The Dungeon Masters' Foundation

[Mordmorgan the Mad]

Dyne: Any plans for humans and hobbitses?

Oooooh, I've been waiting a while to do this:

Announcing our newest Foundation Member:

Shuffle

 

[Blade of Desecration]

@Dyne: Frodo Baggins: Hobbit War1: Str. 6, Dex 10, Con. 4, Int. 7, Wis. 9, Cha. 10; AL LS (Lawful Stupid.)
Yeah, I'm a Frodo-hater, so what?

 

[Blade of Desecration]

My gaming group and I have had the idea to start a "bloodlines" campaign. How these work is to do a really long campaign spanning a characters entire life, and using NPCs, such as the characters descendants, as PCs if the normal ones die, or if they are KIA. So these campaigns could span entire generations. Needless to say, this is gonna be really long. I'm MDMing, but everyone will get the opportunity to DM every now and then. Does anyone have any suggestions, on how best to do this campaign, such as plotlines and RVs that can span generations?

 

[Mordmorgan the Mad]

Hmmm...Looks like that'll be cool. I'd make sure that the most important NPCs have very, very detailed histories and seem like real people. Allow the PCs to form solid relationships with them (even the baddies), and have them act in a real way.

I dunno about plotlines though. Best I can think of is one of the PCs has a family quest/curse that his/her family has been trying to complete/remove for ages. Perhaps this quest is actually guarding something, or completing a journey (like a Hajj) every so often or something.

 

[Cerubus Dark]

My gaming group and I have had the idea to start a "bloodlines" campaign. How these work is to do a really long campaign spanning a characters entire life, and using NPCs, such as the characters descendants, as PCs if the normal ones die, or if they are KIA. So these campaigns could span entire generations. Needless to say, this is gonna be really long. I'm MDMing, but everyone will get the opportunity to DM every now and then. Does anyone have any suggestions, on how best to do this campaign, such as plotlines and RVs that can span generations?

Liches are fun!

They like to plot and kill people and they don't care how long a plot takes to complete, they are already dead! Of course you could use a dragon or something too, but liches are funnier.



*never type when your half awake....

 

[Nightcloak]

Blade of Desecration: I like the idea of a generational quest of MtM. You concept is epic in nature and requires a good epic link to tie it together. Quests work well and mimic many great works of literature, something the players will be able to relate to easily. Further, a family type quest gives you a great tie in if PC's die. The next PC comes to carry on the "Family Quest" and is easily integrated into the group.

I also like the multiple PC or generational aspect idea of yours for another reason. An epic story arc will be incredibly rewarding for the players. A long dungeon or adventure is satisfying into itself, but a story that requires multiple characters or generations is epic indeed. It's a great concept.

The only thing I can think of at the moment to add: Create a campaign theme. A sort of mission statement to guide the creative process when you create each new segment of the quest. It will help keep the different adventures/missions tied together. That will be important considering this story could take quite a while to tell. I've seen a lot of long term campaigns just run out of fuel and die out after a while do to lack of focus and eventual player apathy/inertia. Keeping things tied together in story and theme will help keep things focused for the long haul.

Sounds great, keep us posted

 

[Dyne]

Dyne: Any plans for humans and hobbitses?

I'm working on Hobbits. I'm not completely certain what to change on them, but they will at least get some kinda bonuses on Listen and Spot, as well as maybe a few other tweaks. I'll basically read through The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings and take notes on things about Hobbits from the books that should be emulated in the game. I don't know if there is anything to change about Humans.

Dwarves will probably change some more, to the point that they may become LA +1. But, as is, I don't think they're good enough for an LA +1. Also, Elves don't die of old age, so that might adjust their LA even further. If I give them any magical abilities, their LA will go up more. As they stand, though, they're LA +1.

@BoD:

Don't hate.

The things I am posting for Races is according to the D&D Core Mechanics. This whole thing is still in the works. I may change the mechanics to the point that the Races will have to be redone because they no longer apply.

By-the-way, isn't D20 copyrighted? So, if I wanted to publish a D20 System game, I would run into copyright problems? Would I instead have to make it D100 or something?

@BoD on the "Bloodlines" Campaign:
Obviously, it needs a plot that is broader than a single lifetime. Perhaps the family of the PC's is trying to destroy a particular type of creatures, and it takes a long time for them to destroy all of these creatures because they are so widespread. Or, they could be fighting against a villain so powerful that the PC's have to fight him one step at a time, for generations.

For example, perhaps the first generation acquires certain artifacts for use against the main villain. The first generation uses these artifacts against the villain, but they are unable to destroy him. Instead, they defeat his lieutenants and drive his forces off. The second generation inherits these artifacts, and they use them against the villain. They manage to drive off the villain again, but only for a time. By sacrificing their lives, they put the villain into a stasis. The third generation must then search out these artifacts again, then finally destroy the villain. This villain could be as big as a deity, depending on the scope of the campaign (which sounds quite large).

Or maybe the family of the PC's is fighting against another family of villains. The ancestors of the later PC's once defeated a great evil that threatened the world, but the descendants of the evil beings are back for revenge, and so the legacy of these great heroes must fend off an evil of their own.

However, if I were to run such a campaign, I would avoid having descendants of the PC's suddenly step in when a character is so stupid he gets himself killed. The descendants should only come into play when the original characters die deliberately in an honorable sacrifice, in my opinion. Plus, it doesn't make sense how a character's great grandson could be adventuring with his great grandfather's best friend, considering the possibility of one Player who dies several times while another manages to keep his head. If a PC dies, however, you could have a cousin or brother or sister or something come in to take his place. I'd avoid "free do-overs", though.

 

[Mordmorgan the Mad]

D20 is and isn't copyrighted. As long as you only use the stuff from the SRD (which is published as Open Game License material), you're fine. BTW, there's a LOTR setting out there somewhere, at least I think there is. Might be worth a look.

For Hobbitses, you might think of giving them the Inescapable Craving quality from Libris Mortis (but for Ale and Food instead of Raw Meat).

 

[Dyne]

Sadly, I don't own Libris Mortis. Could you explain it?

 

[BSF]

Dyne, I was going to lookup some of the Middle Earth conversions that have been done in the past, but there is a thread on it right now in House Rules.

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=112863