AFGNCAAP
First Post
Well, the truly original/well-thought out stuff I've left for fiction writing instead of for a RPG campaign, since I wanted to take a step back from having a lot of (if any) RPG influences in my writing. For example, I've narrowed down the kinds of creatures/folk encountered by throwing away the "synonyms"; I've thrown out obvious Tolkienesque things such as orcs, hobbits/halflings, ents, etc.; I play around with mythological info and word-meanings with certain elements (for example, I use multiple terms for the same thing/creature to reflect regional differences: I use daemon as the main term, though in the north demon is used, while in the south the term devil is preferred); magic is just magic (no arcane/divine/psychic/etc. sort of distinction); etc. I like some of the standard/traditional themes/concepts, but I'm just trying to create my own view/interpretation of them.
As for my D&D campaign, I designed it with the concept in mind that it is D&D, which for some players, bears its own connotations/expectations/etc. It was designed to be a D&D game, and not necessarily a game/setting that happens to use the D&D ruleset. When they hear "D&D," they tend to think of multi-colored dragons, beholders, divine & arcane magic, and other such staples. I built my homebrew game with that in mind, though I did throw in some twists:
Basically, I pretty much wound up using what was already at hand, but putting a new twist on things. For the most part, the things that have changed the most are what the PCs interact with (monsters, NPCs, items, etc.), and not so much the PCs themselves.
I'd suggest mainly working with what's already there. Throw in a bit of crunch to confound the players from time to time, but games shouldn't boil down into "Feature Critter/Race/Class/NPC/Item/Spell o' th' Week" sessions. Soemtimes all it takes is a bit of a spin on something that's already there to make something interesting.
As for my D&D campaign, I designed it with the concept in mind that it is D&D, which for some players, bears its own connotations/expectations/etc. It was designed to be a D&D game, and not necessarily a game/setting that happens to use the D&D ruleset. When they hear "D&D," they tend to think of multi-colored dragons, beholders, divine & arcane magic, and other such staples. I built my homebrew game with that in mind, though I did throw in some twists:
- Hobgoblins & bugbears are like Saruman's Uruk-hai: created for war (from goblin stock). Hobgoblins and bugbears are new creations, and they are not known by the world. Ogre mages are also "new" creations.
- No subraces. I didn't care for the plethora of demihuman subraces in D&D, so I simply dropped them from my game. If a player wants to play an elf with snow white hair and jet black skin, then he/she can--but that elf is just an elf, and not some subrace with different stat modifiers & racial abilities.
- Gnomes are essentially half-dwarf, half-halfling: they still are a race of their own, but are the result of two societies fully integrating over time.
- Many of the mix-&-match critters like hippogriffs, owlbears, & the like are by-products from magical experimentation that occurred centuries ago.
- The different varieties of dragons exist, but are on the decline. Pressure from humanoid settlements on their habitat, as well as from other dragons, are causing the decline of certain species, and the creation of new species from the intermingling of existing ones facing decline and extinction.
- Many of the changes are all connected by a key backstory: the dream of conquest of a single sorcerer-lich, and the result of his actions on the world (how his actions affect the world, and how others act/react to them). Part of the key of dealing with the world is learning about these connections. In order to succeed in the world, the PCs & players have to learn about the world in the process.
Basically, I pretty much wound up using what was already at hand, but putting a new twist on things. For the most part, the things that have changed the most are what the PCs interact with (monsters, NPCs, items, etc.), and not so much the PCs themselves.
I'd suggest mainly working with what's already there. Throw in a bit of crunch to confound the players from time to time, but games shouldn't boil down into "Feature Critter/Race/Class/NPC/Item/Spell o' th' Week" sessions. Soemtimes all it takes is a bit of a spin on something that's already there to make something interesting.
