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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DarrenGMiller" data-source="post: 2438875" data-attributes="member: 23174">My current campaign has hit the halfway point and will probably be finished by December, since I have no desire to run very far if at all into epic levels. By virtue of my work schedule, I am going to have SIGNIFICANTLY less free time VERY soon, so I have started trying to figure out what I want to do next. My group will have 5-7 players and we will probably alternate DM's about every month or so (I have never done that before, as I have always been the only DM, but due to people moving out of the area, we will probably be rolling two gaming groups into one in about a month, so I will give the other DM time to run) and the other DM will run Shackled City. The idea is to run published adventures (or basically published adventures, as mine tend to get heavily altered) and alternate one adventure from his campaign, then one from mine. He is just finishing RttToEE with his group and below is a list of the campaigns I have run with mine (we overlap some players already) since 3E was released:1. Greyhawk - set in the Free City and Cairn Hills 2000-20022. Psuedo-Celtic Homebrew 2002-20033. Swashbuckling - did not last long 20034. D20 Modern Horror - mix of X-Files and Stephen King's Dark Tower, etc. 2003-20045. Swashbuckling - did not last long 20046. Greyhawk - vs. demon lords, "classic feel", set in Sheldomar Valley to Sterich 2005 1, 2, 4 & 6 were very successful and lasted a year or more (6 will be about a year), while the players mever quite got the feel I was going for in 3 & 5. All the character concepts were to independent to have any reason to work together. Here is my thought for campaign #7: I would like to run a dark fantasy campaign using altered published adventures, with a late medevial setting circa 1300's-1500's feel. It would be fantasy all the way, with no firearms, but lighter armor predominant, the beginnings of a medical profession (not just magical healing) with hospitals and asylums, gaols in place of castle dungeon for criminals (some in asylums too), etc. The tone would be Lovecraft, Poe, Doyle, gothic influenced. I have an "adventure path" sketched out already. My questions: 1. I feel like I am mixing genres with the gothic horror/Cthulhu feel, but with D&D characters and action. I definitely want it to be recognizable D&D, not CoC or WoD feeling. What do you think? 2. Has anyone done anything like this before? What were the results/player reaction? 3. Can I do it without seeming derivitive of Ravenloft? 4. I want to be episodic due to loss of continuity through alternating DM's. What do you think about an episodic campaign, where travel from adventure to adventure is summarized out of session? 5. I want the PC's to be recognizable good guys in a very gritty, pulpish world. For example, I plan on using Dungeon adventures like The Styes, Death of Lashimire and Tears for Twilight Hollow. I plan on giving the players some generic character types to customize, so that the PC's will fit the setting (see swashbuckling above). Has anyone done this? What problems would a Paladin be in this type of game? 6. While it is gritty and dark, I do not want it to feel hopeless. The PC's are a beacon of light and I want their actions to make a small difference. They would be like the jaded, but gold-hearted pulp detective type ("It was a dark and stormy night."). Can this work? 7. I am an experienced DM, but always open to suggestions. Do you have any general suggestions that might help? 8. What do you think about using variant rules in this game, such as Defense Bonus, Grim & Gritty or Wounds/Vitality, etc.? Thanks in advance! DM</blockquote>

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