How is this for a campaign outline? [Archive] - Wizards Community

How is this for a campaign outline? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
beezly
08-06-05, 09:58 AM Hey, i saw that you can get an adventure published by the RPGA, and i thought it would be cool, so i came up with an idea for a quick little gritty adventure for 6th level characters. The "writing adventures" page says that one should submit an outline first, but i want to know if it's too short/long, specific/vague ect. So, if somebody who has experience, please read the rough draft outline of my adventure and tell me what you think..

Gravetouched.
An adventure for 6th level Adventurers

Plot Idea:
Ghoultouched cleric of Doresain has made a paladin fall to a blackguard. Now the once prosperous mining town the paladin governed is overrun by hideous undead.

Adventure:

The PC’s are visited by the Ghost of Lorana Jandilan (human Wiz2), the wife of a paladin from the town of Pelon. She claims that her husband murdered her in cold blood, but she knows not why. If the PC’s seem hesitant, she threatens to haunt them until they avenge her death.

The PC’s enter the town and are instantly attacked by 2 ghasts that run from a nearby building. (EL 4). Inspection of the building reveals various corpses that the ghasts had been feeding on. Among the bodies is a Forsaken shell, which grabs the closes PC. (EL 6). The building seems to be a tavern, and a search of the bodies finds mining equipment.

A search of the downtown area reveals that the town was very prosperous and successful, and many people lived well there. There is a general store filled with rotting food, a small magical store that has been cleared out, and various other abandoned, empty buildings.

The only non-destroyed building is Ghandon Jandilan’s, the paladin town leaders. It is a well furnished, four room building. The first room is trapped with a Glyph of warding (EL 6). The second room is a kitchen, with rotted food and little of value. The third room the PC’s enter has five Skeletons with masterwork weapons/armor standing guard. When the PC’s fight them, they are under the effect of the corpsecrafter, destructive retribution, and deadly chill feats, and they are in a desecrated area (a shrine to Doresain) making the encounter about level 4. The second room is a kitchen (nothing of value hear) In the fourth room, in a well kept, well furnished bed lies the preserved corpse of Lorana with a slit throat. It turns out her husband went crazy and kept this as a shrine to her.

When the PC’s decide to check out the mines, they are met at the entrance by 2 level 4 gravetouched ghoul paladins (EL 5). They are Ghandon and Lorana’s sons, charged with guarding the entrance to the mines.

As the PC’s make their way through the mines, they encounter a veritable horde (12) of human commoner zombies, all under the effects of the corpsecrafter, destructive retribution, and deadly chill effects. (EL 7)

As they move to the back of the mines, or if they engage in combat with the zombies, they provoke the attention of a now-evil and thoroughly insane Ghandon (human ex-paladin6/blackguard1). (EL 7)

After defeating him, you move to the deepest part of the mine, where Doresain, a 7th level gravetouched ghoul cleric who named himself after the evil god, resides (EL 8). He is currently arguing with a gravetouched ghoul succubus that he used to turn Ghandon into evil. As the PC’s enter, she disappears. Doresain attacks the PC’s. When they kill him, Lorana thanks them, and goes to a safe rest. If he doesn't kill them, she haunts them forever.

So, is there any criticism? comments?
Southernskies
08-07-05, 09:57 PM Hey, i saw that you can get an adventure published by the RPGA, and i thought it would be cool, so i came up with an idea for a quick little gritty adventure for 6th level characters. The "writing adventures" page says that one should submit an outline first, but i want to know if it's too short/long, specific/vague ect. So, if somebody who has experience, please read the rough draft outline of my adventure and tell me what you think..

So, is there any criticism? comments?

Well, posting it here means that everyone will already know what the adventure will be. :weep:

For a Living Greyhawk adventure, you first Point of Contact should be your local Triad or the Circle contact if you don't belong to a region.

Triads will generally get you to write an Introductory Adventure (for 1st level characters only) as a test to see if you can write to deadline (and the adventure is playable) and then they may offer you a full adventure slot (adjusted for at least 4 APLs, sometimes all 6 from APL2-12).

To be offered a Core adventure, you need to have written at least one regional first.
Eric Anondson
08-10-05, 03:46 AM Having written a few regional adventures, I can say that you have far too many encounters for a one round RPGA adventure. RPGA adventures are designed to start and finish in roughly a 4 hour period. The number of encounters you have would normally take about 8 hours of play, in other words a 2-round adventure, almost a 3-rounder.

3 encounters per mod is usually the limit time-wise that can be expected to be completed in any module.

RPGA LG adventures also have an EL limit to adventures for designers to fit into. It calculates this way usually. Take the APL of the adventuring party, multiply it by 3 and add 6. So, for a one round APL 6 adventure, you will have 24 ((6 * 3)+6) ELs to work with to distribute to each encounter. APL 2 gets 12 ELs, APL 4 gets 18 ELs, APL 8 gets 32 ELs, APL 10 gets 38 ELs, APL 12 gets 44 ELs, ... etc.

So you could have three EL 8 encounters (8 + 8 + 8 = 24); or an EL 6, EL8, and EL 10 encounters; or an EL 4, EL 6, EL 6 , and EL 8 encounters. Even something like EL 3, EL 3, EL 5, EL 6, EL 7 fits the EL calculus but because it fits outside the time-tested 3-4 encounters per 4 hour slot, you might run into trouble time-wise. If those EL 3 encounters were traps for instance you probably could be just fine... only playtesting could tell...

All that is just for a single APL of an adventure, in the above case, an APL 6 adventure. RPGA LG mods need to be able to be scaled to other APLs as well. So you would be asked to designed each separate encounter with multiple options depending on the party's "APL". I can't recall ever seeing single APL LG adventures, other than intro mods which are exclusively for 1st level characters.

That's just some tips for RPGA LG adventures that are going to be required of any author. But if your plot does get accepted, you will learn all of the intricate rules of authoring RPGA LG mods that your head will spin.

Also, every year the Circle puts out calls to the player and judge base for submissions for adventures ideas for the next year of LG play. There are only so many adventures they can publish and many available positions are already going to be filled by adventure plots being carried over from previous years, or are adventure ideas complex enough to require more than a single "slot" in the itinerary... leaving less open even less options for new ideas than might be originally presumed.

As suggested, to get an adventure published you would need to propose it to a regional triad, or possibly a meta-region administrator, ... or else wait for the Circle to put out its next open-call for adventures for next year.

All that said, as an idea for a general adventure, I like it! It would take enormous tweeking to get it to work as an RPGA adventure though.

Regards,
Eric Anondson

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
beezly 08-06-05, 09:58 AM	Hey, i saw that you can get an adventure published by the RPGA, and i thought it would be cool, so i came up with an idea for a quick little gritty adventure for 6th level characters. The "writing adventures" page says that one should submit an outline first, but i want to know if it's too short/long, specific/vague ect. So, if somebody who has experience, please read the rough draft outline of my adventure and tell me what you think.. Gravetouched. An adventure for 6th level Adventurers Plot Idea: Ghoultouched cleric of Doresain has made a paladin fall to a blackguard. Now the once prosperous mining town the paladin governed is overrun by hideous undead. Adventure: The PC’s are visited by the Ghost of Lorana Jandilan (human Wiz2), the wife of a paladin from the town of Pelon. She claims that her husband murdered her in cold blood, but she knows not why. If the PC’s seem hesitant, she threatens to haunt them until they avenge her death. The PC’s enter the town and are instantly attacked by 2 ghasts that run from a nearby building. (EL 4). Inspection of the building reveals various corpses that the ghasts had been feeding on. Among the bodies is a Forsaken shell, which grabs the closes PC. (EL 6). The building seems to be a tavern, and a search of the bodies finds mining equipment. A search of the downtown area reveals that the town was very prosperous and successful, and many people lived well there. There is a general store filled with rotting food, a small magical store that has been cleared out, and various other abandoned, empty buildings. The only non-destroyed building is Ghandon Jandilan’s, the paladin town leaders. It is a well furnished, four room building. The first room is trapped with a Glyph of warding (EL 6). The second room is a kitchen, with rotted food and little of value. The third room the PC’s enter has five Skeletons with masterwork weapons/armor standing guard. When the PC’s fight them, they are under the effect of the corpsecrafter, destructive retribution, and deadly chill feats, and they are in a desecrated area (a shrine to Doresain) making the encounter about level 4. The second room is a kitchen (nothing of value hear) In the fourth room, in a well kept, well furnished bed lies the preserved corpse of Lorana with a slit throat. It turns out her husband went crazy and kept this as a shrine to her. When the PC’s decide to check out the mines, they are met at the entrance by 2 level 4 gravetouched ghoul paladins (EL 5). They are Ghandon and Lorana’s sons, charged with guarding the entrance to the mines. As the PC’s make their way through the mines, they encounter a veritable horde (12) of human commoner zombies, all under the effects of the corpsecrafter, destructive retribution, and deadly chill effects. (EL 7) As they move to the back of the mines, or if they engage in combat with the zombies, they provoke the attention of a now-evil and thoroughly insane Ghandon (human ex-paladin6/blackguard1). (EL 7) After defeating him, you move to the deepest part of the mine, where Doresain, a 7th level gravetouched ghoul cleric who named himself after the evil god, resides (EL 8). He is currently arguing with a gravetouched ghoul succubus that he used to turn Ghandon into evil. As the PC’s enter, she disappears. Doresain attacks the PC’s. When they kill him, Lorana thanks them, and goes to a safe rest. If he doesn't kill them, she haunts them forever. So, is there any criticism? comments?
Southernskies 08-07-05, 09:57 PM	Hey, i saw that you can get an adventure published by the RPGA, and i thought it would be cool, so i came up with an idea for a quick little gritty adventure for 6th level characters. The "writing adventures" page says that one should submit an outline first, but i want to know if it's too short/long, specific/vague ect. So, if somebody who has experience, please read the rough draft outline of my adventure and tell me what you think.. So, is there any criticism? comments? Well, posting it here means that everyone will already know what the adventure will be. :weep: For a Living Greyhawk adventure, you first Point of Contact should be your local Triad or the Circle contact if you don't belong to a region. Triads will generally get you to write an Introductory Adventure (for 1st level characters only) as a test to see if you can write to deadline (and the adventure is playable) and then they may offer you a full adventure slot (adjusted for at least 4 APLs, sometimes all 6 from APL2-12). To be offered a Core adventure, you need to have written at least one regional first.
Eric Anondson 08-10-05, 03:46 AM	Having written a few regional adventures, I can say that you have far too many encounters for a one round RPGA adventure. RPGA adventures are designed to start and finish in roughly a 4 hour period. The number of encounters you have would normally take about 8 hours of play, in other words a 2-round adventure, almost a 3-rounder. 3 encounters per mod is usually the limit time-wise that can be expected to be completed in any module. RPGA LG adventures also have an EL limit to adventures for designers to fit into. It calculates this way usually. Take the APL of the adventuring party, multiply it by 3 and add 6. So, for a one round APL 6 adventure, you will have 24 ((6 * 3)+6) ELs to work with to distribute to each encounter. APL 2 gets 12 ELs, APL 4 gets 18 ELs, APL 8 gets 32 ELs, APL 10 gets 38 ELs, APL 12 gets 44 ELs, ... etc. So you could have three EL 8 encounters (8 + 8 + 8 = 24); or an EL 6, EL8, and EL 10 encounters; or an EL 4, EL 6, EL 6 , and EL 8 encounters. Even something like EL 3, EL 3, EL 5, EL 6, EL 7 fits the EL calculus but because it fits outside the time-tested 3-4 encounters per 4 hour slot, you might run into trouble time-wise. If those EL 3 encounters were traps for instance you probably could be just fine... only playtesting could tell... All that is just for a single APL of an adventure, in the above case, an APL 6 adventure. RPGA LG mods need to be able to be scaled to other APLs as well. So you would be asked to designed each separate encounter with multiple options depending on the party's "APL". I can't recall ever seeing single APL LG adventures, other than intro mods which are exclusively for 1st level characters. That's just some tips for RPGA LG adventures that are going to be required of any author. But if your plot does get accepted, you will learn all of the intricate rules of authoring RPGA LG mods that your head will spin. Also, every year the Circle puts out calls to the player and judge base for submissions for adventures ideas for the next year of LG play. There are only so many adventures they can publish and many available positions are already going to be filled by adventure plots being carried over from previous years, or are adventure ideas complex enough to require more than a single "slot" in the itinerary... leaving less open even less options for new ideas than might be originally presumed. As suggested, to get an adventure published you would need to propose it to a regional triad, or possibly a meta-region administrator, ... or else wait for the Circle to put out its next open-call for adventures for next year. All that said, as an idea for a general adventure, I like it! It would take enormous tweeking to get it to work as an RPGA adventure though. Regards, Eric Anondson