FocusWolf413
2015-12-25, 08:05 PM
I was asked to run a game for some people who have never played D&D before. *
I hate the whole game idea of "You are sent by ____ to get/rescue/find ________." It's cliche, it's overused, it's bland, and it just isn't me.
Can I please have critiques on my game idea?
We start out third level using only core pathfinder races and classes, with the exception of there being no monk, the rogue is the unchained version, and I'm adding the DSP soulknife and a slightly modified 3.5 warlock. I will help them put together their characters.
Everyone needs to figure out one crime that their character is guilty of. I'm kind of taking a page out of Way of the Wicked here. They must have committed the crime, and they must have gotten caught.* Crimes range from heresy to assassination to poison making to slave trade.* Anything that can be roleplayed works.
All characters are sentenced to Death of Personality.* In one week, a group of telepaths will play around with their heads and modify their personalities, changing things until they have something they can use.* At least, as far as they know.
They first see each other when they are introduced to the prison.* Cue the intro scene from The Boiling Rock part 2. Anyone who speaks back is either hit with a bullwhip or a club. Anyone who attacks is beaten unconscious.* All of them are forced to introduce themselves, say a bit about themselves, and say what their crime was. They get processed, strip searched, washed down, covered in that lice killer stuff, dressed, handcuffed, and gagged if they are casters.
DC 20 sense motive to notice that the guards are under compulsions.
They go to their cells and are stuck there for the first day.* They are not fed or watered. Their handcuffs are not removed.* Fort saves or they soil themselves.* Fort saves vs fatigue.
Day 2, they are taken to a concrete room with a drain.* They are forced to strip, then they are sprayed down with a fire hose with freezing water.* They're dressed and shoved into the mess hall for breakfast.* All of them are forced to sit at the same table.* They can now talk.
After ten or fifteen minutes of real time, they are assigned their job.* All of them work in the laundry area.
After four hours, they are taken to the prison yard.* I'm assuming they all gather around one another.* I can only prevent so much metagaming on their part.* After six minutes or so of more conversing, someone walks up to them.
He's a man in the same brownish prison outfits as the rest of them.* What stands out right away is his clean hair and neatly trimmed beard.* He smells slightly of roses.
"Normally, I would take time to introduce myself or get to know you, but I don't have time and you don't have any friends here yet. Walk with me."
"I know you don't have much time left here.* I don't either.* Today is my last day, but considerable time has been spent on a plan and I don't want the knowledge of it to be lost. Are you in?"
If any of them consider turning him in, he says the following: "You want to turn me in? Go ahead. I have nothing to lose. You don't either."
Eventually, if (when) the party decides to listen to him, he says a less abbreviated version of, "I worked on the plumbing in the laundry room.* There's a false pipe that they don't know about.* No water passes through it.* Inside is a map, a small journal, a few knives, a pair of adamantine tipped wire cutters, and a couple lockpicks. There's a detailed plan of where to go, when to go, and how to get there.* Do you have any questions?"
He spends half an hour or so of real time talking to them and answering questions.* After that, he needs to go.
They go back to work later.
When they decide to open the pipe, it has everything he promised.* It has the weapons, the picks, the map, and the journal.* A quick glance at the journal reveals that it is a description of where to go and when.* It says that they should try to escape towards the end of their second shift of the day, as that is when the guards are most tired and least attentive.* It says that they should go down the hallway, take the first right, the second left, knock in a four-one-three pattern on the forth oak door with iron bands, and follow the path that way.
Once they enter the door, they come upon a 10x10 room with a door on either end and one sleepy guard reading a book.* The door is covered in sheet steel and has a silver plated handle, and locks from the side with the guard.
Through the door is another room.* It has glass vials of water, a few healing potions, some regular guards' gear (clubs, daggers, leather armor) as well as silver tipped spears, crossbows with silver tipped bolts, two silver arming swords, a few silver daggers, and 2 scrolls with Protection from Evil.* They have a few minutes to relax.
In the next room (which is locked from the armory side), there are 3 guards with crossbows sitting behind barricades, facing the door on the opposite side that the party enters.
The party takes them by surprise. They're pinned, can't call for help, and as they're killed, one of them asks the party to not release the beast.
The door is thick steel. Four thick steel bolts hold the door closed. They are opened by turning a brass wheel in the center.
The door opens to a large circular room.* The walls are steel. Five chairs sit by the door. There are four concentric circles of silver set into the floor with engraved runes. An easy spellcraft check reveals that each circle is a redundant protection from evil, protection from law, and dimensional anchor, with the innermost circle containing an antimagic field. In the innermost circle is a man in a black suit sitting in a simple chair at a simple desk. He writes with a quill and red ink on a piece of parchment. His entire desk is covered in folders packed with parchment.
He doesn’t react until one of the characters says something.
"You're not here at the right time... hmm... no matter.* Did the Warden sen- no. You smell like blood. You're not guards. Why are you here?"
The party members are most likely confused at this point. Some questioning reveals that he's been here a long while, and he recognizes the man who smelled of roses.
"Oh, him? I haven't seen Samuel in fifteen years. It's really a shame that he's gone now. No matter. What's done is done. We should focus on new opportunities. I think that we could potentially have a mutually beneficial relationship. A simple exchange of services is all I ask. You break these circles, and I free you from this prison. In fact, I can purge all files connecting you with this place and your crimes if you want. All you need to do is scratch the circles. What do you say?"
A DC 15 Arcane or Religion check reveals that those spells are used to hold Devils. A DC 15 Planes check reveals that Devils are week against silver.
If they show any knowledge about who he is, he says the following:
"Yes, but there's far worse things out there than things like me. Part of the Pact Primeval says that a soul can only be claimed if it has free will. The only people who are damned damn themselves."
"Do you know of the major powers of the planes? If you don't, let me debrief you. Baator has things such as me. There are the archons, eladrin, and angels of the upper planes. There are the various elemental lords on their planes. There's the damned Demons of the Abyss. When we all fight and compete for control, there's a sense of order and balance. Strife brings all groups strength.* This is how it's been for millenia.
Problem is, there are other groups out there. Beings that were unheard of when the Pact was signed. Beings that make things... messy.
There's abominations that roam the planes, corrupting all they find, destroying the free will of mortals. When they feed, there's nothing left. Oblivion is far, far worse than any damnation.
The people who run this prison pretend they "rehabilitate" their prisoners. They're just slaves of the mind flayers."
"What do you think?"
This is as far as I've gotten. I'm not planning on this devil betraying the party.
It's kind of railroady, but it's a one shot game and they've never played D&D before, so I need to railroad them a bit.
What do you think? Am I on the right track?
I hate the whole game idea of "You are sent by ____ to get/rescue/find ________." It's cliche, it's overused, it's bland, and it just isn't me.
Can I please have critiques on my game idea?
We start out third level using only core pathfinder races and classes, with the exception of there being no monk, the rogue is the unchained version, and I'm adding the DSP soulknife and a slightly modified 3.5 warlock. I will help them put together their characters.
Everyone needs to figure out one crime that their character is guilty of. I'm kind of taking a page out of Way of the Wicked here. They must have committed the crime, and they must have gotten caught.* Crimes range from heresy to assassination to poison making to slave trade.* Anything that can be roleplayed works.
All characters are sentenced to Death of Personality.* In one week, a group of telepaths will play around with their heads and modify their personalities, changing things until they have something they can use.* At least, as far as they know.
They first see each other when they are introduced to the prison.* Cue the intro scene from The Boiling Rock part 2. Anyone who speaks back is either hit with a bullwhip or a club. Anyone who attacks is beaten unconscious.* All of them are forced to introduce themselves, say a bit about themselves, and say what their crime was. They get processed, strip searched, washed down, covered in that lice killer stuff, dressed, handcuffed, and gagged if they are casters.
DC 20 sense motive to notice that the guards are under compulsions.
They go to their cells and are stuck there for the first day.* They are not fed or watered. Their handcuffs are not removed.* Fort saves or they soil themselves.* Fort saves vs fatigue.
Day 2, they are taken to a concrete room with a drain.* They are forced to strip, then they are sprayed down with a fire hose with freezing water.* They're dressed and shoved into the mess hall for breakfast.* All of them are forced to sit at the same table.* They can now talk.
After ten or fifteen minutes of real time, they are assigned their job.* All of them work in the laundry area.
After four hours, they are taken to the prison yard.* I'm assuming they all gather around one another.* I can only prevent so much metagaming on their part.* After six minutes or so of more conversing, someone walks up to them.
He's a man in the same brownish prison outfits as the rest of them.* What stands out right away is his clean hair and neatly trimmed beard.* He smells slightly of roses.
"Normally, I would take time to introduce myself or get to know you, but I don't have time and you don't have any friends here yet. Walk with me."
"I know you don't have much time left here.* I don't either.* Today is my last day, but considerable time has been spent on a plan and I don't want the knowledge of it to be lost. Are you in?"
If any of them consider turning him in, he says the following: "You want to turn me in? Go ahead. I have nothing to lose. You don't either."
Eventually, if (when) the party decides to listen to him, he says a less abbreviated version of, "I worked on the plumbing in the laundry room.* There's a false pipe that they don't know about.* No water passes through it.* Inside is a map, a small journal, a few knives, a pair of adamantine tipped wire cutters, and a couple lockpicks. There's a detailed plan of where to go, when to go, and how to get there.* Do you have any questions?"
He spends half an hour or so of real time talking to them and answering questions.* After that, he needs to go.
They go back to work later.
When they decide to open the pipe, it has everything he promised.* It has the weapons, the picks, the map, and the journal.* A quick glance at the journal reveals that it is a description of where to go and when.* It says that they should try to escape towards the end of their second shift of the day, as that is when the guards are most tired and least attentive.* It says that they should go down the hallway, take the first right, the second left, knock in a four-one-three pattern on the forth oak door with iron bands, and follow the path that way.
Once they enter the door, they come upon a 10x10 room with a door on either end and one sleepy guard reading a book.* The door is covered in sheet steel and has a silver plated handle, and locks from the side with the guard.
Through the door is another room.* It has glass vials of water, a few healing potions, some regular guards' gear (clubs, daggers, leather armor) as well as silver tipped spears, crossbows with silver tipped bolts, two silver arming swords, a few silver daggers, and 2 scrolls with Protection from Evil.* They have a few minutes to relax.
In the next room (which is locked from the armory side), there are 3 guards with crossbows sitting behind barricades, facing the door on the opposite side that the party enters.
The party takes them by surprise. They're pinned, can't call for help, and as they're killed, one of them asks the party to not release the beast.
The door is thick steel. Four thick steel bolts hold the door closed. They are opened by turning a brass wheel in the center.
The door opens to a large circular room.* The walls are steel. Five chairs sit by the door. There are four concentric circles of silver set into the floor with engraved runes. An easy spellcraft check reveals that each circle is a redundant protection from evil, protection from law, and dimensional anchor, with the innermost circle containing an antimagic field. In the innermost circle is a man in a black suit sitting in a simple chair at a simple desk. He writes with a quill and red ink on a piece of parchment. His entire desk is covered in folders packed with parchment.
He doesn’t react until one of the characters says something.
"You're not here at the right time... hmm... no matter.* Did the Warden sen- no. You smell like blood. You're not guards. Why are you here?"
The party members are most likely confused at this point. Some questioning reveals that he's been here a long while, and he recognizes the man who smelled of roses.
"Oh, him? I haven't seen Samuel in fifteen years. It's really a shame that he's gone now. No matter. What's done is done. We should focus on new opportunities. I think that we could potentially have a mutually beneficial relationship. A simple exchange of services is all I ask. You break these circles, and I free you from this prison. In fact, I can purge all files connecting you with this place and your crimes if you want. All you need to do is scratch the circles. What do you say?"
A DC 15 Arcane or Religion check reveals that those spells are used to hold Devils. A DC 15 Planes check reveals that Devils are week against silver.
If they show any knowledge about who he is, he says the following:
"Yes, but there's far worse things out there than things like me. Part of the Pact Primeval says that a soul can only be claimed if it has free will. The only people who are damned damn themselves."
"Do you know of the major powers of the planes? If you don't, let me debrief you. Baator has things such as me. There are the archons, eladrin, and angels of the upper planes. There are the various elemental lords on their planes. There's the damned Demons of the Abyss. When we all fight and compete for control, there's a sense of order and balance. Strife brings all groups strength.* This is how it's been for millenia.
Problem is, there are other groups out there. Beings that were unheard of when the Pact was signed. Beings that make things... messy.
There's abominations that roam the planes, corrupting all they find, destroying the free will of mortals. When they feed, there's nothing left. Oblivion is far, far worse than any damnation.
The people who run this prison pretend they "rehabilitate" their prisoners. They're just slaves of the mind flayers."
"What do you think?"
This is as far as I've gotten. I'm not planning on this devil betraying the party.
It's kind of railroady, but it's a one shot game and they've never played D&D before, so I need to railroad them a bit.
What do you think? Am I on the right track?