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This is all very bare-bones at the moment, but...
Basic background:
At some point during the Age of Darkness, a large demiplane sized chunk of the First World crossed over with the Positive Energy plane, got sheared off of its native plane, and got lodged somewhere in the Dimension of Dreams. It's a stable, closed off demiplane with a few dependable, well hidden portals to other planes. But most who visit this place come by chance while dreaming.
The entire place is a vibrant fairy-tale realm, the general character of which is morphic depending on who's running the joint, while retaining bits of nature from whoever held it before. This place eventually gets discovered by Shelyn, Desna, and Calistria, and they in turn shape it into a place of wonders, populated by ensouled fey from the earliest days of the demiplane's creation and humanoids from the prime material who found themselves drawn there through dreams. It was a bit of a refuge of sorts, not just for those gods that protected and tended to it but also for all who dreamt, particularly artists, through the Age of Darkness and beyond.
The aesthetics and culture of this realm have evolved and fluctuated over time, but some of the major unifying themes are reflections of prime material traditions of jesters and court fools(or perhaps, the prime material traditions are reflections inspired by dreams that have touched this realm). Trickery and illusion, smoke and mirrors, and everyone is a fool of the divinely inspired variety. People duel by wit more often than not. Twisted fey logic works better than the vanilla kind.
Basically, it's a world where Baron Munchausen would be Einstein. And the laws of physics were designed by Gaiman and Pratchett, with Charles Vess and Tony DiTerlizzi on landscaping duties.
Calistria, being who she is, proposed a game of gods of sorts. There would be a contest of champions of sorts. Nothing too dangerous, and the stakes weren't too dire. Whoever's champion proved themselves a king among fools would rule as one for a century. This would leave the other deities free of having to take such close care of this little plane, but it also meant that the Court of Fools would be more attuned to then then ascendant goddess over the course of their champion's rule.
Both consessions to practicality and competitiveness won Desna and Shelyn over, after certain assurances that the realm would remain safe and that its inhabitants would not be treated as toys. And so the great game started. This realm has changed hands many times over the ages. During the ascendancy of Desna, it was commonly a realm of sparkling bright nights and sweet dreams, with countless mysteries hiding in the shadows to be chased. During the reign of Shelyn's champions, it was a vibrant kaleidoscope of joy and creativity, a festival without end.
But for the past seven centuries, Calistria has won. The Court of Fools has become more capricious during this time, and though the dangers are still relatively gentle compared to the life-and-death matters of the material plane, hearts grow caustic more easily now, and fates can be more cruel than they once were. The reigning Queen of Fools, a chaotic neutral marilith Calistria had stolen away from a demon lord in eons past, is feared as much as respected, for her tricks can be unkind and her whims are unpredictable. And the entrenchment of her rule is only increased by her six fool's scepters, each a transformed champion who failed to unseat her and graciously accepted their fates according to the traditions of the game(until such time that their weilder is defeated or a new scepter is made, which releases the oldest from service).
This long string of victories has brought stagnation though. The game is becoming less fun for Calistria, to the point that her champion has begun to fear that her patron may seek to replace her or otherwise orchestrate her defeat in the nest game. And Desna and Shelyn have grown unhappy with the current state of affairs. And Calistria has noted Shelyn's discontent in particular, now fearing that the Eternal Rose may withdraw from the game entirely.
So Calistria proposed that things be mixed up a bit: Each of the goddess' would invite another to join them in the next game. Each god would also be bringing something else to wager, something precious to one or more of the other players.
Calistria herself took a gamble with her invitation. She knew it was risky, and she knew that it would certainly anger some. But the prize was too good great to pass up, for what this god had to wager was something very precious to Shelyn. She invited Zon-Kuthon to join the game, with the strict requirement that his champions abide by the rules of the game. It wasn't until nearly the beginning of the game that she recieved his acceptance, but she was certain he would take the bait. After all, she had something precious to him too.
The other gods were taken by surprise, and only calmed when assurances were made that Zon-Kuthon would adhere to the traditions of the game. The risk of his victory and the subsequent darkening of this realm of dreams was apparent to all though, and so the other gods quickly stepped up their game, seeking champions from unlikely corners to ensure that the Court of Fools remained a bright place.
Enter the PCs. Drawn into the game by emissaries of the gods seeking heroes, they would find themselves in this demiplane and quickly having to adapt to the mad logic of the place. The morphic nature of the realm would come into full effect as the game escalates: Portions of the plane under the sway of a champion or champions shape themselves in accordance to the nature of their patrons. It would be like a wild First World adventure in many ways, with many storybook scenarios thrown on top. Living chess board battles, A labyrinth of mirrors in a house of cards in glass ball in a labyrinth of mirrors. A dungeon built out of optical illusions which is itself hidden in an optical illusion. Insult swordfighting. Gardens where the foliage will try to debate that you're one of them. Dream heists. And through it all the PCs will have to learn to think like a fool, eventually understanding how to affect this realm while it in turn becomes a part of them. Ultimately the primary conflicts would be "make sure Zon-Kuthon's champion doesn't win" closely followed by "win the game".
Admittedly not a gritty grimdark campaign at all, but it would hopefully still have teeth hidden under all the wonder.
What other sorts of challenges and scenarios would you want to see in such a campaign? Who would be better as a potential patron: "straight-man" Iomedae or the possibly more-at-home but still lawful Tsukiyo?
Just had this campaign idea rolling around in my head for a while, when trying to think of something that could possibly be run in PbP form without getting bogged down in too much combat. And the idea of a dream-like Gaiman-style adventure really does feel tempting. :)
This sounds amazing! I would love to run/play in a campaign like this.
Personally, the idea of Iomedae getting talked into this, and the champion she would have to pull from her rank. Shaping a follower of Iomedae into a champion of chaos and illusion would be a story in and of itself, a story I'd want to read (or write).
I would also be curious to see the Fool Champion of Nethys...someone shifting from innocent playfulness to mind-numbing terrorclown and back again, throwing around divine and arcane power in an endless stream.
This kind of thing really inspires and rewards creativity in a huge way.
This is a wonderful idea. I wish I played at your table now.