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Rank: Advanced Member
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Ideas and advice for kick off adventures?
Title says it all really. I am thinking of starting running this and wondered what makes a good introduction. Kind of a scratch and sniff through the concepts and systems.
So some intro ideas and some intro advice would be appreciated.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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I guess it depends on what type of game you want to play. I have three quick starts that I use for different Groups.
for some reason I wrote the first one in East Fire, and set the other two there as well.
The three I use:
1. You are all victims of a Noble House (I use the House of Usher :) ) and now are turning the tables... the game revolves around them take action against the noble house, taking them down piece by piece. all characters are required (and get bonus points toward) 1 history about that the nobles did to them, the more awful the better! and 1 Inspiration about what awful thing they want to do to the house. Blood Opera. Group Organization: secret society run by someone who hates the nobles more than the characters.
2. You are part of the Vanguard of the Luck Hunters - the followers of a Chosen One king form the Dragon Isles who is leading an assault upon East Fire. You are raiding, spying, and causing mayhem. Then joining in with the rest of the army. Group Organization: The Opal Vanguard - the Luck Hunters' forward unit. the players get some Raptors, some scouts, and some Dragon Isle savages. With more units as they advance through the Ranks. they start out as members and by 4th level lead the Vanguard.
3. (this one I have not used): A Caravan carrying a Trapped High Spell (in a 4" thick red candle) of the Dynni King Neiman Glabe. Stolen and being transported across the Serai desert in a caravan. The caravan is attacked by a Zeppelin from Dynn and all hell breaks loose. The Zeppelin is damage, but still afloat, the Caravan is hidden in the endless waste and running out of water. and treasure hunters, brigands, and noble houses are all streaming into the desert looking for the Trapped High Spell.
Anyways... all three are designed to encourage the Players to take action, cause havoc, and engage with various part so of the setting.
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Jason
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Those are some nice openers, Jason!
IC, yeah, overall, I'd say it depends on your group. Whenever I start a campaign, I tell the players to make their PCs first. Then I build the world and the adventure to match up to the PCs, their Inspirations, their backstories, their goals, etc. But that is not feasible in every campaign, and sometimes players want the GM to set stronger guidelines so they know what to shoot for in character creation.
Anyway, here are some starting adventures I've used:
1. The PCs have been gathered at a nobles' fencing tournament. Things start with the PCs all fighting an NPC or each other in one-on-one simultaneous duels to learn the combat system. But something goes wrong, and what was supposed to be a dull blade turns out to be a real blade. The PC who inadvertently killed his tournament partner is accused of murder. Cue court intrigue, investigations to find the real culprit, social scenes with life-and-death stakes, and combat in the shadows as the PCs track down the real villain. This one makes for some excellent long-term villin potential, too.
2. An earl recruits the PCs to fly on a zeppelin to a school and retrieve his twelve-year-old daughter. The adventure starts as the PCs are on the zeppelin, cruising to their destination, when another zeppelin or a roc attacks. After the PCs finally make it to the school, they find many of the students, but not the one that they are looking for. She's staging her own rebellion against the school, but the only real territory she controls is in the dungeon-like catacombs under the school. The PCs head into the darkness to make contact with her while trying to maintain relations with the school faculty...
3. There is a dispute between canon law and royal law. A spellbound commoner has taken shelter in a church, and the kingsmen want to seize him and execute him. The PCs must act as intermediaries. This is not easy to do when people on the church's ground start dying at the rate of one per night. The PCs must investigate, deal with the threat within the church, and repair relations between the church and the throne - or seize upon the situation to advance their own agenda.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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You should consider how you are going to handle inspirations. It is important that they are to some degree connected to the plot. So I would either recommend that you let the players create their characters first and base your game on the inspirations they come up with, or make the players take at least one inspiration relevant to the plot you have planned. If you are planning to make the game revolve around taking down a cruel noble, all players could be required to have an inspiration to that effect.
Game openers that I have used:
One shot: All characters are in love with this famous courtesan. And they are not alone, she has a large following of men who compete for her attention. Each night this beautiful woman descend from her quarters and chose one among the that will entertain her this evening. Dressed in their best clothes they wait for her to appear, but this night the waiting is interrupted by the sounds of a woman screaming from her chambers. It turns out that someone has kidnapped their love. Dark silhouettes are seen on the rooftops and a chase ensues. This soon turns into a melee as some of the kidnappers turn on the chasers. The fight rages above the streets, and the woman is taken to a church tower where a zeppelin is waiting. Death defying leaps lands the heroes on the deck of the escaping zeppelin and they are confronted by the real villain, a Weremage that wants the the courtesan for himself. In my game it ended when the warrior defeated the mage, managed to land the crashing zeppelin in a park and won a kiss from his love. This is one of the few times a session I've run where the game had a real winner :)
Several-shot: You are now the Duke. You look at the fires raging through your father's palace and know for certain that nobody can survive an inferno like that. The enemies came in the night, and took you all by surprise. Your servants woke you up and raced you through the escape tunnels to this boat. You wanted to fight, but you were told that your survival was all that mattered. As your small sailing vessel slowly drifts down the river towards the sea despair overcomes you. Who is behind this attack? Who have the power to destroy your powerful house in one night? All look to you, the magister, the captain, your body guard and the rest of your servants. You wipe your tears and straighten your back. You are the Duke, even if your duchy only is a small sailing vessel and a handful of servants. You will go into exile, and you will discover who is behind this atrocity. And you will have your revenge.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Thanks Guys
There is a lot I can mine from here and I am sure this will be helpful to others just buying the new version.
The point about inspirations is well made. I will think about that carefully.
Chris
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Rank: Advanced Member
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In addition to planning around or with Inspirations you should also really consider the relatively unique Tenor of Spellbound Kingdoms.
SB is 1. High Fantasy (i.e. lots of magic and monsters), 2. Steam punkish (hand guns, zeppelins, submersibles), 3. Over-the-top Metal (Level 1 Mages can summon a Decent Cat which on a bad role slaughters the party, People are Raised by Wolves, a failed spell can change everyone into Drakes for an hour, etc)... :)
My point here is make sure what ever first game you have show cases something that no other Fantasy game has.
If it is a Wain full of poisonous snarling German shepherd sized raptors and their four bored surly handlers, a hoard of human headed millipedes, or some outlandish Engineer's device... these are hooks into the setting. Best is if the Players get to have use of it.
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Jason
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