The Best of the Best: Story Hours

[el-remmen]

You should really check out the Story Hour Index thread - it is a great tool helping to choose which to read.

 

[Joshua Randall]

A lot of these have already been recommended, but since I have this handy I'll just re-post my blanket recommendations.

= = = = =

Here are some story hours I recommend.

(contact)'s Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil -- note that this is not the original, original thread; rather, it's a reposting of it. complete

(contact)'s Liberation of Tenh -- a follow-on to the above story, with some of the same characters. Affectionately known as, "Heydricus kills the sh*t out of them." incomplete; abandoned

(contact)'s The Risen Goddess -- less well known that the other two, this is the most philosophical of the three stories. It begins: "Four adventurers sit around a familiar table in a familiar inn, not too far from a place they must have surely known their whole lives-- if they could only remember any of it." incomplete; abandoned

barsoomcore's Barsoom story -- very well written. You won't know what the hell is going on half the time, but you won't be able to stop reading despite that. incomplete; abandoned

Capellan's Company of the Random Encounter -- don't let the name of the story fool you; this is worth reading. don't know status

Capellan's In Hextor's Name -- to paraphrase the author, the story hour is "written from the limited and very, very biased point of view of Kull Redfist, LN Half-Orc Cleric of Hextor, Life's ambition: to become a mighty warrior and crush Hextor's enemies." complete, I think

Destan's Sins of our Fathers and Sins of our Fathers II -- grim, gritty, and utterly compelling, with a definite old school feel to it. incomplete; abandoned?

James McMurray's Return to the Tomb of Horrors -- you know about the original ToH, you know about the Return, but you do not know the pleasure of this story hour's approach to it. This is the story hour that made me appreciate high-level play. It's also the first story hour I ever read on ENW. complete (more or less, you'll understand if you read it)

Rel's Faded Glory -- proving that pitting the PCs against challenges 4+ ELs above their level makes for a great game. The story takes place in Old One's campaign setting, which is modeled on ancient Rome. complete

Rune's Oriental Adventures in the Dream -- the most mind-blowingly original campaign setting I have ever seen... "The world: Ah yes, the world... It is flat, but not really. There is no sun; there are no stars, nor moons. Day and night do exist, however. There is seasonal change (how could we have haiku without it?), but that change is sporadic." incomplete; abandoned

Sagiro's Story Hour -- epic in scope, with a large cast of characters. It took me a while to get into this story, but once I did, I was hooked. You will be too. ongoing; sporadically updated

Sepulchrave's Tales of Wyre, or, Lady Despina's Virtue -- you cannot beat this opening: "One of the PCs, a 14th level Paladin, [...] is currently attempting to CONVERT a succubus, and demonstrate to her the error of her ways." ongoing, but possibly abandoned

spyscribe's Welcome to the Halmae -- the aptly named author of this tale keeps it regularly updated, unlike some of those OTHER authors. The campaign starts out small, but grows rapidly into a grand series of quests. Read this story because... justice demands it. ongoing

Wulf's Story Hour -- follow the adventures of Wulf Ratbane, dwarven bad-ass. Or would that be bad-axe? In any case, one of the strongest archetypal characters of any story hour on the boards. complete

For a second opinion, check out this thread or this one.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Wuklf! Wulf! Wulf! Wulf!

If you only read one, read Wulf Ratbane's story hour.

(Though someday, I'd like to get the final chapter ...)

 

[Nonlethal Force]

I'm interested in a sampling of the absolute best Story Hours on the site. The best of the best. The most epic. The most eloquent. The most absurd. Whatever. Since I respect the opinions of the people here, I'm willing to take your word for it. I know there's like five years of these archived here, and I want to know which are the best reads.

So howzabout some links? I look forward to your opinions, and thanks.

Let me redirect the question back at you, then. What kind of story hour are you looking for? I've found there are at least two distinct varieties and a plethora of subgroups within these two varieties: Fiction and Journaling.

Fictional Story Hours are usually quite honestly lite picking up a novel and reading it, although if you are reading it as it is being written you are at the mercy of the author's schedule. If you just want a good story these are a good way to go. I think Lazybones is an excellent example of this syle.

Journal Story Hours are actual accounts of a played experience related by one of the players or the DM. Sometimes they are about a specific module - so you can read through the story and see what a group did differently than your own. (Or you can use it as a DM and get ideas as far as what might your players might try to do). Many are setting specific. If you want to get an idea of what a particular setting is like (or at least that DMs interpretation of the setting) this is a good way to go as well.

So, what intent are you reading for? Do you want pure fiction coming out of the mind of an author or do you want played shared experience being narrated through a single set of eyes? Both are valid. Both can produce a different type of read, though.



One final caution:

I'd stay away from doing just a search with the most number of reads. You've got all the "Oldies but Goodies" listed here in this thread. If you want Oldies but Goodies, take the advice of people here that have been specifically mentioned. If you are looking for a current read then here's what I would do. It's a bit work intensive, but it'll tell you about the updating schedule of the Story Hours ...

I'd start reading the first post (or first few, depending on length and time commitment) of any title that looks interesting. Find out a few things. Does the author post at a length that you like to read? Do you like the author's writing style? Do you like the main character(s)?

You might need to read a few posts, but you'll get a sense at the beginning of whether it fits you or not. Once yo've done that, watch how often the thread gets updated. If it gets updated often enough for you to stay interested, keep reading. If not, move on. There are varying speeds that the stories get updated. Depending on how quickly you read and how long you can retain what you read - you'll be happiest with an author that updates within your acceptable speed.

If you do that, you'll get a much better result than just looking at who read what the most. You'll find one that fits you like a good story. That can make all the difference in the world.

 

[helium3]

Uh, Jester's Cydra : Great Conflicts story hour? It's the only one I read. Are there any other epic level story hours that are even going on?

 

[the Jester]

I'm going to toot my own horn here. I update on average about 1-3 times per week, spread out amongst 2 main story hours (Great Conflicts and Of Sound Mind the Halfling Way), so you'll have a pretty good frequency of updates. There's also a backlog of several threads (all my SH threads, with the exception of the White Knight's Journal, are interconnected, though the connections are not always immediately obvious), so if you need hours of reading, I've got that for ya!

I have to give my SHs credit- they seem to deliver both teh funney and some serious action, and in my epic story hour you get an idea of what kind of stuff should happen in an epic game- the ancient threats that have been background elements of the campaign since the beginning and apply their name to geographical areas are getting weeded out, for instance, or the ultimate destruction of arch-devils, or the total overthrow of major nations, etc.

Uh, Jester's Cydra : Great Conflicts story hour? It's the only one I read. Are there any other epic level story hours that are even going on?

Sepulchrave still updates a couple of times per year- and thanks for the mention!

 

[Quartz]

Of current Story Hours, I've been enjoying Cerebral Paldin's Aphonion Tales, and Jollydoc's Age of Worms (now complete).

 

[Shemeska]

It's the only one I read. Are there any other epic level story hours that are even going on?

My 1st storyhour is currently at 16th level, and it eventually hits 29. Not epic in terms of levels yet, but the PCs are about one update away from fighting a lesser archfiend atop the corpse of a dead god in the Astral, which is epic in my book.

My first story has been mentioned once earlier in the thread, and though I've not been around nearly as long as the 'oldies but goodies' that always get mentioned, a number of folks seem to like mine. But to sum it up: lower planar politics, a yugoloth civil war, dead gods, fiends and more fiends. It's rather long (over 1k-1.5k pages last I checked), and will be getting longer before it's done, so be aware before you get snagged.

 

[megamania]

Not the best but I would like think they are worth reading are some of my own Storyhours. Links within Sig.

Creation Schema is an Eberron Storyhour we play every two weeks. I generally update once every 3-5 days. Begin at 1st level with Forgotten Forge in the Campaiogn book and now reaching 13-16th level. I have redefined what the Creation Schema is and expanded the scope of whom wants it and why. I try to supply surprises and intrigue while the players through in a lot of ill humor and chaos.

Under A Darksun I and II ia my Darksun story I run by myself. I do the rolling for all encounters thus there are at times surprises for myself. Explore Darksun before Kalak is killed with a person that is believed to end the reign of the Dragon Kings. But as a hero or a greater threat?

Strikeforce: Morituri is what happens when one crosses all types of games at once. Sliders meets X-Files meets DnD. Superheroes, Ravenloft and Kalamar characters fight to save the multiverse.

Khyber Crawler is about the adventures I DM for my 11 year old daughter and 8 year old son.
Lite Reading compared to the others.

Siberys Seven I have heve not updated in a while. Eberron adventure about seven very unlikely adventurers that join together.


I'm not one of the big guys here but I do try and care.

 

[Capellan]

Company of the Random Encounter -- don't know status

In Hextor's Name -- complete, I think

Both are complete.

spyscribe's Welcome to the Halmae

Pretty much "The Reason I Still Come to ENworld".