A new kind of adventure [Archive] - Wizards Community

A new kind of adventure [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Orloff the Wise
02-01-04, 09:13 PM A DM friend of mine has recently come up with an interesting idea for a D&D adventure. It goes as follows: each player (there are 3-4) creates a party (4 characters) of 20th level characters. Each of these characters must be a complex character with a backstory and some kind of relationship, be that what it may, with the other members of the group. Then, each of these parties are sent by different people to retrive the same ancient artifact from a monster-infested dungeon. These parties know eachother by reputation, but have never met eachother. However, now that they are striving towards the same goal, they have the oppertunity to meet, befriend, or attempt to destroy eachother. Eventually, one party must come out on top, however; the party that manages to get the artifact to their employer. So, my questions are thus:

Have any of you every tried this before?

What problems do you forsee if this adventure should take place?
Rasmus
02-02-04, 07:56 AM Running 4 20th level characters is extremely demanding for one player.

Runnning a combat with up to 16 20th lvl. characters + monsters BBEG's will be next to impossible to run as a single DM. And they will take forever to play.
Steelcrystal
02-02-04, 08:35 AM Also, trying to run 4 distinct characters with complex backstories and personalities simultaneously would be almost as demanding, if not more so, than running the aforementioned combats. I know many gamers that can't roleplay ONE character sufficiently well, let alone four simultaneously.
waqqif
02-02-04, 09:57 AM go to www.enworld.org messageboards and ask this question again, especially ask SHARK if he could help you.
olshanski
02-02-04, 10:03 AM I think having each player play 4 20th level characters is a bit much.

Once in a while I host special "one-shot" adventures.
It takes some set-up time, so I only do it for special occasions. I do this with a larger group, so it a bit of a social event. People often need to leave the room to conspire with each other in the process.

The adventure can actually be VERY short, since most of the session is taken up by players trying to figure out what the other is up to... it is pretty macchiavelian. For the example below, I might have 1 jungle encounter, a trick encounter to enter the crypt. A trap or two inside the crypt, 1 crypt guardian encounter, and one encounter with the artifact's guardian. I might have a heavy fog at some point so that people only have 5' visibility. I usually make the journey long enough that people have to go to sleep.

I create all of the characters ahead of time, and along with the characters, I create a secret agenda for each player... each player has his own victory condition.

The trick is, the secret agendas are often conflicting....

Background: A major artifact is located in a trap-ridden crypt in an old swamp. A church has assembled you and requested that you recover it for them.

Example:
Cleric: (You have a tatoo of a dragon on your arm, which represents your loyalty to the church)
Secret Agenda: The Artifact must be brought to your church.

Wizard:
Secret Agenda: One of the players is from a secret cult, Identified by a reptile tatoo. Eliminate that player. If you can't figure out who is in the cult, eliminate all of them.

Rogue:
Secret Agenda: Steal one posession from each player. Try to keep all of the party alive.

Fighter: (You have a tatoo of a dragon on your arm, which represents your loyalty to the church)
Secret Agenda: You win if the Cleric's secret goal is realized, whether or not the cleric lives to the end.

Bard:
Secret Agenda: You must perform a secret 1 hour ritual on the Artifact before it is returned to the church. Nobody can watch this ritual.It doesn't matter if the artifact makes it back or not.

Ranger: (Actually a doppleganger)
Secret Agenda: Your goal is to "fake" your own death and replace the cleric. You must not replace the cleric until the team has discovered the artifact.

Druid: (You have a tatoo of a water serpent on your back, which represents your secret cult membership)
Secret Agenda: You are in a secret cult protecting the crypt. nobody must leave alive. You will have 2 crocodile companions awaiting your command.
Slivvy Gaidin
02-02-04, 11:05 AM olshanski, that sounds really exciting!

I agree though- 1 20th level character with a complex background is one thing, but a whole party is just that much more difficult. If you wanted to run a game with multiple groups, then you might want to consider getting together with some other DM's that are interested, and simultaneously running severaly games in-sync with each other. Granted, you do need several willing groups to play, and amazing coordination between your groups to keep it together- but it would definitely be easier on the players and the DMs to keep track of less players, and would emphasise the element of secrecy and competition between the rival parties.
Bibliomancer
02-05-04, 06:59 PM Hello. I'm the DM in question.
Well... frankly, I still plan to go ahead with it. It will be a special occasion type thing, I've put a lot of work into preparing it, and the people who will be invited are the kind of people who are very good at this.
Another thing is that most of them have experience themselves as DMs. The problem with running individual characters with complex personalities is less of a problem if you have entire groups of NPCs with complex personalities, many of them also exceptionally powerful.
I suppose I may be being too optimistic, but I think this will work.
I'll tell you all how it works out.
Rogue_Jedi_99
02-05-04, 09:57 PM Sounds real interesting. Although I'd like it more if you started as 3rd level characters and eventually work you way up the ultimate goal.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Orloff the Wise 02-01-04, 09:13 PM	A DM friend of mine has recently come up with an interesting idea for a D&D adventure. It goes as follows: each player (there are 3-4) creates a party (4 characters) of 20th level characters. Each of these characters must be a complex character with a backstory and some kind of relationship, be that what it may, with the other members of the group. Then, each of these parties are sent by different people to retrive the same ancient artifact from a monster-infested dungeon. These parties know eachother by reputation, but have never met eachother. However, now that they are striving towards the same goal, they have the oppertunity to meet, befriend, or attempt to destroy eachother. Eventually, one party must come out on top, however; the party that manages to get the artifact to their employer. So, my questions are thus: Have any of you every tried this before? What problems do you forsee if this adventure should take place?
Rasmus 02-02-04, 07:56 AM	Running 4 20th level characters is extremely demanding for one player. Runnning a combat with up to 16 20th lvl. characters + monsters BBEG's will be next to impossible to run as a single DM. And they will take forever to play.
Steelcrystal 02-02-04, 08:35 AM	Also, trying to run 4 distinct characters with complex backstories and personalities simultaneously would be almost as demanding, if not more so, than running the aforementioned combats. I know many gamers that can't roleplay ONE character sufficiently well, let alone four simultaneously.
waqqif 02-02-04, 09:57 AM	go to www.enworld.org messageboards and ask this question again, especially ask SHARK if he could help you.
olshanski 02-02-04, 10:03 AM	I think having each player play 4 20th level characters is a bit much. Once in a while I host special "one-shot" adventures. It takes some set-up time, so I only do it for special occasions. I do this with a larger group, so it a bit of a social event. People often need to leave the room to conspire with each other in the process. The adventure can actually be VERY short, since most of the session is taken up by players trying to figure out what the other is up to... it is pretty macchiavelian. For the example below, I might have 1 jungle encounter, a trick encounter to enter the crypt. A trap or two inside the crypt, 1 crypt guardian encounter, and one encounter with the artifact's guardian. I might have a heavy fog at some point so that people only have 5' visibility. I usually make the journey long enough that people have to go to sleep. I create all of the characters ahead of time, and along with the characters, I create a secret agenda for each player... each player has his own victory condition. The trick is, the secret agendas are often conflicting.... Background: A major artifact is located in a trap-ridden crypt in an old swamp. A church has assembled you and requested that you recover it for them. Example: Cleric: (You have a tatoo of a dragon on your arm, which represents your loyalty to the church) Secret Agenda: The Artifact must be brought to your church. Wizard: Secret Agenda: One of the players is from a secret cult, Identified by a reptile tatoo. Eliminate that player. If you can't figure out who is in the cult, eliminate all of them. Rogue: Secret Agenda: Steal one posession from each player. Try to keep all of the party alive. Fighter: (You have a tatoo of a dragon on your arm, which represents your loyalty to the church) Secret Agenda: You win if the Cleric's secret goal is realized, whether or not the cleric lives to the end. Bard: Secret Agenda: You must perform a secret 1 hour ritual on the Artifact before it is returned to the church. Nobody can watch this ritual.It doesn't matter if the artifact makes it back or not. Ranger: (Actually a doppleganger) Secret Agenda: Your goal is to "fake" your own death and replace the cleric. You must not replace the cleric until the team has discovered the artifact. Druid: (You have a tatoo of a water serpent on your back, which represents your secret cult membership) Secret Agenda: You are in a secret cult protecting the crypt. nobody must leave alive. You will have 2 crocodile companions awaiting your command.
Slivvy Gaidin 02-02-04, 11:05 AM	olshanski, that sounds really exciting! I agree though- 1 20th level character with a complex background is one thing, but a whole party is just that much more difficult. If you wanted to run a game with multiple groups, then you might want to consider getting together with some other DM's that are interested, and simultaneously running severaly games in-sync with each other. Granted, you do need several willing groups to play, and amazing coordination between your groups to keep it together- but it would definitely be easier on the players and the DMs to keep track of less players, and would emphasise the element of secrecy and competition between the rival parties.
Bibliomancer 02-05-04, 06:59 PM	Hello. I'm the DM in question. Well... frankly, I still plan to go ahead with it. It will be a special occasion type thing, I've put a lot of work into preparing it, and the people who will be invited are the kind of people who are very good at this. Another thing is that most of them have experience themselves as DMs. The problem with running individual characters with complex personalities is less of a problem if you have entire groups of NPCs with complex personalities, many of them also exceptionally powerful. I suppose I may be being too optimistic, but I think this will work. I'll tell you all how it works out.
Rogue_Jedi_99 02-05-04, 09:57 PM	Sounds real interesting. Although I'd like it more if you started as 3rd level characters and eventually work you way up the ultimate goal.