A friend asked me for some ideas for a campaign last week, so here are a few quick ideas to inspire.
Any feedback is welcome.
The Nativity According to D&D
This is a one/two session idea inspired by Uncle Bear’s Cthulhu Christmas. Written for D&D 4e Forgotten Realms, but could be easily adapted to 3.x. I’ve used Kelemvor so I can fit this into my Hand of Kelemvor campaign at somepoint, but any neutral or good god would be suitable.
Trouble is afoot in the Forgotten Realms. All along the Dragon Coast, outlaw attacks are increasing and mysterious black raiders wearing the insignia of Bane are attacking settlements. Worried that the the large number of adventures in the area could be responsible for the attacks, the city-states have called for a census to be taken and for any adventure not registering to be declared an Outlaw, wanted dead or alive.
Your party are on the way to Waterdeep to register when you are confronted by an avatar of Kelemvor, the God of Life and Death. He informs you that a virgin has become pregnant with a human avatar of Bane, the Black Lord. You have seven days to find the virgin, free her from the priests of Bane and transport her safely a monetary of another God, where the child may be cleansed of Bane’s essence and used as an avatar of a God who will use him for good, not evil.
Only problem is you don’t have time to register and get the girl – meaning your being hunted by the good guys and the bad.
Pros: Interesting moral challenges if you have a party with good and evil PCs, Paladins and Clerics might get fairly up in arms about which God the child goes to
Cons: Fairly standard setting, Save the Princess trope,
Nightwatch
This is actually the first session or two from my Hand of Kelemvor campaign. I wanted to get away from the standard “let’s meet in a pub and go out on an awesome quest” start – heroes should be built over time, not made in a day. Forgotten Realms 4e again, specifically Baulder’s Gate, because I wanted to start with somewhere that would be familiar to the new players that had played the D&D videogames, but not the pen and paper version.
There are a few changes to Baulder’s Gate from the setting book: it has a bit more of an Anhk-Morpork vibe to it, and a Guild of Thieves.
“Baulder’s Gate: the keystone of trade on the Dragon Coast. Full of merchants, traders, adventurers, sailors and more rogues and scoundrels then you can shake a stick at.
All that’s well and good mind, but when you live a city-port this big there’s bound to be trouble. An’ that’s what Ah got.
See, Ah own a warehouse, merchants pay me to store their stuff until they trade it off. Won’t make ma rich, but there’s no heavy liftin’ and it means Ah can spend half ma time in the bar. So not so bad, eh?
Anyway, lately stuff has been goin’ missing. No sign of break-in, and Ahm paid up wi’ the Thieves Guild, so someone must be gettin’ in from inside. Probably in the cellar. Ah want some stout folks to spend a few nights in there, find the thieves and kill ‘em. Handsome reward, and yous can keep what you find on them.”
Your party agrees to this. At some point at night, Goblins make their way into the cellar of the warehouse from a hidden door. This leads your party though a cave system (full of Goblins, Gelatinous Ooze, traps and the odd undead.
Originally, I was going to have the Goblin leader drop a note which would lead into a campaign that would last the first five levels uncovering a conspiracy linking the thieves to the Flaming Fists, Baulder’s Gate’s militia, leading to a full on battle for control of the city between the party and the Fists (which would in turn attract the attention of a certain Cleric, leading into the main campaign arc).
If people would like me to expand on the plot line soon, then I’m more then happy to, otherwise enjoy what I think is quite a good idea for first session, especially with new players.
Pros: Good for new players, reasonable idea for a campaign start
Cons: Linear dungeon progression, takes place in/around a major city (which isn’t for everyone)