Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Edymnion May 31, 2008 13:08:38	Got the seed of an idea for a campaign, based partly off a reoccurring theme in the Indiana Jones movies and partly from the Epoch movies. That basically, while great power exists, often times it is not meant for us to possess or control. The basic idea would be that a large artifact appears somewhere in Khovaire that radiates extreme magical energy. Say a Syberis shard the size of a small island that just hovers a few feat off the ground. All the great powers of Eberron would be sending parties to try and claim the secret it houses, including the PCs. Would be a race to the finish type campaign, with the groups fighting each other as much as the defenses of the object. At the very end, the party and whatever rival force is left (it would be pared down to only one other group, whichever one hits the best resonance with the PCs) would reach the heart of the shard and discover "the source of ultimate power". Hopefully by this point, I would have dropped enough clues that the PCs would realize "some things are best left alone" and have them refuse to disturb it, while the other party rushes headlong into it and is destroyed. Essentially, the whole thing would be a test by a group the party would never learn about, to see if the humanoids had advanced enough to learn discretion and to resist temptation. If no group can resist the lure of power, it destroys everything, end of the world. Workable, or is it just destined to TPK?
#2 vegetalss4 May 31, 2008 13:39:17	i think that this could be done, just not by me as i am rather bad at that sort of thing. however i suggets that if they suceed they are rewardet(how do you spell that?) some how, and that if they fail the world do not end, the reward is just taken back, and perhasp another catastrofe like the one that created the mournlands happen. you know so that the humanoid have a chance to advance if they isen't ready yet
#3 morgrum May 31, 2008 14:46:27	Depending on your players and their characters this could work quite well, and to me it seems like a cool campaign idea. If the PCs have received fair warning (the hints you spoke of) even if it does end in a TPK it's no-one's fault but their own. Of course a lot depends on your players, if they prefer kill everything that moves -loot-repeat type campaigns it probably isn't a good idea. On the other hand there are plenty of players out there who would have no trouble with this type of campaign. In fact in my Eberron campaign which has run once every two weeks for 9 months now, the number of humanoid deaths caused by the party can be counted on the fingers of one hand, due to the party taking great pains to capture rather than kill their humanoid opponents, which I personally see as a good thing in an Eberron campaign (of course YMMV).
#4 taski May 31, 2008 15:52:12	If the PCs can figure out the artifact's dangerous purpose, surely they can figure out what the other party will try to do. And if I knew those two things, I wouldn't sit back and let the fools destroy me and everything I know. The campaign's goal might abruptly shift from "get to the artifact" to "stop those idiots!" I'd give the PCs a chance of winning, too. If they do win, they get to live another day, and so does the rest of the world. Since the story is about the temptation of power, I wouldn't give them any magic items or gold for their trouble this time around. I'd give them a beautiful sunrise.
#5 Edymnion May 31, 2008 15:55:15	If they do win, they get to live another day, and so does the rest of the world. Since the story is about the temptation of power, I wouldn't give them any magic items or gold for their trouble this time around. I'd give them a beautiful sunrise. Bingo, there would be no material reward beyond living to see another day. No more than Indiana Jones got riches or fame or power for discovering the Ark of the Covenant. The reward was wisdom, the knowledge that there are just some things we are not meant to have.
#6 kreistor2 May 31, 2008 18:08:57	It depends on the players, and how you present the idea. If you present it as a short adventure with no possibility of long term character retention, they won't care about the lack of long term reward. If you intend a part 2, 3, and 4, then some types of players will enjoy the campaign if the story is written well enough. Others will be extremely disappointed after the first installment, and not participate in the second. Whether it's a TPK or not depends on how well you read the intelligence of the players and how subtle a riddle (or puzzle) they can figure out. I didn't figure out the trick to the Ark the first time I watched it: it was too subtle a clue for me. But note that Indy had no opportunity to attack the Nazi's at that point: his options were limited. Given the option to fight, random DnD players will. I had the opportunity to run a 2 year campaign. My players learned that I don't do things in a normal way. They would see that situation and with a riddle in hand, know that I gave them the riddle for a reason. They might figure it out, because they knew my style. Without months of previous gameplay to set that up, no, they would charge in. (Actually, I know one player always would given his character's personalities. He almost exactly duplicated that situation once, knew about a secret way to solve the puzzle, but decided his character wouldn't figure it out, so he didn't let anyone else know he'd figured it out. You have to pay attention to player ability and the personalities of the characters they create. Some players will cause characters to act against their own logic, because their characters are different from themselves.) So, a strong "Maybe" from me.
#7 vegetalss4 Jun 01, 2008 13:26:20	If the PCs can figure out the artifact's dangerous purpose, surely they can figure out what the other party will try to do. And if I knew those two things, I wouldn't sit back and let the fools destroy me and everything I know. The campaign's goal might abruptly shift from "get to the artifact" to "stop those idiots!" I'd give the PCs a chance of winning, too. If they do win, they get to live another day, and so does the rest of the world. Since the story is about the temptation of power, I wouldn't give them any magic items or gold for their trouble this time around. I'd give them a beautiful sunrise. that whas actuly the king of reward i was talking about. an supernatural sunrise as a sign that wichever power that did the testing has taken a note that they did the right ting.
#8 wolfhati Jun 03, 2008 2:36:35	Another thing I might be concerned about is the "big, shiny, red button principle"--even if they pretty much know it's going to destroy the world, some jackass is going to press it just to see what happens.
#9 Edymnion Jun 04, 2008 17:27:08	Another thing I might be concerned about is the "big, shiny, red button principle"--even if they pretty much know it's going to destroy the world, some jackass is going to press it just to see what happens. Yup, which would be half the fun, how do they keep the kender clone from pushing the button? Would they kill their own party member?
#10 schala_zeal Jun 04, 2008 20:20:33	It sounds like it could work with the right group of players, the right characters, and the correct approach in-game (what could possibly go wrong?), but you might want to include a way to salvage it. Maybe it wouldn't destroy the whole world, but could unleash some horrible plague, etc - possibly killing the current characters and starting a new campaign where the players have to deal with the results of what they've done. Or you could do a cool "the characters are destined to live with their failure" type of thing by having them not die from activating it and forcing them to live with the results in-character. Just some random ideas on how it might be altered if you want to add in consequences beyond "and everybody dies."
#11 Barachiel Jun 05, 2008 13:42:14	I'm in the "depends on the players" camp. I would enjoy the heck out of that game. Two of my players, would LYNCH me if I did that to them and they missed the clue, thus killing themselves and the world.