I'm planning on running a serious campaign soon, and I want a really original, evocative feel to it. I was reading the LotR roleplaying game book, and although I don't plan on using the actual game mechanics or even most of the fluff (because i'm using 4E rules), I'm taking alot of ideas from that. For example, I want:
*To make it feel like an epic experience, like the PCs are in an epic struggle and the world, or atleast a good sized portion of it, depends on them stopping some force.
*The enemy is truly evil. I want to make the PCs Hate him with a capital H. As much as I love the whole gray area with the corrupted good guy (like Artemis Entreri or Anakin Skywalker) I want this to be THE big bad villian that is completely evil.
*PC deaths can certainly occur. This makes it more exciting and suspenseful, because if you know the DM isn't afraid to let you're character die, you'll think twice about leaping over that pit of lava.
Keeping those three things in mind, is there anything else anybody can think of to make the campaign seem more epic and exciting?
Also, I want to try hard to make combat scenes and action scenes more exciting, and make the dice matter less. I've considered a method i've been thinking about for awhile. Would it be to crazy to roll the PCs dice for them? This would mean the players don't roll for anything in game, I would just roll the dice behind the DM screen and add whatever bonuses or penalties they have, and I could also fudge the dice if necessary.
I'm not really sure about this yet, what does everybody think? In my opinion it seems to eliminate some of the problems I was facing about the players focusing to much on numbers.
As for a theme, that's where the brainstorming comes in. The world i'm setting it in is very old, but there aren't fallen empires and ruins of cities around every corner. However, I would very much like a large part of the campaign to take place in an area of ruins. So here's some ideas on possible settings....
*A heavily forested area, with a river running through it that leads to a waterfall that empties out into a lake. It's a seasonal forest, a mix of decidous and coniferous. All throughout the area there are ancient stone ruins, sometimes structures, but mostly just formations of huge hand-worked stone lying all about the forest. From the smallest stone bricks to the large outpost shaped structures, the remains of some civilization is all about this section of the forest.
*A journey over a mountaintop in which the PCs are being trailed by some mysterious black figure. Could work in alot of blizzard, avalanche and rockslide sequences here, and possibly one horrifying close encounter with the dark figure, who is a spy for the "enemy"
*A small but deep valley that cuts straight through enemy territory. The "enemy" has not inhabited this sparsely wooded gorge because of the lack of food and other rescources. Perhaps at one sequence of the campaign the PCs would have to sneak through enemy territory, using the gorge due to the fact that it would lead them straight out of the bad place. They would have to be secretive and hide often from scouts. Would be exciting for chasing and hiding seens, and I imagine the place as being incredibly steep with many overhangs, ledges and trails along the side of the cliff faces. The cliffs would not be flat but rather covered in different routes and having many different ledges, almost in layers going down to the river at the bottom, surrounded by vegatation. There would still be great distances to fall and many very deep holes, however.
*A bridge or gate or something that the PCs have to hold against overwhelming odds.
That was not in any particular order, just brainstorming ideas. Please please please feel free to answer any questions I had and please post any suggestions or any ideas at all you might have regarding anything I said. Thank you for your time.
One bit of advice I might offer. Don't explain your combat by the rolls, explain it by the actions. If a PC makes a success describe it in detail, likewise for a failure. Compare the two.
"You swing your sword and manage to do major damage to the gnoll you are facing."
vs.
"Facing down the savage beast, sweat dripping from his brow, Sir Rodrick brings his blade about in a grand arc. The steel clears leather, cloth, flesh, and with a spray of blood the Gnoll yowls in agony."
Rolling dice is one of the most engaging aspects of TTRPG's, so don't steal that fun by rolling yourself.
A trick I personally use is, allow your players to describe how they attack. Nothing draws people into a story like being allowed to craft a tiny piece of it for themselves. At first, you're players (who are probably used to the 'traditional' method of description may seem hesitant but once they grow accustomed to it, they will fully embrace it and you will see an uptake not only in their attention spans but their enjoyment of the game.
As for your campaign I ideas... Well they all sound fun, so why not put all of them together to form a larger whole? It seems to me they could be fit together rather nicely (Mountains buttressing the top and sides of the map forming a crescent. The land around the mountains is hilly and controlled by the enemy. At the center of this 'dark territory' there is a a large unpopulated Chasm/ravine/narrow-valley. The hilly area slowly descends into a flatter area dominated by a massive ruin-filled forest, which drops off a cliff into another valley with a lake in the middle. The fort could easily be placed at the forested-side of the Chasm/ravine/narrow-valley, or near the cliff leading to the lake valley. ).
Quote from: Elemental_ElfA trick I personally use is, allow your players to describe how they attack. Nothing draws people into a story like being allowed to craft a tiny piece of it for themselves. At first, you're players (who are probably used to the 'traditional' method of description may seem hesitant but once they grow accustomed to it, they will fully embrace it and you will see an uptake not only in their attention spans but their enjoyment of the game.
Yes that is something I left out of mine but if you start doing that yourself inevitably your players will start to join in, let them take over for their characters once they reach that point.
Quote from: Elemental_ElfRolling dice is one of the most engaging aspects of TTRPG's, so don't steal that fun by rolling yourself.
A trick I personally use is, allow your players to describe how they attack. Nothing draws people into a story like being allowed to craft a tiny piece of it for themselves. At first, you're players (who are probably used to the 'traditional' method of description may seem hesitant but once they grow accustomed to it, they will fully embrace it and you will see an uptake not only in their attention spans but their enjoyment of the game.
As for your campaign I ideas... Well they all sound fun, so why not put all of them together to form a larger whole? It seems to me they could be fit together rather nicely (Mountains buttressing the top and sides of the map forming a crescent. The land around the mountains is hilly and controlled by the enemy. At the center of this 'dark territory' there is a a large unpopulated Chasm/ravine/narrow-valley. The hilly area slowly descends into a flatter area dominated by a massive ruin-filled forest, which drops off a cliff into another valley with a lake in the middle. The fort could easily be placed at the forested-side of the Chasm/ravine/narrow-valley, or near the cliff leading to the lake valley. ).
I was planning on putting them together, I was just trying to think of ideas for locations throughout the campaign. But they will no doubt be connected. And thanks for the idea to let the players describe how they attack, I can imagine that's a game like that is much more engaging. And yes, I have decided against rolling the dice for them.
I have an idea for the basic cannon fodder enemy in this campaign. A kind of hunched, black skinned creature around five feet tall, with sharp teeth and red eyes. I think i'll call them trolls, because I don't have anything called trolls in my games. I don't have goblins either, and orcs live like barbarians in the wilderness, and are not evil, but are savages. Besides, using orcs would be pretty boring. So, here's my idea:
Trolls
Trolls are nasty little creatures, with skin the color of night and crimson eyes that glow like fires in the dark. They stand around five and a half feet tall, but are always somewhat hunched over, making them look shorter. They are skinny, with arms and legs proportionate to their body. They have black hair that never grows long. They have sharp nails that resemble very short claws, and do not wear shoes. They wear little clothing, generally only covering their weaker areas, such as the groin.
Trolls are wholly evil, taking delight in the pain of others. They hold no love for eachother, but can become attached to a leader. There are no Troll leaders, but they are often led by other wicked, more intelligent creatures. There are myths that trolls have regenerative powers, and this is not true, but is rooted in truth. Trolls do not bleed as much as other creatures, as their blood clots faster. They also seem to have a higher resistance to pain.
The reason for the evil nature of trolls is unknown, but research has been done that suggests that the guts and organs of trolls do not completely fit inside their body, and that this causes them great pain and anger, which makes them try to inflict this pain onto others.
So yeah, the basic minion with a few little tweaks. Later on i'll think about the harder enemies that will be featured. If anybody has any ideas or suggestions please tell me.
Looks good!
A suggestion:
Instead of using a standard 'cannon fodder' type enemy to fall back on, create encounters that feature a wide variety of monsters. (unless of course the campaign is centered around destroying a specific type of enemy) Un-nerve the PCs with weird creature descriptions (a little twisted flavor text and slight variation on abilities needed). I only say this because I myself have played (especially 4th ed. games) that featured endless goblin minions or bandits.
Just a thought. (and if this is completely out of line-kindly disregard)
Quote from: SarisaLooks good!
A suggestion:
Instead of using a standard 'cannon fodder' type enemy to fall back on, create encounters that feature a wide variety of monsters. (unless of course the campaign is centered around destroying a specific type of enemy) Un-nerve the PCs with weird creature descriptions (a little twisted flavor text and slight variation on abilities needed). I only say this because I myself have played (especially 4th ed. games) that featured endless goblin minions or bandits.
Just a thought. (and if this is completely out of line-kindly disregard)
This is a good point. Too much of any one kind of enemy will get dull after a while. Throw different kinds of challenges at them. Make them have to change tactics now and then. Keep them on their toes. Perhaps at some point they are horded by weak foes, but at other times they need to coordinate against a more powerful adversary. Perhaps in some cases they need to attack in a certain way, so they need character A's skills. Perhaps a rogue needs to slip past a sleeping guard because if he wakes, he will sound the alarm.
I find that it won't do to just throw anything and everything at them in one campaign. There needs to be an internal logic to it of sorts. Whether they complement each other or ascribe to a certain thematic link or aesthetic, There does, however, need to be a decent variety.
Thanks for that, as I have often made the mistake of throwing lots of minions at my PCs. I love variety, but do not like hundreds of different types of monsters. I don't think that's really variety in playing as much as it is a different monster to hit with your sword over and over again.
I like to use variety in the setting and situation. That's why I pay such attention to the locations the campaign gets set in. That is not to say I won't have any variety, but it just won't be a whole bunch of different monsters working for one leader. More like one big main enemy with an army of these little troll minions, and some other more powerful servants like demons.
Then, while fighting this army and trying to complete the quest, there are many other challenges they have to face, like a den of werewolves or party of bandits. Also, I work very hard on making each enemy seem unique and play differently. Its just more fun for me and the players that way.
Here's some ideas for NPCs:
*An elf druid or ranger that the PCs meet in the ruin filled forest. He or she is completely wild and wears little clothing, and does not speak, but is extremelly keen on protecting the forest and all of its inhabitants. The elf will sleep in some nest in a tree or something of that sort. When the PCs near the waterfall at the end of the river, the elf refuses to go near it and warns of danger.
*Two friendly dwarves that are met very early on in the campaign. They are very close companions of the instigator of the quest (the one who recruits the PCs to his cause), but are not warriors but simple villagers. I plan to make the PCs very attached to them (i'm not sure how yet; whenever I act like an NPC the NPC ends up being either very kind and giving, helping out alot, seclusive and not saying much, or very eccentric and fast talking with ADHD or something) then for the dwarves to die at the hands of the enemy to make the PCs hate the enemy more.
*The leader of the group and instigator, as mentioned above. I'm not sure how he will work. Probably an old priest who has been having visions of some kind, and apparently his diety needs him to save the world, and tells him what he needs to do. So the priest comes and recruits the PCs on his quest. I think it would be really cool if there was a plot twist at the end where the enemy leader was putting the visions in the priests heads, and the PCs try to convince him of the truth of that, but he goes mad from their unfaithfulness and blasphemy and tries to kill them. All part of the enemies plan, of course.
*The enemies pet demon. Some huge chained behomoth that the enemy controls somehow (the enemy will probably be some kind of Illithid, the only one left in the world, so he can control the demon through mind control). The demon will be a huge flaming brute that will be set loose upon the characters once they come very close to the lair of the enemy.
*The Enemy. Probably going to be some screwed up drow possessed by an Illithid's spirit. Surrounded by an aura of darkness and driven mad by the pure evil of the Illithid's mind, he eventually caved in to the creature's will. The Illithid was the last of its kind in the world, and when it died it used all its power to possess the drow. It now uses its drow body (a drow body with slimy white tentacles coming out of the eye sockets and ears, a body that shivers and shakes and is covered in slime) to change the world to its own perveted image. But he does not understand that what he is doing is evil, as the Illithid had tried to convince itself of its own good nature, and accidently used its mental abilities to reverse its mind set. It is a good hearted creature that know beleives that everything that is actually good in the world is terribly evil.
The trolls were drawn to this figure somehow, and now worship it as a god. Having all this power at its disposal, why not use it for its cause? The Enemy also has access to more powerful and dark creatures.
Note: The Enemy is going to be extremelly powerful and seemingly insane, and abnormal to the point where it is not restricted to the boundaries of other things. For example, it could be decapitated, lit on fire, stabbed, anything. But its mind and what's left of its body would still remain, the huge ammount of evil surrounding the Enemy make it nearly invincible.
It will also be able to do extrodinary (but not flashy) things. For example, it could walk into a shadow and become part of the shadow, becoming invisible and invincible to everything. Or fall off of a huge cliff, and then at the body all that is there is slime and clothes.
If the PCs do encounter the Enemy, they will not be able to see it properly, as the evil and darkness surrounding it would distort its image, making it appear as a blurry shadow. The only way it could be seen properly would be with a mirror.
Here's my two cents:
One of the quickest ways to get the epic feel across, I find, is to involve extraplanar creatures. It's cheesy as heck when you look at it from the outside, but when an Archangel comes and tells you to do something or the apocalypse is going to happen, you listen.
The next step is: Set them up for a failure as either their second or third major mission, and then make the consequences absolutely huge, like country leveled, refugees, map fundamentally changed, new weather patterns, etc., etc. Make the people around the PCs suffer, and the land marked by their struggle, and you'll really get the idea of the world on your shoulders across.
For the villain, I wouldn't make him a drow or some other traditionally evil race or insane in the traditional sense. Seriously, make him a normal elf or a normal dwarf or a human. Make him/her someone you could admire, then twist it into something horrible. Take that virtue and pervert it into something that could only be a sin. Insanity is an excuse, just make them not care, it makes them feel a lot more evil than if they aren't in control of themselves. Think the extremes of Nietzche's doctrine of the Ubermensch (the sheep people exist of overman to use as he wills in his WIll to Power, no-one else is real but the overman). Don't give the villain a specific reason, have them be born bad, kind of like a Peter from Ender's Game that never gets redeemed. Have that person look like the party's friend, then pull the rug out from under them with the inevitable betrayal. That's how you make a character your PC's hate.
I'd take inspiration from HP Lovecraft for your supernatural villains. Make them incomprehensible, make them murder and flay people alive just cuz. Make them bind peoples' souls into stones, or drive people insane just by their mere presence. Liberally dot the blasted landscape with the wasted scraps of flesh they leave in their wake. Make sure that the PC's run into the enemy's leavings. Just remember, the villain is probably having the same basic quandary with the Heroes; he doesn't understand them either.
One way to make the scope of the game seem big is to make the players feel that there is a deadline. Don't use an actual deadline, but occasionally have the players reach a location either just before the enemy or after the enemy has already reached the location. Finding a town that has just been sacked, or better yet is in the process of being sacked, by the enemy army would help the players to remember how urgent their quest is.
Another way to do things is have the players face the BBEG early. This is tough because people hate to fight impossible fights, but it can be awesome if done properly.
As for a way to make those enemies seem really really REALLY evil is to have them do terrible things for no apparent reason. When your players say "why would he do that, that's just so evil?", you've done your job.
That sounds good. Making it feel like a race against time could definatly make it feel more epic.