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View Full Version : Any tips for an a-typical campaign?



Danin
2008-05-06, 02:28 AM
Well, since the title of this thread does not in fact say it all I'll explain my dilemma.

Rather soon I plan on running a campaign with a very different style than I'm used to, that of a more subtle, in-depth sort of game. It will be set in a very badly ruined Greyhawk themed world where about a hundred years ago powerful creatures descended upon the land and wiped out most civilization. Only a union between the Churches of Pelor, Heironious and St. Cuthburt managed to protect a handful of major cities through powerful wards and fierce battles. The creatures still roam the land but the cities (5 major in total, one elven) remain safe behind their walls, connected by divine communication and a tightly guarded network of divine transportation.

In the aftermath of the fall the Churches sought to find an answer to why such evil fell upon them and decided that it was punishment for a lack of piousness. As such, in the ensuing years of rule dominated by the church that protected them, anything that was seen as disruptive to one's faith was outlawed and eventually hunted. No faith other than the trinity is accepted and, most importantly, the arcane arts are looked upon with hatred and fear for the Church blamed them above all else. The claims that the use of arcane arts will only lead to another, final fall as punishment from the Gods, the Church holds the state in a grip of fear, neighbors turning against neighbors for fear of them being a witch. Through the influence of the Church for all the years the populous has, for the most part, come to embrace the police state that their cities have become, thanking them for the protection they provide. Now, Paladins walk the streets of the cities that gleam with gold and marble, hunting any would be heretic who speaks ill of the faith or, worse yet, practices the forbidden arts.

The feel I'm going for is very Germany 1938, the state is in control and resistance is swept away without mercy. With a much more liberal interpretation of the alignment system this game will have a much darker, grittier feel than I am used to.

Now, as to the campaign, the likely players are a Binder, a Beguiler and a Beguiler / Illusionist and maybe a warlock or cleric of Vecna and it starts at level one. To openly oppose the church would be death so a lot more subtlety would be involved. The eventual plan is to discover a lot of corruption and scheming in the higher Church, escaping into the deadly deadly wilderness and finding out the true cause of "the fall" and saving the world. Now heres my problem.

The dilemma:

How do you run a more subtle campaign thats much less combat intensive? What plot hooks could I have at lower levels? How can I keep things fun but still gritty and scary (because have no doubt that any one paladin guard could kill them all at lower levels)? Is there anywhere I could go for advice on running a campaign in a setting like this? I really like the concept but I'm just not sure I have the experience to pull this off well on my own.

GiantITP forum gurus, ASSEMBLE!... Please?

random11
2008-05-06, 06:36 AM
Here is one simple option: The players are new recruits of a resistance organization.

Start by giving them simple errands to pass information between members.
Because they are new, weak and currently unknown, no one is out looking for them (which makes them perfect for the job), but they still have to be careful.
Even in the simple missions, make sure they understand they need to keep low profile from the paladins, and add many spot/hide checks for the tension, along with a few chase scenes once in a while.

As they rise in the ranks of their organization (and in levels), make the jobs more risky, harder to complete without being noticed.
Slowly expose them with more data as they go up the ranks and gain more trust and fame, with the option to bring a crushing blow to the organization that will force the players to work alone when they get strong enough.

nerulean
2008-05-06, 07:01 AM
One thing that might work well here is to plant some plot hooks within the characters themselves. As a bunch of sneaky, outlawed people, they're already going to have their suspicions about the big bad church, so it certainly wouldn't hurt to have each of them begin the game with a couple of pieces of in character knowledge that will give them a gentle shove in the right direction.

As for the power problem, there are a couple of solutions: you need to either bump the PCs, take the paladins down a bit, or have the PCs primarily in places where they won't meet them. Think about places in these cities that aren't considered important enough for the paladins to actually intervene but might still allow the PCs a way in. Supply and disposal are often good ones. Even if the food is all being created magically, someone's got to carry it from the place of production to the place where people can get hold of it, and since you're already within the city by that point then it's not going to be heavily guarded. Likewise, I can't see paladins being particularly inclined to shovel excrement. Both of these jobs are absolutely necessary, though, and so must lead to administrators who know things and have infiltratable offices that contain revealing documents.

Keld Denar
2008-05-06, 08:11 AM
Oh...post apocalypic Greyhawk? Sounds intense.

As a cause of the current state, you could blame it on something like the failure of the 2nd flight of fiends by the church of Rao in Veluna and the resulting reaping of the land at the hands of 303 demons of near demigod power. Another possibility could be a 2nd Rain of Colorless Fire reflavored to be triggered through a massive arcane backlash (similar to what created the Desert of Anaruach in the Realms). Yet a 3rd possibly the world of recovery following a complete domination of the Flaness by Iuz (the Evil). The Old One was then destroyed (or just banished...again) at the hands of a Paladin venerating Meyhenne(sp?), the Shield Maiden, and Pelor's ascended paladin. This paladin could even be the supreme commander of new world, or possibly was destroyed in the battle vs Iuz himself and his well meaning but over zealous brother/sidekick/lieutenant is now the supreme commander but lacks the compassion to run a post-war country. Consult the Living Greyhawk Gazeteer at a local game store for more info on any of these events.

Watch the movie Equilibrium. Aside from Christian Bale being a total badass, it fits the whole "gleaming pearl in a desolate landscape" setting and has an interesting society vs rebellion theme.

I'd actually have the PCs start off as part of the "enforcer" crew with the paladins. Rub em the wrong way with chaste military style life. Offer them the sweet seduction of tempation to join la resistance. Have them work their way up the food chain within its structure. Near the top (the climactic finale) turn the world back upside down. Make it so that the liberal group they are in actually serves a dark power, and the paladins are backed by an even darker power, and everyone is in a mad dash to the end to be the first in line to devour all of the souls in the universe, or something equally climactic. That would be pretty sweet.

valadil
2008-05-06, 08:39 AM
I like what I've read so far.

Here's an idea for dealing with paladins. Make it clear to your players that there are two kinds of combat scenes: fights and escapes. Ordinarily, running away is what you do when you lose a fight. In this game if you are in an escape scene instead of a normal combat, escape becomes the goal and getting away unharmed is how you win. I did this in my thieves guild game (the paladins were gestalt paladin/battle sorcerers 2 levels above the non-gestalt players and the players all knew it) and it worked out great, but it is imperative that the players understand that those aren't winnable fights, but winnable escape scenes (think agents in The Matrix).

obliged_salmon
2008-05-06, 07:25 PM
You should probably find some way to work combat into the mix now and again, but I would say give generous XP awards for creative roleplay and noncombat stuff the PC's do, and they'll get the hint of how they should be playing. As for combat possibilities, the bad guys might send lackeys after the PC's, or monsters could roam underground (or wherever PC's secret hideout is).

Danin
2008-05-06, 11:26 PM
Thanks all, you've been a great help!

I've already got the general cause for "the fall" worked out (which is not, in fact, arcane oriented) as well as the end of the campaign.


Make it so that the liberal group they are in actually serves a dark power, and the paladins are backed by an even darker power, and everyone is in a mad dash to the end to be the first in line to devour all of the souls in the universe, or something equally climactic. That would be pretty sweet.

That about sums it up, with the PCs eventually having to stop both groups from entering into open conflict, face an embodiment of divine wrath and rid the world of the ancient evils that were best upon it. They also have a conference with the Gods, but thats mostly for plot exposition.

I think the first level or so they are going to go about fixing a few of the problems around the city that the church hasn't gotten around to fix. They will end up having a small dispute with some sort of lower authority figure who will report them. They will be *asked politely* to join the Citizens Authority, a group kind of like street watch only with the authority to actually question and arrest people and are full of their own power. If they refuse to join authorities will be keeping a close watch on them and they may be sent to the ministry of information to be "re-educated". If they do join they will embark upon a number of minor quests and jobs under the watchful eye of their section senior. Eventually their abilities will be discovered and they will be forced into hiding, joining a small number of sympathizers in the city but will eventually be forced to flee into the wild lands. In the wilds they have the creatures to contend with as well as being hunted by the squads of paladins who patrol the wilderness. They also find that the world is not as uninhabited as they were lead to believe...

SofS
2008-05-06, 11:43 PM
One mechanical consideration might be that a less combat-focused game will require more and more varied skill use than that party might possess. If that is indeed an issue, you might consider letting cross-class skills cost one rank each while still enforcing the cross-class skill rank limit. It encourages players to broaden their skill set a bit without really changing game balance that much.