Campaign Idea
My module for my first Dungeons and Dragons campaign is about to end, and I've been thinking about ideas for a more-robust campaign. This is the first. And this is converted from an ad hoc IM conversation, and I'm not bothering to proof read it too much. My apologies for mediocre writing.
I imagine the world being huge, and still largely mostly unexplored. The "known world", which is originally a standard fantasy setting, is located on the main continent, the fringes of which are still unexplored. But, the known world is still fairly huge; probably considerably larger than Eurasia. With all of your normal fantasy races, etc.
A few hundred years before the campaign started, there was an invasion from the unexplored East of various undead minions. Ghosts, ghouls, zombies, the occasional lich, vampires, etc. And their numbers and prowess were unmatched. So, for, say, 200 years, they've marched nonstop, east-to-west, defeating every city and army in their way. Slowly, but surely.
Eventually, in desperation, all of the normal races (the playable races) merge in union to create the... I don't have a name, but the Civilized Imperium, a military dictatorship pledged to defending the known world from these invading undead barbarian hoards.
By the time the campaign starts, the Civilized Imperium is mostly just along the western coast of the continent, and a few isolated, besieged cities throughout the continent. But civil society has almost entirely degraded in all but the largest, most westerly metropolises because of the known inevitability of civilization's defeat at the hands of the undead, which is a terrible event; defeat entails being eaten, raped, and killed, in that order by the hordes before the city is set afire. Because of this, the standard fantasy religions of the world have faded away, replaced with dozens of degenerate cults akin to the Cthulhu mythos, that advocate various things from mass murder to suicide, mostly as a means to be avoid death at the hands of the undead.
The campaign starts with the party being citizens of one of the besieged cities, slowly fighting the defense. Hopefully, they are victorious (one of the few victories for humanoid-kind), and the campaign consists of fighting the hordes, preparing city defenses, forging alliances with other besieged cities and keeping them members of the Civilized Imperium, keeping the Civilized Imperium intact, etc., until the PCs find out the true secret behind the hundreds-year-old invasion.
Phil, I think, has talked me out of this idea though, for being too restrictive to players. I think he's right.
The entire campaign would have to be oriented around fighting the undead, and that would be pretty repetitive. And the party would be too prone to failure. If not for a full campaign, but maybe a mini-one? If my current module took four sessions, maybe six? Eight? I think it could make for a good six-eight session run.
I imagine the world being huge, and still largely mostly unexplored. The "known world", which is originally a standard fantasy setting, is located on the main continent, the fringes of which are still unexplored. But, the known world is still fairly huge; probably considerably larger than Eurasia. With all of your normal fantasy races, etc.
A few hundred years before the campaign started, there was an invasion from the unexplored East of various undead minions. Ghosts, ghouls, zombies, the occasional lich, vampires, etc. And their numbers and prowess were unmatched. So, for, say, 200 years, they've marched nonstop, east-to-west, defeating every city and army in their way. Slowly, but surely.
Eventually, in desperation, all of the normal races (the playable races) merge in union to create the... I don't have a name, but the Civilized Imperium, a military dictatorship pledged to defending the known world from these invading undead barbarian hoards.
By the time the campaign starts, the Civilized Imperium is mostly just along the western coast of the continent, and a few isolated, besieged cities throughout the continent. But civil society has almost entirely degraded in all but the largest, most westerly metropolises because of the known inevitability of civilization's defeat at the hands of the undead, which is a terrible event; defeat entails being eaten, raped, and killed, in that order by the hordes before the city is set afire. Because of this, the standard fantasy religions of the world have faded away, replaced with dozens of degenerate cults akin to the Cthulhu mythos, that advocate various things from mass murder to suicide, mostly as a means to be avoid death at the hands of the undead.
The campaign starts with the party being citizens of one of the besieged cities, slowly fighting the defense. Hopefully, they are victorious (one of the few victories for humanoid-kind), and the campaign consists of fighting the hordes, preparing city defenses, forging alliances with other besieged cities and keeping them members of the Civilized Imperium, keeping the Civilized Imperium intact, etc., until the PCs find out the true secret behind the hundreds-year-old invasion.
Phil, I think, has talked me out of this idea though, for being too restrictive to players. I think he's right.
The entire campaign would have to be oriented around fighting the undead, and that would be pretty repetitive. And the party would be too prone to failure. If not for a full campaign, but maybe a mini-one? If my current module took four sessions, maybe six? Eight? I think it could make for a good six-eight session run.