Dystopian Campaign Ideas

[XionUnborn01]

I just started a new campaign set in a dystopian world. There are three players;
Wild Elf Scout 5, Human dex-based fighter 5, human swashbuckler 5.

The idea is that the PCs are starting out employed by a large corporation that has basically a monopoly on all healing abilities. They allow their clients to get spells cast on a loan, but if they miss a payment they company sends out squads (the PCs) to 'repossess' whatever they got. So, if they got HP, they company steals HP using some magic device that I havent put a lot of thought into, and if this kills the person they use the same device to take their soul. Or the clients have the option to make a large payment to stop repossession.
If you've seen Repo:The genetic Opera it's basically like that.

Also, if you play magic the gathering, the company is basically a combination of the Orzhov guild and the Azorius guild.


What I would like from you guys is a few adventure ideas for a campaign like this. It's pretty low op, so please keep that in mind.

tl;dr I need adventures for around ecl 5-10 in a dystopian low-op setting.

[nyarlathotep]

There is a competing company offering construct and warforged grafts as an alternative to healing magic. They even off repair magic at a drastically lower rate than current corporate healing magic. Time to go corporate espionage them.

This could be one adventure or even form a reoccurring antagonist to the PCs. Most of the rival corp's guards should be either grafted up (maug grafts in the fiend folio or warforged grafts from the eberron line, could also include slitheen grafts from lords of madness with a bit of reflavoring) or straight up be constructs (warforged, maugs, and for bosses golems or nimblewights).

[XionUnborn01]

That's why I come here! I would've never thought of that. that would fit in nicely to the campaign, because I plan on having the PCs learning more of the company's plans that they are using the stolen souls and HP to lengthen the lives of a small group of people who are gaining increasing power and wealth and are generally corrupt.

A competing company give the PCs a place to run to if they want to switch sides.

[Gildedragon]

NPCs thet the PCs spend too much time with are getting replaced with grinning facsimiles who claim to be the same person, no one else acknowledges the change. Is it magic, outsiders taking over bodies, or a brainwiping conspiracy

A trip to the magic-license office becomes kafkian

Corruption within the company: healing spells by the company have started to produce mutations (treat as taint score 1 point per 10hp healed or so). Reason may be: sabotage, conduit to ragnorra, use of souls/pain to craft wands etcetera has tainted the magic items with evil.

PCs are accused of (and possibly arrested for) a crime they have not committed: either precrime, profiling, or framed. Penalty is death, or worse than. They must uncover how they are implicated and how to break free

As to stealing HP: inflict spells do that in essence. Use the shadow-sun ninja pos-neg energy attack as a guideline.

Edit: heya nyarly

[XionUnborn01]

I had thought of having the healing having side effects, but I thought of doing it to the children.
Offspring that are born to someone who has partaken in the magic multiple times are mutated in some way, though it works just as well having it effect parents also.

And for how the stealing HP works; it will permanently lower the person's max HP by that amount, giving it back as they pay. That's why say, if the person normally has 30 HP and they had been healed 20 hp and then before they were able to make a payment, needed another 15, then say they missed their payment because clearly life wasn't going well for them. The PCs would then go collect 35 HP from them, putting them to permanently -5 until they pay.

I also made rules for being in a coma, which is what I'm saying it means if your hp are below 0 for at least one day.

Every day you're in a coma, you make a DC 10 Fort save. If you fail, you lose one HP that isn't regained until you make two fort saves in a row. If your hp drops you down to -10 you die.

[rot42]

Someone has figured out how to use temporary buffs to fool the repossession machine - it registers as removing the effect but provides no nourishment to the gerontocracy.

Some of the corporation's less scrupulous casters have been Charming people into accepting their services and the accompanying ruinous loan terms leading to abnormally high default rates.

A customer swears in a Zone of Truth that the loan terms were modified without their consent, but the Arcane Mark on the contract appears to be valid.

Someone has fallen behind on their exorcism payments but the original spirit has moved on and does not want to "repossess" the same target.

This corporation might be willing to take a loss on Create Food and Water (with maybe some Prestidigitation to spice it up a little) for long enough to drive the local farmers and bakers and restaurateurs out of business. This could lead to Sweeney Todd style sourcing and to an enclave of Elans not paying their fair share.


@Guigarci: the usual adjective is "Kafkaesque", but great idea with The Trial.

[nyarlathotep]

Someone is using trolls, hydras, or other regenerating creatures to cheat in their payment "reclamation" the PCs must put a stop to people who want to not have their hearts removed.

@Guigarci: sure is weird to recognize people around here.

[Slipperychicken]

Clever enemies of the company use the predictability of the collection service as a trap. They use an ordinary-seeming debtor (whose debt may later turn out to be a fabrication) to lure the PCs into suitable location, and ambush them there. Maybe they offer the PCs the chance to work as moles against the company, or just try to kill them.

Someone has captured or reverse-engineered one of the devices, and turns it on the PCs! Any captured by it must escape the soul-prison and return to their bodies before it's too late. This gives captured PCs a first-hand experience of what the debtors go through, and it may be a real challenge to get out. If the PCs' bodies are too decayed by the time they get out, they can still contact their boss to replace their bodies, although the cost comes out of their pay, unless they made "repo-team of the month", in which case the boss lets it slide.

Someone working at the company attempts to convince the PCs to let a debtor go. His girlfriend or spouse (or other family member, like a little brother) got hit by a cart, and he requests that the PCs help her escape and then falsify their report so it looks like she escaped. The PCs can turn the worker in and get a bonus from the boss (plus making management very pleased with them), or help the debtor escape (she only has a few silver herself, but provides them a contact working against the company).

[XionUnborn01]

Someone has figured out how to use temporary buffs to fool the repossession machine - it registers as removing the effect but provides no nourishment to the gerontocracy.

That's a great idea, it could easily lead to blame slinging and confusion. You think that something like a low level wizard or cleric using something like a suped up version of like aid and/or virtue to create some sort of fake life thing.



Some of the corporation's less scrupulous casters have been Charming people into accepting their services and the accompanying ruinous loan terms leading to abnormally high default rates.

This is something that I thought of would be a fairly recurring problem, like every once in a while a new guy thinks he's smart and tries it, but I could see this being a mini adventure.


A customer swears in a Zone of Truth that the loan terms were modified without their consent, but the Arcane Mark on the contract appears to be valid.

That's a good idea though I don't know how well this group would deal with interrogation/detective work.


Someone is using trolls, hydras, or other regenerating creatures to cheat in their payment "reclamation" the PCs must put a stop to people who want to not have their hearts removed.

I kinda wish I would've thought of something so simple. I'll probably use a troll making vials of some potion from it's blood that heals people. (I think there's already an item like that right?)


Clever enemies of the company use the predictability of the collection service as a trap. They use an ordinary-seeming debtor (whose debt may later turn out to be a fabrication) to lure the PCs into suitable location, and ambush them there. Maybe they offer the PCs the chance to work as moles against the company, or just try to kill them.

I didn't think of using their clockwork like workings against them, that could be a really good encounter and it would be fun to see what the players would think from there.


Someone has captured or reverse-engineered one of the devices, and turns it on the PCs! Any captured by it must escape the soul-prison and return to their bodies before it's too late. This gives captured PCs a first-hand experience of what the debtors go through, and it may be a real challenge to get out. If the PCs' bodies are too decayed by the time they get out, they can still contact their boss to replace their bodies, although the cost comes out of their pay, unless they made "repo-team of the month", in which case the boss lets it slide.

Ohh, that's a really cool idea. Something like a repo squad went missing so they're going to figure out what happened and BAM, soul sucked.
What do you think it would be like inside the device? That could be a whole big arc.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Maybe if the PCs get in too deep, have the Rival Corporation offer to transfer them to shiny new robotic bodies (AKA reincarnation via DM fiat to Warforged).

...Then have them have to work off their 'debt' to the Rival Corporation and try and take down Healing Inc.