I've got 9 & 11 year-old daughters. They've done a handful of short sessions and are 2nd level. I want to design an adventure with unicorns in it because they will love that.
Any plot ideas? My first thought was orcs "kidnapping" unicorns.
Maybe some kind of evil mage or monster is corrupting the Forest Grove where a family of unicorns live. Having heard of a pair of brave heroines who helped other people, the youngest unicorn seeks them out and begs them to save her home.
just run Legend, maybe leave out The Darkness depending on what you believe they can handle, but I loved that movie at a much younger age. Nigh perfect fantasy trope movie
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Have the party come across a gathering of unicorns in the forest.
Either a ray of sunshine or a moonbeam breaks through the canopy of the forest, illuminating a stone statue of a majestic horse. The unicorns are extremely territorial/protective of the statue, and do not let the party enter the clearing. A good Perception check will correctly tell that the statue is not of a horse, but a unicorn with its horn missing. The chip in the statue where its horn should be is deep and ugly, and there is an expression of pain and suffering on the statue's face.
If the party successfully persuade any of the unicorns to speak, they will learn that something evil has befallen their queen. A trap has turned her to stone. And worse, yet, someone was so cruel as to remove her horn. Without it, she will surely die. Insert sobbing princess unicorn here.
If they decide to help the unicorns, and start searching/snooping/meddling/asking around... they may happen to find a shady merchant/gypsy that "might" know where to get your hands on some unicorn blood, for the right price, that is. This gypsy is just a fence for the local underground, not at all the heart of the problem, but just the tip of the iceberg.
Pursuing the lead on unicorn blood leads down a rabbit hole of benign rogues and petty bandits, tricky Fey, and to the doorsteps of an undead worshipping cult...
For the first chapter of this adventure, I would have the cult be a dead end. Not responsible for the trap, or the missing horn. The leader of the cult is the CR4 Ghast Cleric on D20PFSRD. Complete with its level 1 Ghoul Fighter bodyguards.
Disappointed and ultimately empty-handed as far as a cure for the unicorn queen is concerned, the party can return to the unicorns or continue on their way... regardless, they have attracted the attention of the true culprit.
The true culprit of this story is a family of vampires... not just a family, a dynasty. And not just a dynasty of vampires, but a dynasty of vampires that specifically hunt unicorns. Think Morlun and the Inheritors in Spiderman. And the big bad vampire at the end of this adventure is holding the missing horn from the statue.
It is now the Unicorn's Blackened Horn, an artifact that is so evil that it can be used to convert positive energy into negative energy... a power that threatens far more than just the unicorns of this forest.
I guess the trick really is to just watch Care Bears, Smurfs, and My Little Pony enough to get the right balance between dire circumstances of epic importance and enjoyable candyland adventure.
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Also, consider the unicorns as guides to a new magical realm a la Chronicles of Narnia. That way you can shift them in and out of the spotlight in case the repetition starts to overwhelm you. (Totally never happened to me and making cut outs of every imaginable type of construction equipment again and again and again.)
The two key things to keep in mind when running a game for children is, in my experience:
-Don't assume combat, ever. Kids are going to want to make friends with just really random things and you should let them if they put in the work and get the rolls.
-Kids never enjoy hurting animals, so avoid all combats against wolves, et al.
So if we're doing "unicorns are going missing, and the clues point towards orcs" make sure that you can at least conjure a defensible (if misguided) reason that this is happening from the orcs' perspective.
-the prince is very sick. Desperate for a cure, the king hires some mercenaries to capture a unicorn, not realizing it'd be a lot easier to ask for the creature's aid.
-a woman in grey has been seen in the sacred grove. She turns out to be a medusa (with heavy veils) seeking the aid of the unicorn that dwells there, for she has accidentally turned her true love to stone.
-children have been going missing and strange lights have been seen in the forest. A doorway to Faerie has opened, and the children wandered (or were lured) in, and some other things (pixies, unicorns, gremlins, etc) have wandered out.
-the lion and the unicorn are fighting for the crown. But the crown has gone missing. Can the heroes find it before the two proud beasts clash with hoof and claw?
Horns of the Hunted is sort of a plug-in for Kingmaker but can absolutely be run as a standalone adventure. It's written for higher-level characters but that's easy enough to tweak. Has Forlarrens in it, who when they kill or incapacitate someone start breaking down and crying out of remorse, which is thematically kinda nice...I've got 9 & 11 year-old daughters. They've done a handful of short sessions and are 2nd level. I want to design an adventure with unicorns in it because they will love that.
Any plot ideas? My first thought was orcs "kidnapping" unicorns.
That must be in book 5 or 6. My group just finished book 4! :-)
Horns of the Hunted is sort of a plug-in for Kingmaker but can absolutely be run as a standalone adventure. It's written for higher-level characters but that's easy enough to tweak. Has Forlarrens in it, who when they kill or incapacitate someone start breaking down and crying out of remorse, which is thematically kinda nice...I've got 9 & 11 year-old daughters. They've done a handful of short sessions and are 2nd level. I want to design an adventure with unicorns in it because they will love that.
Any plot ideas? My first thought was orcs "kidnapping" unicorns.
Dang... 4 ideas just like that. I wish I had that type of creativity. Thanks!
-the prince is very sick. Desperate for a cure, the king hires some mercenaries to capture a unicorn, not realizing it'd be a lot easier to ask for the creature's aid.
-a woman in grey has been seen in the sacred grove. She turns out to be a medusa (with heavy veils) seeking the aid of the unicorn that dwells there, for she has accidentally turned her true love to stone.
-children have been going missing and strange lights have been seen in the forest. A doorway to Faerie has opened, and the children wandered (or were lured) in, and some other things (pixies, unicorns, gremlins, etc) have wandered out.
-the lion and the unicorn are fighting for the crown. But the crown has gone missing. Can the heroes find it before the two proud beasts clash with hoof and claw?
Oh yeah...my girls would LOVE to ride the unicorns!
The two key things to keep in mind when running a game for children is, in my experience:
-Don't assume combat, ever. Kids are going to want to make friends with just really random things and you should let them if they put in the work and get the rolls.
-Kids never enjoy hurting animals, so avoid all combats against wolves, et al.
So if we're doing "unicorns are going missing, and the clues point towards orcs" make sure that you can at least conjure a defensible (if misguided) reason that this is happening from the orcs' perspective.
Oops...they just killed some wolves last session. They didn't have a problem with it. I must be raising thugs! :-)
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I guess the trick really is to just watch Care Bears, Smurfs, and My Little Pony enough to get the right balance between dire circumstances of epic importance and enjoyable candyland adventure.
As the great Meatloaf says, "I'd do anything for love, but I won't do that."
Have the party come across a gathering of unicorns in the forest.
Either a ray of sunshine or a moonbeam breaks through the canopy of the forest, illuminating a stone statue of a majestic horse. The unicorns are extremely territorial/protective of the statue, and do not let the party enter the clearing. A good Perception check will correctly tell that the statue is not of a horse, but a unicorn with its horn missing. The chip in the statue where its horn should be is deep and ugly, and there is an expression of pain and suffering on the statue's face.
If the party successfully persuade any of the unicorns to speak, they will learn that something evil has befallen their queen. A trap has turned her to stone. And worse, yet, someone was so cruel as to remove her horn. Without it, she will surely die. Insert sobbing princess unicorn here.
If they decide to help the unicorns, and start searching/snooping/meddling/asking around... they may happen to find a shady merchant/gypsy that "might" know where to get your hands on some unicorn blood, for the right price, that is. This gypsy is just a fence for the local underground, not at all the heart of the problem, but just the tip of the iceberg.
Pursuing the lead on unicorn blood leads down a rabbit hole of benign rogues and petty bandits, tricky Fey, and to the doorsteps of an undead worshipping cult...
For the first chapter of this adventure, I would have the cult be a dead end. Not responsible for the trap, or the missing horn. The leader of the cult is the CR4 Ghast Cleric on D20PFSRD. Complete with its level 1 Ghoul Fighter bodyguards.
Disappointed and ultimately empty-handed as far as a cure for the unicorn queen is concerned, the party can return to the unicorns or continue on their way... regardless, they have attracted the attention of the true culprit.
The true culprit of this story is a family of vampires... not just a family, a dynasty. And not just a dynasty of vampires, but a dynasty of vampires that specifically hunt unicorns....
You must be an author. I think I'm going to go with this.
PS - you should make this a module.
just run Legend, maybe leave out The Darkness depending on what you believe they can handle, but I loved that movie at a much younger age. Nigh perfect fantasy trope movie
Legend is such an awesome movie! I think the scenario below is kind of close. Maybe I'll show them Legend then run it. The soundtrack is great, too. I actually have the CD. I don't think they sold it in the states. One of my best friends got it for me overseas.
Maybe some kind of evil mage or monster is corrupting the Forest Grove where a family of unicorns live. Having heard of a pair of brave heroines who helped other people, the youngest unicorn seeks them out and begs them to save her home.
Good thing I ordered 3 unicorn miniatures. I had originally thought to just get 1.