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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Grandpa" data-source="post: 5778437" data-attributes="member: 560">TO MY PLAYERS: This ruins everything. Please keep out.I'm an unseasoned DM who would love some help and input on a newly launched city campaign, especially with regards to creating a memorable city, anticipating the effect of house rules, and ideas on how my campaign background can connect with official lore. Even if the concept holds no appeal to you, I hope you might help me out.ConceptGotham is the last great city of the civilized races. Once renowned for its riches, it is now infected with cults of personality that use sword and sorcery to foster chaos within its troubled slums. One hero, the Shadow Knight, became legend here, venturing out each night to battle evil and maintain order.But 25 years ago, Gotham was devastated when a lifeless, titanic automaton passed into the material plane and crashed headfirst into the city, destroying its Arcane University and almost a third of the city. Since that day, the villains of Gotham have grown in strength, exhibiting mysterious new powers. The Titan still rests where it fell, and serves as a reminder that Gotham may never recover, as even the Shadow Knight seems unable to hold the chaos in check.In play, the players have met and helped the desperate Shadow Knight (SK) reach a fading interplanar portal that he believes will lead him to the source of magic empowering his overwhelming enemies. But SK has just learned of an existential threat to Gotham from one of his known enemies. Out of options, he hands the keys to his lair to the players and asks them to protect the city. When SK disappears, a powerful entity named the "Jackal" (J) appears, reveling in the entertainment of this development. J teleports the players outside of Gotham as an explosion rocks the city.Inspired by a simple campaign exercise, this setting is an adaptation of Batman: The Animated Series and Robotech for the D&D universe.City BuildingAs citizens and protectors of Gotham, the players need a strong understanding of the city, but I've never built a city and have no idea where to start.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What articles exist on building memorable cities?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What tricks do others use to generate memorable city play?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What resources beyond DDI offer maps that can be adapted for my campaign?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What other elements should I focus on, based on the additional campaign information below?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What other questions should I be asking?</li> </ul>In the next adventure the players are supposed to prevent a possessed alchemist (Manbat) from contaminating the water with magic that will transform the citizens of Gotham into hideous bat creatures but I have no idea how a water system would work for a big city set into the side of a mountain. How do aqueducts and sewers work? I desperately need to do research; some City 101.House RulesMy experience with 4E is only as a heroic tier player and DM for a few sessions with new players. I love 4E but have quibbles I want to address with house rules and worry my lack of experience will make them ineffective.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Are there spots where the intent and reality of my house rules (listed below) are misaligned?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What new problems might they generate that I can't see?</li> </ul>Karma PointsKarma points are used to encourage desired player behavior, dull the frustration of dud combat rounds, and give one more reason to push forward before resting. A player that misses all attack rolls in his turn gains 1 kp. At the end of each encounter after an extended rest, all players gain diminishing kp (4, 3, 2...). Karma points are also rewarded at my discretion for behavior I like. Players exchange kp at any time for various effects: (1 kp) add one to a personal roll, (2 kp) grant 1 kp to another player, or (5 kp) gain a healing surge. Extended rests reset kp to 0.Having played with karma points, they definitely help curb frustration with misses, and I love watching players pool kp to help each other. However, I worry that my after-encounter rewards are too good. In their last adventure, players never missed an attack after their first encounter due to point pooling. No one takes this for granted (yet) because it feels like an active effort on their part and the monsters still scared them, but I worry boredom will set in from too much success, and already find myself not avoiding additional kp rewards for fear of them having too much kp. I've already told them I might reduce the after-encounter reward (3, 2, 1...) but another thought is to flip it so each encounter after an extended rest grants increasing (1, 2, 3...) points. It would make me more comfortable dishing out incentive rewards and for later encounters in the day, add to the feeling that players had a hope of victory through "fumes" of momentum and desperation that added risk to the reward of resting ("But I have so much karma!"). I also wondered if gaining an action point was in the same league as "healing surge" for a 5 kp expenditure.Campaign BackgroundWhile fleshing out the background, I wondered: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Where are gaps in my knowledge of D&D lore preventing interesting connections to official lore?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What story elements will the players like, that I should emphasize?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What story elements might be hard to achieve in a campaign? I constantly wonder where gaps in my knowledge of D&D lore might prevent</li> </ul>BackgroundAs a nod to Robotech, I wanted to invent a new race and resource. The Masters are a group of super-ancient humans with deep planar secrets. Using continuum—an element of original creation—the Masters long ago built a pocket in time and space impenetrable to detection. Sustained by the powers of arcane technology and the strength of Fomorians stolen and subjugated, the Masters constructed a “perfect” society shielded from the chaos of outside influence for millenia. But the continuum necessary to sustain their hidden society is now diminished, and the Masters must generate new continuum by bringing the Foundry—a powerful artifact capable of generating new continuum—to the location where the planes converge. On Earth, not far below Gotham.The TitanBecause the civilized races are poorly defended after years of conflict and world-shattering events, the Masters plan to overwhelm them with brute force. The Master Fomorians—far more advanced than their Feywild cousins—construct a titan-sized automaton vessel modeled after warforged (unique to Master society). The Masters send the Fomorians with the Foundry to destroy Gotham, generate continuum, and retrieve it from Earth. The Fomorians travel the planes swiftly, passing through the Feywild—nearest their starting point—toward Earth. Just long enough to pick up a hitchhiker.The CrashA powerful fey spirit known as the Jackal senses the Titan entering its plane and decides to hop on board. Its penchant for chaos and curiosity quickly leads to the unravelling of all order within. By the time the Titan arrives at Gotham, its magic is severely disrupted and the Titan crashes, killing the Fomorians and much of the warforged crew. The Jackal settles into Gotham. The continuum used to power the Titan now bleeds into Gotham, empowering its villains while the Masters prepare a new journey to recover the Foundry and save their hidden society. They do so at great risk, as their kind were hidden even from death, and continuum is valuable to every being in the universe.TiersThough the players are likely to spin things off in more interesting directions, I constructed a rough sketch of what the world around them will be up to. In Heroic Tier, the Shadow Knight leaves Gotham and the heroes must protect Gotham from its increasingly powerful enemies, including the Jackal. The heroes acquire hints about the source of the Titan that crashed, but have an incomplete knowledge when the Masters return to the material plane. In Paragon Tier, the heroes battle the forces of the Masters and learn about the purpose of their mission. They might make uncomfortable alliances to achieve victory. Player actions and events may even lead to the destruction of Gotham and the activation of the Foundry, all to the delight of the Jackal. In Epic Tier, with continuum blossoming from Gotham, powerful entities converge from other planes for control over the magic resource. The party must lead a series of surgical attacks to weaken enemies and find a way to destroy the Foundry. It all leads to an ultimate showdown with the Jackal, hell-bent on keeping the artifact—his ultimate source of chaos—on Earth.ThanksAs a DM, I worry constantly about making sure everyone is having a good time and feel responsible for the players' impressions of Dungeons & Dragons. I hope that with a little feedback, it will be a really positive experience. Oh, and I have the great fortune of running a game with artists. Check out the attachments for some artwork from our game.</blockquote>

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