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Old 07-12-2014, 09:02 PM   #18
martin_rook
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Default Re: atypical campaigns for typical settings

I had two campaigns that fit this that, unfortunately, I never got to run. Both were inspired by reading through the Forgotten Realms book for 3.0 and finding that there was a kingdom that had been overrun by an army of goblinoids who'd effectively overthrown things and taken control instead of just pillaging and moving on (someplace called Amn, maybe, or somewhere near that).

My first idea was a campaign focused on the wars of that "Monster Empire" (as I'd dubbed it) from the point of view of the basic grunts (who might live long enough to level up to higher positions, or just get replaced as they die off). It was to start out with an invasion of a sparsely-populated area nearby and turn into a Vietnam-style quagmire as some Elves start sending the villages military advisors to teach them guerrilla tactics and how to use the forrest. The PCs were to be orcs, goblinoids, and similar low-level monsters having to face ambushes while patrolling the wilderness or snaking down a halfling-hole with a torch in one hand a dagger in the other -- and, of course, an incompetent officer to frag. I think I spent too much time putting together a soundtrack for it and missed the chance to actually run the game (stuff like "Welcome to the Jungle," "Paint it Black," "Rooster" -- good stuff for it, but talk about putting the cart before the horse).

The overall success of the goblinoid empire was going to be loosely based on how the PCs faired. If they poorly, it would eventually become a "Downfall"/last-days-of-the-Third-Reich kind of thing. If they were successful and (as my players were likely to do) tried to implement some real order and discipline, the tone of the empire would have shifted as the junta of ruling monsters started seeing themselves as legitimate stewards of a real kingdom that needed laws, order, and social stability (while remaining aggressively expansionist).

That thought lead me to the second campaign idea as I imagined what would happen if the above "Monster Empire" came across a typical "the world as we know it will end if some heroes don't go on a quest" sort of situation. It evolved into a world-wide disaster/survival/apocalypse story set in the Forgotten Realms.

In this other campaign, the PCs would be typical dungeon-delvers exploring the ruins of a classical city that had been subsumed into the Underdark, somewhere in middle or eastern end of the continent (was there a "Sea of Fallen Stars" in the Forgotten Realms? Somewhere near there). They run into a party of goblinoids who are also searching the ruins -- and who don't want to fight the PCs (I figure I'd probably need to throw in a Drow attack against both parties and maybe even an earthquake collapsing the city to get them to team up -- but if not, all could be revealed by finding a journal or packet of orders on the goblinoids). Someone in the monster kingdom in the west had come across a text discussing an ancient prophecy of world-wide destruction that was due to happen Real Soon Now, and an expedition was dispatched to uncover the original prophecies and get more details.

They're too late, and the series of natural and supernatural disasters begins as the PCs emerge from the Underdark. If spared, the goblinoids would have told them their empire was readying a fleet of ships to evacuate as many people as possible to the far western continent, which might fare better. The campaign would be a tour of the lands of the Forgotten Realms as everything falls apart, with the PCs either trying to survive somehow or making unlikely allies and trying to shepherd as many refugees as they can gather to the evacuation fleet on the west coast.
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