wedgeski
Adventurer
: does not compute : ..::fzzt
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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Running a homebrew campaign is HARD
- Thread starter turnip
- Start date
Okay, we played last night, and I took some of your advice with me.
For the tl;dr crowd:
I prepped nothing for the game other than a general idea ("escape" from those chasing them and a sudden violent storm into a haunted crypt) and let the game run it's course.
It went great, actually!
For the chewing on posts crowd:
The party, at the end of the last game, had escaped from a botched attempt at kidnapping an orcish captain of an army, which then attacked and sacked/pillaged a major city and it's army.
On the run from the orcish army, and with the orc captain bound and prisoner, they run in an attempt to warn the major military power in the region of the surprise orc infiltration. They are ambushed by a group of outriders, one of whom manages to escape them (thereby alerting the enemy army...) and are forced out into the rocky hinterlands. Trying to get back to the main roadway, they are caught out in the open by a violent fall storm (the first cold rain of the season) and seek shelter in a "huge earthen mound with what appears to be a partially collapsed stone entrance."
Yup, a barrow, and they thought it was a great idea to make camp inside.
Needless to say, (and this is where I got happy) the rogue of the group goes exploring, gets into trouble, pulls the rest of the group (including a still bound orc warlord!) deeper into the barrow, because of "barrow...barrow...GRAVE GOODS!" I have to hand it to the rogue player (he's the newbie of the group); he really latched onto his character last night.
Anyway, various creepy undead things are awakened by the bumbling around, and some hilarity ensues (throw the only lantern you have at an enemy, inside a pitch-black barrow...okay...oohhh...the enemy wasn't flammable, the lantern oil dies out in a few turns, and none of you have darkvision...but the monsters do...) and there are a few tense moments when PCs got slammed down to 0 hp.
But, all ended well, they defeated a rough group of enemies (really, a brutal scoundrel rogue can dish out damage like no one's business) and everyone had a great time.
After, I asked about some character desires, took some notes, and will run the next game just like that. It was really freeing to just let the game play out as it happened, as opposed to trying to map out every possibility.
Also, it seemed that as the night wore on, the players became more comfortable with the idea of "no script, just do what you would" style play. They aren't totally comfortable with it yet, but I hope they will be soon!
For the tl;dr crowd:
I prepped nothing for the game other than a general idea ("escape" from those chasing them and a sudden violent storm into a haunted crypt) and let the game run it's course.
It went great, actually!
For the chewing on posts crowd:
The party, at the end of the last game, had escaped from a botched attempt at kidnapping an orcish captain of an army, which then attacked and sacked/pillaged a major city and it's army.
On the run from the orcish army, and with the orc captain bound and prisoner, they run in an attempt to warn the major military power in the region of the surprise orc infiltration. They are ambushed by a group of outriders, one of whom manages to escape them (thereby alerting the enemy army...) and are forced out into the rocky hinterlands. Trying to get back to the main roadway, they are caught out in the open by a violent fall storm (the first cold rain of the season) and seek shelter in a "huge earthen mound with what appears to be a partially collapsed stone entrance."
Yup, a barrow, and they thought it was a great idea to make camp inside.
Needless to say, (and this is where I got happy) the rogue of the group goes exploring, gets into trouble, pulls the rest of the group (including a still bound orc warlord!) deeper into the barrow, because of "barrow...barrow...GRAVE GOODS!" I have to hand it to the rogue player (he's the newbie of the group); he really latched onto his character last night.
Anyway, various creepy undead things are awakened by the bumbling around, and some hilarity ensues (throw the only lantern you have at an enemy, inside a pitch-black barrow...okay...oohhh...the enemy wasn't flammable, the lantern oil dies out in a few turns, and none of you have darkvision...but the monsters do...) and there are a few tense moments when PCs got slammed down to 0 hp.
But, all ended well, they defeated a rough group of enemies (really, a brutal scoundrel rogue can dish out damage like no one's business) and everyone had a great time.
After, I asked about some character desires, took some notes, and will run the next game just like that. It was really freeing to just let the game play out as it happened, as opposed to trying to map out every possibility.
Also, it seemed that as the night wore on, the players became more comfortable with the idea of "no script, just do what you would" style play. They aren't totally comfortable with it yet, but I hope they will be soon!
The Shaman
First Post
Good points as always, pemerton, but in particular this.
I read turnip as wanting to sandbox it up more specifically, hence my reply.
Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
i was in a game here by Dues Traveler. he kept all the portions in short chapters. Also in Living pathfinder the best games emolat this with vingette style as well. Keep the 'chapters' short and action packed.
If you are playing pathfinder try the kingmaker campain setting. Our tabletop game is using the king maker exploration with the random terrain found in the first edition A d&d DMG. it works very well. If you are playing 4th ed, I believe [MENTION=54810]renau1g[/MENTION] has adapted Kingmaker to 4th ed here, though I find that to be .. .. .. ..
*dusts dirt off his hands* Ahem, sorry about that.
If you are playing pathfinder try the kingmaker campain setting. Our tabletop game is using the king maker exploration with the random terrain found in the first edition A d&d DMG. it works very well. If you are playing 4th ed, I believe [MENTION=54810]renau1g[/MENTION] has adapted Kingmaker to 4th ed here, though I find that to be .. .. .. ..
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an atrocity to justice-a profaning of pathfinder RPG! a desicration of d and d!!
*dusts dirt off his hands* Ahem, sorry about that.
WizarDru
Adventurer
Excellent! Glad to hear it went so well. If I were to hazard a guess, the players may simply be worried that a 'do what thou wilt' play style is equal to 'there is no story at all'. If that's the case, then you might just want to assure them that while they may be driving (or on the whole inventing) the story, that doesn't mean there won't be one....just that the story will be born directly out of their actions. They may just be worried that they'll have to invent everything and are/were worried that they'll have to drag adventure out of the game like a dentist pulling teeth. A few honeypots placed about will clear that up, if that's the case. There's a big difference between 'free to find adventure' and 'directionless and lacking motivation'.
invokethehojo
First Post
I have two methods of dealing with this problem...
1. I rip something off, preferably something my players know (such as setting a post-apocalyptic campaign in Fall Out 3 land or similar)
2. I start the campaign from the point of view that the characters are starting somewhere new, so they are learning the area as they go, which means I can write a lot of the details as I go. When I think up a campaign I usually have more of a feel in mind rather than a detailed place, so this method works well for me. This approach also allows the players themselves to help add to the setting/campaign.
1. I rip something off, preferably something my players know (such as setting a post-apocalyptic campaign in Fall Out 3 land or similar)
2. I start the campaign from the point of view that the characters are starting somewhere new, so they are learning the area as they go, which means I can write a lot of the details as I go. When I think up a campaign I usually have more of a feel in mind rather than a detailed place, so this method works well for me. This approach also allows the players themselves to help add to the setting/campaign.
I would add - if, everytime you tell the players that their PCs are caught in a freezing rainstorm in the wilderness, you also mention that they can see an inviting cave/barrow opening nearby - or some other suitable variant on this scenario - then your players will probably have no trouble finding adventure.
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