The Lost City:

Hello all,

I have the opportunity to start a new D&D Campaign in the next few weeks. If you listened to the most recent Podcast you’ll know that Evan will be going back to school soon and doesn’t have the time to commit to DM’ing a game, but we want to keep the same group (Niko, Rob, Evan and I ) going on alternating weeks. We had discussed me taking over his game and continuing it, but I had a bit of an Epiphany and really want to start a new game with an idea I’ve been kicking around for a while.

So the idea I have is a little different than anything I’ve ran before (and that’s saying something). It has a lot of room to grow, but my concern is that it may be a good story, but good stories do not always equal a good adventure.  There are countless books that I love but if they had been adventures I don’t think they would have worked as well; mostly because players would have definitely gone off script and screwed something up.  We briefly touched on this idea during our last podcast; but in most stories you have one main character. Or if their are multiple main characters (Wheel of Time; Lord of the Rings; Song of Ice&Fire) then each character is generally given their own chapter.  When you are running a game each player has  a character that in their mind is or should be the main character. And while most gamers understand this concept and will willingly ‘step back’ on occasion to allow another PC to take center stage there is a delicate  balancing act required to keep each Player engaged and each PC in the spotlight.

So, I wanted to go over some of my thoughts for this new campaign I’m going to be starting and see if anyone out there might have some thought on how to keep this interesting story within the realm of a fun D&D game.

Basic Premise:

The story begins in a massive, and I do mean massive, city that is laid out in symmetrical wards. There are 8 levels within the city that are only accessible to each other by means of controlled passageways. Members of the upper levels can travel down as far as they wish, but members of the lower levels can only travel up 3 levels. The City is a self-contained environment. it’s not a bio-dome but it effect it works the same way. There are tracts of land that are farm-able, large in-city forest or parks where wild game is maintained and hunted. People have jobs and lives but it all happens inside the city.  None of the PC’s will have ever gone out of the city. No one they know has ever left the city. In living memory no one has willingly left this city.  There are libraries and books and some of these books have information about other places, other cities. In these places they have adventures and fight monsters; but to the people in the city this is just as much fantasy as our fantasy stories are. These places can’t be real. These people don’t really exist, because there isn’t anything other than the city.

The pc’s will have the option of choosing or randomly rolling their background. They can be Human, Halfing or Dwarven only.  Halfing and Dwarven races are included but because they both have lived in the city so long most of their uniqueness and culture has vanished. They can then choose or randomly roll their profession: baker, blacksmith, farmer, guard, clothier, priest, etc. . . ,.  The goal here is for the players to create a true persona and not a standard PC. They will be starting as 0-level commoners so their profession shouldn’t define them.  They can have a a wife/husband, children, siblings, etc.  I want them to also each bring to the table 5 NPC’s that they know that the other Pc’s don’t know. It’s vitally important that the Players build a strong persona as well as a sense of community. Some if not all, of this might be handled before the first game via E-mail.

After a very short period of adjustment, where the Players will settle into the role of their character in this vast city I drop the hammer!

Exiled!

Where the story really kicks off and why it’s so important to set up the city and their character’s so well is that very quickly all that is taken away. Within this city are a race of constructs called Wardens. No one know who they are or what true purpose they serve but they are a fact of life.  They serve a few important rolls. One of which is on occasion and for no known reason certain members of the city are exiled. A Warden will appear and take someone away. Within a day or two they appear outside of city. Most believe that the people exiled have committed some crime, but that is mere speculation.  In the few times this has happened in the recent past the persons exiled have stayed near the city gates accepting gifts of water and food tossed down to them until they eventually stopped and the exiles starved.

Once a person is exiled they find themselves outside of the city gates and on a wide and perfectly straight roadway made of the same material as the city walls. There is no way back in. To either side of the road for as far as it stretches is untamed wilderness.

In the day that passes after the PC’s are taken and before they are exiled they will each be held in a secure room. Their families will be notified and have the option of supplying them with gear (weapons & food). Also, randomly I will select one of the Pc’s to get a visit from the city Mayor. He will inform them that there is a way back into the city. He will show them a ‘key’ made of crystal. He’ll tell them, if you can find a key just like this one it will lead you back to the City and open the way back in, but it only works for one person. If you find it, you must keep in secret and get away.  I may have this speech for each PC but I figure even if they don’t’ want to they may “meta game” this part. I like the idea that only one of them knows this and may believe they were all told the same thing – this is where some of the TV show LOST inspiration comes in.

Wilderness

I imagine that the PC’s may walk along the road for a time. If they do, they will see that it heads straight away from the city. It is perfectly straight and flat and even. If they try to strike it was a weapon the weapon will break before the road. It will take days if not weeks of travel along the road before they find anything but eventually they will come to a place where the road ends. there will be pedestal and the edge with a slot for four keys. the key that matches up to the slot in the direction of the road they have traveled has a key inserted and no amount of effort will free it. This is to serve only that there is very likely 3 other cities and that if they travel on through the wilderness in any of the three other cardinal directions they will find one; but getting there is the adventure.

In my head the Pc’s will not meet another Person until level 3. Going from level-0 to level 3 will be fighting mostly natural predators in the wilderness, learning how to survive and trust one another (a major theme from LOST). There will be some ruins and if any of the players are wanting to have a wizard or sorcerer they will find what they need in these ruins.

At level 3 they will find evidence of other humans and eventually learn that there are other exiles from the city that have learned to survive and built a community out here. they are searching for “something” that will allow them access back into the city. At least one of the Pc’s will know of the key but also that only one person can use it. The leader of this community may want to keep that under wraps.

AND THEN . . .

that’s really all I’ve got so far.  In my mind I see this as a very slow paced character driven story. My concern is that won’t be a fun game.  Please keep in mind that this is just a summary; I have more details in mind for certain things but for the most part what you’ve read is enough to get the main ideas across. If you have any ideas or thoughts about this game or have run something similar in the past I’d love to hear from you. Please leave some comments.

Thanks for reading!!

– Michael – AKA Professor Mumbles