1. The Tohr-Kreen Empire invade the Tablelands. I've done this once, but I'm getting an idea how to do this better next time.
2. Ancient Rhulisti, twisted from their time out away from Athas, return. Vindictive, they begin a massive terraforming project with their lifeshaped technology to bring back the world they once knew. I'm modelling these off of the Yuusong Vong from Star Wars - sadistic/masochistic, life-tech creatures who graft and combine all kinds of things together, and I believe were, in part, modelled after the Rhulisti, as several of the Dark Sun writers/designers went on to Star Wars after DS was cut off by TSR. Basically, work off of the space Halflings, but take it to an evil place and twist it to my kind of fun for a campaign.
3. Rajaat breaks free from the prison, and begins his own demented plans once more to make the Blue Age in his image.
4. The Deadlands attack the Tablelands.
5. The known threat and problems of the Sorcerer-Kings (and the unknown threat of the return of a few of them).
6. (if Dregoth Ascending ever gets released, I might rework this) The Dregoth Problem. I like having him with Dray and denziens of Hell in his armies - bringing creatures not yet seen on Athas before.
Basically, the characters would have small adventures that may allude to different greater story arcs - like some ancient rhulisti relic that when deciphered, mentions an ancient, forgotten society of Rhulisti who left Athas behind, or were rather ejected by the rest for their immoral interest in pain and suffering, but swore to eventually return. Or stumbling upon some Dray and trying to track down what they are, and where they come from. Or in the process of discovering the cause/epicenter of the Great Earthquake, they find the Great Rift, that leads them into the Crimson Savannah. Ir they travel south based on rumors of ancient relics, and walk right into the Deadlands themselves.
I'm wanting to start small, and eventually build up. give a feel of the life around Athas, in the city-states, as well as out of them, while seeding hints of several possible stories to lead them into - they eventually, hopefully, bite and follow one (while the others still progress unknown to them), eventually leading to a massive battle where nobody is safe - all the stories clash together, potentially signalling the end of Athas all together, or a completely new beginning...
Oh, this isn't a campaign I hope to have the characters completed in within a year, maybe not even two. while they start low-level, I want to eventually lead them to epic levels, and even possibly have the opportunity for a couple of the characters to begin metamorphosis processes into Advanced Beings. I want a campaign that could revolutionize Dark Sun, and be a total change for the setting when it is finished - I'm talking the world would no longer be recognizeable - for either good or for bad. I'm going to make the sky the limit on the character designs - any class/race possible (within my rules), any alignment (within their own restrictions) - heck, I'm going to be using allegiences anyway, for flexability purposes.
The starting point is FY 10, after the events of the Prism Pentad - constantly starting players to go through those events has simply gotten too old for me :P
Originally posted by xlorepdarkhelm
2. Ancient Rhulisti, twisted from their time out away from Athas, return. Vindictive, they begin a massive terraforming project with their lifeshaped technology to bring back the world they once knew. I'm modelling these off of the Yuusong Vong from Star Wars - sadistic/masochistic, life-tech creatures who graft and combine all kinds of things together, and I believe were, in part, modelled after the Rhulisti, as several of the Dark Sun writers/designers went on to Star Wars after DS was cut off by TSR. Basically, work off of the space Halflings, but take it to an evil place and twist it to my kind of fun for a campaign.
That sounds like fun. Especially if this terraforming project start like it will actually succeed in bringing back a Green or Blue age... but it gradually becomes clear that they haven't thought things through, and at best they'll change nothing, and at worst they'll make things worse...
After all, there's precious little to work with on Athas. If you want to make a little Green/Blue Age area, you'd have to suck up resources from a vast area around it...
Xlor - sounds like a lot of fun, and a lot of work. Of course, that's why we're the GMs, right? Good ideas all around. One thing, have you ever read the Druuna series (good artwork, weeeeeeeiiiiiiiird story)?
In one of them (maybe all of them?), an ancient computer goes crazy and this massive, flesh thing is released, occasionally popping off smaller (elephant-sized) pieces of itself. What if the Messenger was actually a huge, life-shaped creature, the merged remnants of the rhulisti, now insane. When it crashes into the planet, they begin the attack.
It would give them a central location (instead of the ID4 method of huge ships all over the place - and then your characters would have to come up with a computer virus...for alien computers...written in C...I digress
), and would give them a weakness the PCs could exploit (always important).because to start small in a campaign and lead to the big picture is my favorite way of doing things
i think that the kreen seem like the next logical threat (due to our lack of info concerning the dead lands), but the question is whether the rhul will beat them back into the savannah or vicea versa (depends on how you want the campaign to go)(i would love to run such a battle in warhammer fantasy battle)
i have been working with the idea that their civilization used to be around the base of the dragon crown mountains(in the past... the great one used the psionitrix to call the kreen there) chak'sa
now that the rift is open... the kreen are begining to, slowly, expand up into the hinterlands. my players are headed to pterran vale/lost scale... twin cities of lizards after celik (wish i had more info but i will let my players run amok until they discover that it is not a good place to chill)
Originally posted by vader42xx
Sorry to run off topic but I've got a question regarding the Rhulisti and I thought you might be able to answer it for me. Where did this term come from? I've seen it in Windriders and Psionic Artifacts (and I know they are the ancient halflings) but when did they get this name (ie: in what product was it first printed)? Thanks for the help.
Windriders of the Jagged Cliffs. rhulisti = ancient, blue-age Halflings. The Windriders are Rhul-Thaun, the decendants of the Rhulisti, and the closest thing to them.
Originally posted by Korvar
That sounds like fun. Especially if this terraforming project start like it will actually succeed in bringing back a Green or Blue age... but it gradually becomes clear that they haven't thought things through, and at best they'll change nothing, and at worst they'll make things worse...
After all, there's precious little to work with on Athas. If you want to make a little Green/Blue Age area, you'd have to suck up resources from a vast area around it...
actually, in the spirit of the Yuusong Vong, I'm making it almost impossible to figure out what their race is - due to the genetic changes and grafting of creatures onto themselves, they love pain - both recieving and causing, to the point that all of their equipment causes it, they also want to terraform Athas to be something they like - and don't care if there's anything there when they start. They aren't making a blue Age that the people/creatures still on the world would be able to survive - they plan on wiping everything out down there, and start with a clean slate. However, the denziens of Athas are not exactly thrilled over this idea. The invaders abhor psionics, and want to eradicate that "abberation" from their world, and they are mostly immune to arcane magic..
Note - they don't consider the feral Halflings or even Rhul-Thaun as members of their own race, more like de-evolved genetic throwbacks no bretter than anything else. However, they don't have problems with experimenting with species and seeing if there is any benefits they can gain and add to themselves through genetic manipulation and grafting (basically, life-shaping). In some ways - Rajaat is better than these things. At least Rajaat wanted the Halflings to survive...
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
Xlor - sounds like a lot of fun, and a lot of work. Of course, that's why we're the GMs, right? Good ideas all around. One thing, have you ever read the Druuna series (good artwork, weeeeeeeiiiiiiiird story)?
In one of them (maybe all of them?), an ancient computer goes crazy and this massive, flesh thing is released, occasionally popping off smaller (elephant-sized) pieces of itself. What if the Messenger was actually a huge, life-shaped creature, the merged remnants of the rhulisti, now insane. When it crashes into the planet, they begin the attack.
It would give them a central location (instead of the ID4 method of huge ships all over the place - and then your characters would have to come up with a computer virus...for alien computers...written in C...I digress
Actually, I'm working witht he concept that irt is not nearly as easyto find their weaknesses. They begin their terraforming efforts awayfrom the Tablelands, but begin to abduct people across the Tablelands, and end up with the powers that be getting concerned - trying a variety of means to stop them. They are mostly immune to Arcane magic - but divine magic isn't as affected - and they abhor Psionics (preferring to kill anyone who begins to manifest a power), but aren't immune to it. Their armor and weapons are quite literally life-shaped creatures that are grown on their ships - and using their equipment inflicts pain on the user - almost incapacitating amounts of pain to the user..
Originally posted by kefka
is this going to be epic level or a string like freedom --> dragons crown
because to start small in a campaign and lead to the big picture is my favorite way of doing things
i think that the kreen seem like the next logical threat (due to our lack of info concerning the dead lands), but the question is whether the rhul will beat them back into the savannah or vicea versa (depends on how you want the campaign to go)(i would love to run such a battle in warhammer fantasy battle)
i have been working with the idea that their civilization used to be around the base of the dragon crown mountains(in the past... the great one used the psionitrix to call the kreen there) chak'sa
now that the rift is open... the kreen are begining to, slowly, expand up into the hinterlands. my players are headed to pterran vale/lost scale... twin cities of lizards after celik (wish i had more info but i will let my players run amok until they discover that it is not a good place to chill)
It will - as I said - start small, and built up to something epic, and then something beyond even that. And you're possibly missing my point here - all of these threats will be building at the same time, leading to an overwhelming climax - some reach conclusion before others, however.
While the Kreen are a cool threat to have - they are but one. Andropinis returning from the Black, Tek possessing his "son", reclaiming Draj, then starting a campaign to gain new towns - by attacking the villages of the wastes, these can be pretty nasty things too - and possibly not quite so epic as the Kreen quite yet. The Deadlands should be coming out relatively soon (in Athas.org terms), as they at leats were working on releasing Secrets of the Deadlands. But I have ideas for that area as well.
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
You could go with a life-shaper/life-bender arc. The way I've run things is that the zik-chil are actually the life-benders, banished to the crimson savanna. Now the life-benders are testing their borders and the life-shapers have returned (albeit as a big, amorphous, insane blob) and the Tablelands are caught in between. Could be a very interesting campaign; you'll have to keep us informed of how it goes.
I've done that too - and when I have the Rhulisti Invaders come, the Zik-Zhil and Tohr-Kreen have their racial/genetic memories kick in, and they remember their ancient enemies - which is when I'm thinking they either will start their war, or will resume it after being fought back - with renewed vigor. I already had plans that the Tohr-Kreen were testing the borders - especially around the Great Rift area, for invasion - they don't really remember why it is so important to invade the Tablelands, only the Zik-Chil have a memory that there was something important about it, and thus they guide the Tohr-Kreen there, with the belief that once they have it again, their Genetic Memory will fill in the gaps.
Yes, the Zik-Chil are the Nature-Benders in my setting - or rather, the decendants of what once was the Nature Benders, who, after finding the ancient forefathers of the Kreen Species, they manipulated them genetically to breed a race of powerful mantis-men warriors, then made themselves somewhat in the image of the Kreen as well - but wih modifications. They even gave themselves the ever-so-useful Genetic Memory of their "pet" race, and began to rely on it - which was their downfall - after thousands of years, the genetic memories have degraded - and they don't really remember who or what they were. All they know is they must capture the Tablelands - they even have this as an almost instinctual desire of their Kreen, who have become expansionistic - to the extreme.
I then had that there was a group of Kreen, broken from this, who wished to leave the Empire - and were enslaved instead. Tortured by the tohr-Kreen and Zik-Chil (who also had discovered how to make Zik-Trin at this point) to attempt to "retrain" them to be part of the society, they were eventually freed by "The Great One" and an Avangion - who led them out of the Crimson Savannah and into the Tablelands, where they had a golden civilization of Thri-Kreen until the Sorcerer-Kings destroyed it and scattered the Thri-kreen, who now roam the wastes. and, well, I've already covered in another post who I have as the Avangion who helped them.
feel free...
but i thought that the idea was to deal with one threat to athas at a time?
rhul are here
rhul get gready
rhul kill ocean <--threat
rhul atone by "leaving" the planet
new races thrive
pyreen are a new race
bad pyreen born
rajaat creates magic <--threat
rajaat starts a klan <-- threat
klan leaders find they are puppets
kill klan leader
klan rules the land <--threat
and so on...
but only one threat comes to the fore at a time...
though i think that the idea is great... is it realistic in the proposition that all of these separate factions would vie for power at the same time?
Originally posted by kefka
no xlorep, i didn't miss the point... you want to go all "california" on athas (sink it into the sea or something) and start over as something different...?
feel free...
but i thought that the idea was to deal with one threat to athas at a time?
rhul are here
rhul get gready
rhul kill ocean <--threat
rhul atone by "leaving" the planet
new races thrive
pyreen are a new race
bad pyreen born
rajaat creates magic <--threat
rajaat starts a klan <-- threat
klan leaders find they are puppets
kill klan leader
klan rules the land <--threat
and so on...
but only one threat comes to the fore at a time...
though i think that the idea is great... is it realistic in the proposition that all of these separate factions would vie for power at the same time?
Cute - but I was gonna work off of an idea to continue it this way:
Tec posseses his "son", and resumes his totalitarian leadership of Draj,. kills the house of the mind, and begins to assault various villages across the Tablelands.
Kreen being to move, army needed from Tablelands to defeat this threat and push it back.
Kreen war
Dregoth strikes then, and claims Raam, leaving the city as a new outpost for his allies, while they divide the population between slaves for his allies (The baatzeu - I have it thaty his gate connects to the 9th level of hell), and his own twisted expiraments. This happens in conjunction with the Kreen war - thus catching everyone off-gard while defenses are down.
Kreen war ends, Dregoth's trechery causes new uproar.
Andropinis returns - reclaims Balic
Dregoth begins his ascention process - the sorcerer-Kings (Tec, Andy, the Oba, Hamanu, Nibs) send the group to deal with this threat - possibly alluding that there is something else taking their energy to deal with.
Dregoth defeated, flees. Rumor and evidence shows he possibly had begun to make contacts with some bizarre nations to the south. group (hopefully) heads down there, and accidentally alerts the Deadlands to the existence of the Tyr Region, they begin to prepare for the march north.
Rhulisti are found to have returned - the Sorcerer-Kings have been working to keep them away from the Tablelands, and more specifically, the Pristine Tower. Possibly one dies from this? Rhulisti begin to push harder into the Tablelands.
Kreen Empire begins to advance on the Rhulisti, seemingly coming to the aid of the people they were fighting against.
Dregoth, after licking his wounds, seeks revenge on those who disrupted his plans. He sends Dray and baatzeu against the group. He also begins to make an alliance with the Deadlands.
Kreen Empire now extends well into the Tablelands - however they are working with the people there to fight off the Rhulisti Invaders - the Zik-Chil begin to reveal what they know of it, and assist the Sorcerer-Kings.
Sadira's spells fail while everyone's busy with something else, and Rajaat slips out of the hollow, and heads east across the Silt Sea, the Cerulean Storm and whatever remains of Tithian goes with him.
Rajaat initially appears to be helping the Rhulisti Invaders - and thus causes a panic amongst all of the Sorcerer-Kings - Dregoth included. they invaritably stop everything else, and focus on the new Rajaat threat - and more are slain in the process. the denziens of hell back out of Dregoth's pact with them, and begin to slaughter the dray in New Giustenal, claiming it for their own as well, along with the portal. Baatzeu begin a war against the world of Athas.
Dregoth, now without most of his Dray, strengthens his alliance with the Deadlands, enlisting them to fight off the Rhulisti, the Devils, and Rajaat.
Rajaat is fought back again, only not captured. He goes into hiding, and returns, attacking the Rhulisti, who he feels betrayed him.
and so on...
I know, some of it seems a bit contrieved, but I'm still knocking out the details.
I was going to Irikos as the being spear heading his re-release.
--Sysane, The Terror of Urik
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
Oooo! A "release the Rajaat" campaign. Have to admit that I've threatened this one before, but that's kind of like unleashing a living god on the world. With so many champions toasted, and the most powerful of them (Dregoth and Borys) under wraps or out of the picture, it's going to be damn hard to put that genie back in his bottle.
Hehe the thing is - Rajaat doesn't know what to make of these Invaders - they want basically the same thing he does, but are also prone to using/manipulating him. As they are pretty close to immune to his magic, it makes them harder to control or for him to kill. They see him as a loose cannon, but effective, however end up setting him up to be conquered & captured by the Sorcerer-Kings: Tectuktitulay, Andropinis, Lalai-Puy, Hamanu, Nibenay, Dregoth & Daskinor. Dregoth, by that time, had already finally figured out his final change, and is now a stage-4 undead Dragon. I was planning on several Cleric-elementals (who remained hidden until recently) even assisting in this defeat of Rajaat, and possibly the help of some Spirits of the Land (possibly - I'm still deciding about this). Meanwhile, the Rhulisti Invasion has the peoples of the Tablelands, the tohr-Kreen empire, the denziens of the Deadlands, and the surviving Dray against them, the Legions of Hell have other Dray, and denziens of the Deadlands out to stop them. Rajaat flees all of this through the portal in New giustenal, and finds the Outer Planes. When he returns - he quite literally is a living god - and is even more powerful, with vengeance against the Rhulisti fresh on his mind.
Basically, the primary evils at that point are Rajaat, the Rhulisti Invaders, and the Armies of Hell. Below them are the Sorcerer-Kings, the denziens of the Deadlands, and the Tohr-Kreen Empire. There's a lot going on, with the characters having to decide which evil they'd rather work with and which they'd rather try to fight off. the Veiled Alliance in the cities are not much help - for all their plotting and scheming against the Sorcerer-Kings, they really have stagnated over the years. Oronis himself is also trying to work in the backgroun, with a few Spirits of the Land, and possibly making a couple other alliances, attempting to either fight off the new terraforming project of the Invaders, or using it to bring back the Green Age, and revitalize the world while everyone else is busy.
Plenty of things going on that the players could take several different avenues and/or approaches, and hopefully change the course of total destruction athas is heading to, and (possibly) start a whole new world as a result.
--Sysane, The Terror of Urik
Even so, really releasing Rajaat, not just once, but twice (!) is ballsy. My hat's off to you.
Originally posted by Sysane
"Going to have Irikos" that is. Thats what I get for posting and working at the same time
--Sysane, The Terror of Urik
Yea, I was gonna have Irikos do the same, and help release his master - the characters may or may not deal with this - it's going to possibly be a surprise to many people.
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
I ran a campaign where Rajaat was almost released. Basically, when Sacha and Wyan were "killed" they were able to reform their bodies and then reclaim their kingdoms. They immediately set about releasing their former master. Of course, the SKs are unaware this is going on and only timely interference by the PCs stalled the plan.
Even so, really releasing Rajaat, not just once, but twice (!) is ballsy. My hat's off to you.
Hmm.... Sacha and Wyan also helping. that would be col. Sacha, Wyan and Irikos go off, and secretly free their master Rajaat from his prison, the lava pit that the Dark Lens was thrown in, thanks to the Cerulean Storm, has cooled, and has merged with his bones to become a new obsidian-like skeleton for the virtual living god - empowering him even further. I tend to agree with Lynn Abbey on this point - throwing the Dark Lens away where they did was really, truely dumb. Definitely a "Blonde Moment" of Sadira's, and the SK's must have been in a state of shock at the time to not catch it from being done. Throwing, what basically is cooled lava-glass into a pool of lava, with who knows WHAT power in the artifact, just really baffles me. And one of the purposes of the Cerulean Storm, in my design, was to cool the lava of the Valley of Dust and Fire, and basically forge the new skeleton of Rajaat.
I think the only way I would is that they were still disembodied heads (they are udead of a sort after all) that were manipulating some fool defiler to their own ends.
--Sysane, The Terror of Urik
Originally posted by Sysane
I never saw the use in bringing back Sacha and Wyan. At least beyond their bodiless forms.
I think the only way I would is that they were still disembodied heads (they are udead of a sort after all) that were manipulating some fool defiler to their own ends.
--Sysane, The Terror of Urik
I was thinking more along the lines of them possessing some other dead bodies, and reanimating them as their own - similar to how I have liches do in my other games, based off of ideas from the Ravenloft novels for Azalin the Lich. basically, their mind remains intact, but their bodies are freshly-dead from someone else.
I've also been thinking that the Champions of Rajaat cannot truely be killed - except by Rajaat or Hamanu's hand. And even then, if the champion is prepared, they could have a spell be readied to keep them around - ala Dregoth and Tectuktitulay. As I like the idea that Kalak's a fraud (not a REAL champion), he was permanently killed in the events of the Verdant Passage. but Sacha & Wyan are both reach Champions. Kalid-Ma's mind is trapped in 5 obsidian orbs, and thus can't return (gotta love those damnedably manipulating dark powers and how they throw kinks into the best laid plans...) until they are reunited. sielba's very much dead by Hamanu's hand (who I think she may not have believed would do that - I think she might have honestly liked or loved Hamanu, and had gotten too close to the Final Champion - and he killed her - maybe his unholy desires got the better of him?). Dregoth had his contingency, Tec had one too. Abalach-Re didn't have one - she doesn't seem to me to be someone who so much plans for the future as she lives the day, and for the pleasures of the moment instead. Borys may have even had a contingency - the question is - would he have expected Rajaat to be released, with his spell intact and functioning, even after his 100 year rampage, Rajaat was in his prison. Borys might have gotten overconfident - and that was his downfall. And Myron, like Sielba, was consumed by the unholy hunger of Hamanu, and thus is permanently bye-bye.
There are dragon kings on the far side of the Silt Sea, but they did not choose to rise up against Rajaat and imprison him. They also didn't want to stop the champions, however, seeing a better opportunity for themselves. They let the ripe Tablelands go and halted their own campaigns on the far side of the Sunrise Sea.
There were five of them, one being Rajaat's main critter creator (think So-uts, Nightmare Beasts, and things like that - things that don't seem to have a logical origin in mutation; possibly the originator of the dragon process or worked on it with Dregoth). During Borys' rage, he immediately attacked these "neutral" dragons, and managed to kill one, razing its city, but Borys was slapped back by Rajaat's critter-maker, a "True" 30th level dragon (no short cuts for this one).
He's an interesting character, and I'll give you a taste: he's so large, his palace, and a portion of the city is built around him (he's fat). He cannot move, but his command of magic and the Way is probably unmatched on Athas (except the obvious exception of Rajaat, although it would be close).
He does not play any part of Rajaat's imprisonment, but now, with the death of Borys, is starting to "test the borders." His desire to reach out and touch someone is going to run head-long into my PCs curiousity of what lies on that far side (they just hit the beach, losing one player in the process: the guy was a monster creator and didn't want to be disturbed by Borys or his buddies - the monsters on that shore were a LOT of fun).
Still haven't decided whether I'll actually release the Rajaat or not, though. The way I have Rajaat sketched out, there is nothing on Athas that could stop him now (remember he was never released in my campaign - Tithian failed).
I've also been thinking that the Champions of Rajaat cannot truely be killed - except by Rajaat or Hamanu's hand.
I've taken a similar track: Champions can be trapped, ala Sacha and Wyan, never truly dying they are powerless to put their contingency spells into effect, but they cannot be killed by any conventional means. Any wizard worth their salt will have contingency spells in effect in the unlikely event they are killed. Any SK "killed" by a non-Rajaat or non-Hamanu is on their way back via Clone spell or similar power.
I only had one dragon in the regions. It was Rajaat's first attempt at creating a champion which didn't turn out to successfully hence why it fled to the east.
--Sysane, The Terror of Urik
Here one i made and my PC really enjoyed
- The party discover a slave tribe in a oasis. But at the same time, they an infestation of Ankheg under the oasis, so the slave ask the pc to get ride olf them. My Pc actually flooded the Ankheg tunnel by digging a cannal from the pool to the Ankheg tunnel. Then, they learn that these Ankheg are under the control of a defiler who was once the owner of these slave. In fact, the defiler released his slave to this tribe, making them believe they had escaped. But what the defiler wanted was that the slave harvest the oasis so it get bigger with field (food) and all, so he can someday return back to this oasis and use all this place to gain more defiling power. The PC had to catch the defiler before he arrive at the oasis and kill or stop him.
Here's a taste:
The players started in Balic, working on the King's docks. They got mixed up in a few minor plots involving rival traders, but nothing serious - more pranks than real combat. Then the King took off on some important mission and the city gradually devolved into chaos. The PCs got out and went to Ledopolous. There, they had a few adventures, tried to help with the bridge, decided it was too much work, and pushed on to Tyr. In Tyr, they tracked down what was happening to missing children in the Warrens. In return, they received a few hints to something lying under the Black Sands. They tracked that down and went through a series of adventures involving the Black Sand Raiders and the Silt Stalkers (minor players of both). And so on.
It was a very gradual process. It's not like I up and said: "Kalak calls you (1st level characters) into his chambers and says, 'Go across the sea and fight the big monster that lives over there.'" I've been GMing for the better part of 20 years: I've gotten pretty good at it.
Basically I want a long term campaign, I have yet to this day been able to run a long term campaign, it usually lasts for a few months then dies, multiple reasons for the dying out. I'm hoping to get all the rules done and laid out and then get a second DM to run encounters and help me with adventures while I tell most of the story, doing this will enable me to keep interest since I have a little issue with trying to tell the story as well as come up with good encounters for the party, the latter I'm not real good at but can hold my own.
Basically it's going to start at low levels and keep going into Epic.
I will probably use the rhulisti idea that xlorep and I talked about last night since I think this would be a wicked cultural war to run on Athas and will cause a lot of chaos in the end.
The PCs will then have to pick sides, either deal with the new threat and accept the old way of things, or help take out the SMs and deal with the new way the crazed rhulisti want things. Doing the latter will eventually release Rajaat, and once he sees what is going on, he will probably form his own side with the remaining rhulisti he has that was trapped in the Black and take out the crazed rhulisti since they would be an abomination in his eyes.
Then you have the kreen, after the psionatix freaking them up and causing all sorts of problems, and the zik-chil learning about their mortal enemies the rhulisti getting free, I think they would stage an all out invasion at this point, just doing little skirmishes here and there before then.
Then we have the Deadlands which, at this point isn't a threat since they think the rest of Athas is the same way as their little area and that they are the only survivors, but then you run the Emissary adventure, and this changes things. Looking for a way to clean up their little mess, or being jealous at how the rest of the world isn't like them (speculating at this point, haven't read all of SotDL yet) and going into all out war with the rest of the world somehow, because if I remember right, they can't leave the Deadlands. Will have to research that one more.
Then there is Dregoth, if he's even allowed to do remotely what he tries to do in DA, then Athas is in some serious trouble. I think at this point he would have made his prescence known, attacked Raam as a diversion so he could do what he has plans to do, then take over Raam permantly after a few months after the events of DA and then contemplates some things further while sending his dray out to transform any non-dray into dray, hence the "Day of Light".
Meanwhile Oronis is crying his eyes out and losing his mind before he finally decides to just hook up with Daskinor, drink a few cold ones with him, join his chaotic insanity club, and just sit back and fight for what's left of Athas.
The other SMs are too busy crapping their pants while this is all going on, not to mention what happens when Androponis, Sielba, Irikos, and Kalid-Ma's return.
It's going to be a grand ol party. :D
Originally posted by Pringles
This is all just high epic campaign, but you forget that you can make good campaign with little event that dont have really big impact on Athas.
Here one i made and my PC really enjoyed
- The party discover a slave tribe in a oasis. But at the same time, they an infestation of Ankheg under the oasis, so the slave ask the pc to get ride olf them. My Pc actually flooded the Ankheg tunnel by digging a cannal from the pool to the Ankheg tunnel. Then, they learn that these Ankheg are under the control of a defiler who was once the owner of these slave. In fact, the defiler released his slave to this tribe, making them believe they had escaped. But what the defiler wanted was that the slave harvest the oasis so it get bigger with field (food) and all, so he can someday return back to this oasis and use all this place to gain more defiling power. The PC had to catch the defiler before he arrive at the oasis and kill or stop him.
Well, except - what you have described there is an adventure - which isn't a bad idea, but it's not the same scope. what I'm talking about is a larger scope - a longer timeframe. A Campaign is made up of several Adventures, usually related. I'm talking about a Campaign that takes more than a year of playing (realtime) to achieve. I'm not talking about something that's over in a few sessions. I'm not even talking about something that's handled in a dozen gaming sessions. I start at the campaign level - with these different story arcs. For Adventures and such, I go by the seat of my pants, and I don't write anything out. It has a much more free-flowing feel to the game that way. I keep the campaign story arc in the back of my head, and track what each of the NPC's of any importance are doing through the campaign, and such. Adventures like what you presented, do very much exist in my campaigns. And in large quantity, I might add.
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
I'm exactly the same way. I've found that writing out a long adventure is generally a bad idea:
Same here, even though I like to do that as well.