Base of operations--Does your party have one?

[Napftor]

This question is for DMs as much as players. Does your adventuring party have a base from which it operates--a house, villa, hole in the ground, whatever? As DM, I've found that having a base simplifies certain aspects of game play. If a player doesn't show up for a session, we can simply assume that he is nearby the base or inside doing his own thing. Otherwise we might giggle at the excuses a PC is absent ("Oh, another temporal vortex opened up and old Gandalf fell right in again. Sheesh, he's gotta be more careful.").

Having a base might seem to confine the scope of adventure possibilities the DM can use. This is true on one hand, but on the other it allows an exploration of the base's surroundings and interactions with the locals which a "base-free" campaign model might otherwise not enjoy.

So, yes, I like having a PC base of operations. You?

 

[Crothian]

In the cuirrent campaign it is a world and planar spanning game and no one has spells like teleport or planeshift. So, a base of operation just isn't designed for this type of game.

 

[aurin777]

Yes, for the most part in the games I have played our party has had some sort of base of operations. At the same time, we oftentimes found ourselves far away from our homes and a lot of time was spent longing to sleep in our own beds and enjoying the "simple" life. I do not believe it is confining for the players to have a place they call home where they can relax, train, and rest up.
~~Brandon

 

[Christian Walker]

Hello Napftor,

I, too, like the idea of a base of operations. What's neat, I think, is that you can have a really keen group of recurring NPCs, which can provide adventure hooks in and of themselves. What I also like is that PCs can acquire wealth other than coin. PCs can be granted homes, land, businesses, and so on. Of course, these things can provide adventure hooks, too.

"Hmm...it appears that the stable you own is being burgled frequently. You need to stop it!"

One of the things I gave my party was a nifty little warehouse, complete with guard, inventory, map of the building, and so on. They loved it! As soon as I bag myself a new copy of publisher, I can forward the map and write-up to you.

 

[Lord Judas]

Similar to Christian above. The pcs in my game have a "base" in the little 100 person town where the campaign began with a murder mystery. They own about 3 buildings (one was burned down) and want to buy the 1000 acres owned by the now-dead evil duke. He had a "vacation retreat" near town. All the NPCs here have names and a bit of personality. NPCs fall into two groups: grade A and grade B. The grade A ones have much more background and personality. These are the ones the party interacts with most, like the Blacksmith/Artificer.

 

[Christian Walker]

Similar to Christian above. The pcs in my game have a "base" in the little 100 person town where the campaign began with a murder mystery. They own about 3 buildings (one was burned down)...

Ha ha! Isn't it amazing how attached to NPCs and real estate the PCs get? I bet your players were MEGA-PISSED when one of their buildings was torched. Did they catch the culprit?

 

[CsonTep]

We've had a base in almost every game. In our current game we get to hang out in a noble's villa because one of the character's is his cousin. In my 3.0 FR game the PC's took over an abandoned farm about half way between Shadowdale and Daggerdale. And, in out AD&D FR game in Waterdeep we stayed in one of rental houses behind the northern spur of Mount Waterdeep until we were evicted and they built a bardic college there.

 

[Napftor]

Yes, recurring NPCs are another great reason to have a base. It goes along with one of my gaming philosphies: Players that attach emotions to the game enjoy it that much more. When a building is burned (as above) or a grade A NPC slain the game becomes that much more compelling.

 

[DM_Matt]

Our PCs have basically incorporated themselves, so yes, they do have a base.

They have been buying up warehouses by the sea and converting them. They have over time grown into a large "security consulting" firm, which handles "problems" for wealthy merchants and governments, as well as providing run-of-the-mill security, research, and investigation services. Some PCs and retured PCs have leadership, which helps them get more mooks, and PCs and former PCs run a fighting school within the complex.

PCs sometimes are retired into the organization, and altohugh it hasnt been done in a while, this lets players temporarily play alternative PCs simply by saying "they've been working here all along and my regular guy had another mission."

 

[OregonGM]

One of my favorite times as a player (okay, one of my only times as a player) we were adventuing through "The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh" and after cleaning out the . . .uhm . . .haunting agents, we bought it from the town.

We adventured almost exclusively to afford remodeling. It didn't hurt that over half the players had bought or sold a house in the past year.

It was OUR place.

To my fellow GMs, try it out. Self-motivated adventurers rock.

"what do you want to do next week?"
"Well, I was thinking we'd head to (major city) and hire someone who knows his way around a water supply."
"Hmm, sounds like a job for a dwarf. Ever read (3rd party adventure involving dwarves)?"
"Nope."
"Good, see you next week."