Gathamphetamine
2018-03-19, 12:07 PM
So I decided I wanted to try to make a campaign, mostly because Ive always enjoyed telling stories to my friend. What I've found is that the more and more into designing my campaign I get, the more ambitious it's looking. I've come up with ne mechanics to try and simulate both opinion amd the war that my adventurers will be influencing. I was looking for some suggestions on how to maybe make these systems better, or easier for a first time DM to manage. Or if you think I'm reaching too much and need to scale it back, let me know that too, please.
Also, if anyone has any advice for coming up with the story, that'd be great. I keep finding myself slipping into cliches or common tropes.
Notes: The opinion system is very much still a work in progress, as is most of the campaign.
Here is what I have for the campaign so far. I was going to post it as a PDF, but I cant do that yet I guess:
A group of noble adventurers are dropped in the middle of this world's Revelations, caught in between the forces of Heaven and Hell. In order to escape this doomed dimension you must curry favor with one of the warring deities. Be wary, every action you make has lasting consequences on the state of the war, and each side may not be what it seems.
I on the map is the Capitol city of Red, and R used to be a big city across the bay. Red is ruled by a minor god that is immortal,and he had a son that he put in charge of the city across the bay, also an immortal minor god. When blue invades, they capture the second city, destroy it, and crucify the son. They leave his body up, magically nailed to the cross, and since he's immortal, he doesnt die. So Blue now treats this as a holy site, going there once a year to give thanks to their god for allowing them to trap this minor deity for all enternity. As part of the ritual, every person makes a single incision on the body of the son, and then they wait a year for the cuts to heal and begin the ritual again.
Imma portray Blue as pretty evil. Crazy crucifictions, burning an entire village worth of people alive, maybe cutting a baby in half Solomon style, and Red will be just desperately defending themselves, portray them as the victims, whatever. In the end, its gonna turn out that Blue is basically the God+Jesus equivalent, and all the atrocities is them finally purging the world of what they see as evil. Now, Red is still the Satanic equivalent, so there are going to be hints that they are actually the bad guys. Now, if you choose to help Blue, you have to slaughter the entire Holy City of Red, including the women and children, but then the world gets a happy ending. If you choose to help Red, then you help bring about Armageddon, basically dooming this world to an eternity of servitude and exploitation. Now, if you dont do your due diligence and ask questions and investigate more about the war, you won't know any of this until after its too late. Of course, if you dont like the side you helped pick, you can kill both demigods, finally setting this world truly free.
The Green faction is the smallest of the three, but is the most fierce because of it. All of their units start with 2 combat strength, and can become elite fighting machines with proper support. Green is also the only faction run by a human, and as such, is the only faction that can have control be directly assumed by the player through player action. Green is comprised of people that reject both the Red and the Blue deities, instead choosing to believe in self-determination and free will. These people have been banished from both reals and reside deep in the natural protection of the forest, safe from outside incursion. The victory condition for this faction is the death of both deities and the dismantling of their respective empires.
There is also a fourth, unrepresented faction that resides in the desert. These people are there to help assist the players find the buried solarium, and, if pleased withthe outcome of the adventure, may be recruitedd to join the Green faction as either 1 or 2 combat units, based on the roll of a 4 sided die (1 or 2=1, 3 or 4=2).
The campaign will start with our heroes acting as a band of mercenaries for an archeologist who is studying an ancient temple, worshipped by indigenous people thousands of years ago. Paintings on the walls tells the story of an eternal conflict between two gods, one who wishes to rule and one who wishes to destroy. The paintings depict the struggle through millennia, neither gaining an advantage, and both seeking to curry favor among the people of our world. And then, part way across the fourth wall, the paintings stop. The archeologist explains that the reason this civilization is so studied is because according to records, they just vanished one day, a thousand years ago. No one has seen or heard from them since. While getting excited about his story, the archeologist gestures wildly, and knocks over an ancient vase. A vortex opens in the middle of the room, and the adventurers are sucked through, with the archeologist barely hanging on to avoid being sucked in after.
After the campaign is complete, the players are transported back to the temple, where they meet up with the archeologist who says they've only been gone for minutes. As you look around, you notice that the paintings on the walls have changed. The fourth wall now has paintings of your exploits in the other world. They'll show some highlights of your mission, as well as hints towards the possible future of the world based on your actions and decisions in the game.
I already have some of the levelling stuff plotted out, like low levels at the base of the mountains, edges of the forest and desert, and then as you move inwards towards your objective they get harder and harder. I think Imma want them to go to the forest first, then the big ass mountain where they'll hit a Moria type situation, then the desert where they'll go tomb raiding, and finally the ruins, where they'll have to either fight the crucified deity or let him go, which involves fighting off a whole bunch of Blue wizards and Warlocks.
REWORK You can earn both favor and scorn. Favor is positive opinion, scorn is negative. You earn favor by being polite, completing tasks for a certain army, and just generally helping out one side. You gain scorn by being a ****, causing trouble or completing quests for the other factions. In order to get back home you must earn at least 100 more favor than scorn with any faction. Killing the enemy leader is worth 75 favor, so that should be ok. Throughout the campaign you can exchange favor like a currency, trading it in for gold, weapons or knowledge with each factions leader.
There are units on the huge overworld map that you can move late game to help you out. Like if you choose to help the Red faction, and you help them find a sacred battle axe or whatever, one unit can gain one combat strength, which means that if they fight a unit with less combat strength, the big unit gets to roll with advantage. The bigger the difference in combat strength, the bigger the advantage. Most of the actual warfare system would be like way late game, but I was thinking it could be useful early on too. Like, shift some of your army down south to try and pull some of the enemies army with them, leaving less of the army in the North, making it easier to sneak across enemy lines.
The overworld map is going to be on a large poster board, with the map drawn on it and divided into many smaller sections, ala eu4. Each combat unit is going to be reresented with a painted popsicle stick, sharpened at one end so it can be inserted into the posterboard, with its combat strength written on a piece of packing tape on the side of the stick.
Each deity is powered by the number of people who worship it. So as Red loses more and more people, he becomes weaker and weaker, and eventuslly you fight him in this weaker state, or fight Blue in this weak state if you sided with Red. After you kill them, the deity you sided shows up, and explains the end state too you. If you're not happy about it, you can now fight the much stronger deity in an attempt to free the citizens of this land.
The specific strength of the deity you fight is determined by the size of their army at the end of the game. If their army is defeates, you will fight them at their palace, and they will be at their weakest. If their army is victorious, you will fight them on the battlefield, and their strength will depend on how much of their army is remaining. As Green, depending on your strategy, you may fight the deities one at a time, or if they fear defeat, they may temporarily join forces, and you may have to fight them together.
Also, if anyone has any advice for coming up with the story, that'd be great. I keep finding myself slipping into cliches or common tropes.
Notes: The opinion system is very much still a work in progress, as is most of the campaign.
Here is what I have for the campaign so far. I was going to post it as a PDF, but I cant do that yet I guess:
A group of noble adventurers are dropped in the middle of this world's Revelations, caught in between the forces of Heaven and Hell. In order to escape this doomed dimension you must curry favor with one of the warring deities. Be wary, every action you make has lasting consequences on the state of the war, and each side may not be what it seems.
I on the map is the Capitol city of Red, and R used to be a big city across the bay. Red is ruled by a minor god that is immortal,and he had a son that he put in charge of the city across the bay, also an immortal minor god. When blue invades, they capture the second city, destroy it, and crucify the son. They leave his body up, magically nailed to the cross, and since he's immortal, he doesnt die. So Blue now treats this as a holy site, going there once a year to give thanks to their god for allowing them to trap this minor deity for all enternity. As part of the ritual, every person makes a single incision on the body of the son, and then they wait a year for the cuts to heal and begin the ritual again.
Imma portray Blue as pretty evil. Crazy crucifictions, burning an entire village worth of people alive, maybe cutting a baby in half Solomon style, and Red will be just desperately defending themselves, portray them as the victims, whatever. In the end, its gonna turn out that Blue is basically the God+Jesus equivalent, and all the atrocities is them finally purging the world of what they see as evil. Now, Red is still the Satanic equivalent, so there are going to be hints that they are actually the bad guys. Now, if you choose to help Blue, you have to slaughter the entire Holy City of Red, including the women and children, but then the world gets a happy ending. If you choose to help Red, then you help bring about Armageddon, basically dooming this world to an eternity of servitude and exploitation. Now, if you dont do your due diligence and ask questions and investigate more about the war, you won't know any of this until after its too late. Of course, if you dont like the side you helped pick, you can kill both demigods, finally setting this world truly free.
The Green faction is the smallest of the three, but is the most fierce because of it. All of their units start with 2 combat strength, and can become elite fighting machines with proper support. Green is also the only faction run by a human, and as such, is the only faction that can have control be directly assumed by the player through player action. Green is comprised of people that reject both the Red and the Blue deities, instead choosing to believe in self-determination and free will. These people have been banished from both reals and reside deep in the natural protection of the forest, safe from outside incursion. The victory condition for this faction is the death of both deities and the dismantling of their respective empires.
There is also a fourth, unrepresented faction that resides in the desert. These people are there to help assist the players find the buried solarium, and, if pleased withthe outcome of the adventure, may be recruitedd to join the Green faction as either 1 or 2 combat units, based on the roll of a 4 sided die (1 or 2=1, 3 or 4=2).
The campaign will start with our heroes acting as a band of mercenaries for an archeologist who is studying an ancient temple, worshipped by indigenous people thousands of years ago. Paintings on the walls tells the story of an eternal conflict between two gods, one who wishes to rule and one who wishes to destroy. The paintings depict the struggle through millennia, neither gaining an advantage, and both seeking to curry favor among the people of our world. And then, part way across the fourth wall, the paintings stop. The archeologist explains that the reason this civilization is so studied is because according to records, they just vanished one day, a thousand years ago. No one has seen or heard from them since. While getting excited about his story, the archeologist gestures wildly, and knocks over an ancient vase. A vortex opens in the middle of the room, and the adventurers are sucked through, with the archeologist barely hanging on to avoid being sucked in after.
After the campaign is complete, the players are transported back to the temple, where they meet up with the archeologist who says they've only been gone for minutes. As you look around, you notice that the paintings on the walls have changed. The fourth wall now has paintings of your exploits in the other world. They'll show some highlights of your mission, as well as hints towards the possible future of the world based on your actions and decisions in the game.
I already have some of the levelling stuff plotted out, like low levels at the base of the mountains, edges of the forest and desert, and then as you move inwards towards your objective they get harder and harder. I think Imma want them to go to the forest first, then the big ass mountain where they'll hit a Moria type situation, then the desert where they'll go tomb raiding, and finally the ruins, where they'll have to either fight the crucified deity or let him go, which involves fighting off a whole bunch of Blue wizards and Warlocks.
REWORK You can earn both favor and scorn. Favor is positive opinion, scorn is negative. You earn favor by being polite, completing tasks for a certain army, and just generally helping out one side. You gain scorn by being a ****, causing trouble or completing quests for the other factions. In order to get back home you must earn at least 100 more favor than scorn with any faction. Killing the enemy leader is worth 75 favor, so that should be ok. Throughout the campaign you can exchange favor like a currency, trading it in for gold, weapons or knowledge with each factions leader.
There are units on the huge overworld map that you can move late game to help you out. Like if you choose to help the Red faction, and you help them find a sacred battle axe or whatever, one unit can gain one combat strength, which means that if they fight a unit with less combat strength, the big unit gets to roll with advantage. The bigger the difference in combat strength, the bigger the advantage. Most of the actual warfare system would be like way late game, but I was thinking it could be useful early on too. Like, shift some of your army down south to try and pull some of the enemies army with them, leaving less of the army in the North, making it easier to sneak across enemy lines.
The overworld map is going to be on a large poster board, with the map drawn on it and divided into many smaller sections, ala eu4. Each combat unit is going to be reresented with a painted popsicle stick, sharpened at one end so it can be inserted into the posterboard, with its combat strength written on a piece of packing tape on the side of the stick.
Each deity is powered by the number of people who worship it. So as Red loses more and more people, he becomes weaker and weaker, and eventuslly you fight him in this weaker state, or fight Blue in this weak state if you sided with Red. After you kill them, the deity you sided shows up, and explains the end state too you. If you're not happy about it, you can now fight the much stronger deity in an attempt to free the citizens of this land.
The specific strength of the deity you fight is determined by the size of their army at the end of the game. If their army is defeates, you will fight them at their palace, and they will be at their weakest. If their army is victorious, you will fight them on the battlefield, and their strength will depend on how much of their army is remaining. As Green, depending on your strategy, you may fight the deities one at a time, or if they fear defeat, they may temporarily join forces, and you may have to fight them together.