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View Full Version : The Residuum Must Flow- A Campaign and Setting Idea



chronoplasm
2008-07-30, 06:13 PM
Long ago, the Ancients of Runa built great machines called dungeons. These dungeons are vital as they are used to distill a magical substance called residuum. The residuum coagulates and take shape as monsters which must be slaughtered to extract the precious substance as well as other materials like meat and bone.

While residuum is used mainly for the creation of magical items, it is also used for the creation of Adventurers. When residuum is injected into a pregnant woman, the child will be born with many strange traits that enable powerful talents. Adults can also awaken great power within themselves by injecting themselves with residuum, but they often do so at the cost of their sanity.
Adventurers are neccessary as they are able to journey deeper into the dungeons to extract more residuum. Adventurers also form the backbone of society as they almost always go on to accomplish great deeds and can turn the tide of battle when called upon.

Since the Ancients did not leave heirs, wars are often fought by those who wish to claim a dungeon for themselves.
In this campaign I'm doing, the dungeon of Niknam was taken over by an invading army. A group of adventurers and some redshirts are sent in to reclaim the dungeon.

What do you think?

DracoDei
2008-07-30, 07:15 PM
Hillarious justification for dungeons and adventuring...

Vadin
2008-07-30, 07:54 PM
Kind of reminds me of BioShock.

GryffonDurime
2008-07-30, 10:57 PM
You got Dune in my Final Fantasy IX.

...It's a very...bendy sort of justification.

chronoplasm
2008-07-30, 11:04 PM
...It's a very...bendy sort of justification.

Thanks. :)

I'm thinking of having the dungeon of Niknam as a recurring dungeon with multiple levels that the players will have to unlock over time.

One level for example has two statues guarding a doorway. These two statues represent two brothers who once owned and guarded this dungeon. One brother was a human, the other was an orc. Though the orcish brother was adopted, his brother loved him just the same and the two went on to win many battles together.
Each brother had a key to this dungeon. Both keys must be inserted into their respective slots at the same time to open the door. The brothers kept these keys with them at all times, even to battle in faraway nations.
You must recover both of the keys to open the door and journey deeper into the dungeon.

What do you think?

Lappy9000
2008-07-30, 11:31 PM
What do you think?

As long as the PC's don't have to slough their way back down to that room, then I guess it's fine (don't repeat this sort of idea too often; it'll become real old real fast).

chronoplasm
2008-07-30, 11:42 PM
As long as the PC's don't have to slough their way back down to that room, then I guess it's fine (don't repeat this sort of idea too often; it'll become real old real fast).

I'm thinking of putting in an elevator. The players will have to go down a few floors to fix the generator, but after that they can use it to cut down on the footwork between floors. This elevator will take them as far as the room of the two brothers.

Any suggestions for how I can shake things up?