[Campaign] Mage destroying the world because it's fun

[Melvs Grimm]

So i have this idea of making a campaign about a mage who was banished from every city because he uses dark magic or something. He was bored one day and thought "Maybe I can destroy the world, just for the heck of it." then sets off on his adventure, sneaking into dungeons, towns and maurauding camps, gathering recruits because why not, to gather some mystical artifacts that destroys the world, as he destroys the world he makes a portal to some alternate dimension or something.

My idea of this campaign has a mixture of RPG elements (Think Rexxar's campaign). I wanted to make a campaign in the most lazy way possible but still good I guess.

All mobs have high health and dmg, and so does heroes. Spells and doodads are all vanilla. I plan to make it short, from 4-6 chaps with tons of loading zones.

 

[Tickles]

Good campaigns generally have strong storylines or at least unique features. Vanilla Warcraft 3 with an emotionless plot just seems so... pointless.

Story-Driven Campaign Example

If you want to stick with that story, I would make it more intricate. Maybe while seeking revenge on the allied city officials that banished him, he begins to develop a conscience. After slaughtering innocents, he could start getting flashbacks to before he dabbled in dark magic. Maybe he had a loving family that was killed and spurred him to become the villain he is.

When other mages gather together and have him cornered, he could try to convince them that he's willing to change his ways. They end up imprisoning him. But then an even greater evil emerges (from the other dimension you mentioned?), and the dark mage manages to break free of prison. The dark mage could then choose to aid the people in conquering the greater evil, attempt to join forces with the greater evil, or flee into the portal to the other dimension to start a new story arc. That might allow for different endings to the campaign if you were able to stretch all of that out enough.

Unique Features Example

If you want to keep the plot simple, then maybe the dark mage simply serves a god of chaos. The dark mage could have abilities that wreak havoc and instill fear in people like plagues of rats or locusts. The chaos could be tracked through a resource (lumber?) that the god will feed from at the end of a level. Once he's fed from the chaos, he'll grant the dark mage more power (hero experience?) depending on the amount of chaos gained.

To make it a bit of a challenge, the chaos resource could periodically decrease. This makes it crucial to spread chaos and get through the level quickly. If it drops too low, maybe the god will punish the mage to some extent. The campaign would play out a bit like a survival game, but the primary resources would be madness and destruction.

 

[Oliver]

Criminals work better when they have meaningful/believable motives, they believe they're doing the right thing or they're doing it for some value.

Maybe a criminal who wants to destroy the world/a continent/a species because he/she believes its for the greater good, maybe they're fighting something they consider to be evil.

Maybe he was talented and ambitious to prove his worth, he was reckless so he was cast out of cities, so he harboured a dislike for the cities, then he latched onto the cause of some underdog outcasts who he thinks are being oppressed (murlocs? gnolls? bandits? terrorists?) and he took up their cause with zeal, claiming to be fighting for justice but deep down its seething revenge against those who cast him out and proof against those who doubted him.

 

[Melvs Grimm]

@Tickles you do have a point. So making a pointless campaign is off the list then. I like the choice factor and the detail of it all.
@Oliver I like that Idea, I'll keep that in mind

 

[ISL]

Mix the story up with some key points, characters, events, etc.
Make them all important and stuff.
And just spice it all up.

Spoiler: Text

The key points of your storyline is something that is followed up by (big) changes in the world/someone's life. (Example is when the Highborne summoned demons through the well of eternity to the world; the day when Batman lost his parents; the Omnic Crysis in Overwatch)

Key characters are those who, again, leave (massive) changes to the world, or who are intending to do so, or who simply have some weight in the story. The main character automatically gets his weight because, well, the story is about him/her.

And the key events and actions are something that is done by or to your characters. You have to aim to add as much of these as possible.

The more you add up, the better it can get, just don't go too far beyond common sense. You can't miss.

One question, are you settling your story in WoW universe or are you just going with the general/generic fantasy world?

 

[Michael the Boombringer]

This should be the ending cinematic. The wizard sits in a purple bubble in front of a destroyed area. He would say something like: "I've done so much, I'm so tired. It's time for a long long sleep" Dispel the purple bubble after he goes to sleep and create an earthquake effect (that shakes the screen). Then play the sound of dying ancients and create white mask. Upload an image that reads "The end" on a white background with the text written in a colour similar to white.