Funeris said:
No I haven't read the first two threads...haven't had that much time on hand recently...although things are starting to slow down. So, I might just get around to it.
Wow. you gave me permission to ask questions. Destan probably would've warned you otherwise. But ok...here we go
So, I take it this is a homebrewed world? And am I right in assuming this is Old One's world? I was just wondering how long you've worked on it...or did you take his idea and as you went along tweaked it a bit? Curious because I'm brewing my own world at the moment.
And I can only hope my world turns out....so dynamically cohesive
Thanks.
The first two threads are not absolutely essential reading to understand the events in this thread, just as having played in the first campaign was not essential to enjoying playing in this one. But it does give some additional groundwork for these events and shows you the evolution of Speaks With Stone from the ground up. All the other PC's in the current thread were not part of the original campaign except for Lazarius who made a very brief appearance at the buzzer.
As for how I put together this campaign world, much of it was stolen directly from Old One. Mostly on a macro level though. I loved the basic concept of his world and I used the Faded Glory of the Empire as the backdrop in general and the small town of Glynden as the starting point in particular. I used most if not all of the named NPC's from that area though I made a few minor tweaks to them.
But I think that the direction that I went with the game is a lot less faithful to the intricately Roman feel of Old One's campaign world than I thought it would be when I started out. I found myself striking a balance between the "standard D&D world" and the setting that Old One presents that just oozes Roman Empire from every pore. I think this largely stems from expediency on my part because I love what Old One has achieved with his setting but, despite knowing a fair bit about Roman history, I don't have the innate familiarity with it that he does. He has all the jargon down cold while I found myself having to study up on the aspects that I wanted to highlight most.
None of which is to say that I'm not happy with the results. But I freely admit that a lot of what made these campaigns among the favorites I've ever run had to do with the players. It was really their interest in various aspects of the story and setting that drove the campaign for the most part. And they certainly brought it to life in ways that I could never have predicted.
So, to frame this all in a way that is relevant to the questions that you asked, my thoughts on putting together your homebrew world are like this:
1) First you need to get some kind of concept as to the overall feel of the world and make sure that the rules set and any house rules you want to come up with are in accordance with that feel. For example, I started to have to scramble a lot as this campaign got into the higher levels because the powerful magic that the PC's were starting to be capable of was in stark contrast to the generally austere feel that I had given the campaign world up to that point. If I ever develop another homebrew setting, I'm going to make sure that I account for this in whatever fashion will best suit the feel I'm going for. And make sure that the players are on board with that feel as well.
2) Start small. It is much easier in my opinion to start the PC's off at 1st level when their sphere of knowledge and influence is confined to a narrow slice of the campaign world. Glynden was my fishbowl to start with and even though I immediately sent the PC's forth from it, they were well informed and grounded to this one spot. Old One did an even better job of this because he had his early adventures set immediately around the small town.
3) A few details go a long way. I think it is best to describe the larger world around the PC's in broad brushstrokes and to add in the details where the PC's will actually come into contact with them. It does you relatively little good to figure out all the political machinations within the High Church of Pelor, half a continent away from the PC's. For example, early in the first campaign I knew that the PC's would come into contact with the Fodor tribes. So I wrote down on a single page the names of the different tribes, their totems, their leaders and most important shamen along with a VERY brief description of their general attitudes. From this short document I have woven large amounts of political struggle among the tribes and how they relate to the party. I referred to this sheet very regularly throughout the entirety of both campaigns and it is a prime example about how just a few key details can shape a large chunk of a campaign.
4) Let the PC's shape your story. Never underestimate the divedends that you'll reap by letting the players decide what direction the campaign should take. Once they pick a direction, feel free to write a distinct plot arc that will result from it, but build in some "crossroads" along the way and let the players choose their own direction. The focus of the story in both parts of my Faded Glory campaigns could have been completely different if the players had picked other directions.
Anyhow, there are lots of other good bits of advice floating around these boards about setting up homebrew settings or writing campaigns. Mine are neither the best nor the longest. But these are things that I learned while developing and running these campaigns and I am forever grateful to the Faded Glory campaigns, my players and to Old One for what they've taught me that I'll carry into my games in the future.