Newspapers in your setting...

[Heathen72]

Hey folks,

I am currently in the process of putting together a monthly newspaper (in game)for the current campaign i am running. Has anyone here done this before? What has been your experiences? I am trying to do this using MS Word, what formatting did you guys use? Thanks in advance.

Yeah, my GM and I got together and did a couple of 1 Page Newspapers for our groups. They are good for so many things-
Hooks for the game: "... over the past 2 months, 5 people have disappeared working on properties that skirt Dorich Wood..."
Introducing NPC's: The Queens Cousin, Lord Smolovic is visiting the region, and is keen to see the new Smithy, built by the lands greatest Blacksmith, Valanor"
Flavour Text: Elanor's apples and oranges. Good for what ails you - cures the common cold, scurvy, and the dropsy!"
Showing how PC's are indeed affecting the world around them: "Who are these four adventurers? Where do they come from? Are they Single? No one knows their names, but everyone is scrambling to catch a glimpse of the young warrior and his extremely impressive long (over the page) sword!

They're great for a laugh, and if there is one thing I have learned in my years roleplaying, it's that players love handouts!

 

[Kelleris]

There was a longish web feature on broadsheets in Waterdeep a while ago, if I'm remembering rightly. I might have to go back and track it down, I didn't read it very closely while it was running.

Given the high level of literacy assumed by baseline D&D, I think newspapers like existed in the Revolutionary War era of the United States (and thereafter) are a great idea. They were mostly just newsletters/broadsheets, IIRC, which is relatively easy for players to handle, historical basis or no, and easy to mock up on your own.

I think Eberron is the only major setting I know to have touched on this idea before, which surprises me.

 

[Gez]

Newspapers IMC are called "bards".

 

[yennico]

I know Graywolf-ELM does use "newspapers" in HTML-format for his Orcs on the Rampage SH.

For a CP 2020 game I had found a good website with scream sheets (the newspapers in the CP 2020 world) which I used IMC.

 

[philreed]

Newspapers IMC are called "bards".

Actually, an interesting bardic organization would be one that's run by the government. Imagine bards that are misinformation specialists tasked with spreading rumors and lies that benefit those in power.

Then you would get "investigative bards" that attempt to discover the truth, clear through the lies, and present the truth to the people.

 

[Gez]

Actually, an interesting bardic organization would be one that's run by the government. Imagine bards that are misinformation specialists tasked with spreading rumors and lies that benefit those in power.

Been there, done that. Well, nearly: The Leran College of Myths, IMC, is an organization run by one country to form "agit-prop" agents and sow dissent in the enemy country.

 

[philreed]

Been there, done that. Well, nearly: The Leran College of Myths, IMC, is an organization run by one country to form "agit-prop" agents and sow dissent in the enemy country.

How did it work out for you? Were the players in on the deception or did they have to uncover the truth?

 

[NewJeffCT]

Actually, an interesting bardic organization would be one that's run by the government. Imagine bards that are misinformation specialists tasked with spreading rumors and lies that benefit those in power.

Then you would get "investigative bards" that attempt to discover the truth, clear through the lies, and present the truth to the people.

Good idea - kind of ties in to my idea above about government propaganda. The "investigative" bards could be wanted by the government and have to tell their tells in out of the way taverns in order to avoid the government's secret police force.

I was going to run a campaign where all the PCs would be human from the same kingdom... for their whole lives, the kingdom has been at war with what was once a powerful dwarf kingdom and, separately, a nation ruled by women.

Going into the campaign, I was going to tell the PCs a bit about their surroundings, only using what they would likely know growing up in their kingdom - the dwarves are an evil lot and now that their kingdom has been smashed, they have become almost savage animals in running an insurgency against the crown, they love to slaughter humans on their small farms, right down to the babies.. Meanwhile, the nation run by women has an army headed by a powerful lich and their queen has made pacts with demons, and since their nation lacks males (due to a heroic last stand of the then all-male army a generation ago), they like to kidnap males from the PCs kingdom for breeding purposes, keeping them locked in cages.

Of course, the PCs would later find out that the dwarves aren't evil & are just trying to get by; while the nation run by women fights only defensively against invasions from the PCs kingdom, whose king is really a powerful & evil necromancer posing as a mere aristocrat.

 

[Gez]

How did it work out for you? Were the players in on the deception or did they have to uncover the truth?

That's more a background element. The players had the option of being one of those agents, but they preferred other options.

If they have a run-in with them, I think they would rather side with the propagandist. The aforementionned enemy country is also one of their characters' enemies.

 

[MojoGM]

I've been thinking of using this element in my Cormyr campaign. Adventure hooks galore and some interesting political stuff as the paper starts to delve into things the Crown would rather keep under wraps.

Yeah, I think this is a very good idea indeed.