Novawurmson
2017-12-30, 01:34 AM
Hey, everyone!
So my players gave me a request for a campaign: An amnesia campaign - they wake up knowing nothing about who they are, where they are, or why they're there.
Now, I know there's a Pathfinder Adventure Path that starts similarly (Strange Eons, I think?), but that's not what they were looking for. The core of the idea is more like the TV show Dark Matter, where they're all amazing adventurers with plenty of secrets and suppressed power, but they need to discover and unlock them.
So here's my idea:
The players all wake up in a clean, beautiful, resort-like complex deep in the heart of a vast woodland. There are 125 people total in the predicament, each with a number from 1 to 125 scarred into/arcane marked onto their arm.
They are told that due to some as of yet unexplained magical incident, a large number of people across Golarion have lost their memories. This resort is taking them in to provide emergency relief while others are attempting to locate family or other groups to take them in permanently. It will take about 2 weeks to process so many people, so the resort leaders ask for patience and understanding. In the meantime, they offer relaxation and all the many amenities this facility has to offer.
What the “guests” don't know is that they are a part of an extreme variant of The Eternal Kiss (https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Eternal_Kiss), where they will be pampered and served for up to 11 days before being horrifically tortured and sacrificed to Zon Kuthon. Each day, 11 prisoners will be sacrificed. The players will need to play a dangerous game of sneaking around their captors to find out who they are, where they are, why they're there, how to escape, etc., etc.
Beyond this, the PCs were intentionally captured to infiltrate the complex and accomplish specific goals. Simply escaping is not the best ending - they need to remember and complete their missions. They're all level 12, but they start only knowing their ability scores. Simple things like base attack bonus and base saving throws will be given to them when they first need them (i.e. first Fortitude save - learn your base Fortitude save). They'll have ~6 bonus feats, but they'll need to unlock all their feats and class features through interacting with the environment. For example, on character is a lycanthrope, but won't learn that until they go out into the moonlight. They are all specifically sleep deprived using a caffeine-like substance mixed into their food, so until they realize and find an alternative food source/starve so they can sleep through the night, they won't be able to access power points/spells per level.
Things I'm looking for:
-What are some more ways to make the players feel at ease?
-What are some ways their captors have prepared for processing hundreds of prisoners through the death camp?
-What are some interesting "scheduled" events to happen on each of the 11 days?
-What are some ideas for NPCs for them to meet?
-Are there any other cool ideas/inspiration you have for running an amnesia campaign?
Food
Wine
Drugs
Servants
Gambling
Song
Dance
Contests
Reading
Pool/hot springs
Plenty of Joymakings (https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Joyful_Thing) will be going on in secret locations. If the players find one, they can witness it...
Food laced with anti-darkvision concoction - Makes it easier to catch "guests" in the Uskwood.
Food laced with anti-sleep concoction - Keeps "guests" from resting and recovering PP/spells.
"Ringers" - There are only 121 "guests" (11x11); four of them are actually high ranking enforcers of Zon Kuthon who break up attempted group actions by the guests. In the event of a guest's death, they are required to replace them as sacrifices.
Invisible scouts - Probably nightblades (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/3rd-party-classes/ascension-games-llc/nightblade/) from Path of Shadows.
Terrors in the forest - Uskwood druids, Umbral Shepherds (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/umbral-shepherd/), an templated-up Ankou (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/fey/ankou/), and Kytons (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/kyton/kyton-interlocutor/).
Penalty system - The only thing the hosts truly care about is the guest/sacrificial lambs killing each other. Severe misconduct to the staff generally receives only a blind eye (they are all devout worshippers of Zon Kuthon and well used to pain). They will intervene generally only to stop murder, attempted murder, suicide, or escapees. Punishments range from removal of privileges, house arrest, or choosing the guest to be tonight's sacrifice.
Day 6 - Prisoner breakout attempt.
Day 8 - Failed rescue attempt from outside.
NPC ideas - I already have an idea of the composition of the guests - ~30 commoners, ~25 warriors, 10 experts, 10 mediums (the NPC spirit binder class in Villains of Pact Magic), 9 augurs (NPC psionic class), 9 adepts, 25 more powerful, PC-classed NPCs, but I wouldn't mind some more specifics.
Ideas for triggering memory
Cool feats to give the PCs.
Cool goals for the PCs to accomplish in the facility - Currently, one player (a Pactmaker) knows that the worshippers have found fragments of the Whisperer of Souls (https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Shelyn#Whisperer_of_Souls) and are feeding them; he must find them and either rescue them or exorcise+destroy them. Another player is an adherent of Aroden who wants to use the dark magic of the ceremony to discover the secret of Aroden's disappearance. The third player is going to be an assassin-style character - maybe they have a specific mark to take down?
So my players gave me a request for a campaign: An amnesia campaign - they wake up knowing nothing about who they are, where they are, or why they're there.
Now, I know there's a Pathfinder Adventure Path that starts similarly (Strange Eons, I think?), but that's not what they were looking for. The core of the idea is more like the TV show Dark Matter, where they're all amazing adventurers with plenty of secrets and suppressed power, but they need to discover and unlock them.
So here's my idea:
The players all wake up in a clean, beautiful, resort-like complex deep in the heart of a vast woodland. There are 125 people total in the predicament, each with a number from 1 to 125 scarred into/arcane marked onto their arm.
They are told that due to some as of yet unexplained magical incident, a large number of people across Golarion have lost their memories. This resort is taking them in to provide emergency relief while others are attempting to locate family or other groups to take them in permanently. It will take about 2 weeks to process so many people, so the resort leaders ask for patience and understanding. In the meantime, they offer relaxation and all the many amenities this facility has to offer.
What the “guests” don't know is that they are a part of an extreme variant of The Eternal Kiss (https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Eternal_Kiss), where they will be pampered and served for up to 11 days before being horrifically tortured and sacrificed to Zon Kuthon. Each day, 11 prisoners will be sacrificed. The players will need to play a dangerous game of sneaking around their captors to find out who they are, where they are, why they're there, how to escape, etc., etc.
Beyond this, the PCs were intentionally captured to infiltrate the complex and accomplish specific goals. Simply escaping is not the best ending - they need to remember and complete their missions. They're all level 12, but they start only knowing their ability scores. Simple things like base attack bonus and base saving throws will be given to them when they first need them (i.e. first Fortitude save - learn your base Fortitude save). They'll have ~6 bonus feats, but they'll need to unlock all their feats and class features through interacting with the environment. For example, on character is a lycanthrope, but won't learn that until they go out into the moonlight. They are all specifically sleep deprived using a caffeine-like substance mixed into their food, so until they realize and find an alternative food source/starve so they can sleep through the night, they won't be able to access power points/spells per level.
Things I'm looking for:
-What are some more ways to make the players feel at ease?
-What are some ways their captors have prepared for processing hundreds of prisoners through the death camp?
-What are some interesting "scheduled" events to happen on each of the 11 days?
-What are some ideas for NPCs for them to meet?
-Are there any other cool ideas/inspiration you have for running an amnesia campaign?
Food
Wine
Drugs
Servants
Gambling
Song
Dance
Contests
Reading
Pool/hot springs
Plenty of Joymakings (https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Joyful_Thing) will be going on in secret locations. If the players find one, they can witness it...
Food laced with anti-darkvision concoction - Makes it easier to catch "guests" in the Uskwood.
Food laced with anti-sleep concoction - Keeps "guests" from resting and recovering PP/spells.
"Ringers" - There are only 121 "guests" (11x11); four of them are actually high ranking enforcers of Zon Kuthon who break up attempted group actions by the guests. In the event of a guest's death, they are required to replace them as sacrifices.
Invisible scouts - Probably nightblades (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/3rd-party-classes/ascension-games-llc/nightblade/) from Path of Shadows.
Terrors in the forest - Uskwood druids, Umbral Shepherds (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/umbral-shepherd/), an templated-up Ankou (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/fey/ankou/), and Kytons (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/kyton/kyton-interlocutor/).
Penalty system - The only thing the hosts truly care about is the guest/sacrificial lambs killing each other. Severe misconduct to the staff generally receives only a blind eye (they are all devout worshippers of Zon Kuthon and well used to pain). They will intervene generally only to stop murder, attempted murder, suicide, or escapees. Punishments range from removal of privileges, house arrest, or choosing the guest to be tonight's sacrifice.
Day 6 - Prisoner breakout attempt.
Day 8 - Failed rescue attempt from outside.
NPC ideas - I already have an idea of the composition of the guests - ~30 commoners, ~25 warriors, 10 experts, 10 mediums (the NPC spirit binder class in Villains of Pact Magic), 9 augurs (NPC psionic class), 9 adepts, 25 more powerful, PC-classed NPCs, but I wouldn't mind some more specifics.
Ideas for triggering memory
Cool feats to give the PCs.
Cool goals for the PCs to accomplish in the facility - Currently, one player (a Pactmaker) knows that the worshippers have found fragments of the Whisperer of Souls (https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Shelyn#Whisperer_of_Souls) and are feeding them; he must find them and either rescue them or exorcise+destroy them. Another player is an adherent of Aroden who wants to use the dark magic of the ceremony to discover the secret of Aroden's disappearance. The third player is going to be an assassin-style character - maybe they have a specific mark to take down?