General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
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That actually seems short to me! Piratecat's previous campaign, which just ended, lasted 16 years. And my own campaign, which still has a ways to go, will be 13 years old in November. Five to six years is just getting started!
How often do (did) you guys play in those campaigns?
I've read Piratecat's story hours before and he puts a hell of a lot of effort into his games... so why did the players choose non-fantasy names that truly suck? They really break the verisimilitude unless, of course, this is consistent with the game world.
"Truly suck?" That's kind of a hostile way to present an opinion, and I also think your opinion is weird. You have a problem with "Caldwell" and "Cartwright?" Caldwell is a surname of Old English origin, meaning literally "cold well," commonly used in the middle ages. "Cartwright" was also common then, being a trade name like "Smith," "Chandler," "Baker" and "Potter." I can't imagine two more fantasy-game-appropriate last names than those. For the record, Cobalt is, literally, the son of a guy who makes carts and carriage wheels. Their distinctive paint color for their carts is cobalt blue, hence the name.
And if you think "Elijah," "Cobalt" and "Logan" aren't fantasy appropriate, well, I guess I'll just say we have very different ideas about names. For the record, Piratecat's NPC names so far include things like Runcible, Caleb, Brangle, Annabel and Nikos, so I don't see how "Cobalt" (colors aren't an unusual source of inspiration for names), "Logan" (Gaelic for "little hollow") and "Elijah" don't fit in with his game world.
Elijah is a doctor from a well-to-do family. He goes on at length about humors and vapours and such, and it's not jarring in the slightest that he's known as a doctor.
Finally, "Strontium" is an alkaline earth metal -- a perfect name that a brilliant cadre of wizards might give to their metallic Warforged creation.
Anyway, if Piratecat was unhappy with our names, I'm sure he'd tell us. He hasn't.
No no no! Good fantasy names must have excessive apostrophes and syllables. Logan? Just jazz it up with some high fantasy flavor into Lyho'agha'Haan. Caldwell? Khalld'whell.
If you can easily pronounce it...it isn't high fantasy enough!
Nope, I think the names are great. This campaign is set in a campaign world dominated by a continent-spanning empire. Universities exist, and people who attend them for higher education receive doctorates. In this case, Dr. Caldwell is an intellectual from a well-to-do family who got caught doing something more than a little bit... controversial. Given a choice of being hanged or joining the Grey Guard, he chose the latter. In addition, the advantage of a large empire is that you can have folks from different countries and cultures. You can be sure that naming customs vary based on where you're from.
And yeah, Hyp., I liked the name so much I repurposed it. Very different personalities, though.
The campaign premise is that the PCs are members of the Grey Guard, an empire-spanning and politically neutral organization that is dedicated to keeping monsters away from the citizens of the empire. It has a bit in common with GRRM's Night's Watch. It also has a horrible turnover, with most members dying young. It's a good thing that according to legend, monsters are repelled so long as the empire remains strong. And that certainly can't come back to bite anyone, can it?
I haven't started a new campaign in a very long time, and I had forgotten how intimidating it is. Incredible fun, though; new gods, new cartography, new plot. I have a campaign wiki I can share if anyone is curious. The players are the same as the players in my Defenders of Daybreak campaign, although Mara's player hasn't joined the group yet due to some timing issues. We have great chemistry as a gaming group.
I expect that my skill challenges will tend to be implicit instead of explicit. I haven't gotten the hang of explicit skill challenges yet. I make them meaningful, though; in thsi one, the PCs were racing back to their guardtower against a rival team. The total amount by which they made or failed their challenges (modified by a bonus or penalty for good or bad tactics) determined a final score, which I compared to their rivals. In this case, the rivals lost and had to stand watch all night while the PCs slept comfortable. Poor bastards.
That being said, the first game went differently than I had expected. the group chose not to pursue my big plot hook for the evening. I expected that might happen and had a backup plan prepared, but I hadn't really expected it. It creates interestingly plotty stuff for the future, at least.
Not next session, though. The PCs are being sent off to a small halfling fishing village where a legendary dog-eating monster has apparently reappeared. The PCs are headed off to help.
Jack, we play my game every other week, and Sagiro's game every other every other week. So about 25 times a year per.
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I just realized that you guys have no leader! What are you doing about healing and buffs?
-blarg
My expectation? Suffering!
With a ton of strikers, they will annihilate anything they get the jump on (to wit, one extremely peeved and ineffectual snapjaw crocodile.) They may be in trouble in an extended fight. The ranger, Dr. Caldwell, also has substantial skill in healing. I have a possible NPC to help with this, but I don't want to use her unless the PCs need the backup.
__________________ - Piratecat, EN World Admin
Check out the membership drive and War of the Burning Sky adventure path. Support EN Publishing, get excellent modules!
With a ton of strikers, they will annihilate anything they get the jump on (to wit, one extremely peeved and ineffectual snapjaw crocodile.) They may be in trouble in an extended fight. The ranger, Dr. Caldwell, also has substantial skill in healing. I have a possible NPC to help with this, but I don't want to use her unless the PCs need the backup.
yeah they are going to have some swingy fights! That was my first thought..they will either slaughter baddies quickly or have to run away because of a lack of healing. Should be fun...
I've read Piratecat's story hours before and he puts a hell of a lot of effort into his games... so why did the players choose non-fantasy names that truly suck? They really break the verisimilitude unless, of course, this is consistent with the game world.
Wow, that's, um...really hostile and insulting to a bunch of people you don't know from Adam.
__________________ Iain Fyffe
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I personally can't wait to read more on this. I enjoyed the last epic PirateCat storyhour and the subsequent discussions and revelations about the behind the scenes of the game itself.
I also love the fact that the players put in a great deal of work on their characters. And yes, that includes the names. (I'm still trying to get one of my players out of the habit of using terrible JRPG names and its starting to work.. Though the fact he had one character named 'Avec' was pushing it. 'With' isn't too epic a sounding name in any language.)
Looking forward to more reports!
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With a ton of strikers, they will annihilate anything they get the jump on (to wit, one extremely peeved and ineffectual snapjaw crocodile.) They may be in trouble in an extended fight.
That sounds about right. My prediction is that they'll be able to get by at first, maybe second level. As soon as monster hps start ballooning past the point where they can drop them in one round, trouble's gonna come knockin'. Hard.
-blarg
__________________ Red Hot Swing
"In Inspired Sarlona, nightmares have you!" -Klaus
I've always heard it said that you should never be afraid to steal good stuff from other people, and I reckon this is the group I could steal the most from! So, yes, I'd like to see it.
Sagiro, many thanks for starting this up - looking forward to reading more in a couple of weeks.
__________________ SussexGamer Blog - all about the games I'm playing, systems, and the people I game with.
On starting a new campaign: It was not as long between starting campaigns for me as for Piratecat (5 years, not 16), but I know the feeling of intimidation and worry. . . The previous campaign can have so much momentum and backstory built up it can be easier to figure out what to spring at the party next and what makes the most sense in terms of results/reactions. . . With a new campaign every decision has a greater potential to take the game in a whole new direction - and what if it is a sucky one?
On length: My current campaign is closing in on 2 years long and I feel like it is just getting past those "beginning stages" and finally getting to the meat of it. I expect the game to last 5 or 6 years - so I totally hear where Sagiro is coming from regarding feeling like a 5 or 6 years is just getting started.
On Names: Personally, I prefer real world names (or variation thereof) to too many crazy fantasy names. I mean, those are good too for the occasional villianous NPC or member of some bizarre culture - but typically I am happy taking names from the closest cultural analog to places in my campaign setting and using those. I remember when I first started my "Out of the Frying Pan" story hour someone made a comment about the names from the Bible I used for some NPCs and how his players would have been too taken out of it by such names. . . Personally, I'd rather use names the players can actually remember rather than something like Elamurix, or whatever. . .
Oh, and yeah, Cobalt should totally be nicknamed "Bait".
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