The Campaign Builder's Guild

[ic=The Beginning]
What would happen if your entire world disappeared in the blink of an eye?  If everything you knew to be true turned out false?  If every person you had ever known was nothing more than a fading memory?

Only a few years ago, a great civil war ravaged the kingdom of Mhelkanne.  When King Jeromus suddenly died, his two sons began a bitter feud of succession that ended in the bloodshed of thousands.  Hundreds of people fled the lands, sailing east across the Mesare Sea, to unknown lands.  In these new lands, however, they met dangers unheard of.  For five years, the people fought against dread beasts and dangerous plagues, until finally, they had enough.  Assuming the civil war had finally ended, the remaining three hundred people boarded their ships and sailed back west to Mhelkanne.  Below is a series of journal entries made by Captain Teral Graybeard.

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17 Wind-month
The piers of Sal Boran have been spotted.  We are less than a day out of finally returning home after sailing for almost two months.  The crew is preparing a celebratory meal to share with the passengers.  We have unfurled the Mhelkannene sails.

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18 Wind-month
The confusion continues.  Though we did not expect a festival or parade in our honor, we certainly did not expect this.  There are no people in the city.  It is as though Sal Boran burned to the ground and all the citizens fled, except that there are no fires.  In fact, it seems as though the war did not even tough this city.  The people have decided to bunk down in several of the inns on the docks.

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19 Wind-month
By noon this day, the people have begun to worry.  Several are calling for us to sail back east, in fear that something terrible has happened.  Others believe we should just look to the other local towns and villages, that for some reason, the people of Sal Boran have just abandoned the city.  I believe the first theory, personally, but it seems it would be folly to admit this now.  Several groups are heading north and west to Vel Dunn and Sardatown to see if the locals know what's going on.  For some reason, they asked my permission, as though being a captain makes me some sort of chief.  I'm going to find a drink.

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21 Wind-month
It has been two days since the groups went to Vel Dunn and Sardatown, and it has been two days since I have been sober.  I wish I wasn't.  The group to Sardatown has returned, saying the small town is as equally deserted as Sal Boran.  The group to Vel Dunn has not yet returned.  During the night last night, thirty people boarded the Dawnseeker to attempt to flee back east.  Things don't seem to be going well.

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22 Wind-month
The group to Vel Dunn has returned.  They have not brought any better news, not that I was expecting at this point.  Most of us are planning to set sail tomorrow; we would go today, but a pretty nasty-looking storm seems to be rolling in.

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23 Wind-month
Bad to worse.  We have no ships.  Not only that, but the storm that completely destroyed our escape vessles also sent us back a gift.  The Dawnseeker is nothing more than kindling; there appear to be no survivors.  The people are scared, and I'll be damned if I'll say I'm not.  Something's going on, and it appears to be that we are now stuck here.  This evening, we're having a meeting with those of us who are left.  Oh, I guess I forgot to mention - at least fifty people snuck away west during the night.  No telling where they went, and I'm not really interested in finding out.

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24 Wind-month
The meeting was a failure.  Not because we didn't come to any decisions, but because of other reasons.  First of all, the people have elected to stay here.  Most are planning on bunkering down on the docks, since the levees would provide slight protection.  Then, they decided to send out more search parties to see if they could find more survivors.  Finally, they elected me to be their temporary leader.  Stupid people.  I'm drinking again tonight.

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27 Wind-month
It's been a few days.  Tomorrow will be the last day of Wind-month, and tomorrow night, we'll see a blood moon.  The search parties have returned with no better news.  I didn't expect much.  I've taken residence in the local Dog's Barn tavern.  There's a nice bed upstairs.  Comfy.  Almost like my old cabin.  I need to decorate.  Apparently, we're here to stay for awhile.[/ic]

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It has been a month since their return to Mhelkanne.  No more survivors have been found; there have been several expeditions to the various villages, towns, and cities within three-or-four days' travel of Sal Boran.

Sal Boran
This once-thriving city was a centerpoint of Mhelkanne's economy.  Shrimp boats brought in tons of shrimp to trade, and slightly north of the city was a bed of millions of oysters, where all shades of pearl could be found and exported.  Thousands of people lived in the city, under the kind rule of Duke Chero Bordrin.  Now exactly two hundred seventeen people live in the city, self-confined mostly to the docks district.

The captain of the Windchaser, Teral Graybeard, has recently been "elected" temporary lord of the city.  He knows very little of leading people, other than his crew, but he is trying his best.  He has taken residence in the Dog's Barn Tavern.  In the two other rooms in the tavern, his first mate, Cecil Arnos, as well as a Sabbanese priest named Aucius urn-Sych have moved in.

The other 214 have spread out in the same district of the city, keeping close to the Dog's Barn.  Most have settled in two inns close to the tavern, and several others have taken over some of the houses and apartments in the same area.

There are very few permanent plans at the moment for the townsfolk, other than attempting to build a few more ships and get off the continent.

more to come....

It's just a rough idea at the moment, so I don't know what I'll do with it in the end, but I'm leaning towards a campaign of re-exploration of the entire continent, and the discovery those thought missing may still be around, just in a different form.  It's definitely a WIP.

Interesting...
I look forward to hearing aboot yer plans for this campaign.  I definitely want to know where the hell everyone went.

Nice idea. On a related note, I'm currently reading Stephen King's The Stand, which is a fascinating piece. I'll be keeping my eyes on this. I seem to be quickly developing a love for the Post-Apocalyptic.
Túrin

Yeah, in case no one could tell, my inspiration comes mostly from Lost.  Though it's not by any means an exactly similar situation, I'm going for the mood and tone, as well as the whole exploration thing.  More to come tonight hopefully, I did some decent writing when I was supposed to be working today, and just need to get it in a good format.

It's definitely got creepy atmosphere.  Sounds like a good time to bust out a horror campaign.  You could use Heroes of Horror for some ideas.  The journal entry is a good preface to a campaign.

There's so many possibilities for what's going on...

Perhaps the people have been sucked into a twisted, parallel world (like the Plane of Shadow).  Or perhaps the survivors have been :demon: .

Of course, there's always the idea that what's happening is literally someone's nightmare.

Then there's alien abduction...

Or the people are still there, but we just can't see them.

A Lost-style game sounds like it could be lots of fun to run.  The real focus is on mystery and atmosphere, over combat.  Figure out how to survive while you have no idea what's really going on.

Are there people here who would be interested in playing a PbP of this?  I'd like to give it a shot at doing PbP, but need some interest before I start a thread to it.  I would like at least 4 players, but being PbP, I suppose we could go higher if enough people wanted to try it out.  Just post here, or PM me.

I'm interested.  I assume all characters would have to be crew or passengers?

Yes.

Since Golem's campaign is on hold for a while, I'd be interested in doing a PbP of this, it sounds intriguing.

Okay, 2-bies so far, keep 'em coming.

Quote from: Phoenix Knight...

Of course, there's always the idea that what's happening is literally someone's nightmare.

...

Or the people are still there, but we just can't see them.

...

or both?

maybe the reason the other people can't be seen isn't because they aren't there, but because they aren't then. this idea reminds me a lot of the Langoliers, only, with a good dose of insomnia kicked in.

another possibility: maybe the memories of the war, and everything leading to it, were just due to some sort of collective insomnia: they forgot that the place has been deserted all along....

I'd like to join in on this.

I would def. be interested in this type of game. Very thought provoking.

Okay, so I have 4, which is enough to start.  I'll get a prelim-write-up going pretty soon and post a new thread down in the PbP.

Woot!  I'ze excited!