The Sandstorm Gear Heist

Stop the chrono-minotaurs from halting time itself.

The adventurers are thrust into action when a frantic desert merchant claims a gang of steampunk minotaurs plans to use a powerful magic-tech device within a secret pyramid to manipulate time itself. As the players navigate treacherous gears and shifting sands, they learn the minotaurs believe harnessing this magic will grant them dominion over the desert’s resources. Time is of the essence, as the device's activation could cause irreversible damage. Delve through a storm-torn desert, outsmart mechanical defenses, and confront a cunning minotaur leader bent on rewriting reality. Choices matter—stop the heist in time, or risk the desert’s future unraveling.

Campaign Image

The World

Context

In a world where steampunk technology coexists uneasily with rare, mysterious magic, the barren desert holds secrets of ancient power. Few harness the arcane, often fusing it with their mechanical endeavors. The minotaurs, master tinkerers, inhabit nomadic tribes, seeking magical artifacts to support their resource-strained lives amidst the relentless sands. This quest to harmonize magic with technology fuels innovation and conflict alike, drawing adventurers to the shifting desert dunes where history and future collide.

Concept

Steampunk minotaurs harness magic-tech devices to manipulate time.

Impact

These devices create temporal oases in the desert, coveted and contested by all.

The Plot

Summary

A desperate merchant hires the adventurers to stop a band of minotaurs led by a divisive leader. They've infiltrated the ancient Pyramid of Machinika, known for its magical properties. The minotaurs aim to activate a time-device, planning to manipulate the flow of time to control desert trade and resources. Players must navigate sandstorms, disabling erratic steampunk automatons while dealing with traps that blend magic with clockwork-like technology. Facing moral dilemmas, they uncover the marginalization driving the minotaurs' actions but must prevent the full activation of the device. Success means safeguarding the delicate balance of their world, while failure could plunge the desert into temporal chaos.

Complication

The magic-tech device malfunctions, accelerating time around the pyramid.

Hook

Stop the minotaurs before they activate the time-device.

World stakes

The entire desert's time flow and ecosystem will destabilize.

Personal stakes

Players risk being trapped in a temporal anomaly.

The Acts

Act 1

Summary:

The adventurers receive an urgent request from a merchant to stop the minotaurs from activating a dangerous device. They travel through the desert, facing a sudden sandstorm triggered by the minotaurs' faulty experiments. Upon reaching the pyramid, players engage with the initial security systems: mechanical guardians enhanced by latent desert magicks, forcing a hands-on approach. Players gather crucial intel regarding the minotaurs' intentions from enigmatic runes etched on ancient walls.

Location:

Desert outskirts with a concealed pyramid, marked by stone markers.

Challenge:

Overcoming mechanical guardians guarding the pyramid entrance.

Objective:

Reach the Pyramid of Machinika.

Set Back:

A trap seals the entrance, requiring quick thinking to escape.

Revelation:

Minotaurs' goal is temporal control, not mere riches.

GM's Guide:

Quickly establish the urgency of the threat and lean into the mystery of the desert. Descriptions should evoke the heat and vastness of the sands. When handling mechanical guardians, incorporate elements of surprise and misdirection. Emphasize the surrounding storm as both an obstacle and narrative driver, incorporating environmental hazards in combat or skill challenges. Allow players to explore different tactics—brute force, stealth, and intellect, offering clues to deepen intrigue.

GM's Move:

A sandstorm conceals the pyramid's entrance, intensifying tension.

Act 2

Summary:

Inside the pyramid, players encounter a maze of gears and swirling sands powered by magic and mechanisms. They must navigate shifting floor traps and decipher cryptic symbols that direct the device's controls. The act focuses on building tension as they realize the minotaurs are employing the pyramid's defense to slow intruders. With time slipping away, the adventurers hear from captured, indecisive minotaurs who doubt the plan and consider desertion.

Location:

Inner Pyramid with shifting mechanical corridors.

Challenge:

Disabling magical traps without triggering temporal flux.

Objective:

Disarm pyramid’s defenses and understand its inner workings.

Set Back:

Missing a glyph changes your control over pyramid's defenses.

Revelation:

Some minotaurs question their leader’s true aims.

GM's Guide:

Increase tension with ticking clock elements—describe shifting gears and timers audibly. Encourage players to explore creative problem-solving with traps that require cooperation, highlighting potential discord among minotaurs. Make captured minotaurs genuine sources of information and unique personalities, comparatively showing dissent and cohesion within their ranks; this enriches role-play and offers unexpected allies.

GM's Move:

Time anomalies manifest, showing the stakes of failure.

Act 3

Summary:

Reaching the heart of the pyramid, adventurers confront the minotaurs' leader amid a suspended control room swirling with time anomalies—past and future blending visually. They must thwart his attempt to fully awaken the time-device by confronting moral questions around resource scarcity and harmony between technology and magic. With options to negotiate, sabotage, or direct combat, players face choices that could backfire, including dealing with the volatile magic field around them.

Location:

Central control room surrounded by temporal rifts.

Challenge:

Navigating negotiations or combat under temporal duress.

Objective:

Stop the minotaur leader from fully activating the device.

Set Back:

Energy spikes disarm player-concocted traps.

Revelation:

Leader's plan is full control over desert time and trade lines.

GM's Guide:

Heighten the stakes through sensory descriptions of unfolding anomalies—such as fast-forwarding plants or reversing sandfalls. Balance combat and negotiation, allowing diplomatic solutions through understanding the minotaur plight. Encourage innovative use of resources and previously gleaned information, shaping outcomes collaboratively. Keep pacing brisk to emphasize dwindling time, and consider tension-building mechanical distortion to ambient sounds and visuals.

GM's Move:

Time rifts threaten to collapse reality within the pyramid.

Climax:

Prevent the time device activation, restoring balance and learning from the conflict.