Hi, I haven't used a forum in years so forgive me any faux pas.
I'm planning on running a one-shot for my group of 4 years this october. We all know each others characters well so I decided I'd finally have us do a body swap episode like I've always wanted. Group consists of 1 barbarian, 1 sorcerer, 1 druid, and 2 bards. My group doesn't know about the premise yet, I can't wait to surprise them.
Premise is that they spot another airship like theirs in the distance, when they get close and presumably board, the magical stone (Mana stone) that powers the enemy ship rips out their souls, brands them, and returns them back to 'their' bodies, just in the wrong order. The captain of the ship, a very stereotypical pirate (also a Gith), explains that he siphons souls from war-torn areas to create faux mana crystals to sell at black markets across the solar system, and its unusual for soul to arrive with their bodies, hence the mix-up. He promises to swap them back after 10 years of service, and if anyone tries to physically attack him they immediately stop due to the brand on their soul preventing injury to the captain (maybe include all other attacks? like if they try to harm him emotionally they can only compliment him?). They can interact with some of the souls trapped in the mana crystal engine, and with some strong persuasion they could convince those souls to work for them in some capacity (TBD). There are two henchmen aboard who are loyal souls that work for the captain against any souls that conspire against him (tho these two are very underdeveloped atm and can be deleted if they just don't work).
This is where I need help. I know the beginning, I know the endgoal is to end him, everything in the middle is muddled tho. How can I better take advantage of this soulswap while they're on the ship? I want to ride the line between silly and spooky, with room for genuine horror if the occasion calls for it. I have a quirk for the captain that he collects novelty lighters in his travels, maybe he collects things like theme park attractions for the group to test skills on? thats kinda mid tho so idk, please help!
...across the solar system, ...He promises to swap them back after 10 years of service,
The simple answer is 10 years in space is not that long on the planet. And when done with the one shot campaign, it happens to equal 10 years in space.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hi, I haven't used a forum in years so forgive me any faux pas.
I'm planning on running a one-shot for my group of 4 years this october. We all know each others characters well so I decided I'd finally have us do a body swap episode like I've always wanted. Group consists of 1 barbarian, 1 sorcerer, 1 druid, and 2 bards. My group doesn't know about the premise yet, I can't wait to surprise them.
Premise is that they spot another airship like theirs in the distance, when they get close and presumably board, the magical stone (Mana stone) that powers the enemy ship rips out their souls, brands them, and returns them back to 'their' bodies, just in the wrong order. The captain of the ship, a very stereotypical pirate (also a Gith), explains that he siphons souls from war-torn areas to create faux mana crystals to sell at black markets across the solar system, and its unusual for soul to arrive with their bodies, hence the mix-up. He promises to swap them back after 10 years of service, and if anyone tries to physically attack him they immediately stop due to the brand on their soul preventing injury to the captain (maybe include all other attacks? like if they try to harm him emotionally they can only compliment him?). They can interact with some of the souls trapped in the mana crystal engine, and with some strong persuasion they could convince those souls to work for them in some capacity (TBD). There are two henchmen aboard who are loyal souls that work for the captain against any souls that conspire against him (tho these two are very underdeveloped atm and can be deleted if they just don't work).
This is where I need help. I know the beginning, I know the endgoal is to end him, everything in the middle is muddled tho. How can I better take advantage of this soulswap while they're on the ship? I want to ride the line between silly and spooky, with room for genuine horror if the occasion calls for it. I have a quirk for the captain that he collects novelty lighters in his travels, maybe he collects things like theme park attractions for the group to test skills on? thats kinda mid tho so idk, please help!
Im in the same situation now and wanted to figure out a silly yet exciting premise the included body swaping. Did you ever figure out the plot?
The simple answer is 10 years in space is not that long on the planet. And when done with the one shot campaign, it happens to equal 10 years in space.