The Dungeon Masters' Foundation

[Blade of Desecration]

Well, I'm back. Just finished my gaming session for the day (well technically, since one player had to leave early, we just played for an hour then played Halo 2 for anonther four). Greetings, all new members!

 

[Imret]

I'm a firm believer that the world should dictate the rules. Or in modern gamer jargon: Let the fluff dictate the crunch.

Absolutely, though I'm also comfortable working in reverse; finding a good crunchy bit and making a portion of the world to fit it. The fact my massive homebrew is not intended for publication means I've abandoned the concept of keeping it OGL. I pillage prestige classes, core classes, monsters, spells, artifacts, etc. from anywhere and everywhere, then re-write fluffy world bits to fit my own vision. Or at least, that's how Lanuth, what I'd call my
"primary" world, goes.

Still hammering out one set entirely below ground after a cataclysmic planar invasion (I know, it's a bit of cliche...but tell that to the still-shaken elvish survivors of the Reunification Wars) and the Terran Republic. Not actually a D20 game, because ablative hit points don't work for my vision, but it's a homebrew; a little bit Aliens, a little bit Starship Troopers, a little bit Wing Commander, and a big chunk of Halo. Because futuristic military campaigns are cool.

Three homebrews? THAT'S an addict.

 

[deClench]

@Imret & Nightcloak
Thanks. Lots to think about. I've been doing this by writing stories while I should just be writing characters. I'm gonna try this out. And instead of worrying about some grand theme, I'll make it more episodic -- a series of vignettes. I think it'll actually take much of the pressure off of me. It always seemed nearly overwhelming, but that's likely because I simply planned too much and then became desparate when the PCs did something contrary to expectations. Hmmm...

I've wanted to run a pure (or mostly) city campaign for a while -- ooh, ooh a HORROR city campaign! Does anyone else try to work elements of horror into their campaigns? I've tried to bring in some aspects of CoC and Ravenloft (to a lesser extent) for spice with a mixture of results. How do you guys do it (if at all)? The flavor text (from Nightcloak) is something I'm ashamed to admit I almost always overlook and greatly neglect: that will be remedied. What else?

Aside, I'm getting great ideas just as I'm writing this stuff down. "Then keep it up deClench." "Thank you, I will."

What about mystery? That's another element I'd love to play more with. Surely mystery must play a larger role in many campaigns than horror. Any tricks on doing that well?

So far: episodic city campaign featuring the horrific and mysterious (exemplified by ghost stories & murder mysteries).

 

[Darkness]

To Morrus or the Mods:[/b]

That'd be Morrus. I doubt he reads this thread, though.

 

[Lady Firehawk]

Well, well, well... I think I finally get to DM tomorrow, and I'm completely dreading it because I tend to tie up at crucial moments and I kinda have to think about what I say before I say it... please remind me to kill my friends when it's over.

 

[derbacher]

Well, I've finally gotten through the twenty pages of posts, so sign me up. A quick background:

I've been playing since the White Box D&D rules (that means I'm old... )
I still own just about every first edition AD&D book printed. Loved the detail, but figureing out all the permutations of rules was a bear, since, lets face it, these books were just not very well structered to allow ease of use! But I loved the game, and then second edition came out...

And I refused to spend the money on it (I was a starving college student at the time). "Who needs a new version? Everything is the same, just re-packaged, right? Right?"

Advance quite a few years, hadn't played in about 5 years, and discovered 3.0. My children are of an age where this could be a wonderful new experience, so I go buy 10 3.0 books (core books, splat books, various Planes and Psionics books). I find the wealth of info on the web, and find that 3.0 is going to become 3.5 in just three months! (Who needs a new version? Everything is the same, just re-packaged, right? Right?") But this time, thanks to good advice and reading some great posts on the web, I take the plunge and buy the 3.5 core books...

And I love them! Better balance, problems fixed, just great. I currently run two games, a Greyhawk world with my two kids and two of their friends, and an Eberron campaign with three of the "old schoolers" like myself who like the whole "film noire" feeling of the new setting.

I've rambled long enough for one Sunday morning. Long live the DMF!

 

[Nightcloak]

I've been playing since the White Box D&D rules (that means I'm old... )

Your not the only one around here, I started the same time but really cut my teeth on the red box.

But I loved the game, and then second edition came out...

And I refused to spend the money on it (I was a starving college student at the time). "Who needs a new version? Everything is the same, just re-packaged, right? Right?"

find that 3.0 is going to become 3.5 in just three months! (Who needs a new version? Everything is the same, just re-packaged, right? Right?")

Testify and be healed!

Ah... Went throught the same thing.

I've rambled long enough for one Sunday morning. Long live the DMF!

It ain't a ramble when it's about the game

and welcome! It's great to have another quarter-century gamer around

 

[Nightcloak]

@Imret & Nightcloak
I've wanted to run a pure (or mostly) city campaign for a while -- ooh, ooh a HORROR city campaign! Does anyone else try to work elements of horror into their campaigns? I've tried to bring in some aspects of CoC and Ravenloft (to a lesser extent) for spice with a mixture of results.

If you can, check out the Freeport line by Green Ronin. You can find some great reviews here at ENWorld. Freeport is a pirate based city adventure with elements of CoC. It could be a source of great information/insperation for you.

How do you guys do it (if at all)? The flavor text
is something I'm ashamed to admit I almost always overlook and greatly neglect: that will be remedied. What else?

Actually, my group usually balks at Ravenloft now. To many bad experiences
So I bring it to them via mood and flavor in a particular adventure if needed.

In the heat of combat and a long game session I would forget "flavor" goals too. Like flavor text and other elements like describling sounds, tastes, and the like. For a while I just wrote myself a note on a stick note and placed it on my side of the DM screen so only I could see it. Helped a lot and no one else new I was coaching myself. Eventually it just became more of a habit.

What about mystery? That's another element I'd love to play more with. Surely mystery must play a larger role in many campaigns than horror. Any tricks on doing that well?

So far: episodic city campaign featuring the horrific and mysterious (exemplified by ghost stories & murder mysteries).

Sorry, haven't done mysteries much. What I can say is be prepared for the PCs to use divinations to get the info they need. Don't discourage that or thwart it (after all, they earned the cool abilities and should be able to use them), just be prepared for it. A good trick is for it to answer some questions but lead to more questions, after all, divinations are usually vague. Like the answer implies many directions the characters could take. The PCs will need to gather more clues to get the specific divination they need, but by then... well the divination got them to the right place but then the mystery is on top of them.

The great thing about half answers is that the PCs will use their imaginations to fill in the rest (and that can be great in a horror based game).

Sound like a great game in the making, keep us posted on what happens!

 

[Nightcloak]

Absolutely, though I'm also comfortable working in reverse; finding a good crunchy bit and making a portion of the world to fit it. The fact my massive homebrew is not intended for publication means I've abandoned the concept of keeping it OGL. I pillage prestige classes, core classes, monsters, spells, artifacts, etc. from anywhere and everywhere, then re-write fluffy world bits to fit my own vision. Or at least, that's how Lanuth, what I'd call my "primary" world, goes.

Despite my retoric above, I'm guilty of this as well. Sometimes the sweet siren song of a great new mechanic can not be resisted. The Book of Iron Might did this to me. I found myself itching to put just about eveything into the game...

I need help

Three homebrews? THAT'S an addict.

OK, we need help

 

[BSF]

A couple of months ago I kind of hijacked a thread and babbled on about Story Arcs in campaign design. It also delved into a particular scenario in my campaign that came up right around then. So it demonstrates the design I am advocating. It is an interesting read, I think. Tell you what, if you are interested in building story arcs, give the thread a quick read. If it is something people have interest in, let me know and I might put together a more coherent thoughts package on designing around story arcs.

How far do you go in planning solutions to problems?(posted in October 2004