gadren
2015-06-23, 01:57 PM
Here is a description of the campaign I'm currently running, that I'd like some input on
"Imagine you're a party of adventurers in a tavern. You overhear stories of this cave that was once the lair of some great dragon that was slain, leaving its treasure unguarded. Yet, everyone that has gone in to claim the treasure has never been heard from again. What do you do? Go into the cave of course, you're freakin' adventurers!
Somewhere in the cave, your party got lost, and now you're on another plane (more specifically, a demiplane called "Delve") created by Deehem, a god of labyrinths, puzzles, monsters, and treasure. It was - surprise - a trap. The entire plane is a continually expanding labyrinth, constantly creating new pathways and room and creating new traps, puzzles, and a variety of strange monsters that guard mounds and mounds of treasure
But, you're not the first party of adventurers to arrive here. Oh no, not by a long shot. Thousands of adventurers - from Toril, Oerth, Krynn, Eberron, and other places - have been lured here, and the first started arriving nearly a century before your arrival. The adventurers that preceded you have managed to found a city in one of the more stable parts of Delve, a city made up entirely of adventurers, ex-adventurers, and the children and grandchildren of adventurers. 95% of the population of the city of TavernKeep have a couple PC levels. The city's economy is highly dependent on loot brought in, though some items (such as items that create food and water) are worth much more here than back home, while others less so.
Traps, puzzles, and monsters can appear anywhere, even in TavernKeep, and the populace has become somewhat blasé about dealing with them. When they first appear they are pretty weak and easy to deal with. For every day a trap/puzzle/monster is not encountered, it grows stronger. So a trap one stumbles upon on a main road in TavernKeep would likely be a small annoyance, and luckily a puzzle that suddenly locks your bathroom door will be fairly simple. But if that puzzle and trap appeared in an abandoned house or an undiscovered cavern, they'd steadily grow to become very formidable indeed."
The campaign is very meta. The adventurers aren't aware of what D&D is or what its rules are, but the demigod that created this place is basically your stereotypical bad DM. When exploring Delve, a party may suddenly hear a strange disembodied voice describing the pungent stench of mildew emanating from the dungeon walls. Monsters with nonsensical combinations of templates are abundant. When an encounter is defeated too easily, the disembodied voice will say something like "uh, and then there's uhm... a dragon! With three heads!" And it will happen. More than one group of adventurers in Delve have perished because they insulted the disembodied voice and suddenly rocks fell on top of them, killing everyone
I'm trying to create a mix of comedy and horror for this game. Sure, it sounds all silly, until you look at it from the perspective of the adventurers that can't escape this place. The place has driven many to madness.
I'd appreciate input from you guys on how to reflect both the comedy and the horror of the situation. One source of inspiration for this game will be Portal, which has a similar situation (albeit on a smaller scale and is obviously more scifi than fantasy) and similarly mixes humor and horror.
I'd also like ideas for factions and districts to add to the city of Tavernkeep. Here are things that I've already decided:
-Tavernkeep is built within (but does not completely fill) a 700 square mile section of Delve that is more stable than the rest. Random traps and encounters still appear in this area, but its geography doesn't change, and Deehem is rarely heard there.
-The population has been abducted as follows: 50% come from published D&D settings (Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, Mystara, Eberron, Dragonlance, Points of Light, etc), 35% come from low-magic/no-magic medieval settings, 10% come from swashbuckling (1700's) settings, 5% come from steampunk settings, 5% come from "modern" settings (D20 modern, Spycraft, Mad Max), and 5% come from space-age settings (Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly).
-Since adventurers show up only with what they were carrying, most high-tech gear is not sustainable due to a lack of suitable power sources. Laser guns and such are basically treated like magic items in many ways.
-The powerful spellcasters in Delve are disproportionately evil. They control some of the major power groups in Tavernkeep like magical mafia godfathers. They take an interest in any new casters that show up in Delve, and pressure them to join their group. Many good spellcasters get taken out for their perceived threat to the powers that be. All magical commerce is regulated by these groups, who want their cut of profits and don't tolerate too much free spellcasting, even of minor spells like create food and water.
-It varies how much power groups from the worlds outside of Delve maintain their loyalty and cohesiveness in Delve. Groups whose main purpose is "protect/reclaim/conquer country x" don't have much purpose in Delve. Other groups still have their purpose, but limited membership, so have combined with similar organizations to form a "new" group. For example, the Knights of the Chalice, the Knights of the Raven, and the Knights of the Silver Flame have formed into one group in Delve called the Knights Viritualis.
-There is a "Church of Deehem" - that is really more of a cult - which seeks to appease the creator of Delve.
-At the center of Tavernkeep is an area called Sanctuary, preserved by a powerful mage that believes in neutrality. In Sanctuary, magic, electronic, and high explosives don't work at all.
-Tavernkeep has a disproportionate amount of taverns. Like, it's worse than Starbucks.
"Imagine you're a party of adventurers in a tavern. You overhear stories of this cave that was once the lair of some great dragon that was slain, leaving its treasure unguarded. Yet, everyone that has gone in to claim the treasure has never been heard from again. What do you do? Go into the cave of course, you're freakin' adventurers!
Somewhere in the cave, your party got lost, and now you're on another plane (more specifically, a demiplane called "Delve") created by Deehem, a god of labyrinths, puzzles, monsters, and treasure. It was - surprise - a trap. The entire plane is a continually expanding labyrinth, constantly creating new pathways and room and creating new traps, puzzles, and a variety of strange monsters that guard mounds and mounds of treasure
But, you're not the first party of adventurers to arrive here. Oh no, not by a long shot. Thousands of adventurers - from Toril, Oerth, Krynn, Eberron, and other places - have been lured here, and the first started arriving nearly a century before your arrival. The adventurers that preceded you have managed to found a city in one of the more stable parts of Delve, a city made up entirely of adventurers, ex-adventurers, and the children and grandchildren of adventurers. 95% of the population of the city of TavernKeep have a couple PC levels. The city's economy is highly dependent on loot brought in, though some items (such as items that create food and water) are worth much more here than back home, while others less so.
Traps, puzzles, and monsters can appear anywhere, even in TavernKeep, and the populace has become somewhat blasé about dealing with them. When they first appear they are pretty weak and easy to deal with. For every day a trap/puzzle/monster is not encountered, it grows stronger. So a trap one stumbles upon on a main road in TavernKeep would likely be a small annoyance, and luckily a puzzle that suddenly locks your bathroom door will be fairly simple. But if that puzzle and trap appeared in an abandoned house or an undiscovered cavern, they'd steadily grow to become very formidable indeed."
The campaign is very meta. The adventurers aren't aware of what D&D is or what its rules are, but the demigod that created this place is basically your stereotypical bad DM. When exploring Delve, a party may suddenly hear a strange disembodied voice describing the pungent stench of mildew emanating from the dungeon walls. Monsters with nonsensical combinations of templates are abundant. When an encounter is defeated too easily, the disembodied voice will say something like "uh, and then there's uhm... a dragon! With three heads!" And it will happen. More than one group of adventurers in Delve have perished because they insulted the disembodied voice and suddenly rocks fell on top of them, killing everyone
I'm trying to create a mix of comedy and horror for this game. Sure, it sounds all silly, until you look at it from the perspective of the adventurers that can't escape this place. The place has driven many to madness.
I'd appreciate input from you guys on how to reflect both the comedy and the horror of the situation. One source of inspiration for this game will be Portal, which has a similar situation (albeit on a smaller scale and is obviously more scifi than fantasy) and similarly mixes humor and horror.
I'd also like ideas for factions and districts to add to the city of Tavernkeep. Here are things that I've already decided:
-Tavernkeep is built within (but does not completely fill) a 700 square mile section of Delve that is more stable than the rest. Random traps and encounters still appear in this area, but its geography doesn't change, and Deehem is rarely heard there.
-The population has been abducted as follows: 50% come from published D&D settings (Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, Mystara, Eberron, Dragonlance, Points of Light, etc), 35% come from low-magic/no-magic medieval settings, 10% come from swashbuckling (1700's) settings, 5% come from steampunk settings, 5% come from "modern" settings (D20 modern, Spycraft, Mad Max), and 5% come from space-age settings (Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly).
-Since adventurers show up only with what they were carrying, most high-tech gear is not sustainable due to a lack of suitable power sources. Laser guns and such are basically treated like magic items in many ways.
-The powerful spellcasters in Delve are disproportionately evil. They control some of the major power groups in Tavernkeep like magical mafia godfathers. They take an interest in any new casters that show up in Delve, and pressure them to join their group. Many good spellcasters get taken out for their perceived threat to the powers that be. All magical commerce is regulated by these groups, who want their cut of profits and don't tolerate too much free spellcasting, even of minor spells like create food and water.
-It varies how much power groups from the worlds outside of Delve maintain their loyalty and cohesiveness in Delve. Groups whose main purpose is "protect/reclaim/conquer country x" don't have much purpose in Delve. Other groups still have their purpose, but limited membership, so have combined with similar organizations to form a "new" group. For example, the Knights of the Chalice, the Knights of the Raven, and the Knights of the Silver Flame have formed into one group in Delve called the Knights Viritualis.
-There is a "Church of Deehem" - that is really more of a cult - which seeks to appease the creator of Delve.
-At the center of Tavernkeep is an area called Sanctuary, preserved by a powerful mage that believes in neutrality. In Sanctuary, magic, electronic, and high explosives don't work at all.
-Tavernkeep has a disproportionate amount of taverns. Like, it's worse than Starbucks.