Expedition!

When I ran this concept across several friends, I generally received positive reviews. One even made the comment, "Sounds awesome - like a land-based Star Trek."

After playing a campaign of my brother's, I have been trying to flesh out another way of rolling characters that is a bit more balanced. With the dice-pool system, while it could be fun, some people were doing things that were just stupid. (I blame the players who are bad more than I blame the system.) I've always liked natural ability scores - that is, rolling the ability scores in order, and keeping the respective number. With this campaign, I'm leaving that optional. The core rules for character creation, though, are as follows:

3d6 for each stat.
"Mulligan" is an overall total ability score modifier of +2 or lower, with the highest ability score being at least an 15.

Overall, these changes should have the affect that a PC will at least be good at something. With an average roll of 9, and higher minimum requirements, there will be a high turnover rate to help ensure this, while making for quite the variety in a single player, as well as a party.

Borrowing from my Brother's campaign, PCs will not start with a class level. Instead, they will begin with the following:

A Background from the Black Company Campaign Setting.
4 + (Con Modifier) Hitpoints
+0 BAB
4 + (Int Modifier) skill points. (This is including those provided by a background.
+0 on all Base Saves.
No proficiencies.
1 feat (not including the feat provided by a background.) - this is subject to change.
Starting Funds... still deciding.

Basic information, of course, should be provided, but the most important thing about the production of a character for this campaign is the answer to this question: "Why would your character be going on such an Expedition?"

The premise of the campaign really does mandate that the PCs really think about this question. I was really troubled about having such a heavy-handed premise. I don't think things should be forced upon a character, but with all the ideas and experiences that can play out in such a campaign, I think it is worth it. So if the PC is ready for such a campaign, or doesn't want to play with such a style... well, really, they shouldn't be playing this campaign. Terrible thing to say, but this is a fairly involved module. (I would have no objection, though, if someone came up with a PC who, for instance, came up with a criminal character who really had no interest in the expedition, but was forced as a form of sentencing. Even if his goal is to try to eventually try to escape, that would be interesting, and could be worked into the campaign.)

Moving on from character creation, and onto how the campaign shall operate. The basic idea is that the party, somehow or another, is apart of a expedition sent out to explore a new land that was recently discovered. Important elements include:

1) Charting a variety of terrains (and peoples).

2) Diplomacy.

3) Survival and combat.

How this plays out, I have decided, is that the party will have a baggage train of twenty NPCs. For each NPC, I will roll percentile dice (D%), and, using the table from the Black Company book, decide what background each NPC will have and into what role they shall serve. I've spent a lot of time trying to come up with some general backstories for each background, but that is far too extensive to post here. (Be creative! Come up with your own!) I plan on being able to use this module multiple times, so each play-through can be different in the aspect of the accompanying NPCs alone. If you really want to, you can also roll up the ability scores for each, but that may be a lot of work for some to handle; I see nothing wrong with making things up as you go.

This leaves the last thing to discuss: how to deal with death. In most campaigns, when a PC dies, it's not too hard to come up with an explanation of why or how a new one joined the party. For added difficulty, and so that players play smart, I have decided that PCs who have died only have the option of choosing one of the NPCs to be their next character. Harsh? Could be, depending on the DM. I have seen people pull this off though, and a lot of fun has been had. As long as it doesn't cause frustration, I think things will be good. (It also promotes the PCs taking care of the baggage train!)

I am not sure what else to explain about here. The overarching idea is a campaign module that isn't only about kicking doors and faces in. The "skill-monkey" classes, such as the Jack-of-all-Trades and the Academician will have their proper place and amount of use - the same for the Scout. All the classes, really, will shine a bit brighter, as a good Fighter is always welcome.

I'm not sure what else to explain. The expedition should be about the PCs exploring a new area that no one knows anything about; the decisions they make will be important, and what they find out and know will be as well. Languages, especially. As a DM, you don't have to be an expert, just creative. Give them that sense of wonder.