Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Zaggaroth96 Jul 06, 2014 5:31:51	Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum and looking for advice on how to run an adventure called "Survival Island" over the next 3 months of summer before I'm off to university, and able to play D&D there! :D   Essentially, the premise of the campaign is that the players find themselves shipwrecked on an island and must fight for their character's survival against enemies, diseases, starvation, dehydration and weather effects. They must also explore the events surronding this, in which one member of the crew of the ship was in reality a dark wizard part of an evil cult known as the Shryless, who seek to claim the "Umbra Device" (turns people into zombies) off the island and take it back to his master. Obviously the players can attempt to solve this story and then potentially escape the island, or they will die.   Because of this fact, and that I only have three people playing, each person will have two characters they can draw on in case one dies, but after this they are considered dead for good and so are no longer able to enage in the story.   My question here is for general advice if I were to run this campaign. What sort of mechanics must be considered? Is the story sound and engaging? Should I randomize or pre-plan all encounters? If a player leaves, should they play as the monsters of as one of the few NPC's on the island? Should the players be able to access the crew roster early on in the game so as to be able to find out who is dead and who is not? Should other members of the crew have interesting features and backstories? Can this be feasibly done in 3 months?   Answers to these questions, or suggestions about the setting or game would be much appreciated. Thanks very much! :D
#2 iserith Jul 06, 2014 11:44:08	Sandbox/hexcrawl it. Here's a location all sorted out for you: Island of the Lizard God. Add or change parts of it to suit your ideas.   Zaggaroth96 wrote:
#3 Zaggaroth96 Jul 06, 2014 13:09:22	Thanks very much, the adventure you linked is really useful :D Yeah I wasn't that keen on the two character max idea either, but thats what some of the party wanted to do, so I'll have to consider that further. Thanks again! :D
#4 iserith Jul 06, 2014 13:55:40	Sure thing. I mean, I could see the limited "lives" aspect as being a particular game challenge. But putting a player out of the primary mode of participation seems a bit extreme. Perhaps you could institute some kind of scoring system to achieve instead, one that rewards lower turnover in PCs. You'll have to balance this against this incentivizing too much caution, however, because too much of that can be boring.
(Reply to #4) Zaggaroth96	Yeah, a points thing could work-ill talk it over with them like you said and see what they think. Another idea ive been toying with is what sort of creatures I should go for on the island as a sort of "native tribe" if you like. Obviously they will find out what happens to the crew throughout the adventure and eventually suss and try to stop the Shryless, but I want a sort of single unified creature force besides the animals that they need to worry about. My first thought was savage goblins, but they are a bit over-used I feel in my other sessions when they are low-level, so I want to use something less common. Any suggestions ?
#6 iserith Jul 06, 2014 16:16:35	On the map, look at locations C and E, plus Mount Sacrifice. Driftwood is run by the Ape Cartel, a group of gorillas that stumbled upon some intelligence potions. The town is otherwise populated by castaways and whatnot. Mount Sacrifice and the Blackfang River (E) are inhabited by lizardfolk. So there's your indigenous groups right there.
(Reply to #6) Zaggaroth96	Yeah, Lizardfolk seem about right. Thanks :D
#8 Prom Jul 13, 2014 2:02:56	I'd not worry about players running two characters, but I would suggest the following. Have more than three possible PC's get shipwrecked so players can bring in a new character quickly. The group still adventures as a 3 member team. If a character dies allow the player to select if the Character survives, provided they can explain why and how. PC's with scares are going to give them a bit of grit.