Critique My Campaign Scenarios

[Palanan]

I've been working on ideas for several campaigns, and I'd appreciate feedback on which of these opening scenarios would be the most interesting from a player's perspective.

In each case the PCs will be starting at first or second level, most likely using a mix of 3.5 and Pathfinder material. Which of these looks like the start of a campaign you'd like to play in?



1. Suppressing Heretics

The PCs are recruited by a provincial administrator to investigate an isolated settlement of heretics, whose strange cult-like behavior may pose a threat to stable government in the region. The PCs are only given a couple of men-at-arms for support, but if they successfully deal with the heretics, they will earn the administrator's favor and be first in line for more important assignments.

The "heretics" are actually a small team of former imperial inquisitors, once part of a special unit dedicated to covert operations, who became disillusioned and retired to a tiny community on the fringes of civilized lands. Merely reclusive rather than an actual cult, their only interest is in living quietly out of history's way.

But the provincial administrator considers them a lingering threat, and is counting on the PCs to behave like run-of-the-mill adventurers and attack the "heretics" in hopes of gaining official favor. Once the PCs have dealt with the former inquisitors, or at least weakened them sufficiently, the two "men-at-arms" are planning to finish off the inquisitors, dispose of the PCs, burn the entire settlement and report back to the provincial administrator.

2. Transported Convicts

The PCs are arrested on trumped-up charges, sentenced to death, and pardoned in exchange for being transported to a recently established colony far across the ocean. As part of a shipload of indentured servants, the PCs will need to survive the ocean voyage, make alliances among their fellow criminals, and devote themselves to the colony's success in order to earn their freedom.

Most of the transported convicts have been rounded up for minor offenses in an effort to replenish the colony's numbers--but there are enough hardened criminals to make for a volatile mix. Once they've arrived at the colony, the PCs will be caught up in smuggling, tribal war, imperial politics, and a military expedition searching for a lost civilization deep in the continent's interior.

At any point the PCs will have the option to escape into the surrounding wilderness--but they'll be alone in a strange and dangerous land, viewed as intruders by the natives and hunted as deserters by the government of the colony. The promise of freedom was always a mirage, and as long as they're on the run, it'll be all they can do to simply survive.

3. Guardians of Mercy

Following a devastating earthquake in a remote and mountainous region, the PCs are hired to protect a caravan of healers and acolytes of a holy order devoted to helping the needy. But when they arrive at the small city where the earthquake occurred, it's strangely deserted--and then the acolytes begin to disappear.

Apart from its impact on the mountain district, the earthquake also broke open a cavern containing an underground temple complex, sealed off thousands of years ago to contain a host of tormented spirits. With escape cut off by aftershocks, the PCs will need to keep the acolytes alive, train them to defend themselves, and confront the unquiet host in the depths of the ruined temples.

If the PCs survive this confrontation, they will discover a subterranean avenue behind the temple complex, leading to a deeper network of caves--which may or may not provide a way out, but which will certainly give them the opportunity to learn just what it was that created all those tormented souls.

[BilltheCynic]

My reaction as a player to each of these:

1). The biggest problem with this is that the big thrill of the adventure is predicated around a twist, one which the players are not supposed to know at the time. With the spoiler is sounds interesting (though this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdhhQhqi_AE) sprang to mind when I read it) but as a simple adventure hook it seems rather generic ("evil cult in area, here are some NPC cohorts, now deal with it"). I know that's the point and I don't think the players would mind getting through the vanilla phase to the shocking reveal, but it depends on your players.

2). Of the listed this is the one I would probably most want to play, though not for the reason you want. My reaction to being a guy arrested on trumped up charges on a ship full of criminals headed to indentured servitude is, "Cool! Let's organize the other prisoners, stage a mutiny, and turn this into a pirate game!" Even if we got to the island in chains my focus would be, "steal a ship, then go plundering on the high seas." As for the promise of freedom being a lie all along...they are arrested on trumped up charges and "pardoned" to be sent off as slave labor. From a PC perspective, of course the freedom was a lie! You don't expect us to actually work when there's murderhoboing to do, do you?

3). This is the scenario I think would be most fun to play as you intended it. Start off with disaster, mystery, organize the NPCs, dungeon crawl, and maybe fight some eldritch horrors...sounds fun to me!

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by BilltheCynic
My reaction as a player to each of these....

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated. The third scenario is definitely the most dungeon-crawlish of the lot.



Does anyone else have ideas or critiques? These are just thumbnail sketches, and I'd be glad of ideas on how to fill them in.

.

[Elder_Basilisk]

1. The investigate the heretics hook strikes me the opposite way as the previous poster. In my D&D experience, accused "heretics" are always the good guys just like any time you find a group of villagers about to burn a witch, they've got an innocent. As a player, I find that rather tiring. Having the heretics--or maybe only some of the heretics--actually be an evil demon cult would be more interesting and surprising.

2. Like the previous poster, I think my PCs' first choice would be to escape at the first opportunity. If you go for this hook, I'd have the whole voyage happen in background too so that the first opportunity is when the PCs arrive at the island.

3. This also sounds like the most fun scenario. Travel adventures can be fun and then it naturally morphs into a mystery and then survival horror/swords against Cthulu.

[Honest Tiefling]

Honestly, all three look pretty good.

1) My worry with this one is that because of the twist and the nature of it, it could quickly free itself from the rails. I mean, what is to prevent the PCs from combining forces with the heretics and carving out their own territory? Or pretending to turn in the heretics and then turning on the governor when given a chance.

I do agree that the mystery of it, as presented, is probably best to be dealt with sooner rather then later. Let them deal not with the twist, but the consequences of said twist.

2) Hrm. What's preventing the players from simply removing problematic people? I mean, if I were in this situation murdering the crap out of both the colonial oppressors and people who can't play nicely with Team Us. So uh, is this the type of game you typically run? I would otherwise suggest trying to make the game focus on running, but since both Bill and I had the idea of a mutiny followed by Pirate antics, I fear this isn't going to work. I would only run this if you are okay with these ideas.

Also, if presented with a situation where defenseless people are being threatened by murderers and a hostile environment, I fear that a typical response to the more hardened criminals is to murder them first and toss their bodies into the wilderness after poisoning it. I do worry the moral dilemma will be circumvented by extreme violence in response to an extreme situation.

3) I think this one is best for a horror game, or an outright dungeon crawl. (Or the later with the imagery of the former, always a good choice). If your players prefer simple scenarios or have circumstances preventing them from enacting master plans, go with this. But you need to dress it up a little. Make them CARE about those acolytes and want to rescue them! But they might just leave, and with spells like Stone Shape, take the cheap way out.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Elder_Basilisk
3. This also sounds like the most fun scenario.

Hmm. I would've thought that an undead/aberration-heavy dungeon crawl would've been the least popular option, so it's interesting that this appeals to several folks.


Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling
1) My worry with this one is that because of the twist and the nature of it, it could quickly free itself from the rails. I mean, what is to prevent the PCs from combining forces with the heretics and carving out their own territory?

Well, the PCs will be about second level, so there's not much carving they can do. If the PCs survive the scenario, they'll be on the run from the empire, give or take a few surviving non-heretics.

As I said, these are sketches of opening scenarios, and this one would be the most free-form of the lot. So far there aren't many rails to run off.


Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling
3) I think this one is best for a horror game, or an outright dungeon crawl…. But you need to dress it up a little. Make them CARE about those acolytes and want to rescue them!

So, any suggestions on how to get the PCs to care about the acolytes?


Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling
But they might just leave, and with spells like Stone Shape, take the cheap way out.

The PCs will be starting at first or second level, so it'll be a little while before they have access to Stone Shape.

Still, point taken, and advice on how to keep the PCs committed would be welcome.

[Mephibosheth]

The thing I like best about all these is that, really, they're not full campaigns. There are no rails. And they present the PCs with a lot of interesting choices. Which is really what D&D is all about! Thinking about these as interesting roleplaying scenarios is more helpful, I think, than viewing them as fully-fleshed campaigns.

1. Suppressing Heretics

The way I read this, the "big reveal" happens in the first session. Maybe the second. The PCs and their henchmen enact some plan to drive away the "heretics." They either get their butts kicked by enemies who, as former inquisitors and covert operatives, are highly trained OR they discover the "truth" of the scenario in some other way. Either way, they not have a lot of questions to ask themselves. Are the heretics really telling the truth about their intentions or was their original employer the honest one? How do they react to the news of the heretics' true identity, if they believe it? Do they move on with a "no harm, no foul" or do they now have some kind of obligation to help the heretics/defeat the lying careerist administrator? Is "what's right" more important than "what's good for my career?" Do they even care about the truth, given the baggage that "inquisitor" and "covert ops" usually come with? I like the idea that maybe one of the PCs has a family connection to the inquisition that isn't so savory, and so would want to kill them even if they had the best of intentions. Lots of ways to interpret this, most of which could make for an interesting intrigue-y campaign.

2. Transported Convicts

This is by far my favorite of the scenarios. I haven't been around here in a long time, but there might be some old-timers who remember my fondness for history-inspired gaming. In that context, this absolutely screams COLONIALISM WOW! A campaign that did a good job of representing 17th century-style colonial systems with a smattering of intelligently-developed non-colonial indigenous populations would be really fun to run. And again, it really just gives the PCs options. Nothing says that the pirate scenario is off the table. But I would never do that when I had the option of exploring the New World or fighting for power in the colonial administration or sneaking back to the Old Country and wreaking my revenge on whoever wronged me or starting a new world crime empire or the list goes on and on. A great opportunity to explore the implications of colonial structures of governance and justice, which is something that would work great as a well-designed campaign.

3. Guardians of Mercy

This one would be fun, but it's my least favorite of the three. If only because it could easily be pretty conventional. I do like the idea of training the acolytes to defend themselves. Maybe have the town be about to be besieged, so the PCs need to do what they can with a few weeks to prepare ala SilverClawShift's vestige campaign. I've always thought that would be a fun session or two (though a nightmare for the DM). This one would need really great NPCs, though. Every one of the acolytes would have to be fully fleshed-out with different personalities to maximize the chances of the PCs investing in their charges. A writing and acting challenge for the DM.

Those are my thoughts.

Mephibosheth

[Red Fel]

Alrighty, let's have us a look.

1. Suppressing Heretics

It's a fairly simple campaign idea, all things considered. PCs get hired to do a job, job goes south, PCs go on the run while trying to uncover the truth. Either they kill/subdue the "heretics" and the NPCs go after them to finish the job, or they spare the "heretics," learn the truth, and the NPCs go after them to finish the job. Either way, fairly standard with some good potential. I like it.

My one beef is that the administrator's motivation is so trivial. "He considers them a lingering threat?" So he sends out a murder squad, plus NPCs to murder the murder squad? And then the PCs become enemies of the Empire? That's a lot of effort for dealing with "a lingering threat." Wouldn't it be better if he were, I don't know, part of some cult, or secretly conspiring against the Empire, or secretly another former Inquisitor but gone rogue, or something? It just seems so petty of him.

Overall, probably my favorite of the three you've suggested. Open-ended, a lot of options, some great storytelling potential.

2. Transported Convicts

As others have said, "Your party is captured and put among dissidents" is ripe for revolution. There is absolutely nothing to prevent the PCs from becoming murderhobos, killing off anyone who is difficult or disobedient, and turning the entire campaign into whatever they want before they even hit the shore.

As sandboxy as that is, though? I'd strongly dislike it for one simple reason. "Your party is captured" campaigns translate to "You have no gear and no spellbooks." That means that anything on which a PC spent his starting cash is gone. Further, given that they're being transported to a slave colony, their chance of acquiring new gear - that is, tools of murdering - is infinitesimally small. Why exactly would their masters give them the very tools needed to free themselves and kill their masters? If you did not tell me in advance that this would be the plot of the campaign (so that I could build a suitably gear-independent character) I would be quite angry.

So, probably my least favorite. The open-ended nature belies certain limitations on the characters.

3. Guardians of Mercy

Standard dungeon crawl. Some minor setup, and now we're in a dungeon. If your PCs like dungeon crawls, this is great. If they require downtime, or want to be able to visit civilization or something, this is going to be tedious.

Another problem is the tagalong NPCs. They're amazing if you can make them sympathetic. If the players learn to love their pet NPCs, it can make for some wonderful interactions. (My mind goes to Galaxy Quest, for example.) If they don't, the NPCs become an albatross around the party's neck. "Oh, we have to save them again? Can't we just find them a nice corner and let them pray for their own rescue?"

Also, tagalong NPCs are a problem of another kind. If you make them useless, they're annoying. Make them too useful, make them a crutch, and you risk the typical DMPC red flags. Particularly in a dungeon crawl where "a host of tormented spirits" make their home, bringing along a batch of Clerics can pretty quickly trivialize a lot of stuff.

I find this one somewhere in the middle, although a lot of that is my personal feelings about endless dungeon crawls.

[Honest Tiefling]

Well, the PCs will be about second level, so there's not much carving they can do. If the PCs survive the scenario, they'll be on the run from the empire, give or take a few surviving non-heretics.

Regardless of level, the PCs will try, even if they have to light the rails and a good portion of all surrounding cities on fire. Make sure to have plots for both the murder of the cultists (in case the mystery got solved too late, or if the PCs just decide to go all Judge Dredd on them), and if they team up with them. If they are that low level, an exodus to the empire's enemy might seem like a great idea because they might not use random murder squads of unsuspecting dopes you can frame for the crime afterwards.


So, any suggestions on how to get the PCs to care about the acolytes?

You give me far too much credit. Getting PCs to like NPCs is very, very, very difficult. Here are some suggestions:

1) If the order has weaknesses, at least it does SOME good. (Assuming good aligned party here...) I assume that they give out a lot of services to the poor, so stress that they help such people at the cost of not having a lot of money to toss around. Maybe they scored some land donations that cannot be quickly turned into liquid assets but gives them enough to keep going.
2) They are polite and respectful to the player characters and have some reason to want to interact with them beyond conversion. Sharing food, booze, flirtation (if carefully done and even if the PC does not return it), can all work. No one really wants to put their neck on the line for some holier then thou jerks.
3) Make them in such a way to appeal to the PCs. Maybe they have some children with them. If the PCs are from a chauvinist culture? They're all women. If the PCs are a maligned race, their religion has a saint of the same race or maybe even a few members of that race. Treehuggers? The order reveres nature gods.
4) The most important thing...Give them a choice. For instance, make a council of leaders for this order with differing views, so they can back one council member who they agree with. Have the order have SOME people with combat experience to be used as combat healers the party CAN take, but doesn't have to. Give them personality, but not ones that would be overly controlling or annoying to the players.


The PCs will be starting at first or second level, so it'll be a little while before they have access to Stone Shape.

The small city will still presumably have shovels. If it is in the mountains, chances are high it is a mining town and will have access to mining supplies. If guns are at all allowed, then there's definitely gunpowder running around. I believe before gunpowder, the Romans would often start very hot fires and then toss water onto them for mining. Never underestimate the creativity of PCs when it comes to derailing your plot.

[Ikitavi]

The "suppressing heretics" option could be played straight, crooked or Lovecraftian. Maybe the defecting inquisitors took steps so that they can't be brought back, by a desperate bargain with something they had encountered in one of their own investigations. They were SUPPOSED to have destroyed it, but instead copied critical documents or substituted fakes for destroying.

Likewise, the inquisitor hiring them may actually want the truth, or to cover their own butt, or may feel he has to go outside the chain of command because he thinks it has been corrupted.

In a world with real magic, maybe inquisitors have a real job, rooting out shapeshifters, demons that possess people, magic jars, illusions, esp and ghosts. Maybe they have a pragmatic attitudes towards other religions. There is same Pantheon stuff, there is same role in different Pantheon stuff, there are rivals that are occasionally on our side, and there is stuff that Must Be Destroyed in the name of All Who Have Souls.

Perhaps there is also "pious fraud". "We call them Heretics, because if we called them Servants of That Which Watches From Beyond, people would panic, think things were hopeless, and give themselves over to despair and debauchery."

[Palanan]

Okay, thanks to everyone for the replies. I'll go through these in order of scenario:



1. Suppressing Heretics


Originally Posted by Mephibosheth
The way I read this, the "big reveal" happens in the first session. Maybe the second.

Exactly so. These scenarios are all intended as campaign openings, rather than the full campaign plots, and this one is the most compact of the three. I could easily see this playing out in one long session or two shorter ones, depending on the gaming group.


Originally Posted by Mephibosheth
I like the idea that maybe one of the PCs has a family connection to the inquisition that isn't so savory, and so would want to kill them even if they had the best of intentions.

Excellent idea, I'll definitely keep it in mind. Plenty of potential for intrigue and moral quandaries.


Originally Posted by Red Fel
My one beef is that the administrator's motivation is so trivial…. It just seems so petty of him.

Welcome to government bureaucracy. :smalltongue:

For the sake of brevity, I left out some additional plot elements from my sketch of the scenario. What matters is that the administrator feels he's justified, and he has the resources and the authority to use them.


Originally Posted by Red Fel
Overall, probably my favorite of the three you've suggested. Open-ended, a lot of options, some great storytelling potential.

Thanks. As Mephibosheth noted, it has the potential for intrigue and complex roleplaying, which I do enjoy.


Originally Posted by Ikitavi
The "suppressing heretics" option could be played straight, crooked or Lovecraftian.

The Lovecraftian option is interesting, thanks. Worth considering.

I'd actually been thinking of something Lovecraftian for deeper into the third scenario, but it might have a place here as well.



2. Transported Convicts


Originally Posted by Mephibosheth
This is by far my favorite of the scenarios…. A campaign that did a good job of representing 17th century-style colonial systems with a smattering of intelligently-developed non-colonial indigenous populations would be really fun to run.

Thanks. I'm actually taking inspiration from a little earlier--the early sixteenth-century expeditions and first colonies--and as for the indigenous populations, there's going to be much, much more than a smattering. :smalltongue:


Originally Posted by Red Fel
There is absolutely nothing to prevent the PCs from becoming murderhobos, killing off anyone who is difficult or disobedient….

Well, apart from the fact that the PCs will be first level, and surrounded by heavily armed and experienced military. And, as you noted, without much in the way of weapons themselves.

People usually talk about how fragile characters are at first level, so my main concern will be not to overwhelm them.


Originally Posted by Red Fel
"Your party is captured" campaigns translate to "You have no gear and no spellbooks." That means that anything on which a PC spent his starting cash is gone.

This is an extremely good point, and actually goes to an issue at the heart of the entire campaign concept. The PCs will be trying to survive in a foreign wilderness, one in which there will be no convenient magic-marts, no familiar towns for easy resupply, and very little else which is taken for granted in many standard campaigns.

In place of magic items, I'm thinking of using other effects to provide the basic bonuses, and I might look into the automatic bonus progression from Pathfinder Unchained. But the point about starting gear is a good one, and something I'll certainly be letting the players know about.



3. Guardians of Mercy


Originally Posted by Mephibosheth
This one would be fun, but it's my least favorite of the three. If only because it could easily be pretty conventional.

It's interesting that this scenario tends to either be a favorite or a decided non-favorite.

So the question is, how to make it something other than conventional? I'd been thinking of going the aberration/Lovecraftian route, but other suggestions would be welcome.


Originally Posted by Mephibosheth
I do like the idea of training the acolytes to defend themselves. Maybe have the town be about to be besieged, so the PCs need to do what they can with a few weeks to prepare ala SilverClawShift's vestige campaign.

That's close to what I had in mind, just without the few weeks of preparation. :smalltongue:

And thanks for reminding me about SilverClawShift's campaign journal, I'll definitely need to read that through again.


Originally Posted by Mephibosheth
This one would need really great NPCs, though. Every one of the acolytes would have to be fully fleshed-out with different personalities to maximize the chances of the PCs investing in their charges.


Originally Posted by Red Fel
Another problem is the tagalong NPCs. They're amazing if you can make them sympathetic. If the players learn to love their pet NPCs, it can make for some wonderful interactions.

Yes indeed--and as Honest Tiefling noted above, that can be a difficult balance to find. Any suggestions beyond what HT has already mentioned?


Originally Posted by Red Fel
Also, tagalong NPCs are a problem of another kind…. Particularly in a dungeon crawl where "a host of tormented spirits" make their home, bringing along a batch of Clerics can pretty quickly trivialize a lot of stuff.

Keep in mind these aren't "tagalongs," they're the reason the PCs are there in the first place. Protecting the acolytes is why the PCs were contracted to join the relief mission, and that will remain a strong component of the campaign.

As for trivializing encounters, these are acolytes, first or rarely second level, with an emphasis on healing rather than fighting. I see this as part of the roleplaying--the PCs are there to protect the acolytes, but also to train them to fight and defend themselves. The encounter designs will certainly take some thought, but there are plenty of creatures which won't be fazed by first-level spells or dinky turning attempts.

As the campaign progresses the acolytes will be leveling on their own track, but always behind the PCs. And most likely fewer in number.


Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling
Maybe they scored some land donations that cannot be quickly turned into liquid assets but gives them enough to keep going.

Thanks for the reminder about this aspect of their revenue stream. More than likely they would keep any land gifted to them, since they'd rather have a steady income from rents than engage in land speculation. Like all relief agencies, they have their overhead, and a modest but reliable source from landholdings would be preferable to cover that. Discounted rates on selected spellcasting could also be another source of regular income.

For emergency expenses, they'd need to rely on a combination of royal and noble patronage, and probably from donations by those paladins and clerics required by their faith to tithe away some or all of their gold. And as with so many situations, the money would be less than promised, arriving in a trickle and much too late for the initial response.


Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling
Have the order have SOME people with combat experience to be used as combat healers the party CAN take, but doesn't have to. Give them personality, but not ones that would be overly controlling or annoying to the players.

Another good point here. The relief mission will be led by a paladin from the holy order, probably fourth or fifth level, with the PCs hired on as extra security.

But she won't be around forever, although I haven't worked out the details yet. By the time the PCs reach the site, they'll be the ones who'll need to step up and take charge. Constructive suggestions on how to do this in a non-clichéd fashion are welcome.

.

[Honest Tiefling]

But she won't be around forever, although I haven't worked out the details yet. By the time the PCs reach the site, they'll be the ones who'll need to step up and take charge. Constructive suggestions on how to do this in a non-clichéd fashion are welcome.

My advice is don't. Just let it happen naturally. She's a paladin, so there's a good chance she'll throw herself into the fray and get killed anyway.

But the players shouldn't ever feel like the most combat capable ally they have is going to die no matter what they do. Keeping her around should be a reward for good tactics and thinking. Make it very difficult to keep her alive, but absolutely doable. This way they have an NPC ally who they might not always get along with, but will protect the other NPCs while they wander off and greatly impact the game as a result of their own choices.

As a paladin in 3.5, she should have a decent wisdom and charisma score. Which means that while the PCs won't take charge of the order, they can indeed reason with her if there's something they want. Furthermore, she will probably have the idea that talking politely to the potentially dangerous mercenaries that have been hired to make sure they are cooperative or at least aren't stealing things. She can also offer healing to the PCs, especially if they are doing a good job of protecting the NPCs who might not need as much.

You could also drop some hints that she's a lady with connections. So if the players keep her alive, perhaps they get some cool loot or some money. In fact, I wonder if this adventure should be run first to introduce people to the world, and then afterwards their reknown is such that they get hired to deal with some heretics...So they have some idea of what the world is like, and have formed some bonds between players before getting to the next adventure.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling
But the players shouldn't ever feel like the most combat capable ally they have is going to die no matter what they do. Keeping her around should be a reward for good tactics and thinking. Make it very difficult to keep her alive, but absolutely doable. This way they have an NPC ally who they might not always get along with, but will protect the other NPCs while they wander off and greatly impact the game as a result of their own choices.

Good points, thanks. You've convinced me that the paladin should be around for longer than I'd been originally planning, which makes designing her all the more enjoyable.

Also, I love the RP potential of a hard-nosed paladin who doesn't think much of the PCs at first, but grudgingly comes around to acknowledging their value once they've demonstrated they can do their job.


Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling
You could also drop some hints that she's a lady with connections. So if the players keep her alive, perhaps they get some cool loot or some money. In fact, I wonder if this adventure should be run first to introduce people to the world, and then afterwards their reknown is such that they get hired to deal with some heretics...So they have some idea of what the world is like, and have formed some bonds between players before getting to the next adventure.

Excellent ideas here, since the paladin will definitely have connections. I like the idea of the PCs becoming closely involved with this holy order as part of a broader arc for the campaign. That's worth keeping in mind as I design the paladin, the acolytes and their chapter house.