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Post by suboptimal on Jul 17, 2013 0:48:48 GMT -8
Hoi! First some background for context: I wanted to run a game in the style of the "good old days". We have some old D&D and AD&D modules on the shelf that never got used & with the whole OSR stuff going on many modules of that kind of style were/are published. So i´ll have plenty to choose from. My system of choice for this is Castles & Crusades, since it has that "old school" vibe, but plays relatively modern. Now, we allways had problems setting up a date, so i wanted to have some kind of background to allow play with someone missing at the table. I also wanted to be able to jump form one adventure to the next without the need of long explanations how they got there.
My Camapign idea: After an earthquake, the players discover an ancient temple of a long forgotten deity. When they enter a specific room they all get caught in an energy beam & tested by this newly awakened good deity. They all will pass their specific tests (since "good" adventures characters are mandatory) & while the earth is shaking once more, the PCs will hear a strange sound (VWORP VWORP) right before they faint.
Yes, the PCs found a TARDIS & were chosen by a deity to fight some reawakened evil. So my game will be a mix between D&D, Exalted & Doctor Who. This way i can send the PCs from one adventure to the next & when a player couldn´t make it his PC simply vanished, since the powers of the old god are weak & the link between god - TARDIS - PC are unstable. ( I plan to incorporate this effect into general play. Suddenly, the fighters hand passes through his ale mug in the tavern ect. )
My questions (for now): - I would like to mark the PCs like in Exalted. Should i put this sometimes glowing mark on their foreheads or hand? - Should i really give the players the possibility to enter the TARDIS, or should this monolith that no one except them (and the bad guys) perceives just stand there when the PCs materialise in a new place? - Should the PCs someday be able to pilot the TARDIS?
Thanks in advance for your feedback. - Any problems you might see with this whole thing?
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maxinstuff
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Preferred Game Systems: DCC RPG, Shadowrun 5e, Savage Worlds, GURPS 4e, HERO 6e, Mongoose Traveller
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Post by maxinstuff on Jul 17, 2013 1:52:25 GMT -8
You might want a patron of some kind that gives them things to do - so when they enter the tardis maybe they always (mostly) return to a patrons 'hub' where either a single entity or a council of otherworldy beings instructs them.
I would keep it basic and vague like "recover the McGuffin - we know it is within 100 miles of where we are sending you...".
I think something like that would keep it on track more easily than if they simply jump from place to place aimlessly - you don't wanna have to always be causing them to be dropped into the shit by pure bad luck. That will get old.
And it sounds awesome.... It's like infinite worlds in C&C.
EDIT: To answer your questions (hehe) - Why would you mark them? I'm unfamiliar with exhalted but if it is important just make sure it is only as easy to conceal as you want it to be. If it means the PC's just wear gloves all the time there is hardly a point...
I think the tardis should be movable but only openable by them (maybe their hand marks are a key?). They shouldn't 'pilot' it as such, unless they can overthrow the patron/council within and figure out how it works.
And I seem to have answered your last question first :/
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Post by Kainguru on Jul 17, 2013 4:09:46 GMT -8
C&C = yesssssssss!!!!!!!!!! Welcome Brother . . . let us intone the scared name that is 'Troll Lords' No don't let them enter the TARDIS just yet . . . cause once that starts you're on an endless dungeon crawl with moving walls and time dilation effects etc etc. Nothing good ever happens to those that explore the TARDIS unguided. As to time travelling heroes . . . grab a copy of the graphic novels 'Slaine' - especially the one named 'Time Warrior' and the ones following 'The High King' (following his sacrifce that ends his reign as The High King as this is when, at bidding of Danu and because he is/was an incarnation of The Horned God, he is sent thru the time streams to champion cause of the Earth Goddess) Aaron
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Post by suboptimal on Jul 17, 2013 7:30:20 GMT -8
I don´t get the quoting feature here, so i just gonna answer this way. >maxinstuff: You might want a patron of some kind that gives them things to do... Like him? I thought about the TARDIS being the vehicle through which the forgotten god would guide the PCs from one troubled place to another. And every big bad guy/gal they encounter would be tied to the same also forgotten demon/evil deity. Maybe they all wear the same amulett, or they´re marked as well but differently. >maxinstuff: Why would you mark them? The important Exalted like aspect is, that the PCs would go & do the "good deities" work. In Exalted the PCs get marks on their foreheads depending on their "class". And these marks start glowing when they use their powers, which can get them into more trouble since the solar exalted are nearly extinct outcasts. I just think it could be another nice way to screw around with the PCs. And the glowing sign could shine through clothing... >maxinstuff: I think the tardis should be movable but only openable by them (maybe their hand marks are a key?). They shouldn't 'pilot' it as such... The TARDIS should definetly be a moveable object & at least in the beginning the PCs should NOT be able to pilot the thing. About the keys. I thought about the "glowing mark = key" thing as well, but it could be fun to give each PC an actual magical key. You know, a physical object that could get "lost". >Kainguru: C&C = yesssssssss!!!!!!!!!! Welcome Brother . . . TROLL LORDS!!! >Kainguru: No don't let them enter the TARDIS just yet . . . It would only be the controll room. It´s just that they could run & hide in there everytime there´s trouble, not that i think my players would do that (too often). That´s the reason why i´m not too sure about letting them inside after the very first time. >Kainguru: As to time travelling heroes . . . I don´t plan for this to become a proper time & space travell thing, the TARDIS would just enable the PCs to jump around in the world. But maybe for the end of the campaign... I remember Slaine. Kinda Celtic Sword & Sorcery stuff right? There was timetravel in there? Huh. Gonna check it out.
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Post by Kainguru on Jul 17, 2013 11:01:19 GMT -8
And elder gods and stuff. 30 years old this year so Rebellion are planning a mass of reprints and 2000AD will probably carry another mighty Slaine Saga thru its Autumn offensive. Aaron
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Post by suboptimal on Jul 23, 2013 7:26:16 GMT -8
Ugh, the day of the first session is getting closer and closer, and i'm all effd-up due to work & awfull weather. It's planned for this sunday (July, 28th). Looks like Slaine isn't available on comicxology, gotta check my FLCBS.
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Post by Kainguru on Jul 23, 2013 17:46:20 GMT -8
Ugh, the day of the first session is getting closer and closer, and i'm all effd-up due to work & awefull weather. It's planned for this sunday (July, 28th). Looks like Slaine isn't available on comicxology, gotta check my FLCBS. Try Rebellion/2000AD direct - they went digital this year. Aaron
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Post by suboptimal on Jul 31, 2013 7:40:12 GMT -8
Well, first session is done & i gonna post a write up of the whole thing once i get more than 3 hours of sleep a day, nightshift is killing me for whatever reason.
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Post by Kainguru on Jul 31, 2013 8:01:13 GMT -8
Well, first session is done & i gonna post a write up of the whole thing once i get more than 3 hours of sleep a day, nightshift is killing me for whatever reason. Because night shifts are cruel. I know and sympathise. Aaron
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Post by suboptimal on Jul 31, 2013 8:24:13 GMT -8
Well, first session is done & i gonna post a write up of the whole thing once i get more than 3 hours of sleep a day, nightshift is killing me for whatever reason. Because night shifts are cruel. I know and sympathise. Aaron Thanks. I´m working nightshifts regularly 1 week a month & never had any real problems with it, but for the last couple of months it´s been quite nasty.
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Post by suboptimal on Aug 11, 2013 6:17:12 GMT -8
Doublepost, take a drink!
I´m sorry for the following long post (and my bad english) but here is the recap of our first session:
So, what happened? The PCs arrived one winter day in this little mountain village in the north that was set next to a trade rout which connects the northern regions with the southern part of the lands. None of them had any connections to another PC. The Paladin was on an inspection route through the north. The Druid came with messages from his circle concerning trade negotiations. The Rouge got out of a more southern town & the safest, fastest & cheapest way seemed to be this caravan up north. The Mage was on her way to meet a colleauge up north & thus travelled with the same caravan as the rouge. During the night the whole village got hit by an earthquake. Nobody was badly injured & only one little shed was destroyed. The people gathered in larger groups for the rest of the night to watch out for each other. On the following day the elders asked the PCs to check in on a farmers son who stayed with the goats on the fields half a day further up north. The PCs, as the heroes they are, accept to help out.
- So far, everything went mostly as planned. -
The PCs arrive at the „goat fields“ with the little cottage ect. and the building seems ok from far away and all that. Suddenly they hear a scream. They follow the noise & find a badly injured young man in a big sunken part of a field and two big (medium size) white gorilla like creatures with four arms lurking over him. Paladin to the rescue! She manages to slide down the ditch & attack, but her sword misses. The others prefer to stay up on the ridge & attack the creatures from there while the paladin takes a beating. They miss most of the time. But since the girallons are playing with the paladin now, the mage gets down there & tries to get the NPC out of harms way. In that moment the mother of the two girallons (large size) shows up and blocks the mages way to the right.
- I wanted to use this fight to test the combat rules & check out my loose conversion method i used for these Girallons from the D&D 3.5 MM. Under no circumstances would i have killed the party. I planned for the party to grab the NPC and flee into the cracked open mountain to the right. There they would have found the „TARDIS“ like device. -
The players mutter something like: „Guess we´ll die here then.“ or so. The big girallon gets entangled by a druid spell, while the paladin gets beaten up & falls unconcious, her final words being (all Gandalf style): „Flee you fools.“ The earth starts shaking again. The girallons are scared, don´t know what to do & start to slowly back off from the cracking / crumbling mountain before fleeing outright. The paladin gets healed up, though she has to throw up after the druid fed her „6 good berries“ at once. She then heals up the NPC a bit. The druid walks into the mountain for a short inspection, feeling the same disconnect from nature he felt during the initial earthquake. As the paladin walks in as well (the other two PCs take care of the NPC) she feels the floor slightly humming / shaking (think engine room floors). She wants to check for evil spirits and such and casts detect evil. Nothing. Both get out again.
- Now comes the „yes and“ moment that twisted it all bit -
As they both get back to the rest of the group the paladin recognizes a disturbing, bad, evil aura surrounding the NPC.
- You see, i planned for the PCs to be tested inside the TARDIS to check if they would be worthy of becoming this old gods representatives. So should the NPC have been with them, he would have been struck down for something evil he had done. I didn´t have a concrete plan what it would have been, but it would definatly not have been as „sick“ as what it became. Oh, and from this point on the players got really exited. -
So they get to the cottage (i think the NPC was bound up by this point) to rest there before getting back to the village the next day. Inside the players recognize that the NPC often looks suspiciously to a chest in a corner. The PCs go all „What´s in the booox?!“ like and open it once the NPC is asleep. Inside they find cooking tools and stuff. But there are scratches on the floor! Someone must have moved that chest a lot! They move it quietly without waking the NPC, open up some loose floorboards & find dirty bloodstained sacks in an earth ditch. Yep, there are pieces of raw goat and some human bodyparts in there, some with bitemarks.
- Can you tell that i was (am?) our go to Horror RPG GM? -
The PCs have enough! They want to know what´s going on and even the paladin is ok with it, as the rouge holds a dagger to one of the NPCs eyes and demands an explanation.
- I didn´t really know where to go from there, but i knew i didn´t want the NPC to be able to say too much, so... -
With an animalistic scream the NPC thrusts his head forward into the dagger killing himself. The PCs later find a golden necklace & matching bracelet on the dead guy. They also discover that his chest is covered in little mark like scars (i might have to retcon these a little bit). Now they´re on the way back to the village.
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