space campaign

[Severus Snape]

well, what do you have so far? without knowing what you have, we cannot help you with what you don't.

[The Dark Elf]

I always use the players as the starting point for adventures so I'd need to know them. I could plot a few H,L &S encounters but a real adventure needs some personality.

[Severus Snape]

1. Sentence structure is essential when asking for help. That long run-on sentence you've got there describing what you've already got is hard to read, and it took me a few tries to figure out what you've got. Which is:

• A doctor hires the PCs to go explore a planet.
• Said planet has some mystery surrounding it, causing all who go there to never be heard from again.
• Said planet is a forest environment.
• Settlements on said planet are being wiped out by some type of bug-ish creatures.
• When the PCs arrive, the settlement they investigate is wiped out, but there are clues that whatever survivors were left went to some cave system for shelter

2. You need to define a few things about the campaign before continuing with what happens after they get there:

• Who is this doctor, who does he work for, and why are the PCs being hired?
• Why explore this planet, other than investigate the disappearing settlers?
• Flesh out the bug things. What are they, and where did they come from?
• Why are the bug things killing people off? What is their motivation? Land, resources, just plain evil bastards?
• Where is this cave system located? Is it close to the settlement, or is it far off? Could potential dangers lurk in the forests between the settlement and the caves?
• Flesh out the cave system. What calls it home, and why would the settlers go there?
• More fleshing out of the caves. How big are they? Do you have the maps created yet?
• Why were the settlers on this planet anyhow? Peace with locals, hunting, looking for resources, political refugees who crash-landed...why?

I think you'll find that once you answer the questions I posed above and flesh out some of the stuff, the adventure you've got will be rather large. The best advice I can give you is to work on one adventure and leave it at that. Things are bound to come up in the course of playing that will lend themselves to side-treks and other adventure hooks down the road. Don't try to get everything done at once. If you try, you'll find that you'll never get anything done.

[Severus Snape]

Ok, you've got a start on some of the stuff I told you needed to be fleshed out. But you need to finish fleshing out all of this stuff before continuing with what happens after the players are done. If you half-ass this adventure because you want to come up with the next adventure, the players will know it. And they won't want to play.

1. You've got the good doctor. Finish him off by determining race and abilities.
2. Flesh out the organization. This doesn't have to be too detailed, but primary industry, motivations, goals, etc., should be drawn up.
3. What type of scientific research? And why is the research being done on this particular planet? You can't just say "Well, they are here doing research because this is where they went". Why this planet? What makes this planet so special that the research has to be done there?
4. Hive mentality does not make bugs mindless. So they are eating the people because they see them as a food source. That's good, but doesn't make them mindless. It actually makes them scary. Why? Hive mind = coordinated attacks and defense. Should make them harder to take on.
5. Ancient buildings in the caves? Excellent. Who found them? When were they found? Any artifacts lying around? Did the previous civilization leave any clues lying around about who they were, and why they disappeared?
6. Finish the cave system. If the players are going there, it needs to be done before they get that far.

I'm not looking for you to put the answers up out here. I'm giving you suggestions on how to finish writing this adventure before starting to worry about what happens next.