New Campaign Idea need to fine tune or change!

[Hopeless]

Have been hankering towards running a runequest game and been looking at some scenarios I have for the d20 system.

Now the idea is that the players start off as regular folk who come together in the aftermath of an attack on a waystation that has left a number of people being kidnapped by the raiders who are led by a fearsome Troll (the d20 verison was an Ogre) and a pack of Trollkin who have been extorting supplies from various waystations between the city and the lumber settlements.

The original pre-gens for the adventure I've been adapting and wanted to double check since I have tried to persuade the people I play with to generate their own but they'd rather have a pre-gen to test the waters so to speak.

These characters are;

Bowen a barbarian woodsman,
Bec a peasant militiaman,
Sir Casimir a noble born Knight,
Anya a townswoman Wizard,
Newt a townsman Alchemist and
Mischa a Barbarian Witch

Now I was planning on them trailing the bandits only to find themselves having to fight a small number of them as they attacked another group one of whom had crossed paths with their Troll leader and knows where his lair is.

This would lead them to the bandits' lair and eventually the discovery that the troll is under the control of a sorceror using the extorted supplies to finish summoning and binding a demon.
Ultimately the party learns the sorceror has already released a legendary pestilence into the waters that run under his secret chambers which will infect and kill a lot of the locals unless they can find an antidote.

This leads them to the first part of the campaign I was thinking through.

Any tips or advise on what I've mentioned?

The group I play with has a player who runs a glorantha game using an earlier edition of runequest but I've been interested in trying some different since I used to predominantly run d20 and one player really doesn't like the system.

 

[Hopeless]

Okay maybe what i need is to work a bit more on the premise and posting here might provide some advice on areas I might have either missed or dawdle over.

The original adventure involved an ogre being controlled to secure the supplies and manpower his master needs, but my idea is that the bandits have been preying in the area.

So the bandit chief is in the employ of what is assumed to be the sorceror, the ogre is the sorceror's bodyguard whilst the bandits are using the sorceror's aid to protect them from reprisals from the locals they've been preying on.

The latest raid has kidnapped someone the PCs have reason to care about and thus the group goes out after them.

The pre-generated characters link is as follows;

Bowen is a local woodsman and a friend of Mischa an outcasted witch who has sought his help regarding the depredations of the bandits' having figured out they have supernatural assistance.

Casimir is a knight in training who is seeking the glory and reputation to support his ascent to a full knight in status.

Bec is a militiaman whom is accompanying Casimir as his bodyguard.

Anya is a wizard in training who has recently lost the patronage of her master after he moved away and left her behind so she is seeking the means to further her education as a wizard and thanks to Bowen knows about Mischa's suspicions about the bandits' having supernatural help and hopes this means she can acquire his spellbook.

Newt is an alchemist read mad scientist, whilst he has been able to make a reasonable living selling often high explosive chemical weapons this has meant him shuttling further and further away from the larger settlements often because of some of his "research" now stuck at the waystation he sees this as an opportunity to restore his reputation and of course recover the merchandise the bandits' stole that he developed for his current employers.

Mischa as mentioned above has learned about the bandits' having supernatural assistance, what she hasn't told Bowen is that she suspects someone in the bandits' group is delving for something in the hills and her own lore suggests something truly awful lies hidden where the bandits' are lairing and if she can't stop them it might effect alot more than just her forest home.

Still needs work!

 

[Simulacrum]

The basic outline seems fine - a Waystation is a great starting point to bring together a disparate party, and a bandit gang who turn out to be a manifestation of a deeper plot is great.

A small thought I had was whether to rename 'Trollkin' as something else (e.g. Kobolds) if you have players used to Glorantha - I am presuming this is not a Gloranthan adventure - to flag they are creatures that will operate according to your direction, not according to what Gloranthan lore lays down.

Bigger thought is that you have a sorcerer doing some pretty evil stuff (mass poisonings etc) - but you don't say why. What's he trying to achieve - I presume he doesn't run round doing all these heinous crimes just for jollies?

 

[DamonJynx]

Bigger thought is that you have a sorcerer doing some pretty evil stuff (mass poisonings etc) - but you don't say why. What's he trying to achieve - I presume he doesn't run round doing all these heinous crimes just for jollies?

I agree with Simulacrum that the basic plot is fine and that the villain (sorcerer) needs some motivation other than just being a raving loon, there must be a purpose if you want to continue this as a campaign. However, if it's only going to be a one-off dungeon crawl that motivation can be fairly shallow as the expectation is the PC's will kill the villain and save the town and it's people.

I would consider having the PC's having a quiet relax and drink with whoever they're attached to in the way-station/small village as the raid starts. Then have them help in the towns defence only to find in their absence their friend has been kidnapped. This starts the scenario with action which is always good and gives the players a further reason to rescue their friend and bring the kidnappers to justice; they will want to rid themselves of guilt for leaving their friend unprotected! You will be playing on their emotions at a much deeper level which should make them commit to the story more fully.

 

[Hopeless]

The basic outline seems fine - a Waystation is a great starting point to bring together a disparate party, and a bandit gang who turn out to be a manifestation of a deeper plot is great.

A small thought I had was whether to rename 'Trollkin' as something else (e.g. Kobolds) if you have players used to Glorantha - I am presuming this is not a Gloranthan adventure - to flag they are creatures that will operate according to your direction, not according to what Gloranthan lore lays down.

Was wondering about this since I could easily make it more Conanesque by making them all human but wasn't sure if it was worth it

Bigger thought is that you have a sorcerer doing some pretty evil stuff (mass poisonings etc) - but you don't say why. What's he trying to achieve - I presume he doesn't run round doing all these heinous crimes just for jollies?

In the original adventure he was following in his father's footsteps to summon and bind a demon.

In my version he's been employed to summon and bargain with a demon in return for the finances and supplies he needs to accomplish this goal, however his employer has been using the bandits' as a cover for these supplies since it would provide them a reason to move forces across the border to silence their unwary catspaw should the PCs' homeland become alarmed enough to send their military to investigate.

What the sorceror doesn't know is that his lair is located directly above an ancient cavern that was sealed in ancient times because it holds an ancient plague that was reputed to have caused the downfall of an ancient empire whose descendants are now trying to restore their fallen kingdom.
His work has seriously weakened the bindings on the cavern until it will collapse sending the contents of that cavern and whatever is in the sorceror's summoning chamber down into an underground river that flows down from the mountain and through to the port several weeks travel away and endangering anyone who makes use of the infected water quite possibly killing thousands if not anyone without the means of treating the plague.

Depending on the PCs actions they could easily find a cure within a week of learning of the plague or it might go on for months as they stumble onto the rest of the scheming of their true enemy.

 

[Hopeless]

Bigger thought is that you have a sorcerer doing some pretty evil stuff (mass poisonings etc) - but you don't say why. What's he trying to achieve - I presume he doesn't run round doing all these heinous crimes just for jollies?

I agree with Simulacrum that the basic plot is fine and that the villain (sorcerer) needs some motivation other than just being a raving loon, there must be a purpose if you want to continue this as a campaign. However, if it's only going to be a one-off dungeon crawl that motivation can be fairly shallow as the expectation is the PC's will kill the villain and save the town and it's people.

I would consider having the PC's having a quiet relax and drink with whoever they're attached to in the way-station/small village as the raid starts. Then have them help in the towns defence only to find in their absence their friend has been kidnapped. This starts the scenario with action which is always good and gives the players a further reason to rescue their friend and bring the kidnappers to justice; they will want to rid themselves of guilt for leaving their friend unprotected! You will be playing on their emotions at a much deeper level which should make them commit to the story more fully.

The original adventure had that included but it never dealt with actually participating during the raid itself, thank you, definitely food for thought!

 

[Hopeless]

These characters are;

Bowen a barbarian woodsman,
Str 14, Dex 15, Siz 15, Con 14, Int 12, Pow 12, Cha 10
CA: 3, Dmg Mod: +d2, MP: 12, Strike Rank: 13.5 (is this rounded up or down?)
Basic Skills:
Athletics +49, Lore/Animal +17, Lore/Plant +27, Perception +29, Resilience +41, Stealth +15,
Weapon/Combat:
1H Axe +44, Bow +25, Shield +39, 2H Axe +39
Advanced Skills:
Language/Native +62, Lore/Regional +12, Survival +34, Tracking +12.
Equipment:
Battle Axe, Long Bow, Target Shield, Dagger, Ring Mail Shirt, Leather Trews

The above is not including the 100pts to be spent to finish the character the idea is that he's using some inherited equipment so the ring mail shirt and battle axe belonged to his family by my count by RQ1 rules that gives him a -14% skill penalty but I did want to ask where would you spend those extra pts since I don't want them to turn around and ask how can they play a character whose skills would be reduced so badly?

Bec a peasant militiaman,
Str 18, Dex 12, Siz 17, Con 18, Int 11, Pow 8, Cha 9
CA: 2, Dmg Mod: +d4, MP: 8, Strike Rank: 11.5 (is this rounded up or down?)
Basic Skills:
Athletics +45, Dodge +20, Lore/Animal +21, Lore/Plant +21, Persistence +28, Resilience +36, Unarmed +23
Weapon/Combat:
Dagger +40, Spear +50, 1H Axe +35, Shield +40
Advanced Skills:
Language/Native +61, Lore/Regional +11, Survival +29.
Equipment:
Short Spear, Dagger, Ring mail shirt, Leather Trews, Target Shield, Helmet

This one has -19% skill penalty.

Sir Casimir a noble born Knight,
Str 15, Dex 13, Siz 14, Con 14, Int 14, Pow 11, Cha 14
CA: 3, Dmg Mod: +1d2, MP: 11, Strike Rank: 13.5
Basic Skills:
Athletics +33, Influence +39, Lore/World +24, Perception +30, Persistence +31, Riding +39
Weapon/Combat:
1H Sword +53, Shield +53
Advanced Skills:
Courtesy +28, Language/Native +64, Language/Other +14, Lore/Regional +14, Play Instrument/Lute +14
Equipment:
Scale Shirt, Ring Skirt, Helm, Warsword, Kite Shield.
-27% skill penalty

Anya a townswoman Wizard,
Str 11, Dex 13, Siz 9, Con13, Int 16, Pow 12, Cha 17
CA: 3, Dmg Mod: -1d2, MP: 12, Strike Rank: 14.5
Basic Skills:
Evaluate +31, Influence +37, Lore/World +31, Persistence +42, Stealth +24
Weapon/Combat:
Crossbow +23, Dagger +34
Advanced Skills:
Language/Native +66, Lore/Regional +26, Runecasting/Fire +39, Runecasting/Earth +29, Streetwise +29
Spells Known: Firearrow, Ignite, Protection
Equipment:
Light Crossbow, Dagger
Not sure how these work but the runes she bears grant her half damage from fire damage whether magical or not and +1 to her Str, Con & Siz and I'd like to know if THAT is possible combining runes.

Newt a townsman Alchemist
Str 11, Dex 16, Siz 7, Con 14, Int 16, Pow 11, Cha 10
CA: 3, Dmg Mod: -1d2, MP: 11, Strike Rank: 16
Basic Skills:
Evaluate +36, First Aid +26, Influence +30, Lore/Plant +26, Lore/World +26, Persistence +31, Resilience +35,
Weapon/Combat:
1H Hammer +37, Crossbow +26
Advanced Skills:
Language/Native +66, Lore/Alchemy +26, Lore/Regional +16, Runecasting/Metal +21 Streetwise +21
Spells Known: Bludgeon
Equipment:
Light crossbow, 1H Hammer
His rune allows any metal close combat attack that he makes successfully cause 1pt of extra damage

and Mischa a Barbarian Witch
Str 10, Dex 16, Siz 9, Con 11, Int 15, Pow 18, Cha 12
CA: 3, Dmg Mod: -1d2, MP: 18, Strike Rank: 15.5
Basic Skills:
Athletics +36, First Aid +20, Lore/Animal +25, Lore/Plant +30, Perception +38, Resilience +39, Stealth +22,
Weapon/Combat:
Bow +36, Dagger +36
Advanced Skills:
Healing +33, Language/Native +65, Lore/Regional +15, Runecasting/Fertility +40, Survival +33, Tracking +15
Spells Known: Heal
Equipment:
Short Bow, Dagger
Her rune allows her to heal and recover in half the time of others.

Please note that none of the above have had their 100 extra skill points spent so let me know what you think whether I should consider other options for example.

 

[Old timer]

Are you using MRQ1 rules? Might be better using the newer rules, legend, as armour does not penalise skills it just reduces your strike ranks, and is overall a better set of rules.

 

[Hopeless]

Are you using MRQ1 rules? Might be better using the newer rules, legend, as armour does not penalise skills it just reduces your strike ranks, and is overall a better set of rules.

Was wondering about what changes RQ2 brought along, thanks for the update

Update: Bought the pdf of the RQ2 rules now going to go have a read!