Jump to content

Community Generated Campaign


Matt John S

Recommended Posts

Home and have read more thoroughly and responsibly - here are my initial  thoughts given that:

 

Love the idea of the maps for the finale, could be fun to be able to use the ballistae from the ships to either slay foes or destroy walls and hiding places of foes or items needed.

 

The local heroes idea that Neil had I think is also appealling, widens the scope of things and gets more into the game. The scenario I am seeing in my head would involve this idea. I think #7 would be ideal for me, using the same general idea as Neil's proposal but some different specifics.

 

I also had  the same idea that I read here about the middle scenarios setting up the end through empowering one side or the other, this will create different dynamics and also offer replayability. 

 

I will work on my pitch and await what is decided on who writes what and how the sequencing will work.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Neil Amswych great ideas There, But I want people to be able to write the kinds of scenarios they want to write. That's why I'm asking people to sit on their ideas, imagine one or two you would really like to write on the loose basis of the framework we've talked about, and then pitch it in a week's time. I know it's difficult to mash all those ideas together at the end, certainly more so than plan ing from the top, but this gives writers more creative freedom. 

 

I want 4 heroes each because it allows for the max amount of players and keeps it consistent across all scenarios. As Keven said, players simply control more than one Hero. I love playing the game controlling ALL heroes, haha. 

 

If that interferes with a story idea, write the extra heroes in as astral projections created by Hadrathus or something. I know that might clash a bit with what you have in mind, but I think it's best to put the max heroes in for that reason. 

 

@Primeval if you want to write one that uses mostly base box materials and a few other things that could be proxied (ovelrod tiles are easy as they are included in the scenario description) go for it. Just don't use a stretch goal map

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And I think @Neil Amswych your general framework is a good one, but perhaps a bit long. This depends on how many we have writing. I want to keep this manageable and I want to have enough of us thoroughly test these. I'd like to see perhaps two exceptions to the linear progression - one in the early part and one at the end as per the two different finales. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing we ought to consider is how to keep score.

In the Campaign book they use points. Winner of an individual scenario gets a point, loser deducts a point. And there are special events or goals within a few of the scenarios that give extra points. And sometimes the loser didn't have to deduct a point, they just missed out on rewards. This might be a good system.

Maybe the score determines the last scenario. Meaning if the Heroes have fewer points they go to the scenario that was mentioned in the Ruined Fort, Thoth Amon's plan came to fruition, the city is destroyed and the best the Heroes can do is drive the Demon off and hope for vengeance anotger day. And Thoth has the opportunity of one final chance to humiliate Conan.

And if the Heroes have more points they take the battle to Thoth and go for the glory.

And whatever happens in the event of a tie should be spelled out too.

 

EDIT: Seems like we also would need to write two endings for each scenario. One for each side's victory. Like what happens if the Heroes lose the first scenario and Hadrathus dies? We would need to write a cheesy plot device that keeps the game moving. For example, Hadrathus isn't dead, just mostly dead, (or not entirely slain as REH might have said) and he awakes in a ditch and carries on. Not so much a "go to scenario A or B" but just some simple flavor text to move the story along. Know what I mean?

 

Thoughts?

Edited by drmauric
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for feedback. @Matt John S you said it seems a bit long. It’s 8 adventures so how many would you rather us have or did you mean because there are too many variants in that one?

 

Its going to be much harder for everyone to create scenario that connect with each other without basing it, even loosely, around an overarching narrative but you’re the boss so please ignore my narrative arc if need be and perhaps we can write something once everyone is done. However, Nordheim, Stygia and Khitai are three totally different areas of the world and having the same characters visit all three in the space of one campaign is going to need a lot of narrative explanation, otherwise it’s not going to hold together well.

 

Similarly, if we’re writing something we need to know what victory conditions are as @drmauric  mentioned. I think community-written can still have some top-down guidance, as happened with the pool of heroes.

 

I totally missed the pitch your ideas in a week’s time bit. Sorry!

 

4 heroes. Thanks.

 

I’ll consider one or two adventures and pitch them in a week!

 

 

Edited by Neil Amswych
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys, 3 days off coming up so I will be buckling down on this and hopefully have a pretty clear pitch for my scenario! I am going to try and use some rarely used heroes and a base pledge board, an adventure that Conan or Hadrathus have sent word to local heroes to intervene to disrupt a ritual or something of that nature. 

 

I like using the campaign point system already in place for the sake of uniformity between such projects and of course its already there, so easier for us. I dont have that book so maybe someone could scan the appropriate page for me to peruse so I can try to keep my wording in line with that when I write that part of the scenario. Or Matt could tell Monolith to send me one.... I know, potential abuse of power :)

 

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Neil Amswych, as I said, we will do that, and people may use your ideas, but at this point they are not locked into doing so. 

 

So far, when you're thinking about your individual scenarios, here's what we've kind of decided. 

 

-4 Heroes

 

-Try to focus mainly on the 3 big expansions and base box materials. King Materials are available on the Overlord, so those can be used. Try to avoid stretch goals, but if it's an overlord tile and you really want to use it, players can proxy by creating their own proxy tiles base on the printed info in the scenario description. 

 

-Heroes to use: Amra Conan, regular Conan, Yag (he's technically dead, but we're writing him in with our creative gymnastics), Hadrathus (to be used in most scenarios as he's the narrative through-line), Zelata, Inkhmet, Niord, Shentu... Belit, N'gora, Shevatas, are able to be used, but they are technically dead. So we may want to use them as stand ins, or just ignore the fact that they're dead and don't write too much about them in the scenario itself. 

 

story: very loose at this point. the Overlord is taking on the role of Thoth-Amon. He will not be included in every scenario (probably just the last) but his minions will be. As of now we want the Dark Demon to be his hunter. We also are thinking about having the assassins show up in a few scenarios to do his bidding. As of now, our tale starts in Khitai (possibly) with Hadrathus learning about Thoth's plan. The rest of our tale takes place across the world. The final two scenarios will  both be the final battle, where Thoth faces Conan. Depending on what happens in the previous scenarios the (whether the Heroes or Overlord does better) players will play A or B. A= fight in Stygia where Conan takes the fight to Thoth. This one might be a little easier for the Heroes. B= Thoth magically bombs Tarantia and you fight it out in the ruins map. This might be tougher for the Heroes. It's debatable whether we give any edge balance wise, or just let the progression rewards dictate this. (there will likely be a level up feature before this last scenario is played) All the in-between scenarios are open as far as what you want to write. Ken will be writing the Stygia scenario, I'll be tackling Nordheim, and Neil and Dan are doing Khitai. Primevil is looking at base box materials. This does not mean these are now off limits. You write what you want and we'll fit it in before anyone starts to write. (You can also use whatever tiles and minis from whatever sets you like, regardless of map. Just make it make sense).  If we have 3 in Khitai but we know what they will be about before the writing begins, that's all good. Same with base box, stygia and Nordheim. Feel free to have a look at my original loose outline or Neil's for ideas. We will pull this together once we have everyone's ideas together. try to have your pitch done by Sunday

 

Progression: We have a few ideas for this. Some include bonus gems, equipment cards (though weapons and armor should be up to the scenario designer), troops and minion bonuses, one-time stat increases. Your ideas are welcome. 

 

What did I miss? @Ken @drmauric @Primeval @Neil Amswych 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regarding proxies, if our intention is to make this accessible to non-KS players, each proxy provides a extra step required to play. If everyone adds one or two proxy requirements to their scenario, it will add up. I for one will not be using proxies for this reason. (As much as I really want to use all of the King pledge goodies.) Also, we might want to consider including whatever needs to be proxied in the campaign PDF so the user doesn't have to download two resources.

 

By the way, the map I intend to use (Stygia + Half Ship) is not available in the Conan Scenario editor website. Does anyone have any suggestions? Are there other tools available? I can always Photoshop what I need, but that Scenario editor is so convenient I hate to spend my time with graphics rather than playtesting.

Edited by Ken
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Primeval The Campaign point system, or rather Victory Points, really is as simple as Winner gets a point. It is merely used to determine which scenario of a couple options is used for the Final Battle. 

There is one scenario that the Heroes DO NOT get a point because they win a weapon to be able defeat the final villian. And in that same scenario if the Heroes lose, they actually lose 1 point and the Overlord gets a point. Some of the later scenarios in the Campaign reward 2 points to the winner, bonus Common Gems or special equipment. 

 

There is an Experience Point system in the Campaign that allows the Heroes to level up. But it's Character specific progression and we are trying to avoid that because we want writers to choose from the available Heroes at their discretion. As Matt said, there may be a one time level up before the Final Battle. Some kind of general boon or benefit to the more successful side.

 

The Campaign also uses XP to purchase Common Gems. A pool of gems that the Heroes can draw from in addition to their own gems. For the Overlord  it's more like a Double Gem. OL uses his XP to buy gems that count as 2 gems. We have been kind of considerng an idea like this when you see us writing about Gem rewards. But much simpler (I hope) and with out the XP ( I hope, because, really it wasn't that cool of a system).

 

So  that is kind of a quick overview of the Campaign Victory Pont and Experience rules. I get what you are saying about keeping things uniform. I'm big on using the already established rules too, for uniformity. But I think in the case of our Campaign that Monolith's Campaign rules add an unnecessary level of complexity for the multiple writers to wrestle with. And it is tied to Character Specific Progression, which we are trying to avoid.

 

Make sense?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Ken said:

Regarding proxies, if our intention is to make this accessible to non-KS players, each proxy provides a extra step required to play. If everyone adds one or two proxy requirements to their scenario, it will add up. I for one will not be using proxies for this reason. (As much as I really want to use all of the King pledge goodies.) Also, we might want to consider including whatever needs to be proxied in the campaign PDF so the user doesn't have to download two resources.

I agree. 100% I'd prefer to avoid proxies,  for me printing off a bunch of stuff is a major turn off. However I understand why an individual writer may want to. (sooo many goodies!)

We definately need to make any necessary proxies easy to access.

 

However, recommending substitutions is a different issue. I think it would be cool, where possible, and if a writer wants to, to offer Substitution Recommendations for their particular scenario from the Stretch Goals, Exclusives, Artist Boxes, whatever. Like maybe use the Demon of the Earth instead of the Dark Demon. A different Conan, whatever. This may be a great way for the writer to keep his freedom and use all his goodies but keeping the primary focus on the Non-KS components, and offering suggestions for those who have everything. Keeps it appealing for everyone.

Edited by drmauric
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Carlosspicyweener said:

Sorry to Interrupt. Just wanted to tell you that I love the idea of this campaign and I subscibed to this...

Thanks, Carlos. Glad you dig it. If you want to play test, let us know...

8 hours ago, Ken said:

Regarding proxies, if our intention is to make this accessible to non-KS players, each proxy provides a extra step required to play. If everyone adds one or two proxy requirements to their scenario, it will add up. I for one will not be using proxies for this reason. (As much as I really want to use all of the King pledge goodies.) Also, we might want to consider including whatever needs to be proxied in the campaign PDF so the user doesn't have to download two resources.

 

By the way, the map I intend to use (Stygia + Half Ship) is not available in the Conan Scenario editor website. Does anyone have any suggestions? Are there other tools available? I can always Photoshop what I need, but that Scenario editor is so convenient I hate to spend my time with graphics rather than playtesting.

I hear you about the proxies and am totally cool with throwing the idea away. I think offering possible subs is a better way to go. Yogah, Conan, Hadrathus, Niord, Inkhmet, and Shentu could be our main pool and we could use Shevatas and Belit if necessary. If you think about it Shentu, from a storytelling point of view, could show up in scenario 1 as he's from Khitai or Hyrkania or wherever your imagination takes you. Inkhmet could show up the first time the assassins show up too. Perhaps he has a vendetta with Thoth and wants revenge or something. As we've already decided, Yogah could be around in the beginning, or hell, we could keep him around beyond that if we want. Howard had ghosts in his stories and he had them aid Conan on a number of occassions, so he could work beyond scenario one. Might be cool to bring him back for one of the last scenarios or something, finally paying Conan back for how the Cimmerian helped end his misery. That just leaves Niord. Perhaps he shows up at the time of the Nordheim map and then is used beyond that point. Maybe even before. It doesn't really matter. we can make it work. I'm totally fine with that pool of heroes. Plus, if we just use core box, expansion and retail tiles, that's still quite a lot (don't forget Witch Hunters and Crossbowmen). If anyone needs the stats for any of these, I can send photos, and then it would just be the designer doing the proxy if you don't have the expansion stuff. 

 

Something else to think of too: if one of these Heroes lacks a particular skill, such as evasive or leadership, and you really want it in play as a mechanic, you could always assign that skill to one of the Heroes in the scenario description. If you don't assign more than one, I don't think that's difficult to track. 

 

as for the map in the editor, Ken, I'm not sure how we'll solve that, but I'm sure we can if you really want to add the boat into play. 

7 hours ago, drmauric said:

I agree. 100% I'd prefer to avoid proxies,  for me printing off a bunch of stuff is a major turn off. However I understand why an individual writer may want to. (sooo many goodies!)

We definately need to make any necessary proxies easy to access.

 

However, recommending substitutions is a different issue. I think it would be cool, where possible, and if a writer wants to, to offer Substitution Recommendations for their particular scenario from the Stretch Goals, Exclusives, Artist Boxes, whatever. Like maybe use the Demon of the Earth instead of the Dark Demon. A different Conan, whatever. This may be a great way for the writer to keep his freedom and use all his goodies but keeping the primary focus on the Non-KS components, and offering suggestions for those who have everything. Keeps it appealing for everyone.

Yes, to substitution options. they don't hurt at all. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have an idea for bringing Yogah in, woke up with a head filled with scenario ideas and he would fit in perfectly. The scenario would probably fit in the early middle of the campaign, so he could be used subsequently if wanted/needed. Looking forward to sharing it later in the week!

 

Edit: starting to sketch things on the scenario editor page....Amra Conan is a KS exclusive from King Pledge, correct? I think he makes the most sense to use but want to be clear he is really usable given the materials we are trying to stick to. 

 

Also, I  think its a good idea to choose one Conan and stick with him through the campaign. 

 

Edited by Primeval
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Primeval said:

I have an idea for bringing Yogah in, woke up with a head filled with scenario ideas and he would fit in perfectly. The scenario would probably fit in the early middle of the campaign, so he could be used subsequently if wanted/needed. Looking forward to sharing it later in the week!

 

Edit: starting to sketch things on the scenario editor page....Amra Conan is a KS exclusive from King Pledge, correct? I think he makes the most sense to use but want to be clear he is really usable given the materials we are trying to stick to. 

 

Also, I  think its a good idea to choose one Conan and stick with him through the campaign. 

 

Well, many believe that we should avoid proxies altogether. In that case we'd only be pulling from the Heroes listed In my last post...

 

I'm looking forward to hearing what ideas you have for Yogah. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all!

Glad to be in here, and anxious to write something for the whole ordeal, been spending the last couple days reading through this and rummaging some ideas.

I'll just jump into the first thing that got my lights tingling: campaign length.
Some will go for long, some will prefer it to be short and pack a punch, but we could go with optional missions that can either be bypassed or done in full within the confines of the narrative, and still have everything makes sense.
The second reason for this, aside from the modular aspect, is that we can introduce a sense of urgency vs. preparation to the whole thing.
I've always enjoyed being posed with the "do we go gear up some more and risk allowing the big 'un to grow stronger or do we just face him now and hope for the best?".

I haven't got much to go on so far, but anything from the gems you guys mentioned "piling up" in favour of the Overlord if the players push to seek an artefact/weapon of some sort, or extra "plot points" that the OL can employ to throw monkey wrenches in the heroes' plans.
Speaking of flying monkeys and wrenches, how would you guys feel about an event table for both sides?
Nothing major, just some thematic, one-off effects that can be triggered by spending gems. I'm a sucker for campaign-specific mechanisms and small modules added on to make each experience unique. Would help replayability as well, I feel.

Final thought for now, someone mentioned the heroes getting Conan to fight on their side (does Conan being an optional ally still stand or is he just a hero that may be chosen at the start? I may have missed it, and if that's the case disregard what follows or we can apply it to Yogah).
Two ways this could go, and I'd like input on these as one of them might be a bit iffy:

1. The heroes' actions have tangential links to Conan - either speaking to him directly or via proxy, meeting others who have spoken with him and so on - and their actions work towards getting him to join them for the final assault or not. Rather than the one-off style of "win this and he comes" missions, I think it would speak towards a ruthless Conan who thinks about his benefit in the matter and will only commit to something if it suits his purpose/if the participants are worth it.
This could be summed up as a die roll with bonuses/penalties that the heroes accrue along the way.
2. Try to make the mission that gives the heroes the option to play as/ally with Conan (or Yogah, as may be the case) into a highly atmospheric, dream-like sequence where the heroes literally step into another dimension, this allowing us to play with a lot of the weirder content than can be found in both core as well as expansions. The Fortress could be a good setting for this, and the gribblies can be plenty, including foes the heroes may have already bested.

I currently have access to a King Pledge, along with KS Exclusives (and some Black Dragons I've just unwrapped and found one has an arm loose, womp-womp...) so that's what I'll be working with, mostly, but I can always proxy when playtesting comes around, just to pitch in more in that regard.
I'd appreciate your input on the matter as well as any other pointers as to what's left to tackle (I take it mid-campaign missions are up for grabs?).

Cheers!
Cozzy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I for one, am excited about the narrower Hero pool. It will drive us all to be more creative. Yogah may play a larger role than we might expect, especially if we hold off on introducing Conan right away. 

 

When you think about it, Ikhmet is perfect for giving Evasive if needed, like Matt mentioned. We can give Heroes scenario specific special rules, if needed.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello, I'm a french fan here willing to participate. I'm usually really keen in roleplaying games and therefore I'd like to have the opportunity to write a scenario. Is it still possible ? Do you have some restrictions from now on the locations it might be located to ?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Pahul said:

Hello, I'm a french fan here willing to participate. I'm usually really keen in roleplaying games and therefore I'd like to have the opportunity to write a scenario. Is it still possible ? Do you have some restrictions from now on the locations it might be located to ?

@Pahul if you're super keen we can make room, I'm sure. My best advice is to read over what we've posted. I summarized our plan just a few posts ago so that should give you some idea. In short, were focusing on materials that can be purchased at retail in order to offer an inclusive campaign. We want pitches for scenarios submitted on Sunday, then we'll adjust and cobble them togejter in a framework and start writing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/9/2018 at 4:59 AM, Matt John S said:

...-Heroes to use: Amra Conan, regular Conan, Yag (he's technically dead, but we're writing him in with our creative gymnastics), Hadrathus (to be used in most scenarios as he's the narrative through-line), Zelata, Inkhmet, Niord, Shentu... Belit, N'gora, Shevatas, are able to be used, but they are technically dead. So we may want to use them as stand ins, or just ignore the fact that they're dead and don't write too much about them in the scenario itself. 

....

What did I miss? @Ken @drmauric @Primeval @Neil Amswych 

 

Skuthus as a possible hero as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Our website uses cookies to guarantee you the best navigation. By continuing your visit, you confirm that you accept these cookies. Our Cookie Policy has other terms. Privacy Policy