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So, after having a lot of fun writing a module using the 7 Deadly Sins, I started thinking (Dangerous, I know): "What am I going to do to top this module next year?" and I came up with this idea: Classical Books.
The first one I'm going to tackle: Alice in Wonderland
What I want to know are what other classical books do you think could be the inspiration behind some fun One shot Pathfinder modules and why? Also, at what PC Levels should the Module be?
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Classical? I'd start with the Illiad and the Odyssey, and follow up with Beowulf. <evil grin>
More seriously, I have run an entire campaign based on Dante's Inferno and it worked well. Anything from the King Arthur myths works well, as do most of the stories of Robin Hood.
I have also found much material in the works of Roger Zelazny, from Lord of Light and Roadmarks through the Chronicles of Amber,.... but he himself would acknowledge that he's not a "classical" author.
Other authors are fine too. I just Probably should have made it "Classic" rather than Classical, but, meh, whatever. :) You get the idea.
Robin Hood is a good one. Dante's Inferno.. Wow are there some possibilities there...
King Arthur I can see, although I think it would be more fun to do a D20 Modern on the Connecticut Yankee in King Author's Court. :)
I've also thought about Moby Dick (whole thing takes place on a ship of course), Narnia (Talking animals.. Heh..) and Middle Earth (but that ones a little too much like Pathfinder/D&D).
Odyssey and the Illiad could be fun, especially with the Pathfinder version of Greek Gods and information I found somewhere...
Beowulf... Again, lots of possibilities.
The Hobbit? No, wait... I think that's been done. :)
LOL thus the Middle Earth reference. :)
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Just call me Speedy Gonztypist.
Would you consider books by Robert E Howard Classics? I've often been inspired by his writing and based many adventures of his works.
How can you not get inspired?
Would you consider books by Robert E Howard Classics? I've often been inspired by his writing and based many adventures of his works.
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
How can you not get inspired?
Haven't actually read any of his. Basically, I just want to know what people thing would make good adventures based off of Literature. I started with Classics because Alice in Wonderland is the one that first popped into my head.
So, after having a lot of fun writing a module using the 7 Deadly Sins, I started thinking (Dangerous, I know): "What am I going to do to top this module next year?" and I came up with this idea: Classical Books.
The first one I'm going to tackle: Alice in Wonderland
What I want to know are what other classical books do you think could be the inspiration behind some fun One shot Pathfinder modules and why? Also, at what PC Levels should the Module be?
Alas, it's been done.
Granted, that was 30 years ago, and is probably asking for a rewrite, but there it is.
I also have vague memories of another module contemporary to that which had some references to the Fall of the House of Usher, mixed in with some other references I forget because I didn't get them when I was 12.
So, after having a lot of fun writing a module using the 7 Deadly Sins, I started thinking (Dangerous, I know): "What am I going to do to top this module next year?" and I came up with this idea: Classical Books.
The first one I'm going to tackle: Alice in Wonderland
What I want to know are what other classical books do you think could be the inspiration behind some fun One shot Pathfinder modules and why? Also, at what PC Levels should the Module be?
Alas, it's been done.
Granted, that was 30 years ago, and is probably asking for a rewrite, but there it is.
I also have vague memories of another module contemporary to that which had some references to the Fall of the House of Usher, mixed in with some other references I forget because I didn't get them when I was 12.
There's a Pathfinder book called Adventures in Wonderland (OGL) PDF that has Monsters and NPCs for Wonderland and other things that I'll be using to build this Module. Also, my modules have a tendency to be less than serious and are usually scattered with sillyness. This includes the Critical Failure list that I include. :) I may even publish one someday.
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I did run a short side-plot in my homebrew about a decade and a half ago based on Beowulf. Only it was a community of island elves, and the monster that attacked on every full moon was coming because the island would intersect the fey realm on those nights, and the monster turned out to be an (assumed to be) imaginary friend of the elven chieftain who had abandoned his friend (keeping him from crossing back into the PMP) when he grew up. So the Grendel analog had a grudge nursed by years of brooding over a century-old rejection. But the plot was close enough. The monster would come in and kill one of the chieftain's warriors and be pretty much unstoppable because where do you get cold iron on a tropical island? (2nd ed rules, monsters were totally immune to weapon damage by all but a select type of weapon.)
I also based a major antagonist in my more recent homebrew on a combination of J Jonah Jameson and Javert. Lawful good, best of intentions, loyal to the king, mistrusted the party, and was convinced they were plotting treason and he just had to find proof of their treachery.
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Nice. Love that Beowulf adaptation with the imaginary friend.
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I once ran a low level sub-plot centered on Morrison's Beloved, and another centered on Poe's Annabel Lee. Both made for excellent roleplay encounters involving haunts and occasionally ghosts. They were not the only sub-plots, but they worked well among the others as they slowly led up to the major plot involving an Erodaemon stealing souls around town.
Nice. Love that Beowulf adaptation with the imaginary friend.
Thanks. I'm trying to think of more classics I've looted and they're coming to me slowly.
I know I've also liberally lifted bits of Ivanhoe and The Three Musketeers. I based my wizard PC on Isaac of York (from Ivanhoe) for a whole campaign. That was fun.
I was also thinking of running an adventure in Galt based on the Scarlet Pimpernel, but abandoned my early planning stages because in a proper adventure game, the players don't want to meet the Scarlet Pimpernel, they want to be the Scarlet Pimpernel, and I didn't really have an angle to give them that.
I would love to see somebody run a game in a Valdemar type realm using Dreamscarred's psionics rules to model the Heralds of Valdemar. The Heralds practically scream Psionic Warrior.
All but the Herald Mages anyhow. Those scream Sorcerer (or other spontaneous magic caster).
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I was also thinking of running an adventure in Galt based on the Scarlet Pimpernel, but abandoned my early planning stages because in a proper adventure game, the players don't want to meet the Scarlet Pimpernel, they want to be the Scarlet Pimpernel, and I didn't really have an angle to give them that.
Scarlet Pimpernel was injured and is laid up for a few months. Oh No! Who will take his place? lol
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I would love to see somebody run a game in a Valdemar type realm using Dreamscarred's psionics rules to model the Heralds of Valdemar. The Heralds practically scream Psionic Warrior.All but the Herald Mages anyhow. Those scream Sorcerer (or other spontaneous magic caster).
True, but with the Wild Talent feat to represent their other gifts. And Vanyel with all his gifts and his fighting skill could be a multiclass Magus/Psi Warrior.
Damn it, now I'm thinking about it again.
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Scarlet Pimpernel was injured and is laid up for a few months. Oh No! Who will take his place? lol.
I was also thinking of running an adventure in Galt based on the Scarlet Pimpernel, but abandoned my early planning stages because in a proper adventure game, the players don't want to meet the Scarlet Pimpernel, they want to be the Scarlet Pimpernel, and I didn't really have an angle to give them that.
Knowing my players, they'd turn him in and join the Revolution. Vive le Galt!
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I would love to see somebody run a game in a Valdemar type realm using Dreamscarred's psionics rules to model the Heralds of Valdemar. The Heralds practically scream Psionic Warrior.Frankly, the heralds scream "Paladin" even if the powers don't quite line up.
Heralds are universally Good in alignment but not always lawful. Heck, the trainees are almost universally chaotic in all the stories. Though certainly some might be paladins; most people just think paladin because of the Companions.
There are many gifts though.
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Go with the first.... Gilgamesh
Epic hero has many adventures annoys the gods, the gods send his fighting equivalent Enkidu, they cant beat each other so they become best friends, go on many adventures annoying gods slaying giants. Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh realises he is mortal and goes on quest to make himself immortal..... I won't say what happens in the end.
Go with the first.... Gilgamesh
Epic hero has many adventures annoys the gods, the gods send his fighting equivalent Enkidu, they cant beat each other so they become best friends, go on many adventures annoying gods slaying giants. Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh realises he is mortal and goes on quest to make himself immortal..... I won't say what happens in the end.
DAMMIT SPOILERS!!!!!!!
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Would look at children's books. A lot of them have relatively simple, straightforward plots which you can mine for a skeleton and then flesh it out to fit.
I really should write up a one shot module that has a talking bear, rabbit, piglet, tiger, owl and donkey... Just because.
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is pretty short and would most likely need to be combined with Through the Looking Glass to make a decent length module. And as previously mentioned, AD&D modules EX1 and EX2 covered them.
My suggestion would be to check out The Fionavar Tapestry books by Guy Gavriel Kay, but I don’t know that they could be considered classics.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is pretty short and would most likely need to be combined with Through the Looking Glass to make a decent length module. And as previously mentioned, AD&D modules EX1 and EX2 covered them.
My suggestion would be to check out The Fionavar Tapestry books by Guy Gavriel Kay, but I don’t know that they could be considered classics.
Yeah, Through the Looking Glass is the actual name of the book, but I just think of it as Alice in Wonderland.
Yeah, Through the Looking Glass is the actual name of the book, but I just think of it as Alice in Wonderland.Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is pretty short and would most likely need to be combined with Through the Looking Glass to make a decent length module. And as previously mentioned, AD&D modules EX1 and EX2 covered them.
My suggestion would be to check out The Fionavar Tapestry books by Guy Gavriel Kay, but I don’t know that they could be considered classics.
Er, it's actually two books. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the one about the cards, including the Queen of Hearts screaming "Off with his head!" Through the Looking Glass is the one about the chessboard and includes the Red Queen's race.
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Just had another thought. Grab a collection of Brothers Grimm fairy tales and knit them together into one overall module. You could call it Trope: The Grand Adventure.
Just had another thought. Grab a collection of Brothers Grimm fairy tales and knit them together into one overall module. You could call it Trope: The Grand Adventure.
Yeah, that would be pretty amusing.
Er, it's actually two books. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the one about the cards, including the Queen of Hearts screaming "Off with his head!" Through the Looking Glass is the one about the chessboard and includes the Red Queen's race.
Which one has the pig in the baby clothes? I tend to get things that I haven't seen/read in a long time all mixed and mashed up. Especially if they are by the same author and/or have similar characters.
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Which one has the pig in the baby clothes? I tend to get things that I haven't seen/read in a long time all mixed and mashed up. Especially if they are by the same author and/or have similar characters.
Er, it's actually two books. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the one about the cards, including the Queen of Hearts screaming "Off with his head!" Through the Looking Glass is the one about the chessboard and includes the Red Queen's race.
Wonderland. From the chapter "Pig and Pepper," in which Alice encounters the Duchess.
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Unfortunately movie adaptations have mashed the two books together so much that many people don't realize there were two and which elements come from which book.
The original title was Alice's adventures in Underland, IIRC. Don't think you're getting those books for free though. :-)
The original title was Alice's adventures in Underland, IIRC. Don't think you're getting those books for free though. :-)
Oh, they're long out of copyright and available from Project Gutenberg... as well as any number of other sources. I think actually I have four copies that came free with various e-readers I downloaded.
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So, after having a lot of fun writing a module using the 7 Deadly Sins, I started thinking (Dangerous, I know): "What am I going to do to top this module next year?" and I came up with this idea: Classical Books.
The first one I'm going to tackle: Alice in Wonderland
...and he also did an adaptaion of Through The Looking-Glass.
The original title was Alice's adventures in Underland, IIRC. Don't think you're getting those books for free though. :-)Oh, they're long out of copyright and available from Project Gutenberg... as well as any number of other sources. I think actually I have four copies that came free with various e-readers I downloaded.
Yeah, I downloaded both for free from Google Play on my tablet.
Any number of events from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Various events and battles could be used to make many one shots. The battle of Hulao Pass is one as is the Battle of Red Cliffs.
I was talking about dead tree copies of it from the 19th century. :-)
Pffft, who still uses those? ;)
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Scarlet Pimpernel was injured and is laid up for a few months. Oh No! Who will take his place? lol.
I was also thinking of running an adventure in Galt based on the Scarlet Pimpernel, but abandoned my early planning stages because in a proper adventure game, the players don't want to meet the Scarlet Pimpernel, they want to be the Scarlet Pimpernel, and I didn't really have an angle to give them that.
I've long had an idea for a Doc Savage style pulp game where the PCs are various assistants to the real hero.
Who is killed early on, leaving the character's to avenge and carry on the great man's work.
Lawrence Watt-Evans got a very enjoyable long short story (novella, really) out of a similar concept, The Final Folly of Captain Dancy. Essentially, the farsighted leader with the brilliant and cunning plan that he's started to put into action dies of something random at the beginning of the story, and his sidekicks have to not only figure out the plan, but also make it work without letting anyone know that he's dead.
So, after having a lot of fun writing a module using the 7 Deadly Sins, I started thinking (Dangerous, I know): "What am I going to do to top this module next year?" and I came up with this idea: Classical Books.
The first one I'm going to tackle: Alice in Wonderland
...and he also did an adaptaion of Through The Looking-Glass.
But that's First Edition and I have no desire to try to update a first ed adventure. Personally I think it's easier to just start from scratch and I have a little bit of a different take on the whole adventure. I've decided to make it an Adventure Path that travels through various book universes, starting with Alice.
And the Jabberwocky. :)