u/NomadicDragon

During session 0, all of them have the same dream.

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They dream about being on a boat with other people they don't recognize. The boat is on a large sea with no land in sight, the air is cold. The sky slowly gets brighter until it's blinding and then, fades with a large tower visible in the distance. As they scrutinize the tower, the dream flashes again and they're at the entrance to the tower. Going through the doors, they find themselves on the top of the tower surrounded by five, free-standing doors with no structure around them but their frames. There are two doors to the left, two to the right and the fifth is directly ahead, much larger, and sitting atop four stairs. This door also has a large sigil on it. As they examine the sigil, the dream fades and they awake in their beds shivering from the cold.

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The village they are in is far from any large body of water. Others in town will have had the same dream and be talking about it. They'll encounter a very ill old man who overhears people talking about the dream and claim that not only is the tower real but, he's been there! He'll give the party the name of the tower but, will succumb to his illness before he can give them much. This should put the party on the path of learning more about the tower and finding out where it is. Especially since the dream comes to them every time they sleep. Maybe details will shift, maybe not. Maybe one player will have a slightly different version of the dream than the other.

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Any thoughts?

The party enters a room in a ruins with random junk and a dead body. If they pass the investigation check on the body, they'll find a journal. 8n the journal, there's a entry that says something to the effect of, "The water grants vision." Nothing else on this room.

The next room is so large stone chamber with a massive statue of a knight at the far end and a small reflecting pool near the entrance. Upon stepping into the pool, the knight comes to life and begins to attack. It would have a ridiculously high AC & HP preventing routine damage. While in the pool, that player would also see glyphs on the walls. Interacting with the glyphs in the right order will bring the knight to a halt and open the loot chamber.

I'm going to preface this with a simple request, if the only comment you want to make about this is that it's a bad idea or, that I shouldn't run it and you have nothing creative to add, just don't content.

Here's the concept. The party starts without character sheets. I'll have them roll and they'll be assigned pre-made characters later in session 1. They will get to name them.

The story opens with the party entering a chamber at the top of a tower. It's lit by glowing topaz crystals in the ceiling. At the far end, seated on a throne, is an old man. He greets the party and asks why they've come. They roll a D20 with the highest roll being the first to reply. I tell them that as they go to speak, their purpose vanishes from their memory. Each of them realizes they don't know why they're here, either. The old man asks their names with the same result. The players realize that the world around them is becoming dream-like. Details begin to turn into vague shadows. Only the old man remains clear. As he laughs, the world goes black.

They awake in jail cells. Each lit with those same topaz crystals. They still don't know who they are or even what their species is. When they look at each other, they only see shadowy humanoid figures with no discerning details. When they speak, they don't understand each other as they're not speaking common but, they're species' language.

At this point, play truly begins and they must find a way to communicate and get out of the jail. I have some ideas of things to give them to help. One of those is that two characters are the same species while another character is the same species as a guard. I'd allow them to roll for checks and give them their bonuses. Once free of the cells, they're no longer under the glow of the topaz crystals and will slowly begin to regain memories and details though, they won't fully know everything until they're outside and getting further away. (The topaz crystals are the source of the amnesia and, the longer you're away from their glow, the more of your memories you regain.) They find their equipment in a storage chest/closet with each set separated.

I don't want this to be too difficult but, it needs to be a challenge.I'm looking for help fleshing it out. Also, a major detail I forgot to mention... One of the players would be a spy. He would actually be working for the BBEG. I may redeem him throughout the campaign, I may not. Right now the plan is to have him turn at the end.