As my second blog post, I want to talk about a campaign idea I have had for a long time. The elevator pitch is that you play the same soul reincarnated multiple times throughout the history of a people.
Now to dive into the details. The campaign would start with a super limited list of classes suitable for a stone age game and spend a few sessions exploring a key early moment in their people’s history. Then they would reincarnate the next time there is a major event in their history. But they would carry some part of that first character forward with them. As the campaign progresses, more options would be unlocked though the players would always be tied to that same people group. And a bit more of their past would be pulled forward each reincarnation. Part of me feels like once you add something to your list of things pulled forward it is locked in and can’t be changed, while the other part of me feels like you simply have access to everything your last character had and some kind of point system determining how much can be pulled forward.
Since I am thinking each life would generally be around 3 to 6 sessions, it is important to talk about how characters would level and I think that depends on the specific story and character level could rise and fall throughout the campaign. Though I can also see an argument for simply tracking character level across all lives or at least a constant increase in character level as the campaign progresses. The important thing is to find out what works for your group.
Of course there would have to be recurring villains, which would likely come in four varieties. First long lived creatures, dragons would be the obvious example, but elves, outsiders, even some giants may apply, players could encounter such a creature at several stages in their life. Sticking with the dragon, players first may encounter it as a fairly small and weak creature, probably not a wormling, but not much bigger, they may then meet it again as a young dragon, more sure of itself and perhaps working as an ally to the players or one of their foes. The third time they encounter the dragon it is a fully mature adult where it is pulling the strings of a plot, and finally they meet it at the twilight of its life as an ancient wyrm now a mentor to other younger dragons.
Second is the creature artificially extending it’s life, likely through magic. The two obvious options for this are vampires and liches. In either case, the first time the players encounter them they could be a simple mortal, it is only in later reincarnations that they are supernatural creatures. Such creatures are almost certainly villains and eventually tracked down and destroyed.
Third is others who reincarnate similarly to the player characters, they repeatedly return throughout their people’s history, sometimes that overlaps with the players and sometimes it doesn’t. It seems like it would be really interesting for the players to return and realize their nemesis spawned 50 years ago and really messed with some plan and all they can do is curse them and try to adapt.
The fourth category is not an individual but a group and is not mutually exclusive with any of the options above. Knightly orders, mage societies, cults or secret societies could all be focused on various aspects of the reborn. Some could be waiting for the reborn to return and lead them in times of crisis, others seeking to set in motion events that cause reincarnation, while yet more groups seek to gain power through using the player characters. Such groups may be friends, foes or unaligned to the interests of the party and may be a source for information about their condition, as a group dedicated to any aspect of these reincarnated souls likely holds much lore relating to them. Now it is up to the GM if such a group is willing to part with such valuable and esoteric lore, or what price they will demand if they are. Regardless it should not simply be coin that is required.
Another important issue is the rate of change between reincarnations. The setting should not be static. Technology will change, kingdoms will rise and fall and make contact with places farther and farther away. But the world should also not become totally unrecognizable between reincarnations. There should always be a specific part of the world the players can identify as tied to their original clan.
Some ideas for storylines include the first time the player’s clan encounters another sentient group, the clan discovering magic (potentially both arcane and divine separately), the shift from wandering to established villages, the first major war with another faction, the rise of the first litch, or an invasion from a distant land or even another plane. But this list of potential scenarios for a few sessions each are hardly exhaustive. And something like the first litch could easily attempt to come back a second, or even third time… or inspire attempted copycats, cults or followers. Knowledge from past lives should be relevant to plotlines, especially later ones.
The last point I want to cover is how to maintain a sense of danger in a campaign such as this, players will initially not care about dying as reincarnation is built into the campaign concept. But failing/dying before completing their task should have ramifications down the line. And as the setting develops, foes of the players should be attempting to develop ways of permanently or significantly impacting reincarnating souls. Perhaps even ending them entirely. It could be a very interesting storyline if one of the player character souls was damaged in some way, say not being able to use or receive the benefits of some type of magic. An entire storyline could be devoted to undoing such a problem.
Hopefully this was helpful and inspired you with ideas for your own campaigns.
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