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2009-09-15, 07:07 PM (ISO 8601)
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I Have a Campaign Idea! (First Post Massively Updated)
DM info:
SpoilerThe world was at war. An assassination by a secret group caused two nations to take up arms against each. Soon each of their allies joined, and their allies joined, and eventually... the whole of the prime material was locked in bloody conflict.
It was in the growing destruction that General Phaedrus saw opportunity. Taking around 2000 of his nation's best men, women, and their families -all loyal followers- and relocated to the evacuated Dataga City in the country of Enbalm. It was here that his wizards toiled for months on the secret project.
Phaedrus believed that the world would do well under his rule. He felt that now was the time to strike, while everyone was preoccupied and low on resources. But a military strike would not do. No, the General had been an adventurer once- even saved the world a couple times. He knew that any show of might would end with his head on a pike, probably at the hands of some rag-tag group of nobodies.
So Phaedrus had a brilliant idea: a mass enchantment spell. When his project was complete, he'd just press a button and *poof.* Instant ruler of the world.
The day was upon them. Phaedrus' followers were gathered into the main square of the city, a huge screen having been erected there for Phaedrus to address his people.
But as Phaedrus finished his speech and put the last elements in place for the ritual to be completed, something went wrong. The magicks altered somehow. The broadcast interrupted. Everything went silent.
On that sunny summer afternoon, in Dataga City, the city that had escaped the magical apocalypse that ended the great war, a fisherman turned to his wife. His eyes showed no love, and when he spoke it was as though speaking to a perfect stranger.
"Where are we?"
That was five years ago.
Updated DM Info:
SpoilerOriginally Posted by XallaceOriginally Posted by warrlAs for flight magic, well... it's not reliable enough and doesn't last long enough to get out over the ocean, and there's always the fear of flying monsters in the mountains.
And as rail-roady as all this might sound, I'm using it to keep the NPCs in check more than the PCs. If and when the PCs decide to venture beyond the city, I want I reason for why nobody else has been able to.Originally Posted by Xallace
Player info:
Spoiler"Not a single one remembers why we're here. Over the five years since "awakening" the people of this city have tried to rebuild their lives from the ground up. Some have had more success than others; certain things trigger memories long lost, and to this day our people are still discovering things about themselves. Skills they had, people they knew. We've achieved a sense of "normalcy," a day-to-day grind that we've settled into and be happy with.
But there's nagging worry at the backs of our minds. When we remember our skills, we can't remember why we had them. When we remember a face, we can't remember our relationships with them. Why are there so few of us in a city this size? Why is half the city decaying? How did we get here? Why?
The people who explore 'the Maze' - as we've called it - report inoperative war machines. Some of us know how to fix them. Why were we building these things? Were we at war? Are our enemies still out there?
What's more, we're trapped here in our city - if it is our city. The endless sea on one side, and we have nothing but fishing vessels. On all other sides stand forested mountains and rocky crags that serve as home to all sorts of horrible monsters. And worse even still, any attempts to reach the outside - if there is an outside - be they magical or mundane, through scrying or radio broadcast, has been met with failure. As far as this city is concerned, we are the last remaining community on the planet. We are safe here, for now at least. Whatever god forsook us is long gone, wrath appeased or simply forgotten. We are alone, but we are thriving. " - Thomas Fisher, The Last City in the World
City Info:
Spoiler
Originally Posted by The AirbaseOriginally Posted by The MazeOriginally Posted by The Fisher's GuildOriginally Posted by Crumplebottom ManorLast edited by Xallace; 2009-09-19 at 10:39 AM.
Extended Homebrew Signature
SpoilerCoplantor's Official Second-In-Command 2.0. It's alot like being Will Riker, but still with less alien women and also pirates.
Originally Posted by Avatars
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2009-09-15, 07:21 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Sounds awesome! But... what happened to Phaedrus?
Anemoia: Nostalgia for a time you've never known.
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2009-09-15, 07:33 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2006
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- The Pacific Northwest
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
I really like it. It's got a strong, central premise that's flexible enough to build tons of different stories around (scavenging/exploring the empty quarters or the endless sea, investigating the lost past, political maneuvering in a world where everyone woke up with no hierarchy or idea of who was in charge).
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2009-09-15, 07:56 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
radio OR magic? mmm... magitek?
cool world setting, I really like where you are going with it.
what is next though? the war machines are decayed, there are no enemies, no way to cross the ocean, no one to fight... what conflict with band together the a ragtag group of adventurers to rise to the challenge and face adventure?Last edited by taltamir; 2009-09-15 at 07:57 PM.
I do not have a superman complex; for I am God, not Superman!
the glass is always 100% full. Approximately 50% of its volume is full of dihydrogen monoxide and some dissolved solutes, and approx 50% a mixture of gasses known as "air" which contains roughly (by volume) 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of other gases.
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2009-09-15, 08:12 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2008
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Exactly. And if you couldn't tell from the opening, World War 1 Era. I'm thinking this campaign takes place roughly 1915-1925, Magitech style.
cool world setting, I really like where you are going with it.
what is next though? the war machines are decayed, there are no enemies, no way to cross the ocean, no one to fight... what conflict with band together the a ragtag group of adventurers to rise to the challenge and face adventure?Originally Posted by Lycan 01
There are two ways I can think of to go about this:
Phaedrus Didn't Lose His Memory. He had a safe-house that was magically protected. In this scenario, I'm thinking that the general has been scheming up a way to make the best of a bad situation - that is, he's been scouring the ruins of his labs for salvagable experiments. His goal is to re-create the ritual, and this time make sure magical armageddon doesn't ruin his plans.
I imagine Phaedrus as a martially-inclined blood magus, and a very powerful one at that. Utilizing this, Phaedrus has been taking advantage of some of the more fringe members of Last City. Claiming he can give their lives meaning and teach them how to take advantage of this new world, etc etc. Slowly building something of a "cult" to help him put his mind-control spell back in action.
Phaedrus lost his memory. In this version, Phaedrus is just another NPC that the PCs interact with. He's nothing too special, although he's a good leader and a very noble man.
Unfortunately, some incident triggers his blood-magus power. Thinking that this was brought upon him purposely, he retreats to the fringes of the city to plot his revenge on the targets of his growing paranoia- that is, everyone. For a good comparison, think if John Carter (A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs) were spliced with Tetsuo (Akira).
Originally Posted by Piedmon_SamaExtended Homebrew Signature
SpoilerCoplantor's Official Second-In-Command 2.0. It's alot like being Will Riker, but still with less alien women and also pirates.
Originally Posted by Avatars
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2009-09-15, 08:27 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Hmm, well I'll say this much. I enjoyed reading it, and immediately felt interested in exploring your setting. Which is pretty much what campaign concepts are for, so solid job. The one area I'm a bit iffy on is your BBEG, who doesn't feel nearly as inspired as the rest of what you wrote.
Also, have you worked out what caused the malfunction and why this particular effect occurred?
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2009-09-15, 09:01 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
I like this, a lot of promise and possibilities.
If you have flexible PCs...well, you don't give much info on Phaedrius besides the fact that he's male.
Maybe one of the PCs is Phaedrius without realising it?
Edit: Or the PCs realise they were on different sides 5 years ago.
It opens a lot of possibilities...for anything.
It would be especially fun as a PC going "WTF IS GOING ON?!?"
Edit2: You could also consider allowing the PCs to make near impossible knowledge checks if they ask "Do I know why I can do this?" or something like that. If they roll a 20, give them a brief flashbackLast edited by Sipex; 2009-09-15 at 09:11 PM.
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2009-09-15, 10:02 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Awesome to hear! Thank you.
The one area I'm a bit iffy on is your BBEG, who doesn't feel nearly as inspired as the rest of what you wrote.
Also, have you worked out what caused the malfunction and why this particular effect occurred?
As to whether the world died or its people were transported somewhere else or some such thing, that's a mystery.
And again, I'm open to suggestions on that too.
Originally Posted by Sipex
If you have flexible PCs...well, you don't give much info on Phaedrius besides the fact that he's male.
Maybe one of the PCs is Phaedrius without realising it?
Edit: Or the PCs realise they were on different sides 5 years ago.
It opens a lot of possibilities...for anything.
It would be especially fun as a PC going "WTF IS GOING ON?!?"
Edit2: You could also consider allowing the PCs to make near impossible knowledge checks if they ask "Do I know why I can do this?" or something like that. If they roll a 20, give them a brief flashback
Hey, I pitched this to a couple people, and I've got interest. Because (as I mentioned) I wanted character ideas to help flesh out the story, here's our first potential player:
No name so far, but genasi artificer. She wants a magic motorcycle and a tiny robot familiar named Scoot. She remembers how to fix some of the war machines in "the Maze," and her interest in technology leads her to assume she was an engineer of some kind. In her previous life, she kept a journal. For some reason she wrote the journal as a 3rd-person narrative, and her current self only remembers the journal as "her favorite novel." Additionally, several pages in the journal have been ripped out.Extended Homebrew Signature
SpoilerCoplantor's Official Second-In-Command 2.0. It's alot like being Will Riker, but still with less alien women and also pirates.
Originally Posted by Avatars
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2009-09-16, 12:11 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Do this one. He's a noble man - now. But his spell killed the rest of the world. Except for a few monsters that now roam the wilds.
The players eventually find out that Phaddeus, the kindly old mayor of their town, is in fact Dr. Phadreus, exterminator of virtually all humanity. But he doesn't remember it. People/things are coming to kill him for his crimes, there is a risk he might turn evil again someday, and if he dies, surely their city will break apart and die with him.
What do they do now?!?www.WorldOfPrime.com and Sword of the Bright Lady (Flintlock Fantasy!)
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2009-09-16, 02:41 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Some distance from the city - far enough that nobody has gotten that far yet, on land anyway - there is a ring.
It completely surrounds the city.
Careful analysis with sufficiently precise instruments will reveal that the ring is merely where the surface of a sphere intersects the surface of the ground.
In effect, a humongous ice-cream scoop lifted Dataga and the surrounding area out of its world and deposited it in a similar-size hole in another world - or maybe another time. The city is appropriately leveled and at sea level (so the boats are in the water and the city isn't, while the walls that were vertical before the change are still vertical), but it is not necessarily the case that anything else matches very well.
In particular you're likely to have some interesting cliff-faces, new lakes where streams can no longer flow across the edge and maybe drained lakes because they are no longer enclosed on one side. Roads from the city will go to the ring and just stop. Animal trails that cross the ring will be post-event on at least one side. If there are any roads outside the ring, they will also just stop where they intersect the ring.
Outside the ring can be:
* The same sentient races, with more primitive technology - the radios actually work just fine, it's just that there's nobody else out there with radios
* The same sentient races, with more advanced technology - nobody's used that old inefficient technology in centuries
* Other sentient races, with whatever technology - and they probably don't speak Common.
* No sentient races
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2009-09-16, 02:56 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Wasn't this the premise of Big O?
Anyway I vote have Dr P mem washed but having vague suspicions he did something wrong.Originally Posted by Alabenson
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2009-09-16, 07:40 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
It's looking like "memory loss" is ahead 2 for 2! Thank you for offering an idea, though I don't think I would be using it as-is. I'm not sure what would be after him, for one. Inevitables? That dark stuff from Ravenloft?
Actually... what if Phaedrus had his mind wiped, but someone else didn't? One of his wizard/engineers maybe, or a family member... someone who knew about his safehouse and got inside first. The result is someone who perhaps hates Phaedrus for what he'd done, feeling especially betrayed as a once-loyal follower.
Originally Posted by warrl
Originally Posted by BoBVosh
Anyway I vote have Dr P mem washed but having vague suspicions he did something wrong.Extended Homebrew Signature
SpoilerCoplantor's Official Second-In-Command 2.0. It's alot like being Will Riker, but still with less alien women and also pirates.
Originally Posted by Avatars
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2009-09-16, 10:51 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
I got distracted on the name Phaedrus and tried to read into that too much. Depending on your players reading habits you may want to alter the name.
If you like what I have to say, please check out my GMing Blog where I discuss writing and roleplaying in greater depth.
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2009-09-16, 10:54 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
... This calls for something:
BIG O, SHOWTIME!
seriously you need robot maids now.Last edited by 9mm; 2009-09-16 at 10:55 PM.
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2009-09-16, 11:27 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Extended Homebrew Signature
SpoilerCoplantor's Official Second-In-Command 2.0. It's alot like being Will Riker, but still with less alien women and also pirates.
Originally Posted by Avatars
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2009-09-17, 01:20 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
I'll third the remarks so far: The premise is interesting and Phaedrus should lose his memory. This looks like good stuff!
Some stuff that was unclear:
1) The city: I know it's a mystery for the players to work out, but what is *your* explanation for why "half the city is decaying?" What about the other half? Is it reality breakdown? Plague? Rust? Termites? Does "city" refer to the infrastructure itself or the people in it? Inquiring minds want to know, and this is one of those things you should probably have the answer to before you begin.
2) The outlands: instead of the sea, is the area inland of the city completely impassable or just very difficult to get through? Are there working planes and blimps? Flight magic?
3) The 2000: Were they in suspended animation or just comatose? How do they *know* that five years have passed? Heck, that could even be a plot point - someone rediscovers an astronomy ability and determines that the time assumptions are off.Last edited by Jade_Tarem; 2009-09-17 at 01:21 AM.
Amazing Zealot avatar by Elder Tsofu.
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2009-09-17, 02:50 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Unsure what the DM wants, but it is easy enough to say the people don't know and have many answers.
If the sea surround is big enough (1000 feet or so) then flight magic from low level casters will run out before they get across. He said something about outsiders being low tech and I assumed magic.
They knew how to talk. If they count days they could easily know how long a year is. I'm assuming this is classic fantasy amnesia where they only forget people and events. Not basics such as how to walk, eat, talk, and background knowledge of calendars, doors, etc.Originally Posted by Alabenson
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2009-09-17, 05:53 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Looks good!
I did something with a memory loss once. I don't know if it will fit your campaign, especially if you have more than one player in the party.
BTW, it was in GURPS
The player started with a blank character sheet, and no background at all about his character.
The adventure starts in a dungeon, after triggering a memory loss trap (something that he discovers later of course).
The point was to create his character while playing, according to the choices he makes.
For example, if there was a room with a weapons rack, the first he took is the same that was added to his skills list.
If a room contained a bookshelf, treasure and a body, attributes will be given according to what he checks and how.
After that, the rest of the points were also distributed freely by the player.
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2009-09-17, 09:57 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
If you like what I have to say, please check out my GMing Blog where I discuss writing and roleplaying in greater depth.
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2009-09-17, 10:10 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
I like it, especially because it puts a twist on leveling; you're not becoming stronger, you're just slowly remembering how to do all of the stuff you used to do.
What you do with the rest of the world depends on what you want the focus of the game to be; if this is a campaign limited to the city, its inhabitants, and exploring what happened to them, then the rest of the world is dead (or may as well be dead, for all intents and purposes).
If you're more concerned with exploring the larger, global plot, then the rest of the world has changed since these people have been in limbo for the last five or so years. Has the war resolved? Who won? Who lost? Do they find Phaedrus and his city by accident? Do they use some sort of magical/technological scrying to find them? Do they send an army to finish the job and end the last remnants of an ugly war? Did the rest of the world lose its memory as well? If so, how have they coped in the meantime? Or perhaps the disaster had different effects in different cities, due to different utilizations of magic in those places. One city has everyone suddenly become a different race, everyone suddenly loses all magical ability, their city is thrown forward into time . . . go wild.
I think a "campaign idea exchange" thread is well over due, incidentally.Halbert's Cubicle - Wherein I write about gaming and . . . you know . . . stuff.
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2009-09-17, 11:19 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
This was also the premise for a pretty good eisode of Star Trek TNG.
It would be nice if at least some of the party members ended up being the unskilled family members of the chosen elite. Perhaps make Phaedrus a realtively useless member of the new society. Crippled by his overwhelming sense of guilt, he never seems to get anything done. Then when the (I assume) eventual reveal is made, he becomes a very valuable ally.
I like it, I'd play it.
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2009-09-17, 11:41 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Thanks!
1) The city: I know it's a mystery for the players to work out, but what is *your* explanation for why "half the city is decaying?" What about the other half? Is it reality breakdown? Plague? Rust? Termites? Does "city" refer to the infrastructure itself or the people in it? Inquiring minds want to know, and this is one of those things you should probably have the answer to before you begin.
Now, "half of the city"- that is, the half on the South side of the river that cuts through Dataga- was very old to begin with. A historic district, if you will, and one that required constant upkeep. So when the population left, and there was nobody around to take care of it, it just started falling apart. If we say the war started ~10 years before the cataclysm (this was a freakin' big war), I'd say that gives plenty of time for natural decay to set in.
In contrast, the North side of the river was much newer, and much more stable. This is where the 2000 made their residences, and still do today.
I imagine the attack on Dataga involved some kind of summoner's rampage, which would account for all of the monsters. Not urban beasts, they retreated to the mountains.
Should provide an outline of the city itself to you guys or would that be unimportant right now?
2) The outlands: instead of the sea, is the area inland of the city completely impassable or just very difficult to get through? Are there working planes and blimps? Flight magic?
As for flight magic, well... it's not reliable enough and doesn't last long enough to get out over the ocean, and there's always the fear of flying monsters in the mountains.
And as rail-roady as all this might sound, I'm using it to keep the NPCs in check more than the PCs. If and when the PCs decide to venture beyond the city, I want I reason for why nobody else has been able to.
3) The 2000: Were they in suspended animation or just comatose? How do they *know* that five years have passed? Heck, that could even be a plot point - someone rediscovers an astronomy ability and determines that the time assumptions are off.
This is the point where people are starting to think about exploration and discovering what happened rather than where their next meal will come from.
Originally Posted by valadil
Originally Posted by Hal
Thank you everybody! Keep the comments coming, this is a great help.
EDIT:
Originally Posted by KeshayLast edited by Xallace; 2009-09-17 at 11:43 AM.
Extended Homebrew Signature
SpoilerCoplantor's Official Second-In-Command 2.0. It's alot like being Will Riker, but still with less alien women and also pirates.
Originally Posted by Avatars
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2009-09-17, 11:45 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
This was dealt with in an episode of Stargate SG-1 as well. Formerly evil person (known as the "destroyer of worlds") accidentally wipes the memory of everyone on the planet, including herself. She turns out to have healing aptitudes, and eventually devises an antidote, takes it, and tries to kill herself out of guilt. Other characters stop her and convince her to wipe her memory again, while taking notes that she is "allergic" to the antidote.
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2009-09-17, 11:53 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
This is an excellent concept. I'd definitely agree that you want at least one person in the city who Still Remembers. Perhaps even two or three, but very few in any event. This person should be hiding somewhere, and should ideally have a Cool Underground Hideout.
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2009-09-17, 02:06 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
this is great! it would be fun to add letters from before that hold clues to the former lives of the PCs. there are so any options!!!
my active account is now ukuleleninja.
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2009-09-17, 02:56 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Man, I want to play this now, too! Even if, from reading this, my head is full of spoilers. It still sounds like a great game!
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2009-09-17, 03:03 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
The matter of records might be a problem. Wouldn't there be very accurate records about why the nations were at war with each other and what was going on? Of course the memories were wiped by magic so perhaps the spell wiped out records as well...
SpoilerThanks to Sneak for the slick Bugbear avatar!
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2009-09-17, 03:06 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
The idea sounds awsome, but I think it would also be interesting to not stat the campaign 5 years after X, but exactly on the point where everyone is assembled on the main square and wondering what he's doing there and who all those other people are.
We are not standing on the shoulders of giants, but on very tall tower of other dwarves.
Spriggan's Den Heroic Fantasy Roleplaying
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2009-09-17, 04:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
Thanks everyone for the support! This is awesome. Do you all want me to post more info on the city itself for evaluation?
Originally Posted by Truwar
Originally Posted by Yora
But the players around here wouldn't be too interested in that. They need at least a little something to go on, and besides: this way there's been enough time for power groups to set up.Extended Homebrew Signature
SpoilerCoplantor's Official Second-In-Command 2.0. It's alot like being Will Riker, but still with less alien women and also pirates.
Originally Posted by Avatars
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2009-09-17, 05:23 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: I Have a Campaign Idea! (How's it look?)
I'm liking so far.
Sounds fun enough.Remember how I was wishing for the peace of oblivion a minute ago?
Yeah. That hasn't exactly changed with more knowledge of the situation. -Security Chief Victor Jones, formerly of the UESC Marathon.
X-Com avatar by BRC. He's good folks.