Campaign Concept: Queen Ascending

The adventurers have spent the first few levels hunting down the lair of a necromancer. Nothing unsurprising; the general dark cowl and bones aesthetic one would come to expect from a communer with the dead. The necromancer has seemingly been practicing new forms of raising undead and releasing their experiments upon the local countryside.

Summoner by Piotr Dura

Through valiant fighting and careful investigation, the adventurers have found the dark tower of their nemesis. They've scaled the staircase, avoided traps, discovered the true extent of the wizard's machinations. They burst through the final door, entering the necromancer's observatory, from which they can use the moon's power to fuel their rituals.

The fight begins. Spells are launched, blades collide, spectres shift through the floorboards to defend their master.

Then the tower walls explode. An airship has arrived. Three figures swing across on ropes, landing in the tower. One incapacitates the necromancer and shifts out of view, appearing on the ship once more. The other two draw their weapons, ready to engage the players.

Your necromancer has been stolen by githyanki raiders.

Stone Erodes, Names Remain

There are many ways to start off a campaign (or prose). Here's one of them (note: nsfw art used below the break).

You slump to the ground. Everything aches. You cough and splutter for air and dust spews from your mouth. Your tongue tastes of chalk and there's grit in your eyes.

Looking around you, others are in a similar state to you. Standing above your collapsed forms is an adventurer of higher level, wiping blood off of their weapon of choice. On their belt is a small burlap bag, writing, containing a head-sized object. A vaguely humanoid, headless corpse lies on the floor in the corner, covered in dull green scales.

Congratulations, you have been freed from petrification.

A Case for Lovecraft in High Level D&D

Spoilers for The Case of Charles Dexter Ward to follow.

As my understanding of D&D and the gameplay it allows has progressed, I have become more and more sceptical of the potential for running effective Lovecraftian games at high levels. This is often because Lovecraft's works have focused on their protagonists being small, naive, and powerless, whilst D&D creates player characters that are borderline demigods. There is little to fear from the Great Old Ones when you can summon them to your doorstep or banish them to other realms with a snap of your fingers.

Recently though, I was reminded of a lesser known tale of Lovecraft's work that I think could work well for a campaign. It isn't one that is so hands on with the eldritch lore or summoning of outer realm entities, but it is one that I believe would still work for higher level play, whilst also working with the pulp-like style of D&D: H.P. Lovecraft's The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.