Dawnforge, Morningstar, and Frostholm

[Desdichado]

Oh, I'm sure it will do well, but it's just not my style of play and the setting just didn't really grab me. Frostholm just comes across to me as another very bleak, very depressing setting that seems to be all the rage these days. More cold, more darkness, more doom. I think the whole "rage against the dying of the light" thing is a fine diversion, but it's just not for me in terms of a lasting campaign.

I'm the opposite; the dark, gritty settings are the ones that strike me as "campaignable" while the light airy-fairy ones are only suitable for diversions.

How can you have a campaign without an overpowering villain that makes victory seem nigh impossible? If you do the "villain of the week" style campaign, that might as well not be a campaign, but a series of diversionary one-offs.

 

[Psion]

Re: Morningstar

It is not just a world; it is a work of literature. It is like a massive jigsaw puzzle, where each element depends on every other element to make sense. This world has Secrets, with a capital S, and you have to think about what you read; there are mysteries hidden within the text that you'll only get after reading it a second time.

I don't know whether I am more intrigued or daunted by this...

 

[A'koss]

double post

 

[A'koss]

Originally posted by Joshua Dyal:

I'm the opposite; the dark, gritty settings are the ones that strike me as "campaignable" while the light airy-fairy ones are only suitable for diversions.

Well, I don't know how "airy-fairy" one would consider my campaign to be but I've no problem with those who like to run the dark and despair-style campaigns. It's simply, for me, bleak is just one flavor, and I like my campaigns to have many.

I like that different regions have different problems. I like that there are lands that are free, lands that are contested and lands that are oppressed. It just opens up a much larger variety of styles and tones of play.

How can you have a campaign without an overpowering villain that makes victory seem nigh impossible? If you do the "villain of the week" style campaign, that might as well not be a campaign, but a series of diversionary one-offs.

Of course the "overpowering villian" is good, long-term campaign idea - but I prefer to use them as "growing threats" that need to be stopped before they conquer the world.

To me, a more supportable campaign is where you have a number of mundane threats and a number of "growing threats", each offering a unique challenge/style/perspective rather than trying to foist a single-style villian to define a setting which may not be to the player's tastes or it becomes a flavor that you simply get tired of.

Cheers,

A'koss.

 

[Desdichado]

Oh, absolutely, the threats don't have to have the world under their bootheel to be credible. Midnight's only one way of doing it. Then again, if you think about it, the Star Wars movies are very similar in terms of the big, overpowering threat that the heroes had to battle. There's a lot of variation in that theme.

 

[Monster Manuel]

Well, I don't know how "airy-fairy" one would consider my campaign to be but I've no problem with those who like to run the dark and despair-style campaigns. It's simply, for me, bleak is just one flavor, and I like my campaigns to have many.

I like that different regions have different problems. I like that there are lands that are free, lands that are contested and lands that are oppressed. It just opens up a much larger variety of styles and tones of play.

Of course the "overpowering villian" is good, long-term campaign idea - but I prefer to use them as "growing threats" that need to be stopped before they conquer the world.

To me, a more supportable campaign is where you have a number of mundane threats and a number of "growing threats", each offering a unique challenge/style/perspective rather than trying to foist a single-style villian to define a setting which may not be to the player's tastes or it becomes a flavor that you simply get tired of.

Cheers,

A'koss.

Sorry to quote such a huge block of text, but I wanted to say that Morningstar has 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. The Canticle is a plot device that can help structure a campaign with smaller threats, or alternately, become an enemy itself, depending on the interpretation you decide to use. So there you have the best of both worlds.

Psion: It is not my intention that Morningstar be more difficult to run than other settings, and I don't think it is. Even though everything weaves seamlessly together, it remains modular; and you can focus on whatever elements intrigue you the most. The detail is there for people who want it, and easily excised for those who don't.

While writing the book, I tried to make sure that there was enough detail, while keeping as broad a treatment as possible. I ended up writing far too much, and we're releasing the parts that had to be cut for free, as well as in upcoming supplements.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I'm the opposite; the dark, gritty settings are the ones that strike me as "campaignable" while the light airy-fairy ones are only suitable for diversions.

How can you have a campaign without an overpowering villain that makes victory seem nigh impossible? If you do the "villain of the week" style campaign, that might as well not be a campaign, but a series of diversionary one-offs.

Man, I'm glad to hear someone say that; after many of the replies, I was starting to get discouraged.

Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to Dawnforge and Morningstar as much as the next guy, but seeing as how I'm one of the writers on Frostholm...

 

[A'koss]

Originally posted by Monster Manuel:

Sorry to quote such a huge block of text, but I wanted to say that Morningstar has 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. The Canticle is a plot device that can help structure a campaign with smaller threats, or alternately, become an enemy itself, depending on the interpretation you decide to use. So there you have the best of both worlds.

I've had a look at the Morningstar preview, and it looks like a pretty lively high-magic campaign. Like any DM who's put pen to paper for their own campaign, every setting is a pocketful of pearls waiting to be purloined.

Oddly enough, my setting is probably the complete opposite of Morningstar. I'm trying to go the low(ish)-magic route and fairly young civilizations are in the midst of an era of expansion and exploration. Morningstar would make for an interesting side-trek... see how the other half live.

Originally posted by mouseferatu:

Man, I'm glad to hear someone say that; after many of the replies, I was starting to get discouraged. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to Dawnforge and Morningstar as much as the next guy, but seeing as how I'm one of the writers on Frostholm...

Ari, don't be discouraged by what anyone says here (including me!). As anyone who knows me will attest, I'm very opinionated and I'm more than willing to form an opinion based on incomplete information. I'm certainly going to have a look at it, and I have been known to be wrong before...

I'd like to add just one small observation though... I'm of the opinion that if you're going to have a setting which rests on the weight of a singular tone or feel to it, I'd argue that it has to be a stronger piece of work than one which tries to encompass a broader range of tastes. It can be done however, and as Joshua points out, Star Wars is a prime example of this.

Cheers,

A'koss.