The Thread about Castle Ravenloft got me thinking about this adventure concept:
The adventurers are summoned to an ancient graveyard. People have gone missing from the small village nearby. There are rumors that an ancient evil has emerged from one of the crypts. Just as the player characters walk down the stairs leading to the crypt, we
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to the characters that awaken in their coffins. Warriors in mail, crusader types, open their coffins, eager to slay some vampire tonight. The characters have no clue how they got here.
So the main adventure would resolve around the characters having to find out what happened in the crypt dungeon, how they became vampires - playing out some of the dungeon in flashbacks - and how they can return to their mortal selves. (Since actual vampires are a little too powerful I´d probably use vampire spawn.)
So what do you think? Railroady as hell? :)
Word of advice. Start a campaign this way, don't drop it on already established characters.
Great idea and I would definetetly run this.
The Thread about Castle Ravenloft got me thinking about this adventure concept:
The adventurers are summoned to an ancient graveyard. People have gone missing from the small village nearby. There are rumors that an ancient evil has emerged from one of the crypts. Just as the player characters walk down the stairs leading to the crypt, we
- CUT -
to the characters that awaken in their coffins. Warriors in mail, crusader types, open their coffins, eager to slay some vampire tonight. The characters have no clue how they got here.
So the main adventure would resolve around the characters having to find out what happened in the crypt dungeon, how they became vampires - playing out some of the dungeon in flashbacks - and how they can return to their mortal selves. (Since actual vampires are a little too powerful I´d probably use vampire spawn.)
So what do you think? Railroady as hell? :)
Cool idea - but I would drop playing the flashbacks (TOO much railroad) and instead give them as rewards/or when the mood is right?...
Also it could be nice letting them decide for themselves IF they want to be cured!
This is such a wicked idea that I'm tempted to steal it, and I would probably work out the background story and then wait and see, what the players decide before doing any more.
GRU
Also it could be nice letting them decide for themselves IF they want to be cured!This is such a wicked idea that I'm tempted to steal it, and I would probably work out the background story and then wait and see, what the players decide before doing any more.
Wow, haven´t even thought about the possibility that the characters might consider remaining undead when they get the choice. But you´re absolutely right.
Oh and steal away, it honors me of course! (Although I´m pretty sure someone must have done this before)
Right now I am thinking how to run this adventure soon (as in, next week or so). I don´t have the time to create everything myself so I am looking for adventures that might fit into this premise. Any ideas? One from Dungeon or Gamemastery, perhaps?
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Vampires are so passé. Make them something like ghouls or wights or mummies. Mummies don't need to be wrapped in toilet paper. Any well-preserved corpse could turn out to be one. There's an awesome spell in Heroes of Horror called Oath of Blood that acts like a Geas except, if the subject dies, it reanimates in order to fulfill its mission. The entire party may have been subject to the spell.
I did something like this once, and it worked out pretty well.
I didn't turn them into undead, but deep in the dungeon they were heading down to was an energy field that random-teleports anyone around when it's touched, as well as wiping memory (to keep the place hidden). So as soon as they entered, things went foggy, then they woke up, wounded on a hill in the rain, with one dead NPC among a group who no longer recognized them. They then found a castle on a hill, and a guy named Count Dimitri...
It was much enjoyed!
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note: also what about a paladin??
like the idea .. as some other said drop the flash back and a event could be that a new adventure party of NPC's gone looking for the PC and ofc will fight them if they are evil undeaths.
filled the temple with marks of battle from when the PC went in and then make peices of information/memory come back on rolls like roll a d20 on a specific place if you get high the PC memorize what he did there.
goal could be to get a cure which is inside the temple or turn their backs on the village and destroy it. good vs evil.
let this be a champane dont drop chars into it.
about spells from cleric and druid... let them remake spells in this way (take religion and find the oppesite and change it to that like change from good to evil, a druids elements of nature can alsoways becomes evil just remake some of the good alignment spells.)
i wouldn't allow paladins to play in this champane unless you change to a form of unholy knights.
but a realy cool idea i like it
Vampires are so passé. Make them something like ghouls or wights or mummies. Mummies don't need to be wrapped in toilet paper. Any well-preserved corpse could turn out to be one. There's an awesome spell in Heroes of Horror called Oath of Blood that acts like a Geas except, if the subject dies, it reanimates in order to fulfill its mission. The entire party may have been subject to the spell.
I'd do something like this. That way you have a little 'racial diversity'. Besides, different undead types are better suited to different classes.
And you could keep the flashbacks to a point. Short one combat flashbacks highlighting how each party member fell to their specific type of undead. Yes it's a bit 'railroady' but given the nature of the campaign I think it is cool enough to be forgiven.
Forewarn your players about your intentions, because it would suck to be the player who plays the Tank type and dumped Charisma, the positive energy chaneling cleric or the the Paladin who now is evil.
Humbly,
Yawar
EDIT: even is its true that vampires are a little too powerful its doesn't really matter since all the party are vampires. Every one but the wizards benefits kinda evenly so from the template.
EDIT 2: Reduce 3 points from any point buy system and set CON as fixed 14 to avoid Con dumping for free points. Readjust for archer types who kinda dump con by simply setting at 10 with no point deduction.
Wow, look what I just found:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/reviews/273897-liber-vampyr.html
And it´s free!
Vampires are so passé. Make them something like ghouls or wights or mummies. Mummies don't need to be wrapped in toilet paper. Any well-preserved corpse could turn out to be one. There's an awesome spell in Heroes of Horror called Oath of Blood that acts like a Geas except, if the subject dies, it reanimates in order to fulfill its mission. The entire party may have been subject to the spell.
I think there's some great role-play opportunities for the players slowly discovering that they are vampires. Or mummies. Or ghouls, etc. It would all boil down to what the DM is most comfortable describing. Some of my players are big vampire fans(not the glittery kind), so as a DM I think they'd get a kick out of it. I could easily see describing the random hunger pains, animals fleeing the sight of them, plants wilting under their touch, etc., and just seeing the players reaction as they try to figure out whats going on.