The Sigil
Mr. 3000 (Words per post)
I'm hoping to get a West Marches style campaign going locally and have found some interesting ideas out there that I'm going to compile here for feedback (and to hopefully hear others' suggestions). This is NOT about play style, or DM prep, but instead how to "get people invested" in the campaign with stuff not directly-game related. This would probably be in some shared semi-public space (think the shared game room at a FLGS, with the permission of the FLGS of course).
1. The Shared Map
The PCs' home base will probably be something like a tavern in a frontier town, with the idea that players commandeer one of the tavern tables and "carve the map on it." Rather than using (and ruining) a real wooden table, I'm thinking of spending a few bucks on a wood-print plastic tablecloth, putting that over the table, and letting the players draw on it with sharpies. E.g., Amazon.com
2. Adventurer's Guild Register/Campaign Journal
Thinking of grabbing something like this: Amazon.com and using each page (or spread) for the PCs on an adventure to "sign in" and then (if they wish) write a summary of their adventure.
3. Permanent Props related various Quests
In my last campaign, I took my players through Rahasia, including the Wizard of Wines puzzle, for which I modified the labels found here Curse of Strahd: Wizard of Wines Labels Wine Labels for Ravenloft - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild and stuck them on Smart Water bottles after peeling off the SmartWater labels and putting food coloring in the water (I'm a teetotaler and the residue from the labels worked great to stick the replacement labels in place). The players' minds were blown, especially when one of them squinted at the puzzle I'd drawn on the dry-erase battle map, looked at the bottles sitting in front of him on the table, and without explaining anything to the others, solved the puzzle (after which an explanation was demanded and given). I'm thinking of creating cheap props like these every now and again and leaving them with the AG register/campaign journal.
Do you think a space with these kind of touches would be something your meatspace group would find cool? Any other ideas? Do you think this might drive interest in the game/campaign?
1. The Shared Map
The PCs' home base will probably be something like a tavern in a frontier town, with the idea that players commandeer one of the tavern tables and "carve the map on it." Rather than using (and ruining) a real wooden table, I'm thinking of spending a few bucks on a wood-print plastic tablecloth, putting that over the table, and letting the players draw on it with sharpies. E.g., Amazon.com
2. Adventurer's Guild Register/Campaign Journal
Thinking of grabbing something like this: Amazon.com and using each page (or spread) for the PCs on an adventure to "sign in" and then (if they wish) write a summary of their adventure.
3. Permanent Props related various Quests
In my last campaign, I took my players through Rahasia, including the Wizard of Wines puzzle, for which I modified the labels found here Curse of Strahd: Wizard of Wines Labels Wine Labels for Ravenloft - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild and stuck them on Smart Water bottles after peeling off the SmartWater labels and putting food coloring in the water (I'm a teetotaler and the residue from the labels worked great to stick the replacement labels in place). The players' minds were blown, especially when one of them squinted at the puzzle I'd drawn on the dry-erase battle map, looked at the bottles sitting in front of him on the table, and without explaining anything to the others, solved the puzzle (after which an explanation was demanded and given). I'm thinking of creating cheap props like these every now and again and leaving them with the AG register/campaign journal.
Do you think a space with these kind of touches would be something your meatspace group would find cool? Any other ideas? Do you think this might drive interest in the game/campaign?
