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Just some campaign premises I've been evaluating, in no particular order.
D&D, exploring a fantasy moon + the Star Frontiers aliens
In an old Mystara module I ran across the idea of a well that, once a year, extends a ladder up to the moon. The premise is the party climbs up and discovers a lunar world reminiscent of Sword and Sandal planetary romances. The gimmick is that there are no humans, elves, dwarves or any of the standard races up there - only the excellent core four alien races of the old Star Frontiers game: dralasites, yazirians, vrusk and sathar (I might replace the yazirians with the sesheyans from Alternity). Only a few natives have ever seen a human or anything like one, so sessions are likely to take on Star Trek first encounter vibes as well.
The creepiest thing in town (system to be determined)
Intended for duet campaigns online (one player, one GM). In a pleasant fictional town of a fictional modern world, the player is a creepy supernatural thing of their choice: they choose their powers, needs and weaknesses. It could be something standard like a vampire, or some totally unique mythical nightstalker. The GM then swears never to bring another supernatural entity into the campaign unless the character seeks one out. This way the player can truly revel in being the coolest, scariest entity in the plot. They are not invincible however, as a team of humans will always be able to overcome them if they are not careful, and semi-covert monster hunting teams do roam the night.
D&D, the Foolish Wishes of Pantagargo
In a standard D&D world, there exists an artifact that can reshape a region of reality into that which pleases its owner. Its current owner is the ogre war criminal Pantagargo, who acquired it through pure chance and has used it to turn a secluded valley into a personal paradise fitted to his brutish neuroses. The players will naturally want to take the artifact from the short-sighted tyrant and put it to better use. The goal here is to have a pretext for the players explore the sort of wacky environments that fill 2D platforming games: palaces made of candy filled with chocolate soldiers, mountains of giant sausages and tasty pig monsters, a labyrinth of oversized luxury bathtubs and interconnecting pipes, tropical islands floating on clouds, an endless portrait gallery dedicated to the ogre's magnificence, etc. Pantagargo himself is something of a Wario-like figure in this.
Mini-6 based modern action campaign with telepaths, proteans, and a little mecha
Another fictional modern world, but this time something closer to the 1980s and the fun action movies we associate with the decade. Players can lean toward crazy gunslinger tricks or martial arts, but can also invest in being one of two types of publicly recognized mutants: telepaths (low level mind-reading and influencing), or proteans (low level body-horror style shapeshifting and regeneration). Toss in some small scale mecha and I guess it's leaning toward Metal Gear Solid, but slightly less absurd and more upbeat (so I guess GI Joe / X-Men cartoon).
Wuxia, but in 16th Century France (stripped down 4th edition / 5th edition D&D hybrid)
I'm saddened by the paltry output of European swashbuckling in the past few decades compared to Asian martial arts stories, so how about some absolutely crazy, tactically challenging swordfights in my favorite period of French history? Every character would be a special 'Swordsman' class in a system that would be 5th edition D&D with some of the tactical mechanics and choices of of 4th edition (gasp!) mixed in. Each session would feature only one or two set-piece battles, but they would be doozies.
D&D, exploring a fantasy moon + the Star Frontiers aliens
In an old Mystara module I ran across the idea of a well that, once a year, extends a ladder up to the moon. The premise is the party climbs up and discovers a lunar world reminiscent of Sword and Sandal planetary romances. The gimmick is that there are no humans, elves, dwarves or any of the standard races up there - only the excellent core four alien races of the old Star Frontiers game: dralasites, yazirians, vrusk and sathar (I might replace the yazirians with the sesheyans from Alternity). Only a few natives have ever seen a human or anything like one, so sessions are likely to take on Star Trek first encounter vibes as well.
The creepiest thing in town (system to be determined)
Intended for duet campaigns online (one player, one GM). In a pleasant fictional town of a fictional modern world, the player is a creepy supernatural thing of their choice: they choose their powers, needs and weaknesses. It could be something standard like a vampire, or some totally unique mythical nightstalker. The GM then swears never to bring another supernatural entity into the campaign unless the character seeks one out. This way the player can truly revel in being the coolest, scariest entity in the plot. They are not invincible however, as a team of humans will always be able to overcome them if they are not careful, and semi-covert monster hunting teams do roam the night.
D&D, the Foolish Wishes of Pantagargo
In a standard D&D world, there exists an artifact that can reshape a region of reality into that which pleases its owner. Its current owner is the ogre war criminal Pantagargo, who acquired it through pure chance and has used it to turn a secluded valley into a personal paradise fitted to his brutish neuroses. The players will naturally want to take the artifact from the short-sighted tyrant and put it to better use. The goal here is to have a pretext for the players explore the sort of wacky environments that fill 2D platforming games: palaces made of candy filled with chocolate soldiers, mountains of giant sausages and tasty pig monsters, a labyrinth of oversized luxury bathtubs and interconnecting pipes, tropical islands floating on clouds, an endless portrait gallery dedicated to the ogre's magnificence, etc. Pantagargo himself is something of a Wario-like figure in this.
Mini-6 based modern action campaign with telepaths, proteans, and a little mecha
Another fictional modern world, but this time something closer to the 1980s and the fun action movies we associate with the decade. Players can lean toward crazy gunslinger tricks or martial arts, but can also invest in being one of two types of publicly recognized mutants: telepaths (low level mind-reading and influencing), or proteans (low level body-horror style shapeshifting and regeneration). Toss in some small scale mecha and I guess it's leaning toward Metal Gear Solid, but slightly less absurd and more upbeat (so I guess GI Joe / X-Men cartoon).
Wuxia, but in 16th Century France (stripped down 4th edition / 5th edition D&D hybrid)
I'm saddened by the paltry output of European swashbuckling in the past few decades compared to Asian martial arts stories, so how about some absolutely crazy, tactically challenging swordfights in my favorite period of French history? Every character would be a special 'Swordsman' class in a system that would be 5th edition D&D with some of the tactical mechanics and choices of of 4th edition (gasp!) mixed in. Each session would feature only one or two set-piece battles, but they would be doozies.
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