Campaign Idea: Community Creation [Archive] - Wizards Community

Campaign Idea: Community Creation [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Tleilaxu_Ghola
03-08-06, 01:08 AM So I decided to start up a high level campaign with a few of my rather rule-saavy friends. The basic premise of the campaign is: forge a community in an unknown land.

The trick is that the players are mind-flayers.

Of course this meshes perfectly well with the idea of mind-flayer colonization and domination, which was by design. Basically, all I said at the beginning of the campaign was (in a bit more dramatic words): "Your elder brain desires you to conquer this land and enslave the population to feed our numbers." Then I had to give them a few hints along the way, but basically the PCs have arrived at the following plan:

Find some high-level smart warrior who can wield the fractured tribes of the "wild-lands" and form them into an army.
Create an elite strike force to conquer and subdue the tribes, while at the same time conscripting them to their army. The main war tactic is "blitz-krieg."
Issue "fake" assaults on the neighboring kingdoms, which are disguised as wild-man raids.
Then suddenly quell the raids, and unveil a unified (and pacified) wild-land kingdom.
Seek diplomatic support from neighboring kingdoms to stop a few "rogue" tribes that remain.
Lull the neighboring kingdoms into their support, while assassinating the main opposition. All the while building up an army.
Launch an Assault on the neighboring kingdoms, conquer and enslave them.
Supplant the "warchief" with an elder brain and blot out the sun with an epic spell or two. The dark reign of the mind-flayers will have begun.

Admittedly, quite a bit of the above plan was due to my suggestions. But, really it's a classic Nazi domination plot. The main difference between this campaign and others that I've DMed is that I don't have to write the plot. I tell my PCs to give me what they would like to do to accomplish their goal, and then I write up the session based off that. This kind of works, but my PCs are a bit lazy, so I often end up filling in details that they should have.

Now my question for y'all is how should I handle the counter-plot?

Surely not everything will go according to plan, which is what makes it exciting. I plan to make a few githyanki raids on their base or have a "raving" prophet exclaim in the kingdom's capitol that mindflayers are actually behind it all.
Seen
03-08-06, 03:36 AM Since the party is playing the 'bad guys', remember that there are always groups of adventurers ready to thwart them at every turn! Time to see how it feels to fight against a balanced group of "PCs" ;)
Stormranger
03-08-06, 05:33 AM It's a neat idea, Gola, and it sounds like it almost writes itself. I agree with Seen, you definitely need some plucky groups of adventurers to crop up from time to time to thwart the PCs plans and serve as the occasional light snack. For that matter, maybe the barbarians that your players plan on subjugating have an ancient prophesy warning of the illithids arrival? Someone might, anyway.

I don't know much about mind-flayer culture, but could there be a rival group of mind-flayers trying to accomplish the same thing who would come into conflict with your PCs? Or some similar entity (vampires, devils, yuan-ti) that seeks to establish dominion?
Illion the Red
03-08-06, 08:59 AM Don't forget about the competing group of mind flayers that will gain more power if the PC group fails. This would be the secret group that feeds infomation to the "good guys" so that they show up at just the right moment to screw things up for the PCs.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tleilaxu_Ghola 03-08-06, 01:08 AM	So I decided to start up a high level campaign with a few of my rather rule-saavy friends. The basic premise of the campaign is: forge a community in an unknown land. The trick is that the players are mind-flayers. Of course this meshes perfectly well with the idea of mind-flayer colonization and domination, which was by design. Basically, all I said at the beginning of the campaign was (in a bit more dramatic words): "Your elder brain desires you to conquer this land and enslave the population to feed our numbers." Then I had to give them a few hints along the way, but basically the PCs have arrived at the following plan: Find some high-level smart warrior who can wield the fractured tribes of the "wild-lands" and form them into an army. Create an elite strike force to conquer and subdue the tribes, while at the same time conscripting them to their army. The main war tactic is "blitz-krieg." Issue "fake" assaults on the neighboring kingdoms, which are disguised as wild-man raids. Then suddenly quell the raids, and unveil a unified (and pacified) wild-land kingdom. Seek diplomatic support from neighboring kingdoms to stop a few "rogue" tribes that remain. Lull the neighboring kingdoms into their support, while assassinating the main opposition. All the while building up an army. Launch an Assault on the neighboring kingdoms, conquer and enslave them. Supplant the "warchief" with an elder brain and blot out the sun with an epic spell or two. The dark reign of the mind-flayers will have begun. Admittedly, quite a bit of the above plan was due to my suggestions. But, really it's a classic Nazi domination plot. The main difference between this campaign and others that I've DMed is that I don't have to write the plot. I tell my PCs to give me what they would like to do to accomplish their goal, and then I write up the session based off that. This kind of works, but my PCs are a bit lazy, so I often end up filling in details that they should have. Now my question for y'all is how should I handle the counter-plot? Surely not everything will go according to plan, which is what makes it exciting. I plan to make a few githyanki raids on their base or have a "raving" prophet exclaim in the kingdom's capitol that mindflayers are actually behind it all.
Seen 03-08-06, 03:36 AM	Since the party is playing the 'bad guys', remember that there are always groups of adventurers ready to thwart them at every turn! Time to see how it feels to fight against a balanced group of "PCs" ;)
Stormranger 03-08-06, 05:33 AM	It's a neat idea, Gola, and it sounds like it almost writes itself. I agree with Seen, you definitely need some plucky groups of adventurers to crop up from time to time to thwart the PCs plans and serve as the occasional light snack. For that matter, maybe the barbarians that your players plan on subjugating have an ancient prophesy warning of the illithids arrival? Someone might, anyway. I don't know much about mind-flayer culture, but could there be a rival group of mind-flayers trying to accomplish the same thing who would come into conflict with your PCs? Or some similar entity (vampires, devils, yuan-ti) that seeks to establish dominion?
Illion the Red 03-08-06, 08:59 AM	Don't forget about the competing group of mind flayers that will gain more power if the PC group fails. This would be the secret group that feeds infomation to the "good guys" so that they show up at just the right moment to screw things up for the PCs.