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Post by babblebox92 on Jan 21, 2018 6:25:14 GMT
Okay guys maybe you can help me with this. First of all this would be my first lengthy campaign. I have played for a while with this group but have yet to lead the story. I have a campaign I am planning for my friends that delves into the concept of players ascending to godhood. The world was created by gods of order, that naturally developed afforded gods of chaos. Humankind has been treated as a pawn for so long and suffered for it, torn between the vendettas of each god. Every millennia this world has a series of rituals that determine which of the beings seed will continue into the next pantheon. The newly refined set of gods rules as they see fit for the era to come as the established fade into history. This struggle is a holy tournament called the Bathor-Mal. The new pantheon is fought over by the underlings created by these gods, but I'm the last few passings of power the gods have been reckless, for when they spread their underlings into the work,vying for a chance to continue their existence, they also have the chance to create demons. Those who do not ascend to godhood become demons. Recklessly they send more champions, the unsuccessful seed wreaking havoc. Human kind has never had a chance to participate until their suffering and need physically manifested in what will my Pcs. I plan to give them the chance to participate in Bathor-Mal and give humanity a voice. I have thought about giving them a god mode treated similarly to a Druids shape change, but reined in by a rationing of actions. They would be capable of great amounts of power in this mode, with consequences I plan to incorporate into the campaign as it unfolds. I plan to hook them in as characters involved in a cataclysmic event that pushes them to the Cave of the Goddess of Chaos, where the first man resides. He was granted the gift of immortality as the first but has been forced into hiding, threatened by the controlling ambition of the currently established pantheon. He explains to them that they are to be the first human representation in the realm of immortals. They can choose to take over the pantheon, work with them to find balance or bring about the apocalypse as vindication for the years humanity has be subject to the gods whim. How can I help my friends build their characters but also keep in mind the traits I have planned for each of them as deities? And what would you do personally with this kind of set up? I love fresh ideas and would appreciate anything you think would help me to focus this situation. I have ideas for each god they defy/encounter and sacred animal companions that each PC may have the chance to tame/receive along the way, but I feel really far stretched in details and would like some brainstorming in how to bring a formula to the premise.
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Rudolph
Squire
Posts: 39
Favorite D&D Class: Ranger
Favorite D&D Race: Firbolg
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Post by Rudolph on Jan 21, 2018 13:18:28 GMT
It may seem cool at first to have a god assigned to each player, but you have to remember that it's their world too, and that forcing a god's traits on them might make a player feel railroaded in the story. I would say first that you shouldn't plan deity traits for them. Instead, allow the traits of their characters to make them unique in their own godly right. If you have preset ideas on where the characters SHOULD go instead of where they COULD go, you aren't giving much room for character growth. Likewise for animal companions, that could minimize the fun of any Ranger in the group who wanted to be a beast master.
That being said, the concept is really cool! I love how empowering it is to the players, setting them up as champions of the human race and giving them the power to change the world (quite literally). That control also sets up some fantastic role-play as characters struggle with the idea that they have been lifted to godhood, and how in many towns they would be shunned for having the chance (potentially, mind you). I hope this helped some!
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Post by babblebox92 on Jan 21, 2018 16:33:33 GMT
Thank you Rudolph! I was worried about it getting railroady too. With this being my first big try I wanted to create a really vivid playground and your advice is exactly what I need to keep it all in check. One of the reasons I tried to have a few presets for their powers was I kept getting caught up on how their modes would work and what kind of things they would be able to do. I used concepts and elements gods would represent and made a set of spells they might have at their disposal when they push themselves to tap into their divinity. It seemed like it was going to get difficult fast to not have a system for how that might work. I made a questionnaire for them that included favorite pantheons, favorite forces of nature and mythical creatures, sprinkling in questions that would deter them from gathering too much about what I was trying to set up. So far no one has made a comment on wanting to be a ranger type but I know my people love animal companions. And it would be up to them to act on choosing which beast to tame. My next question I guess would be is that enough to make them feel like they have personal customization? I almost wanted them to feel like I gave them a nifty one of a kind character based on how well I know the things they enjoy and their initial input. And then they would be able to take the basic set of power and use it as they saw fit in the world.
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Post by phos on Jan 21, 2018 19:53:20 GMT
You might consider letting their class abilities be their godly powers. And then augmenting those abilities with custom magical items as they get into later levels that fit the concept you’re working with. In other words, make their class abilities unique to them among all humans. If you give them to much then you risk taking away a sense of challenge which is part of what invests a lot of players. With out a sense of being challenged, successes are less meaningful and rewards are less satisfying. Another aspect to consider is that they are choosing their CC because the want to use those powers, if you load them up with more powerful stuff then they have less incentive to use the abilities that attracted them to the CC they picked in the first place.
Either way, their character class is going to tell you a lot about what kind of character they want to play. The skills they choose are going to tell you what they’re interested in being good at. So customize the game by building in aspects that lets them use those skills and class abilities.
Another possibility is doing like an Avater the last air bender thing where you give them each one really high level spell they don’t know about, that only triggers when they’re at zero hit points, and they can only use once per level until higher levels.
All and all it sounds like a great idea and they’re in for a great time.
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