Any suggestions [Archive] - Wizards Community

Any suggestions [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Urza
11-04-04, 09:43 PM I am A first time Dm and i am Writing a campaign for a group of 6 PC's. my original thoughts on how to begin the story and keep the campaign running is to:

To have a sudo Evil leauge of Extrodinary gentlemen kind of thing and the leader be a Super evil Archmage bent on world domination. he has his henchmen ( leaders of their own evil gangs but all the leaders serve the Archmage) whom of which are all prestige classes, capture my group and bring them together. throughout the journey my PC's will encounter the various members of the little groups (I.E. a group of hafling Rouge/assassins all led by a Evil elf Rouge Assassin who serves the Super ?Evil Archmage) other groups/ individuals include a blackguard and arcane archers.

What do you think?
Dash Branaghan
11-04-04, 10:27 PM I am reminded of a combination of the old cartoons like GI Joe, League of Superheroes (I think that was what it was called), and Maxwell Smart movies.

It is an interesting idea if you develop it to not be cliche, which is the one risk. Your archnemesis (SPECTRE, Moriarty, Dr. Evil) should be a solid character with intermediaries who protect his or her identity (kinda like the Illuminati ideas). Each of these intermediaries should be the head of an organization, that in turn has organizations working for it. And you have the organizations competing with each other, just to keep things confusing (ie. Why are the Silver Dagger Assassins fighting with the Copper Coin Thieves Guild if they are part of the same overall group?).

Remember though...having this evil group with several diabolical plans is all well and good, but PCs are going to get tired of being chased, subdued and kidnapped over and over again, so you need leeway for them to develop their own interests as well (such as dragon slaying, treasure finding, item creation, whatever). It can't always fall back on being kidnapped, pursued, or captured.

Now, the one thing is to create groups that don't necessarily have anything to do with each other, but can all be part of the same overall dynamic. My thoughts at this point:

Slavers (which, if you want, can allow the PCs to be thrust together...these slavers can sell them to gladiatorial pits, mining pits, castle slaves, etc).
Assassins
Thieves Guilds
Merchants Guilds
Alchemy and Herbalist Guilds
Mercenary Groups (great way to keep tabs on the PCs...get them hired by one fo the groups that actually works for this overall enterprise).
Circus Groups (yep, you read that right. Traveling Carnivals are great for gathering information, making coin, and, if the town is ripe, a little larceny)

I'm sure others can add to the list.

Dash
ThatDarnCat
11-04-04, 10:57 PM I did something like this for a Champions Champaign I designed with my Boss when I was in the Army. We created a flowchart to show which groups were run by what underling and made notes showing which groups knew what and who didn't like who.

The PCs would be brought in to fight one organization, then they would find themselves hindered by other, appearently unconnected, organizations that included: streetgangs (T.H.U.G. and the Crimson Fist), portions of the DOD, 2 minor supervillain gangs (Treads and P.O.W.E.R.(political. overthrowers. with. energy. rifles. No, really.)), and 3 major supervillain gangs. Most of the organizations had no clue they were being maniputated by the Evil Overlord (a brain in a jar). It was a blast, especially when the jello pudding pop aliens attached. This was only a partially serious game. The plot and cvillains were serious, but the form they took could be a bit silly.

I had a lot of fun, Jesse, my boss, had a lot of fun and I'm pretty sure the players had a good time too.

So create a flow chart starting with your BBEG and work your way down. If you need help with naming the organizations I'm sure there are plenty of folk here who could offer names, just don't ask me or you'll end up with T.H.U.G. (teenage hoodlums usurping the Government).
nekrolog
11-04-04, 11:06 PM Sounds good. Were you looking for ideas for the evil gangs?
Urza
11-05-04, 02:52 PM Now being not only a new Dm but fairly new to the game i also am not entirly sure what you mean by Cliches? what exactly does that mean?
ThatDarnCat
11-05-04, 03:10 PM Now being not only a new Dm but fairly new to the game i also am not entirly sure what you mean by Cliches? what exactly does that mean?Cliches are things we expect to see because they are so 'common' in the genre. Elf archers, angry dwarves with big axes, tall, muscle bound barbarians with a big sword and a loin cloth, the knight in shining armor. These are cliches. So is the villain capturing the PCs and explaining his over complicated plan for world domination before leaving them to their unsupervised doom (from which they always escape).

Anything that is so uverused as to be predictable is a cliche.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Urza 11-04-04, 09:43 PM	I am A first time Dm and i am Writing a campaign for a group of 6 PC's. my original thoughts on how to begin the story and keep the campaign running is to: To have a sudo Evil leauge of Extrodinary gentlemen kind of thing and the leader be a Super evil Archmage bent on world domination. he has his henchmen ( leaders of their own evil gangs but all the leaders serve the Archmage) whom of which are all prestige classes, capture my group and bring them together. throughout the journey my PC's will encounter the various members of the little groups (I.E. a group of hafling Rouge/assassins all led by a Evil elf Rouge Assassin who serves the Super ?Evil Archmage) other groups/ individuals include a blackguard and arcane archers. What do you think?
Dash Branaghan 11-04-04, 10:27 PM	I am reminded of a combination of the old cartoons like GI Joe, League of Superheroes (I think that was what it was called), and Maxwell Smart movies. It is an interesting idea if you develop it to not be cliche, which is the one risk. Your archnemesis (SPECTRE, Moriarty, Dr. Evil) should be a solid character with intermediaries who protect his or her identity (kinda like the Illuminati ideas). Each of these intermediaries should be the head of an organization, that in turn has organizations working for it. And you have the organizations competing with each other, just to keep things confusing (ie. Why are the Silver Dagger Assassins fighting with the Copper Coin Thieves Guild if they are part of the same overall group?). Remember though...having this evil group with several diabolical plans is all well and good, but PCs are going to get tired of being chased, subdued and kidnapped over and over again, so you need leeway for them to develop their own interests as well (such as dragon slaying, treasure finding, item creation, whatever). It can't always fall back on being kidnapped, pursued, or captured. Now, the one thing is to create groups that don't necessarily have anything to do with each other, but can all be part of the same overall dynamic. My thoughts at this point: Slavers (which, if you want, can allow the PCs to be thrust together...these slavers can sell them to gladiatorial pits, mining pits, castle slaves, etc). Assassins Thieves Guilds Merchants Guilds Alchemy and Herbalist Guilds Mercenary Groups (great way to keep tabs on the PCs...get them hired by one fo the groups that actually works for this overall enterprise). Circus Groups (yep, you read that right. Traveling Carnivals are great for gathering information, making coin, and, if the town is ripe, a little larceny) I'm sure others can add to the list. Dash
ThatDarnCat 11-04-04, 10:57 PM	I did something like this for a Champions Champaign I designed with my Boss when I was in the Army. We created a flowchart to show which groups were run by what underling and made notes showing which groups knew what and who didn't like who. The PCs would be brought in to fight one organization, then they would find themselves hindered by other, appearently unconnected, organizations that included: streetgangs (T.H.U.G. and the Crimson Fist), portions of the DOD, 2 minor supervillain gangs (Treads and P.O.W.E.R.(political. overthrowers. with. energy. rifles. No, really.)), and 3 major supervillain gangs. Most of the organizations had no clue they were being maniputated by the Evil Overlord (a brain in a jar). It was a blast, especially when the jello pudding pop aliens attached. This was only a partially serious game. The plot and cvillains were serious, but the form they took could be a bit silly. I had a lot of fun, Jesse, my boss, had a lot of fun and I'm pretty sure the players had a good time too. So create a flow chart starting with your BBEG and work your way down. If you need help with naming the organizations I'm sure there are plenty of folk here who could offer names, just don't ask me or you'll end up with T.H.U.G. (teenage hoodlums usurping the Government).
nekrolog 11-04-04, 11:06 PM	Sounds good. Were you looking for ideas for the evil gangs?
Urza 11-05-04, 02:52 PM	Now being not only a new Dm but fairly new to the game i also am not entirly sure what you mean by Cliches? what exactly does that mean?
ThatDarnCat 11-05-04, 03:10 PM	Now being not only a new Dm but fairly new to the game i also am not entirly sure what you mean by Cliches? what exactly does that mean?Cliches are things we expect to see because they are so 'common' in the genre. Elf archers, angry dwarves with big axes, tall, muscle bound barbarians with a big sword and a loin cloth, the knight in shining armor. These are cliches. So is the villain capturing the PCs and explaining his over complicated plan for world domination before leaving them to their unsupervised doom (from which they always escape). Anything that is so uverused as to be predictable is a cliche.