New Desert Campaign - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

New Desert Campaign

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
tthorlord
Apr 20, 2009 19:53:16 This summer im going on my 5th annual Dungeons and Dragons camping trip.
the previous 4 games were magnificant and everyone loved them. last year we had it a few weeks after the launch of 4e and together we learned the rules of the game and i DM'ed a nice game from levels 1-4 for 8 players.

this year, the group will apparently expand, to around 9-10 people. im trying to work on a new campaign and i came to relization that we have never had a desert campaign. to make a long story short, we play in the Forgotten realms universe for many reasons, and i have a general idea of what i want them to do.

so what im looking for is advice on what i should throw at a large group of gamers, what advice can you give for a desert campaign, and how i should handle "small" battles with a group that is quite powerful on their own. how i should DM a large group in probably the slowest D&D yet, and most importantly, im hoping for some sage advice on how to motivate a large group with each different objectives.

i plan on making them level 11, giving them a paragon path and letting them expand on who they are before we start.

and i was toying with the idea of sending them to a temple to rescue the child of a guild masters daughter for renown, the daughter kiddinapped by muraders took the girl to a temple and held her hostage within, unfortunately their presence awakens a long dead lich that greatfully makes everything much harder for the players.

motivating them all to help this guild master is going to be tough, as they will all have different moral backgrounds.
anyway, this is going to probably be a 4-5 day long event, and they will undoubtedly beat the first dungeon from there, I'm hoping to get them all to level 14 (i level fast, it keeps them happy and they get to meet new creatures) and i need some kind of final showdown.

any help/suggestions are appreciated.
#2
lord_karsus
Apr 20, 2009 23:40:53 -Ok, well, first thing first: Where in Faerûn is this taking place? There's the Anauroch, and the Raurin Deserts, primarily. Or, is this going to expand the horizons a bit more, and take place in Zakhara? Personally speaking, both the Anauroch and the Raurin would work as "expanded" dungeon sites, because of Netherese and Imaskari ruins, respectively. You might be able to have things more "isolated" in the Raurin than you would in the Anauroch.
#3
colman
Apr 21, 2009 10:33:34 Well, if you're in official 4e Realms, you can bring in the Shades in Anauroch to make things fun. A lich who hates the shades who hate him and everyone hates the PCs anyway? Three-way fights are fun - and possibly gives you a way to break up the fights. Any chance of an assistant DM?

So they have to navigate in through a hostile empire, attempt the rescue, get to the end of that dungeon, have everything go pear-shaped when the lich turns up, have an opportunity to escape (with something valuable to the lich - the girl maybe? Did the lich manipulate the brigands to capture her? Maybe she's his heir?) when the shades pile in to attack the lich, end up fleeing into the desert, get captured by the shades, have an opportunity to escape from a Netherese prison (with the assistance of Cormyrean or Harper agents?) when the lich tries to retrieve them, flee again (pursued by both enemies), find the one artifact that will destroy the lich (or save him? Maybe he can be redeemed?) while foiling some nefarious Netherese plot , have big showdown at the end. All while dealing with the normal desert and dungeon hazards.

For advice on DMing large groups in 4e I think I'd ask on one of the more general forums.
#4
Elrik_Darkstorm
Apr 21, 2009 20:30:54 Well for first from my experiance in fighting in a desert enviroment,your biggest worry in the heat and the availability of water.In the desert water is worth more than its weight in gold.So the campaign can have something to do with water.Also you cannot wear the common heavy armours.Most bandits in desert areas wear a form of leather armour.

Maybe you can start out with bandits rading caravans at the oasis's on the merchants road.That could be how the daughter got kidnapped or something.
#5
ScrivenerofDoom
Apr 22, 2009 8:36:35 Honestly, with that many players and PCs I think you will find that 11th level characters are probably too much. Why not take them back down to 1st or so? You mentioned how slow the game is and starting at 11th level with so many options will make it even slower.

You will need a location. My suggestion in the 4E Realms is High Imaskar. That way you have a logical excuse for mummy-based adventures and you can liberally rip off plot ideas from The Mummy movies.

Maybe the kidnapped daughter is no daughter at all but a reincarnated deva (PHB2) that came back as a child rather than an adult and the reason for her sacrifice is that a jackal-headed rakshasa mummy (de-levelled to make a suitable opponent if necessary) was cursed to unlife by an earlier incarnation of the deva (devas in the FRPG are connected with the former Mulhorand) and he wants to perform a ritual using her as a sacrifice in order to get his life back.

Alternatively, it's a group of cultists devoted to the mummy who are attempting this. That way you can have a series of "Boss" encounters with the final one being the rakshasa mummy.

I would also throw in the mummy's canopic jars. Maybe the ritual can only be performed once these are gathered and the five are in five separate dungeons (or four are in dungeons and one is recovered).

Sure, it's a derivative plot but it's the sort of thing likely to hook a bunch of blokes on a campaign trip so they will want to play rather than fish and drink.

Anyway, hope that helps. Even if it doesn't, I will happily use it for one of my upcoming games!

Edit: You definitely want to have cultists so you can have some big battles. I would use an enormous number of minions and use really large spaces for your battles. Make sure you throw in some spellcasters as well to keep it tactically interesting.

I think you also need a library or temple fulfilling the same function (maybe a dungeon that is an abandoned temple of Thoth with a ghostly librarian) so that the party can also do some research (that can be a skill challenge so you can keep it fast because with this many players I think you will be focussing on lots of action).
#6
tthorlord
Apr 22, 2009 19:18:35 there is some good advice in here.
we tend to not stick with too much of the Faerun mythos, generally we take the map and the cities and factions and then make up the rest, if it takes me more than a minute to figure out an answer to a historcal question, i make it up and then try to play around that (or make it fit if i find out the real answer later on)

i like the minion and cultists idea, i also love the idea of requiring them to watch their heat levels as per their armor and monitor their water consumption.

i think yah, ill make them a lower level, more than likely it will be 5 or so.

no DM assistants, its all me, as such i tend to cut as many time-consuming rules as i can. thankfully these camping trips tend to have 8+ hours of straight gaming. with Roleplaying happening over the camp fire, and Battles happing at the picnic table with a grid. morning and night are reserved for roleplaying only as we can barely see anything.

i also tend to not go too much into detail when planning, i let my ADHD take over and it tends to work out great. for example last trip a previously defined enemy that was intended to be the final battle, they got to early, and i decided that he would aid them in their adventure until the appropriate time that he would turn on them.

so what im thinking now:
The group starts out on the outskirts of the nearby city, they see a raid going on at a caravan. ignore/help/assist whatever they get a taste of the setting and the battle style im going for immediately. the group had been lost for days on a mission that i dont care what (they can make it up) and is relieved to see such a large settlement.

theres more to my plot, but i wont post it here. thank you all for the advice and i still have many moths before the trip so any further advice is still graciously accepted.
#7
tthorlord
May 11, 2009 19:13:18 not sure if anyone is still interested. but here is what i have so far and planning on using after reading the FR campaign setting:

Calimshan
The group is heading east, searching for sanctuary and fortune at the gates of Almraven.
on the way the group encounters a band of Gensai Slavers. and either escapes or attacks and frees some slaves and make the rest of the way to Almraven.
in the city the group feels welcome, and tires for the night.
During the night an assassin attempts to take the life of one of the group. fails and escapes into the night.
In the morning the group discovers that assassians have been sneaking into the city taking out any who seem strong. hoping to weaken the defenses of Almraven in hopes on an all-out war. but the aggressive party is unknown.
its is revealed that it is either Memmon or Calimport that would be the aggressor.

as the group is leaving the inn, a common word is whispered on the lips of most of the city, the name "Dulmanico" a collector of Waterdeep has arrived in search of a legendary artifact. one that has the power to destroy entire cities, or protect them. a large group is forming at one of the city squares where a lavishly dressed man makes an announcement. that he is recruiting able arms and mercenaries in his search for the fabled treasure of Kalmazul.

the group goes to the recruitment area and find that a large number of mercenaries showed up for the job. and only 10 are being hired.
after a few duels and fights the group is accepted into the search party.

the group briefly meets with the WeavePasha wishing the party luck and letting them know that the future of Almraven is in their hands now.

They head west, across the Plain of Stone Spiders. to the Calim Desert.
It will take 4 days to cross the Plain of Stone Spiders. in such the group will encounter 2 minor battles 1 major battle, and 1 plot battle.
The Plain of Stone spiders is mostly a dryed up plain of crusted mud and rock, with a thin layer of sand above the dirt.
The first minor battle will happen when the group stumbles across a breeding ground and fights off a small army of minion spiders. (100 minions)
The second minor battle will happen when a hunting group of scarabs and spiders attacks the group. trying to capture them and drag them into hidden caches under the sand and stone.
the Major battle will be a gigantic trap-door spider that pops out and grabs a group-member(NPC) and drags him under the sand. putting the PC's on guard. then several hunter spiders attack, midway through the fight the trap-door spider pops-back up and starts to fight the group.
The plot battle will be a band of slavers finishing off a few hunter spiders and roasting the meat for consuming (quite a feat as the meat is rock hard) when they fight the group, a slaver captures Dulmanico and makes off on a mount dead west, for Calimport.

The group can decide to either take his map and look for the Artifact themselves, or head west and try to rescue Dulmanico from the slaver before he reaches Calimport... or from Calimport itself.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 tthorlord Apr 20, 2009 19:53:16	This summer im going on my 5th annual Dungeons and Dragons camping trip. the previous 4 games were magnificant and everyone loved them. last year we had it a few weeks after the launch of 4e and together we learned the rules of the game and i DM'ed a nice game from levels 1-4 for 8 players. this year, the group will apparently expand, to around 9-10 people. im trying to work on a new campaign and i came to relization that we have never had a desert campaign. to make a long story short, we play in the Forgotten realms universe for many reasons, and i have a general idea of what i want them to do. so what im looking for is advice on what i should throw at a large group of gamers, what advice can you give for a desert campaign, and how i should handle "small" battles with a group that is quite powerful on their own. how i should DM a large group in probably the slowest D&D yet, and most importantly, im hoping for some sage advice on how to motivate a large group with each different objectives. i plan on making them level 11, giving them a paragon path and letting them expand on who they are before we start. and i was toying with the idea of sending them to a temple to rescue the child of a guild masters daughter for renown, the daughter kiddinapped by muraders took the girl to a temple and held her hostage within, unfortunately their presence awakens a long dead lich that greatfully makes everything much harder for the players. motivating them all to help this guild master is going to be tough, as they will all have different moral backgrounds. anyway, this is going to probably be a 4-5 day long event, and they will undoubtedly beat the first dungeon from there, I'm hoping to get them all to level 14 (i level fast, it keeps them happy and they get to meet new creatures) and i need some kind of final showdown. any help/suggestions are appreciated.
#2 lord_karsus Apr 20, 2009 23:40:53	-Ok, well, first thing first: Where in Faerûn is this taking place? There's the Anauroch, and the Raurin Deserts, primarily. Or, is this going to expand the horizons a bit more, and take place in Zakhara? Personally speaking, both the Anauroch and the Raurin would work as "expanded" dungeon sites, because of Netherese and Imaskari ruins, respectively. You might be able to have things more "isolated" in the Raurin than you would in the Anauroch.
#3 colman Apr 21, 2009 10:33:34	Well, if you're in official 4e Realms, you can bring in the Shades in Anauroch to make things fun. A lich who hates the shades who hate him and everyone hates the PCs anyway? Three-way fights are fun - and possibly gives you a way to break up the fights. Any chance of an assistant DM? So they have to navigate in through a hostile empire, attempt the rescue, get to the end of that dungeon, have everything go pear-shaped when the lich turns up, have an opportunity to escape (with something valuable to the lich - the girl maybe? Did the lich manipulate the brigands to capture her? Maybe she's his heir?) when the shades pile in to attack the lich, end up fleeing into the desert, get captured by the shades, have an opportunity to escape from a Netherese prison (with the assistance of Cormyrean or Harper agents?) when the lich tries to retrieve them, flee again (pursued by both enemies), find the one artifact that will destroy the lich (or save him? Maybe he can be redeemed?) while foiling some nefarious Netherese plot , have big showdown at the end. All while dealing with the normal desert and dungeon hazards. For advice on DMing large groups in 4e I think I'd ask on one of the more general forums.
#4 Elrik_Darkstorm Apr 21, 2009 20:30:54	Well for first from my experiance in fighting in a desert enviroment,your biggest worry in the heat and the availability of water.In the desert water is worth more than its weight in gold.So the campaign can have something to do with water.Also you cannot wear the common heavy armours.Most bandits in desert areas wear a form of leather armour. Maybe you can start out with bandits rading caravans at the oasis's on the merchants road.That could be how the daughter got kidnapped or something.
#5 ScrivenerofDoom Apr 22, 2009 8:36:35	Honestly, with that many players and PCs I think you will find that 11th level characters are probably too much. Why not take them back down to 1st or so? You mentioned how slow the game is and starting at 11th level with so many options will make it even slower. You will need a location. My suggestion in the 4E Realms is High Imaskar. That way you have a logical excuse for mummy-based adventures and you can liberally rip off plot ideas from The Mummy movies. Maybe the kidnapped daughter is no daughter at all but a reincarnated deva (PHB2) that came back as a child rather than an adult and the reason for her sacrifice is that a jackal-headed rakshasa mummy (de-levelled to make a suitable opponent if necessary) was cursed to unlife by an earlier incarnation of the deva (devas in the FRPG are connected with the former Mulhorand) and he wants to perform a ritual using her as a sacrifice in order to get his life back. Alternatively, it's a group of cultists devoted to the mummy who are attempting this. That way you can have a series of "Boss" encounters with the final one being the rakshasa mummy. I would also throw in the mummy's canopic jars. Maybe the ritual can only be performed once these are gathered and the five are in five separate dungeons (or four are in dungeons and one is recovered). Sure, it's a derivative plot but it's the sort of thing likely to hook a bunch of blokes on a campaign trip so they will want to play rather than fish and drink. Anyway, hope that helps. Even if it doesn't, I will happily use it for one of my upcoming games! Edit: You definitely want to have cultists so you can have some big battles. I would use an enormous number of minions and use really large spaces for your battles. Make sure you throw in some spellcasters as well to keep it tactically interesting. I think you also need a library or temple fulfilling the same function (maybe a dungeon that is an abandoned temple of Thoth with a ghostly librarian) so that the party can also do some research (that can be a skill challenge so you can keep it fast because with this many players I think you will be focussing on lots of action).
#6 tthorlord Apr 22, 2009 19:18:35	there is some good advice in here. we tend to not stick with too much of the Faerun mythos, generally we take the map and the cities and factions and then make up the rest, if it takes me more than a minute to figure out an answer to a historcal question, i make it up and then try to play around that (or make it fit if i find out the real answer later on) i like the minion and cultists idea, i also love the idea of requiring them to watch their heat levels as per their armor and monitor their water consumption. i think yah, ill make them a lower level, more than likely it will be 5 or so. no DM assistants, its all me, as such i tend to cut as many time-consuming rules as i can. thankfully these camping trips tend to have 8+ hours of straight gaming. with Roleplaying happening over the camp fire, and Battles happing at the picnic table with a grid. morning and night are reserved for roleplaying only as we can barely see anything. i also tend to not go too much into detail when planning, i let my ADHD take over and it tends to work out great. for example last trip a previously defined enemy that was intended to be the final battle, they got to early, and i decided that he would aid them in their adventure until the appropriate time that he would turn on them. so what im thinking now: The group starts out on the outskirts of the nearby city, they see a raid going on at a caravan. ignore/help/assist whatever they get a taste of the setting and the battle style im going for immediately. the group had been lost for days on a mission that i dont care what (they can make it up) and is relieved to see such a large settlement. theres more to my plot, but i wont post it here. thank you all for the advice and i still have many moths before the trip so any further advice is still graciously accepted.
#7 tthorlord May 11, 2009 19:13:18	not sure if anyone is still interested. but here is what i have so far and planning on using after reading the FR campaign setting: Calimshan The group is heading east, searching for sanctuary and fortune at the gates of Almraven. on the way the group encounters a band of Gensai Slavers. and either escapes or attacks and frees some slaves and make the rest of the way to Almraven. in the city the group feels welcome, and tires for the night. During the night an assassin attempts to take the life of one of the group. fails and escapes into the night. In the morning the group discovers that assassians have been sneaking into the city taking out any who seem strong. hoping to weaken the defenses of Almraven in hopes on an all-out war. but the aggressive party is unknown. its is revealed that it is either Memmon or Calimport that would be the aggressor. as the group is leaving the inn, a common word is whispered on the lips of most of the city, the name "Dulmanico" a collector of Waterdeep has arrived in search of a legendary artifact. one that has the power to destroy entire cities, or protect them. a large group is forming at one of the city squares where a lavishly dressed man makes an announcement. that he is recruiting able arms and mercenaries in his search for the fabled treasure of Kalmazul. the group goes to the recruitment area and find that a large number of mercenaries showed up for the job. and only 10 are being hired. after a few duels and fights the group is accepted into the search party. the group briefly meets with the WeavePasha wishing the party luck and letting them know that the future of Almraven is in their hands now. They head west, across the Plain of Stone Spiders. to the Calim Desert. It will take 4 days to cross the Plain of Stone Spiders. in such the group will encounter 2 minor battles 1 major battle, and 1 plot battle. The Plain of Stone spiders is mostly a dryed up plain of crusted mud and rock, with a thin layer of sand above the dirt. The first minor battle will happen when the group stumbles across a breeding ground and fights off a small army of minion spiders. (100 minions) The second minor battle will happen when a hunting group of scarabs and spiders attacks the group. trying to capture them and drag them into hidden caches under the sand and stone. the Major battle will be a gigantic trap-door spider that pops out and grabs a group-member(NPC) and drags him under the sand. putting the PC's on guard. then several hunter spiders attack, midway through the fight the trap-door spider pops-back up and starts to fight the group. The plot battle will be a band of slavers finishing off a few hunter spiders and roasting the meat for consuming (quite a feat as the meat is rock hard) when they fight the group, a slaver captures Dulmanico and makes off on a mount dead west, for Calimport. The group can decide to either take his map and look for the Artifact themselves, or head west and try to rescue Dulmanico from the slaver before he reaches Calimport... or from Calimport itself.