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View Full Version : DM Help Pre-Campaign Survey: Feedback requested!



NRSASD
2019-06-01, 10:02 PM
My Curse of Strahd game has come to a suitably climatic end (Strahd staked while everyone stood knee deep in wailing, slowly melting fairies), and I've got a fair number of new campaign ideas kicking around. I want to focus on one specifically, so I'm sending about a survey to my crew and asking them to rate the ideas 1-4. What do you guys think of the information I'm presenting? Do you feel like you have a decent understanding of the general theme of the adventure? Do you feel like you have enough material to begin thinking of a character concept for the campaign? Is there any details you'd like added to make a better assessment of the proposed ideas?

Relics Retrieval:
In one of the more unassuming, dingy corners of the New Weatherside district of Raetium, there is a small, unobtrusive shop. Stencilled in flaking green letters, the weatherbeaten sign of Alhazared’s Arcanum promises that “Wonders Eldritch, Sacred, and Profane” lie within. Many fortunes have been made or lost here, priceless artefacts and worthless baubles in equal measure; all have passed through Alhazared’s withered hands.
Premise: You play as one of Alhazared’s agents, securing specific items of great historic and/or magical importance to fill commissions for his wealthy, mysterious clients.
Genre/Theme/Inspired by: Heists, Indiana Jones, Treasure Hunts
Plot Arc Length: Short-medium. About 5-8 sessions per arc.
Number of Plot Arcs: Potentially infinite.
Setting: Varied. Each Arc is likely to have its own setting. Dwarven ruins, Merovian Noble Ball infiltration, Jungles, Underwater. It’ll be changing pretty frequently.
Travel/Combat/Diplomacy Balance: I’m expecting very little travel management, primarily dungeon delving, combat, negotiations, and politicking.
Sandbox/Railroad: More like a string of small sandboxes. Some will be very linear, others decidedly less so. They will probably not be majorly interconnected.

Melissos:
Two years ago, emissaries from the distant land of Melissos came to the known world in strange ships from the east, bearing tremendous wealth in foreign spices, jade, and jewels. The magical tempest that isolated their nation from the world had been breached, and the Melissian people were eager to meet their newfound neighbours. Drawn by the promise of wealth unimaginable, people from all walks of life flocked to Melissos like moths to a flame. The worldly and wise may suspect that not all is as it seems, but even they don’t begin to realize the dark secrets hidden in the heart of Melissos’ jungle…
Premise: You have recently arrived in Melissos, only to be accused of crimes (real or imagined) and enslaved. You are part of a work gang sent into the deepest interior of the jungle to begin excavating ruins from time immemorial.
Genre/Theme/Inspired by: Tomb of Annihilation, Mayan/Aztecs, Rebellions
Plot Arc Length: Long. Hard to say how long. Depends on your actions.
Number of Plot Arcs: Escape the jungle, get connections, find a way out of Melissos or take it down. So, 3.
Setting: Melissos is a tropical archipelago. Expect jungle fairly often, with possible mountains, ruins, urban, naval, and savannah terrain.
Travel/Combat/Diplomacy Balance: Pretty even mix of all three.
Sandbox/Railroad: Very much a sandbox. Everything is interconnected, and the fates of characters, towns, and even Melissos itself is entirely up to your actions.

Edit: I'm looking for feedback from the playground! Sorry, I realize I wasn't clear about that. This is what I get for posting while groggy.