PC Slavery Campaign

[gogogome]

My players told me that my recent games weren't "stimulating" enough for them, so I decided to run a PC slave campaign to see if that's "stimulating" enough for them.

Now, the issue I have is that slavery is a topic that can get dark really quickly, especially in a setting where mind control magic is limitless. So I need to pull this off without things getting serious and possibly hurting a player emotionally in real life.

I want the PC's slaver to be very intrusive and be a target of hate, but I don't want things to get dark and serious and make my players feel like crap after I railroad them with mind control magic.

So the only idea I have right now is the PCs must fork over all loot and treasure they find to their master, and the master will give the PCs subpar cheap adventuring gear which is not good enough to get the job done and the PCs have to improvise to accomplish dangerous tasks without dying. But I don't think this is enough "stimulation", and is nothing more than a glorified handicap.

I haven't decided whether I will force the players to kill good or innocent people. Doing so will make them hate the PC's slaver but it may also be too dark and serious.

And that's the limit of my imagination. Do you guys have any ideas that will incite hate towards the slaver that isn't too dark or serious?

[legomaster00156]

Ask the players if they want to play such a plot.

[AntiAuthority]

Without getting dark or serious... And assuming the players are interested in playing as slaves without a dark/serious plot (asking is a good idea so they know what they're getting into)...

Being smug about how much control they have over the characters might help. Not just being smug, as that can be charming. Make it unearned smugness, like the person controlling them is an airhead that got lucky or had connections and is pretty much heaping praise onto themselves for doing something anyone else could have done in the same situation.

There's also treating them like furniture and referring to the characters as it or some other demeaning pronoun and making them do ridiculous acts like making the the Barbarian or whatever try to persuade people and fail miserably (and forcing the players to roll). Or say, have the Mage attempt to do an absurd acrobatics check without a spell to buff them and watch them face plant (once again, making the Wizard player roll). Stuff that targets their weaknesses and gets the players engaged through rolling, and the possible frustration of failure.

Any praise the characters should get for doing well with subpar equipment, the owner takes the credit for it and makes it clear that the slaves were "Nothing before I found them." To help diminish their accomplishments, this ties back into the unearned smugness thing.

[gogogome]

Without getting dark or serious... And assuming the players are interested in playing as slaves without a dark/serious plot (asking is a good idea so they know what they're getting into)...

Being smug about how much control they have over the characters might help. Not just being smug, as that can be charming. Make it unearned smugness, like the person controlling them is an airhead that got lucky or had connections and is pretty much heaping praise onto themselves for doing something anyone else could have done in the same situation.

There's also treating them like furniture and referring to the characters as it or some other demeaning pronoun and making them do ridiculous acts like making the the Barbarian or whatever try to persuade people and fail miserably (and forcing the players to roll). Or say, have the Mage attempt to do an absurd acrobatics check without a spell to buff them and watch them face plant (once again, making the Wizard player roll). Stuff that targets their weaknesses and gets the players engaged through rolling, and the possible frustration of failure.

Any praise the characters should get for doing well with subpar equipment, the owner takes the credit for it and makes it clear that the slaves were "Nothing before I found them." To help diminish their accomplishments, this ties back into the unearned smugness thing.

That's a good start. Act like a "never my fault" type of guy who takes all the credit when things does go right. And insult the PCs with every breath.

[icefractal]

Ask the players if they want to play such a plot.
This. If all you're going on is "not stimulating" and you're jumping straight to this, that's like hearing someone didn't like a stew and going "Obviously not enough nutmeg! Better put in tons of it."

I'm not saying nobody would like a campaign with such a premise, but IME more people wouldn't than would.

[W3bDragon]

Instead of trying to pick out specific "slavery" troupes to introduce into the game, I suggest that you instead develop the main reason for why the PCs are enslaved. As you develop the the reasons why slavery is taking place and detail the people behind it, the relevant troupes will naturally occur.

For example, let's say that the PCs are part of an indigenous tribe that has been enslaved. There is a big difference in the themes of the game if the slavers were a more powerful tribe with whom they may share language, values, perhaps even familial ties. In this kind of slavery, they would likely be demeaned and made to work menial tasks to stoke the ego of the slavers.

They could have also been enslaved by a more advanced civilization, which would instead introduce elements of "civilizing the barbarians". New social structures would be created, with a hierarchy of slaves leading slaves in the service of the empire. Sustenance, shelter, and medicine would be doled out in exchange for assimilation into the ways of this advanced civilization, while keeping the slaves fully under the thumb of the conquerors.

They may also have been enslaved by a commercially minded group to use for mining or other labor intensive or dangerous endeavors, which would introduce the more merciless slave drivers that push them to the brink of death for more work. This kind of slavery would see the more brutal daily beatings and the ever present threat of death.

Of course, all of this will simply serve as a backdrop. The main hook of the adventure has to also be established. Are you planning on having them escape? Are they to escape and free the rest of their people? Are they to enact a plan to rise in the ranks of the slaves and gain incremental freedom that way? Are they protecting a sacred tribal relic that must never fall into the slavers' hands? You'll have to determine what the main question of the adventure is besides the slavery point.

Once all of this is done, the rest will naturally fall into place.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by W3bDragon
The main hook of the adventure has to also be established…. You'll have to determine what the main question of the adventure is besides the slavery point.

This is important. You need to decide if the campaign is all about slavery, or if the PCs simply begin as slaves and are expected to break free to pursue a broader storyline.

Most of the people I’ve gamed with wouldn’t be “emotionally hurt” in the slightest by this scenario, but they would devote their characters’ every breath to breaking free. If you’re trying to keep the PCs as slaves for an extended period, you’ll probably find yourself resorting to increasingly heavy-handed tactics or outright DM fiat. That might end up badly for everyone.

So, I would consider this carefully before planning your next campaign around this concept. If all your players want is “stimulating,” you might try coming up with some alternative concepts and seeing if your players would be interested in any of those.


Originally Posted by gogogome
My players told me that my recent games weren't "stimulating" enough for them….

Speaking of which, if you described the campaign(s) your players thought weren’t stimulating enough, maybe we can provide some suggestions on how to spice things up.

[gogogome]

This is important. You need to decide if the campaign is all about slavery, or if the PCs simply begin as slaves and are expected to break free to pursue a broader storyline.

I want them to break free mid campaign a little bit after they get access to break enchantment. And then kill their slaver.


Speaking of which, if you described the campaign(s) your players thought weren’t stimulating enough, maybe we can provide some suggestions on how to spice things up.

Typical Heroic adventurers saving the world you see in typical adventure modules published by Paizo or WotC.