New campaign world notes

[Doktor Howl]

I have a hankering to drop a Western plot into this.  I mean, it will be suitably dressed up to be D&D, but still a Western plot.   Not sure at what point in the campaign this will take place.

[...]

I am open to suggestions on this one.

Seven Samurai.  (Yes, it's a western.  You can pretend I said "The Magnificent Seven", if you prefer).

Your ancient vampires already raid villages periodically, so let's say one of the more remote villages gets advance warning, and desperately tries to recruit the party to defend them.

If this happens in winter, the villagers won't be able to "just run away" without starving/freezing/getting picked off one-by-one.

Of course it's a Western.  Kurosawa was a genius.

I might do that in arc 3.  It's too soon to do it in arc 1 or even 2.

[altered]

I always like a good old train heist, personally. Comes close to highway robbery in a fantasy setting, but that’s a good old Western trope itself, and if you’re knocking over a whole military caravan of goodies you can get the whole damn train heist vibe right there (have battlemages or similar on deck for the high value bastards and crossbow dorks for the low stakes pop-up target shootout). Not to mention the added bonus of the flavor of highwaymen robbing a stagecoach.

ETA: I should be clear, I was definitely talking more about the “running battle along the tracks, jump onboard, continue” style of train heist. The rubbish-on-the-rail type has its own charm, but it’s not nearly as distinctive.

[Cain]

The Magnificent Seven would've been my go-to as well. In addition to being a classic western, it's also a classic D&D plot.

[Doktor Howl]

The Magnificent Seven would've been my go-to as well. In addition to being a classic western, it's also a classic D&D plot.

Oh, yes.  However, in arc 1, they don't know who the BBEG is.  Hell, they don't even know there IS a BBEG until arc 2. 

So arc 2 is when the mooks show up raiding.  Arc 3 they spend some time learning what's going on.

[Doktor Howl]

I always like a good old train heist, personally. Comes close to highway robbery in a fantasy setting, but that’s a good old Western trope itself, and if you’re knocking over a whole military caravan of goodies you can get the whole damn train heist vibe right there (have battlemages or similar on deck for the high value bastards and crossbow dorks for the low stakes pop-up target shootout). Not to mention the added bonus of the flavor of highwaymen robbing a stagecoach.

ETA: I should be clear, I was definitely talking more about the “running battle along the tracks, jump onboard, continue” style of train heist. The rubbish-on-the-rail type has its own charm, but it’s not nearly as distinctive.

It's an idea, thought what the train analog would be escapes me right now.

Think low fantasy. 

[Cain]

There's always the classic "bounty hunter dispensing rough justice out along the border". Exactly how rough the justice and whether it's really necessary are, of course, open questions.

[altered]

I always like a good old train heist, personally. Comes close to highway robbery in a fantasy setting, but that’s a good old Western trope itself, and if you’re knocking over a whole military caravan of goodies you can get the whole damn train heist vibe right there (have battlemages or similar on deck for the high value bastards and crossbow dorks for the low stakes pop-up target shootout). Not to mention the added bonus of the flavor of highwaymen robbing a stagecoach.

ETA: I should be clear, I was definitely talking more about the “running battle along the tracks, jump onboard, continue” style of train heist. The rubbish-on-the-rail type has its own charm, but it’s not nearly as distinctive.

It's an idea, thought what the train analog would be escapes me right now.

Think low fantasy.

Traveling caravan still works. Targets on carts pulled by horses, armor/fireproof everything involved (depending on feasibility), close formation.

Like I said, think highwaymen robbing a stagecoach, except it’s a whole damn line of them and there’s some armed nooks on board.

If horses or equivalent pack animals aren’t likely, then it might very well be too low fantasy to make it work properly.