Campaign Ideas

[sambouchah]

I have some new players joining my group who have no prior knowledge about D&D. Any excellent campaign ideas? I(as a DM/GM/etc) Love kick down the door style play, but some of my more experienced players like role playing(NPC interaction). SO yeah.
Thanks, Sam

[AsheItachi]

Personally i would mix it up with both, have a couple of your own ideas written out, then get a couple modules downloadable or searchable on google. Incoprorate them into each other let them decide where to go.

Ideas , I like the idea of starting your PC's out on a wagon ride being bound and headed for the chopping block. They are mixed up in a civil war and are about to be executed with no wrong doing. Have them escape the chopping block by a strange dragon encounter, barely making it out alive. Then they find out there legend come to life later on...... lol

[AsheItachi]

One thing im toying with in my game im running is the part finds a skeleton of a man armor and sword still held in place. A ring sits on the ground looking like it just fell off the finger of the skeleton. If they put the ring on the skeleton starts to reform into a Male human who eventually tells the party that he is NAME HERE and is cursed with the ring to live forever while he wears it with yet has to suffer CURSE HERE he then leads them onto an adventure or place only he knows about.

[Gildedragon]

Crime-solving campaigns in cities are great for that sort of combo of social interaction and door kicking.
Talk to witnesses and suspects, kick down the doors to evil cults, crime syndicates, lairs of evil masterminds.
I've found them really fun to start. Get a body in an odd locale, figure out three or four people who could have wanted to do it and figure how it happens for a couple and have your players' interests in lines of inquiry and play push towards the actual mastermind.
Sprinkle red-herrings throughout.

[The Dark Fiddler]

I think if you're just starting out, it might be better to go with a few shorter sessions of varying combinations of combat and roleplaying, so you can see what your group likes best.

[cascadingStar]

When I had a few people join in, I actually took a break from campaigns for a few meetings. More like a 'training camp', like they were in the army and they were sent out to learn to fight. I made them interact with each other because if you fight with someone, you gotta know them. From then, I sent them into some random dungeon and taught them how to fight. After a few of these and they learned how to actually work their class and the system it's self, I started an actual campaign.

[hoverfrog]

Maybe start with a dungeon crawl. It is a pretty closed environment so PCs won't wander off the plot too much. A simple call by the local lord to explore the mines or dungeon of a monster is a good start. Throw in an expert NPC or two to fill any roles that the players don't have.

[the clumsy bard]

Originally posted by AsheItachi


One thing im toying with in my game im running is the part finds a skeleton of a man armor and sword still held in place. A ring sits on the ground looking like it just fell off the finger of the skeleton. If they put the ring on the skeleton starts to reform into a Male human who eventually tells the party that he is NAME HERE and is cursed with the ring to live forever while he wears it with yet has to suffer CURSE HERE he then leads them onto an adventure or place only he knows about.

The only issue here is that most parties will immediately detect magic. If it radiates magic the first thing most people will do is.... keep the ring. Unless there is an obvious reason to put the ring on the finger, the party will not do it usually.

[hoverfrog]

The only issue here is that most parties will immediately detect magic. If it radiates magic the first thing most people will do is.... keep the ring. Unless there is an obvious reason to put the ring on the finger, the party will not do it usually.Then the wizard's gambit stands. Putting on the ring is the only thing stopping him from reforming and it has just fallen off. Better yet have the remains in a chamber that they can't open because of a magically sealed door. When they break in they release the man, cursed as he is. No party can resist a sealed door.

[sambouchah]

Personally i would mix it up with both, have a couple of your own ideas written out, then get a couple modules downloadable or searchable on google. Incoprorate them into each other let them decide where to go.

Ideas , I like the idea of starting your PC's out on a wagon ride being bound and headed for the chopping block. They are mixed up in a civil war and are about to be executed with no wrong doing. Have them escape the chopping block by a strange dragon encounter, barely making it out alive. Then they find out there legend come to life later on...... lol

Is that not from skyrim almost exactly?

And I think it should be said that our newbie is a female and we are an all male group at this point so Role playing that would play into that(that doesn't involve prostitution or the like) we are attempting to keep it somewhat appropriate seeing as my twelve year old brother plays as well.

Also thanks to everyone who has replied so far! It's coming along quite nicely now. Kobolds and captors haha.

[sambouchah]

Also how can big scary monsters be incorporated into a city scape with crime solving easily? We usually do warfare and scoundral campaigns, so it is a LOT of humanoids and NPC interaction

[Gildedragon]

Also how can big scary monsters be incorporated into a city scape with crime solving easily? We usually do warfare and scoundral campaigns, so it is a LOT of humanoids and NPC interaction

Underground gladiatorial matches, wizard's summons gone bad (or not), invading 200' tall lizard, rampaging golem...

[sambouchah]

Underground gladiatorial matches, wizard's summons gone bad (or not), invading 200' tall lizard, rampaging golem...

How about Will-O-Wisps? I really like the idea of 'bad joo joo' or mojo or whatever feeding off children's emotions but I don't know how to incorporate them without the classic excuse "because I said so"

[Gildedragon]

True. there's also that mind-sucking fey (blue jester?) from HoH.
Work on a basement discovers a forgotten crypt/ruin/mine/passage to the underdark
Museum theft re-awakens a mummy
Breakout from the zoo
crazed necromancer(4)/druid(4)/taxidermist(1) animates the trophies in a lord's hunting lodge

[sambouchah]

True. there's also that mind-sucking fey (blue jester?) from HoH.
Work on a basement discovers a forgotten crypt/ruin/mine/passage to the underdark
Museum theft re-awakens a mummy
Breakout from the zoo
crazed necromancer(4)/druid(4)/taxidermist(1) animates the trophies in a lord's hunting lodge

OOOH!! That sparks some wonderful Ideas and I will add you username on here as one of the NPC's if that's alright, all because of the help!

[Gildedragon]

Honored and that's cool by me. :smallsmile:

[sambouchah]

Honored and that's cool by me. :smallsmile:

I'll keep you posted on what happens and when/who you are in the story!

[Gildedragon]

hahahahaha. Yeah that'd be cool.

[AsheItachi]

Is that not from skyrim almost exactly?

And I think it should be said that our newbie is a female and we are an all male group at this point so Role playing that would play into that(that doesn't involve prostitution or the like) we are attempting to keep it somewhat appropriate seeing as my twelve year old brother plays as well.

Also thanks to everyone who has replied so far! It's coming along quite nicely now. Kobolds and captors haha.

yea i was just reliving an epic game >.<


a city type campaign with big HD monsters, one idea could be they city/town is on a cairn of negative energy and the lunar alignment has shifted and now the dark energy is drawing undead to the town, and raising said dead. you could involve a lich who has started to use the focul power to do the raising

[sambouchah]

yea i was just reliving an epic game >.<


a city type campaign with big HD monsters, one idea could be they city/town is on a cairn of negative energy and the lunar alignment has shifted and now the dark energy is drawing undead to the town, and raising said dead. you could involve a lich who has started to use the focul power to do the raising

I like it! But undead are rather cliche I feel. I do like Bodaks though. I'd like to add in some weeping angels from the Dr. Who series. So maybe the lunar alignment shift could have awakened them at some point?

[javijuji]

I have a couple of Ideas. They vary a lot depending on the alignment, power of the party.


1: Purging the shadows

This party works best with a religious group who all follow the same and or similar alignment deities. X Church sends a group of adventurers to purge the locations of their churches within the plane of shadows. Given that the material plane and the plane of shadows overlap each other they wish their temples to be holy in the shadow plane too. So the adventurers would have to travel to different churches within this plane and make these places holy (an artifact could be used for this). Some temples could be being used by merchants, others inhabited by monsters, etc. The options are endless.

Ill throw some other ideas later. I have to go right now!

[sambouchah]

I have a couple of Ideas. They vary a lot depending on the alignment, power of the party.


1: Purging the shadows

This party works best with a religious group who all follow the same and or similar alignment deities. X Church sends a group of adventurers to purge the locations of their churches within the plane of shadows. Given that the material plane and the plane of shadows overlap each other they wish their temples to be holy in the shadow plane too. So the adventurers would have to travel to different churches within this plane and make these places holy (an artifact could be used for this). Some temples could be being used by merchants, others inhabited by monsters, etc. The options are endless.

Ill throw some other ideas later. I have to go right now!

I love the ideas but my group rarely has religion:/

[Lord Il Palazzo]

Crime-solving campaigns in cities are great for that sort of combo of social interaction and door kicking.
Talk to witnesses and suspects, kick down the doors to evil cults, crime syndicates, lairs of evil masterminds.
I've found them really fun to start. Get a body in an odd locale, figure out three or four people who could have wanted to do it and figure how it happens for a couple and have your players' interests in lines of inquiry and play push towards the actual mastermind.
Sprinkle red-herrings throughout.This is my suggestion. Have an NPC dignitary hire the PCs to go on some fairly routine adventure (clear out some bandits, fight some orcs, explore some ruins, etc.) as a tutorial. When they get back, they find him murdered with some clues that point to something big and sinister going on. Have the various suspects lead to your choice of evil cult, crime syndicate, pack of werewolves or whatever shadowy cabal of bad guys you like, possibly segueing into a larger organization as a hook for further adventuring. (Maybe this was just a local cell of the Cult of Evil and was only part of some still larger plan.)

(If you go this route, consider having the NPC pay the PC half of their wages up front so they don't feel like they got stiffed.)

[sambouchah]

This is my suggestion. Have an NPC dignitary hire the PCs to go on some fairly routine adventure (clear out some bandits, fight some orcs, explore some ruins, etc.) as a tutorial. When they get back, they find him murdered with some clues that point to something big and sinister going on. Have the various suspects lead to your choice of evil cult, crime syndicate, pack of werewolves or whatever shadowy cabal of bad guys you like, possibly segueing into a larger organization as a hook for further adventuring. (Maybe this was just a local cell of the Cult of Evil and was only part of some still larger plan.)

(If you go this route, consider having the NPC pay the PC half of their wages up front so they don't feel like they got stiffed.)

Oh man I remember doing something like that on my first campaign ever! I miss those days ha. I think I'll do that. Right now I've got them meeting a 'human' sorcerer/bard who is having a little trouble... errr.. "making friends" in the town of Harrismire. He is secretly a Rakshasa in disguise using his change shape ability. He will eventually get killed but for now he is the main bad guy.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

Oh man I remember doing something like that on my first campaign ever! I miss those days ha. I think I'll do that. Right now I've got them meeting a 'human' sorcerer/bard who is having a little trouble... errr.. "making friends" in the town of Harrismire. He is secretly a Rakshasa in disguise using his change shape ability. He will eventually get killed but for now he is the main bad guy.Nice. I tried to pull something like this off in my (current and first) campaign but it got sidetracked pretty heavily.

Please don't click the spoiler if your're in my group. This means you Ginorbol, Aira, Uial, Thaajin and Z'd'nt!
The PCs were hired by a guy who does administrative work and negotiations for guild that has (or will soon have) significant power in the city. He was supposed to send them on a couple quests, build a rapport and then be found brutally murdered. The problem is that I threw too many hints and plot hooks for big things coming later on into those early missions and the players went off pursuing them, leaving the original quest-giver mostly forgotten. The twist is (or was going to be; I don't know if I'll still try to do it) that he wouldn't actually be dead. He is (or originally was) a shapeshifting monster (a rakshasa, actually) who killed and replaced his superior in the guild and polymorphed the body into his old one, mutilating it enough that any imperfections are hard to notice. This puts him in a prime position to take a position of huge political power as the guild gains in power.(Kind of like killing and replacing a guy who was about to be named speaker of the house or something.)

[sambouchah]

Nice. I tried to pull something like this off in my (current and first) campaign but it got sidetracked pretty heavily.

Please don't click the spoiler if your're in my group. This means you Ginorbol, Aira, Uial, Thaajin and Z'd'nt!
The PCs were hired by a guy who does administrative work and negotiations for guild that has (or will soon have) significant power in the city. He was supposed to send them on a couple quests, build a rapport and then be found brutally murdered. The problem is that I threw too many hints and plot hooks for big things coming later on into those early missions and the players went off pursuing them, leaving the original quest-giver mostly forgotten. The twist is (or was going to be; I don't know if I'll still try to do it) that he wouldn't actually be dead. He is (or originally was) a shapeshifting monster (a rakshasa, actually) who killed and replaced his superior in the guild and polymorphed the body into his old one, mutilating it enough that any imperfections are hard to notice. This puts him in a prime position to take a position of huge political power as the guild gains in power.(Kind of like killing and replacing a guy who was about to be named speaker of the house or something.)

Mind if I use your username in my campaign at some point?

[Lord Il Palazzo]

Mind if I use your username in my campaign at some point?I'd be honored, though you might should know it wasn't originally mine to begin with. (http://myanimelist.net/character/1850/Il_Palazzo)

If you don't mind referencing a frequently bored would-be evil overlord in your game (or don't think your players would get it; the series is a bit obscure, even by anime standards) absolutely go for it and maybe let me know how the NPC turns out.

[AsheItachi]

Is there a sticky thread for campaign ideas? if not there should be...... it could be an everfilling source for people like me who are dms yet have trouble coming up with those great ideas, im tired of buying modules lol

[sambouchah]

I'd be honored, though you might should know it wasn't originally mine to begin with. (http://myanimelist.net/character/1850/Il_Palazzo)

If you don't mind referencing a frequently bored would-be evil overlord in your game (or don't think your players would get it; the series is a bit obscure, even by anime standards) absolutely go for it and maybe let me know how the NPC turns out.

Awesome haha. What show is he from? There are a couple of Anime freaks in the group. I have only fully watched Full metal alchemist and Soul eater however

[Lord Il Palazzo]

Awesome haha. What show is he from? There are a couple of Anime freaks in the group. I have only fully watched Full metal alchemist and Soul eater howeverIt's a show called Excel Saga. It's about a hyperactive, over-enthusiastic (but none-too-intelligent) teenage girl who works for a secret ideological organization bent on world domination. It doesn't help that (as of the first episode) the organization has two employees: her and the overlord from whom I took my name. It's a really funny show. PM me if you want to know more. (We've probably derailed this thread just about enough.)


Is there a sticky thread for campaign ideas? if not there should be...... it could be an everfilling source for people like me who are dms yet have trouble coming up with those great ideas, im tired of buying modules lolIt's not bad idea. I've seen several threads like this around the internet and I'm sure the topic's come up many times on this very board. It would be handy if they could be amalgamated into one thread for continual reference, though I don't know if there'd be enough interest. Maybe you should run the idea by a mod to see what they think.

[AsheItachi]

[/QUOTE]It's not bad idea. I've seen several threads like this around the internet and I'm sure the topic's come up many times on this very board. It would be handy if they could be amalgamated into one thread for continual reference, though I don't know if there'd be enough interest. Maybe you should run the idea by a mod to see what they think.[/QUOTE]

And so i shall , now of to find a mod.