Isle of the Mad - Input wanted - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Isle of the Mad - Input wanted

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
faulten
Jan 16, 2009 21:53:36 So I am going to be a first time DM for my D&D group soon once we wrap up the campaign we are currently finishing, and I would like to have some help with a campaign idea that I am working on. The campaign I would like to run would have the players start around level 5 and end up around the mid 'teens.

The PCs will wake up on a island, not knowing how they got there, and upon further inspection they will realize that they all have a small metal shackle on one of their writsts. When any of them attempt to remove it, they will receive a small electrical shock (probably 1d6), and casting 'detect magic' will turn up a faint magical aura around the shackel. At this point the party will hear someone approach. From out of the emmense forest that is in front of them they will all see a man approach them, and will congragulate them on not dying from the shipwreck he pulled them from. It will be hear that I will clue the party into why they are on this island.

The man will introduce himself as the Lord Revion, and he will then explain that the party, along with several other NPCs where on a boat not far from his island and that boat had crashed in a storm the previous night and that the PCs had been washed ashore afterwords. From there Lord Revion will then credit himself as a Fey Lord and that the PCs survival is thanks to him and that it was his magic that was able to save the PCs from an early grave and as such that they owe him, and that they must now entertain him by playing as series of games with him on his island. It is from here that Revion will also point out the shackels that the party was unable to take off earlier. Saying that he had those put on them while they were out as to make them part of 'The Game' and that if they want to get off his island and return to the outside world they must compete against the other shipwreck survivors and win at his game.
#2
zahast
Jan 17, 2009 2:07:17 Just my 2 cents, you could do away with the shackles and such and just have them stranded on the island. Give the fey lord a small contingent of very capable soldiers (who also run much of the puzzles/traps etc. he offers to transport them off the island if they play his game. It would be kind of cool to have an audience of wierd fey nobles etc. too.
#3
zathina_mage
Jan 17, 2009 2:45:05 Yeah the shackles aren't the best idea. But why not give them collars, that do the shocking when they disobey? XD That way they are not hindered but still get teh punishment.

Now the idea runs well. For his entertainment, I'd say watch some old television shows on youtube. Like the old nickelodeon ones where kids were going through odd mazes, and odd puzzles to get to the end. I say, give them a puzzle, with the bare essential clues. Make sure they have the material to solve it, and take the answers to the right locations... And give them a REAL world time limit. =3 Just to boot.

Also, may I suggest ghosts? What better way to entertain a Fey Lord, then to watch them not just have to accomplish his tasks, but have them chased and haunted by peope whos already died trying to accomplish them? Think Fatal Frame, or Evil Dead with this. These are twisted, souls who have suffered for a long time. They are going to be all giggly, and twisted, and tormented. Asking redundent questions and constantly reliving their deaths, while chasing the PCs down. X3 and have some of the NPCs horribly mutilated from not keeping away fromt eh ghosts. He he he. They keep finding that NPCs limbs everywehre... again... and again.
#4
Grimbus
Jan 17, 2009 4:47:33 Why not get a trickers deity/demon involved such as Baldar/Loki. The madness and quests could be building up to something big - such as the demise or embarrassment of a god/demi-god (quite a big thing amongst gods) or the escape of the tricksrter god from his prison on the island.
#5
faulten
Jan 17, 2009 9:01:07
It would be kind of cool to have an audience of wierd fey nobles etc. too.

Now that does sound cool. I'll definetly be using that in the campaign, as it makes the PCs feel even more like captives on Revion's island. It adds even more to the whole 'Game' feel that I was going for.

Now clear up an earlier misunderstanding, the shackels wont actually interfere with the PCs movements. It's just one shackel on their wrist that signifies to the residents of Revion's island that these are participants in his game. I plan to have the island developed with a few cities and towns to dot the landscape so that the PCs can have small bits of civilization to flock to so that they do not feel completely hopeless. To go back to the shackels though, the reason I wanted to use them was to sort of emphasise group cohesion, which with shackels sounds a bit extream but I wont be phsycially binding two characters together. Instead the shackels will be magically 'binding' two PCs together within the party as Lord Revion will say that for them to survive they will need to work together. What I plan to do with this is to jump start teamworking within the party. I may explain this game wise by allowing the 'bound' PCs to periodically reroll a saving throw for their partner to symbolize the bound they now have. The shackels are mainly for storytelling purposes, but I wanted them to at least have some use within the actual game.

To Zathian_Mage, YES! I totally remember that show, every kid seemed to mess up that silver monkey! Now I agree with you on that it does inspire some great dungeons. On the note of ghosts, that is actually a good idea. The idea of that Lord Revion has done this for awhile is a frightning idea, and that those poor souls who have failed have been stuck here for centuries, or longer, makes for some truly horrible monsters.
#6
faulten
Jan 17, 2009 15:10:54 Since there seems to have been some confusion over some things I thought I should clarify my campaign a little more. (sorry my bad ><")

Lord Revion is the ruler of the Isle of the Mad. A powerful Fey Lord who rules over the season of Autum, Revion is a powerful magic user as evident of his station as 'Fey Lord'. His appearance is that of a male eladrin, though his seasonal tie to Autum influences his physical features. Revion's skin appears a pale yellow similar to the autum sun on a cold afternoon, while the Fey's sholder length hair seems to be an everchanging color of fall leaves, golden yellows, rich crimsions and deep ochers, lastly his eyes are the cold piercing blue of the autum sky. His motivation for capturing the shipwreck survivors and holding them on his island is to end his boredom, by having the survivors compete against each other in a series of games and missions with the end prize being the right to leave the island, but at the cost of condeming the other groups to the island.

Isle of the Mad is the personal sanctuary of the Autum Fey Lord Revion, and like the ruler's title suggests, the entire Isle is in a perpetual Autum. Majority of Isle's landscape is decidious forests made up of ancient oaks that give the island a rich ocher and crimson coloration. The other major feature of the island are a massive bay on the isle's eastern side known as 'Emerald Bay', named so by the waters seemingly enchanted nature which causes the bay to glow a warm green color at night. At the center of the island is Lord Revion's White Spiral Tower, a massive twisting spire that stretches for miles up into the sky that serves aesthetic purposes as much as it serves for intimidation as the Tower can be seen from everywhere on the island and reminds all the residents and participants of the Game that are being watched.

The 4 Mad Ones rule the island's four provinces and carryout the mad will of Lord Revion when the he is away in the Feywild. In addition each one of these 'Dukes' maintains their own interppratation of order in their province. Before their advancement into nobility, it is popular belief by the island's residents that each of the "4 Mad Ones" was once a memeber of a past Game. Each Mad One rules their respective province from one the 4 major cities on the island.

The 4 Mad Ones:
Maloch
Brendar
Zechs
Claudia

This is what I've managed to construct for the campaign so far. Right now I'm pleased with the campaign's background and setting as I think incorperating other NPC parties will create a sense of urgency for the PCs as they will feel that there are other people out on the island working against actively and passively, which is partly true as I will occasionally throw an opposing party of NPCs at them. Though currently I'm looking for some help in creating the missions and games that Lord Revion would give out to the PCs as all I can really come up with is the standered "Go and retrieve 'such-and-so' artifact for me" or "Go slay 'such-and-so' monter(s) for me"

I'm really looking for some good, memerable Fey and/or supernaturally themed missions for this campaign as I want the PCs to really believe that this island really does make one mad overtime. So deceptive missions and mind games are something I really think will work well with this campaign.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 faulten Jan 16, 2009 21:53:36	So I am going to be a first time DM for my D&D group soon once we wrap up the campaign we are currently finishing, and I would like to have some help with a campaign idea that I am working on. The campaign I would like to run would have the players start around level 5 and end up around the mid 'teens. The PCs will wake up on a island, not knowing how they got there, and upon further inspection they will realize that they all have a small metal shackle on one of their writsts. When any of them attempt to remove it, they will receive a small electrical shock (probably 1d6), and casting 'detect magic' will turn up a faint magical aura around the shackel. At this point the party will hear someone approach. From out of the emmense forest that is in front of them they will all see a man approach them, and will congragulate them on not dying from the shipwreck he pulled them from. It will be hear that I will clue the party into why they are on this island. The man will introduce himself as the Lord Revion, and he will then explain that the party, along with several other NPCs where on a boat not far from his island and that boat had crashed in a storm the previous night and that the PCs had been washed ashore afterwords. From there Lord Revion will then credit himself as a Fey Lord and that the PCs survival is thanks to him and that it was his magic that was able to save the PCs from an early grave and as such that they owe him, and that they must now entertain him by playing as series of games with him on his island. It is from here that Revion will also point out the shackels that the party was unable to take off earlier. Saying that he had those put on them while they were out as to make them part of 'The Game' and that if they want to get off his island and return to the outside world they must compete against the other shipwreck survivors and win at his game.
#2 zahast Jan 17, 2009 2:07:17	Just my 2 cents, you could do away with the shackles and such and just have them stranded on the island. Give the fey lord a small contingent of very capable soldiers (who also run much of the puzzles/traps etc. he offers to transport them off the island if they play his game. It would be kind of cool to have an audience of wierd fey nobles etc. too.
#3 zathina_mage Jan 17, 2009 2:45:05	Yeah the shackles aren't the best idea. But why not give them collars, that do the shocking when they disobey? XD That way they are not hindered but still get teh punishment. Now the idea runs well. For his entertainment, I'd say watch some old television shows on youtube. Like the old nickelodeon ones where kids were going through odd mazes, and odd puzzles to get to the end. I say, give them a puzzle, with the bare essential clues. Make sure they have the material to solve it, and take the answers to the right locations... And give them a REAL world time limit. =3 Just to boot. Also, may I suggest ghosts? What better way to entertain a Fey Lord, then to watch them not just have to accomplish his tasks, but have them chased and haunted by peope whos already died trying to accomplish them? Think Fatal Frame, or Evil Dead with this. These are twisted, souls who have suffered for a long time. They are going to be all giggly, and twisted, and tormented. Asking redundent questions and constantly reliving their deaths, while chasing the PCs down. X3 and have some of the NPCs horribly mutilated from not keeping away fromt eh ghosts. He he he. They keep finding that NPCs limbs everywehre... again... and again.
#4 Grimbus Jan 17, 2009 4:47:33	Why not get a trickers deity/demon involved such as Baldar/Loki. The madness and quests could be building up to something big - such as the demise or embarrassment of a god/demi-god (quite a big thing amongst gods) or the escape of the tricksrter god from his prison on the island.
#5 faulten Jan 17, 2009 9:01:07	It would be kind of cool to have an audience of wierd fey nobles etc. too. Now that does sound cool. I'll definetly be using that in the campaign, as it makes the PCs feel even more like captives on Revion's island. It adds even more to the whole 'Game' feel that I was going for. Now clear up an earlier misunderstanding, the shackels wont actually interfere with the PCs movements. It's just one shackel on their wrist that signifies to the residents of Revion's island that these are participants in his game. I plan to have the island developed with a few cities and towns to dot the landscape so that the PCs can have small bits of civilization to flock to so that they do not feel completely hopeless. To go back to the shackels though, the reason I wanted to use them was to sort of emphasise group cohesion, which with shackels sounds a bit extream but I wont be phsycially binding two characters together. Instead the shackels will be magically 'binding' two PCs together within the party as Lord Revion will say that for them to survive they will need to work together. What I plan to do with this is to jump start teamworking within the party. I may explain this game wise by allowing the 'bound' PCs to periodically reroll a saving throw for their partner to symbolize the bound they now have. The shackels are mainly for storytelling purposes, but I wanted them to at least have some use within the actual game. To Zathian_Mage, YES! I totally remember that show, every kid seemed to mess up that silver monkey! Now I agree with you on that it does inspire some great dungeons. On the note of ghosts, that is actually a good idea. The idea of that Lord Revion has done this for awhile is a frightning idea, and that those poor souls who have failed have been stuck here for centuries, or longer, makes for some truly horrible monsters.
#6 faulten Jan 17, 2009 15:10:54	Since there seems to have been some confusion over some things I thought I should clarify my campaign a little more. (sorry my bad ><") Lord Revion is the ruler of the Isle of the Mad. A powerful Fey Lord who rules over the season of Autum, Revion is a powerful magic user as evident of his station as 'Fey Lord'. His appearance is that of a male eladrin, though his seasonal tie to Autum influences his physical features. Revion's skin appears a pale yellow similar to the autum sun on a cold afternoon, while the Fey's sholder length hair seems to be an everchanging color of fall leaves, golden yellows, rich crimsions and deep ochers, lastly his eyes are the cold piercing blue of the autum sky. His motivation for capturing the shipwreck survivors and holding them on his island is to end his boredom, by having the survivors compete against each other in a series of games and missions with the end prize being the right to leave the island, but at the cost of condeming the other groups to the island. Isle of the Mad is the personal sanctuary of the Autum Fey Lord Revion, and like the ruler's title suggests, the entire Isle is in a perpetual Autum. Majority of Isle's landscape is decidious forests made up of ancient oaks that give the island a rich ocher and crimson coloration. The other major feature of the island are a massive bay on the isle's eastern side known as 'Emerald Bay', named so by the waters seemingly enchanted nature which causes the bay to glow a warm green color at night. At the center of the island is Lord Revion's White Spiral Tower, a massive twisting spire that stretches for miles up into the sky that serves aesthetic purposes as much as it serves for intimidation as the Tower can be seen from everywhere on the island and reminds all the residents and participants of the Game that are being watched. The 4 Mad Ones rule the island's four provinces and carryout the mad will of Lord Revion when the he is away in the Feywild. In addition each one of these 'Dukes' maintains their own interppratation of order in their province. Before their advancement into nobility, it is popular belief by the island's residents that each of the "4 Mad Ones" was once a memeber of a past Game. Each Mad One rules their respective province from one the 4 major cities on the island. The 4 Mad Ones: Maloch Brendar Zechs Claudia This is what I've managed to construct for the campaign so far. Right now I'm pleased with the campaign's background and setting as I think incorperating other NPC parties will create a sense of urgency for the PCs as they will feel that there are other people out on the island working against actively and passively, which is partly true as I will occasionally throw an opposing party of NPCs at them. Though currently I'm looking for some help in creating the missions and games that Lord Revion would give out to the PCs as all I can really come up with is the standered "Go and retrieve 'such-and-so' artifact for me" or "Go slay 'such-and-so' monter(s) for me" I'm really looking for some good, memerable Fey and/or supernaturally themed missions for this campaign as I want the PCs to really believe that this island really does make one mad overtime. So deceptive missions and mind games are something I really think will work well with this campaign.