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Author Topic: D&D Pathfinder - Need Ideas for a Campaign I'm working on  (Read 6082 times)

Crustypeanut

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D&D Pathfinder - Need Ideas for a Campaign I'm working on
« on: October 10, 2012, 05:29:30 pm »

Hey guys, I'm working on a homemade campaign for D&D Pathfinder for a group of friends, and am having trouble coming up with some ideas for it. 

The campaign will start off at level 6-7 (Where my last campaign ended, as I bit off more than I could chew with a sandbox campaign), and will start off with a good old fashioned dungeon crawl for a couple of levels, during which a number of important NPCs will hopefully be met, including the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) of the campaign, who will be far too powerful for the players to take on at this level, but will only 'play' with them before leaving them to their fates.

The main thing I'm working on at the moment is the mentioned BBEG.  I want him (or her, or it) to be roughly equivilent to a 21st level character (Yes, that means Epic levels are being brought in from 3.5, but only for npcs).  I'm also wanting him to be memorable.. someone the players can really begin to hate.. even if its because of annoyance.  Think Xykon from Order of the Stick or Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2.

The world itself is mostly unmade.. I have a custom pantheon I'm working on thats a tight-knit pantheon (Much like Greek or Egyptian Mythology), but the world itself I will make as I go, focusing only on the parts that are needed at the time.


Right now, my current ideas are as follows:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Thats about all I have so far.. its still early in the designs XD

Also, as a note, the players are alright with 'over the top' things that clearly reference pop culture or video game culture.  In one of the other player's campaigns he was running, we had a mine-cart fight with donkey and diddy kong, an arena fight that included colossal sized panties thrown onto the field (and subsequently lit on fire to try and burn fire immune demons) and a mexican luchador PC who got frequently rubbed down with oils by a large homosexual jamacian wizard npc, and had a gnome paladin manager with an intelligence of 7 who rode on the luchador's shoulders. That.. was an interesting campaign.
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Wrex

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Re: D&D Pathfinder - Need Ideas for a Campaign I'm working on
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2012, 05:57:33 pm »

So, the BBEG is a hauntshifted conjuror.

One hell of a BBEG, and probably the least likely to be ninja killed.

How well optimsied is your party?
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Neonivek

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Re: D&D Pathfinder - Need Ideas for a Campaign I'm working on
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2012, 05:58:16 pm »

Well you need to decide what style of villain you are going to use in terms of how he will interact with the party.

For example will this villain be the kind who will always turn the heros victory into his own?

As well one of the issues with a truely great villain in a pen and paper RPG is that players, in my experience, are adverse to failure. So "great" villains are ones who win without stopping the players from winning.

So thinking about how the Heros will even challenge this villain is just as important as the villain itself.

How political will your campaign be? Armies of Golems and junk takes a lot of gold, time, and resources which is something even a level 21 has a limited supply of. Where is he getting these funds? Is he self-proliferating? (as in he built one golem, which got enough resources for the next, which built the next, which got more money... and so on).
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Crustypeanut

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Re: D&D Pathfinder - Need Ideas for a Campaign I'm working on
« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2012, 06:09:56 pm »

Well, the players haven't made their characters yet, but these guys generally optimise their characters pretty well while still making interesting characters.

My last campaign (which included terrorist paladins and kobold freedom fighters attempting to reenact V for Vendetta), we had: A human Gunslinger who wrecked just about everything I threw at him, a half-orc Barbarian who used a scythe who also was good for wrecking things, a human rogue using a greatsword who.. generally was the main tank due to his wrecklessness, a human cleric who was basically a god of healing and diplomacy, and a dwarf witch who used a 10-ft beard (we made it permanent for shits) and was mildly competent some of the time, but hilarious all of the time.

I generally threw encounters that were 3 levels higher than them, and they rarely had much of an issue.. I'm expecting something similar to happen this time, though I will start off slow to test them.


As for how political my campaign will be.. I'm not quite sure yet.  I like the idea of the villian who can turn the heroes' victory into his own.  Its still early in the works, though.  I want a villian that the players will end up truly hating - one that will be memorable.  One other thing I do know I want is a BBEG that won't be 'accidently crit to death' by a lucky shot.  Last campaign, the gunslinger or barbarian frequently 1-2 shot my 'bosses' which was annoying. 

Knowing these guys, if I'm not careful they will "Accidently the whole campaign" early on by a lucky shot.
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Crustypeanut

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Re: D&D Pathfinder - Need Ideas for a Campaign I'm working on
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2012, 11:36:14 am »

Maybe I should make someone similar to my Dr. Logem character in Specialsurprise.. a physically strong, outgoing, psychopath doctor.

A Dwarven Chirurgeon/Vivisectionist (Both Alchemist Archetypes).. which basically sacrifices his bombs for sneak attacks, while also maintaining a doctor feel about him..
« Last Edit: October 11, 2012, 11:47:37 am by Crustypeanut »
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Mephisto

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Re: D&D Pathfinder - Need Ideas for a Campaign I'm working on
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2012, 12:09:08 pm »

I picked this up from some adventure seeds book that I read somewhere and it seems like it could work with your idea.

The creation of life (something from nothing, not procreation) is a divine power. As a mortal found this secret (possibly through siphoning power from an actual god), that mortal is now considered divine by the laws of the gods. As such, they can't take action against him even though they wish to get rid of him. They use the players to do so.
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Crustypeanut

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Re: D&D Pathfinder - Need Ideas for a Campaign I'm working on
« Reply #6 on: October 13, 2012, 10:20:06 am »

A friend of mine I was talking to, who won't be in this campaign, gave me a similar idea as that one Mephisto, which is a good idea.

Here's his idea: (Spoilered due to length)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Now, this would require him to be using the Renegade Mastermind Prestige Class from Magic of Eberron.  That part in particular I love.  Its an awesomely-themed PrC, and I'm already a good chunk of the way done creating him. 

I'm going to be making some alternative ideas (not set in stone) based on this idea. I like your idea as well, and I will see if somehow perhaps I can include it in there.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Now, all of this is still not set in stone.. but its what I've been working on the past few days.  Whatcha think? Criticism, Comments? I'm all for it. 

Note: This is still Pathfinder, despite my apparent heavy usage of 3.5 material. 
« Last Edit: October 13, 2012, 12:33:50 pm by Crustypeanut »
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