Campaign Overview

Theme: A brewing conflict between two powerful organizations in the world of magical technology and artifice.

Organizations:

• HamoTech: A benevolent organization dedicated to using magical technology to help people, protect communities, and advance knowledge. They believe in responsible innovation and making the world better through collaboration between magic and machinery.
• Felix Five: A sinister organization that seeks to monopolize magical technology for profit and power. They have no qualms about experimenting on unwilling subjects, stealing innovations, or using their creations for destructive purposes.

Campaign Arc: The players will gradually discover the conflict between these two organizations, starting with seemingly unrelated adventures that slowly reveal the larger conspiracy. They should align with HamoTech, though the lines may blur at times.

Adventure Structure

The campaign is divided into three major chunks based on character level:

• Levels 1-3: Introduction & Discovery
• Levels 4-6: Escalation & Investigation
• Levels 7-10: Confrontation & Resolution

Each adventure is designed for 1-4 players and includes guidance for junior DMs.

Chunk 1: Introduction & Discovery (Levels 1-3)

Adventure 1: The Broken Automaton

Level: 1 Duration: 1-2 sessions Hook Strength: ⭐ (No HamoTech/Felix Five yet)

Synopsis: The party investigates strange happenings at a local farm where a mechanical scarecrow has gone haywire. They discover it’s a malfunctioning HamoTech prototype that was meant to help with farming. This introduces the concept of magical technology in a friendly, low-stakes way.

Key Elements:

• Introduction to magical automatons
• First mention of HamoTech (positive context)
• Simple combat and problem-solving
• Reward includes a letter of commendation from HamoTech

Adventure 2: The Suspicious Shipment

Level: 2 Duration: 2-3 sessions Hook Strength: ⭐⭐ (Felix Five introduced subtly)

Synopsis: A HamoTech representative contacts the party (having heard of their help with the automaton) and asks them to investigate a shipment of mechanical parts that went missing. The trail leads to a warehouse where strange experiments are being conducted. The party discovers evidence of Felix Five’s involvement but doesn’t fully understand who they are yet.

Key Elements:

• First HamoTech quest
• Introduction to Felix Five (mysterious villains)
• Investigation and stealth elements
• Combat with modified/corrupted constructs
• Clues about Felix Five’s unethical practices

Adventure 3: The Village of Cogs

Level: 2-3 Duration: 3-4 sessions Hook Strength: ⭐⭐⭐ (Direct HamoTech vs Felix Five conflict)

Synopsis: A small village has been receiving “gifts” of helpful automatons from a mysterious benefactor. The villagers are grateful at first, but the automatons are slowly taking over all work and the villagers are becoming dependent and listless. The party must investigate and discovers Felix Five is using the village as a test site for control and manipulation technology. HamoTech sends support to help free the village.

Key Elements:

• Clear villain motivation revealed
• Moral complexity (gifts that become chains)
• Social encounters with villagers
• Boss fight with Felix Five field agent
• Choice: Destroy all automatons or reprogram them?
• HamoTech offers the party official employment/alliance

Chunk 2: Escalation & Investigation (Levels 4-6)

Status: To be developed

Planned Adventures:

• Adventure 4: Sabotage at the HamoTech workshop
• Adventure 5: Side quest with hints of larger conspiracy
• Adventure 6: Felix Five’s secret facility

Chunk 3: Confrontation & Resolution (Levels 7-10)

Status: To be developed

Planned Adventures:

• Adventure 7: The spy within HamoTech
• Adventure 8: Race to recover ancient artifact
• Adventure 9: Assault on Felix Five headquarters
• Adventure 10: Final confrontation with Felix Five leadership

Campaign Themes & Tips for DMs

Themes to Emphasize:

• Technology isn’t inherently good or evil - it’s how it’s used
• Corporate/organizational warfare affects innocent people
• Innovation vs exploitation
• Individual agency vs control

DM Tips:

• Not every session needs to be about the main conflict - use side quests to pace the campaign
• Sprinkle HamoTech/Felix Five references even in unrelated adventures (posters, news, NPCs mentioning them)
• Let players discover clues organically rather than forcing exposition
• Both organizations should feel real - HamoTech should have flaws, Felix Five should have understandable motivations (even if evil)

Scaling for Party Size:

• 1-2 players: Reduce enemy numbers, give them an NPC ally
• 3 players: Use adventures as written
• 4 players: Add 1-2 more enemies or increase enemy HP by 25%

Important NPCs

HamoTech

• Dr. Hamish Hamilton: Founder, elderly artificer, idealistic inventor (appears in Adventures 2, 6, 9)
• Petra Cogsworth: Field agent, warforged paladin, earnest and loyal (appears in Adventures 2, 3, 5)
• Zephyr: Young gnome engineer, enthusiastic, sometimes makes mistakes (appears in Adventures 1, 4, 7)

Felix Five

• The Five: Mysterious ruling council, identities unknown until late campaign
• Victor Steele: Field commander, human artificer with metal arm, cold and calculating (appears in Adventures 3, 6, 8)
• Mx. Render: Changeling spy and saboteur, charming but ruthless (appears in Adventures 7, 9)

Neutral/Other

• Mayor Bronwyn Copperkettle: Dwarf mayor of starting town, practical and caring
• “Scraps”: A sentient construct with amnesia found in Adventure 5, potential party member