One of the problems of being a total RPG ADHD fanboy, while having the time to run one and only one game at a time, is that you get excited about a game and/or a campaign idea; you promise your group you're running it; and by the time you close your current campaign, you're committed to the campaign you promised them... but you're already excited with some other game and campaign premise.
Case in point: I promised the guys a Call of Cthulhu campaign where they'll be a search party looking for Col. Percy Fawcett in the Amazon Jungle in the 1930s. I still think it's an awesome idea and I think I can make it sing.
Now, my old ideas for Ninjas & Superspies, Mage: The Awakening, AS&SH and Runequest 6e (among others) have been bubbling up to the surface of the gaming areas of my brain.
I'm pretty sure I'm disciplined enough to deliver the campaign I promise and laid back enough to enjoy doing it. But it is kind of distracting.
So, I've decided to address this distraction by writing down my campaign ideas and offering them up for the unsuspecting world. I've started doing it on Google+ and thought, what the hell, I'll do it over at theRPGsite too. Feel free to comment, criticize, borrow and steal as you wish.
Campaign Idea #1
Tournament of Shadows
The Inspiration: A bunch of martial arts movies and fighting video games but mostly Bloodsport and Street Fighter.
The Game: Ninjas & Superspies
The Setting: Hong Kong in the mid-1980s
The Premise: The Tournament of Shadows is a no-holds-barred underground martial arts tournament held in British-controlled Hong Kong every few years. It's completely illegal, of course, and the lack of rules, the violence and the high-stakes betting draw not only martial artists but also crime lords and their cronies from all over the Pacific Rim. They come to watch the fights, bet tons of money, go out drinking and whoring, and amidst the bloody revelry they all too often find the time to forge alliances, strike pacts, draw boundaries and settle old scores.
PCs: Martial artists who want to prove how badass they are by entering the Tournament. Law enforcement personnel who want to capture any one (or more) of several dozen international crime bosses who show up to watch and bet on the fights, or even the odd career criminal who's competing as a fighter. Mercenaries, assassins and criminals looking for a job. People from all walks of life with a score to settle, be it with one of the fighters, or with the lowlifes who run and support the Tournament.
NPCs: Law enforcement and intelligence from all over the world, but especially UK and PRC (given the proximity of the hand-over). Martial artists from all over the world, good and bad and everything in between. International crime bosses, mostly from East and Southeast Asia, and their endless armies of thugs.
Comments: I can't really think of a better platform to showcase the glorious madness that is Ninjas & Superspies than this set-up.
I have the same problem...so many game ideas but lucky if I can run one of them to fruition at all. And now I have your ideas to steal from as well.
I've wanted to run a Wild West CoC game where you could have a European lodge magician, a ronin, a mad inventor, an Indian tracker, and a classic gunslinger...
I also had this wacky idea for a game set in Moorish Spain (Al-Andalus) circa 13th Century. (Cthulhu by Rushlight)
But I never felt confidant enough of my or my players' historical chops to pull it off.
I want to run a game where Mister Slayer, of SLA Industries, has found a way to break between RP game worlds. So he's building an army, conquering realities, ready for his next big invasion; us. And once he's conquered our reality, the one we spawned from. His end goal is nothing less than owning the entire multiverse.
And the only thing standing in his way, is a rag-tag bunch of refugees from the realities he has conquered so far. Space marines, elves, phyrexians, dwarves, nature spirits, cyberpunks, dragons, sentient rabbits, gods, the Doctor, adventurers of all kinds; anyone from any game world would be a fair character.
Unfortunately, it's such a massively epic campaign that it would just fall apart under it's own weight, really quickly, or the "ragtag group" aspect would turn to stupid "space marine in a cart lol" wackiness.
*sigh*
Gamer ADD is the silent killer. We'd be here all day talking about some of the things I wanted to do... and that'd just be the ones I remember.
Quote from: Will;780316I've wanted to run a Wild West CoC game where you could have a European lodge magician, a ronin, a mad inventor, an Indian tracker, and a classic gunslinger...
A bit more gonzo than I like my CoC, but sounds like a perfect set-up for a Deadlands party. Or a Werewolf: the Wild West (now
there's a blast from the past!) pack.
Quote from: Will;780316I also had this wacky idea for a game set in Moorish Spain (Al-Andalus) circa 13th Century. (Cthulhu by Rushlight)
French CoC has a bunch of historical supplements with no English version. There was even one (name escapes me) covering Byzantium circa 800AD that looked pretty damn awesome.
I've run my share of historical CoC games and to be honest, they felt less likely Lovecraftian pulp and more like Howardian weird fantasy. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, but all too often I wondered whether I should've used Savage Worlds or Runequest or something more Conanesque in general. Your Al-Andalus game would probably feel like a Howardian Mythos tale (a la
Worms of the Earth) with a side-order of Harold Lamb's Muslim swordsman (the name escapes me) yarns. Pure pulp awesomeness.
Quote from: Will;780316But I never felt confidant enough of my or my players' historical chops to pull it off.
Now that's just silly. Sit down with your players on session one and agree on the whole "alternate reality close enough to history" that suits everyone. Most of the time, as long as no one's walking into a saloon with an AK-47 or in full hoplite armor, you all should be okay.
Quote from: Ladybird;780319I want to run a game where Mister Slayer, of SLA Industries, has found a way to break between RP game worlds. So he's building an army, conquering realities, ready for his next big invasion; us. And once he's conquered our reality, the one we spawned from. His end goal is nothing less than owning the entire multiverse.
And the only thing standing in his way, is a rag-tag bunch of refugees from the realities he has conquered so far. Space marines, elves, phyrexians, dwarves, nature spirits, cyberpunks, dragons, sentient rabbits, gods, the Doctor, adventurers of all kinds; anyone from any game world would be a fair character.
Unfortunately, it's such a massively epic campaign that it would just fall apart under it's own weight, really quickly, or the "ragtag group" aspect would turn to stupid "space marine in a cart lol" wackiness.
You're right that it'd be very,
very hard to keep the campaign "serious". But serious or silly I'm pretty sure it'd be a fun game.
What system would you use for this beast?
Sometime I'd like to do a revamped version of my Icons (http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?713907-ICONS-Meteor-City-Stories) game, Meteor City Stories. Legacy heroes using some superhero sandbox (http://knightsky-alienshores.blogspot.com/2012/05/sandbox-superhero-campaigns-part-1.html) rules from Alien Shores. It was fun rolling up random criminal encounters and such, but it was my first time with the Icons system, which I find I don't really care for. If I run MCS again I'd use a crunchier old school system. I'm holding out for A Second Fire, Sine Nomine's somewhere-in-the-pipeline supers game.
I have CoC 6th Ed, and wanted to try a game inspired by American Horror Story Coven--a witches school. Or Harry Potterverse with a sanity meter.
Quote from: Ladybird;780319I want to run a game where Mister Slayer, of SLA Industries, has found a way to break between RP game worlds. So he's building an army, conquering realities, ready for his next big invasion; us. And once he's conquered our reality, the one we spawned from. His end goal is nothing less than owning the entire multiverse.
And the only thing standing in his way, is a rag-tag bunch of refugees from the realities he has conquered so far. Space marines, elves, phyrexians, dwarves, nature spirits, cyberpunks, dragons, sentient rabbits, gods, the Doctor, adventurers of all kinds; anyone from any game world would be a fair character.
To paraphrase someone else "For Kevin Siembieda this would be Tuesday." Rifts is the one game that could actually handle that shit, if you can handle Rifts.
Quote from: CRKrueger;780404To paraphrase someone else "For Kevin Siembieda this would be Tuesday." Rifts is the one game that could actually handle that shit, if you can handle Rifts.
I don't know Rifts except what I've heard/read, but it's funny because it's true: sounds like a Palladium game.
Most point systems could probably handle it (GURPS, HERO, Mutants and Masterminds).
Lighter games like Fate or even lighter, FAE.
And, finally, Risus! Ha ha
I've kept adding to the pile of notes for a Whispering Vault setup involving a Shadowland based on the Christian radio show 'Adventures in Odyssey' (with some Magical girls and Pokemon demons mixed in).
It will never get played but it entertains me so...
Campaign Idea #2
London Unveiled (working title)
The Inspiration: Harry Potter, The Invisibles, X-Men, Mage: the Ascension 1st edition
The Game: Mage: the Awakening
The Setting: London, present day
The Premise: Once a stronghold and a shining beacon of hope for the Pentacle all over the world, the mighty but aging Consilium of London now faces an aggressive assault on three fronts. The Seers of the Throne, through the Mammon and Panopticon Ministries, spread their tendrils deeper into the temporal and spiritual foundations of London with every passing day. The Knights of Saint George, an old, once nearly extinct order of Anglican witch-hunters, now pursue their vows with renewed fervor. Finally, amidst the chaos of the war for London’s soul, strange happenings are afoot that hint at a powerful, encroaching Abyssal influence.
PCs: The Pentacle’s last, best hope for peace, a gift from the Oracles: a rash of new Awakenings, found and recruited before the pervasive agents of the Seers could do the same, now being trained by the finest masters in London.
NPCs: The mages of the Pentacle, a powerful but aging and shrinking contingent that runs the gamut from stuffy graybeard Thearchs to decadent rock star chaos magician Libertines. The Seers of the Throne, whose apparently monolithic ranks (led by the Panopticon with the support of Mammon’s vast financial leverage) of ambitious young sorcerers are rife with dissension, rivalry, intrigue and even outright heresy. The Abyss and its unfathomable dwellers, with adepts and agents on both sides of the divide. The mortal but very dangerous Knights of Saint George. Assorted spirits, Sleepwalkers and the odd non-mage nWoD fatsplat.
Comments: I love it how Awakening tackles one of Ascenson’s chief themes – namely, freedom vs. control – in a much subtler manner. This dichotomy seems to be near and dear to the British psyche, which historically entertains a long line of dystopian nightmares, from 1984 and Point Counterpoint to Judge Dredd and Warhammer 40,000. Because this seems to be the stuff of British nightmares for a long time, and because the Abyss is nothing if not the collective unconscious’ sewage system, there are Abyssal forces at work that take a more direct interest on this conflict here.
Grimdark Dragonthing (working title)
The Inspiration: Dragonlance (which I utterly detest), Reign of Fire, Jericho, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Tyranny of Dragons
The Game: Some version of D&D or other. I'm inclined towards ACKS because I love it, but anything from OD&D to 5e should work.
The Setting: Generic D&D world.
The Premise: Dragons, ecologically speaking, aren't the sort of critter that takes up residency in the outskirts of your town unnoticed while you go about your stuff. Dragons are big, hungry, long-lived, sentient, rapacious and nearly unstoppable. I mean, an angry elephant is trouble, right? Now imagine an angry, sentient, flying, fire-breathing, and often deliberately malevolent elephant. You see how this is going to end.
Luckily, they sleep. A lot. They spend the better part of their existences asleep, tucked away in some remote corner of the world, only rarely waking up, often to devastate the countryside before being handily stopped by a motley of Big Damn Heroes. Or, failing that, a friggin' army, with ballistas and stuff. It's bad, but it's usually an isolated incident. A natural disaster, if you will, that tends to leave a lot of people dead, injured and miserable, like a flood or an earthquake, but peoiple survive.
Only this one day, hundreds of chromatic dragons across the continent woke up and started tearing the countryside apart. Everywhere. Some were stopped by heroes or lords with armies, or even the odd metallic dragon, but the world would never be the same.
Now everything's gone to shit, the great kingdoms of a century ago buried beneath into miserable, dragon-blasted ash. Lots of people died of famine and only now the land is starting to recover. Petty warlords, religious fanatics and other unsavory forces, maybe even the odd surviving dragon, squabble over bits and pieces of land.
And then there's the legend of the orbs of dragonkind. And the rumor that the Dragonflight, as the cataclysmic event came to be known, was no accident, no act of divine wrath, but the deliberate work of someone who came into possession of these legendary artifacts. Maybe they're still around, and maybe it's only a matter of time before scaly wings blot out the sun once more...
PCs: Your standard crew of well-armed, divinely inspired, magically trained and/or low cunning adventurers. Maybe they hail from a region that somehow survived or got off easier than the rest, or maybe they
NPCs: Dragons. Apocalyptic Dragon cultists and their half-dragon, half-demon enforcers. Religious fanatics of other persuasions. Petty warlords and bandits. Would-be conquerors hell-bent on rebuilding the old kingdoms by hook or by crook. And of course, every D&D antagonist ever can find a home on this setting.
Comments: Some of the people I game with love Dragonlance. I hate it. I think Dragonlance is so bad it ruins gaming novels, dragon-centric fantasy and Romantic high fantasy gaming, all in one fell swoop, for me anyway. I thought it would be a fun way to play with Dragonlance's basic idea with an added twist of what-if-the-bad-guys-won grimdarkness and a post-apocalyptic crapsack world (which of course is, generally speaking, the best sort of world for a D&D game). Other than that, though, it's a fairly bog-standard D&D game with ambitious mercenary types out to carve a place of their own in a world turned to ash (which is why I think ACKS is such a good fit). I suppose you could draw a Dark Sun parallel there too.
Butcher, I realize with a working title of "GrimDark DragonThing" you may be intending to be ironical or tongue-in-cheek but if you're intending to play it straight you need to ruthlessly "un-Forgotten Realms" as much of that as possible.
No "Dragonflight", need a different name, no DragonCults, no Dracoliches, no Dragonborn PCs, no Kobold Sorcerers, no "DragonNoun" or "DragonVerb" templates applied to spells, races, or classes.
Flush Dragonlance and Tyranny of Dragons as inspiration. Stick to Reign of Fire, Cataclysm, and think Smaug or Ancalagon the Black.
"Everything's Draconic" is part of what ruined the Realms. Make Dragons the historical backdrop and the post-apoc recovery the foreground...until the players eventually come across the possibility of it happening again, and maybe who was behind it the first time.
Christ I need to win the lottery so I can commission the PA guys or Jolly to do a whole "GrimDark DragonThing" graphic novel satire of the Forgotten Realms.
Quote from: CRKrueger;789110Butcher, I realize with a working title of "GrimDark DragonThing" you may be intending to be ironical or tongue-in-cheek but if you're intending to play it straight you need to ruthlessly "un-Forgotten Realms" as much of that as possible.
I hear you, bro, but with a game table full of Dragonlance and extant Forgotten Realms fans, I might not be able to help myself.
Quote from: CRKrueger;789110No "Dragonflight", need a different name,
Why?
Quote from: CRKrueger;789110no DragonCults,
Why?
Quote from: CRKrueger;789110no Dracoliches,
No, no dracoliches, but having a necromantic cabal or cult raising dragon carcasses as minions is too good to pass.
Quote from: CRKrueger;789110no Dragonborn PCs,
I'm intent on using ACKS for this. Thrassians maybe, but no Dragonborn.
Quote from: CRKrueger;789110no Kobold Sorcerers,
Kobolds as mini-dragonfolk hold no appeal to me.
Quote from: CRKrueger;789110no "DragonNoun" or "DragonVerb" templates applied to spells, races, or classes.
Neither does this.
Quote from: CRKrueger;789110Flush Dragonlance and Tyranny of Dragons as inspiration. Stick to Reign of Fire, Cataclysm, and think Smaug or Ancalagon the Black.
Dragonlance is kinda-sorta the starting point for this setup. If the bad guys had half a brain between them, and the good guys didn't have a poor man's Gandalf and other divine agents guiding them, the least that could have happened is a dragon-wasted world.
Quote from: CRKrueger;789110"Everything's Draconic" is part of what ruined the Realms. Make Dragons the historical backdrop and the post-apoc recovery the foreground...until the players eventually come across the possibility of it happening again, and maybe who was behind it the first time.
That's certainly how I intended to run it.
Quote from: CRKrueger;789110Christ I need to win the lottery so I can commission the PA guys or Jolly to do a whole "GrimDark DragonThing" graphic novel satire of the Forgotten Realms.
I'd buy that for a dollar!
Quote from: The Butcher;789152I hear you, bro, but with a game table full of Dragonlance and extant Forgotten Realms fans, I might not be able to help myself.
We all have our crosses to bear. If you do it right, they might love it and not even know it's satire. :D
Quote from: The Butcher;789152No "Dragonflight", need a different name. Why?
Too Realmsian and NounNoun. They need WFRP1 after a dragon apocalypse not "The DragonFlight" like the war of all the gods was "The Time of Troubles", especially if they are Realms and DragonLance fans. Take their "Clean Fantasy" out in the dirt, curbstomp it, get it hooked on crack and have it turning tricks in the gutter.
Quote from: The Butcher;789152No DragonCults - Why?
Kind of the same thing. Insane cultists worshipping the dragons, so Realmsian from second edition forward. Time for a rest. How about cults that sacrifice people that have blond or red hair, or wear white, anything that might attract a dragon from above? or maybe a Lottery when the size of a village gets too large and can be enough for a good meal. Slaughter all lizardpeople and reptiles because they might be dragons someday. Lots of post-apocalyptic crazy you can do without "Oh Dread Tiamat, Lady of Scales...yawn."
Not to say that a Dragoncult can't be done well, it just hasn't been done well for 20+ years, so maybe the idea just needs a timeout. :D
If you want to do Cults, do a CoC type "Secret History of the World" investigative Realms campaign with Asmodeus at the heart of it all (or Graz'zt).
Quote from: CRKrueger;780404To paraphrase someone else "For Kevin Siembieda this would be Tuesday." Rifts is the one game that could actually handle that shit, if you can handle Rifts.
I was thinking Torg. But Rifts would definitely work.
While we're spinning some ideas. I would like to run in the near future,
An "Expendables" style merc game using Advanced Recon as the system.
A Mean Streets noir scenario based on an episode of an old tv show called "Thriller" involving rebels, drug smugglers, thieves, and ordinary people thrown in a dangerous situation. All set in an early fifties Tangier.
Two different CoC scenarios. The first being set in colonial America. Mythos, flintlocks, and puritan's.
The others being based on the Innsmouth Garden Society from the d20 Monkey web comic.
Quote from: Ladybird;780319I want to run a game where Mister Slayer, of SLA Industries, has found a way to break between RP game worlds. So he's building an army, conquering realities, ready for his next big invasion; us. And once he's conquered our reality, the one we spawned from. His end goal is nothing less than owning the entire multiverse.
And the only thing standing in his way, is a rag-tag bunch of refugees from the realities he has conquered so far. Space marines, elves, phyrexians, dwarves, nature spirits, cyberpunks, dragons, sentient rabbits, gods, the Doctor, adventurers of all kinds; anyone from any game world would be a fair character.
Unfortunately, it's such a massively epic campaign that it would just fall apart under it's own weight, really quickly, or the "ragtag group" aspect would turn to stupid "space marine in a cart lol" wackiness.
We ran a series of multiverse games where our old favoured characters from any system turned up in games ran by others in other systems. I ran a cyberpunk game where an Amberite (divorced of pattern powers), a wizard, a secret agent and a local battled another X-PC who was going to blow up the city. then some of those PCs (not the Amberite) were flung across the verse to an old monestry where a chthonic moster was terrorising folks and the whole place was overwatched by our Amberite ex-PCs my superhero having been dragged there as well by an Event, then we ended up in an ice station in a retelling of the Thing, then we ended up in Ravenloft and the backstory was explained by sadly that part probably worked least well.
fun though.