elemental_sin
Nov 12 2007, 05:17 PM
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?
pbangarth
Nov 12 2007, 05:23 PM
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.
Kyoto Kid
Nov 12 2007, 09:38 PM
...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.
Fortune
Nov 12 2007, 09:57 PM
QUOTE (Kyoto Kid) |
Toxic Hermetics? I only thought Shamans could be toxic. |
SR4 baby!
Glyph
Nov 12 2007, 10:08 PM
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.
Paradigm
Nov 12 2007, 10:11 PM
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)
Simon May
Nov 12 2007, 10:15 PM
QUOTE (Glyph) |
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. |
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.
Lagomorph
Nov 12 2007, 10:18 PM
Even scarier would be a toxic dragon, and have the toxic magician be the thowaway miniboss badguy
Kyoto Kid
Nov 13 2007, 12:38 AM
QUOTE (Fortune) |
QUOTE | Toxic Hermetics? I only thought Shamans could be toxic. |
SR4 baby!  |
QUOTE (Paradigm) |
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. |
...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.
Riley37
Nov 13 2007, 01:39 AM
QUOTE (Lagomorph) |
Even scarier would be a toxic dragon, and have the toxic magician be the thowaway miniboss badguy |
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?
Sion_Smee
Nov 13 2007, 08:26 AM
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
Sir_Psycho
Nov 13 2007, 11:56 AM
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?
Fortune
Nov 13 2007, 01:09 PM
QUOTE (Sir_Psycho) |
Are toxic elementals possible? |
'Elementals' are merely Spirits that are summoned by a limited subset of magicians. As Spirits, they are as open to toxicity as any other.
elemental_sin
Nov 13 2007, 05:25 PM
QUOTE (Riley37) |
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. |
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)
elemental_sin
Dec 3 2007, 05:30 PM
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...
Malicant
Dec 3 2007, 06:10 PM
"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).
MYST1C
Dec 3 2007, 07:05 PM
QUOTE (Sir_Psycho) |
Are toxic elementals possible? |
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.
MYST1C
Dec 3 2007, 07:06 PM
QUOTE (Malicant) |
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). |
Now wait - d20 is the cancer thingie...
Mercer
Dec 3 2007, 07:40 PM
QUOTE (elemental_sin) |
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... |
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.
Narse
Dec 3 2007, 09:44 PM
QUOTE (MYST1C) |
QUOTE (Malicant @ Dec 3 2007, 07:10 PM) | 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). |
Now wait - d20 is the cancer thingie...
|
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.
Hank
Dec 4 2007, 12:53 AM
QUOTE (elemental_sin) |
...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... |
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.
Slump
Dec 4 2007, 01:05 AM
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.
elemental_sin
Dec 14 2007, 09:57 PM
QUOTE (Slump) |
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. |
Yeah... But my PC's were pretty desperate to escape two unkown forces... And they failed the common sense check..
TheMadDutchman
Dec 14 2007, 11:01 PM
QUOTE (elemental_sin) |
So, my group is a little heavy on magic. Therefore, I started thinking of a magic-type campaign... Sounds interesting, right? |
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).
Platinum
Dec 16 2007, 03:41 AM
What about a toxic shaman that thinks he has a pet dragon ... but in actuality is the pet of the dragon.
Stahlseele
Dec 16 2007, 11:44 AM
QUOTE (Platinum) |
What about a toxic shaman that thinks he has a pet dragon ... but in actuality is the pet of the dragon. |
how's that a NEW idea ? O.o
Platinum
Dec 16 2007, 06:14 PM
Because they are both gay?
Kingmaker
Dec 16 2007, 08:12 PM
What if the toxic shaman thinks that he has a pet dragon... but he's really just crazy?
Malicant
Dec 16 2007, 08:47 PM
So crazy the pet dragon is actually there.
Kingmaker
Dec 17 2007, 12:06 AM
This isn't Unknown Armies. You don't gain magical power by being batshit crazy. Though, if you could...
hyzmarca
Dec 17 2007, 12:19 AM
How exactly do you keep a creature that is significant' more intelligent, more powerful, more arrogant, more anti-social, and more temperamental than you are as a pet?
Fortune
Dec 17 2007, 12:54 AM
Bluff!
Malicant
Dec 17 2007, 01:15 AM
QUOTE |
You don't gain magical power by being batshit crazy |
Actually, you do. Any tradition is just a construct of believe that let's you access magic. So if you have a batshit crazy tradition you get power for beeing crazy.
That's the whole point behind the twisted. Most of them are loco.
Jeremiah Legacy
Dec 17 2007, 03:48 AM
QUOTE (Platinum) |
What about a toxic shaman that thinks he has a pet dragon ... but in actuality is the pet of the dragon. |
There is one more possibility. "Mr Dingle, the Strong." (look it up. it is worth watching.)
Platinum
Dec 17 2007, 04:46 AM
QUOTE (hyzmarca) |
How exactly do you keep a creature that is significant' more intelligent, more powerful, more arrogant, more anti-social, and more temperamental than you are as a pet? |
You spend the time researching out it's true name, align with its enemies, come across a major artifact, and use a lot of blood magic.
It also helps if you manage to capture and manipulate it young. No one said it was a greater dragon.
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