Running Games of Books

[TheAntiSummit]

Hi everyone. I wanted to ask anyone who has experience in either running or playing a game in a world or setting of a heavily character influenced book or series of books like Lord of the Rings, or A Song of Ice and Fire.

I have heard of people running LOTR games, and I have been thinking about trying to run aSoIaF game, and the thread thats floating around here about Dragonlance Campaigns has raised alot of questions for me. The chief complaint in that thread is that the DL books and their characters steal the spotlight away from the game and its players so that the characters in the game are just minor accessories to the events that are already predestined to happen as determined in the books.

So in a book where everything has already happened and the characters have already said their lines and played their parts, what is left for roleplaying? Anyone who has played a LotR game, how did it work? did you play characters from the fellowship, and just go along with the book? Or did you play in the Lord of the Rings Setting in a different time? If anyone has played in aSoIaF game, I would be similarly interested in knowing how you handled it and how it turned out.

I don't want to just use the setting and not the characters and events of the books, because then it would be a Westeros game, or a Middle Earth game, not aSoIaF or LotR game. I dont want to simply follow the book's plot, because then i might as well just reread them, or play a videogame. I dont want to just plop the characters down in some other part of the world while the events of the book happen elsewhere because again, then it is the setting, not the book.

HELP!

 

[mac1504]

Personally I think the best avenue is to weave your campaign in between the book's story lines. You can certainly have the PCs crossing paths with John Snow and the Lannisters- but they are not going to be put in positions where they change the outcome of the books (unless of course you want them to). This of course is going to require some planning on your (the DM's) part.

I ran a DragonLance campaign for a number of years and the PCs had met Laurana, Tanis, Tassehoff and the rest during their adventures. Their involvement was momentous in relation to the campaign I ran, but did not effect how the books played out.

I guess it boils down to how epic you want your campaign set during the timeline of the books, and how true to the books and continuity you want to be.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I GM a Forgotten Realms campaign.

My players have meet Elminster. He's quite mad. Apparently his little trip to hell didn't take well and he wasn't quite able to just pop back into the world and return to full strength. They were a little disappointed with the cranky old man, especially one who was playing a young barbarian and thought to show how powerful he was. Humourous encounter to say the least.

For your own campaign, the real question is what do you want to do? I just finished the third book of A Game of Thrones and it was fantastic, but no where near the end. Where would you play your characters? I think it might be a little more interesting for the party to play before the events in the book started to roll downhill, perhaps fighting during the Dragonwars themselves.

But once again, it's up to what you want to do. One problem I've seen is character selection. Whose going to want to play Moonglum in an Elric campaign? Whose going to want to play those other characters in a Conan game?

 

[Nine Hands]

I play in Robotech game (based off both the TV shows and the novels) and the GM does a great job intertwining our characters into the main story. Heck my character is the god mother of Dana Sterling (the first alien/human half breed child). As long as the players understand that there are certain things that are bigger than them and there is nothing they can really do about it, then the game will be fun. If the players want to change the course of the book, that is also a good idea, it might be interesting to see how a book changes due to the players interference.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

Hi,

I have not played in such a campaign but could offer the following advice for a Song of Ice and Fire (How much am I waiting for A Feast for Crows ):

- Tune it to several years earlier than A Game of Thrones, possibly a year or two after the overthrow of the King. There should be a certain sense of renewal but also conflict with people who are still loyal to the old Targaryen family - perhaps this could be the case for the PC's. I think it would present a good set of storyline hooks.

- Involve some of the minor characters but try to use the major characters sparingly. I suppose though that if the PC's loyalties are with the old king, then they will come into conflict with some of the major characters and this may be difficult to handle.

- If the characters become high enough level and start wielding enough influence, start bending the story to what they are doing. You could use the books as a prophecy that the PC's are trying to change.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Pbartender]

The thing to remember is...

No matter what setting you play in, the world is a very big place. So big, that there are undoubtedly places where the stories and chracters from the novels or movies are nearly inconsequential next to the actions of the PCs.

Even then, sometimes a 'second string' campaign can be fun... I once ran an 'Unsung Heroes' campaign for Star Wars. The characters had missions like: Retrieve the plans for a Top Secret Imperial Battle Station from some agents from the Bothan SpyNet ("Many bothans died to bring us this information."). Or confiscate an Imperial Lambda-class shuttle ("We have stolen a small Imperial shuttle."). Or locate and decrypt an Imperial clearance code ("Now we find out if that code is worth the price we paid.").

The players thought it was really neat to be able to say, "Hey! That was us!" while they were watching the movies.

 

[Nine Hands]

The thing to remember is...

No matter what setting you play in, the world is a very big place. So big, that there are undoubtedly places where the stories and chracters from the novels or movies are nearly inconsequential next to the actions of the PCs.

Even then, sometimes a 'second string' campaign can be fun... I once ran an 'Unsung Heroes' campaign for Star Wars. The characters had missions like: Retrieve the plans for a Top Secret Imperial Battle Station from some agents from the Bothan SpyNet ("Many bothans died to bring us this information."). Or confiscate an Imperial Lambda-class shuttle ("We have stolen a small Imperial shuttle."). Or locate and decrypt an Imperial clearance code ("Now we find out if that code is worth the price we paid.").

The players thought it was really neat to be able to say, "Hey! That was us!" while they were watching the movies.

Exactly. We did the same thing with our Star Wars game. Just because the movie/book/tv show does not revolve around your characters specifically does not mean that your game can not

 

[Crunchy Frog]

I was in a long-running Star Wars game (West End Games d6 version, not d20 version) that started out soon after the destruction of the first Death Star. There was some time between that event and the beginning of Empire Strikes Back, and so, we had several adventures before crossing paths with the movie. In the Battle of Hoth, we fended off Imperial Walkers attacking in a different area from Luke, then escaped to have more separate adventures.

 

[Nightfall]

TAS,

One thing to understand is the difference between the two worlds. Dragonlance is pretty static place. You won't see a kender rise to join the knight hood and then break apart while say Tanis Half elven was around or something like that. The Seven Kingdoms, there are plenty of people vying for power in various ways. Thus it's easier for a second stringer to become a first stringer in that instance.

 

[Crothian]

Make sure the PCs are the stars of your show. Don't be afraid to alter the established time line either. I think that's were many people have trouble, they don't want the PC to alter how it turns out in the books.

One thing I try not to do, is have the main characters of the books show up.