Game Masters - make suggestions for my campaign

The Game Room
1

KC - if you’re reading, don’t go any further bro. :slight_smile:

I’m writing up a Pathfinder campaign that I’m going to run for my gaming group sometime in the future. It’s modeled on Rolemaster’s Mythic Greece, where the players are favorites of the various Greek gods. One is a demigod, and the others are Greater and Lesser heroes.

I want to stick as much to the Greek myth element as possible, which means primitive level equipment, armor & weapons. Int-based casters are out. I want to make an Odyssey type of campaign. It starts after the fall of Troy, where the players have taken part in the sacking thereof. The campaign begins with them returning home on a trireme, but because they took part in destroying all of Troy’s temples, the gods are angry and send a Kraken and thunderstorms to destroy their ship. They’ll have a session or two of fighting the gods’ wrath, then they find themselves offshore of strange lands, far away from Troy and home. The gist of the campaign is that they’re trying to return home, but the gods keep messing with them and making them arrive in other places.

So far, I thought of Cyclops Island as a first stop. Regarding the original Odyssey, I don’t think I can pull off a scenario where a Cyclops imprisons them in a cave and they escape by binding themselves under sheep. Gamers don’t think like that. So, I thought of a Cyclops tribe that found this island years ago and plundered it, not realizing it was one of Zeus’s vacation homes. In retaliation, Zeus cursed them to stay there forever until they realized the foolishness of their actions.

In Pathfinder, Cyclops have a “Power of the One Eye” ability that enables them to see the future and choose the result of the next die roll. Zeus corrupted that to where they only see an island paradise and don’t see themselves rotting and wasting away from eating livestock that’s actually Abyssal Larva.

In the past, two of their number managed to escape the island, saw that it was all illusion, and came back to warn the others. The chieftain however, thought they were trying to usurp his rule and ordered them imprisoned. However, their family members sprung them out of prison later, and they escaped the island. Among them was the chieftain’s favorite grandson.

When the PCs wash up on shore, nearby Cykes think they’re the chieftain’s returning grandson and company, thanks to Zeus’s curse. The PCs are brought before the chieftain, who wants the “grandson” to fall on his knees and beg forgiveness. Otherwise, big fight ensues between the PCs and Cykes. Will the party play along? Will they be able to convince the chieftain he’s living a lie? Or will they just say fuck it, let’s kill them all?

Anyway, after they leave Cyclops Island, the party gets whooshed to another strange location. Any suggestions?

2

Sounds a little perilous to me. I feel like with most players, that scenario is going to turn into a huge fight in a hurry. I mean, if you’re okay with that, great, but a whole tribe of cyclops is gonna be a nuisance to run in a fight, and the line between lethal and trivial may not be very broad.

3

On the cyclops idea, I don’t think your current idea is bad, but I would tend to stick closer to the original myth. I agree that capturing the PCs is probably a non-starter. Escape scenarios tend to be either too easy or too frustrating. But it’s not such a bad idea to have the cyclops capture some important NPCs like the ship’s crew, or a scantily clad oracle.

The main issue I have with the current idea - if the cyclops always see a rosy future, then why would any action lead to violence? Isn’t it just as likely that the cyclops say “Your refusal to apologize shows us that you’re strong leaders who will make Cyclops-land great again.” (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) You may have thought through these implications of their powers, but it’s not clear to me how it will work and might also not be clear to the PCs.

As for the next strange location, you can hardly do the Odyssey without Circe and that is practically designed for an RPG as is. Perhaps let the characters me a little more active - instead of Hermes arriving to deliver information, let them quest for the moly they need to overcome her magic.

4

Well, there’s several ways it can go.

  1. One of the players is typically more cautious than the others, and he can usually convince them not to act rashly. This will lead to them examining every possible way I can fuck with them, which could take hours.

  2. They will play the game of “Let’s destroy the cliche.” They will evade the storyline as much as possible and refuse to be maneuvered into it. Every time they try to leave, I’ll just say “The gods use thunderstorms to send you back.” Eventually they’ll come to terms that they have to go through with the scenario. They’ll find they can’t actually repair their ship because all the trees on the island are dead. The chieftain will have some kind of “fix it” magic item they’ll get after defeating him.

  3. One of the players likes to be the vocal iconoclast, and will try to confuse the Cyclopses. I’m going to offset this by having the chieftain think the “grandson” is bragging about his journeys overseas and send them away to their guest rooms (actually ruins) and advise them to be more respectful of the old ways next time. Then the party can plot and plan, investigate and sabotage.

  4. The shit will hit the fan and a huge fight will break out. The party can always surrender (which they probably won’t) and get thrown in prison (from which they can escape), then kill the chieftain in his sleep. If they die, I could always say the gods took pity on them and have them escape instead, then whooshed to the next scenario.

And yes, Pathfinder fights can take days, especially with this many characters, and be a huge hassle, but we’ve done it before. Sometimes the stupid wins.

5

If you’re looking for some Greek mythology outside of the Odyssey, there’s the empusae.

Originally, Empusa was one being but later myths expanded her into a tribe of empusae. They were shapeshifting vampires that usually appeared as beautiful women (but they could also change into animal shapes). They would meet men travelling on roads and seduce them. Then when the men fell asleep after sex, the empusae would kill them and drink their blood.

In Greek, the word empusae sounds like the word for one foot. So stories arose that empusae only had one human foot; the other foot would either be an animal foot or a prosthesis.

Another story is that empusae can’t stand insults. They couldn’t approach you if you were insulted them and if you were able to keep up a string of insults they would flee.

6

They don’t so much see a rosy future as they do a rosy present. My thinking is that the chieftain is the ultimate alpha male. He’s like the Donald Trump of Cyclopses. He thinks the old ways (his ways) are best and won’t consider any other option. Anybody who suggests something different dares to insult him. This could lead to a duel between the chieftain and the “grandson.” If the grandson is winning, the chieftain will surrender, or he might get killed, in which case the “grandson” does indeed become the new chieftain. Then, the curse is lifted, all the cykes will see things the way they truly are, and assume the “grandson” actually displeased the gods and that they have to kill him.

Yes, Circe would be a great scenario, but in my experience, players don’t like to be threatened, bullied, or manipulated. In the myths, Circe can turn anybody into pigs, but in Pathfinder, they get saving throws, which they might win. Somebody always does. Then they’ll go into “kill the magic user” mode and the scenario will come to a screeching halt.

I can say “this happens no matter what” which they will HATE. I can provide Circe with all sorts of magical defenses and protections, which will make them more motivated to kill her. Either that, or they’ll gripe about being forced against their will to go along with the story. So, I’d rather have a different story that leaves player options completely open. That’s why I don’t want to copy what happened in the Odyssey, but have a similar adventure.

7

Little Nemo, I like the Empusae idea. Pathfinder doesn’t have stats for them, but they seem similar enough to vampires. I can have them take damage from insults.

8

This sounds really fun!

One possibility: is there maybe one God whose temple wasn’t destroyed and who has some obnoxious reason for liking the PCs? Pan might be a fun choice for this, and justifiable if his temple was in a more pastoral location than downtown Troy. If there’s one god in their corner, that might open some possibilities for unexpected PC cleverness to get them out of trouble. As a player, I always want at least to feel like I can manage an end-run around the predicted storyline, even if I rarely take the opportunity :).

I like the “escaped relatives” thing. Can the PCs get a meeting with the relatives who sprang the escapees, before they meet the chief? Let’s call them Auntie and Uncle Cyclops. These two might try, in oblique and confusing language, to persuade their young relatives to beg forgiveness of the chief, providing clues that smart players can use to manipulate the confrontation with the chief to their advantage.

A lotus-eater scenario might be fun to play. I’m imagining the beginning would involve, after a grueling section, PCs finding their way to a peaceful city. You ask the players, “Okay, you’ve got at least a day here, what do you want to accomplish?” Play through the day, and then say, “Great. At last you find yourself in this lovely city. You’ve got at least a day here, what do you want to accomplish?” Groundhog Day them a few times, but don’t let on that’s what’s going on. if they ask questions, they get a very difficult will save, which must be made every hour, to remember that they’ve been here for awhile; they can only escape the saves by separating themselves physically from the island (swimming, sailing, flying).

9

LHoD: That’s a good idea, having Aunty and Uncle drop helpful clues. I think the chieftain would have made them into slaves and treat them like dirt for aiding with the escape. My original plan was to have a band of Cyclops see the PCs wash up on shore and think they’re the grandson’s party. Uncle could be with them, but not be allowed to speak unless spoken to. Aunty could be a scullery maid back at the ruins.

I also like the lotus eater idea. When I originally read the legend, I couldn’t figure out how to make it a playable scenario, other than “You encounter some nice strangers who offer you a snack.” The PCs wouldn’t eat it, of course. I could have it where they leave the oarsmen with the ship as they visit the city, and the lotus eaters then visit the oarsmen and offer them the snackies. When the PCs return, they find all their oarsmen asleep and unable to be awoken by normal means.