Grollub,
Thanks for the kind words and the encouragement. I am glad you are enjoying "Way of the Wicked". Anyways, down to business...
Dragonslayer – This kingdom was once peaceful, green and good, and then world went mad. In the night they came on leathery wings – dragons – scores of the beasts! Villages burn, death reigns and the attacks continue without relent.
The streets are full of rumors. The small dragons that swarm and attack village after village are merely servants, children really, controlled by great dragon lords – wyrms of terrible age and power. What do they want? Why do they hunt the realms of men? And can anything be done to stop them?
The king is desperate. He is willing to make anyone who can stop this scourge a rich beyond the dreams of avarice. He even promises the hand of his daughter and the title of prince to anyone can defeat these beasts. Will his promises be enough for someone to take up the suicidal mantle of dragonslayer?
The dragon adventure path. You will slay more dragons than every other campaign you’ve ever played put together. But this is not a mere hack and slash. There is a mystery to be solved and an ancient conspiracy to be uncovered. These attacks are not happening without reason. To discover the truth of these raids will take wit as well as weapons and wizardry.
And the campaign isn’t over until you get to fight this guy.
Interest?
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
Yes, I like this idea, but don't have time to comment today.
-Aaron
Dragonslayer gets a BIG thumbs up from me! I think there is potential for plenty of non-draconic enemies and foes to mix things up. I like the idea of some people trying to side with the dragons out of cowardice or madness. A lot of potential for awesome fights, dungeon crawls, good NPC's, and a strong variety of options for character creation. I'd probably buy this in a heartbeat.
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Grollub,
Thanks for the kind words and the encouragement. I am glad you are enjoying "Way of the Wicked". Anyways, down to business...
Dragonslayer – This kingdom was once peaceful, green and good, and then world went mad. In the night they came on leathery wings – dragons – scores of the beasts! Villages burn, death reigns and the attacks continue without relent.
The streets are full of rumors. The small dragons that swarm and attack village after village are merely servants, children really, controlled by great dragon lords – wyrms of terrible age and power. What do they want? Why do they hunt the realms of men? And can anything be done to stop them?
The king is desperate. He is willing to make anyone who can stop this scourge a rich beyond the dreams of avarice. He even promises the hand of his daughter and the title of prince to anyone can defeat these beasts. Will his promises be enough for someone to take up the suicidal mantle of dragonslayer?
The dragon adventure path. You will slay more dragons than every other campaign you’ve ever played put together. But this is not a mere hack and slash. There is a mystery to be solved and an ancient conspiracy to be uncovered. These attacks are not happening without reason. To discover the truth of these raids will take wit as well as weapons and wizardry.
And the campaign isn’t over until you get to fight this guy.
Interest?
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
You've got my interest. Where do I pre-order it? lol
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The biggest issue I see with the dragonslayer idea is overpopulating it with dragons to the point where 'Oh, look, another dragon' becomes the norm. Dragon fights should feel legendary and unique in my opinion. Of course, considering who's talking about it, I'm sure you can pull it off to great effect.
As far as the BBEG guys, the dragon should definitely be unique. The image I got in my head when I read Great Dragon Lords was a council of five very nasty dargons on top of a mountain, the PCs standing below their gaze. Now that would be a fight! And probably a TPK, but totally worth it.
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Anyways, down to business...
Dragonslayer – This kingdom was once peaceful, green and good, and then world went mad. In the night they came on leathery wings – dragons – scores of the beasts! Villages burn, death reigns and the attacks continue without relent.
After talking with my group, they wholeheartedly welcome this. However, after much discussion we came up with a few things that we'd like to see in there.
First, the princess needs to eventually get captured. Maybe held for ransom if the heroes are getting too close.
Second, be careful with how you introduce them. If the PCs know they're going to be taking on lots of dragons there could be a lot of overpowered builds that specialize in taking down dragons. There's already four archetypes (ranger, paladin, fighter, rogue) that I personally know of that are dragon hunters.
Thirdly, alliances with good dragons. Lots of room wizards to have dragon familiars (they exist starting at 9th), paladins to have dragon mounts, or even for the PCs to play the Dragon Rider class at 1st level. Maybe it's a war of good vs. evil because the good dragons already have an alliance and are living peacefully alongside mankind?
Lastly, a possible twist ending. Are the dragons really the big bad? After all, there are various dragon orbs that CONTROL dragons. They're SRD artifacts too. I know about them because two of my players have been looking for them as side quests in all the campaigns they've been doing in their other groups.
Overall though, we really do want this. What'd also be kind of cool is have it set up that the PCs can be dragons too. There are rules for that. You can either be a true dragon, a half-dragon, or a quarter dragon. Maybe you're only dragon blooded. Just an idea.
I'm against Dragonslayer.
Dragons work as well because they are rare and not encountered all the time. Overusing them demystifies them and makes encountering the creatures just as normal as other ones. Plus: Dragons are supposed to be insanely smart and most publications I've read have FAILED to take a dragon's cunning, intellect and resources etc. into account, explaining the lackluster, dumb defenses away via hubris.
That being said, I wouldn't mind a whole AP devoted to killing ONE epic dragon - perhaps one installment killing tax collectors (of virgins), one trying to counteract the environmental defenses of his lair, one to kill his out-of-lair-servants, one running from the inevitable retaliation, then the strike back/infiltration/slaying - you get the idea.
My players LOVE Dragons, but they love them because they're not just another monster, but the ultimate Apex Predators, marrying physical strength, magic power and CUNNING.
Plus: Draconic invasion has kind of been done by Red Hand of Doom (though that's more half-dragons...)
Just my preference and 2 cents.
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Grollub,
Thanks for the kind words and the encouragement. I am glad you are enjoying "Way of the Wicked". Anyways, down to business...
Dragonslayer – This kingdom was once peaceful, green and good, and then world went mad. In the night they came on leathery wings – dragons – scores of the beasts! Villages burn, death reigns and the attacks continue without relent.
The streets are full of rumors. The small dragons that swarm and attack village after village are merely servants, children really, controlled by great dragon lords – wyrms of terrible age and power. What do they want? Why do they hunt the realms of men? And can anything be done to stop them?
The king is desperate. He is willing to make anyone who can stop this scourge a rich beyond the dreams of avarice. He even promises the hand of his daughter and the title of prince to anyone can defeat these beasts. Will his promises be enough for someone to take up the suicidal mantle of dragonslayer?
The dragon adventure path. You will slay more dragons than every other campaign you’ve ever played put together. But this is not a mere hack and slash. There is a mystery to be solved and an ancient conspiracy to be uncovered. These attacks are not happening without reason. To discover the truth of these raids will take wit as well as weapons and wizardry.
And the campaign isn’t over until you get to fight this guy.
Interest?
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
As someone who bought all the Legends Dragons (and who intended to use the Colossal Red to replace Karzoug), I'd mark this as campaign number two I'd buy in a minute.
I agree with kevin_video that there would need to be some expansion of the potential reward to suit a party full of heroes, but I think a dragonslayer story fits a good role: a simple and strong concept that's just waiting to be deepened with good story.
I'm against Dragonslayer.
Dragons work as well because they are rare and not encountered all the time. Overusing them demystifies them and makes encountering the creatures just as normal as other ones. Plus: Dragons are supposed to be insanely smart and most publications I've read have FAILED to take a dragon's cunning, intellect and resources etc. into account, explaining the lackluster, dumb defenses away via hubris.
That being said, I wouldn't mind a whole AP devoted to killing ONE epic dragon - perhaps one installment killing tax collectors (of virgins), one trying to counteract the environmental defenses of his lair, one to kill his out-of-lair-servants, one running from the inevitable retaliation, then the strike back/infiltration/slaying - you get the idea.
My players LOVE Dragons, but they love them because they're not just another monster, but the ultimate Apex Predators, marrying physical strength, magic power and CUNNING.
Plus: Draconic invasion has kind of been done by Red Hand of Doom (though that's more half-dragons...)
Just my preference and 2 cents.
I can see your point and I agree that dragons need to be uncommonly awesome fights. However, I doubt they would make dragons the mooks of the campaign or anything. If they saved the dragons for boss fights (and later sub-bosses in the higher level books) I think that would be acceptable.
And don't forget, the CR 2 Tatzylworm counts as a dragon! :D
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For a dragon campaign, I'd recommend you look at the type of campaign that would be created if you had a Blue Dragon as your final nemisis. You'd probably end up spending a fair bit of the campaign not even realizing who the enemy was (so there'll be a fair bit of detective work and investigation). The Blue Big Bad (BBB) can also use your party to eliminate some rival dragons/foes, and there can be the option to even finish the campaign not having defeated the true mastermind.
You know what would be a really awesome, yet cruel trick/twist ending? If the blue dragon, or other dragon that's manipulating you, was just a wyrmling. Or, a diminutive young adult. Someone who was bullied and picked on by the larger dragons. And he's so upset with the teasing and laughing that he disguises himself to look normal, and has the party take down his foes so that he can be the last of the big, bad dragons.
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Just had a neat little idea for the dragonslayer game. What if the first half of the AP was befriending the good dragons and gaining an alliance with them. Then, as you progress, you're pulled into their dragon war with the evil ones. This causes the scenario you proposed, Gary. Where all of a sudden your village is attacked by the evil dragons. They're angry with your interference and helping the goody-goodies. Or, maybe it's revenge because you took down one of their generals, and the evil overlord dragon wants you to experience just how stupid an idea that was, and powerless you really are.
I was getting back home and suddenly a possible outline for the Dragonslayer AP come to my mind, so I decided to share it with you and see what do you think about it.
As in WotW I think it would be best to set it in a remote island so it can be implemented in any campaign setting as needed. The background would be that millenia ago the humanoids of the island were oppressed by dragon overlords, but, finally a group of rebels rose and free their people, they were leaded by a group of heroes whose names are lost to history and are only remembered as the Dragonslayers. Since then, not a single dragon has been seen in the island. But that's about to change.
1. The Wake of the Dragons. It would start with the annual celebration of the victory of the Dragonslayers, during the first part of the adventure the PCs would be doing chores and interacting with people in the village all the while learning the story of the dragon overlords, the rebellion,... during an event a blind oracle would appear warning that the dragons sleep no more. Nobody would take it seriously, but the next day, during the fireworks, a small flight of dragons would attack the village, in a matter of seconds, everything would be destroyed, only the PCs are alive, next to the oracle, now dying, who tells them to go to...
2. The Tomb of the Dragonslayers. The PCs will have to travel through a ruined wasteland following a blurry map that the oracle imprinted in the mind of one of them. Through the journey they would experience the post-apocalyptic remains that the dragons left, and maybe fight some half-dragon creatures. Finally they would be upon the dungeon that was sealed until a time of great need, such as now. After braving a dungeon intended to test potential heroes, they get to the crypt where they each get a couple of items that would be useful to fight dragons and scalate by level (a la Tempest of Legacy of Fire)
3. Siege at Dawn. News arrived through a nomad band of survivors that one of the kingdoms stills stand but its capital is under siege by some of the dragons. There, the PCs would have to break the siege to get inside and join their forces with that of the kingdom. After a frugal banquet to celebrate the brief respite, the king will offer the hand of his son/daughter to one of the PCs and marry them in the act. The next day, at dawn, the dragons attack full-force, but with the help of the PCs, they manage to kill their Dragon General, forcing them to disband. The king dies, though.
4. Strange Bedfellows. The royal advisors tell the PCs that not all hope is lost and there is another country who is still resisting the fury of the dragons. But is a nation with a long history of bad relations with the kingdom, so it falls upon the shoulders of the new king/queen to secure an alliance. When there, they would have to navigate a maze of intrigue and deception, and maybe pass some tests to finally gain a good reputation. Then the queen there reveals that the dragons might be leaded by their god, a creature that can only be killed by a member of a royal family, and, being herself childless, makes one of the PCs her heir (or maybe marry one of them). With their new allies, they march against the dragons that were blasting the countryside and managed to kill another Dragon General.
5. The Dragon Wars. With the armies of the two surviving kingdoms, the PCs face the main body of the dragons army, fighting against half-dragon creatures, true dragons, and even two Dragon Generals at the same time.
6. The Lair of the Dragon God. The PCs won the battle, but the war is far from over, the last remaining Dragon General, retreated to a secluded mountain range with part of her army. The PCs have to follow, but they end up finding more than they thought, because the retreat was to the lair of their go, the one that woke all of them, and brought war and desolation to the island, the Dragon God itself (it would be cool to use some sort of Tiamat look-a-like, but it might not be possible due to IP). Will they be able to finish the threat once and for all?
Ant that's all. I personally like it and think that it manages to make dragons important to the storyline without being about continously killing dragons. Also it includes intrigue, diplomacy, war and at least a couple of dungeons.
Well, just my 2 cents.
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@Sergi.Planas -- Not bad, but there are a few key points that I'd like to bring up.
First off, no matter how I read this, there's no way that this could a 1-20 game. I could see 10-20. Maybe even 5-20. The main reason being the second scenario and the fighting of a half-dragon. No matter what you face off against, that's a minimum of a CR 3.
Next, the blind oracle. There'd have to be some major backstory about how she's a crazy old coot that no one believes because otherwise it's too Hollywood a story where no one believes her. The players will immediately believe her, and there's a very large chance that they'll metagame their characters to do the same even if the GM says they don't. No, they know what's going to happen and they'll secretly prepare because now all of a sudden all of their characters are paranoid tinfoil cap wearing citizens.
Thirdly, "a creature that can only be killed by a member of a royal family". That to me means "of royal blood" or "of this exact bloodline". If simply marrying you will give you the powers of a dragon god slayer then this would be the perfect time to introduce Polyamory into the campaign. Give the queen her own royal harem.
Here's an idea. Do a very Noir style AP set mostly in one city. Then have the players doing investigations and taking down criminals. They could either be in the employ of the city guard or working independently. You could have the story start small with one investigation (a murder or missing person, or something like that) and eventually have it turn out to be part of an even greater scheme. What does everyone else think? Would that kind of AP work? Even if it doesn't end up being Noir-style, I'd still like to see an AP based on some kind of investigation either way.
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Here's an idea. Do a very Noir style AP set mostly in one city. Then have the players doing investigations and taking down criminals. They could either be in the employ of the city guard or working independently. You could have the story start small with one investigation (a murder or missing person, or something like that) and eventually have it turn out to be part of an even greater scheme. What does everyone else think? Would that kind of AP work? Even if it doesn't end up being Noir-style, I'd still like to see an AP based on some kind of investigation either way.
That would be kind of cool, actually. I wouldn't mind running or playing something like that. Haven't played a game along those lines since Eberron and the classic "Hell's Heart" saga. That was intense, and kind of reminded me of Silence of the Lambs or SAW by the middle. If you haven't read it, you should. The previous two titles to this trilogy are "Chimes at Midnight" and "Quoth the Raven."
Something done along those lines would be breathtaking, and an instant buy for me.
My request - either do stand alone modules or do an AP where the time between the component modules is *very* flexible, even to the point where different parties can do different bits.
APs are very straight-jacketing for a GM.
Richard
Way of the Wicked, at least volume 1, has a sidebar for how to adapt it if you want to run it as a standalone. APs are much better for GMs that either can't or don't want to create their own campaign, but rather run the AP as the entire campaign (or the chunk of it between the levels it covers, anyway).
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My request - either do stand alone modules or do an AP where the time between the component modules is *very* flexible, even to the point where different parties can do different bits.
APs are very straight-jacketing for a GM.
Richard
Nice idea....something that spans years or decades even would be nice. Most are done in months but I could see a whole series that spans years and tells the story of how something slowly comes to be. It would be very liberating to not be "rush, rush, rush you will be 16th level in 3 months of gametime but take 3years of realtime to play it".
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Nice idea....something that spans years or decades even would be nice. Most are done in months but I could see a whole series that spans years and tells the story of how something slowly comes to be. It would be very liberating to not be "rush, rush, rush you will be 16th level in 3 months of gametime but take 3years of realtime to play it".My request - either do stand alone modules or do an AP where the time between the component modules is *very* flexible, even to the point where different parties can do different bits.
APs are very straight-jacketing for a GM.
Richard
My players in Kingmaker are 9th level, after 3 years of Real Time and about 5 years of Game time.
A Final Fantasy-stle AP that mixes traditional settings with technology and airships might be fun... although a separate book for the tech might be needed.
That would require a Campaign Setting book or two, some changes to classes and skills, etc.
And something about Dragons.
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Nice idea....something that spans years or decades even would be nice. Most are done in months but I could see a whole series that spans years and tells the story of how something slowly comes to be. It would be very liberating to not be "rush, rush, rush you will be 16th level in 3 months of gametime but take 3years of realtime to play it".
Anything which is driven by gods or politics could take years to come to fruition. Then again, if the GM wants, he could make it take just weeks.
My players in Kingmaker are 9th level, after 3 years of Real Time and about 5 years of Game time.
How've you done it?
I mean, what else did you run apart from the Kingmaker AP?
Richard
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I added in bits and pieces from Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale and Realm of the Felnight Queen, otherwise I just expanded some stuff and enforced long periods of kingdom building. Occasionally I take a couple of weeks off for another GM to run legacy of fire, but we've been playing consistently from 2010.
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Planar Campaigns, or Fey Campaigns.
Planar:
1 - A campaign with lots of jumping around between planes and worlds. Something Planescape or Spelljammer-esque.
2 - A campaign focused on a war between various celestials and various fiends, in their home-planes. With celestial and fiendish player races to play as. Try to make the plot alignment neutral, in that the war can be played on either side.
3 - Another take on 2. Demons, Devils, and Daemons are invading the prime material plane. Perhaps there is assistance from angels or agathions. Perhaps not.
Fey:
1 - A campaign focused on the destruction of the woodlands. something with a great deal of fey, magical beasts, and elves, where we get to save a temperate jungle/forest the size of australia. Perhaps the bad guys are Orcs with class levels. Or Dwarves. Dwarves would be a cool twist. Dwarves and humans are the enemies. Maybe a small number of dwarves and humans joined the elves and disagree with what their people are doing. Perhaps add in some more fey-like races to play as well.
The premise of Bastion would make a cool planar campaign.
My request - either do stand alone modules or do an AP where the time between the component modules is *very* flexible, even to the point where different parties can do different bits.
I'm going to put this out here one time and let it be, but:
Noir-ish in one city-- Streets of Zobeck, 7 unrelated urban crime adventures, 1-10.
Supplementary to Kingmaker-- Tales of the Old Margreve, 8 unrelated foresty-fey deep-dark-woods adventures, 1-10.
And there is a conversion of Courts of the Shadowfey coming.
So you don't have to wait that long to find some of the adventures you're looking for, some are out there right now.
-Ben.
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I came up with another idea for an adventure path just because it sounded interesting. If it doesn't get done, I might do it for a convention tournament or something.
The Misfits. You are all a bunch of poor misfits who are looked down upon by the world because of your current status. Maybe you're homeless, or you're the offspring of a dishonored paladin who both still believe that the choice made was the right decision (and the paladin died before they could get an atonement). Perhaps you're just a stranger of a different origin in the town and no one wishes to have anything to do with you (could a half breed race, a race that normally doesn't scream "I'm stereotypically trustworthy", or a sorcerer with a bloodline most look down upon). Any way you look at it, you're not the cream of the crop.
The king is need of people to go do some of the craziest missions that no soldier of his would even consider doing. They're either considered "below" their status, or they're considered "suicide missions". After talking to his grand vizier (or maybe a group of consultants), he is told that perhaps men of lesser stature given "honorary titles" that have no real meaning, or made a "substitute royal guard" or something just as cool sounding, would suffice. If they're nobodies anyways then it's quite likely that no one will miss them should they die during their missions, and since the titles are only made up anyways, the kingdom would look any worse for any failures.
He gets his best men to search the kingdom for such beings and to bring them to him. And if some are unwashed, to have them at least clean up somewhat before presenting them to the court. They are to also get as much information on these people as possible so they could win them over to working these dangerous missions by giving them what they'd most desire (the fallen paladin's son/daughter gets back their land and their family's honor, the homeless guy gets a house, respect and stature, racism bans are placed and all races are given equal rights, etc).
The advisers would see them well before the king would, and he/them would explain what they would have to do, and what they'd get in return. They'd only ever see the king, who'd given them his blessing form a distance. As time progressed, they'd be allowed to get closer, and see a percentage of their final goal.
Of course no one believes that they'll be able to pull of any of this. However, once they start higher up in level maybe the kingdom turns on them because they weren't supposed to survive ALL of the missions. This will worry the king, his adviser(s), and even the knights of the royal court who are being shown up. Meanwhile, the PCs are actively trying to achieve their goals, but in the backs of their minds they might realize just how this could all work out. However, some people amongst the court will be on their side because of their shear determination inspiring them as well. Showing everyone that the little guy, the one down on their luck and given no advantages in life, really can do what's needed to be done if they're given a clear goal and they have the will to do what's required. It'd also be a story where the haves still want to have everything, and like nothing more than to step on those who try to take what they think is rightfully theirs because they were born into power, and not these "street rats" or "urchins" who were born into lesser families. Like Rocky, it'd be the story of the underdog who's able to achieve greatness when given the shot, but are still regular people even when they got it because they know it's like to be at the bottom of the ladder.
This idea came to me when I read up on the guttermage class, and one of my PCs wanted to play one. So I wondered what kind of group would work with a guttermage. Then I thought, misfits. People down on their luck, people who've experienced terrible hardships, or looked down upon by society, etc. Thought it could end up being a good story.
There's lot of room for campaign specific traits, and maybe bring in the optional rule for Flaws (they were in 3.5 and 3PP PF brought them back as well).
Part of me is hoping that Gary didn't forget about this thread, or maybe he's already got his ideas, but I do know he's busy with the current AP.
I didn't forget. I busily read it and may even post a few more ideas before the final decision is made.
That said, we are nearing the deadline for Book Four. So, I'm very busy.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
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I didn't forget. I busily read it and may even post a few more ideas before the final decision is made.
That said, we are nearing the deadline for Book Four. So, I'm very busy.
I didn't figure you forgot, but being busy can sometimes mean skipping some things so you don't get distracted in the mean time. But if you're still looking to drop ideas, we'll keep listening and give feedback. As you read, wasn't sure if you had what you needed or not.
Here's another quick idea: what about an AP that culminates in defeating and killing a god and the PC's ascending to godhood themselves? That would be a memorable way to end an AP.
Also, no matter what AP go with can we have even a little continuity with Way of The Wicked? Even without doing a direct sequel we could at least have some kind of mention that the events of Way of The Wicked have happened or are happening in Talingarde. Something as basic as an NPC mentioning that there's some bad stuff going on there. It could even be in a sidebar or a short article giving advice on how to have some continuity between the campaigns.
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I personally think Gary needs to do a Fire Mountain/TPK Games mash-up. That would be villainous!
I was thinking the same thing after I saw this.
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Here's another quick idea: what about an AP that culminates in defeating and killing a god and the PC's ascending to godhood themselves? That would be a memorable way to end an AP.Also, no matter what AP go with can we have even a little continuity with Way of The Wicked? Even without doing a direct sequel we could at least have some kind of mention that the events of Way of The Wicked have happened or are happening in Talingarde. Something as basic as an NPC mentioning that there's some bad stuff going on there. It could even be in a sidebar or a short article giving advice on how to have some continuity between the campaigns.
It could be a newspaper clipping or something.
A newspaper clipping would be a good way to do that. Anything like that really. A few small nods to Way of The Wicked that can very easily get removed if the GM hasn't run WOTW or just doesn't want to include those.
Also, no matter what AP go with can we have even a little continuity with Way of The Wicked? Even without doing a direct sequel we could at least have some kind of mention that the events of Way of The Wicked have happened or are happening in Talingarde. Something as basic as an NPC mentioning that there's some bad stuff going on there. It could even be in a sidebar or a short article giving advice on how to have some continuity between the campaigns.
I think this idea is inevitable. You can count on there being little mentions of events from "Way of the Wicked." Nothing that will require owning the books of course. Each AP will be its own seperate thing. But something that provides a minor little call back to past volumes for dedicated fans.
Actually, there have already been callbacks in Way of the Wicked to other projects I've written...
Gary McBride
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Actually, there have already been callbacks in Way of the Wicked to other projects I've written...
You may have to elaborate on this because I don't recall ever seeing anything else done by you that's been published under Fire Mountain Games. Reading the little comedic autobiography of yourself, unfortunately I've never played anything concerning Warhammer or Earthdawn. Not that it's not done in this small burg of a village we dare call a city... well, actually only Warhammer's got any kind of remote fanbase in this city outside of D&D. Usually that's the kind of thing larger centers have access to.
Since book 5 is in progress and you'll be starting on the final book of Way of the Wicked shortly after that,do you have any teaser(s) on what your next project(s) will be?
Yes. After Gencon.
Gary
Not sure if anyone has suggested this yet, but an arena AP, a la Spartacus?
Heh, the tag line reads: Sex and Violence, it Sells.
I love Spartacus actually. I've seen both seasons and the prequel.
Actually, I think there is a lot of potential in a gladiator adventure path.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
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I love Spartacus actually. I've seen both seasons and the prequel.
Actually, I think there is a lot of potential in a gladiator adventure path.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
There are a couple of adventures and modules that start off as slaves, but they usually tend to have you break out partway through the first book, or even after the first session. That being said, if there was someway to actually extend this and make it on a much larger scale, that could get incredibly interesting.
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I think part of the challenge of a gladiator campaign is developing variety: a gladiator's life was really rather repetitive, with boredom mitigated by the fact that the repetitive activity could get you messily killed.
A game that built towards a slave revolt, however, with at least one adventure book in the gladiator pits - that's an AP with a lot of different directions it can go. Early adventures have built-in plot hooks: master says go do this. As the PCs go up in level, they begin to seek ways to break free. Breaking themselves free in the mid-tier, they challenge the slave establishment in the upper tier, dragged into the mess by altruism (if it's a good party) or greed (rebellion=plunder) or survival (A society panicked that their slave culture is about to be yanked away might sacrifice a few thousand slaves in magic ritual X to rewrite the world to something more amenable).
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A gladiatorial AP (or even adventure) would have to account for how the presence of magic would affect 'the games.' Would users of magic compete in a completely different bracket than the gladiators of our world, and only occasionally get thrown into the same competition?
What sort of monsters would be most common (easily replaceable stuff, like giant rats or goblins bred in pits on site, or stuff that's insanely hard to kill, like trolls)?
How much freedom do the gladiators of this culture possess? Are they kept locked up between bouts, in cells? Do they eventually progress in status to being able to wander around town freely and attend social events (and get involved in political shenanigans)?
Many clerics would not fit well into such a campaign, although Kurgess and Gorum might thrive. An evil druid could serve as animal wrangler (or be part of a contracted group that brings back exotic and magical beasts to fight and die in the arena), but, more likely, rangers would end up in that role.
Campaign traits could include one where a gladiator gains a morale bonus when the crowd is cheering him on, and another where a gladiator who has grown accustomed to being 'cast' as 'the bad-guy' gains a morale bonus when the crowd is booing him and howling for his blood.
As in the Spartacus series, a select group of trusted gladiators who have proved themselves to their master/trainer/owner might be brought along as bodyguards to some shady deals (premade excuse for 'the party' to have a combat encounter outside of the arena) or even be sent to 'deal with' a rival (i.e. kill the competition!) or, if the city / nation goes to war with a neighbor, might even be sent along with the troops as a showy unit of their own, offered a chance for freedom if they acquit themselves well on the battlefield.
Spellcasters would perhaps benefit from a combination of conjuration and evokation and illusion and transmutation spells, the showier, the better, gaining bonuses if the crowd can see and applaud their magic (if not direct combat bonuses, at least reputation and acclaim bonuses afterwards), leaving enchanters and diviners and abjurers at something of a disadvantage as arena-mages.