Sandbox Sunday – An adventure seed

Behind the Lines, a Dead Man’s Party

With the theme being shadow, the key NPC being a soldier, and the obstacle having to do with slumber, I’m going to go with this episode having one or more of the player characters having to penetrate through the lines of a military encampment to steal a valuable artifact from that forces commanding officer (also a soldier).

That commander, a noble once loyal to the kingdom that commands the services of the PCs, has been tricked or ensorcelled into leading an attack on his former friends. The darkness is a mental darkness, akin to the “Have you seen my mask? Isn’t it pretty? It raises the dead!” from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Dead Man’s Party) fame. So long as the commander wears the mask, he can command the loyalty of anyone whom he perceives.

Thus the raid must be done at night. Entering past the guards, and removing the mask. It will continue to hold influence over the troop of soldiers until its powers are broken by exposing it to the breaking dawn in the central plaza of a consecrated cementary – all such have this feature, a staple of the local god of life and death. The plaza features a sundial at the center of an always-circular cemetery. When the shadow of the dial lays on the mask at the breaking of the dawn, it will be destroyed.

The trigger? The once-loyal noble accused a wizard of treachery. A correct accusation that if the PCs can foil the invasion before it overthrows the kingdom, will need to be repaid.

The mask should give some sort of power to the army at large in addition to the power for the wearer to enslave and control others. Maybe it turns them in to Zombies of some stripe. giving a set of traits such as (in GURPS) Unkillable and/or Regeneration, so that this body of troops will pose a real threat that can’t be defeated by normal means.

Head Down with the Writing

This weekend I was almost totally head-down working on that article +Peter V. Dell’Orto keeps mentioning we’re working on (and have reached the 30th revision; it does keep getting better, if you must know), as well as the fourth revision to what is supposed to be a short article relating to an old topic starting from this blog. I like where it’s going, but it needs polish and playtest.

Upcoming, I’ve firmed three interviews, with actual scheduling having occurred and questions being written up, and homework being done. I’m comfortable stating that I’ll be chatting with +Stacy Dellorfano, who runs the ConTessa online gaming convention, +Tim Shorts of Gothridge Manor, and +James Introcaso, and he and I will almost certainly be chatting about D&D Next.