Mystery Man
First Post
smetzger said:
I think you don't know your an immortal until the "quickening"
[Plots] Would you want to play in this campaign? *MY PLAYERS STAY OUT*
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I think you don't know your an immortal until the "quickening"
d4
First Post
that's cool. i was just trying to give you some things to think about. if you know your group quite well, it should be easy for you to plan for contingencies in case they do something else.reveal said:Thank you for the input and constructive criticism. I always enjoy getting advice like this because it only helps to make my game that much better.
i hope the session goes well!
Camarath
Pale Master Tarrasque
I think that would be ok. If I was expecting someething to be different I probably would not have a problem with something actually being different. It is when you are not expecting a change that change can be the most disorienting.reveal said:
I tend to make my characters rather focused or specialized so that often leaves them a bit vulnerable to world changes. And I also don't find it fun to play characters that do not fit in the world I am playing in. One such character was my Power Attack focused Barbarian from our stone age game when the DM had the world absorbed into an interstellar empire and our characters press ganged into the army. It was terrible. I had few useful skills, no useful feats, a low dex which made my AC and my attack bonus bad, weapon damage was very high so I could not close with my foes, and a character personalty that made it hard to use tactics or deal with my new "superiors" well. I was finally forced to attack my commanding officer in-game to get rid of the character.
That seems like a great idea to me. I think that, if I was a player in your game and you allowed me to replace my original character with new a character if I felt that I did not want to play my old chatacter, that would allay any problem I might have with the change of setting.reveal said:
Kahuna Burger
First Post
I'd find it way too railroaded and deceptive... You've said you know your players well and it wouldn't bother them, but that makes me wonder what you are looking for our input for. 
honestly, I'd just tell them "I want to run a highlander game" and give the story above as intro material. Because as someone already mentioned, it is a story, not a game outline. Why even run the risk of souring them on a game you all could enjoy for a brief 'wow' moment? Skip to the actual game and let them know what they are getting into... MHO.
Kahuna Burger
honestly, I'd just tell them "I want to run a highlander game" and give the story above as intro material. Because as someone already mentioned, it is a story, not a game outline. Why even run the risk of souring them on a game you all could enjoy for a brief 'wow' moment? Skip to the actual game and let them know what they are getting into... MHO.
Kahuna Burger
ThoughtBubble
First Post
Would I want to play? Yes and no
I'll pretty much echo my thoughts from the other thread, but I’ll expand on them a little more. While I love the idea, from the execution, I don't think that this would be a game that's up my (or my players') alley.
Are one on one duels conductive to a team based game? Combat can take a long time, especially when you're the univolved one. Unless you've got a small game, patient players, short combats or heavy RP, someone's going to end up bored.
I'm sure that this is handled in the rules (but I'm too lazy to look at the moment) but would the quickining end up creating a power discrepancy in the group? You know, one guy gets a kill ahead, so he's stronger, then as the strongest guy, is the best choice to do the next fight, making him stronger, making him the best choice for the next fight, etc.
"There can be only one." So kill everyone else in their sleep. Now, hopefully your players aren't big enough jerks to do this, but the setting is so nice for this sort of betrayal.
Now, be careful about character generation. A computer hacker has no place in the operation, as does a conman (two guys that I'm thinking about playing at the moment). So make sure you help the players make plausable characters for that mission and the rest of the game. There's little that sucks as much as being the competely wrong character for the game, for example, a physically weak and clumsy guy in a game where guys are trying to chop off your head.
The house has the potential to fall apart.
Here's some palces where me/my party would mess things up.
"Let's split up. Me and Carl'll take downstairs, you guys take upstairs."
"Hm... Let me thin- No. Let's stick together."
One immortal with a sword charging 3-8 armed and (hopefully) proficient people with guns isn't going to work quite so well. What if the PC's plan ahead and use gasmasks and gas grenades, then cover each other? If it works in a situation where the PC's should be kicking ass, it'll set a really bad precedent towards this Allen guy, which will only get worse when, post immortality I get ill when passing him. I know I'd assume he's evil and up to no good after an introduction like that.
And speaking of Allen, I'd hate the guy. Why? Because you like him. You spent a lot of time on him. You made him really cool. You gave him Robin ****ing Hood's sword. And you had him slaughter the entire party, regardless of tactics and skill. Regardless of if you want it to look this way or not, it's going to seem like he's your favored DM character, and you’re showing him off. I wouldn’t want to know why he’s got Robin Hood’s sword. I won’t care who his mentor was, or where he’s from, or how he learned the ancient art of the striking crane, long thought to be lost. Every time he’s in the scene, I’m going to feel insignificant next to his finely honed brilliance (because he is so damn cool). Whenever he’s around, I’ll feel like there’s nothing I can do except sit around and take what’s coming. And that’s a bad precedent to set.
Now here’s the funny part. This sounds like something I’d love. If someone asked me to play in a highlander game, I’d be excited to play in it. But the thing is that I know a lot about failed RP experiences, and this sounds a lot like what I’d do. In fact, it’s disturbingly like what I’d try. That’s why I can see it going badly.
You’ve said that you know your group, so hopefully they won’t have a lot of the problems my group would have with that situation. But be careful. The first few sessions of your game will set the tone for the rest of the campaign. Or at least that’s how it’s happened in every one of mine. Be sure you set up the tone you want from the start.
And, frankly, I might just tell them that it’s a Highlander based game, simply to avoid some of the pain. Getting killed isn’t a problem then. It’s a necessary story element to become immortal and get to go around kicking ass with a sword. And I’d gladly follow along with stuff I wouldn’t normally in order to do so. But mostly, this is a gut reaction to the fact that every time a DM’s kept something about the campaign’s premise secret, the game has suffered for it. For example: There was one post-apocalyptic game we played in where the DM refused to give us any background info on the world, or our characters, just told us to make someone with a useful skill set in the real world. We wound up with two medics (one military, the other a EMT), a conman, a mechanic, a thief, and a hacker. We woke up with amnesia and the first 4 sessions were spent wandering in the wilderness, and set a bleak, dreary, ‘the world hates us’ tone that stayed through the rest of the game (which has been going more than a year now). It wasn’t until recently when the DM stopped being surprised when we assumed everything was out to get us, was hostile, and that we were screwed and were only surviving because he didn’t want to kill us (as 10 days without food or water will do to people). With a little warning, someone would have played a woodsman/explorer and saved us a lot of trouble every time we had to hike through the wilderness.
Anyway, best of luck, and I hope to hear from you again, saying that the game is going wonderfully.
I'll pretty much echo my thoughts from the other thread, but I’ll expand on them a little more. While I love the idea, from the execution, I don't think that this would be a game that's up my (or my players') alley.
Are one on one duels conductive to a team based game? Combat can take a long time, especially when you're the univolved one. Unless you've got a small game, patient players, short combats or heavy RP, someone's going to end up bored.
I'm sure that this is handled in the rules (but I'm too lazy to look at the moment) but would the quickining end up creating a power discrepancy in the group? You know, one guy gets a kill ahead, so he's stronger, then as the strongest guy, is the best choice to do the next fight, making him stronger, making him the best choice for the next fight, etc.
"There can be only one." So kill everyone else in their sleep. Now, hopefully your players aren't big enough jerks to do this, but the setting is so nice for this sort of betrayal.
Now, be careful about character generation. A computer hacker has no place in the operation, as does a conman (two guys that I'm thinking about playing at the moment). So make sure you help the players make plausable characters for that mission and the rest of the game. There's little that sucks as much as being the competely wrong character for the game, for example, a physically weak and clumsy guy in a game where guys are trying to chop off your head.
The house has the potential to fall apart.
Here's some palces where me/my party would mess things up.
"Let's split up. Me and Carl'll take downstairs, you guys take upstairs."
"Hm... Let me thin- No. Let's stick together."
One immortal with a sword charging 3-8 armed and (hopefully) proficient people with guns isn't going to work quite so well. What if the PC's plan ahead and use gasmasks and gas grenades, then cover each other? If it works in a situation where the PC's should be kicking ass, it'll set a really bad precedent towards this Allen guy, which will only get worse when, post immortality I get ill when passing him. I know I'd assume he's evil and up to no good after an introduction like that.
And speaking of Allen, I'd hate the guy. Why? Because you like him. You spent a lot of time on him. You made him really cool. You gave him Robin ****ing Hood's sword. And you had him slaughter the entire party, regardless of tactics and skill. Regardless of if you want it to look this way or not, it's going to seem like he's your favored DM character, and you’re showing him off. I wouldn’t want to know why he’s got Robin Hood’s sword. I won’t care who his mentor was, or where he’s from, or how he learned the ancient art of the striking crane, long thought to be lost. Every time he’s in the scene, I’m going to feel insignificant next to his finely honed brilliance (because he is so damn cool). Whenever he’s around, I’ll feel like there’s nothing I can do except sit around and take what’s coming. And that’s a bad precedent to set.
Now here’s the funny part. This sounds like something I’d love. If someone asked me to play in a highlander game, I’d be excited to play in it. But the thing is that I know a lot about failed RP experiences, and this sounds a lot like what I’d do. In fact, it’s disturbingly like what I’d try. That’s why I can see it going badly.
You’ve said that you know your group, so hopefully they won’t have a lot of the problems my group would have with that situation. But be careful. The first few sessions of your game will set the tone for the rest of the campaign. Or at least that’s how it’s happened in every one of mine. Be sure you set up the tone you want from the start.
And, frankly, I might just tell them that it’s a Highlander based game, simply to avoid some of the pain. Getting killed isn’t a problem then. It’s a necessary story element to become immortal and get to go around kicking ass with a sword. And I’d gladly follow along with stuff I wouldn’t normally in order to do so. But mostly, this is a gut reaction to the fact that every time a DM’s kept something about the campaign’s premise secret, the game has suffered for it. For example: There was one post-apocalyptic game we played in where the DM refused to give us any background info on the world, or our characters, just told us to make someone with a useful skill set in the real world. We wound up with two medics (one military, the other a EMT), a conman, a mechanic, a thief, and a hacker. We woke up with amnesia and the first 4 sessions were spent wandering in the wilderness, and set a bleak, dreary, ‘the world hates us’ tone that stayed through the rest of the game (which has been going more than a year now). It wasn’t until recently when the DM stopped being surprised when we assumed everything was out to get us, was hostile, and that we were screwed and were only surviving because he didn’t want to kill us (as 10 days without food or water will do to people). With a little warning, someone would have played a woodsman/explorer and saved us a lot of trouble every time we had to hike through the wilderness.
Anyway, best of luck, and I hope to hear from you again, saying that the game is going wonderfully.
Buttercup
Princess of Florin
This is the only part I don't like. Why are there so many immortals in town? And why on earth would they all hang out at a bar together? That would make them sitting ducks for an evil immortal. If you can come up with another starting clue, I think you'll have a completely cool start on a campaign.reveal said:
Man, I'd probably make a work-a-day guy expecting to get by barely with his bills or maybe go on to become something interesting by circumstance... I'd be all Oh deary gotta pay the bills, can't be late for dinner again, and i'd get all psyched up about this character and then he'd be railroaded, gassed, stabbed, and completely reinvented as what I didn't anticipate (and by that I also mean what wasn't looking forward to as much as wasn't expecting).
I'd probably laugh, endure the volley of Highlander 2 references my fellow players would spout for a good 10 minutes as we totally fell out of our characters (Hey, they're completely alien now, even with Mr Alan DM Ex Machina telling us the campaign drill) and if we were lucky, get a stuttered start trying to get into character and figure out what the heck to do, most likely just depending on more railroad for the rest of the session and/or sessions to come.
If however, you said from the get-go "Make Normal Mortals for a Highlander-ish Game" two weeks in advance, not only would I show up ready, I'd probably be on board. Realize that when you ask players to make a character, sometimes they're actually sketching it out like a portrait and thinking of how they'll add shades and tones and FEATS! and things over the coming months. Lots of players will not appreciate session one consisting of the DM pulling out the Graffiti and spraying "YOU ARE IMMORTAL AND NOW L33T!" in big red ink on their sketches. As deep and involving as this campaign may be, the first impression for me would be as such.
I'd probably laugh, endure the volley of Highlander 2 references my fellow players would spout for a good 10 minutes as we totally fell out of our characters (Hey, they're completely alien now, even with Mr Alan DM Ex Machina telling us the campaign drill) and if we were lucky, get a stuttered start trying to get into character and figure out what the heck to do, most likely just depending on more railroad for the rest of the session and/or sessions to come.
If however, you said from the get-go "Make Normal Mortals for a Highlander-ish Game" two weeks in advance, not only would I show up ready, I'd probably be on board. Realize that when you ask players to make a character, sometimes they're actually sketching it out like a portrait and thinking of how they'll add shades and tones and FEATS! and things over the coming months. Lots of players will not appreciate session one consisting of the DM pulling out the Graffiti and spraying "YOU ARE IMMORTAL AND NOW L33T!" in big red ink on their sketches. As deep and involving as this campaign may be, the first impression for me would be as such.
