Terrific post by Gabe from Penny Arcade

[LostSoul]

Wik, that is really cool.

I wouldn't have made a post except I can't rep you right now.

 

[awesomeocalypse]

As long as it was a once off session, I can't see anyone objecting to it overly much. You'd have to be a bit 'precious' to be so against it, you'd storm off or complain bitterly about something like this, even if it was a genuine bait and switch.

Now if it was a permanent change that was never discussed with the rest of the group, then I could see justification for being upset. But as a once-off, I think this is a great way to change up the pace and throw the players a curve ball and would make for a fun session.

What I've been most impressed with about Gabe's DMing is how willing he is to completely step outside the box for a session, often creating some pretty nifty, unique mechanics in the process, without tying his campaign down with permanent houserules. His 3 dimensional laser puzzle, his free fall combat rules, his hexcrawling sandbox and now this--all pretty radically different approaches, and in many ways not even compatible with each other (that is, his free fall combat rules are basically irrelevant to an OD&D clone, and his meticulously crafted laser puzzle is far more likely to see use in a railroad then in a freeform sandbox), but thats okay, because he's not trying to introduce permanent new elements into his game, he's trying to mix it up, try new things and see what works and what doesn't.

 

[coyote6]

In my current M&M game, the PCs are from a GURPS game that started (under another GM; almost 20 years ago, IIRC) as a Special Ops game and morphed into a dimension-hopping genre-blending action game; currently, the PCs are "undercover" as superheroes, as part of a cold war they're waging against a demon lord. So, stupendously experienced GURPS characters got rougly translated into M&M characters.

Wik, that is really cool.

I wouldn't have made a post except I can't rep you right now.

Got you covered.

 

[kilpatds]

I did a SW-Saga crossover game, and it worked well. Set expectations ("next week, will be something different", "just one game") and it should be a fun time. If it's sprung at the last minute, or a longer-term change then it may not work as well.

 

[Wik]

So they'd roll up different characters for each age/game type, or would the same set of PCs time-travel from age to age?

And how much adventuring would they do in each age/system? Just a one-off adventure, or enough to gain a few levels, or ... ? I ask because I'm wondering how much character continuity there'd be for the players if they're generating a whole new one that frequently..particularly if they happened to really like the character they'd generated in one of the systems.

If it was the same set of PCs time-travelling forward through the ages and getting re-skinned to suit each edition, that could really rock. (though it'd be a lot of work...)

Lan-"or the 3e guys could meet the undead remains of the 1e guys"-efan

Well, I never did get around to doing it - at this point in time, I can't remember what got in the way. But the general idea was to have all these earlier editions count as a sort of extended prelude to the main story, which was set in 4e.

Each edition would be spotlighted for only around three sessions - and would end with the group getting killed or otherwise failing in their quest to kill the big bad evil guy. And of course, each edition would highlight the world's changing history. Items the PCs held would later on become magical, and random events the PCs were involved in would become legends.

(I had this great idea about throwing a completely random, useless event at the PCs in the OD&D sessions, where the PCs encounter a bard in a tavern and a fight happens - with the PCs saving the bard from humiliation. As the ages progress, this story gets more and more epic, until 4e, where the PCs are hearing a tale about these metal-clad giants that fought off an army at this tavern, all to protect an alluring young woman of profound chastity or something. The gimmick being the PCs totally believe the story, but the players were actually THERE, and know the truth).

The PCs in each earlier edition would be getting double XP, and would probably start with enough XP to be put at around 3rd or 4th level. Another idea I had was to have the PCs start at around 2,000 XP in OD&D, earn double XP, and when we switched editions, they would keep their XP total. Once 4e started, everyone would be back at sqaure one, though each PC got to have one item from earlier adventures ("I have my 2e fighter's sword!").

If PCs really liked their old character, well, that's a bit rough. They could always play a descendant, though. But I figure this wouldn't be much of a problem, since the players would know what they were getting into before play started (the big problem for me would be the fact that we'd be learning a new system every month, basically).

 

[avin]

One session, during the middle of a campaign, providing good RP and rewards, I don't see it as a bad thing at all.

 

[Odhanan]

It's a pretty cool idea, actually (the travel from 4e to OD&D Fantasy Vietnam, I mean).

I honestly didn't know Penny Arcade was that popular, so I was all "meh" and stuff, but it seems to have millions of daily readers so... cool.

 

[Pseudonym]

IMO, a "bait and switch" would be "make up characters for a CSI-style game" and then having Cthulhu apocalyptize the world in the second session, throwing the PCs into a survival horror game set in the world of Thundarr the Barbarian, for the rest of the campaign.

I'd play in that campaign, so long as I got to have a never ending supply of sunglasses.

 

[Wormwood]

What I've been most impressed with about Gabe's DMing is how willing he is to completely step outside the box for a session, often creating some pretty nifty, unique mechanics in the process, without tying his campaign down with permanent houserules.

I honestly believe he's a better DM than I am because he isn't burdened with 30 years of "this is how you play D&D".

 

[F700]

I did this exact same thing last year just to shut up the 4e critics in my group and it worked perfectly.