Ideas for a "CASTAWAYS" campaign (DM eyes only!)
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:34 pm
Hi!
First, I hope this is in the approriate section... if not I'm sorry! We can move it I suppose...
Anyhow...
Some of my favorite movies and TV series, happen to be about castaways and disaster type of stories.
i.e. Gillagans Island, Castaway, Lost in Space, Land of the Lost, and recently Lost, etc...
I've always wanted to run a story where my players would begin as castaways or shipwrecked somehow. So I decided to do just that! I'm closing off my current Eberron story and starting a new one in 2 weeks at level 1. Even thought the new one is also set in Eberron, it could very well be set just about anywhere. My current inspiration is the ABC TV series "LOST" which I finally got to see on DVD. I enjoyed it very much and am going to apply the same basic idea in my game.
One of the reasons I like it as a an RPG story arc is that it's open to just about anything. I don't need to have 'X' amount of NPCs pre-created, nor do I need a city and all that goes with that. Heck... I don't even need a long term goal! All I need is a reason for being there - shipwrecked that is, and then each session would be a series of small 'survival' type of scenarios while the survivors strive to save themselves from being castaway. I can also be Extremely flexible as to what to do on any game session by letting the players decide what they want to do and then go with it! The scenarios can be keyed in to a bigger tale, or not. It doesn't matter. So with that said, I was hoping to get ideas from you guys as to what sort of scenarios I could incorporate into this campaign. For starters here is my list...
- Near by island full of native Drow performing ceremony with female party member to a god giant - As in 'King Kong'
- Raid by Sahuagin from time to time so need for protection from sea devils
- Monitor lizards and other creatures invade from time to time looking for dead bodies, or even LIVE ONES!
- Shortage of food and must hunt deep in jungle and look for water
- Some survivors go missing at night, taken by an unknown force that turns out to be a local ____?____
- Discovery of a small Ziggurat that they cant gain access into. Who has the key? When will they find it and where?
- Bad weather from time to time, perhaps a creature washes up on shore during bad times
- Discovery of natural caves for better shelter, and perhaps not the best place to stay until it's too late!
- Discovery of a pure water source, unfortunately a water elemental lives there!
- Mountain Climb reveals a man-made excavation of some sort. An underground dungeon in the hills!
- Some sort of creature roams the jungle at all times keeping the survivors localized and needing some heroes to hunt and such.
- Stuff wash up on shore from wreckage and brings with it some unwelcome visitors
- Flashback to the Actual Crash / Wreck and play out battle or other significant scenes
- Strange foot/fin prints in the sand in the morning
- Another wreck appears on shore
- An older Wreck found on the opposite side of the island
- The island has a ring of 'bad weather' or fog 5 miles out that prevents safe passage away
- Eventually some kind of expedition comes to the island to investigate either a wreck or rumors of it or perhaps looking for some relic
- Surviving NPCs form their own 'Faction' and separate from group
etc...
Any ideas are welcomed!
Please????
First, I hope this is in the approriate section... if not I'm sorry! We can move it I suppose...
Anyhow...
Some of my favorite movies and TV series, happen to be about castaways and disaster type of stories.
i.e. Gillagans Island, Castaway, Lost in Space, Land of the Lost, and recently Lost, etc...
I've always wanted to run a story where my players would begin as castaways or shipwrecked somehow. So I decided to do just that! I'm closing off my current Eberron story and starting a new one in 2 weeks at level 1. Even thought the new one is also set in Eberron, it could very well be set just about anywhere. My current inspiration is the ABC TV series "LOST" which I finally got to see on DVD. I enjoyed it very much and am going to apply the same basic idea in my game.
One of the reasons I like it as a an RPG story arc is that it's open to just about anything. I don't need to have 'X' amount of NPCs pre-created, nor do I need a city and all that goes with that. Heck... I don't even need a long term goal! All I need is a reason for being there - shipwrecked that is, and then each session would be a series of small 'survival' type of scenarios while the survivors strive to save themselves from being castaway. I can also be Extremely flexible as to what to do on any game session by letting the players decide what they want to do and then go with it! The scenarios can be keyed in to a bigger tale, or not. It doesn't matter. So with that said, I was hoping to get ideas from you guys as to what sort of scenarios I could incorporate into this campaign. For starters here is my list...
- Near by island full of native Drow performing ceremony with female party member to a god giant - As in 'King Kong'
- Raid by Sahuagin from time to time so need for protection from sea devils
- Monitor lizards and other creatures invade from time to time looking for dead bodies, or even LIVE ONES!
- Shortage of food and must hunt deep in jungle and look for water
- Some survivors go missing at night, taken by an unknown force that turns out to be a local ____?____
- Discovery of a small Ziggurat that they cant gain access into. Who has the key? When will they find it and where?
- Bad weather from time to time, perhaps a creature washes up on shore during bad times
- Discovery of natural caves for better shelter, and perhaps not the best place to stay until it's too late!
- Discovery of a pure water source, unfortunately a water elemental lives there!
- Mountain Climb reveals a man-made excavation of some sort. An underground dungeon in the hills!
- Some sort of creature roams the jungle at all times keeping the survivors localized and needing some heroes to hunt and such.
- Stuff wash up on shore from wreckage and brings with it some unwelcome visitors
- Flashback to the Actual Crash / Wreck and play out battle or other significant scenes
- Strange foot/fin prints in the sand in the morning
- Another wreck appears on shore
- An older Wreck found on the opposite side of the island
- The island has a ring of 'bad weather' or fog 5 miles out that prevents safe passage away
- Eventually some kind of expedition comes to the island to investigate either a wreck or rumors of it or perhaps looking for some relic
- Surviving NPCs form their own 'Faction' and separate from group
etc...
Any ideas are welcomed!
Please????