Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rez 01-05-06, 10:34 AM	Ok. I pondered trying to run a campaign. The idea is this: A magical being/force (for entertainment) teleport unsuspecting adventurers to a strangle ancient mystical island filled with believed extinct beasts and tribes (Basically-think Jurassic Park). What the being/force wants is the adventurers to try and survive (for their amusement) and try to escape the island somehow. If the adventurers survive, and find certain treasures scattered throughout the wilderness, and find a way to escape they will gain a 'prize' from the being/force controlling the 'event' so to speak. On the island would be various dinos hunting the adventurers, many natural things they will need to overcome, various weather conditions, the fact they have no home here (would need to build shelter) very little gear and no knowledge of this place. Also on the island will be hidden 'treasures' to help the group, plus remains of deceased adventurers (old gear), various tribes (One of the largest I wanted to create was a tribe of lizardfolk that worship the T-Rex). Various non-magical/non-psionic zones, a area of the island that is always 'nighttime', ect. Various ruined temples. Possibly even undead (imagine taking on a undead T-Rex? Owww...or a pack of undead raptors?) I wanted to make something...different for the game. Oh and the group will most likely be lvl 3.
olshanski_home 01-05-06, 12:12 PM	Its kind of a serious railroad. PCs don't like it when they are being manipulated by forces out of thier control... Although I've played "Prisoner" roleplaying game based n the british TV show and that was the same type of deal... it was supposed to be people manipulated by forces out of their control. If you want to go through with it, I'd suggest you allow the players to become the real powerhouse eventually... don't force them to remain as mice behind the secenes... I'd perhaps make the controlling force be some committee of outsiders... but then let one of the committe members be opposed to the committee. If you want the entity to be an individual, then have one of the toadies of the individual be opposed to the entity's actions... In either case, the one that is opposed to the manipulative creatures's activity could secretly meet with the party now and again, and give them hints on how the party can break free and perhaps overthrow the bad guy. Eventually, you get a scene like in a laboratory where the rats have escaped the maze and killed the scientist that was experimenting on them. It is sort of a case where the "experiements" made the characters stronger (going up in levels), until they were a match for the one that imprisoned them. It would just me more satisfying as a player to get that final revenge rather than to just be played the entire time. The sooner you can get it into the players heads that they will be able to get revenge on the creature manipulating them, the better. I'd also have little "broken" areas, where the people get a chance to see behind the scenes a bit... for example: the island that the players get placed on is constructed, and perhaps the ally arranges events so that the party gets a chance to go underground and see some of the mechanical workings of thier prison... perhaps they see some of the vats that are creating the prehistoric creatures they are fighting, or things like that... let the players mess with the machinery. If you do decide to go with your plan (which sounds a bit like the first episode of Star Trek, the next generation, with Q as the manipulative entity): I'd suggest watching a few episodes of "the Prisoner" and perhaps reading "Riverworld" by Philip Jose Farmer. The Prisonr and Riverworld are slightly more obscure references, and may seem fresh, while probably all of the players have seen episodes of Star Trek with "Q".
Rez 01-05-06, 12:56 PM	1. I like the idea of labs throughout the island. Perhaps filled with vats of 'experiments' that didn't well..live up to expectations. Adventurers brought here are just used as 'test subjects'.... 2. Perhaps the dinos were always here, and the one behind the scenes is trying to merge them with humanoids to make them better 'killers' (aka he wants the dinos to take over everything. Sorta like de-evolve the world back into the primitive ages. No magic. No sorcery. Just hunt or be hunted). 3. Perhaps none of the adventurers brought here survived (either killed by the dinos/other things on the island or were experimented on). 4. A high level druid/perhaps Blighter behind the scenes as the baddy... 5. I'd use a toady..dunno bout race/class. Perhaps a Telepath...
Rez 01-05-06, 12:59 PM	1. I like the idea of labs throughout the island. Perhaps filled with vats of 'experiments' that didn't well..live up to expectations. Adventurers brought here are just used as 'test subjects'.... 2. Perhaps the dinos were always here, and the one behind the scenes is trying to merge them with humanoids to make them better 'killers' (aka he wants the dinos to take over everything. Sorta like de-evolve the world back into the primitive ages. No magic. No sorcery. Just hunt or be hunted). 3. Perhaps none of the adventurers brought here survived (either killed by the dinos/other things on the island or were experimented on). 4. A high level druid/perhaps Blighter behind the scenes as the baddy... 5. I'd use a toady..dunno bout race/class. Perhaps a Telepath... Perhaps the island is full of dinos/tribes of primitives with some sort of cult hidden within the island, the 'One in charge' just biding his time *ponders* Definatly need to iron everything out...so many ideas. I sorta like a 'Medievl Jurassic Park' idea....
Rez 01-05-06, 02:19 PM	Any other ideas....? :confused:
FireJewel 01-05-06, 02:48 PM	Ok. I pondered trying to run a campaign. The idea is this: A magical being/force (for entertainment) teleport unsuspecting adventurers to a strangle ancient mystical island filled with believed extinct beasts and tribes (Basically-think Jurassic Park). What the being/force wants is the adventurers to try and survive (for their amusement) and try to escape the island somehow. If the adventurers survive, and find certain treasures scattered throughout the wilderness, and find a way to escape they will gain a 'prize' from the being/force controlling the 'event' so to speak. Various non-magical/non-psionic zones, a area of the island that is always 'nighttime', ect. Various ruined temples. Possibly even undead (imagine taking on a undead T-Rex? Owww...or a pack of undead raptors?) I wanted to make something...different for the game. Oh and the group will most likely be lvl 3. How is the group being watched? Scrying or other magical effects... or, is the "Etertainment Commission" actually on the island? If it is a magical type of watching, how will they see the prisoners in the non-magical zones. Also, what happens if the PC's make their will saves for scrying? If it is non-magical watching, will the PC's have a way to see the people controlling them on the island? Will they be able to ultimately shut it down from the island itself? I would imagine this island would have to be fairly large for all of these temple zones... Is the island protected from people coming in from the outside? Could others just sail on in? In order for them to get the appropriate treasure for leveling - once the hit the higher levels - there will have to be a lot of gold and magical items in places they haven't yet dared to go. This means that other high-level adventurers would have had to have been there before them and left it there. Which means this large island would have been around for awhile with no one knowing about it... Something that might suit your fancy would be a dragon graveyard, instead. I don't have the book with me, but the Draconomicon talks about the dragon graveyards being places of perverse magical effects... elemental storms, vortices, undead dragons, openings to other planes, etc. Maybe it's conceivable that they were sucked in to a dragon graveyard (Which could be it's own little island)... and have to battle to get out. It's almost the same concept you seem to be going for, without feeling too contrived. There may also be remains from previous adventurers... small dragon hoards... etc. Just an option :)
Rez 01-05-06, 02:56 PM	I actually have the Draconomicon...and I like this idea. I'll look into it when I get home. Dragons in campaigns always to me were fun to play (as allies of the group or enemies). Thing is-would all in the graveyard...be undead? Hmm. Perhaps a good dragon god wants to 'cleans the graveyard of evil' and teleports the adventurers there. Or for one reason or another, they get sucked in....*ponders* Evilness all around the graveyard. Cult of Necromancers. Dragon Worshippers....heheh....
FireJewel 01-05-06, 03:03 PM	I actually have the Draconomicon...and I like this idea. I'll look into it when I get home. Dragons in campaigns always to me were fun to play (as allies of the group or enemies). Thing is-would all in the graveyard...be undead? Hmm. Perhaps a good dragon god wants to 'cleans the graveyard of evil' and teleports the adventurers there. Or for one reason or another, they get sucked in....*ponders* .... Not all dragons in the graveyard are undead. A lot of dragons leave wyrmlings there for the protection. Young dragons often stay there until their mature enough to defend their own territories. Ancient or older... and badly wounded dragons... go there when they know it's time for them to die. They could also run into evil (or just plan greedy) adventurers that are trying to rob dragon hoards and would be out to kill your PC's. Have fun with it!
Rez 01-05-06, 03:14 PM	So the Dragon Graveyard isn't necassarily a 'evil place'? More like in some ways where the Elves were going in Lord of the Rings? Like..a sanctuary for the young dragons/and older dragons (for protection/safe place to heale, or live out the last few days). I just keep picturing it like its 'hell' or something :) Place where evil dragons dwell..... I could have a Bahamut/Tiamat war ensuing. Fighting over the graveyard. Another idea (which could go along with the war) Perhaps the group is hired to find a wyrmling dragon (perhaps silver) that was kidnapped and taken to the graveyard..? Perhaps its father or mother are too week (or dead). Hmm. I actually pondered letting the PCs possibly play dragons but even with the Draconomicon, the group would have to be at least like lvl 10 to start playing one (and that's just wyrmlings...)
FireJewel 01-05-06, 03:21 PM	So the Dragon Graveyard isn't necassarily a 'evil place'? More like in some ways where the Elves were going in Lord of the Rings? Like..a sanctuary for the young dragons/and older dragons (for protection/safe place to heale, or live out the last few days). I just keep picturing it like its 'hell' or something :) Place where evil dragons dwell..... I could have a Bahamut/Tiamat war ensuing. Fighting over the graveyard. Another idea (which could go along with the war) Perhaps the group is hired to find a wyrmling dragon (perhaps silver) that was kidnapped and taken to the graveyard..? Perhaps its father or mother are too week (or dead). Hmm. I actually pondered letting the PCs possibly play dragons but even with the Draconomicon, the group would have to be at least like lvl 10 to start playing one (and that's just wyrmlings...) Don't get me wrong... It would depend on the alignment of the dragons. (In reg 3.5 D&D, anyway). If it was a Red Dragon graveyard, it would be horrible. A gold dragon graveyard could be a sanctuary that may be under attack. Instead of making letting the PC's be full dragons, maybe half dragons (to control the start level of the party).... or, secretly give them a light to medium dragon bloodline (from the unearthed arcana)... that may explain why the were sucked into the whole graveyard mess. You sound creative... I am sure you will make it interesting :)
imperialjunkie 01-05-06, 03:35 PM	In some ways I echo olshanski's statement that it is in essence railroading. And I seriously echo his thought that you should make a plausible way for the PCs to overcome and even get revenge/catch the person/entity that trapped them. This could make the railroading palatable. Your idea sounds like a mixture of Saw and Jurassic Park. It could have a pretty strong horror element to it if you choose. The idea of a mastermind trapping you and giving you a slim chance of survival is fairly diabolical and well-used. Also reminds me of that short story about the man who was caught so he could be hunted on an island- The Most Dangerous Game. But unlike the Saw movies, you need to give a wider chance of success. Those movies are the ultimate example of what NOT to do as a DM. Railroading to the max. But that's the point of the movies.
Rez 01-05-06, 03:36 PM	Hehe. Some ideas (Oddly I thought it was one large graveyard...for all the dragons..) Perhaps the group is brought together by a Follower of Bahumat. I was thinking perhaps there is a Crystal Shard or Orb in each graveyard. When all combined, it can be used as a weapon of great power. Perhaps Bahumat wants it-not to use it against Tiamat, just to keep it safe. Minions following Tiamat could be searching for the items as well. So basically-its jumping from graveyard to graveyard, having to fulfill some sort of prophecy..... Bloodlines could be interesting (don't have the unearthed arcana book though) Half-Dragons definatly work. (Perhaps I'd play a Sorcerer/Dragon Disciple-worships Bahumat) or along the lines of a Half-Dragon Paladin of Bahumat. Holy Quest.... White Dragon: Icy Hell.... Black Dragon: Swamps, Poisons gases.... Red Dragon: Basically-A firey hell. Blue Dragon: Desert. Hehe.... Green Dragon: Jungle romp.... I'd go through the main good/evil dragons..gather graveyard ideas. Let the group choose which graveyard to go to...perhaps they need to find the shard/orb in each one first or be unable to leave (which could be interesting)......