I believe there are still people wandering this planet who haven't heard about Pen and Paper or haven't tried it. If you follow the RocketBeans Pen&Paper show "Spitze Stifte" you will know what i am talking about and for everyone else you can watch this:
or this from the RocketBeans team:
I love to take over the role of the game master and enact a great storyline for my players. I want them to struggle with a worthy cause and have fun while doing so. This creates the best memorial moments and a session becomes unforgettable. I will always remember my first session as I played some random soldier within a group of twelve people. Yes twelve that is obviously to large for healthy Pen and Paper group but It was hilarious as we managed to get all of us killed within the session. Unequipped and green behind the ears we had fun getting shredded by our enemies. This was the spark which lighted the flame within me for Pen and Paper and i still love imagining worlds so and characters.
Lets dive in some ideas I had over the time.
The league of extraordinary gentlemen and ladies
For my first own adventure i was inspired by the movie "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". It starts in the living room of the headquarter where the players drink beverages, reading books and are listening to the radio. I wanted to give the players the opportunity to learn how to interact with their enviornment and other players before they need to embark on to their journey. After some meddeling i trigger the events and introduce a written letter in which a missing member of the league pleads for help. The players are tasked to search for the missing member in a safe house near the cities harbour. The whole setting is similar to Cthulu and the players will have to fight members of secret dark cult. In the safe house the players had to deal with two cult members while a bigger group was about to reach the house. After the first encounter with the cult members the player know about all facets of pen and paper. I gave them time to venture through the house searching for clues how to proceed before i let one of them discover the entrance into the basement. In which they can find the remains of the missing league member while the safe house is stormed by cult members. In the end gave the players choose to blow up the building and make a run for it. Succeeding they only lost one player in this adventure. Everyone loved it and this adventure was very good for beginners.
The talking bomb and other problems
Set on a space station somewhere in the universe the players wake up in the middle of a laboratory and there has been a terrible "accident". The idea for this adventure was that all players but one worked on this space station where weapons got developed and some pirates sought out to steal these treasures. It was the first time i allowed a player to fight against other players without them knowing. The situation played out terrible as the players didn't understood that this was even possible. I also couldn't handle the situation as i wanted and in the end it was just a lame conclusion at the end. The riddles were good though. I hope i find the material again and upload it to my own hosted github.
Social Credit System Riots
After reading about the social credit system in China I thought about creating a new adventure in which the players try to find a relative of either a player or non-player-character (npc) in the middle of riots set in Shenzhen. The riots would have been triggered by an hacker attack on the system reducing every users score to the lowest point preventing them from using the day to day public infrastructure and making their live miserable. The government would deny being hacked because of pride and so the users primarily middle class people have to pay the hackers cash to regain a suitable user score. A lot of people would not be able to pay the costly bill and therefore seek out the government solve the problem. I would imagine that the cencors would try to hide these demands and the topic all to gather hence causing an riot. The players in the middle of this mess, some of them also affected by the hack, now need to survive and try to handle this situation. The topic can get serious very fast so i wasn't sure it would be fun for the players. I kept my notes till i find a group who want to play this adventure.
The great train heist in the Wild West
For this adventure I got inspired by my favorite podcast "Geschichte aus der Geschichte". Two historians tell each other a story every week and the other doesn't know what the other will tell him. The episode is [GAG258](GAG258: Der Andrews Raid – Eine Lokomotive auf Abwegen) and I was so impressed by the story that i need to find a group to play it. Let me tell you the pitch! You as the player are part of a special unit of the Northern States going into the south behind enemy lines to steal a locomotive. The players need to get undiscovered to the place where the locomotive can get stolen and then steal it. After that they get chased by the southern army and need to get to the nothern states without getting captured. I imagine a race with locomotive and proper shoot outs. I would love to be the GM or the player for this wild adventure.
The first olympic games
How would it be to be present at one of the early olympic games? In this adventure the players would be part of the third olympic game and either be a support character or an athlete. The story would start right outside the camp where all athletes and entourage are living and you can imagine what a filthy place this camp would have been without modern sanitation. The players would then participate in the games trying to win gold medals and the ruffle in the night in which other athletes would come and try to sabotage our heroes or even steal the gold medals. I couldn't find the correct episode but again i was inspired by the podcast "Geschichte aus der Geschichte".
Mythical world wars
The world in which this adventure will happen is of the victorian time. A world full of mysteries, horrors and wonders. In this reality each player is given an indivdual quirk which is represented through a token. This Item needs to be always with the person it belongs to. It gives a super power but also a downside. These horrofic objects are bound to person but can be stolen. These can only be done through a brutal process which would most certainly kill it’s owner or the thief who knocked on the devils door. A player is wise to conceal his/her possesion/quirk. In this game the players are not bound to cooperate and can if they wish so deceive their comrades.
Inquisitional Story
It is the month of October 1558, the time of Pope Paul IV of Capriglia Irpina. The power of the Catholic Church is under attack by Protestants and other minor sects. From Rome, loyal inquisitors are sent out to the fringes of medieval Europe to suppress all other religious currents and promote belief in the Catholic Church. Our story is set in England, near the border of still independent Scotland. Queen May I, also known as Bloody Mary, currently rules England with a harsh hand and shows no mercy to Protestants. You are part of an inquisitorial entourage on your way to Berwick (Berwick-upon-Tweed) near the Scottish border. The Queen has ordered the Catholic Church to seek out and eliminate the Protestant forces in Berwick. Your rank is that of a peasant, but still above them. Your livelihood depends on the support of Inquisitor Eisenhorn. You have sworn allegiance to the Inquisitor, for reasons of your own, but also for the coins. Your skills will help him fulfil his mission or thwart it. Whether this will change the fate of Berwick depends on you.
That would be all my formulated ideas for now. I will write more posts when i have new ideas. See ya