Adventuring Group Campaigns

Since the characters are not being rewarded strictly based on booty and body count (though these things will certainly occur anyway), the adventuring group can be formed around a specific goal or vocation. They will advance in level by getting closer to achieving their goals and by fulfilling their job duties. The endgame for any of these scenarios may be enacted whenever the playing group wishes and should not be dictated arbitrarily by character level. Of course, the type of campaign can completely change direction as a result of play or a successful endgame, so never be too deterministic in planning adventures.

Agents of the Inquisition (Witchhunters): The characters are employed by the church. Their goal is to root out and combat supernatural evil. They may be assigned missions or assigned and area to safeguard. How they came into this job (especially thieves and wizards) may be an interesting bit of character backstory. At higher levels, they may be brought into the church hierarchy and involved in the politics, conspiracies, and demonic infiltration.

The King's Men: The characters are the personal agents of the King. They came to this job through either a very meritorious act directly for the king or perhaps some sort of patronage. The characters aren't necessarily just knights or warriors. This group could be compared to the Irish Fianna and Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. They may be headquartered in the royal court, stationed in an area, or a roving band in the field. Their missions or assignments may be protection, law enforcement, and investigation (phenomena, rumors of treasure). Or they may be involved in a special, specific quest for the king. At higher levels, court intrigues will be evident and eventually draw the characters into picking sides.

Rebels: The characters are part of a rebellion or a secret society against the king. Obviously, Robin Hood is an inspiration. For an Asian campaign, The Water Margin should provide some ideas. The characters are all outlaws, mercenaries, and even dispossessed nobles and bureaucrats. They have all been forced out of a respectable life and into a secret society in order to survive. They may be a hidden cell, taking orders from unseen superiors, or part of a band hiding in the wilderness. They will be acquiring funding, protecting members, and gathering intelligence. At higher levels, the end game is building enough power to overthrow the establishment.

The Long Journey: The characters are far away from home, either exploring unknown lands or lost in them. This voyage may be unwilling, such as that of Odysseus or Aeneas, and they are actually divinely prevented from returning home (or finding a new one). They may be returning from a long war, like the siege of Troy or the Crusades. They may instead be on a quest with a final goal in mind, like the Argonauts or Hercules' Labors (which would be a journey of tasks rather than distance).

The characters could also be explorers in the mold of Marco Polo or the various Spanish and Portuguese explorers of South America. They would be aliens in a completely unknown culture looking to establish trading relations along the way or trying to conqueror the civilizations and take their gold. At higher levels, the characters will, through their trials, have acquired enough power to achieve their final reward, such as nobility or founding a new colony. There's also the circumnavigation travels of Magellan and Drake.

Viking: The characters are Norsemen. The character classes shouldn't really change, except for the names (Barbarian-Warrior, Knight-Prince, Wizard-Priest) and a substitution of longship sailing skills over horsemanship. Raiding and pillaging hapless peasants is not the group's goal. Rather, they are a mercenary company, like that of Harald Hardradi, who fought in battles all across Europe, was part of the Emperor's personal guard in Constantinople, and eventually became king of Norway. There also interesting voyages of exploration to Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland (and perhaps more fanciful places).


I may as well mention here that I've made another large edit to Fantasy Core.  Basically, the Wizard seemed way underpowered.  I've upped the damage on some of the spells.  Wizards and Enchanters now get 3 spell check failures in an encounter before being unable to safely cast.  The other spell-using classes are still at 2 failures.

http://jdh417.blogspot.com/2012/10/fantasy-core-rpg-thief.html (Minor skills edit)
http://jdh417.blogspot.com/2012/10/fantasy-core-rpg-wizard.html
http://jdh417.blogspot.com/2012/11/fantasy-core-rpg-halfling-enchantress.html
http://jdh417.blogspot.com/2012/10/fantasy-core-spell-list.html
http://jdh417.blogspot.com/2012/10/fantasy-core-spell-list-continued.html
http://jdh417.blogspot.com/2012/11/fantasy-core-rpg-high-level-spells.html
http://jdh417.blogspot.com/2012/12/fantasy-core-rpg-witch-spells.html
http://jdh417.blogspot.com/2012/12/fantasy-core-rpg-druid-spells.html