Vote Up a Campaign!

[Babale]

NOTE: Please vote in BOLD and in the same COLOR as the question you are answering!

There have been many threads where the community voted up a campaign setting, a monster, or a pantheon. But I haven't seen a thread like this -- a thread where we come together to vote up a campaign, in the sense of a series of plot-linked adventures that take the party from low levels to high. So, let's vote one up!


The first thing we need to do is decide on the broad strokes. What setting do we want to use? While there are tons and tons of settings out there, I'd like to limit us to three (unless you've got a different setting you want to push for, in which case go right ahead and try to get enough votes for it!)

SETTING:

Planescape
Eberron
Faerun

Until we decide on a setting getting specific with the bad guys will be difficult. What we can do, though, is come up with a general theme. The theme is a sort of unifying idea that links up the BBEG, the BBEG's minions, and even allies or other third parties that might be encountered. Some suggestions include The Ravenous Hordes of the Undead, Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space, or Demons and Devils. Unlike Setting, I'll leave this one open to all ideas! So, vote for a Theme as well.

Once these big ideas are solidified we can figure out some specifics, so feel free to toss out specific suggestions (such as an evil red dracolich) but try to keep discussion around what we're actually voting on.


The vote so far:

Settled on Planescape!

Settled on Pacing: Multiple, seemingly unrelated adventures early on that will all come together by the end!

Final vote for Theme:

*With various groups trying to summon Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space, the PCs must deal with the Faction Politics of Sigil in order to get anything done.

*One or more of the Factions has gotten involved with Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space. The problem is, the PCs don't know which faction is behind the vile plot! They must navigate the muddled world of Faction Politics before it's too late!

*Other?

[daremetoidareyo]

Cabal of dopplegangers from the plane of limbo set out to take over all the kingdoms in a world via the long con, just to get rid of all government by disappearing all at once.

planescape.

[EisenKreutzer]

I'd like to cast my vote for Planescape, as it's a setting I've always loved.

As for theme, my suggestion is Faction Politics, a theme that has always walked hand in hand with Planescape.​

[Amphetryon]

Eberron

Ravenous Hordes of the Undead

[Gray Mage]

Eberron and War against Lord of Blades for me. :smallcool:

[madtinker]

My favorite theme is The Effects of technological Advancement on Society. Simply put, someone has developed something (magical, technological, whatever) that significantly changes the status quo, either in warfare, politics, economics, etc. How does that one change affect everything else?

[Babale]

Vote count:
Planescape -- 2
Faerun -- 2

(Faction) Politics -- 1
Dopplegangers -- 1
Undead -- 1
Constructs (Lord of Blades) -- 1
Tech and Society -- 1

Keep it coming guys! And there are definitely ways to combine ideas -- dopplegangers + politics; warforced + tech changes. Love it!

[Amphetryon]

Vote count:
Planescape -- 2
Faerun -- 2

(Faction) Politics -- 1
Dopplegangers -- 1
Undead -- 1
Constructs (Lord of Blades) -- 1
Tech and Society -- 1

Keep it coming guys! And there are definitely ways to combine ideas -- dopplegangers + politics; warforced + tech changes. Love it!

Is there a reason only 1/2 of my vote seems to count?

[D4rkh0rus]

If Campaign settings were up for vote, I would nominate Rokugan With the Theme being
"Turning the rest of the world into shadowlands"


now, If I had to Choose... Faerun with the Theme being "Cult that wishes to eliminate/eradicate all magical creatures"

[EisenKreutzer]

Vote count:
Planescape -- 2
Faerun -- 2

(Faction) Politics -- 1
Dopplegangers -- 1
Undead -- 1
Constructs (Lord of Blades) -- 1
Tech and Society -- 1

Keep it coming guys! And there are definitely ways to combine ideas -- dopplegangers + politics; warforced + tech changes. Love it!

Faerun has 0 votes, looks like it should say Eberron.

[Babale]

Sorry, my bad; no one actually voted for Faerun; I just put that instead of Eberron. Whoops!


Planescape -- 2
Eberron -- 2
Faerun -- 1

(Faction) Politics -- 1
Dopplegangers -- 1
Undead -- 1
Constructs (Lord of Blades) -- 1
Tech and Society -- 1
Cult of Wiping Out Monsters -- 1

[Oryan77]

I vote for Planescape.

The theme I would like to see would be Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space.

[Gray Mage]

I think it'd be better if you kept the votin updated in the op. Also, use a table to make it look good. :smallsmile:



Setting
Number of Votes


Eberron
2


Faerun
1


Planescape
3





Theme
Number of Votes


(Faction) Politics
1


Dopplegangers
1


Undead
1



Constructs (Lord of Blades)
1


Tech and Society
1



Cult of Wiping Out Monsters
1


Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space
1

[Amphetryon]

That color green + the default background color on that table = my eyeballs are now bleeding.

[Gray Mage]

That color green + the default background color on that table = my eyeballs are now bleeding.

Changed it to regular black, but it isn't the default color anymore. I just personally like it due to being used to it. Sorry. :smallredface:

[Babale]

Ooh, fancy! Will add to first post and subsequent posts.

[Gabrosin]

That color green + the default background color on that table = my eyeballs are now bleeding.

I'm voting up this.

[Babale]

So it looks like Planescape has a slight lead, and we've got a number of good suggestions for theme! Since we haven't had any theme repeats, let's close the nomination process. Here are the options for themes:

(Faction) Politics
Dopplegangers
Undead
Constructs (Lord of Blades)
Tech and Society
Cult of Wiping Out Monsters
Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space

[Babale]

Since we've gone quite some time without a vote, let's move on to the next step! So, we've decided on Planescape. Because the votes for theme are all tied up, let's decide on one of the three themes that were suggested specifically for Planescape. Cast your vote for:

Edlritch Abominations from Beyond Space
Dopplegangers
Faction Politics


And the next step! We need to decide on the pacing of our adventure. Vote for one of the following options:

*Plot starts at level 1 and carries on all the way to 20
*Plot doesn't start until level 8 or so
*First adventure is plot relevant, but this isn't obvious until later
*Plot starts at level 1; at mid levels the PCs think they won, but a few levels later trouble starts again
*Plot seems unrelated with different adventures early on but all are tied together at the end

[copycatcat]

Faction Politics
*Plot seems unrelated with different adventures early on but all are tied together at the end

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Edlritch Abominations from Beyond Space

*Plot seems unrelated with different adventures early on but all are tied together at the end

Regarding the theme, here's something I've tried to run in the past but RL issues interrupted it before it got off the ground:
Assuming those eldritch abominations are Mind Flayers, consider the following plot points:

There's a cult that does the Illithids' bidding and attempts to recruit people to become Mind Flayers.
There are references to being among the 'first to be devoured' as a great honor.
There's an ancient prophecy of an old god awakening with an insatiable hunger and devouring all life.
Research reveals that the Illithids are a race created to cast themselves into the old god's maw, after consuming a sufficiently huge quantity of them he will fall back into a ten-thousand-year slumber.
They may also discover rumors that that the prophecy is a ruse and the Illithids seek to awaken the old god to conquer the galaxy.
The PCs can decide aid the cult and the Illithids, or to work against them, depending on what they believe.

The kicker is, whichever side they aid will turn out to be the wrong one, and they'll have to fight the old god to save the universe! If they helped the cultists and the Illithids, it will turn out that they were trying to awaken the old god all along, and those converted are sacrifices required to awaken and strengthen him! If they work against the Illithids, the old god will awaken per the prophecy and the number of Illithids won't be sufficient to satisfy his hunger, and the PCs will have to fight it anyway!

In either case, the old god will be in a weakened state when they fight him. If the Illithids awakened him, the PCs should be able to disrupt the ceremony enough that the old god isn't able to consume enough of them to regain his strength immediately. If he awakens according to the prophecy, gorging on the Illithids will leave him disoriented and unable to use his full array of abilities.

[EisenKreutzer]

Having already voted for setting and theme, my vote for plot goes to:

*Plot seems unrelated with different adventures early on but all are tied together at the end

[PraxisVetli]

Edlritch Abominations from Beyond Space

*Plot seems unrelated with different adventures early on but all are tied together at the end

Regarding the theme, here's something I've tried to run in the past but RL issues interrupted it before it got off the ground:
Assuming those eldritch abominations are Mind Flayers, consider the following plot points:

There's a cult that does the Illithids' bidding and attempts to recruit people to become Mind Flayers.
There are references to being among the 'first to be devoured' as a great honor.
There's an ancient prophecy of an old god awakening with an insatiable hunger and devouring all life.
Research reveals that the Illithids are a race created to cast themselves into the old god's maw, after consuming a sufficiently huge quantity of them he will fall back into a ten-thousand-year slumber.
They may also discover rumors that that the prophecy is a ruse and the Illithids seek to awaken the old god to conquer the galaxy.
The PCs can decide aid the cult and the Illithids, or to work against them, depending on what they believe.

The kicker is, whichever side they aid will turn out to be the wrong one, and they'll have to fight the old god to save the universe! If they helped the cultists and the Illithids, it will turn out that they were trying to awaken the old god all along, and those converted are sacrifices required to awaken and strengthen him! If they work against the Illithids, the old god will awaken per the prophecy and the number of Illithids won't be sufficient to satisfy his hunger, and the PCs will have to fight it anyway!

In either case, the old god will be in a weakened state when they fight him. If the Illithids awakened him, the PCs should be able to disrupt the ceremony enough that the old god isn't able to consume enough of them to regain his strength immediately. If he awakens according to the prophecy, gorging on the Illithids will leave him disoriented and unable to use his full array of abilities.

Probably should've labeled that spoiler 'campaign gold.'

[Magma Armor0]

Faction Politics
*Plot seems unrelated with different adventures early on but all are tied together at the end
I'm gonna copy copycatcat on this one.
Also, since this one doesn't have a suggested starting level, I'm gonna vote for 3. Because 3...is a magic number.

[madtinker]

Faction Politics
*Plot seems unrelated with different adventures early on but all are tied together at the end

I'll third this suggestion, and my preference would be to start at first level.

[Babale]

So it seems that Pacing is pretty much unanimous: Plot seems unrelated with different adventures early on but all are tied together at the end. So it is decided! As for Theme, we have a split before Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space and Faction Politics. Since the vote is so close, and since we're in Planescape anyways, let's compromise! So, let's pick a final theme that combines the two:

With various groups trying to summon Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space, the PCs must deal with the Faction Politics of Sigil in order to get anything done.

One or more of the Factions has gotten involved with Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space. The problem is, the PCs don't know which faction is behind the vile plot! They must navigate the muddled world of Faction Politics before it's too late!

Other?

[EisenKreutzer]

I'm gonna go for With various groups trying to summon Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space, the PCs must deal with the Faction Politics of Sigil in order to get anything done., because it casts the Faction more as obstacles than villains, which means the focus will be more about exploring them rather than defeating them. I think that fits better with the themes of Sigil and Planescape.

[Babale]

Not that I don't agree, but to play devil's advocate -- only one of the factions would actually be a bad guy, and they'd be pretending to be good guys. In fact most of the faction could be innocent -- lots of potential for intrigue!

[SamsDisciple]

I think I will vote for With various groups trying to summon Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space, the PCs must deal with the Faction Politics of Sigil in order to get anything done. mainly because I am thinking like a barbarian and I would love to smash in the faces of the bureaucracy especially if they are innocent yet apathetic. Bureaucracy... the ultimate evil...hate the DMV...

[Brookshw]

Sorry on advance for lack of colors, phone feels like being non cooperate.

That said, why not all three? Cabal of dopplegangers is infiltrating the factions and using their reasources to unleash elder abominations.

[Babale]

Why, because no one seemed interested enough to vote for them! But when we vote up villains feel free to suggest a Doppleganger :smallbiggrin:

[Magma Armor0]

I'll go against what seems to be status quo here and vote for One or more of the Factions has gotten involved with Eldritch Abominations from Beyond Space. The problem is, the PCs don't know which faction is behind the vile plot! They must navigate the muddled world of Faction Politics before it's too late!

[Babale]

I'll just bump this to the front page and give you guys one or two more days to vote...