hooligan x Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 I am running a new campaign for my regular group set in Hell. The PCs are damned souls attempting to escape Hell during a civil war. Lucifer is missing and his lieutenants are vying for power. In the resulting chaos, the punishment of the damned de-prioritized in favor of conscription. As the armies of Hell gather, some souls seek to better their lot. The PCs will wander Hell, having adventures, and trying to escape. Kinda like Land of the Lost, with 100% more Borgias. I hope you will find this entertaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes I feel like I'm channeling Keanu Reeves: "Woah." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shigeru Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes I want to play Gilles De Rais! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSgt Baloo Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Must... Channel... Bill Preston...? [after seeing hell] We got totally lied to by our album covers' date=' man![/quote'] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooligan x Posted June 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Starting PCs are a Columbine-style school shooter, Joan of Arc, Robin Hood, and Vlad Tepes. First game is tomorrow night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Sounds pretty cool! I'm wondering how Joan of Arc and Robin Hood ended up in hell, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phookz Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for heresy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc). An ecclesiastic court later ruled that they were wrong, but maybe they weren't? Robin Hood was a criminal - 'Thou Shalt Not Steal' doesn't have any conditionals on rich or poor that I'm aware of. Sounds like an interesting campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shigeru Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Oh boy. Don't even get me started on Joan of Arc. Suffice it to say, she would be a cool character to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for heresy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc). An ecclesiastic court later ruled that they were wrong, but maybe they weren't? Robin Hood was a criminal - 'Thou Shalt Not Steal' doesn't have any conditionals on rich or poor that I'm aware of. Yeah, good points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psybolt Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Nice idea. That would be fun to play. The role-playing of the hell bound characters would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooligan x Posted June 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes One of the themes I plan to explore is the nature of Hell and faith. I warned my players when I pitched the game that it would not adhere to a Christian dogma. A particularly devout person might be offended by my version of the afterlife. The landscape of my hell is like an old European city with sections created at different times by different cultures. Or maybe it's Epcot. (Insert your Disney World = Hell joke here). Hell is constantly changing and being influenced by the beliefs of mankind. There are demons and fallen angels, but they don't seem to be the same thing. The Angels are not inmates or guards and have free run of the place. The great war in Heaven was a result of Lucifer's heresy that God was just one of the Archangels behind an Oz-like curtain, intent on maintaining the hierarchy in Heaven. The player's concept of Robin Hood is a bandit and thief who got really great spin through the centuries. During his time in Hell he has decided he needs to start living up to the hype. Joan of Arc was betrayed for politics and burnt as a heretic. She got to Hell and was sure someone made a mistake. 500 years later, someone told her about the canonization and she was expecting apologies and a ticket to Heaven. When that didn't happen, she got angry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Joan of Arc was betrayed for politics and burnt as a heretic. She got to Hell and was sure someone made a mistake. 500 years later' date=' someone told her about the canonization and she was expecting apologies and a ticket to Heaven. When that didn't happen, she got angry.[/quote'] Cue Dante* voice "I'm not even supposed to be here!" Cheers, Mark *no, not that Dante, fool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooligan x Posted June 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Game On! Session 1: St Vincent High School, Physical Education, period 4. Julian Cross is brought out of his daydream by the fire alarm. He is momentarily confused, then notices the shotgun in his hand. Mr. Swarski is lying on the tumbling mat, his hands still clutching his clipboard and whistle. Three bodies dressed in gym uniforms lie nearby. It's not a dream this time. He briefly thinks of the school chapel, then the aneurysm ruptures. Julian's plan was to terminate the sixteen people on his list, then quickly confess his sins so as to be in a state of grace when the snipers arrived. After killing thirteen students and teachers, a weak blood vessel has robbed him of any chance to test his loophole theory. No matter, it was a stupid plan anyway. Julian's foolproof revenge spree has landed him in Hell. He is sent to an admissions councilor who then sends him to the 9th grade. For eternity. On his first day he is threatened by a bully and discovers his shotgun in his locker. He shoots the bully and is called to the dean of student's office. Torturer's Cove, Hell. Vlad Tepes awakes to discover the hulking scaly demon who puts a pole through his body every morning has not shown up. Instead, a well dressed Italian man named Cesare has come with an offer. The impaling demon has been paid off and will let Vlad loose if he agrees to take on a task for Cesare. All Vlad has to do is travel Hell and quietly recruit an army of the damned to gather at Suicide Wood. As his roommate is dragged away to the fires again, Vlad enthusiastically agrees. Suicide Wood, Hell Robin of Locksley bemoans the lack of a proper forest in Hell. He hides among the groaning trees of Suicide Wood and quietly follows the armoured boy on horseback. The boy exits the wood and rides to the gates of a charming little villa. He is shown inside and Robin scales the wall to follow. He is amazed to see lush gardens and fruit trees. He follows the boy into the main house. Robin eavesdrops on the lad's audience with Pope Alexander VI. He quickly realizes the boy is in fact a teenaged girl. The Pope explains to young Jeanne that there are several factions arming for the coming war over Hell. The damned are being conscripted by the demons Ashtoreth and The Thorn king. Alexander lays out a plan where his armies, under astute military command, might change the whole landscape of Hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psybolt Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Are you anticipating these character working together, as all of my examples with these kind of characters leads to trouble within the group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooligan x Posted June 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes There May be some internal conflict, but outside circumstances will soon make it advantageous for everyone to work for a common goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Joan of Arc and Vlad Tepes are going to have some really interesting disputes about morality. Although they may have more in common with each other that the other two. Is there going to be any pressure on these characters to actually act like heroes or are they simply a group thrown together by circumstances who are only looking out for themselves? (Though I suppose if you really work at it they could end up being both). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooligan x Posted June 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Joan of Arc and Vlad Tepes are going to have some really interesting disputes about morality. Although they may have more in common with each other that the other two. Is there going to be any pressure on these characters to actually act like heroes or are they simply a group thrown together by circumstances who are only looking out for themselves? (Though I suppose if you really work at it they could end up being both). I wouldn't call it pressure, but I have discussed the theme of redemption and the PCs living up to the campaign name. The hardest case isn't Vlad, as he has had 531 years to reflect on his life and sins. The hard case is Julian, who still feels justified in striking back at the people who made his life a "living hell". A taste of the real Hell might make him question that. Our Vlad is a bad dude, but no worse than any other ruler of that time. I am discounting the exaggerated German & Russian stories of forests of thousands of impaled victims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Fair enough that sounds reasonable. And I'd agree that Vlad Tepes wasn't so unusual in the context of his times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psybolt Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes Certainly an interesting concept. I still would feel that a group will be a challenge to work together. I guess the idea that Hell can reform an evil person depends on the evil person. Redemption is certainly possible, I guess... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes There May be some internal conflict' date=' but outside circumstances will soon make it advantageous for everyone to work for a common goal.[/quote'] ...HA! HAHAHA! Famous last words for many a brilliant game. Seems really interesting. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Admiral C Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes As I recall there was a whole series of books based on this premise. Heroes in Hell, War in Hell, and so on. I remember several underlying themes being that New Hell, where the dead of the modern world went was much larger than Old Hell. That killing someone in Hell just meant they were sent to the Undertaker who reasembled them in act or torture/healing that he was as feared as death and they would just be dropped back into Hell sometimes years later. Although it had it's fare share of historical cameos, a story with Gilgamesh and Picasso comes to mind my favorite had to do with Napoleon. Apparenty his palace, dropped in and situated outside and misplaed central park, was under siege by another French leader, I believe Robespierre. To beat back his forces Napoleon, whose troops were armed with vintage WW2 equipment had to enlist the help of the Viet Cong living in Central park. I think he bribed them with homemade barbecue Josephine made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes As I recall there was a whole series of books based on this premise. Heroes in Hell, War in Hell, and so on. I remember several underlying themes being that New Hell, where the dead of the modern world went was much larger than Old Hell. That killing someone in Hell just meant they were sent to the Undertaker who reasembled them in act or torture/healing that he was as feared as death and they would just be dropped back into Hell sometimes years later. Although it had it's fare share of historical cameos, a story with Gilgamesh and Picasso comes to mind my favorite had to do with Napoleon. Apparenty his palace, dropped in and situated outside and misplaed central park, was under siege by another French leader, I believe Robespierre. To beat back his forces Napoleon, whose troops were armed with vintage WW2 equipment had to enlist the help of the Viet Cong living in Central park. I think he bribed them with homemade barbecue Josephine made. And the Duke of Wellington was his best friend. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psybolt Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Re: Hell's Heroes As I recall there was a whole series of books based on this premise. Heroes in Hell, War in Hell, and so on. I remember several underlying themes being that New Hell, where the dead of the modern world went was much larger than Old Hell. That killing someone in Hell just meant they were sent to the Undertaker who reasembled them in act or torture/healing that he was as feared as death and they would just be dropped back into Hell sometimes years later. Although it had it's fare share of historical cameos, a story with Gilgamesh and Picasso comes to mind my favorite had to do with Napoleon. Apparenty his palace, dropped in and situated outside and misplaed central park, was under siege by another French leader, I believe Robespierre. To beat back his forces Napoleon, whose troops were armed with vintage WW2 equipment had to enlist the help of the Viet Cong living in Central park. I think he bribed them with homemade barbecue Josephine made. Cool. I've been considering stealing...errr... borrowing this concept myself. May have to try to look up these books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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