be clerics, wizards, psions or sorcerers, but there cannot be more than two casting characters in the game and you will rarerly meet other casters. This game puts emphasis on roleplay - your casters are experiencing great loniless and isolation, some could never have meet anybody as them, until joining the party (which is why upper caster limit at 2 casters - two is a companion, three is a crowd).
Type of game: Mostly roleplay, strong emphasis on how casters feels isolated and how non-casters must protect them.
For who: Again, open-minded players, interested more in roleplaying than getting XPs, and creative DM.
*His Majesty's Special Forces
* System: D&D or any other fantasy.
This is an idea that had come to my mind in Warfare In Fantasy Setting thread. Basically, players are an elite force assembled by the king for strategic missions during the war, prefferably builds that can do well both in magic and combat but not necessary. Powerful battle builds, high level, all things go. This is a campaing made to make emphasis on player's strenght and make them feel special - they are the elite and they need to feel it.
*Kidnapped Familly
System; Any will do.
This is simpler than previous ones and requires players who are both into this for roleplayig and the fighting. The basic idea is simple - each one of characters has somebody close, who was kidnappd by the villain and is hold hostage. Now players must do something for a villain (what it is can vary) if they want to see their loved ones again.
Variant: Additional possibility is to let other players play as the loved ones who got kidnapped and escaped and now are running away, trying to reunite with the heroes and escape villain's pursuit.
Variant 2: Even Evil Has Loved Ones - to make game more fun on roleplay, I suggest limiting character alignment to only evil ones. Now players are bunch of criminals, bandits, warlords, murderers, Blackguards, drows, who all share one theing - even they have somebody they care about, a weakness someone decided to explore, to force them to do a dirty work for him. May be combined with Variant 1 for amusing interactions once two groups will meet.
Adventure Idea:
Something for high-level party in any system, who didn't started that way but earned every single level - a adventure during which they need to face their past. Every person they wronged, every villai nthey slained, everyone they failed to save - and now they see visions of them all, haunting them. It gives a lot of possibilities, including battle again with some of bigger challenges GM threw at players, among other things. Can make for a good nostalgic story, or an epic campaing finale.
Feel free to share your own ideas.