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| Neal |
 Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:24 pm Post subject: I need campaign ideas: |
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The goal here is for you to take a sentence or two to tell me something that would be awesome in a fantasy RPG. I'm building a homebrew world for my players and our 4e campaign, and thus far it's largely undefined beyond Zobeck and one or two regions. You can look at our campaign blog here, which is where most of the worldbuilding and stuff is going strong.
But I just want tropes, idea nuggets, NPCs, factions, subplots, ANYTHING that you can think of that would excite you as a player. To prove I'm not immune from doing this, I'll start:
1. I want to see what happens when election season begins in the Free City of Zobeck. I'm modelling it off Cicero's account of his race to be Co-consul - a true life event that should have been a D&D game.
2. Poor women and the prostitutes of Zobeck begin reporting the theft of babies; clues suggest the Eladrin Embassador might know what's going on.
3. Faction: Pigiron, a minor goblin chieftain, has been making noise as he slowly unifies the surrounding tribes under his banner. He claims to be star-touched, and he dreams things true.
Just start firing cool stuff at me - I'm all ears, and want to hear the best you've got, as many of them as you've got.
-neal |
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| Zherog |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:59 am Post subject: |
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A) Recently, prostitutes have turned up dead, their bodies mutilated by somebodyfamiliar with surgical techniques.
B) A nearby lake, a popular picnic location, has had a rash of terrible accidents lately, resulting in several children drowning to death.
C) Teens visiting a popular secluded area of town are turning up dead, their skin flayed from their bodies in a gruesome manner.
D) A large, winged, cloven-hoofed creature hunts in a nearby forest, terrorizing those who dare to travel through. Sometimes, the creature makes forays out of its forest, in search of new prey.
E) A red haired creature is known to frolic on the shores of a lake and the surrounding region. While plenty of people claim to have seen the creature, its elusive manner has kept it from being captured. It's said this fey creature holds power over luck and weather.
Is that the sort of stuff you're looking for? 
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John Ling
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| Neal |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:09 am Post subject: |
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Yes, indeed, that stuff's very nice - I completely forget to check Monday Monsters Archives.
What else ya got? |
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| Eyebite |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:11 am Post subject: |
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| Zherog wrote: |
A) Recently, prostitutes have turned up dead, their bodies mutilated by somebodyfamiliar with surgical techniques.
B) A nearby lake, a popular picnic location, has had a rash of terrible accidents lately, resulting in several children drowning to death.
C) Teens visiting a popular secluded area of town are turning up dead, their skin flayed from their bodies in a gruesome manner.
D) A large, winged, cloven-hoofed creature hunts in a nearby forest, terrorizing those who dare to travel through. Sometimes, the creature makes forays out of its forest, in search of new prey.
E) A red haired creature is known to frolic on the shores of a lake and the surrounding region. While plenty of people claim to have seen the creature, its elusive manner has kept it from being captured. It's said this fey creature holds power over luck and weather.
Is that the sort of stuff you're looking for? |
Ohhhh. I see what you did there.
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Joshua Stevens
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| Neal |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Eyebite wrote: |
| Ohhhh. I see what you did there. |
I am aware of most Internet traditions, friend, so forgive me for being forward. Care to help out? Surely you've got things I can insert into my campaign, too.... |
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| Eyebite |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Neal wrote: |
| Eyebite wrote: |
| Ohhhh. I see what you did there. |
I am aware of most Internet traditions, friend, so forgive me for being forward. Care to help out? Surely you've got things I can insert into my campaign, too.... |
I was just taking a jab at the esteemed Mr. Ling. He very sneakily linked articles to specific Monday Monsters that he created. (And they're all awesome by the way.)
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Joshua Stevens
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| Neal |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:31 pm Post subject: |
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Oh, I caught that. But you should definitely step up to the plate yourself - anything you got would be appreciated.
-neal |
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| Eyebite |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Neal wrote: |
Oh, I caught that. But you should definitely step up to the plate yourself - anything you got would be appreciated.
-neal |
I had a certain jumping fiend that you could string a series of mysteries around.
http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/article74.php
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Joshua Stevens
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| Zherog |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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Spring-heeled jack was very cool. It would make a fantastic urban adventure, especially if you could manage to work in a bit of foreshadowing up front, such as through a newspaper or town crier or something.
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John Ling
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| R.C, Jr |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 5:19 pm Post subject: |
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-The land is ruled by a devil. She is very public with her demonic heritage as she doesn't feel anyone in her kingdom could dethrone her.
-The half-orcs in one specific city all speak lizardman.
-Instantly and unexpectedly, all non-magical steel in the kingdom turns to salt.
-A tongueless giant won't let anyone travel a crucial trade route. He clearly wants something but can't say what.
-Vampire tornadoes.
-A rainstorm continues for almost a month when sahuagin start invading previously landlocked cities. Are they responsible for this weather or simply taking advantage of it?
-An old black dragon believes the only parts of humanoids worth eating are the arms and legs. Dozens of victims have been stripped of their valuables and their limbs and left for dead in remote areas of the land.
-A PC's family is turned to stone. Now, using star metal weapons and a baby phoenix housed in a magic shield, they must drive his evil serpent-men back into another and vanquish their leader, the cruel wizard Wrath-Amon.
-Portraits have been appearing in midtown of citizens that all die within the week. A portrait of a PC appears.
-Seriously, vampire tornadoes.
Last edited by R.C, Jr on Sat Mar 28, 2009 11:55 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| Daigle |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Something, a dream perhaps, compelled me to post something about vampire tornadoes. |
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| Neal |
| Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 11:28 am Post subject: |
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R.C, those are fantastic - I love all of them except the vampire tornado (which leaves me in a distinct minority).
I can use a bunch of those! Got any more? Anyone?
I've already got a take on the land ruled by the devil in my campaign that I'm quite proud of; The portrait idea will almost certainly be the plot of one of my one-shots.
-neal |
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| R.C, Jr |
| Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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Just so we're clear, this one:
| R.C, Jr wrote: |
-A PC's family is turned to stone. Now, using star metal weapons and a baby phoenix housed in a magic shield, they must drive his evil serpent-men back into another and vanquish their leader, the cruel wizard Wrath-Amon.
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Is just the premise to the Conan animated series, Conan the Adventurer. Great premise, great show, but I can't take credit for that one. And although vampire tornadoes was a joke, I might have to stat up some kind of air elemental that drains blood.
I can think of a couple more for you:
-Every now and then, the PCs come across a dagger with a white sash stabbed into a wall, the floor, a statue. This is the border of magical ward against [ghosts/devils/demons/evil]. If too many of these daggers or their sashes are removed, the ward ends and the [ghosts/devils/demons/evil] can run free!
-A magically powerful evil cleric finds a solution to his physically weakness. He captures a troll, cuts it open, builds himself a small cockpit (for lack of a better word) inside, which the regenerating giant then seals. The cleric lives within this troll, dominating him and wearing him like a living suit that repairs itself. To stop this juggernaut of magic and strength, the PCs must first kill the troll, then the cleric. |
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| xero |
| Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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Currently I'm in the beginning stages of developing an adventure with a setting similar to colonial-era Africa. Heart of Darkness, Dr. Livingstone, trekking-through-the-jungle kind of stuff.
Right now to me, looking forward to a colonial jungle flavored adventure makes the thought of trudging through another moldy old castle cellar downright unappealing. |
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| Amy Carrier |
| Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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If you’re looking for a background theme for your campaign, how about this:
There is a schism in the church over what names the gods should be called by. Since the very nature of the gods is shaped (at least in part) by how they are worshiped, this is not a trivial matter.
This is easy to set up in a campaign where the Olympian religion is used, since there is already an alternate set of names for the gods - the Greek names (Zeus, Aires, Athena, etc.) versus the Roman names (Jupiter, Mars, Minerva, and so on). It would also work for the Norse religion, although the German vs. Scandinavian names are more similar (Wotan = Odin, Doner = Thor, Frouwa = Freya, etc.)
This schism allows you to steal lots of ideas directly from history. Virtually everything, from Emperor Constantine’s decision to re-paint his soldier’s shields before the Battle of Milvian Bridge, up through Henry VIII’s creation of the Anglican Church, can be used as fodder for events in the campaign.
Of course, this setup also allows you have an Inquisitor prestige class, to help preserve the purity of the church against heretical corruption. No pseudo-mediaeval campaign is complete without an Inquisition!  |
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