Scenario & Campaign Hooks

[Durand Durand]

Since we are soon due for release of MRQ, I thought I'd start a threat for people to stick scenario and campaign hooks and ideas.

To kick off, a simple screw-over hook for a string of adventures, slome people won't like it, but my mates like getting screwed over.

... you wake up, groggy, feeling pain in your tail and stiches.

I wanted my players to make normal characters, go through basic charater generation. Then have a quick disaster or combat and kill them all. Have them wake up in the trauma centre of the stiched Zoo (eek!). Basically, the PC's are new beastmen. Be moved while you watch them try to get their old bodies and lives back. Gasp as them face biggotry and hatred. Sigh as romance blossoms with the Dog-Deer-Hedgehog-woman and PC #2. Thrill as the PC's rip apart their tormentors.

...Batter up. Who's next.

DD

 

[HyrumOWC]

Since we are soon due for release of MRQ, I thought I'd start a threat for people to stick scenario and campaign hooks and ideas.

To kick off, a simple screw-over hook for a string of adventures, slome people won't like it, but my mates like getting screwed over.

... you wake up, groggy, feeling pain in your tail and stiches.

I wanted my players to make normal characters, go through basic charater generation. Then have a quick disaster or combat and kill them all. Have them wake up in the trauma centre of the stiched Zoo (eek!). Basically, the PC's are new beastmen. Be moved while you watch them try to get their old bodies and lives back. Gasp as them face biggotry and hatred. Sigh as romance blossoms with the Dog-Deer-Hedgehog-woman and PC #2. Thrill as the PC's rip apart their tormentors.

...Batter up. Who's next.

DD

One of my favorite campaign starts is for the PCs to be slaves/prisoners to a big bad enemy and the first session is their escape. It does a great job of bringing the PCs together and gives the game momentum from day 1.

Hyrum.

 

[Utgardloki]

I wanted my players to make normal characters, go through basic charater generation. Then have a quick disaster or combat and kill them all. Have them wake up in the trauma centre of the stiched Zoo (eek!). Basically, the PC's are new beastmen. Be moved while you watch them try to get their old bodies and lives back. Gasp as them face biggotry and hatred. Sigh as romance blossoms with the Dog-Deer-Hedgehog-woman and PC #2. Thrill as the PC's rip apart their tormentors.

This is an idea that might work with some players, but I think most players will hate the campaign and probably come to hate the game system the campaign is played in.

The problem is that players frequently make characters with an eye to what they wish the character to be like: Hulking fighter, dashing rogue, wily wizard, etc. Having the player make the characters they want, and then have the characters changed into something else, will put off a lot of players.

I'm speaking as someone who just came back from a game where he envisioned creating an Elektra-type character and ended up playing a character who was more like somebody kidnapped Jessica Alba, beat her up, and then set her on fire. And then kept beating her up. After having the third-degree burn scars described, I don't think the GM understood why I played her as such a suicidal berserker.

Ways to get around this would be to : 1) have the players choose among pregen characters that are already transformed into beastmen, with histories of what they used to be; 2) have the players decide how they want their characters to be transformed, so that they go into the first game session knowing what will happen, and having the ability to still choose the type of character they wish to play; 3) make sure that as the characters are transformed, there still is at least one character for each role that was originally created (dashing rogue, etc), then allow the players to swap PCs. Option 2 is probably the best one.

And I am talking as one who just came back from a game w

 

[Utgardloki]

I've been thinking of how to start my Runequest campaign. I am planning to use Drow War, but I'd like to have a couple adventures to get the PCs introduced to Glorantha and used to their roles as Glorantha heroes before they are whisked off to Ashfar.

Some ideas I have:

Start with a kidnapping

For some reason, search and rescue missions seem to be associated in my mind with Glorantha. So maybe I'll start with the PC's rescuing somebody.

Then a call for help

When the PCs get back, a woman has come to the village looking for heroes to help her village fight off an invasion of monsters. Obviously the PCs will be interested. Along the way they can be ambushed by broo, right off some robbers, and then perhaps an invasion of some sort. (I'm not sure what to have the PCs do in a war; it should be something they can wrap up quickly so that when they are sent to Ashfar, they will have their calendars free.

There and back again

After being summoned to Ashfar to participate in the opening skirmishes of the Drow War, they'll need to find a way back to Glorantha. Or at least they will if they ever want to see their homes again.