 New Campaign Idea, Opinions welcome... |
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 Nov 12 2007, 05:17 PM
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#1
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Target  Group: Members Posts: 19 Joined: 24-October 07 Member No.: 13,877  |
So, my group is a little heavy on magic. Therefore, I started thinking of a magic-type campaign... Sounds interesting, right? Well, after much thinking, I still needed some ideas, so I decided to introduce a new antagonist. A toxic hermetic magician who believes solely in logic and rationality, named Azad. So, the first mission would be done without the group's knowlege at first. It would be a simple extraction of an exotic animal(skeleton) on display in an exhibit in a museum. When the group arrives, the skeleton will be already taken.
Depending on what the group decides to do, they will discover Azad doing some sort of destructive magic, probably on the skeleton. When they decide to go aggresive on him,(knowing them, they will) he will finish the ritual, and send his newly bound pet dragon at them. After being overwhelmed, which they will be, Azad will escape, leading the group in an effort to find him. How does this campaign starter sound? |
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Nov 12 2007, 05:23 PM
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#2
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Old Man of the North Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 9,837 Joined: 14-August 03 From: Just north of the Centre of the Universe Member No.: 5,463 |
Pet Dragon?!?! I don't know what power level you are working at, but that sounds scary for a first run.
If the party is all or mostly mages, you could have fun with metaplanar runs. There are almost NO rules or physical laws there except the ones you choose/make up. |
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Nov 12 2007, 09:38 PM
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#3
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...Cyberzombes. Easier to rationalise in SR (especially if he is a Toxic) and still pretty nasty.
Of course armed with Ares Alphas (they don't have Vindicator Miniguns out yet, must be a supply & demand thing I guess) & maybe a Trollbow®. or two. BTW, Toxic Hermetics? I only thought Shamans could be toxic. |
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Nov 12 2007, 09:57 PM
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#4
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
SR4 baby! ;) :D |
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Nov 12 2007, 10:08 PM
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#5
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,116 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,449 |
To be honest, it doesn't sound like a very good start. The basic idea for the antagonist is sound, but your intro is far too heavy on railroading. The PCs being beaten, and the bad guy getting away, should not be foregone conclusions.
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Nov 12 2007, 10:11 PM
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#6
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Target Group: Members Posts: 36 Joined: 9-November 07 Member No.: 14,105 |
In the street magic book, there's only mention of toxic 'magicians', make of it what you will. Magic in it's entirety has been more or less homogenised, even using the exact same spirit stats, they only take different forms. The only magical threat remaining 'unique' to shamans are the insect totems.
I do like the idea of stumbling across a toxic antagonist, especially for a high magic group, as they can all feel how twisted the magic from that ritual woud be. The one thing I'm curious about here though is if the dragon is bound to his will, but remains itself underneath, or if the dragon itself were somehow turned toxic by that ritual. (either possibility seems quite scary) |
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Nov 12 2007, 10:15 PM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 232 Joined: 7-October 07 Member No.: 13,604 |
Glyph is right. The best way to avoid this is to place a secondary party under the control of your antagonist. That way, when the PCs chase down this party with his dragon or whatever, they can kill him and still have to find the puppetmaster antagonist. |
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Nov 12 2007, 10:18 PM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 834 Joined: 30-June 03 Member No.: 4,832 |
Even scarier would be a toxic dragon, and have the toxic magician be the thowaway miniboss badguy
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Nov 13 2007, 12:38 AM
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#9
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...that is one of the things which still bugs me about 4e. I actually miss the strict distinction between Hermetics and Shamans from the older editions. Gave the game a lot more colour I thought. |
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Nov 13 2007, 01:39 AM
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#10
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 573 Joined: 17-September 07 Member No.: 13,319 |
Alternate: by the time the PCs reach LOS to the mage, he has activated the dragon (they first see it rising to its feet as he slumps from Drain) If they attack him, perhaps they nail him, meanwhile the dragon leaves, and now an uncontrolled toxic dragon is on the loose and the first thing it saw was them killing its creator. If they fight the dragon, then meanwhile the mage leaves, and now a mage is pissed off at them for destroying his creation. Either way, they have a success and an archnemesis. Or maybe they defeat neither, and the mage and dragon go on a rampage; perhaps someday they can ally with one against the other? |
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Nov 13 2007, 08:26 AM
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#11
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Target Group: Members Posts: 45 Joined: 11-December 05 Member No.: 8,060 |
I would recommend thinking about the reactions of the other dragons to a newly raised toxic dragon. of course it depends how your gm runs it but I can't see them standing by and letting it happen or allowing it to live very long at all, surely something of the magnitude required to accomplish this would be pretty obvious.
just my 2 :nuyen: |
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Nov 13 2007, 11:56 AM
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#12
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,629 Joined: 14-December 06 Member No.: 10,361 |
Personally I find Twisted Way adepts with cannibalism a little more balanced than toxic dragons, but still scary and compelling.
Also I don't know what Hermetics and Shamans do with conjuring in SR4. Are toxic elementals possible? |
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Nov 13 2007, 01:09 PM
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#13
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
'Elementals' are merely Spirits that are summoned by a limited subset of magicians. As Spirits, they are as open to toxicity as any other. |
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Nov 13 2007, 05:25 PM
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#14
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Target Group: Members Posts: 19 Joined: 24-October 07 Member No.: 13,877 |
That is a great idea, I was trying to figure out how to leave it open-ended, and this will be a great way to do so. Even better, if my group is too damaged by the time they get there, I can say that either the mage has massive drain and is weakened, (and flees, if totally necessary) or the dragon is still getting accustomed to it's new body(and is not as powerfull as a full-fledged toxic dragon. (If I choose this route, I can say the mage created a whole line of toxic dragons) |
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Dec 3 2007, 05:30 PM
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#15
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Target Group: Members Posts: 19 Joined: 24-October 07 Member No.: 13,877 |
Well, a GM's worst nightmare occured. Not only were they half-dead when they reached the dragon being raised, they ran like hell away. So, I improvised. As they were fleeing, they accidentaly triggered a laser trip wire, sending a series of blast doors crashing around all of the exits. So now they were forced to fight, right? Wrong, apparently, because they had enough explosives (plus a critical success) to blow a hole in a rating 20 blast door! So, the mage sends a lightning bolt at them warning them not to leave. They finally end up fighting, then they lose. So, like all good villians, he took prisoners! So, after a little deviation, we successfully ended the mission... But now what? Anyone have any mind-bending ideas for the next one, now that they have been stripped of weapons and are locked away in a hidden fiacility in the middle of nowhere? I want something a little different from the average run-and-gun mission to escape the prison and kill the bad guy...
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 Dec 3 2007, 06:10 PM
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#16
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,173 Joined: 27-July 05 From: some backwater node Member No.: 7,520 |
"Do not leave and die fighting my dragon, or I will kill you" Huh. Weird.
But I should try to help a little without sounding to toxic, I guess :) The antagonist seems a little to powerful for anything but IEs and Dragons and whatnot to begin with so it might be a good idea to introduce such a powerful NSC that has interest in knocking that evil mage dude out. So the good guy (let's call hin Gandalf) sends another team to foil the evil ones (for the sake of continuity Saruman) plans somehow and that team releases the players, accomlishes (maybe even with their help) to put down the dragonthingy (if not already dead. If dead they disturb some ritual or something like that) and afterwards they drop the players at Gandalfs place for whatever reason so he can enlist them for slightly underwelming pay to save the world or something. Ok, save-the-world might be a little to much, but somehow I get the feeling it would fit with Saruman to destroy the world (after summoning a bone dragon thingy in a museum.) Yes, I am making fun of this. But there is some useful advise in it too, I guess. Have fun. I hope your players enjoy this kind of game. Btw, are you from Germany by any chance? This plot sounds so much like DSA (if you don't know what that is, be happy in your ignorace. It's like RPG cancer). |
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Dec 3 2007, 07:05 PM
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#17
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 858 Joined: 25-August 03 From: Braunschweig, North German League, Allied German States Member No.: 5,537 |
See "Toxic Spirits" in Street Magic (I've only got the German version so the names may be off): Toxic Fire spirit = Nuclear (comes with radiation power) Toxic Air spirit = Smog* Toxic Water spirit = Acid Toxic Earth spirit = Waste/Sludge * That one's actually from the French/German SOX book. |
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Dec 3 2007, 07:06 PM
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#18
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 858 Joined: 25-August 03 From: Braunschweig, North German League, Allied German States Member No.: 5,537 |
Now wait - d20 is the cancer thingie... |
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Dec 3 2007, 07:40 PM
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#19
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,326 Joined: 15-April 02 Member No.: 2,600 |
My suggestion would be... Let the players decide what they're doing next. If you decide ahead of time what every encounter will be and how they will face it, the only thing the pc's have left is rolling dice-- and rolling dice is the least interesting part of the game. Reducing the players to Random Number Generators is a Bad Thing. A situation where you forced the pc's to do something they didn't want to do, repeatedly, using blast doors and lightning bolts ended poorly? Perish the thought. |
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Dec 3 2007, 09:44 PM
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#20
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 249 Joined: 2-November 06 From: Bozeman, MT Member No.: 9,762 |
There can be more than one type of cancer. However, not having played DSA myself, I wouldn't be aware of its status. Only I have heard it compared to DnD. |
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Dec 4 2007, 12:53 AM
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#21
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Target Group: Members Posts: 76 Joined: 12-September 07 Member No.: 13,233 |
Ok, ok...what if said the toxic shaman needs some bodies for a ritual? I guess that's a bit hackneyed, too, but it explains why he didn't want them to leave...he was testing the PC's combat abilities to see if they're tough enough to survive this ritual. (Or to be generals of his evil army once they're converted, or insert other evil idea here.) So, fast-forward to the ritual (which is when the PC's wake up); they're helpless, but a small army of other NPC's (we'll call them the "Brotherhood of Whatever") disrupts the ritual and saves the PC's. (Maybe the PC's get tossed some weapons and invited to fight.) The mage flees again, and the PC's can either be free and clear, or they can be trapped at the bottom of a hive or whatever. The Brotherhood of Whatever died/took heavy losses to disrupt that ritual, and now the PC's and the BoW remnants (if any) are all that remain to stop him when he tries again. |
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Dec 4 2007, 01:05 AM
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#22
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 295 Joined: 10-July 05 Member No.: 7,492 |
Torturing people still gets you background count, right? Maybe the toxic shaman wanted to both test his new dragon pet, but now he needs a new lair. Since they're there, and tough enough to stand the torture for a long, long time, he grabs them. I would put the Shaman's weakness as overconfidence. The magic types are locked in background counts with physical barriers interposing, and the physical types are locked in magic cells. Be sure to tailor the barriers to your players skills, so something that they're not very competent in will be what's required to escape.
The one thing I would recommend against is a super-powered 'goodguy' coming to the rescue, and then, for some inexplicable reason, uses the runners (whom have already been overpowered by the bigbad) to go after the shaman, rather than just doing it himself (when he's already right there, and obviously powerful enough to risk a jailbreak on unknown assets). ---------- Also, enough explosives solves nearly any problem. Remember, a Rating 20 blast door takes alot more explosives to destroy than a toxic shaman needs. You're lucky they didn't just throw the cluster of explosives at your shaman. |
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Dec 14 2007, 09:57 PM
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#23
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Target Group: Members Posts: 19 Joined: 24-October 07 Member No.: 13,877 |
Yeah... But my PC's were pretty desperate to escape two unkown forces... And they failed the common sense check.. :D |
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Dec 14 2007, 11:01 PM
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#24
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 104 Joined: 19-June 07 From: Florida Member No.: 11,950 |
I'm going to be honest, I'm not sure where your plan is going as a campaign. You say you want a magic campaign but all I see is a short line of runs in which they fight a magician. What's the endgame on this? If it's just G v. E then I think you're missing a lot of potential. When I think of "Magic type Campaigns" in SR these are the things I think about: -Immortal Elves (I typically don't use them but I always think about them) -Mana Level fluctuations- because nothing says Broad scale magic based storyline like actually screwing w/ how powerful magic is. -Reincarnated spirits from the fourth world (You could even say that the villain some how recognized the PCs based on that premise and decided to try and whack them before their ancestor spirits awoke to recognize him. You could even double back and say that it was the villain who initially hired them just so that he could try and kill them) -Powerful corporate mages battling for supremacy in the world market (probably the one I'd be most likely to go with). |
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Dec 16 2007, 03:41 AM
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#25
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,095 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Ontari-airee-o Member No.: 1,115 |
What about a toxic shaman that thinks he has a pet dragon ... but in actuality is the pet of the dragon.
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