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<blockquote data-quote="DarrenGMiller" data-source="post: 2677628" data-attributes="member: 23174"><p>Thanks for the additional sources. I am a HUGE Michael Moorcock fan, but that is not really the feel I am looking for. Ditto for <em>Midnight</em>. I have run it and love it. Several people have said on this thread that what I described sounds like <em>Midnight</em>. I raised my eyebrows at that. I don't think what I am looking for sounds much like <em>Midnight</em> at all.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>My take exactly. Midnight is more dark and hopeless than what I want to do, as is <em>Call of Cthulhu</em> (though CoC is closer in flavor with its outsider menace). It is not all that surreal and is more literary epic-tragic fantasy than the almost comic book-based cinematic wierd tale style I am looking for. It is J.R.R. Tolkien to my Robert E. Howard, Tim Burton and <em>Batman</em>. Sure, it is dark, but as Gold Roger said, not as heroic. I have run it and it is not the flavor I have in mind this time.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I have looked at this a little. I will have to check it out a bit more. I will also have to look at <em>Darkness and Dread</em> and some of the 3E <em>Ravenloft</em> sourcebooks, though I am looking to create a world where the evil arises from human weakness more than the world itself. More on that in a moment...</p><p></p><p></p><p>Some more thoughts:</p><p></p><p>I am thinking of scrapping the concept of alignment as written. Most people who are not heroic (this is the one place I can really identify it with <em>Midnight</em>, a la the Heroic Paths) have some capacity for evil. I want to have some plots where the "monsters" are not the greater evil, but instead, mankind is. If you have seen <em>Nightbreed</em> or <em>Edward Scissorhands</em>, you know what I mean. </p><p></p><p>Like my example with the mayor and the werewolves earlier in the thread, the werewolves are just following their nature, the mayor is acting out of greed. Evil comes from failings of the human spirit. The seven deadly sins and other sources really bring out the evil in the world. There are good and evil deities, but the good deities feel somewhat abandoned due to the people turning towards dark deeds, so they are allowing the world to wander in darkness until it shows some sign of being redeemable. The evil gods in turn are growing complacent in what they think is an easy victory of darkness over light on the horizon. </p><p></p><p>In short, everyone has some evil in them. I don't want to plunge the PC's into a mystery that requires investigation (Maybe the werewolf bandits are skimming from the mayor's take, so he sends his personal guard out to kill some innocents and make it look like the werewolves did it... meanwhile, the werewolves have secretly hired the party in order to expose the mayor, while they move on to greener pastures) and then have them cast Detect Evil and kill everyone who lights up. I don't want to nerf Paladins though, so I will probably use the systems from <em>Heroes of Horror</em> to balance things.</p><p></p><p>Beyond changing the alignment rules (Has anybody done that successfully??? Tell me about it, please!!!), I have considered an Action Point system to make the game more cinematic/comic book/heroic. I have also thought about armor as DR, class defense bonus and <em>Midnight</em> Heroic Paths. What does everybody think about how these could affect the game?</p><p></p><p>My D&D sources right now are:</p><p>Core Rulebooks</p><p><em>Libris Mortis</em></p><p><em>BoED/BoVD</em></p><p><em>Heroes of Horror</em></p><p><em>Lords of Madness</em></p><p>Complete books</p><p><em>Heroes of Battle</em></p><p></p><p>Some <em>Dungeon Adventures</em> I plan on using:</p><p><em>Bogged Down</em> - #91</p><p><em>Shut-In</em> - #128</p><p><em>Deep Freeze</em> - #83</p><p><em>Totentanz</em> - #90</p><p><em>The Stink</em> - #105</p><p><em>Palace of the Twisted King</em> - #116</p><p><em>Rana Mor</em> - #86</p><p><em>Bloodlines</em> - #94</p><p><em>Tears for Twilight Hollow</em> - #90</p><p><em>The Styes</em> - #121</p><p><em>The Dying of the Light</em> - #84</p><p><em>The Death of Lashimire</em> - #116</p><p><em>Beyond the Light of Reason</em> - #96</p><p><em>Seekers of the Silver Forge</em> - #125</p><p></p><p>With these and my original material, this should take the campaign through to almost 20th level or so. Also, I have no problem making heavy modifications to published adventures.</p><p></p><p>Please keep the helpful suggestions, feedback, etc. coming! Has anybody tried anything like this before??? I have been DM'ing for a long time, but am always looking to expand my horizons and learn from others!</p><p></p><p>DM</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DarrenGMiller, post: 2677628, member: 23174"] Thanks for the additional sources. I am a HUGE Michael Moorcock fan, but that is not really the feel I am looking for. Ditto for [I]Midnight[/I]. I have run it and love it. Several people have said on this thread that what I described sounds like [I]Midnight[/I]. I raised my eyebrows at that. I don't think what I am looking for sounds much like [I]Midnight[/I] at all. My take exactly. Midnight is more dark and hopeless than what I want to do, as is [I]Call of Cthulhu[/I] (though CoC is closer in flavor with its outsider menace). It is not all that surreal and is more literary epic-tragic fantasy than the almost comic book-based cinematic wierd tale style I am looking for. It is J.R.R. Tolkien to my Robert E. Howard, Tim Burton and [I]Batman[/I]. Sure, it is dark, but as Gold Roger said, not as heroic. I have run it and it is not the flavor I have in mind this time. I have looked at this a little. I will have to check it out a bit more. I will also have to look at [I]Darkness and Dread[/I] and some of the 3E [I]Ravenloft[/I] sourcebooks, though I am looking to create a world where the evil arises from human weakness more than the world itself. More on that in a moment... Some more thoughts: I am thinking of scrapping the concept of alignment as written. Most people who are not heroic (this is the one place I can really identify it with [I]Midnight[/I], a la the Heroic Paths) have some capacity for evil. I want to have some plots where the "monsters" are not the greater evil, but instead, mankind is. If you have seen [I]Nightbreed[/I] or [I]Edward Scissorhands[/I], you know what I mean. Like my example with the mayor and the werewolves earlier in the thread, the werewolves are just following their nature, the mayor is acting out of greed. Evil comes from failings of the human spirit. The seven deadly sins and other sources really bring out the evil in the world. There are good and evil deities, but the good deities feel somewhat abandoned due to the people turning towards dark deeds, so they are allowing the world to wander in darkness until it shows some sign of being redeemable. The evil gods in turn are growing complacent in what they think is an easy victory of darkness over light on the horizon. In short, everyone has some evil in them. I don't want to plunge the PC's into a mystery that requires investigation (Maybe the werewolf bandits are skimming from the mayor's take, so he sends his personal guard out to kill some innocents and make it look like the werewolves did it... meanwhile, the werewolves have secretly hired the party in order to expose the mayor, while they move on to greener pastures) and then have them cast Detect Evil and kill everyone who lights up. I don't want to nerf Paladins though, so I will probably use the systems from [I]Heroes of Horror[/I] to balance things. Beyond changing the alignment rules (Has anybody done that successfully??? Tell me about it, please!!!), I have considered an Action Point system to make the game more cinematic/comic book/heroic. I have also thought about armor as DR, class defense bonus and [I]Midnight[/I] Heroic Paths. What does everybody think about how these could affect the game? My D&D sources right now are: Core Rulebooks [I]Libris Mortis BoED/BoVD Heroes of Horror Lords of Madness[/I] Complete books [I]Heroes of Battle[/I] Some [I]Dungeon Adventures[/I] I plan on using: [I]Bogged Down[/I] - #91 [I]Shut-In[/I] - #128 [I]Deep Freeze[/I] - #83 [I]Totentanz[/I] - #90 [I]The Stink[/I] - #105 [I]Palace of the Twisted King[/I] - #116 [I]Rana Mor[/I] - #86 [I]Bloodlines[/I] - #94 [I]Tears for Twilight Hollow[/I] - #90 [I]The Styes[/I] - #121 [I]The Dying of the Light[/I] - #84 [I]The Death of Lashimire[/I] - #116 [I]Beyond the Light of Reason[/I] - #96 [I]Seekers of the Silver Forge[/I] - #125 With these and my original material, this should take the campaign through to almost 20th level or so. Also, I have no problem making heavy modifications to published adventures. Please keep the helpful suggestions, feedback, etc. coming! Has anybody tried anything like this before??? I have been DM'ing for a long time, but am always looking to expand my horizons and learn from others! DM [/QUOTE]
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