Campaign Wikis are A lot of Work!

[Ktulu]

I'm in the same boat; especially since I'm using a very homebrew game (only human races, only specific gods, etc..). I've got to give explanations on everything.

It's lots of fun, though. I really enjoy dropping little easter-eggs through the wiki; little explanations of a historical battle, or how some organization came to be. Some are just ideas I had, while others are actual tidbits on the plot.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

The problem is I started about 3 weeks ago with the campaign well in progress. I haven't been able to catch up yet, and each week I get further behind.

Work backwards: Add the latest information first. Eventually, you will get it all done or the stuff you don't get to will be so old that it's not needed. And the current information will all be there.

 

[Scribble]

Is there anything PBwiki has that obsidian doesn't?

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

I've undertook a "minor" campaign wiki on Google Sites. I put session summaries, various handouts, character sheets, sites and people of importance, etc. I like it so far, and am thinking for my next campaign to have everything there (when I DM, I do it with a laptop nowadays).

AR

 

[Akaiku]

Oh, a question!

Aside from recaps/journals which nobody in my gaming group seems keen on, what would a player contribute to a campaign wiki, if anything? Or is that not how it's supposed to work?

 

[Scribble]

Oh, a question!

Aside from recaps/journals which nobody in my gaming group seems keen on, what would a player contribute to a campaign wiki, if anything? Or is that not how it's supposed to work?

I'm encouraging my players to also update pages with stuff they "think" they know, or conclusions they've drawn, or notes about various NPCs they've met, or places they've been, etc.

Essentially anything the players want to keep track of. I'l detail the stuff I know they would know, stuff that a person living in the world wouldn't forget in the in-game timespan, but real life players might in the actual time between sessions. They can deal with any ideas and plans they have and want to keep track of.

I also would like them to upload their characetr stories and such to the site.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Oh, a question!

Aside from recaps/journals which nobody in my gaming group seems keen on, what would a player contribute to a campaign wiki, if anything? Or is that not how it's supposed to work?

It depends on how much leeway you give your players - at the very least I could see player backgrounds and so on. I've got one player who likes to take my maps and dice them up in Photoshop, adding towns I've mentioned but not added to the map, or adding notations like known areas of pirate activity. He also likes to create flags and such. Player created art is a definite possibility.

I've played in games where the DM gave me free rein to create the map of an Inn that we had gotten our hands on. Some DM's would be more open to player-created content than others...

I could see a cleric player adding stuff about their religion. That's the kind of thing I've given a lot of leeway to my players in the past.

 

[Scribble]

It depends on how much leeway you give your players - at the very least I could see player backgrounds and so on. I've got one player who likes to take my maps and dice them up in Photoshop, adding towns I've mentioned but not added to the map, or adding notations like known areas of pirate activity. He also likes to create flags and such. Player created art is a definite possibility.

I've played in games where the DM gave me free rein to create the map of an Inn that we had gotten our hands on. Some DM's would be more open to player-created content than others...

I could see a cleric player adding stuff about their religion. That's the kind of thing I've given a lot of leeway to my players in the past.

Yeah that's something else I do. (Or I'm trying to do.) I've encouraged my players to actively take part in building the world. IE if in their backstory they mention a town or a country or soemthing, that isn't already in the wiki, they can feel free to add it, along with any info they should "reasonably" know about it.

I trust my players with this type of stuff, but I've also added the caveat that I reserve the right to make changes if I need to... Mostly for consistancy purposes.

 

[ShadowDenizen]

Yes, wikis are ALOT of work to maintain.

I've been keeping a wiki for our Age of Worms campaign since we started; mostly, it's a labor of love. I try to keep on top of it, but sometimes I just get lazy, and let it slide for a few weeks.

For those interested, it's located at http://ageofworms.wikispaces.com/