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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hawkshere" data-source="post: 2994984" data-attributes="member: 2417">I've been in serious need of inspiration for a new D&D game to run. My group and I are a bit jaded, being old farts such as we are. As much as I dig new dirt such as Eberron, I'm not currently interested in a huge, expansive fantasy setting, and I sure don't have the time for it.For the time being, my group is in hiatus, while I regroup after our last campaign fizzled out (a sci-fi game, and totally off-topic). Recently engaded in a single-player computer gaming binge, I decide to finally get around to playing Thief: Deadly Shadows. Now, I am a huge fan of the Thief series, and despite the issues which plague the third and last installment, I still find it a very satisfying experience.The setting fiction of the Thief games is very strong in my mind, and I turn my thoughts to harnessing the style and/or particulars of that fiction to a multiplayer tabletop game with a rogue-themed campaign. However, I am stymied by a number of factors, not the least which is the fiction is designed for a single-protagonist story, and lacks the required level fleshy details to accompany player-characters not resembling a certain ex-Keeper thief possibly named Garrett.Still, the City is an inspirational setting, and has me considering the idea of running an urban game set entirely within a detailed and compelling cityscape. Since I've been in a non-d20 mode for a while (SR4 & Traveller instead), I'm feeling a bit out of the loop. So I check on my favorite D&D sites ("Hi everyone!"  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> ), and what is the very first thing I read about? Ptolus.Shazzam!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool    :cool:"  data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" /> Okay, so maybe I am on to something. I intend to look at Ptolus as soon as it hits my FLGS this week, and if I find it sufficiently compelling, I may convince my group to give it a go. Time (and it's fickle handmaiden, Preparation), as always, is in short supply, and an urban campaign of this kind demands the level of detail which seems to be promised by this book.Since I haven't been following Monte's Every Word on this project, I'm inviting comments from you, valued readers. Any comments regarding running a rogue-oriented "street level" Ptolus campaign, or adding/mixing fiction elements from the Thief game series are welcome.For those without experience with, or time to play the Thief games, there are a number of websites containing summaries of Thief fiction, starting with Wikipedia:<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thief_%28computer_game_series%29" target="_blank">Overview</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thief:_The_Dark_Project" target="_blank">The Dark Project</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thief_II:_The_Metal_Age" target="_blank">The Metal Age</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thief:_Deadly_Shadows" target="_blank">Deadly Shadows</a>Some starter questions I need to look into include:How much story and hook support does Ptolus specifically provide for rogue-based adventuring?Which fiction elements from the City can or should I attempt to graft into Ptolus? For example, is there already a logical place in the cosmology for a creature like the Trickster? Does the city of Ptolus already have some means of public lighting, and what are the implications of adding tesla-style magical broadcast power providing city-wide technology services? The Keepers are a powerful group in the City; is there room for another secret powergroup in Ptolus' already crowded politics? Likewise, the Hammer's natural habitat has already been filled; is there another way of interpreting both them and the Pagans to fill different niches? The sealed off section of Old Quarter overrun with undead was brilliant in the City, but with the warrens and the spire already present, is a cataclysmically haunted neighborhood one cliche too many?Out of all the universe of d20 crunch, both OEM and aftermarket, which best bits support fantasy weird-tech noir urban gameplay?  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> I'll have to find my own answers if I pursue this project, but I'm interested in any comments or input. I'll share any answers I find if there is sufficient interest.</blockquote>

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