First Game Idea ... critique?

[CrosshairCollie]

Okay, gonna try to get back into this stuff.  Here's my thought for an opening adventure, 'get the gang together' sort of setup.  I've mentioned the idea before, but it's been a while, so this might seem familiar to some.

The idea is that Loki wants/needs to get his hands on Mjolnir, but knows damn well he can't get it off Thor himself, as Thor would kick the living crap out of him.  So, he does his behind-the-scenes manipulation schtick and gets Thor and Bulldozer to get in a drinking contest.  He arranges it so Dozer can't get drunk off the magicked booze, and with a bit of mental prodding, gets Dozer to grab the hammer.

Now, of course, Loki, mischievous jackhole he is, does see some potential chaos that could be generated by Dozer having Mjolnir, so makes the mistake of not taking it away immediately; he knows of Dozer's arachnophobia and knows he can use that to get him to relinquish the hammer.  Thor wakes up, hung over and extremely ticked off, and basically goes around tearing a path through (Campaign City) looking for Dozer.   This is the PCs' first problem, because they have an angry brick on a rampage and the odds of a shared language are slim at best.  I don't have any pre-planned thoughts of how they're going to deal with him, I'm just gonna have to wing it.

Sometime after Thor is dealt with (or Thor deals with them), that's when Dozer will start discovering how much fun he can have with the hammer.  I don't think Dozer is smart enough to think about doing more than hitting people with the hammer, either in-hand or by throwing, and I don't think he's seen any of the Thor/Avengers movies ("Comic books are for NERDS!"), so things like throwing lightning just aren't going to occur to him without prompting (also, see below).  Believe me, I'm waiting for a PC to say something about it, though.  "At least he's not throwing lightning at us." "I can throw lightning?" "FFFFFFFFFFFFF--"

I'll be doing a lot of ad-libbing at that point, just kind of seeing what happens and reacting ... ideally, the PCs (maybe with Thor's help? depends) will weaken Dozer enough that Loki can make his move to swipe the hammer (at which point I'll have to figure out just what he wants to do with it), then they have to go after Loki.

 

N.B. I'm not using Marvel Thor.  I'm using mythological Thor.  He's red-haired and bearded, and there is no 'worthiness' bit on Mjolnir (and Mjolnir cannot be used to fly).  He speaks Norse (or whatever language is appropriate, I'll have to look it up), not Ye Olde English.  He's short-tempered, completely without guile (and thus easily tricked), hits first and asks questions never.

 

Anyway, thoughts?  Intriguing premise?  Lame?

[Duke Bushido]

Seems like a great set-up, particularly since you're not using Marvel Thor. 

 

My only recommendation, if you are planning on the confusion a language barrier can bring, is that you teach bulldozer whatever language Thor is using.  As they're engaged in a drinking contest, at least the two of them have a method of communicating. 

[Doc Democracy]

I think Loki can manage a charm to allow Dozer to understand Thor long enough for a drinking contest.

 

I like the premise because Loki is in the background, out of sight and probably out of the notice of the players. 🙂

 

Lots of your winging it can be Loki causing mischief.  If Dozer is going to be beaten too easily, he might whisper in Dozer’s ear about Mjolnir’s abilities.  If he is wiping the floor with the heroes then telling him he can throw the hammer provides him with a chance to intercept and abscond while the players gratefully mop up Dozer.

 

Doc

[Dkap]

On 6/8/2019 at 12:10 AM, Duke Bushido said:

Seems like a great set-up, particularly since you're not using Marvel Thor. 

 

My only recommendation, if you are planning on the confusion a language barrier can bring, is that you teach bulldozer whatever language Thor is using.  As they're engaged in a drinking contest, at least the two of them have a method of communicating. 

Loki most likely has a simple spell for Dozer to communicate with Thor

[BoloOfEarth]

I would at least provide the heroes a few clues that Loki is behind things.  They don't have to be obvious clues - but Bulldozer being able to speak Norse is a good one.  If one of the PCs is magically-based and has any magic-sensing ability, he/she might note the spell cast on Dozer, as well as any other spells.  Players often resent their characters being duped or used, so giving them a fair chance to connect the dots is well advised.

 

But it sounds like a good intro adventure. 

[Christopher R Taylor]

Just remember that according to the mythology, Thor is pretty hard to get drunk; the guy could drink oceans of mead and still be fine, so it would have to be enchanted to be super powerful as well.  And make sure your players understand this isn't Marvel, so Mjolnir can be picked up by anyone strong enough rather than good enough (which means probably one of the PCs too...)

[Tjack]

     Just an idea to make things less complicated,   What about instead of magicked booze and a spell to keep Dozer from getting drunk, you just go with somebody slipping a mickey into Thor’s drinks?  

      You could go with a bar waitress/bartender either paid or enchanted or maybe Loki himself shapeshifter or illusioned to do the job.