Horrible Campaign Ideas

[The Viscount]

186:
a shonen anime game. where you all play cunning political diplomats with no combat skills whatsoever.


Works pretty well in Legend of Koizumi.

[jaydubs]

194.

It's a gritty, food and water tracking, survival campaign. Humans and mundane classes only. Your characters start at level 1 with very basic equipment assigned to you by the GM.

In the first session, your characters all fall out of the sky in the middle of the ocean. There is no land in sight in any direction. Slowly, or savagely at the hands of ocean predators, your character inevitably die in gruesome and horrible ways. And each time one does, you roll a new character, who immediately drops from the sky in the same spot.

And that's when the campaign becomes clear. It's about finding a way to survive a horrible and meaningless existence, floating on the ever growing mass of rotting corpses that were your previous characters. :smalleek:

[malonkey1]

194.

It's a gritty, food and water tracking, survival campaign. Humans and mundane classes only. Your characters start at level 1 with very basic equipment assigned to you by the GM.

In the first session, your characters all fall out of the sky in the middle of the ocean. There is no land in sight in any direction. Slowly, or savagely at the hands of ocean predators, your character inevitably die in gruesome and horrible ways. And each time one does, you roll a new character, who immediately drops from the sky in the same spot.

And that's when the campaign becomes clear. It's about finding a way to survive a horrible and meaningless existence, floating on the ever growing mass of rotting corpses that were your previous characters. :smalleek:

By the end, they start intentionally dying as quickly as possible so they can craft weapons from the bones of the dead, then tan leather from the skin of the dead, making a few boats, and harvesting seaweed and ocean fish for food, slowly converting the remaining dead into floating sea houses, and eventually becoming so skilled in crafting from human corpses, they manage to create submersibles, learn to centrifuge the blood of corpses to get iron, and eventually found industries, finally advancing to the point where they can just produce clones of the dead from local biomass, and genetically modify gills onto any newcomers, eventually creating a new race of aquatic humans capable of survivng indefinitely underwater. DM is made aware of this plan and must decide whether to let them do it for the lulz or throw the table away in a metagame-induced rage.

[jaydubs]

By the end, they start intentionally dying as quickly as possible so they can craft weapons from the bones of the dead, then tan leather from the skin of the dead, making a few boats, and harvesting seaweed and ocean fish for food, slowly converting the remaining dead into floating sea houses, and eventually becoming so skilled in crafting from human corpses, they manage to create submersibles, learn to centrifuge the blood of corpses to get iron, and eventually found industries, finally advancing to the point where they can just produce clones of the dead from local biomass, and genetically modify gills onto any newcomers, eventually creating a new race of aquatic humans capable of survivng indefinitely underwater. DM is made aware of this plan and must decide whether to let them do it for the lulz or throw the table away in a metagame-induced rage.

The DM goes with it, of course, since there is a flaw in their reasoning. You see, if you build a society based on an infinite supply of human-based building materials, that society will become dependent on it. And to avoid a soul-shattering level of moral turmoil, they will come to justify that harvest, or even think of it as sacred. Why should we go to the trouble of growing our own corpse-material, when the gods provide an infinite supply of soulless heathen for us to process?

So instead of modifying gills onto newcomers, they will continue to utilize that supply to the best of their ability, even once it is no longer necessary. And since the players always reroll as the new people falling out of the sky... they've succeeded in creating a society that will continually kill their characters for all eternity. The campaign transforms from one of simple despair and horror, to one of Sisyphean player torment. All session is spent writing new characters, just to see them dropped into the efficient corpse grinders the new society uses to fuel its brave new world. :smalltongue:

[malonkey1]

The DM goes with it, of course, since there is a flaw in their reasoning. You see, if you build a society based on an infinite supply of human-based building materials, that society will become dependent on it. And to avoid a soul-shattering level of moral turmoil, they will come to justify that harvest, or even think of it as sacred. Why should we go to the trouble of growing our own corpse-material, when the gods provide an infinite supply of soulless heathen for us to process?

So instead of modifying gills onto newcomers, they will continue to utilize that supply to the best of their ability, even once it is no longer necessary. And since the players always reroll as the new people falling out of the sky... they've succeeded in creating a society that will continually kill their characters for all eternity. The campaign transforms from one of simple despair and horror, to one of Sisyphean player torment. All session is spent writing new characters, just to see them dropped into the efficient corpse grinders the new society uses to fuel its brave new world. :smalltongue:

Or one of the players writes a randomized character roller that removes all the hassle. Then the game pretty much plays itself.

[MrBright01]

Or one of the players writes a randomized character roller that removes all the hassle. Then the game pretty much plays itself.

At which point, having seen a player make a random character roller, the DM claims that the fount of mystic energy propelling these random humans into the ocean ceases. A gust of wind, powerful and unceasing, blows them towards land, where they find a barren island filled only with... corn.

The dead, having been used and decayed, are now gone, and as the terrible weather of this small corny island wears away their leather goods, the players are forced to adopt to a new, corn based diet, after a lifetime of meat and seaweed.

Each player rolls save vs colonic explosion, DC 10+Number of kernels, each day until their colon explodes.



195 DM watches cult classic movie and makes a game out of it. Each player is assigned a role. Every time they flub a line, they take 1 damage. Last character standing moves on to next week's movie.

[malonkey1]

195 DM watches cult classic movie and makes a game out of it. Each player is assigned a role. Every time they flub a line, they take 1 damage. Last character standing moves on to next week's movie.

195b. Simultaneously, another party plays the part of Joel Hodgson/Mike Nelson and the 'Bots, mocking the campaign as it happens while attempting to escape the Demiplane of Love before the campaign drives them mad.

[KadTalon]

196. Normal 3.5 game, with all the classes, books and everything allowed. The catch is the chracters are bound by normal human limitations and the laws of physics are strictly applied. Ps. Although you can be a wizard/sorceror/etc..., you can't cast any spells because magic isn't real.

[137beth]

196. Normal 3.5 game, with all the classes, books and everything allowed. The catch is the chracters are bound by normal human limitations and the laws of physics are strictly applied. Ps. Although you can be a wizard/sorceror/etc..., you can't cast any spells because magic isn't real.

197. As (196), but the DMPC is not bound by realism.

[malonkey1]

198. The game is played in anachronic order, starting at the BBEG's death, and working its way back, the characters losing levels all the while. Players lose less XP per flashback when they act in ways that minimize plot holes.

[KadTalon]

198. The game is played in anachronic order, starting at the BBEG's death, and working its way back, the characters losing levels all the while. Players lose less XP per flashback when they act in ways that minimize plot holes.

Actually, that's a very interesting idea if applied properly... maybe I'll give it a shot sometime.

[Threadnaught]

199: Who can be the Biggest Jerk. All players and the DM compete against each other to see who can ruin everyone else's fun the most.

[malonkey1]

200. DM runs a "clip show" session composed entirely of "misremembered" versions of encounters you've already done, interspersed with snarky dialogue.

[With a box]

70. BoEF, every PC is <12 years old.
71. BoEF played with teenagers
72. BoEF LARP
73. BoEF.

201. BoVD+BoEF, every PC is <12 years old , LARP, DM is someone that in supervision position to those players

I just got nauseated.
I'm sure that it is the most horrible campaign ideas.

[malonkey1]

202. Each player is required to play the most "Mary Sue" character possible. Optimization is not necessary, and is in fact discouraged, as when a player fails a roll, they are required to angst as much as possible. The most Sue-ish character in a session gets bonus XP and a full bottle of Brain Bleach to remove the very idea of #201 from their mind.

[Graypairofsocks]

Some of these ideas are actually pretty good(albeit weird).

[searlefm]

203:
everyone is a straight fighter from the players hand book only.
all NPC's and monsters are taken from the optimization section of this forum

[Vhaidara]

204. All players are members of the Fighterson family, from the backstory of Gen13 Sib1 Fighterson (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=959591) (Presented Below). They still live in Undrmountain. They aren't told the truth about their character sheets or backstories.

Sib1 was born in the Undermountain, as part of an experiment by the mad wizard Halaster Blackcloak. 13 generations ago, Halaster brought the two worst examples of humanity to the Undermountain to produce the most inferior human possible. As part of his twisted joke, he also convinced all of the men who were born into the little community that they were great warriors by having them fight illusionary monsters. All women were turned into little more than breeding engines. Further, he introduced the god Ilmater as the ultimate god of war and violence. Thus, through generations of incestuous, sexist relationships and brainwashing, we arrived at Gen13 Sib1. By the time he way fully grown, he had defeated twenty great black dragons in a single swipe of his mighty katena. He had survived being stepped on by ogres, only to throw them to their deaths against each other. He had fought every form of creature imaginable, through Halaster's illusions. His intellect was baffling to his family, his beauty unparalleled, his foresight astounding.
Realizing that the experiment had succeeded, Halaster teleported the young Gen13 Sib1 out of the Undermountain, and began to properly sculpt Gen13 Sib2, younger than Sib1 by about a week. And thus, Gen13 Sib1 Fighterson entered the world, and began to adventure.

[nedz]

Some of these ideas are actually pretty good(albeit weird).

That's because different people have different ideas about what Horrible is.

[iceman10058]

one of the pc's is really the bbeg, a polymorphed great worm red dragon, but forgot that he wants to kill them and that he is a dragon.every time said character is near fire, there is a 1% chance he remembers who he is.

[malonkey1]

206. Each of the PCs is a Manchurian Agent (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ManchurianAgent) (warning: TVTropes link!) of the BBEG, who is very forgetful and keeps forgetting who his agents are, hence the entire party being Manchurian Agents. At the last moment, their programming kicks in, causing them to each sabotage each other's sabotages, assuming their sabotages are directed at the villain, and in the end, the BBEG is just so confused he surrenders.

[The Glyphstone]

207. Similar to 206, Each of the PCs are Manchurian Agents for a different BBEG. Some of the BBEGs are allies, some are enemies, some are neutral.

[nedz]

208. The DM is a Manchurian Agent of a Killer DM. This triggers whenever someone rolls a 7, duration 1 round.

[malonkey1]

209. Each player rolls 1d12 (2d6, if you prefer). This is the maximum level for that player, using modified E6 rules.

[Inevitability]

210: At 1st level, the players are hired to clear out a goblin warren. The contract specifies that they have to kill 30 goblins. However, when they get there, they only find 29 goblins.

The PC's then have to travel the world, looking for a goblin to kill. Every time they see one, it is immediately decapitated by an invisible ninja.

The PC's can't quit the job, as their employers are Epic-level wizards. Eventually, they are forced to keep looking for goblins all their live.

[nedz]

211: Every player rolls 1d20, this is their starting level.

[Yael]

211: Every player rolls 1d20, this is their starting level.

woah, hold yer horses dude O:

212: The world was taken over by Tibbits, there you go with Egypt2.

[searlefm]

212: The world was taken over by Tibbits, there you go with Egypt2.


212B: The world was taken over by Tribbles.

[Jagernaut]

213: First you need a party of Clerics. Everyone knows that Clerics rock. Why? Because healing, that's why. Every time a player casts a non-healing spell, they take 1 damage. Also, if someone in your party isn't at full hp and a player attacks or casts a non-healing spell, roll a d%. You take damage equal to your total hp times the percentage. A roll of 100% means instant death.

(I may be annoyed at healbot Clerics....)

[KadTalon]

Since we're talking about clerics... (this actually happened with me)

214. Wait until the party had a vicious battle with a mob of monster and everyone is at 15% HP (or below). Then right after the fight arbitrarily take away all the healing powers of the cleric because "You can only heal when I say so..."

[Jergmo]

215. The campaign runs the same frequency of PC-shattering monsters as Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, with the optimization limitations of Neverwinter Nights.

[Prince Raven]

216. No equipment, Monks only, Final Destination.

[Ingus]

217. D&D 3.5, every trick is viable. All PCs are level 1 Paladin Kobolds.

218. Any system, modern. PCs must win an argument on the internet

219. Any system. Players have their characters, but they loosely do whatever they're told to, attending to other needs like eating, drinking, partying, sleepling at any given moment at random (à la Dwarf Fortress)

220. PCs all are classic Monty Phyton characters. (yeah, you got me guys)

[Spore]

221. Every creature is a tiny or diminuitive animal with the paragon template and 18 levels in a class. Your goal is to try and center the campaign's world around awakened animals instead of humanoids.

[dysprosium]

218. Any system, modern. PCs must win an argument on the internet

Good luck with that one!


219. Any system. Players have their characters, but they loosely do whatever they're told to, attending to other needs like eating, drinking, partying, sleepling at any given moment at random (à la Dwarf Fortress)

Doesn't Rolemaster have this mechanic too?