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Our 1st Pathfinder campaign, and we could use some help.
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<blockquote data-quote="Haladir" data-source="post: 6037441" data-attributes="member: 6695143"><p>When I start up a new campaign, I always try to get together for a couple of non-gaming sessions with the players to talk about the kind of game we all want to play. I usually have something in mind, and let them know about the kind of game I'm thinking of running. I'll let them know whether the campaign will be heavily scripted or more of an open sandbox, where they define what they're going to do. I'll tell them whether it's a "heroes only" campaign, or if morally ambiguous (or evil) characters are OK. I'll let them know whether I'm planning it to be primarily wilderness, urban, seafaring, underground, etc. Also, whether I'm planning it to be action-heavy with a lot of fights, investigation-heavy with a lot of mysteries to solve, or intrigue-heavy with an emphasis on in-character role-playing. And I take their feedback: If I'm really itching to run a scripted, low-magic, courtly intrigue game, and the players all want a high-magic, fighting-heavy sandbox, then everyone's going to be disappointed. </p><p></p><p>After we've agreed on the kind of game we want to play, I usually take a couple of weeks before we start to put together a players guide to the area, that outlines a lot of this stuff in a document. I'll include any home rules that I plan to use (e.g. there are a bunch of non-historical weapons in the rules set that I absolute detest-- these don't exist in my campaign world, and it says so in the players guide). I try to get this out to everyone a week or so before we meet for the character-generation session. We then meet for "Session 0" that's primarily character creation and discussion of backstories. Here's where I describe where I plan to start the first adventure, and the players all figure out how they're there.</p><p></p><p>One option I liked from "Rise of the Runelords" is that the only part of the PC backstory that's required is that everyone has to be in the town of Sandpoint for the annual Swallowtail Festival. The events of the module will cause heroic PCs to step forward and do what needs to be done, and thus band together. I've used this since: the PCs are all in a particular place together when something happens, and the bold adventurer types end up working together. Other times, I've just said, "You're all going to be [Insert Something Here, e.g. "Caravan guards"]. Please figure out in your backstories why you're there."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Haladir, post: 6037441, member: 6695143"] When I start up a new campaign, I always try to get together for a couple of non-gaming sessions with the players to talk about the kind of game we all want to play. I usually have something in mind, and let them know about the kind of game I'm thinking of running. I'll let them know whether the campaign will be heavily scripted or more of an open sandbox, where they define what they're going to do. I'll tell them whether it's a "heroes only" campaign, or if morally ambiguous (or evil) characters are OK. I'll let them know whether I'm planning it to be primarily wilderness, urban, seafaring, underground, etc. Also, whether I'm planning it to be action-heavy with a lot of fights, investigation-heavy with a lot of mysteries to solve, or intrigue-heavy with an emphasis on in-character role-playing. And I take their feedback: If I'm really itching to run a scripted, low-magic, courtly intrigue game, and the players all want a high-magic, fighting-heavy sandbox, then everyone's going to be disappointed. After we've agreed on the kind of game we want to play, I usually take a couple of weeks before we start to put together a players guide to the area, that outlines a lot of this stuff in a document. I'll include any home rules that I plan to use (e.g. there are a bunch of non-historical weapons in the rules set that I absolute detest-- these don't exist in my campaign world, and it says so in the players guide). I try to get this out to everyone a week or so before we meet for the character-generation session. We then meet for "Session 0" that's primarily character creation and discussion of backstories. Here's where I describe where I plan to start the first adventure, and the players all figure out how they're there. One option I liked from "Rise of the Runelords" is that the only part of the PC backstory that's required is that everyone has to be in the town of Sandpoint for the annual Swallowtail Festival. The events of the module will cause heroic PCs to step forward and do what needs to be done, and thus band together. I've used this since: the PCs are all in a particular place together when something happens, and the bold adventurer types end up working together. Other times, I've just said, "You're all going to be [Insert Something Here, e.g. "Caravan guards"]. Please figure out in your backstories why you're there." [/QUOTE]
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Our 1st Pathfinder campaign, and we could use some help.
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