The Dungeon Masters' Foundation

[Blade of Desecration]

Alright everyone, gotta go. See ya' tommorow. Tommorow I'll do Worky's backround (I've got it all planned out) and get his ability scores.

@CE Just on the off chance that we have too many people, I'd be willing to DM a third campaign so that no one is left out (hope it doesn't come to that). Also, I think the DM's for the campaign should figure out some system of contact so that they can discuss story lines privately and tie everything together.

P.S. How many people here have FRCS?

 

[ChaosEvoker]

Hmm...I don't like the concept fo Co-DMing but if I have to I will. But we need to start getting some characters posted. (Just a note: I'm also starting a game caleed Avatar of Chaos on the same forum. that is not our campaign. If you want to participate in that game too go right ahead though!)

ender_wiggin:
You can email me the plot line at

chaosevoker@yahoo.com

if you wish.

 

[BSF]

The fighter presented in the dmg versus the wizard in the dmg. The fighter at 20th level can hit another fighter of 20th on average three of his four attacks doing on average about45 points of damage. This can be tweaked of course with a more expensive weapon and an even higher strength. Taking the other fighter in four rounds. If he is lucky and does maximum damage he can do it in three.

The wizard presented doesn't really do any pc wizard justice and it doesn't even peak do to the ecl there but with a few metamagic feats even just a fireball or scorching ray could take down that same fighter in a round or so. Not to mention the collateral damage with the fireball he could do to other combatants. Maybe I have just been skewed by the evil powergamers that makes up my group.

Now I am not saying that this is unfair just curious if anyone has tried to mitigate this or not. That was my only question. The bard says the fact that it is a limited resource is one way the way it is built into the current system. Any others or instances?

The Seraph of Earth and Stone

Got it!
My observations are that 3.x is so tightly designed that it is challenging to try to uncouple the rampant damage scale of magic. The changes that you need to make may begin with the spells, but they surely do not end there. It is a little more challenging than running a low-magic item game.

For ideas I would recommend looking at books such as Bad Axe Games' Grim Tales, Mongoose's Conan, possibly Wheel of Time, and maybe Green Ronin's upcoming Blue Rose.

If I were going to experiment with scaling the power of spells downward, I would probably remove all flashy evocations from the Cleric lists, scale up Sorcerors and Wizards to a d6 HD, give them simple weapons and move evocations to scaling half as effectively. So, a Fireball would do 1d6/2 levels and max out at 5d6. I would leave abjurations and basic buffing spells as is. Necromantic attack spells would be nerfed as well. The Druid I would exclude from the game initially. Prestige class the Bard, Paladin, and Ranger. Or I would flat out remove spellcasting from Paladin & Ranger.

I'm not sure how well those changes would be received, but it might make for an interesting game.

Is that closer to what you were looking for?

 

[Nightcloak]

Whenever I think to just write as a story, that's what comes to mind. I'm not worried about tampering; I left much of the middle open to whatever the player's want. However, the grand scene is what I'm after. I have a movie clip of the end that plays in my mind - I'm just afraid that if the middle is warped to much it'll spin out of control.

That's interesting. I tend to build adventures the same. First the vision, then the adventure. Poets cut from the same cloth

Sounds like you got a good grasp of things. Just be prepared for the PCs actions and how those actions could lead them back to the big "pay-off" of the final event.

In modern marketing, they say "The customer is not always right, it's our job to make them think they are right." Well, being a story oriented DM means "The players don't need to be in control, it's our job to make them think they are in control."

Moral of the story: Make sure the "middle" eventually nudges them back on path to the last event. Even a side trek if neccessary.

Just be prepared. PCs can do things out of left field. But that is what make the game great!

You have an email address? I could give you a plot summary.

Nightcloak

My email (and most of everyone else) is in our public profile. Click on to anyone's name above their avatar to get to their profile.

You don't have to let the cat out of the bag, though, just wanted you to post a few bits so everyone could give you more useful and directed advice.


Edit: Clarified post

 

[BSF]

I think I might as well join. It couldn't hurt right?

My gaming history:
I'm pretty young; only 16, senior in high school. I started playing a while ago in middle school with one group, but they eventually became druggies and I stopped hanging around with them.

Good for you! Don't hang out with people that will drag you into the mire and mess of their lives.

Now my first question:
I heard many good DMs tell me that you shouldn't buy too much into your story arc. But in addition to playing Dnd, I write stories. So I'm a narrationist. And there's this plot arc that I've come up with, not in one or two months, but over the course of several years, that I am very very proud of. I guess my life goal as a DM is to see the plot arc played through. Now tell me, how bad is this? (I'll even give you the plot arc; in my opinion it is very good, but you won't be able to play in any of my games...)

Well, there is some truth to this, but it isn't complete advice.

Nightcloak has good advice. The core of it is that the PCs should be more important than the story itself. When you run a game and there is no room for the PCs to change the story, then they are unnecessary. Would you want to play in a game where you get the feeling that your PC is unneeded? No matter what you do, x will happen, then y, then z? What is the difference in reading the story, or running through it on a computer?

There are different schools of thought on DMing games. For now, I won't hijack your question by running through them. But I will say that for my games, my goal is for the players to know the game revolves around their PCs, even when everything in the world doesn't.

 

[LilMissKittyn]

Holy crap, I'm gone for two days and I come back to 4 pages. I'm gonna be in and out till the summer, guys. School and IRL kindof gets in the way.

Now my first question:
I heard many good DMs tell me that you shouldn't buy too much into your story arc. But in addition to playing Dnd, I write stories. So I'm a narrationist. And there's this plot arc that I've come up with, not in one or two months, but over the course of several years, that I am very very proud of. I guess my life goal as a DM is to see the plot arc played through. Now tell me, how bad is this? (I'll even give you the plot arc; in my opinion it is very good, but you won't be able to play in any of my games...)

Welcome to Battle School, Andrew. Or is this the Xenocide era?

About being a writer - Nightcloak is exactly right on this. But you do have to be flexible. (refer to the square hole, round peg analogy).

I write short stories myself. I can't say that they're altogether bad for DMing, since my main problem with creating campaigns is...well...the initial ideas. Beyond that, though, literary imagery can help you a lot to make the experience very real.

Perhaps, if you rise in favor in the DMF, we can even play out (or begin) your plot arc here. Maybe it's a goal for you to work towards.

I'll see everyone whenever I have time to spare!

 

[Nightcloak]

The core of it is that the PCs should be more important than the story itself. When you run a game and there is no room for the PCs to change the story, then they are unnecessary. Would you want to play in a game where you get the feeling that your PC is unneeded? No matter what you do, x will happen, then y, then z? What is the difference in reading the story, or running through it on a computer?

That is stated perfectly.

You da Bard

 

[BSF]

Whenever I think to just write as a story, that's what comes to mind. I'm not worried about tampering; I left much of the middle open to whatever the player's want. However, the grand scene is what I'm after. I have a movie clip of the end that plays in my mind - I'm just afraid that if the middle is warped to much it'll spin out of control.

You have an email address? I could give you a plot summary.

Ah! Many times I have come up with adventures and story arcs based off nothing more than the ending that would be cool. Just remember that your villians are working toward that end goal. The PCs are interfering with the *grand plan*, but the goal is still the same. If you keep that in mind, the middle can warp and twist all sorts of directions and the implementation of the *grand plan* will change to accomodate that. But the goal is still what the villian is shooting for.

Of course, your PCs might decide to preempt the goal and move in for the kill early. These things happen and your grand scene may be difficult to pull off. But those are the times when I sit back with a big smile at how clever and devoted my players were.

 

[Xen155]

My Char Will be:
Xen Freeman the Domain Wizard Evocationist.
He will be Lawful Evil
He shall be a follower of Azuth and Mystra, He seeks godhood becuase he believes he deserves it (the reason will be in his history) and holds a small amount of hate in his heart for both Paladins AND Black Guards (also in history). He would kill a child without hesitation but would hesitate in killing an ally (or one of his few freinds). In the meantime, while he reaches for his godhood he is willing to work for or with others to make his way in mortal life.

@CotDS- Yes...Yes... gerbils........

 

[themind]

Sign me up for this. I could always use help and always willing to help if I can.

I've played for about 5 years now, DMed for about a year. Mostly I do little published adventures with my friends. Currently I run the Maure Castle adventure found in Dungeon Magazine off and on with my friends. Also, I run a modified Eberron game with a group of friends at a game shop every Sunday.

I'll explain more about this Eberron game when I'm not falling a sleep at my keyboard.