GM's High

[Dannyalcatraz]

Whenever I need a gaming high, I reflect on the best campaign setting I ever did: a supers campaign set in the early 1900s...as imagined by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. I did so well that the players were über inspired- all the PCs were campaign appropriate down to the last scribble on their character sheets. Designing and running adventures was a pure pleasure, and I never got writer's block.

I hope your setting is just as inspirational to your players as mine was to them.

 

[Smoss]

Gotta love that rush of goodness that comes from a firestorm of creating. I do indeed love it when that happens.

I've had it happen a lot - finishing the perfect map... Finishing the perfect RPG system... Finishing my novel (And the days when the inspiration was there and I was blazing out over 12k words a day)... I just wish it hit more often!

Smoss

 

[Water Bob]

Still waiting for that map..

I'd love to post it. I don't have a scanner!

And, I will say that it is more functional than it is nice to look at. I've made a couple of area maps around the village during our campaign, but those haven't been to scale. The nice thing about this one is that it is to scale, with one square equal to one mile. It allows the players to see a zoomed out version of the area.

Plus, I've left room to grow. As the game goes on and the players explore the area, I want the map to grow along with their discoveries.

Translation: There are things that I'm going to add to the map later that I haven't even thought of yet.

That's a great feeling, and one of the coolest things is that that map can be the core of multiple campaigns now.

That's the idea. I've got lots of thoughts on future story-lines. I like to keep everything loose, though. I like to let the game grow organically. I've got general ideas about how the campaign(s) will turn out, but that's just a bit of meat that adheres to a skeleton that eventually becomes fully fleshed out partly defined by where the players go and what they do.

 

[.5 Elf]

You guys aren't alone at all. I am almost halfway to my recruiting goal of 20 players after 11 days of networking (8 signed up and several more in the wings /conversations about whether the game is right for them) and I expect some big things to come out of an important meeting I have on the 22nd. As well as a hell of a lot more action after Christmas as we get close to game launch.

Bad Wrong Fun​

Not only am I going sandbox, but I am helping the players to create their own macro sandbox - then when play starts I will cover the micro off what they invented.

Races gods economy history - the works, I am gonna let them create.

When it comes to the details that's going to be when I start supplying my version of the awesome.

But you know what they say about details - the devil is in the details.

MUHAHAhaahahahahaa...

 

[Malruhn]

I posted a thread on another gaming board that was pondering the question: How much is too much? How much DM planning and stuff is too much?

I've got an entire PLANET that has been established all the way down to continental plates (and drift) and where all the items of wonder are located... The area where the players is gaming is about the size of Europe with about 15 countries and I know all their interactions and biases and everything about them. I also have "Easter eggs" all over that my players will NEVER discover - they are there "just in case".

But, yes, I get the same rush as you do, Water Bob. Just knowing that there is a tree nymph that has a scar across her right cheek who lives in a huge elm tree south of a small burg in an out of the way area just does something for me. Some day... SOME day... a party may pass that way, and having her appear will just seem natural.

Planning and establishing campaigns is something I enjoy.

 

[MortalPlague]

I take rare pleasure in drawing maps. I like to think I'm pretty good at it, and I always hope it adds a little something to my campaigns.

Caer Adrin - one of the Free Cities

Region Map - drawn on two pieces of paper to represent the area a campaign would unfold in. Yes, that is Hommlett on the right.

Right now, I'm putting together a giant region map six pages large for my upcoming 19th level campaign. I can't wait to scan it and put it all together.

 

[Water Bob]

Caer Adrin - one of the Free Cities

Region Map - drawn on two pieces of paper to represent the area a campaign would unfold in. Yes, that is Hommlett on the right.

Your maps are nice to look at! Mine is a big piece of graph paper, where each square represents a mile, and a bunch of lines on it.

 

[MortalPlague]

Your maps are nice to look at! Mine is a big piece of graph paper, where each square represents a mile, and a bunch of lines on it.

A map's a map. A good, useful map is a beautiful thing.

I wish I knew where it was, but I once did up an Underdark map on hex grid. The idea was the characters were trying to navigate the Underdark, but since the place is incredibly difficult to follow, I came up with a navigation mechanic. The border between each hex had a Dungeoneering DC: if they made the check, they went the right way. If not, I rolled a d6 and they went that direction instead.

Also, thanks for making a thread where I can show off some maps. I'm always the lone guy in the room looking down with satisfaction at a completed map, with no-one to show it off to.

 

[.5 Elf]

Dont know if it's been posted at EN World before but for the mapmakers among us:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpTWObGSKD0"]RPG World Map Maker Tutorial[/ame] - Works in Gimp as well as Photoshop

and I just found out about Pyromancers site which lets you paint your own battlemaps online - flash based tool.

Happy Holidays all!

 

[MortalPlague]

Small bump, cause I finished the big campaign map I was working on. I did it up on six sheets of paper, then I did some quick coloring in photoshop.