I'm curious about the RPGA...

[vulcan_idic]

I wouldn't call it a mess, though it does require a fair bit of paperwork (assuming you're talking about Living Greyhawk here). Other campaigns do things differently.



That depends an awful lot on the campaign, and the module. Even LG has "roleplaying-intensive" modules...and other campaigns, such as Living Death and Living Arcanis, have a very different feel, and are pretty roleplaying- and story-intensive.

As with Emirikol, I've met a lot of good friends, and good gamers, through the RPGA. Yes, I've also met a few folks I wouldn't want to game with again, but you'll encounter that with *any* convention-based game, so don't blame the RPGA for that.

Also, for the original poster:
- You can check out the RPGA's web site (www.wizards.com/rpga) for more info on the various campaigns. Living City, which you specifically mentioned, is no more.
- There's an active group of RPGAers in Champaign (I believe it's called Circa), mostly playing Living Greyhawk. The LG campaign is divided into regions; Illinois and Indiana are in the Verbobonc region. You may want to join the Verbobonc Yahoo Group (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Verbobonc/), which has, among other things, announcements of conventions and game days, and may help you find other gamers in Champaign.

Sorry about the error about Living City - haven't heard much about RPGA for about 3 years now. Do they have anything in FR now? I'll look into those websites, they look really informative - probably the best way to find out about Winter War!! Now that you mention it I had heard of Living Arcanis, even picked up the Codex Arcanis which is still sitting on a shelf somewhere, as I recall after giving it a read through it gave me a rather Late Roman period feel. I'm not sure what Living Death is but it sounds very interesting in an oxymoronic sort of way!!

 

[kenobi65]

Sorry about the error about Living City - haven't heard much about RPGA for about 3 years now. Do they have anything in FR now?

That's OK...it's been within the past 3-4 years that the campaign died. They then had a "D&D Campaign" (similar in structure to Mark of Heroes) set in the FR called Legacy of the Green Regent, but that's over with. So, at the moment, the answer is "no".

Now that you mention it I had heard of Living Arcanis, even picked up the Codex Arcanis which is still sitting on a shelf somewhere, as I recall after giving it a read through it gave me a rather Late Roman period feel.

The Coryani Empire, the biggest political entity in Arcanis, is indeed very Roman; other regions have other feels (Milandir, for example, is more like medieval Germany). Living Arcanis is very politically-based, and the world itself is very well-developed.

I'm not sure what Living Death is but it sounds very interesting in an oxymoronic sort of way!!

1890's gothic horror, based on the 2E "Masque of the Red Death" expansion for Ravenloft. I've enjoyed it a lot, but, unfortunately, it's wrapping up next year.

 

[Glyfair]

Living campaigns like Living Greyhawk have their own issues. The good part is that your character can travel from table to table. The bad part is that the magic item system and equipment and accounting was a mess the last time I played, although I don't know how it has changed in the last year or two.

The "D&D Campaigns" tend to avoid these issues, but have completely different ones. Right now the active ones (or soon to be active ones) are Mark of Heroes & Xen'drik Expeditions. If you hate Eberron, you'll probably want to avoid these.

Both campaigns essentially only track your class, level & equipment gold piece value. You can recreate your character between sessions, as long as it fits your above information (and one or two other minor details). This means there is less bookkeeping, but a bit less continuity (if there is a lot of character restructuring).

There are a number of oddities because of the system. Limited use items cost 5x the cost, because they are essentially x-uses per adventure (wouldn't you love a potion that recharges after every session?)

The new Xen'drik series looks very interesting. There are 4 different factions, and most adventures are geared to a specific faction. Your character must be specific to a faction (you can play in all 4 factions, just with different characters). Apparently there will be a lot of competitiveness in the combined adventures, as the factions are each looking for some of the same things.

Each factiion also has certain themes. One is very dragonmarked house oriented, but also has a strong mercenary theme (and even allows you to play a gnoll). Another is evil oriented, with a counterpart good oriented on. The final faction is very draconic/mystery oriented with a strong scholarly vibe.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Don't forget that the RPGA allows home play of WotC adventures, such as Fane of the Drow, for your LG characters. I had heard the Red Hand of Doom was going to be granted home-play status... dunno if that is true though. Dungeon magazine has been offering its adventures for D&D home play, just look on page 5 to get the RPGA adventure codes. It fits a trend of more and more WotC or Dungeon magazine adventures being opend up for LG characters. So for people who are not impressed with adventures written to be wrapped up in four hours with a mandated 2-4 combat encounters, there are options constantly beeing added.

The new Xen'drik series looks very interesting.

I'm very much looking forward to Xen'drik Expeditions. I just hope it gets tables at more conventions, or local store game days.

 

[Glyfair]

I'm very much looking forward to Xen'drik Expeditions. I just hope it gets tables at more conventions, or local store game days.

From those involved in Game Days, I've heard the biggest problem with Mark of Heroes was the limited number of scenarios. XE looks like it's going to not have that problem.

 

[kenobi65]

I had heard the Red Hand of Doom was going to be granted home-play status... dunno if that is true though.

It will be; the plan is to have it out sometime before the end of the year.

Be forewarned: it's huge. The projected setup is 5 chapters, costing a total of 51 TUs.

 

[vulcan_idic]

The "D&D Campaigns" tend to avoid these issues, but have completely different ones. Right now the active ones (or soon to be active ones) are Mark of Heroes & Xen'drik Expeditions. If you hate Eberron, you'll probably want to avoid these.

Both campaigns essentially only track your class, level & equipment gold piece value. You can recreate your character between sessions, as long as it fits your above information (and one or two other minor details). This means there is less bookkeeping, but a bit less continuity (if there is a lot of character restructuring).

There are a number of oddities because of the system. Limited use items cost 5x the cost, because they are essentially x-uses per adventure (wouldn't you love a potion that recharges after every session?)

The new Xen'drik series looks very interesting. There are 4 different factions, and most adventures are geared to a specific faction. Your character must be specific to a faction (you can play in all 4 factions, just with different characters). Apparently there will be a lot of competitiveness in the combined adventures, as the factions are each looking for some of the same things.

Each factiion also has certain themes. One is very dragonmarked house oriented, but also has a strong mercenary theme (and even allows you to play a gnoll). Another is evil oriented, with a counterpart good oriented on. The final faction is very draconic/mystery oriented with a strong scholarly vibe.

Actually I really like Eberron, and would like to play more. As a matter of fact one of the things that is attracting me to the RPGA is the opportunity to try several worlds and character concepts, more than I might be able to experience with only at home play.

The new Xendrick Campaign also look fascinating to me (I read about it on the aforementioned website) and I'm hoping to participate a lot. I'd like to try an Incarnate (in the Crimson faction) there, as I've read the book and it seems fascinating, but that I think I'll only really have a good grasp of it after working with it and really feeling the ins and outs.

I also think I might like to try a Dragonmarked Character in the Blackwheel faction, I've never tried one before and it seems intriguing.

I'd also like to try a some of the Eberron specific races at some point they all seem quite exciting to play.

Of course I'll just have to see what I can actually do when it comes down to it. I may only have Living Greyhawk games commonly in my area, who knows. Then I have to figure out how to choose between a Monk of Rao, a Paladin of Mayaheine, or a Cleric of Pelor!

 

[vulcan_idic]

It will be; the plan is to have it out sometime before the end of the year.

Be forewarned: it's huge. The projected setup is 5 chapters, costing a total of 51 TUs.

I got the Red Hand of Doom and looked through it - it looks like it would be fun to play and I'm planning on running it as a "one shot" series for my home group if nothing else!!

 

[pogre]

Here's a link to the Winter War convention I mentioned earlier. Note that is has not been updated since this past spring, but will be around October or so.

Winter War Convention

 

[NiTessine]

I have never participated in any of the RPGA's "living" campaigns, but the idea is certainly appealing. Just out of curiosity, for those of you who do participate, do you actually get the sense that you are adventuring in a dynamic, living, breathing world, or is it more like a series of one-offs loosely strung together? Not sure if I'm making my question clear here. Do events in one region ever cross over and effect events in neighboring regions? Do you feel like your characters' actions actually affect the world you're playing in? Has anyone attempted a history of any of the "living" worlds that takes into account these world shaping events?

It's a bit of both, really. In regional and metaregional adventures, I really do get the sense that I'm doing something meaningful in terms of the long-term plot, because I've been around long enough to see the campaign consequences for several modules actually bear fruit and had the plot take the next step forward, in a direction where we pushed it when we played the module. In Core adventures, which have a larger player base, I generally don't get that sense, but they tend to be a bit different in that there are less often a variety of possible outcomes. You either succeed in your mission or you don't. There are exceptions (such as the retired Children of the Dust trilogy), of course.

I live in Finland, which is a part of the Principality of Naerie region, in the Splintered Suns metaregion (it's a part of the United Kingdom of Ahlissa, on the eastern coast of the Azure Sea). To the northwest, we have the Free Kingdom of Onnwal (United Kingdom and Ireland). At the end of last campaign year, Onnwal finally drove out the last organised Scarlet Brotherhood forces from their country, in a big event in GenCon UK. In one our own regional modules this year, we're seeing the splash effect, when a Scarlet Brotherhood war criminal flees south along the coast. We've also had some overlap with the plots of the Kingdom of Sunndi (the Beneluc countries) to the east, in the past. Our own regional storylines tend to be a lot less epic, so there isn't as much splash, but we have plans to do something with Keoland (New York, I think. They're on the opposite side of the big pond, both in Greyhawk and the real world) next year.

So, yeah, there is a sense of a living world. It doesn't always make sense and there are contradictions and the occasional bad module, but I've never really had a bad gaming experience in Living Greyhawk.

There's always someone suggesting that history thing on one of the LG forums or mailing lists at regular intervals. It hasn't been done yet, and I doubt it ever will, due to the sheer amount of work it'd take to compile the last six years of what's happened in every region and compile it into something resembling a logical whole.