I have been thinking about campaigns and half-prepped adventures I didn't end up running or that otherwise fell through the cracks. Here are a few from my IDEAS folder. Some of them have a few files detailing locations and NPCs; some only have the one paragraph I jotted down once on a late night after a few drinks.
Sky Ship from Another World
You are on death row. The serious nature of your crimes (murder, heterodoxy, or effrontery), whether real or fabricated, has sealed your fate. Yet, a glimmer of hope sneaks into your heart upon the visitation from Taraxiam the Pale, a reputed sorcerer, offering you a chance to escape death. You are in no position to bargain, and you accept his proposition without consideration. In exchange for his great favour, you are to embark with haste on an expedition to Lake Nova, join forces with Ziamos the Crimson and his company, and explore a sunken sky ship, purportedly originating from another dimension.
Trogos Gold Rush
The misty woodlands of Trogos are experiencing a new gold rush. Adventurous prospectors from Khromarium and its vassal towns are flooding the area as the streams and slot canyons provide ample locations for panning and other forms of placer mining. A small boom town (Mulgrave) has already emerged close to the popular prospecting sites.
There are many rare woods and herbs to be harvested in the forest, and the impossibly deep slot canyons hold even stranger treasures. There are rumours of a triple temple of Lunaqqua, each dedicated to a different aspect of hers (the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone), and of an ancient Hyperborean burial site as well.
However, there lurk many dangers in these woods constantly enwreathed in the mists rising from the unfathomable gorges. You may encounter ape-men scouting parties from the nearby City-State of Kor, native tribes of troglodytes, as well as the strange oon, a subterranean servitor race of the mi-go; giant weasels, wolverines, snakes, and spiders; owl bears, lycanthropes, fungi, and sentient plants; crazed druids, shamans, and cultists, and possibly the mighty phoongh, intelligent humanoid grasshoppers who seemingly kill for their own entertainment and embrace their own death as if it was part of their nefarious plans...
I even prepared a few images for myself and my players (something I don't usually do) to help visualise the environment:
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Raygun Holocaust
This one is basically my Carcosa campaign that never materialised.
The characters awaken from hibernation in a strange laboratory with no memories. Their first task is clear: escape their captors. They soon find themselves on a strange planet where humanity is the subject and object of arcano-technological experiments carried out by serpent people. The local gods are cthulhoid monsters; there are nomads riding velociraptors; bounty hunters use laser sniper rifles and jet packs; magic rituals are carried out at precise times and locations; and ancient ruins are scattered across the land.
Chaos Warbands
This one was greatly inspired by WARBAND! (and, of course, Realms of Chaos).
The players are wandering, independent mercenaries and adventurers (essentially disbanded/deserted chaos marine–like figures) who are trying their luck in this no man's land. They are beginner but potent characters, with random mutations, chaos artifacts, and fanatic followers.
Superhuman soldiers, techno-gothic armour, chainswords and laser rifles; demons, mutants, and wild magical creatures; surreal but cool aesthetics and items; demons and tormented souls imprisoned in weapons and ancient machinery; human sacrifice and gore.
I'd also added a few NPC ideas to my notes; here's one:
An old hag hidden behind dark veils, with one of her hands replaced by a sword-sized pair of scissors. Her servants are mechanical spiders with the head of an infant.
Magic-Users Only
The characters are a group of "applied librarians" seeking knowledge and power (such as magical artefacts and grimoires). The caveat is that they must be magic-users of some sort (in AS&SH terms that means they must be members of the following classes: Magician, Cleric, Warlock, Cryomancer, Illusionist, Necromancer, Pyromancer, Witch, Druid, Priest, Runegraver, Shaman, Bard, Legerdemainist, or Purloiner).
I wrote this one down because my players generally prefer fighter-types over magic-users, and I liked the idea of running a short campaign specifically to dare them. I also thought about having each of them play two characters: one wizard-type and one bodyguard so that they wouldn't have to rely on hirelings constantly.
The Bucket List
The characters are the young sons and daughters of rich nobles from a reclusive community — but before they can become true members of the aristocracy, they must travel around the world (maybe they have a bucket list, and they can only return if they cross everything out). They get some starting equipment (probably better than regular stuff they can buy elsewhere, but obviously the supplies will run out at some point), a few magic items, a handful of cannon fodders servants, a sky ship, a map, and a to-do list. Go!
Mansion Inherited
The party inherits a haunted mansion in a fairly isolated region (like a valley). The villagers are generally good-hearted but fairly strange (think of Twin Peaks but in a fantasy world), and there are mysteries abound (like the ghost lady of the lake, the slime-infested old well, or the three deer-saints of the woods). Plus, y'know, old scrolls in the mansion's library, the dungeon beneath, and the ball room where ghosts party when the clock strikes thirteen.
Bedlam in Bormium
Visitors from all over the country have flooded the streets of Bormium, eager to witness the historic coronation of Prince Agalloch. As the revelry approaches its zenith and order breaks down, opportunists use the ensuing chaos to their advantage to further their own agendas.
Well, this is a vague one... I think I just liked the names and the idea of a city during festivities.
Good bits here, thanks for sharing.
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