FullMetal D&D (DnD Story)
This is a Intrigue/War/Wuxia campaign that takes place in the fantasy version of Japan. It is loosely based of the FullMetal Alchemist anime, but you don't have to watch it to DM the campaign. Make sure you look at the Transmutation Alchemist class to have an idea of what's going on.
Two nations, Asahina and Xinhua are at an uneasy peace. They were at war for a few decades before an Asahina peacekeeper killed the Xinhua Emperor. He took over Xinhua, but a rebellion surged and for a while Xinhua was ruled by the Asahina military. Eventually, a peaceful government came to rule and Asahina let them go. However, as soon as they became free, Xinhua built up their army and started prepare for war. The two nations both tell their public they are at peace, but everyone knows war is coming. It’s just a matter of who strikes first. . .
This campaign will have the party trying to prevent another war between Xinhua and Asahina. They will spend ample time in both nations, but they start in Asahina. Role playing and rewards for role playing will be emphasized over combat.
Neither side is completely guilt free, and both have villains. There is no order in which they have to go down, but here they are: The New Emperor of Xinhua, Wyvern Rider, and the Acid Alchemist.
Wyvern Rider is a girl who had her entire family slaughtered in the first war. She was orphaned and raised by a shapeshifting Wyvern. Rider vowed to take revenge on both armies and wants to start a war between Asahina and Xinhua. Can be turned, killed or captured but if left out for too long she will cause a war.
The Acid Alchemist is a man who works for Asahina named Alvin Cid. He knows the art of Alchemy, which pretty much follows the same rules in FMA, equivalent exchange and the like. His specialty is poison and acid, but disguises his work as a medicine doctor. The party meets him in his lab, which has a huge transmutation circle on the floor, fulfilling a request the king has for, “medicine”, but really is deadly poison that the party may be fooled into giving a Xinhua official. The party will be blamed, executed by Xinhua, and that will be an excuse for Asahina to go to war. Cid holds and object, called a soul stone (philosopher's stone), that can break the rules of Alchemy. He got this by sacrificing kidnapped Xinhua civilians on a place called the Tabletop to power the stone.
The New Emperor of Xinhua is named Tai Lei Pin. She rose to power in the chaos after the first war, first becoming a leader of the rebels against Asahina and then forming a new nation with a league of devout followers rivaled with Asahina. She is known throughout the land for her cunning and rogue like battle tactics. Tai Lei Pin wants to go to war with Asahina, but tells her public that she is a peacekeeper. She is, in fact, a peacekeeper, and is being manipulated with illusion magic by her sister, Tai Lao Wan. Tai Lao Wan wants the throne more than anything, and is willing to even kill her sister to do so.
The campaign ends when all three villains are neutralized, or when the two countries go to war.