Recently, my news feed somehow got hijacked by tabloids and strange news sources after an update. One of the headlines that I noticed from this mixup is that there is a plan to adapt the web novel Solo Leveling into a series and anime. Of course, just from the title, I got curious. It seems that I have been missing a source of entertainment and ideas. I didn't delve that deep, but I get the general idea of the genre: dungeons are appearing all over the world and people are trying to close/finish them in return for rewards and glory and prevent an apocalyptic event.
Now, I haven't had the time to indulge in comic books/manga for nearly a decade -- I don't have time for that -- but I remember one particular manga that has the same general premise albeit having a very different storyline focus. It's Magi: Labyrinth of Magic. An ancient civilization fell, and then, after a while, dungeons started appearing containing treasures or relics from this ancient civilization. The story was very intriguing, exploring a path to becoming a king and even delving into the fallen ancient civilization. It deals with topics of slavery, war, and even a little bit of exploration into a yet uncharted territory.
The Premise
So, then, I have an idea. Can this setting be made into a D&D campaign? Is it possible at all? I honestly have no idea how to use the world of Solo Leveling for a campaign. However, I can adapt a world similar to that of Magi into a setting perfect for D&D.
The premise of the setting is simple. There is an ancient civilization that fell hard because that seems to be a staple for this kind of genre. The gods, nobles, or powerful people from this civilization tried to preserve their legacy by doing forbidden magic of some sort. Then, a thousand or so years in the future, there's a world-changing event, a proto-wizard or some sort trying to awaken magic or something that called or unlocked the ancient civilization's legacy in the form of dungeons appearing all around the world. Each dungeon is like a separate demi-plane or realm or something filled with danger and wonder. People then began trying to conquer this place. Most perished, but a few (can be counted with two hands with fingers to spare) survived, gained powerful relics, and started influencing the world.
However, with such a setting, I can see limiting the character classes and focusing more on gritty realism instead of high fantasy may improve the story and tension. I can see banning the cleric class for PCs; there will be acleric as an NPC who has already conquered a dungeon. The world will mostly be non-magical, with magic being wielded only by those who conquered a dungeon. I also probably won't touch the topic of religion just so it won't clash with the setting too much; cults, of course, exist in some form or another just to add tension.
I think this will feel a lot like Dungeon of the Mad Mage but with a lot of tweaking, more world-building, and fewer combat encounters.
Interested?
The starting line of the story will be when a group of individuals enter a dungeon. I can think of starting as a peasant (without class), and then slowly gaining abilities (a class) through trials and tribulations within a dungeon. Or, we can start after each of you conquered a dungeon (obtaining a class) and team up to conquer another, higher-level dungeon. I don't have an overarching storyline yet, just a general setting and some ideas.
A reminder, this is an interest check thread and not a recruitment thread. I'm trying to gauge whether to go through with this setting or not. As additional info, I expect this will not be a high-level campaign, focusing more on RP and trickery instead of heavy combat, but still be a long campaign. I cannot see past level 10, maybe 15. Or, maybe we can even do a test run first, entering only a single dungeon and see what happens next.
As a final note, and I know that this is very restrictive, I probably will limit this to people in GMT+5 to GMT+9 if I decide to go ahead with it, just so we have roughly the same timezone from my own GMT+7. I've learned that time zone is very important to the pacing of PbP. However, if there are a lot of interested people outside this time zone, I can be persuaded to remove the time zone restriction.
Let me know if any of you are interested or have any questions.
I'm interested (but my timezone is GMT -6) - that said I work from home and check my PbP games at least daily if not several times a day. I have a half-orc (Barbarian if he's starting at Lvl 1.)
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Sadly, even though I'm GMT +5, my 3rd shift lifestyle means I'm well out of your window. So my interest wont really translate into an application but, just to throw in my two coppers, you should definitely pursue this idea!
I too am potentially interested but I would like to hear more about class restrictions. Are semi-magical classes also banned: Paladin, Ranger, arcane trickster, etc?
I too am potentially interested but I would like to hear more about class restrictions. Are semi-magical classes also banned: Paladin, Ranger, arcane trickster, etc?
I would argue that, assuming the PCs start at level one, anything that doesn't have spells at first level should be okay. Of course that's nowhere near my place to say but I'm squirreling this idea away to steal later and that's how I'd probably do it.
- possibly something similar to the Bronze Age Collapse which removed the prior civilizations and knowledge of advanced magic, and left the survivors scrabbling around in a late neolithic phase kind of?
I see quite a spread of time zones but don't worry about that. As I said in the post, if there is enough interest, I will open rec for any timezone, not just within the range I specified.
Now, about class and subclasses. The idea that I have is that there is a limited number of dungeons and thus a limited number of relics or artefacts. Getting a class means getting one of these relics or artefacts. So, yes, you can have a spellcasting class at level 1. The idea is that conquering a dungeon will give a person a significant boon granting them more power than any other person. In a way, having a class, even at level 1, means a person can go toe-to-toe with a couple of soldiers of a kingdom in this world.
The reason that I ban clerics is that I want healing to be a crucial commodity. The kingdom that has a cleric as a dungeon conqueror will stand above the rest. They are coveted and, in a way, imprisoned by their kingdom for fear of being kidnapped or killed. The same can be said for spellcasters because they can literally change the state of the world, but to a lesser degree of importance than healing or regenerating a lost limb as a cleric often does.
Concerning the relic or artefact a person acquired to reach level 1 -- if we choose to go that route of starting at level 1 instead of level 0, we'll have to come up with the design of it. It will have room to grow, like that Dragon's Wrath Weapon from Fizban or the Vestige from Tal'Dorei. This way, a level 1 won't suddenly have a +3 weapon with the power of a god or something. It will grow with you.
A little bit more detail on the ancient civilization, I think it is more like a high magic society. After the collapse, much of the knowledge is lost. None of the knowledge of magic survived but in the most obscure places that common people dare not to tread. The world restarted. Not exactly from the Neolithic era, because some structure and knowledge must have survived, but maybe around the equivalent of the antiquity era -- the Greco-Roman -- or somewhere in the Middle Ages (around the 5th or maybe 10th century AD). So, there will be a conflict between kingdoms, which will be exacerbated further with the presence of dungeon conquerors choosing a side; exploration of new (forgotten) land; emerging technologies; and maybe even a chance to find your own kingdom.
I really like the idea of just being a couple of nobodies with no relics yet and we gain our class as we play. I think it would allow us to dive into the world and how it works before becoming one of the few major players who defeated a dungeon.
I agree with ZelocktheDragon in theory but I tried to do something with a 3e campaign back in the long-long ago and it's an incredibly tough sell to most players. That's why I'd argue for a set up where the players are first level characters but non-casters. Spin it as they are exceptional examples of "normal folks" embarking on their first dungeon.
Conceivably, you could offer any of the classes below to start.
Barbarian
Fighter
Monk
Ranger
Rogue
At first level, all of these classes have exceptional training and abilities, but nothing that would qualify as magical or supernatural. If you milestone level two at the conclusion of their first dungeon, then you can allow them the option to multiclass into a restricted class (or in the case of the ranger and monk, advance into their second level abilities).
Again, just an opinion and worth exactly what you're paying for it (nothing).
At first level, all of these classes have exceptional training and abilities, but nothing that would qualify as magical or supernatural. If you milestone level two at the conclusion of their first dungeon, then you can allow them the option to multiclass into a restricted class (or in the case of the ranger and monk, advance into their second level abilities).
I'm still on the fence on this. I like it, but not quite what I have in mind. Very simple solution, though. I'll workshop it and see what works. Thanks for the advice.
I really like the idea of just being a couple of nobodies with no relics yet and we gain our class as we play. I think it would allow us to dive into the world and how it works before becoming one of the few major players who defeated a dungeon.
This is what I also have in mind. Just a couple of commoners or peasants that want to do something better with their life -- or maybe even by accident -- entering a dungeon and conquering it. It will allow people to learn about the mechanics in a dungeon and the world before diving into the nitty-gritty. But, as groverbloom said, it's a hard sell. I haven't seen many level 0 start here in this forum -- if there is one at all.
I will probably have to workshop it some more so people will be more interested and the system won't be so complex/intricate that we get bogged down by rules or rolls every so often. Even with groverbloom's suggestion, perhaps more puzzles or something would be better for the campaign -- less combat but still interacting with each class equally. I've been listening to Children of Earte during my drive to work and Deborah Ann Woll has a really interesting approach to a 'commoner player' start.
Artificer is one class that I will have to think about very carefully because it is technically a magical class, but it also can be a non-magical class at the same time. The way I've approached artificers so far has been by making their spellcasting feature firmly based on their abilities to create something using their tools instead of using pure magic like other spellcasting classes. At least, that's how I usually play it. With that in mind, I can, technically, allow artificer as a non-magical class if people prefer starting with a class instead of without. However, I will have to limit the spellcasting feature, requiring a check before casting every spell to see if the invention (the spell) fails or not. After conquering the dungeon, the artificer can use their spellcasting ability to the fullest -- maybe because they learn about runes of power in the dungeon or something.
That is pretty similar to how I like to play them. I have the mind of a tinkerer IRL so I write up different contraptions that 'could' do different spell like things.
For example
a spray bottle of Neosporin with topical anesthetic (cure wounds).
a water balloon filled with such (healing word).
a coal fired wrist mounted catapult (firebolt)
a sticky note with the words "I believe in you" (Guidance)
a static generator on a rubber glove (Shocking grasp)
Very well, I'm a bit surprised that there are actually a lot of suggestions and some interests for this type of campaign. I'll close this thread for the moment, but I'll reach out to some of you who want to do a test run at a later date when I have workshopped your suggestions and the mechanics some more. Thank you!
-K
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Background
Recently, my news feed somehow got hijacked by tabloids and strange news sources after an update. One of the headlines that I noticed from this mixup is that there is a plan to adapt the web novel Solo Leveling into a series and anime. Of course, just from the title, I got curious. It seems that I have been missing a source of entertainment and ideas. I didn't delve that deep, but I get the general idea of the genre: dungeons are appearing all over the world and people are trying to close/finish them in return for rewards and glory and prevent an apocalyptic event.
Now, I haven't had the time to indulge in comic books/manga for nearly a decade -- I don't have time for that -- but I remember one particular manga that has the same general premise albeit having a very different storyline focus. It's Magi: Labyrinth of Magic. An ancient civilization fell, and then, after a while, dungeons started appearing containing treasures or relics from this ancient civilization. The story was very intriguing, exploring a path to becoming a king and even delving into the fallen ancient civilization. It deals with topics of slavery, war, and even a little bit of exploration into a yet uncharted territory.
The Premise
So, then, I have an idea. Can this setting be made into a D&D campaign? Is it possible at all? I honestly have no idea how to use the world of Solo Leveling for a campaign. However, I can adapt a world similar to that of Magi into a setting perfect for D&D.
The premise of the setting is simple. There is an ancient civilization that fell hard because that seems to be a staple for this kind of genre. The gods, nobles, or powerful people from this civilization tried to preserve their legacy by doing forbidden magic of some sort. Then, a thousand or so years in the future, there's a world-changing event, a proto-wizard or some sort trying to awaken magic or something that called or unlocked the ancient civilization's legacy in the form of dungeons appearing all around the world. Each dungeon is like a separate demi-plane or realm or something filled with danger and wonder. People then began trying to conquer this place. Most perished, but a few (can be counted with two hands with fingers to spare) survived, gained powerful relics, and started influencing the world.
However, with such a setting, I can see limiting the character classes and focusing more on gritty realism instead of high fantasy may improve the story and tension. I can see banning the cleric class for PCs; there will be a cleric as an NPC who has already conquered a dungeon. The world will mostly be non-magical, with magic being wielded only by those who conquered a dungeon. I also probably won't touch the topic of religion just so it won't clash with the setting too much; cults, of course, exist in some form or another just to add tension.
I think this will feel a lot like Dungeon of the Mad Mage but with a lot of tweaking, more world-building, and fewer combat encounters.
Interested?
The starting line of the story will be when a group of individuals enter a dungeon. I can think of starting as a peasant (without class), and then slowly gaining abilities (a class) through trials and tribulations within a dungeon. Or, we can start after each of you conquered a dungeon (obtaining a class) and team up to conquer another, higher-level dungeon. I don't have an overarching storyline yet, just a general setting and some ideas.
A reminder, this is an interest check thread and not a recruitment thread. I'm trying to gauge whether to go through with this setting or not. As additional info, I expect this will not be a high-level campaign, focusing more on RP and trickery instead of heavy combat, but still be a long campaign. I cannot see past level 10, maybe 15. Or, maybe we can even do a test run first, entering only a single dungeon and see what happens next.
As a final note, and I know that this is very restrictive, I probably will limit this to people in GMT+5 to GMT+9 if I decide to go ahead with it, just so we have roughly the same timezone from my own GMT+7. I've learned that time zone is very important to the pacing of PbP. However, if there are a lot of interested people outside this time zone, I can be persuaded to remove the time zone restriction.
Let me know if any of you are interested or have any questions.
-K
I'm interested (but my timezone is GMT -6) - that said I work from home and check my PbP games at least daily if not several times a day. I have a half-orc (Barbarian if he's starting at Lvl 1.)
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
If the PCs start with a class, then I'm interested too. I can generally post multiple times a day, although my zone is UTC-5:00.
I am curious though: would there be at least SOME spellcasting classes and/or subclasses available?
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
Sadly, even though I'm GMT +5, my 3rd shift lifestyle means I'm well out of your window. So my interest wont really translate into an application but, just to throw in my two coppers, you should definitely pursue this idea!
I too am potentially interested but I would like to hear more about class restrictions. Are semi-magical classes also banned: Paladin, Ranger, arcane trickster, etc?
I would argue that, assuming the PCs start at level one, anything that doesn't have spells at first level should be okay. Of course that's nowhere near my place to say but I'm squirreling this idea away to steal later and that's how I'd probably do it.
This seems like a very interesting idea, maybe if you add reviving aspect to it, it could really play into how those animes play out.
This seems like a Amazing idea in my opinion. But of course, it's best to get advice from all types of players. I am very interested however.
Lore, Lore, and More! That's what I'm about!
PM me if you wish for some lore on a person or place!
I, for the first time ever, have the same timezone as the dm...Mine is also GMT+7
Lore, Lore, and More! That's what I'm about!
PM me if you wish for some lore on a person or place!
Interesting concept -
post apocalyptic (ponder, ponder)
- possibly something similar to the Bronze Age Collapse which removed the prior civilizations and knowledge of advanced magic, and left the survivors scrabbling around in a late neolithic phase kind of?
I see quite a spread of time zones but don't worry about that. As I said in the post, if there is enough interest, I will open rec for any timezone, not just within the range I specified.
Now, about class and subclasses. The idea that I have is that there is a limited number of dungeons and thus a limited number of relics or artefacts. Getting a class means getting one of these relics or artefacts. So, yes, you can have a spellcasting class at level 1. The idea is that conquering a dungeon will give a person a significant boon granting them more power than any other person. In a way, having a class, even at level 1, means a person can go toe-to-toe with a couple of soldiers of a kingdom in this world.
The reason that I ban clerics is that I want healing to be a crucial commodity. The kingdom that has a cleric as a dungeon conqueror will stand above the rest. They are coveted and, in a way, imprisoned by their kingdom for fear of being kidnapped or killed. The same can be said for spellcasters because they can literally change the state of the world, but to a lesser degree of importance than healing or regenerating a lost limb as a cleric often does.
Concerning the relic or artefact a person acquired to reach level 1 -- if we choose to go that route of starting at level 1 instead of level 0, we'll have to come up with the design of it. It will have room to grow, like that Dragon's Wrath Weapon from Fizban or the Vestige from Tal'Dorei. This way, a level 1 won't suddenly have a +3 weapon with the power of a god or something. It will grow with you.
A little bit more detail on the ancient civilization, I think it is more like a high magic society. After the collapse, much of the knowledge is lost. None of the knowledge of magic survived but in the most obscure places that common people dare not to tread. The world restarted. Not exactly from the Neolithic era, because some structure and knowledge must have survived, but maybe around the equivalent of the antiquity era -- the Greco-Roman -- or somewhere in the Middle Ages (around the 5th or maybe 10th century AD). So, there will be a conflict between kingdoms, which will be exacerbated further with the presence of dungeon conquerors choosing a side; exploration of new (forgotten) land; emerging technologies; and maybe even a chance to find your own kingdom.
I really like the idea of just being a couple of nobodies with no relics yet and we gain our class as we play. I think it would allow us to dive into the world and how it works before becoming one of the few major players who defeated a dungeon.
I agree with ZelocktheDragon in theory but I tried to do something with a 3e campaign back in the long-long ago and it's an incredibly tough sell to most players. That's why I'd argue for a set up where the players are first level characters but non-casters. Spin it as they are exceptional examples of "normal folks" embarking on their first dungeon.
Conceivably, you could offer any of the classes below to start.
Barbarian
Fighter
Monk
Ranger
Rogue
At first level, all of these classes have exceptional training and abilities, but nothing that would qualify as magical or supernatural. If you milestone level two at the conclusion of their first dungeon, then you can allow them the option to multiclass into a restricted class (or in the case of the ranger and monk, advance into their second level abilities).
Again, just an opinion and worth exactly what you're paying for it (nothing).
I'm still on the fence on this. I like it, but not quite what I have in mind. Very simple solution, though. I'll workshop it and see what works. Thanks for the advice.
This is what I also have in mind. Just a couple of commoners or peasants that want to do something better with their life -- or maybe even by accident -- entering a dungeon and conquering it. It will allow people to learn about the mechanics in a dungeon and the world before diving into the nitty-gritty. But, as groverbloom said, it's a hard sell. I haven't seen many level 0 start here in this forum -- if there is one at all.
I will probably have to workshop it some more so people will be more interested and the system won't be so complex/intricate that we get bogged down by rules or rolls every so often. Even with groverbloom's suggestion, perhaps more puzzles or something would be better for the campaign -- less combat but still interacting with each class equally. I've been listening to Children of Earte during my drive to work and Deborah Ann Woll has a really interesting approach to a 'commoner player' start.
I am happy to be a tester of this approach.
I LOVE this. Great tales are woven like this. I am very interested.
Krayveneer, what are your thoughts on the Artificer class? A sort of MacGyver like role. I can fix anything. Thoughts?
D&D since 1984
If my time zone issues aren't a deal breaker, I would be as well.
Artificer is one class that I will have to think about very carefully because it is technically a magical class, but it also can be a non-magical class at the same time. The way I've approached artificers so far has been by making their spellcasting feature firmly based on their abilities to create something using their tools instead of using pure magic like other spellcasting classes. At least, that's how I usually play it. With that in mind, I can, technically, allow artificer as a non-magical class if people prefer starting with a class instead of without. However, I will have to limit the spellcasting feature, requiring a check before casting every spell to see if the invention (the spell) fails or not. After conquering the dungeon, the artificer can use their spellcasting ability to the fullest -- maybe because they learn about runes of power in the dungeon or something.
That is pretty similar to how I like to play them. I have the mind of a tinkerer IRL so I write up different contraptions that 'could' do different spell like things.
For example
D&D since 1984
Very well, I'm a bit surprised that there are actually a lot of suggestions and some interests for this type of campaign. I'll close this thread for the moment, but I'll reach out to some of you who want to do a test run at a later date when I have workshopped your suggestions and the mechanics some more. Thank you!
-K