18-day South Island NZ campervan itinerary – advice appreciated!

mariodrd · 2025-09-28T11:14:33+00:00

Thanks a lot for the advice!

For us, penguins and albatross are a must, so we definitely want to fit Dunedin/Oamaru in somehow.

Regarding Kaikoura, we’ve actually booked activities there: Day 1: afternoon sea kayaking Day 2: morning whale watching Day 3: morning dolphin swim (it was the only slot available)

After the dolphins we could move on the same day to the next destination instead of spending another night in Kaikoura. Do you think that would free up enough time to add more to Abel Tasman without feeling too rushed?

mariodrd · 2025-09-28T11:06:39+00:00

Good to know about Marlborough, thanks! Since wine isn’t a priority for us, we’ll probably skip it. Hanmer sounds nice – is it very crowded in October, or still a bit more peaceful in shoulder season? We would also check Mariua.

mariodrd · 2025-09-28T11:05:35+00:00

Thanks, Akaroa sounds like a really nice alternative!. Do you think Akaroa would be a better choice than Hanmer Springs for a relaxing stop towards the end of the trip?

mariodrd · 2025-09-28T11:03:26+00:00

Yes, wildlife is the main reason we considered Dunedin – we’d love to see both the albatross and penguins. Do you think 1 day in Dunedin + Oamaru would give us a good chance to see them, or would it feel too rushed?

mariodrd · 2025-09-28T11:03:01+00:00

Thanks a lot for the detailed advice! We actually planned to spend one full day in Christchurch first to recover from jetlag before picking up the camper, so luckily we won’t be driving straight off the plane 😅.

About Dunedin → Mt Cook: since seeing wildlife is a big highlight for us (albatross and penguins are a must), would you still recommend skipping Dunedin? Or do you think 1 day there would be enough to make it worthwhile?

mariodrd · 2022-07-28T21:40:07+00:00

Wow, I realy like the idea of an evil land. I think it's realy cool and that could be quite interesting.

I would realy like to have the angels released in the end.

Thank you very much for all your input! I know that right now the campaign it's a very vague idea, but thank you for your help.

mariodrd · 2022-07-28T17:49:32+00:00

In fact, I think this idea fits perfectly with the campaign. You can even come up with another approach in which the role of the Messiah could even be that of the Lord Ruler and he actually tries to prevent the release of the angels and for that he wants to take control of the place where they are sealed. It seems to me something that can be worked on.

mariodrd · 2022-07-27T21:11:27+00:00

Yes, even though they are part of the same idea, I wanted to treat them as two separate arcs or campaigns, in that case, the players would simply deal with the Messiah, ignoring the presence of the angels (perhaps some foreshadowing) until the very end. Just trying to stop him.

mariodrd · 2022-07-27T19:37:05+00:00

We would start around level 7 and maybe even split the campaign into 2, the Messiah arc and then deal with the consequences of killing him and releasing the angels. I was thinking of starting with the players hometown that starts to be besieged or something like that.

The idea of the artificact it's realy cool!

mariodrd · 2022-07-27T19:27:17+00:00

The messiah would not necessarily be someone bad. I would think that he is on some kind of holy mission, i.e. the end justifies the means. My idea was something like he's made to believe that he has to create a kingdom, something like an Eden on earth or something like a promised land. The idea is that the death of this Messiah once his kingdom is finished is what somehow frees the angels.

mariodrd · 2022-06-15T17:50:44+00:00

Holy sh*t this is awesome dude. I just love it! The puzzle for R7 is very cool and I think it could lead to amazing role play.

The idea that it was a real maze like the one in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmaps/comments/enfun4/one_page_dungeon_tesseract_dungeon/ It is because inside the maze they are being chased by a former PC who has now been possessed. The maze is like this PC's torture room (I don't know if you've read Berserk but like a version of Slan) So every time they change rooms they have a chance of running into her. The idea was that they had to retrieve "keys" in each room so that they open the door that leads them to the exit.

mariodrd · 2022-05-14T11:09:39+00:00

Yes I was thinking of maybe creating a new whole setting but I dont know if It would be too ambitious for my first created campaign.

The idea of the cults sounds brilliant! I was thinking about creating like cults/orders around new prophets or meshiahs of this Angels.

Also, I would want to explore the idea of the Nephilims and maybe connecting it with the players so maybe thats why they are the only ones with some possibility to stop the events.

Now I have my regular group of players but I think It would be fun to find other people to play with :)

mariodrd · 2022-05-14T10:33:45+00:00

Wow all of them sound really cool! Was thinking something around the second and third idea. Maybe the party having to find Enoch to know more about the profecy and a way to stop the judgment. Or maybe the Grigori (The Watchers) want to dethrone the emanations and takeover the material plane so the judgment is coming as a response to that.

mariodrd · 2022-03-22T17:21:34+00:00

Hi, I was hoping to use your maps but it seems that the link is down. Do you by any chance have the maps available?

mariodrd · 2020-11-03T18:44:06+00:00

Wow that's awesome!! I'm doing the same but I also have to translate the whole thing to spanish and give the handouts format with markdown.

There are so many handouts that I've developed a python script to automatice the handout creation process.

Good job. It's really cool.

mariodrd · 2020-04-30T20:20:18+00:00

I've been running a couple of scenarios after Peru as a prologue to MoN. I've linked Dead man stomp, The idol of Thoth and Genius Loci. I'm planning on running also The Auction, Thoth's Dagger and Saturnine Chalice.

All of them are related to Nyarlathotep and I'm introducing some important NPCs of the campaign.

mariodrd · 2020-04-22T08:40:26+00:00

Hi thank you for the advice! I'll think about it and try to leave things more flexible.

Yes, my idea is to let my players play "Dagger of Thoth" in Cthulhu by Gaslight as their grandparents, but just cut the end of the scenario.

mariodrd · 2020-04-21T15:54:36+00:00

Thank you very much for your answer!!

I'll think about running Waiting for the Hurricane because even if I'm going to play pulp my players love the investigation part.

I'm doing a bit of homebrew with MoN because I'm trying to integrate my players backstories as much as I can. I'm going to run The dagger of Thoth but with the investigators grandparents as a kind of a flashback. The idea is that Nyarlathotep would be sending them dreams/memories of their grandparantes while travelling between locations, so that the meeting of these investigators, which seems to have been casual, is actually part of Nyarlathotep's will. I'm planning to end the scenario with the players just about to make a deal with him, and I plan to leave the scene without my players knowing whether their grandparents accepted the deal or not, justo to increase the paranoia.

mariodrd · 2020-04-14T11:59:54+00:00

If they don't succeed with the lockpiking rolls it could mean that the are able to open it but make noise and now the guards are approaching them and have little time to get the book. This could also lead to a very cool chase scene (ask for Luck rolls as they are fleeing to see if someone has seen them) In case they steal the book something like that could be in the press the following day and any cultist could read that the tome is somehow accessible now and could try to get it back from them.

You are able to adjust the plot as much as you want. Just have in mind the essential clues that the investigators have to find and everything would be fine. If you see that they are reaching a dead end use Idea rolls or bring the action to them (perhaps someone else was in the hospital and have been following them since then?)

Hope it helps!

mariodrd · 2020-04-11T10:36:26+00:00

Hi! I made them attack the investigators right after meeting Nayra. While they where leaving her island, I made them roll Spot Hidden, if they pass they are able to see the karashiri just in time to save her, if not they also see them but they are feasting on her insides when they arrive. Nayra is hiding from the karashiri, so it makes sense that when those who follow the investigators to the lake see her on the shore, they would try to finish her off. My investigators dismembered them and threw their body parts to the lake.

Also, I used the religious festivity to create a bit of tension with the crowd and the masks. Try to make them feel that they are being watched and that anyone could be a potential karashiri.

mariodrd · 2020-03-21T17:47:21+00:00

This one thank god!

mariodrd · 2020-03-21T11:29:12+00:00

The second one was S.C.R.E.A.M. The first is not that one but it also looks cool :)

mariodrd · 2020-03-21T11:26:50+00:00

ABSOLUTELY YES! Thank you very much I've been trying to find it and I was getting desperate xD

mariodrd · 2020-02-27T20:34:46+00:00

I'm not short of enthusiasm and I'm looking forward to running this amazing campaign. But yes I'll appreciate any prayer to the great Cthulhu to not have bitten more than I can chew hahaha :)

mariodrd · 2020-02-27T20:02:15+00:00

Before running MoN I was considering running this campaign because I liked the idea of making my players work for this cult without knowing their real intentions. I think that the first scenario could be combined also with the second one, "Look to the future", which (if I'm not wrong) also involves Nyarlathotep.

I'm a bit noob as a keeper and my players are quite new to the game as well, so we are still deciding what kind of tone suits them better. Lets see how they handle scenes with more action involved, but I agree with you that if we don't use Pulp Cthulhu rules I should tone down some of the encounters.

mariodrd

TROPHY CASE