Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 RPGBG Oct 15, 2014 1:55:33	I am going to run a solo introductory campaign for a player that is unfamiliar both with Dark Sun and post-AD&D rulesets. I will use the D&D5 rules with some slight modifications since I believe the bonded accuracy makes it easiest to run a solo campaign. I will take over 6 months (until our DS group is able to play once again), so as futile planing ahead as a DM can be - I would like to do it. Since I am most unfamiliar with the setting from my DS group - I would like your opinions how close to the spirit of the setting the following events are. Any suggestions for nice encounters/intrigues that I can throw in the players face are welcome as well.   At the same time I don't want our upcomming campaign to seem repetative to him, so I have chosen different time period, location and social possition for my player. The campaign starts in Urik, a few years before the destruction of Yaramuke. The player will be a yellow cloak in service of Hamanu.   The proto-Veilled Alliance will be involved in the setting as a morally ambiguous organisation. At first they will be presented as a ragtag band of terorists who are pain in the templar's ass. Latter he will understand about their fight against the deffilers that will present them in a better light, but in the end he will probably discovered that they are bribed by agents of Sielba to weaken Urik in preparation for her occupation of the obsidian mines. Hamanu himself will also go through a few shifts - at first he will seem like a demanding and cruel tyrant, but latter in the light of some other half-mad sorcerer kings - his care for the prosperity of the city and just rule will be highlighted, just so he can be brough back to his villain status when he offers the population of Yaramuke as a tribute to the Dragon and then triest to sacrafice the whole city of Urik in order to achieve his ascension.   Having in mind that the player is new to the setting I expect the campaign to be relatively rail-roaded without too many plot altering decisions (**** Urik, I'm going to Tyr) in the grand scheme of things.   Part I - Troubles in the city. The players will be send to investigate the reasons causing few merchants to be late with their tributes for Hamanu. It will turn out that there have been some terrorist attacks on their holdings, a few things are stollen and many are damaged causing them heavy losses and almost putting them out of bussiness. Their obligations are postponed and they are offered a templar's assistance, but at the same time their tributes are doubled. How the player will deal with the situation is up to him. Just stopping the attacks will not be enough for them to meet their new quota. The attacks will stop even if he does not manage to do something about them (since the reason behind them was to put the merchants out of bussiness) so he will be rewarded for a job well done anyway, but their is a considerable chance that the merchants wont be able to provide the payments and will be executed - leaving a bad taste in his mouth (he is neutral character with slight tendency towards good). This part will consist of three 2-3 subparts. An investigation challenge, followed by a chase around the city and an opened third part (convincing other merchants to help their colleagues (very hard), helping them with a risky endeavour (average) or just leaving them to their fate (easy) are all viable options.   Part II - Into the wasteland. The player is sent to collect part of the dragon levy from a few establishments outside of the city, but still within Urik's zone of influence - a slave trading outposts, kank farm and an obsidian quarry. He is presented with a few decisions to make - the kank farm has recently suffered an attack from a landshark, costing the life of all but one of the farmers children. The slaver's outpost have been attacked by a three-kreen tribe and the slaves are stollen, leaving only the slaver and some of his goons and the quarry is one of the few opened mines near Urik making the fate of the miners sealed regardless if they are taken to the Dragon or left working under the sun. This is also the first time he will meet agents of Sielba, who will try to kill him in order to keep their scouting operation a secret. He will also have the option to make the connection between the Veiled Alliance operatives and the agents from Yaramuke. Also if he manages to free the slaves taken by the three-kreen - there is a considerable chance that they will try to incapacitate him and leave him for dead under the sun (even though he will most probably send the slaver himself to join the levy and then attempt to free the slaves). It is also the place where he will be introduced to some of the dangers of the Athasian land.   How does the first two parts sound so far? Any other elements that I should add? Latter in the campaign I intend to let him meet the ghost of Myron, lead a campaign against a bandit queen in possesion of the Silencer, go on a quest to destroy the weapon, recruit a Veilled Alliance member for service to Urik or extract the needed information so he can and visit Yaramuke as undercover agent. From then on it will be mostly a cinematic with the player witnessing the destruction of Yaramuke.   Any thoughts/ideas?
#2 jlpinli40 Oct 24, 2014 3:56:49	Over all good job the only thing I would change is the thri-kreen and the slaves. When it comes to that race everything I know about them doesn’t fit with them taking slaves they just kill. I myself instead would just rearrange some of the elements you have already there in your plots. For example use the sielba aspect you have. I look forward to reading what else you come up with.
#3 RalofTyr Nov 30, 2014 15:57:40	Wow, an old-school AD&D player.  Those guys are rare nowadays.  I found .pdfs of the old D&D box-sets (Basic, Expert etc.); that was an intersting rule-set.