Urban campaigns (ideas, hooks, and threats)

[thethird]

So my table wants to play an urban campaign. They are a bit tired of going dragon hunting (our current campaign) and its my turn to DM (we alternate). And I am totally going for it, but I would like some help on building ideas/plothooks at least for the start up of the campaign.

My biggest concern is that we know each other really well at the table and if I start a political, stealthy, stabby, urban-y, campaign most of the players are going to think ahead of me because after the years I might be a bit obvious.

Anyways, urban campaings. Things that you enjoyed? Ideas that you would like to play? Advice? Anything will be welcomed. :smallbiggrin:

[FreakyCheeseMan]

I had an idea a while ago. It goes like this.

So, the city's been having a wave of violent crime out of its slums, mostly drug related - it looks like there's some sort of new drug hitting the streets, that's making people hooked on it behave very weirdly, almost mindlessly.

Upon digging deeper, the players discover that this behavior isn't the result of drugs, but mind control - a colony of mind flayers has arisen beneath the city, and has been subverting the criminal elements in a bid to gain control. But, the ilithids seems a little off, and they aren't really moving to seize control of the seats of power - they seem to be focused on the criminal underclass.

Upon digging even deeper, the players learn that the ilithids are, themselves, hooked on drugs - they ate one too many drug-addled brains, and now the Elder Brain itself has an addiction, which is screwing with all of their psionic ailibities. (If the players aren't the right level for mind flayers, you can use this to scale them in either direction - either the drugs make them more or less powerful.)

So, the players hack and chop their way through the mind flayers, but, once again, things are weird - the ilithids have been starting to engage with parties outside of the city. Digging deeper yet again, the players learn that the drugs actually had a mystical component, and that it's been turning those hooked on it towards service of the source.

Depending on what you want to do next, that source could be one of a number of things - it could be a cult, or another city, trying to gain influence over the original city. It could also be a complete mistake - the drugs happened to be made with water that had run off from some eldritch horror's tomb, and the addicts were being unwittingly bent to its service and desires.

[Palanan]

For a long while now I've wanted to run a 24-style campaign, where the PCs are chasing back and forth across a seething metropolis, uncovering plots within plots while the clock ticks relentlessly.

I wouldn't want to model it too closely after 24; no regional HQ with remote access to scrying dragons or whatever. But I really like the idea of giving the players a high-pressure plot and a minute-by-minute timeline for each chapter, so they'll really sweat each decision and work hard to puzzle out the storyline.

It would take an incredible amount of work--you'd need to map out the nested plots in meticulous detail, in time and in space, and no room for random encounters or side quests. And it would need to be calibrated to a certain character level; if it fits in a single day, or perhaps two, the PCs would level maybe once partway through. In that sense it would be more of a hugely expanded module than a conventional campaign.

No time for it now, but I'd love to try it one day.

[Gildedragon]

I love to DM urban campaigns, here's some of the things that I've found useful. Here's some tips:

Have NPC creation tables for quick extras.
Have a look at the Cityscape book as well as some of the setting specific City Guides, they usually have neat ideas for running urban campaigns.

I have particularly enjoyed estate infiltration runs in urban campaigns (getting hired to get an item from someone's house and meet a contact elsewhere in the city). These seem to always end with flaming celestial badgers in the hedges for some reason.

[Krobar]

I started a city campaign a few years ago with a poker tournament. The characters were the final table. We played poker for a bit (in character, with me as the dealer) to determine who won how much of the pot (everybody won some). When the game was over and we had a winner the thieves' guild stole all the prize money. The PCs had to investigate and get their money back, which put them square in the sights of the guild, who started targeting them every chance they got. Thefts, backstabbing random people in alleys while disguised as PCs, you name it the guild was doing it. The guild was devious and bent on making an example of the PCs, as much as the PCs wanted to eradicate the guild, and the streets ran red with blood.

You can add layer after layer to a story line like this. Political and legal ramifications, corruption in public office and/or law enforcement... The sky is the limit.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

I'd start by focusing on the city, rather than just the plot. Spend a little bit of time reading/learning about fantasy or real-life cities; you want the setting to be as distinct as possible.

[ArcturusV]

Well you could always play a sandbox style urban campaign. Put the players into the city. Put them in kind of a crappy situation to start. They get to the city... the guard screws them over, steals anything worth a damn, etc. Gives them a hard time, throw them in the stocks if they give too much trouble, etc. Have them start at basically the bottom rung of society in the city with everyone willing to kick them in the teeth. Make sure the upper levels of the city are filled with the sort of glorious bastards your guys love to hate and would like to kick in the teeth themselves.

Watch them try to crawl up from nearly starving to death on the streets to trying to rule the city.

[Toy Killer]

First things first; Cityscape. If you don't own it, get it. The book is literally all about campaigning in Cities.

City based campaigns, in my opinion, are best done as E6 games. A lot more intrigue and mysteries involved and high level characters, surrounded by low level NPCs, are a poor combination.

Speaking of which, NPCs require more work upfront, but less in the long run. Lots of details, unique personalities, and so forth. In a standard explorer game, a party may run through thirty towns before level 7, and the inn keeper at Tristigal is, largely, insignificant. In a City campaign, The party may run down to the Yuleing Mule every other night. Suddenly, Margues the bar tender stops being an index card, and has a family and story of his own. The general trade off is that you don't need to make new NPCs later on, as they are habitually recycled.

Not living in a vacuum is direly important in City games too. If a player decides to go on a thieving spree, expect stores to shut down, prices to inflate and Investigators knocking on the PCs doors. If the Sorcerer has a fling with a guy she meets in Tallik's Den of Delights, this gentlemen could prove to be an important person in the large run of things.

Which brings me to my next point, TAKE NOTES! When the barbarian breaks a table at the Yuleing Mule, reference it being shabbled back together and Margues insisting he has still has to pay for the man hours he put into nailing it back into one piece. Consequences for players actions will fill the world with verisimilitude that makes up for not getting unique magic items and slaying armies.

In place of important magic items, you can use RP bonuses and goals. Suppose you play Paladins as the righteous hammer of faith, while clerics are more of the admin side (Though, you would probably want this as titles, rather then actual classes due to the ineffectiveness of the paladin class...), what better goal for a young Cleric then to work for the rank of Paladin?

Monsters in Cities usually have a much more... productive... scheme then in the wild. Sure, a dragon will hoard millions of gold pieces and slaughter towns in the wilderness, but in a city? No, he runs a school for sorcerers (and happens to be forming a cult that is brainwashed into believing a Mageocracy is only effective for Natural spell-casters, not these book learned imitators.) in the disguise of a humble gnome. The font of power is different, and killing masses isn't nearly as productive as controlling masses.

Further more, what defines a monster is different as well. A level 2 commoner with a stake knife is a threat to everyone that isn't looking for a fight. In a city, this is a lot of people. From simple mugging and bullying to Serial Killing, weapons alone take a man to a monster pretty easily for the collateral damage they can issue out.

and lastly; Have Fun!

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Oh, if it's not too late, see about giving your players contacts within the city. Have them belong to lower branches of noble houses, have friends caught up in the crime scene, stuff like that; it provides a lot of interesting and little-used plot hooks, that you just don't get in wilderness or dungeon environs.

[DMVerdandi]

Everyone has given you some ideas on the basic framework, so how about some threats to deal with.

1. Were-rat sewer people. They don't spread their zoanthropy as an infectious disease, but as a badge of honor for the scavenger lifestyle. Rogues, barbarians,factotums, and beguilers.

2. Secret cult.
Maybe a child abducting cult where they indoctrinate children into the convent. Interestingly enough, make it not an evil god, but a benevolent and good one. Maybe pelor or something. Have Archivists as the heads, and have the children as clerics. Can't kill the kids, but they try to kill you.
Non-lethal damage is a requirement.

3.Civil War.
Maybe rival gangs getting into it. Something interesting would be bard wars.
West side story types. Only marshals, bards and beguilers.

4. Psionic secret government stuff.
The local government is doing experiments and paying people to take the "wild talent" feat and opening their minds to psionics. At the same time, they are planning an assasination on some of the magical higher ups, and building a psionic army to overtake the polis.

Lurks, Psionic Rogues, Psions/erudites, and psychic warriors.
Even better is making all the psionic enemies from a rival town looking to overtake it and destroy all magical opposition, which is the current hegemon.

[thethird]

@FreakyCheeseMan: The drugs idea is really good I might take it and adapt it for my table, if I do I will post how it works out and give you fair credit :smallsmile:

@Palanan: I like the premise of 24 but I personally haven't watched more than one or two episodes :smallfrown: Still it is a good idea to adapt things from tv shows that might work.

@Guigarci; FreakyCheeseMan; Toy Killer: Will do, it is probably a lot of reading, luckily I have time.

@Krobar: That sounds pretty cool, might use it, perhaps not as the starting point but it might come up.

@ArcturusV: If I know my table, and I know them, they will end ruling the city Chicago Style, and even if that is perfectly fine by me, I would like to plant some plot hooks here and there, and have them meeting the city instead of having them thinking "how do I take over this city"?

@DMVerdani: The West Side story is SO in. The were-men were already in, although they aren't were-rats. They are Were-Lizards, one of the players is really into spiderman and the Lizard needs to be there. It also allows to make some interesting Tucker Kobolds controlling part of the underground city.

Thanks everyone for the replies, and don't worry about time. We aren't going to finish the current campaign in less than a month (and if the actual DM gets something interesting going we might expand it), so I have time to prepare.

[Palanan]

You've had a lot of good suggestions so far, and now I'd like to offer something a little different.

If you're going to run a city-based campaign, at some point you'll need a city. Below are some of my favorite city designs from the Cartographer's Guild, each with its own style and possibilities. May they serve you well for inspiration.


City of Kasai (http://www.cartographersguild.com/finished-maps/17755-city-kasai-hand-drawn-map.html)

Fogdown (http://www.cartographersguild.com/cartographers-choice/3044-fogdown-redstar.html)

J.B. Springs (http://www.cartographersguild.com/finished-maps/17555-j-b-springs.html)

Radigast City (http://www.cartographersguild.com/finished-maps/16958-radigast-city-flaenass-oerth-greyhawk-setting.html)

Schwari, Maloumba (http://www.cartographersguild.com/finished-maps/8853-schwari-maloumba.html)

[thethird]

Oh, maps, shiny.