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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 1808953" data-attributes="member: 94">I have a couple of immediate concerns with that write-up.First, it doesn't really give much background about the larger world. A little something to ground the campaign first would help, even if it's just a couple of lines. "Imagine yourself in 1609..."Second, as a campaign world, it seems very limited. It seems a very small place (an archipelago) to throw PCs and expect them to find adventure. I'd think they'd surely find some way to get from island to island, even the "off limits" one. (Having just come back from a trip to the Caribbean, you'd be surprised how far folks are willing to go, on the open sea, in just a kayak.)For certain, you need some kind of "Call To Action." When you get Grim Tales (which should be soon, btw) check out Chapter 14, the GMs section, which gives a few hints on how to set up adventures. The Call to Action is very important, even in a "regular" or more familiar D&D setting. You're going to be introducing players to a new set of rules, and they'll already be a bit unsure and confused, so take them by the hand and give them a very solid shove in the right direction. Put them into the action immediately, if you have to.Consider the difference between these two approaches:1) Your PCs start their game, having just been set aground on the beach. They know who they are. They know where they are. They know as soon as they enter the jungle, they'll find adventure.2) The PCs start their game in the hold of one of the criminal colonization ships. Suddenly, the deck explodes inwards in a shower of splinters and their cell is smashed open...You still haven't told the players any more than you wanted to tell them in your hand-out, but there's an immediacy to the second approach. This isn't just a Grim Tales thing, mind you-- anytime you're putting new players in an unfamiliar setting, you're better off getting them right into the action so they don't have to worry about how much they don't know about this new setting, they only have to worry about the matter at hand. If I were going to run Eberron, which despite having the same rules as D&D is a wholly new kind of experience for folks, I'd do the same thing.Wulf</blockquote>

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