[note]The blackness of oblivion lifts to the antipodes of searing heat and frigid cold. The sounds of metal and mail clang in the distance, nearly drowned out by the lapping of water. You drag your stiff, aching body out of the icy water, which drys instantly in the hot wind. A fireball blazes overhead, exploding near enough for you to feel the heat upon your face. Horror runs down your spine as you realize you have no idea how you got here, where here is, and who you are.
"You're awake," a voice sounds behind you. You spin around and are greeted by a skeletal figure standing atop a gondola. "Welcome to Hell."[/note]
After doing well with my first (and still going) Roll20 campaign (a 5th Edition update of the 3E D&D mega-adventure "Red Hand of Doom"), I'm getting started on another. What started as a desire to run a high level game has begun to take shape, and I need some help getting it off the ground.
The players are going to wake up upon the banks of the River Styx with Charon as their guide. I intend the campaign to take the player characters through the Nine Hells on their quest to ... I don't know.
So far, the most detailed character is a Tiefling Paladin of Vengeance, so I think I'll be using him to drive it forward for a bit. Depending on what drives him, I'll have to figure out what happened to bring him and his companions there. I'm thinking someone has stolen the Holy Avenger, and/or someone close to him was sacrificed to Asmodeus. After reading about Asmodeus former identity of Ahriman, twin brother of the god of the couatls and aspect of the World Serpent. Apparently, speaking this knowledge causes someone to die within 24 hours, but you can read it. I'm delving into Planescape lore, though I plan to put my own spin on it.
Unknown to the players at first, they are Revenants; semi-undead who will continue to rise until their quest is complete. This is going to allow me to do some ridiculous stuff that I'm itching to do (I fully plan on crushing someone with a falling megalith block). Traps where someone will have to die to disengage it, sieges relying upon their immortality ... fun stuff.
What I'm looking for right now are seeds of ideas. What do you got?
That's an awesome way to start a new campaign! Here's a couple of fiendish locations.
The Soul Trap: A cursed well that holds captured souls, already containing countless of them and ever hungry for more. It's a veritable fountain of knowledge, knowing everything it's captives ever learned. The PCs may bargain with it for some critical piece of information, but it'll try to trick them so that it can try to swallow one or more of them. This is a serious danger because it's a form of "death" that their revenant condition won't protect them from, and thus a useful way to keep the players from getting overconfident.
The Mirror House: It's a labyrinthine hall of mirrors - diabolic mirrors. The reflections may randomly grab/bite/stab at the PCs as they try to navigate their way through the narrow warrens. Invisible monsters (that can be glimpsed in the mirrors) stalk them, attempting to wear them down with hit-and-run sneak attacks. The layout of the place changes when they aren't looking. Of course, shattering a mirror brings more than just bad luck here. Somewhere in this maze lurks a gorgon that holds the McGuffin the PCs are after; presenting another death-like peril for the revenant party, this time in the form of petrification.
The Book of Vile Darkness could give you a lot of great ideas.
One of my suggestion to add depth and realism would be to implicate other powerful demons (either archdemons or agents of these) in the story to give many twists and turns. Deals would be struck, treachery would happen; the players will barely win Hell.
These other demons want the downfall of Asmodeus, but they would not prefer ''fresh-off-the-boat'' demons to take his place. They'd rather it be THEY (whoever you choose to select as third parties) that take the Infernal Throne. If I recall Belzebub and Mephistopheles despise Asmodeus in the greatest possible way. Asmodeus is insanely powerful.
Quote...The 4th edition Demonomicon establishes that Pazuzu's most powerful and secret ally is Asmodeus. In the new default setting, Pazuzu aided Asmodeus in obtaining a sliver of the shard of pure evil that festers at the bottom of the Abyss. The sliver became Asmodeus's signature Ruby Rod, which the angel used to slay the god he served. Those few who know of the ancient deal believe that the King of Hell has yet to repay Pazuzu for this "favor".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pazuzu_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)
If this is set in the standard D&D cosmology, the Blood War is a rich vein for adventure details. I sort of picture the Lower Planes in D&D as, like, Mad Max + Dante + Heart of Darkness - war and its ruins everywhere, gangs of deserters and mercenaries (Yugoloths, fallen celestials), escaped souls of the damned fleeing torture, armies of infernal warlords carving out fiefdoms, just whole platoons that get forgotten or lost in the endless carnage.
I feel like a lot of puzzles and challenges should be based around suffering various torments. Like a door that only opens to a key crafted from the bones of the one using it. A bridge whose toll is an eyeball ripped from your head, set among the vast, roving mass of eyes of the fallen (http://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4cj6eTe2q1qzbxiso1_540.jpg) cherubim (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129637) that guards it. A town where bottled screams are currency.
For inspiration, if you are not familiar with the works of Wayne (http://www.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/11.jpg) Barlowe (http://www.darkart.cz/wp-content/gallery/barlowe/The_Wargate.jpg), Zdzisław (http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mch3a4OiYP1rja4goo1_1280.jpg) Beksiński (http://www.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/zdzisa1.jpg), and, of course, Gustave (http://www.stpeterslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/gustave_dore_dante_the_styx_phlegyas.jpeg) Doré (https://ajcarlisle.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/the-inferno-canto-13.jpg), they are all very useful sources for hellish imagery.
EDIT: What kind of campaign format are you envisioning? Big epic adventures with an overarching plot? Sandbox? Hell as a huge, unending dungeon-crawl? Maybe a hex-crawl type format?
Standard D&D cosmology, definitely. I'm ordering some Planescape books to help out. I've got the 3E Book of Vile Darkness, Manual of the Planes, and Deities and Demigods to help out.
Ghostman: those are some cool ideas.
Magnus Pym: Definitely. Aiming them at the big bad guy himself would be interesting. A group of heroes in Hell can be a disruptive force if their aimed right, enough for one of the other Devil Lords to swoop in. Demons want to sow confusion amongst the Devilish ranks, so they could have to take a detour to the Abyss to get some help from one of the more reasonable Demon Lords, like Grazzt.
Steerpike: Yes, yes, and yes. Definitely looking for big epic adventures with an overarching plot, but a bit of a hex crawl could be cool. The hells are effectively infinite, so their quest could take them everywhere.
Since the players are suffering memory loss, I'm not even making them come up with too much. I just want to know their character's personality and what kind of things drive them. Their first goal will be figuring out why they're in hell. Did they do something wrong? Are they looking for something? Only after they uncover that will the real adventure begin.
I do need a quick little mechanical idea: How do I reward the players for hanging onto their good alignment? I want to test them, put them out of their element, but make the players rather their players be good than neutral. Some kind of defense bonus against fiendish magic?
Quote from: XeviatStandard D&D cosmology, definitely. I'm ordering some Planescape books to help out. I've got the 3E Book of Vile Darkness, Manual of the Planes, and Deities and Demigods to help out.
This will be money well spent. The old Planescape books are, for my money, some of the best roleplaying products TSR ever put out. TONS of useful adventure ideas, locations, and NPCs, plus gorgeous artwork, excellent writing, and a surprisingly cerebral approach.
Quote from: XeviatI do need a quick little mechanical idea: How do I reward the players for hanging onto their good alignment? I want to test them, put them out of their element, but make the players rather their players be good than neutral. Some kind of defense bonus against fiendish magic?
Since this is 5E, what about tying Inspiration to specifically good acts?
Inspiration would be a good way to do it. Pretty WoD too at that.
I am not a big fan of player character death and I find your solution innovative. I wonder, though, players being players, how do you plan to keep the game from devolving into grim slapstick comedy?
A high-lethality, no-permadeath black comedy slog through Planescape Hell sounds sort of like the best campaign ever, to me.
Quote from: sparkletwist
I am not a big fan of player character death and I find your solution innovative. I wonder, though, players being players, how do you plan to keep the game from devolving into grim slapstick comedy?
A little comedy could help lighten the mood, lest it turn into an existential crisis of morality. I'll likely have to OOC chat with the players about what tone we all want.
My current thoughts are that I'm going to have puzzles and challenges that are going to rely upon the fact that the players can get back up after a few hours of going down. But I may find a way to hammer home that it still hurts; maybe Wisdom saves to willingly push one's self into a trap, for instance. I'm definitely down for suggestions.
Quote from: Xeviatmaybe Wisdom saves to willingly push one's self into a trap, for instance.
I must say that I really don't like this idea, because it really compromises player agency.
Quote from: XeviatBut I may find a way to hammer home that it still hurts
This is an interesting question. One way might be to leave newly-resurrected characters exhausted (as per the condition) to some degree, or with ugly injuries that heal very slowly. Or maybe every time they die they lose an ability score point (there'd have to be some way to earn these back - maybe good deeds & redemption?).
BTW, have you played the game
Planescape: Torment? The protagonist has abilities similar to the ones you're describing, and death & self mutilation are central "mechanics" in getting places and solving puzzles.
I've definitely played Planescape: Torment. Three times, once as each class. I'm stealing some ideas from there.
As for the Wisdom save thing, it would mostly be a "delay" rather than a hard no. Imagine a trap of whirling blades. Someone's got to throw themselves into it, but they might not be able to do it right away and if it takes someone too long to do it they could be in trouble.
Quote from: SteerpikeI must say that I really don't like this idea, because it really compromises player agency.
Of course, I agree with this.
My personal thought is along the lines of Steerpike's-- characters should feel the effects of the terrible things that they are put through, and that can help inform how far they want to push things. One way to do it mechanically would be to give the PCs double HP, but have progressively greater penalties below half; at this point, HP stops being any sort of abstraction and their body is actually being destroyed bit by bit. It might turn into something of a "death spiral," but I feel like it wouldn't be as bad because staying above half is like playing the game normally anyway.
Quote from: sparkletwistMy personal thought is along the lines of Steerpike's-- characters should feel the effects of the terrible things that they are put through, and that can help inform how far they want to push things. One way to do it mechanically would be to give the PCs double HP, but have progressively greater penalties below half; at this point, HP stops being any sort of abstraction and their body is actually being destroyed bit by bit. It might turn into something of a "death spiral," but I feel like it wouldn't be as bad because staying above half is like playing the game normally anyway.
That's an interesting thought. Heck, that's an interesting thought just for D&D in general. Negative HP up until your max with greater and greater penalites as you go further down. Hmmm ...
It could work! I mean, having 0 Str, 0 Dex, 0 Con, 0 Int, 0 Wis, and 0 Cha is a pretty good definition of "being dead." :P
Still haven't gotten the game going yet, but I have an update on some of my ideas. This could change as the campaign progresses, but because of the nature of the campaign, I figured it would be good to know what's going on in the background.
The players are going to be, at first, pawns in the machinations of devilish and demonic powers. Ultimately, their quest for redemption/salvation/whatever (I'll have the players figure out why they came to hell after the first adventure in the campaign) is going to pit them against Devil Lords, and once that happens the others will want to use their power. As they are in hell and their beef lies with some power in hell, I'm going to have Grazzt of the Abyss offer them aid. Ultimately, though, I think having them unwittingly work for the big man himself, Asmodeus, as part of a plot to make his enemies move at the wrong moment, is tickling my fancy.
But I don't want to pull something over on the players. I intend to telegraph, to give them a chance to see that they're being set up, and to change course.
The first adventure I'm going to thrust upon them was inspired by one of the Planescape books I was reading. Apparently, an Outlands town slipped entirely onto the first plane of hell, and now the residents of that town are desperately trying to do enough good deeds to pull their town back out of hell. The ruler of that plane, the previously deposed but now sitting upon her throne again, is seeking to make an example of the town so the players will have the opportunity to fight some devils, defend the town, then help the town move on.
The PC Tiefling Paladin (vengeance) is my big springboard for plot ideas. Either he did something bad or he's in hell trying to save someone important to him. Two members of his order, a Tiefling Warlock/Paladin and a Human Rogue/Paladin (both who were on the wrong path before but found salvation in the church) are trying to stop the PC paladin from doing what he's doing. They know something. They're going to be a thorn in his side, and I intend to use them as frequent foils for the players. Are the player's actions threatening to end the Blood War, which will change the balance of the planes?
Just some ideas.
Quote from: XeviatAre the player's actions threatening to end the Blood War, which will change the balance of the planes?
If this were a realistic option, I'd imagine a lot of Celestials getting very annoyed - the Blood War continuing forever is the best possible outcome for them, because if the Demons and Devils actually made peace and unified, you can bet they'd start eyeing the Upper Planes pretty quickly.
I'm curious, are you going to let your players into Sigil?
Since the Outer Planes also double as physical afterlives, how much free reign do the PCs have to go tramping through the various Planes? I'll admit that I'm totally ignorant as to how Planescape handled the issue of death in the multiverse.
Quote from: RhamnousiaI'll admit that I'm totally ignorant as to how Planescape handled the issue of death in the multiverse.
Vaguely and inconsistently, by design.
According to a very strict interpretation of "canon," petitioners (souls of the dead) lose their memories upon dying and assume the form particular to their plane. So most in the Lower Planes become larvae and can eventually work their way up the demonic hierarchy over the centuries.
But Planescape is deliberately very loose with particulars and left big margins for DMs to play around with. The idea of competing truths and mutually-incompatible-but-simultaneously-true ontologies and stuff is very ingrained in the setting. So, like, for some factions that believe in reincarnation you automatically re-enter the great wheel somewhere and get another body depending on your good or ill deeds (maybe?), for some you achieve the True Death and transcend the multiverse entirely, etc.
I was reading something on an RPG blog elsewhere and came across the following. I immediately thought of the Revenant angle you're taking and thought this might be a way to handle "can't die" while maintaining consequences:
"You can't really die in Hell, you can only transform into a lesser form. Die, and you'll return as a shambling undead. Die again, and you'll become a crawling thing. Die again, and you'll become a soul-maggot, good for nothing except consumption and too weak to even turn a doorknob. But even that is not the end.
And with each death, you lose a little bit more of yourself. Memories fade and your sense of purpose numbs." (Source (http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/pirates-of-hell.html))