gridlore: The Imperial Sunburst from the Traveller role-playing game (Gaming - Sunburst)
Douglas Berry ([personal profile] gridlore) wrote2020-04-19 02:09 pm
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In which I get all pulpy.

I'd love to either run or play in an RPG campaign that starts with a shipwreck. The characters have whatever the can salvage and have no idea where they are.

The nice thing about this is the campaign push and pull are really clear from the start. Find a way back home, and survive. You can throw in all the classic Lost World tropes. Dinosaurs (ridden by lizardmen, natch,) lost cities from fallen empires, noble savages (mortal enemies of the lizardmen, of course) Sorceror Kings, and a slowly advancing menace that must be stopped!

And volcanoes. Gotta have volcanoes. Where else is the female PC going to be threatened with a sacrifice to the local gods?

This would probably work best with a smaller group and a low level of magic. Too much magic makes escaping easy. Of course, I could always have made the storm a magical one, and the Lost World is in the Bermuda Triangle or whatever.

This would be perfect for Savage Worlds; if I could just get anyone to play it!

Plenty of inspiration, of course. Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" and all its adaptations, "Lost," "Land of the Lost," and the entire run of DC's Warlord. Hey, the Hollow Earth is always good for this!

So, a game set in the early 30s or roaring twenties, a crew of strong-jawed stereotypes, a Lost World, and an evil sorcerer-king to overthrow.

A great Golden Age SF/F pulp adventure!

So, what era stereotypes need to be in the game?
kengr: (Default)

[personal profile] kengr 2020-04-20 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
Volcanoes are *so* overdone.

You can throw the sacrifice over a waterfall (or just off a cliff). Bonus points for the sacrifice if they can fly. (That'd throw the local priests for a loop)

Another classic is tying them up or chaining them up as a sacrifice for the local nasty monster.

And then there's the classic Aztec bit with them tied to an altar to have their heart (or other organ) carved out.

Surprise the party and have it be the *guys* who are going to be sacrificed (bonus embarrassment points if they are virgins)

Subverting tropes is always fun. Maybe the gods/monsters are just looking for guy/girlfriends.
marycatelli: (Default)

[personal profile] marycatelli 2020-04-20 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
Winged snakes! With brilliant jewel-colored feathers! And monkeys with prehensile tails!

Pyramids!

claidheamhmor: (Default)

[personal profile] claidheamhmor 2020-04-22 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)
We ran one for a while - it was quite a lot of fun. It was also done in a very low magic world (no mages, to start with). Naturally, it was a bit like Jurassic Park.