Gemini Lupus
2013-07-11, 09:02 PM
Warning and apologies: Wall o' Text ahead.
So I've begun the (ambitious) process of writing an epic campaign, complete with several prologue one-shot/short campaigns. The format I'm using divides the campaign into "seasons" and "episodes," a la Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel. In between episodes, there will be some downtime, allowing the players to pursue other goals, commission/create magic items, train, etc.
It will be an epic, save-the-world type campaign, wherein the arch-plot will fold out and be slightly railroady. My players know this and are ok with it but know that I'm flexible, so please leave that aspect out of the discussion. :smallwink:
Background: The world has been (mostly) at peace for nearly a century. The High Seer has prophesied that an era of darkness is nigh and omens are appearing that show it to be true. One of the Lords of Darkness is making his return to the world to cover it in his shadow and rule with an iron fist.
The Prologue games will cover various aspects of the world and how the darkness is creeping into the world, to sort of set the stage. For this bit, I'm wanting some help coming up with some possible one-shots to help set the stage.
Here's what I've got so far:
Elven "campaign," where the players are all elves who are fending off incursions into their homeland;
Dwarven "campaign," where the players are dwarves and investigating the disappearance of a group of miners who dug too deep, releasing a Balrog expy;
Urban "campaign," which will probably play most directly to the players, where the leader of the city where a good part of the game will take place is deposed and replaced by an agent of the Dark Lord;
Political "campaign," where the old king of the main nation dies without an heir and a despotic regent takes the throne (possibly resolved in campaign proper?);
Evil campaign, where the players create villainous characters who serve the Dark Lord and may serve as antagonists in the campaign proper and will be the one-shot directly prior to the campaign.
The Campaign Proper, which I am naming "Legacy of the Immortals," will follow a group of adventurers who meet up and band together (like many a campaign) to face numerous challenges and adversaries and go on adventures. They will each bear a "birthmark" known as the "Mark of Altana" (which I am still trying to figure out the significance of *hint hint* :smalltongue:), and a minor, scaling artifact, which shall be created at a later date. They will become involved with the arch-plot, save the world from the BBEG, etc.
So the help I'm asking for here, is what sort of adventures could they go on? I'm looking for both side-quest/"filler" episodes and main plot episodes.
Once again, here's what I have so far:
Note: There will be a mini-session with each individual player where we will actually role-play their backstory and them becoming adventurers, with the first session together being where they come together. How might this be done?
Adventure Brainstorms:
Season 1: 1-6
The party is hired by a mysterious man to retrieve a "spellbook" (which will actually be a powerful, evil artifact that will come back to bite them in the buttocks :smallbiggrin:
The party become heroes of the city by fending off brigands.
The party deposes the agent of the Dark Lord from the Urban Campaign.
Season 2: 6-11
The party is invited to a Faire/Tournament. This will mostly be a filler episode to just have some fun while they are still low enough level to adequately participate without them being a shoe-in for winning or more work for me to make things a challenge. :smallwink:
The party fights a local giant who has set up shop near a small castle a few days journey from the city, which will become their new base of operations.
The party finds a foe that they cannot defeat, so a mentor figure tells them of a jewel that may allow them to transcend their current limitations (i.e. go beyond level 6).
I want the BBEG of this season to lead to the main plot train for the next season, which will involve them doing a bit more world travelling.
Season 3: 11-17
Here's where things get hazy for me. This is the season where I want things to get serious. I want the players to sort of "follow the breadcrumbs," until they come to the next BBEG(s), who I think will be their former characters. Along the way, I want to wrap up most of their personal sidequests (which I know y'all can't help with just yet :smalltongue:), as well as have some time to find some more sidequests if they want (which you can!)
In the episode before they face down their foes, I want there to be a serious blow to the forces of good, where basically the entire high command is annihilated and it's left to the heroes to save the day.
Season 4: 17-19
This is going to be the next to last season I think, where things get a little bit more mundane, though they are at higher levels. I'm thinking that I will (if it's alright with the players) have them take on more authoritative roles, i.e. make one of them the new king.
I'm also thinking of having them rebuild the army in a Dragon Age-esque fashion, going around the land, rallying the people. Basically this season will feature more or less the war and the new BBEG, who will serve as the Harbinger of the Dark Lord. Possibly have one of their allies turn against them.
Season 5: 19+
The final season, where the Dark Lord returns to full power (think if Sauron had gotten the Ring) and the party must gather artifacts that will both weaken him and strengthen them, so they can defeat him and end his threat for good.
As you can see, as the campaign progresses, I have fewer and fewer ideas for adventures/episodes. And so, my fellow Playgrounders, do y'all have any ideas of how this can be remedied? What do you think of the concept? Any of it really. Any feedback will be awesome, if you have adventure ideas, please specify which season you think it would go best in.
And if there is enough interest, I will keep you updated as I fill in the campaign and recruit the players.
Thank you so much in advance for your help!
Edit: This will most likely be for Pathfinder, if that makes any difference in assumptions, though it will be in my own world, which I am also still developing.
So I've begun the (ambitious) process of writing an epic campaign, complete with several prologue one-shot/short campaigns. The format I'm using divides the campaign into "seasons" and "episodes," a la Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel. In between episodes, there will be some downtime, allowing the players to pursue other goals, commission/create magic items, train, etc.
It will be an epic, save-the-world type campaign, wherein the arch-plot will fold out and be slightly railroady. My players know this and are ok with it but know that I'm flexible, so please leave that aspect out of the discussion. :smallwink:
Background: The world has been (mostly) at peace for nearly a century. The High Seer has prophesied that an era of darkness is nigh and omens are appearing that show it to be true. One of the Lords of Darkness is making his return to the world to cover it in his shadow and rule with an iron fist.
The Prologue games will cover various aspects of the world and how the darkness is creeping into the world, to sort of set the stage. For this bit, I'm wanting some help coming up with some possible one-shots to help set the stage.
Here's what I've got so far:
Elven "campaign," where the players are all elves who are fending off incursions into their homeland;
Dwarven "campaign," where the players are dwarves and investigating the disappearance of a group of miners who dug too deep, releasing a Balrog expy;
Urban "campaign," which will probably play most directly to the players, where the leader of the city where a good part of the game will take place is deposed and replaced by an agent of the Dark Lord;
Political "campaign," where the old king of the main nation dies without an heir and a despotic regent takes the throne (possibly resolved in campaign proper?);
Evil campaign, where the players create villainous characters who serve the Dark Lord and may serve as antagonists in the campaign proper and will be the one-shot directly prior to the campaign.
The Campaign Proper, which I am naming "Legacy of the Immortals," will follow a group of adventurers who meet up and band together (like many a campaign) to face numerous challenges and adversaries and go on adventures. They will each bear a "birthmark" known as the "Mark of Altana" (which I am still trying to figure out the significance of *hint hint* :smalltongue:), and a minor, scaling artifact, which shall be created at a later date. They will become involved with the arch-plot, save the world from the BBEG, etc.
So the help I'm asking for here, is what sort of adventures could they go on? I'm looking for both side-quest/"filler" episodes and main plot episodes.
Once again, here's what I have so far:
Note: There will be a mini-session with each individual player where we will actually role-play their backstory and them becoming adventurers, with the first session together being where they come together. How might this be done?
Adventure Brainstorms:
Season 1: 1-6
The party is hired by a mysterious man to retrieve a "spellbook" (which will actually be a powerful, evil artifact that will come back to bite them in the buttocks :smallbiggrin:
The party become heroes of the city by fending off brigands.
The party deposes the agent of the Dark Lord from the Urban Campaign.
Season 2: 6-11
The party is invited to a Faire/Tournament. This will mostly be a filler episode to just have some fun while they are still low enough level to adequately participate without them being a shoe-in for winning or more work for me to make things a challenge. :smallwink:
The party fights a local giant who has set up shop near a small castle a few days journey from the city, which will become their new base of operations.
The party finds a foe that they cannot defeat, so a mentor figure tells them of a jewel that may allow them to transcend their current limitations (i.e. go beyond level 6).
I want the BBEG of this season to lead to the main plot train for the next season, which will involve them doing a bit more world travelling.
Season 3: 11-17
Here's where things get hazy for me. This is the season where I want things to get serious. I want the players to sort of "follow the breadcrumbs," until they come to the next BBEG(s), who I think will be their former characters. Along the way, I want to wrap up most of their personal sidequests (which I know y'all can't help with just yet :smalltongue:), as well as have some time to find some more sidequests if they want (which you can!)
In the episode before they face down their foes, I want there to be a serious blow to the forces of good, where basically the entire high command is annihilated and it's left to the heroes to save the day.
Season 4: 17-19
This is going to be the next to last season I think, where things get a little bit more mundane, though they are at higher levels. I'm thinking that I will (if it's alright with the players) have them take on more authoritative roles, i.e. make one of them the new king.
I'm also thinking of having them rebuild the army in a Dragon Age-esque fashion, going around the land, rallying the people. Basically this season will feature more or less the war and the new BBEG, who will serve as the Harbinger of the Dark Lord. Possibly have one of their allies turn against them.
Season 5: 19+
The final season, where the Dark Lord returns to full power (think if Sauron had gotten the Ring) and the party must gather artifacts that will both weaken him and strengthen them, so they can defeat him and end his threat for good.
As you can see, as the campaign progresses, I have fewer and fewer ideas for adventures/episodes. And so, my fellow Playgrounders, do y'all have any ideas of how this can be remedied? What do you think of the concept? Any of it really. Any feedback will be awesome, if you have adventure ideas, please specify which season you think it would go best in.
And if there is enough interest, I will keep you updated as I fill in the campaign and recruit the players.
Thank you so much in advance for your help!
Edit: This will most likely be for Pathfinder, if that makes any difference in assumptions, though it will be in my own world, which I am also still developing.