Trustypeaches
2019-06-24, 11:25 AM
Heya!
I've been mulling over a new campaign idea about exploring to an uncharted landmass. I am looking for feedback, and wondering if anyone had any suggestions for resources that could be useful, other adventures that might be useful to model this on, or mechanics from other games that could be useful here.
Campaign Premise
The world is abuzz after a merchant vessel, knocked off course by a storm, stumbled upon something incredible: an undiscovered continent in a stretch of ocean thought to be empty, a land of strange and fantastical environments rich with untapped resources. The new continent is uncharted and dangerous, but teeming with opportunity, sending factions from the politically-unstable Old World scrambling to claim land and resources.
There are a half-dozen major expeditions with feet on the ground in the New World, all of which are competing to claim the natural resources found there. These powerful factions are seeking out adventurers and scholars who would take on the task of exploring these mysterious wilds and uncovering its secrets.
Players take the role of new recruits to one of these expedition forces. Their duties are flexible: mapping regions, setting up base camps, documenting wildlife, retrieving samples of unique resources, dispatching of dangerous wildlife, defending from rival expeditions, and even engaging in diplomatic relations with local civilizations. The biggest task of all is to unravel to mystery behind how this continent suddenly appeared to begin with.
What the Players Do
The campaign will be about on the player's efforts to further their expedition's efforts in the new world, which includes:
Exploring new Regions: mapping out areas, marking locations, setting up research outposts, etc.
Managing Outposts: Interacting with staff, managing resources, upgrading camps, claiming land, etc.
Research Field Work: Documenting wildlife, retrieving samples, exploring archaeological sites, etc.
Security: Dispatching dangerous wildlife, interacting with natives, gathering intel on rival expeditions, etc.
A typical game loop might involve heading to a new region and scouting out for a suitable location to build an outpost, which may involve dealing with immediate threats such as rabid wildlife. Once the camp is set up, players continue to explore and chart out the region while fielding tasks from the personnel at camp based on their findings.
A biologist is intrigued by the player's reports of bio-luminescent slime in a nearby cave network and asks them to retrieve a sample for them. The provisions manager wants to check if the nearby lakewater is drinkable, which can save them money on supply lines. The security officer discovered a scout searching their camp last night and wants players to track them down in the swamps north of camp. Etc.
My hope is that each of these activities ties into one another and have meaningful rewards to incentivize players. Some of these rewards include:
Gold: Money that belongs to the players and is used to purchase and upgrade equipment. It is rewarded for virtually every task in the game: every creature you document, every resource you mark, and every location you discover earns players a small stipend. Players can also sell valuables they find on their travels to third parties for extra dough.
Funding: Money that is shared between the whole expedition rather than belonging to any individual player. The more successful the expedition is, the more funding it receives. It can be used to fund research into new technology, set up new outposts, supply shipments from the Old World, hire new staff, and make other upgrades to the player's resources.
Resources: Uncovering and retrieving unique resources can allow the expedition's research department to develop new equipment upgrades and consumables for the party to use.
There are, of course, other rewards players' could receive for quests; there is still "loot" to be found out in the world from other expeditions or long-forgotten civilizations. There are also social rewards (and consequences) for completing quests, especially when they involve the native population or other expedition forces.
This campaign doesn't have an overarching narrative or a BBEG (yet), and for at least the first Tier the story focus will be on the players and the cast of NPCs that make up their expedition force. Depending on the player's actions, larger-scale narratives may form involving the other expeditions (and the Old World factions behind them), the Old / Primeval Gods that live on the New World, and the mystery behind the lost civilization whose ruins litter the continent.
So What I'm Looking For
With all that in mind, I'm looking for feedback on this concept and any tools and resources that might be useful for structuring some of the mechanics I had in mind. In particular, I'm hoping to find fun and meaningful ways to structure:
Exploration and Cartography
Resource and Wildlife Cataloging
Meaningful Gold Economy
Base Management / Upgrades
If anyone has ever run a campaign like this (or with a similar theme) I would welcome advice. I'm also wondering if there's any existing official or homebrew 5e adventure material that could be incorporated into this campaign concept with ease.
I've been mulling over a new campaign idea about exploring to an uncharted landmass. I am looking for feedback, and wondering if anyone had any suggestions for resources that could be useful, other adventures that might be useful to model this on, or mechanics from other games that could be useful here.
Campaign Premise
The world is abuzz after a merchant vessel, knocked off course by a storm, stumbled upon something incredible: an undiscovered continent in a stretch of ocean thought to be empty, a land of strange and fantastical environments rich with untapped resources. The new continent is uncharted and dangerous, but teeming with opportunity, sending factions from the politically-unstable Old World scrambling to claim land and resources.
There are a half-dozen major expeditions with feet on the ground in the New World, all of which are competing to claim the natural resources found there. These powerful factions are seeking out adventurers and scholars who would take on the task of exploring these mysterious wilds and uncovering its secrets.
Players take the role of new recruits to one of these expedition forces. Their duties are flexible: mapping regions, setting up base camps, documenting wildlife, retrieving samples of unique resources, dispatching of dangerous wildlife, defending from rival expeditions, and even engaging in diplomatic relations with local civilizations. The biggest task of all is to unravel to mystery behind how this continent suddenly appeared to begin with.
What the Players Do
The campaign will be about on the player's efforts to further their expedition's efforts in the new world, which includes:
Exploring new Regions: mapping out areas, marking locations, setting up research outposts, etc.
Managing Outposts: Interacting with staff, managing resources, upgrading camps, claiming land, etc.
Research Field Work: Documenting wildlife, retrieving samples, exploring archaeological sites, etc.
Security: Dispatching dangerous wildlife, interacting with natives, gathering intel on rival expeditions, etc.
A typical game loop might involve heading to a new region and scouting out for a suitable location to build an outpost, which may involve dealing with immediate threats such as rabid wildlife. Once the camp is set up, players continue to explore and chart out the region while fielding tasks from the personnel at camp based on their findings.
A biologist is intrigued by the player's reports of bio-luminescent slime in a nearby cave network and asks them to retrieve a sample for them. The provisions manager wants to check if the nearby lakewater is drinkable, which can save them money on supply lines. The security officer discovered a scout searching their camp last night and wants players to track them down in the swamps north of camp. Etc.
My hope is that each of these activities ties into one another and have meaningful rewards to incentivize players. Some of these rewards include:
Gold: Money that belongs to the players and is used to purchase and upgrade equipment. It is rewarded for virtually every task in the game: every creature you document, every resource you mark, and every location you discover earns players a small stipend. Players can also sell valuables they find on their travels to third parties for extra dough.
Funding: Money that is shared between the whole expedition rather than belonging to any individual player. The more successful the expedition is, the more funding it receives. It can be used to fund research into new technology, set up new outposts, supply shipments from the Old World, hire new staff, and make other upgrades to the player's resources.
Resources: Uncovering and retrieving unique resources can allow the expedition's research department to develop new equipment upgrades and consumables for the party to use.
There are, of course, other rewards players' could receive for quests; there is still "loot" to be found out in the world from other expeditions or long-forgotten civilizations. There are also social rewards (and consequences) for completing quests, especially when they involve the native population or other expedition forces.
This campaign doesn't have an overarching narrative or a BBEG (yet), and for at least the first Tier the story focus will be on the players and the cast of NPCs that make up their expedition force. Depending on the player's actions, larger-scale narratives may form involving the other expeditions (and the Old World factions behind them), the Old / Primeval Gods that live on the New World, and the mystery behind the lost civilization whose ruins litter the continent.
So What I'm Looking For
With all that in mind, I'm looking for feedback on this concept and any tools and resources that might be useful for structuring some of the mechanics I had in mind. In particular, I'm hoping to find fun and meaningful ways to structure:
Exploration and Cartography
Resource and Wildlife Cataloging
Meaningful Gold Economy
Base Management / Upgrades
If anyone has ever run a campaign like this (or with a similar theme) I would welcome advice. I'm also wondering if there's any existing official or homebrew 5e adventure material that could be incorporated into this campaign concept with ease.