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Iron DM 2016 (The Complete Game Thread!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 6920233" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p>I've never explained it externally, just used it internally, so I'll be coming up with names and things on the fly for this. Maybe good names are Actors and Events. I'll sblock a rough overview of what I do below so it doesn't derail the thread.</p><p></p><p>[sblock=Actors and Events]Actors are any powerful individual or organization that is large enough to effect the direction of the game world. This could be anything from a powerful wizard to a dragon to a horde of orcs to a severe winter to the evil Queen Bavmorda and her army.</p><p></p><p>Events are things Actors will do at some point in the future unless the PCs intervene (assuming they can, which isn't always the case). It could be a wizard summoning a demon to destroy a town, a dragon migrating to new territory and battling a rival dragon for it, the horde of orcs spilling over the frontier, or the Queen sending agents to find an infant princess. I try to set a vague timeline for each and sometimes put a short reminder (Queen takes Stormport) on my Calendar about when it will happen. I usually try to just set one Event per Actor at a time until/unless the PCs take an interest in it and begin interfering. Until then it gives enough definition that it makes the world feel real, but not enough that I have to spend a lot of time thinking about it.</p><p></p><p>I try to have at least one Actor covering each major section of the world. For example, if there were Elflands, Orclands, and Humanlands, I'd be sure there was either one large Actor covering all of them (a supernatural storm, a guild war, even a bountiful harvest season!) or enough smaller ones to cover each so if PCs ever ask someone what's happening somewhere, there's always at least one interesting thing they can find out ("Oh, the plague is sweeping through the Capitol")</p><p></p><p>In my game, the Actors nearest the PCs are the Revolt against The Empire to the north west, a Barbarian Invasion in the north, Suicide Martyr attacks in the city the PCs are in, a Legion marching north to put down the revolt from down south, and a pair of child Twin Emperors kidnapped from the Secluded Kingdom to the East.</p><p></p><p>The PCs learn of events via Revelations. If it seems like a good time to slip in fleeing refugees, rumors of the evil queen sacking a distant fortress, sightings of something huge moving through the forest, whatever, that's the Revelation when the Actor and Event get "locked in". </p><p></p><p>The Revelation is almost never a major Event itself - just a hint of the Event to a) maybe give the PCs a chance to do something about it or b) to make your world feel more real and less random. If they have hints, something clicks in their brain when the actual Event happens and they say "aah, these are the evil Queen's troops" or "oh damn, that thing charging at us is that huge monster those shepherds were talking about". Sometimes they'll just stumble into an event, but I try to foreshadow whenever possible.</p><p></p><p>For example, in my current game, the party got the Revelation of the Legion by hearing rumors of it then hearing distant bugles, catching glimpses of outriders. The next session, they camped in the Legion followers camp and learned it was marching north to put down the Revolt (first Revelation of the Revolt). When they reached the "City of Airships" they met a young martyr from the Revolt and learned that massive suicide attacks were coordinated across the city at sunset (Martyr Revelation, tied to the Revolt). Now that they've "accidentally" commandeered and airship they'll be flying over the Barbarian Invasion, etc.</p><p></p><p>I have a little section in my game notes of Events that might look like this:</p><p></p><p>*Colossus uncovered in Scrapmoors, invades Empire with Knights Mechane</p><p>*Sultinate forces retake Umbar</p><p>*Twilight Empire undead army seized by rogue agent, marches West</p><p>*25 + 26th Legions go rogue, take city of Seer</p><p></p><p>Some might have dates set (especially if they are nearby), if not, they'll just happen at some point in the future.</p><p></p><p>I don't feel like I explained that very well, but hopefully it gives you a general idea. I'll maybe think about it more and see if I can figure out how to make it more succinct.[/sblock]</p><p></p><p>Also, @<em><strong><u><a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=67" target="_blank">Rune</a></u></strong></em>, my critiques of your ingredients were to some degree a result of me being tired and it being at hour 5 of 6 (about 2am) of my judgment writing. Rereading now, I'd probably give a couple another point or two, but as I go I have noticed I get more and more critical, in part because get so meta about things I get a bit ungrounded as to what exactly good looks like sometimes. I think your adventure had maybe the most solid set of ingredients I've seen in any IronDM entry I've seen - both individually and how they were woven together.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I thought of it watching Netflicks when a "Love Stories" suggestion list popped up. As I scrolled through it, I wondered there was never the opposite. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 6920233, member: 60965"] I've never explained it externally, just used it internally, so I'll be coming up with names and things on the fly for this. Maybe good names are Actors and Events. I'll sblock a rough overview of what I do below so it doesn't derail the thread. [sblock=Actors and Events]Actors are any powerful individual or organization that is large enough to effect the direction of the game world. This could be anything from a powerful wizard to a dragon to a horde of orcs to a severe winter to the evil Queen Bavmorda and her army. Events are things Actors will do at some point in the future unless the PCs intervene (assuming they can, which isn't always the case). It could be a wizard summoning a demon to destroy a town, a dragon migrating to new territory and battling a rival dragon for it, the horde of orcs spilling over the frontier, or the Queen sending agents to find an infant princess. I try to set a vague timeline for each and sometimes put a short reminder (Queen takes Stormport) on my Calendar about when it will happen. I usually try to just set one Event per Actor at a time until/unless the PCs take an interest in it and begin interfering. Until then it gives enough definition that it makes the world feel real, but not enough that I have to spend a lot of time thinking about it. I try to have at least one Actor covering each major section of the world. For example, if there were Elflands, Orclands, and Humanlands, I'd be sure there was either one large Actor covering all of them (a supernatural storm, a guild war, even a bountiful harvest season!) or enough smaller ones to cover each so if PCs ever ask someone what's happening somewhere, there's always at least one interesting thing they can find out ("Oh, the plague is sweeping through the Capitol") In my game, the Actors nearest the PCs are the Revolt against The Empire to the north west, a Barbarian Invasion in the north, Suicide Martyr attacks in the city the PCs are in, a Legion marching north to put down the revolt from down south, and a pair of child Twin Emperors kidnapped from the Secluded Kingdom to the East. The PCs learn of events via Revelations. If it seems like a good time to slip in fleeing refugees, rumors of the evil queen sacking a distant fortress, sightings of something huge moving through the forest, whatever, that's the Revelation when the Actor and Event get "locked in". The Revelation is almost never a major Event itself - just a hint of the Event to a) maybe give the PCs a chance to do something about it or b) to make your world feel more real and less random. If they have hints, something clicks in their brain when the actual Event happens and they say "aah, these are the evil Queen's troops" or "oh damn, that thing charging at us is that huge monster those shepherds were talking about". Sometimes they'll just stumble into an event, but I try to foreshadow whenever possible. For example, in my current game, the party got the Revelation of the Legion by hearing rumors of it then hearing distant bugles, catching glimpses of outriders. The next session, they camped in the Legion followers camp and learned it was marching north to put down the Revolt (first Revelation of the Revolt). When they reached the "City of Airships" they met a young martyr from the Revolt and learned that massive suicide attacks were coordinated across the city at sunset (Martyr Revelation, tied to the Revolt). Now that they've "accidentally" commandeered and airship they'll be flying over the Barbarian Invasion, etc. I have a little section in my game notes of Events that might look like this: *Colossus uncovered in Scrapmoors, invades Empire with Knights Mechane *Sultinate forces retake Umbar *Twilight Empire undead army seized by rogue agent, marches West *25 + 26th Legions go rogue, take city of Seer Some might have dates set (especially if they are nearby), if not, they'll just happen at some point in the future. I don't feel like I explained that very well, but hopefully it gives you a general idea. I'll maybe think about it more and see if I can figure out how to make it more succinct.[/sblock] Also, @[I][B][U][URL="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=67"]Rune[/URL][/U][/B][/I], my critiques of your ingredients were to some degree a result of me being tired and it being at hour 5 of 6 (about 2am) of my judgment writing. Rereading now, I'd probably give a couple another point or two, but as I go I have noticed I get more and more critical, in part because get so meta about things I get a bit ungrounded as to what exactly good looks like sometimes. I think your adventure had maybe the most solid set of ingredients I've seen in any IronDM entry I've seen - both individually and how they were woven together. I thought of it watching Netflicks when a "Love Stories" suggestion list popped up. As I scrolled through it, I wondered there was never the opposite. :P [/QUOTE]
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