I'm DMing for four of my friends, of which two of them have never played dnd before and this is supposed to be an intro to the system. One of them has played dread, so they have some form of experience with RPG. I've talked individually with all of them about what they kind of want from the one-shot and so far, we're looking at a dark fantasy mystery with a little bit of room for exploration and taking place in a somewhat modernish time-period.
What I have so far:
The group are all part of a summer camp called Camp Ravenfall (the name has no importance outside of being cool), and have phased into the mentorship side of things, but aren't considered actually camp councilors. while out canoeing one day their boat is capsized. some of them will get tangled up in seaweed, on a successful WIS save they'll realize the seaweed isn't seaweed but rather giant tentacles. assuming all things go to plan, they get away, but everything, of course, isn't quite right. One of the younger campers, Ryan, has been acting strangely, and Mr. Fletcher, the old crazy man, that lives on the campgrounds as well has been appearing more often. Then things begin to ramp up a little, Ryan's going on these small crimes, setting fire to the old man's house, choking one kid, and attempting to drag another off into the trail behind the camp houses. Basically, Ryan's been possed by this giant octopus-like being that's been living in the lake to do it's bidding, and get revenge on the old man.
Mr. Fletcher if the PCs decide to investigate is actually kind of the cause of all the problems, he's a collector, specifically of exotic goods and creatures, and among them was Algernon, the giant octopus he got at a convention. Things happened and Algernon escaped into the lake and has been tormenting him and campers ever since.
I don't really have an ending in hand other than that the PCs could kill Ryan or try and kill the octopus, in which I have two encounter areas this could occur. OR not complete the story at all due to time constraints.
My problem:
The most I have in terms of dark fantasy are Will-o-Wasp, that come out at night along the trail, a few specters that haunt some of the camp buildings, and things like crawling hands, and mimics inside Mr. Fletcher's house if they decide to enter it for clues.
SO,
What are some more elements of dark fantasy I could incorporate into the adventure, and what are ways I could include the ability for the group to have weapons already on hand. (one idea that came to mind while writing this is that instead of being mentors the PCs are actually kinda like hired security for the camp.)
Another thing to keep in mind they'll be playing level 1 or 2 characters, so monsters will have to be scaled down or created from scratch.
What you've described so far sounds more like a Dread game than a DnD game, are you asking for generic information or for DnD specific information?
Questions:
how will your character's classes fit into the above scenario at all
how will magic affect what they know (ie detect magic)
Are you using pre-generated characters, if so what are they ?
While the setting and situation sound creepy and interesting, as a GM I think you should have a better sense as to what the possible resolutions for this are.
Also, what is engaging the characters? What stops them from just leaving the area? What motivations would they have to continue instead of just running for their lives.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
That was definitely one of my other delimma's in that the game was more functional as a Dread game than 5e, qhich not what im aiming for at all. Love the game, but i specifically an aiming for introducing the 5e system.
they be making their own characters from scratch, and we'll be having a session zero to go over more of the group dynamic and personalities and such.
For resolutions I initially had the hope that they would decided to kill Algernon, possibly with Mr.Fletchers help or not, but i cant really account for them to come to that conclusion. but thats my ideal ending.
a thought I did have for why they couldnt leave was that there was an invisble barrier erected by ryan, however i didnt like how railroading that was. so, im back at square one for that issue. another option could be the lead camp councilor is threatening to cut their funding and this is an opprunity to show how needed they are. and lastly, i had the idea that Algernon could be slowly taking over their minds, turning them into reclutant thralls, so its either become a thrall or kill him.
in terms of classes, assuming i was going down the "security" team route then its of course understandable for why you would have a team of 'skilled' (more like the camp could only afford to get low level mercs) fighters.
I'm not sure what you mean by how magic affects what they know, can you elaborate more?
How about something like this to help. One of your characters may have a connection to one of the campers, so as once things start going badly, they feel need to rescue that camper (and perhaps all campers) -- so their motivation to stay is to save everyone, or if they flee, they still want to save as many as possible.
As night rolls in, you can have things animate, ie twig blights around camp buildings. will o wisps giving false light. Perhaps a skeleton or two of some critters animate.
Those can all lend to the increasing chaos as to "what is happening".
If you go fully lovecraftian, you can have people/campers begin to act very irrationally while possessed or horrified. Perhaps the party can find remedies for that (including killing Algernon, or perhaps negotiating with Algernon).
Does that help any?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
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Hey, guys so basic rundown:
I'm DMing for four of my friends, of which two of them have never played dnd before and this is supposed to be an intro to the system. One of them has played dread, so they have some form of experience with RPG. I've talked individually with all of them about what they kind of want from the one-shot and so far, we're looking at a dark fantasy mystery with a little bit of room for exploration and taking place in a somewhat modernish time-period.
What I have so far:
The group are all part of a summer camp called Camp Ravenfall (the name has no importance outside of being cool), and have phased into the mentorship side of things, but aren't considered actually camp councilors. while out canoeing one day their boat is capsized. some of them will get tangled up in seaweed, on a successful WIS save they'll realize the seaweed isn't seaweed but rather giant tentacles. assuming all things go to plan, they get away, but everything, of course, isn't quite right. One of the younger campers, Ryan, has been acting strangely, and Mr. Fletcher, the old crazy man, that lives on the campgrounds as well has been appearing more often. Then things begin to ramp up a little, Ryan's going on these small crimes, setting fire to the old man's house, choking one kid, and attempting to drag another off into the trail behind the camp houses. Basically, Ryan's been possed by this giant octopus-like being that's been living in the lake to do it's bidding, and get revenge on the old man.
Mr. Fletcher if the PCs decide to investigate is actually kind of the cause of all the problems, he's a collector, specifically of exotic goods and creatures, and among them was Algernon, the giant octopus he got at a convention. Things happened and Algernon escaped into the lake and has been tormenting him and campers ever since.
I don't really have an ending in hand other than that the PCs could kill Ryan or try and kill the octopus, in which I have two encounter areas this could occur. OR not complete the story at all due to time constraints.
My problem:
The most I have in terms of dark fantasy are Will-o-Wasp, that come out at night along the trail, a few specters that haunt some of the camp buildings, and things like crawling hands, and mimics inside Mr. Fletcher's house if they decide to enter it for clues.
SO,
What are some more elements of dark fantasy I could incorporate into the adventure, and what are ways I could include the ability for the group to have weapons already on hand. (one idea that came to mind while writing this is that instead of being mentors the PCs are actually kinda like hired security for the camp.)
Another thing to keep in mind they'll be playing level 1 or 2 characters, so monsters will have to be scaled down or created from scratch.
What you've described so far sounds more like a Dread game than a DnD game, are you asking for generic information or for DnD specific information?
Questions:
While the setting and situation sound creepy and interesting, as a GM I think you should have a better sense as to what the possible resolutions for this are.
Also, what is engaging the characters? What stops them from just leaving the area? What motivations would they have to continue instead of just running for their lives.
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Dnd specific.
That was definitely one of my other delimma's in that the game was more functional as a Dread game than 5e, qhich not what im aiming for at all. Love the game, but i specifically an aiming for introducing the 5e system.
they be making their own characters from scratch, and we'll be having a session zero to go over more of the group dynamic and personalities and such.
For resolutions I initially had the hope that they would decided to kill Algernon, possibly with Mr.Fletchers help or not, but i cant really account for them to come to that conclusion. but thats my ideal ending.
a thought I did have for why they couldnt leave was that there was an invisble barrier erected by ryan, however i didnt like how railroading that was. so, im back at square one for that issue. another option could be the lead camp councilor is threatening to cut their funding and this is an opprunity to show how needed they are. and lastly, i had the idea that Algernon could be slowly taking over their minds, turning them into reclutant thralls, so its either become a thrall or kill him.
in terms of classes, assuming i was going down the "security" team route then its of course understandable for why you would have a team of 'skilled' (more like the camp could only afford to get low level mercs) fighters.
I'm not sure what you mean by how magic affects what they know, can you elaborate more?
Cool, thanks for the clarification.
How about something like this to help. One of your characters may have a connection to one of the campers, so as once things start going badly, they feel need to rescue that camper (and perhaps all campers) -- so their motivation to stay is to save everyone, or if they flee, they still want to save as many as possible.
As night rolls in, you can have things animate, ie twig blights around camp buildings. will o wisps giving false light. Perhaps a skeleton or two of some critters animate.
Those can all lend to the increasing chaos as to "what is happening".
If you go fully lovecraftian, you can have people/campers begin to act very irrationally while possessed or horrified. Perhaps the party can find remedies for that (including killing Algernon, or perhaps negotiating with Algernon).
Does that help any?
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"