The Grey Areas [kinda lengthy]

[Meeki]

Not to sound too obvious but, did you ask the players what they thought and what type of campaign they want to be in? Usually when I DM I ask my players what sort of campaign they want to run before I plan it out.

But as far as advice goes, and I believe this has been mentioned somewhat, let your PC's do something entertaining; such as go to a fair or go exploring somewhere. I actually have a demiplane created by the god of lavishes, over indulgence, laughing, and selfishness, that is just one city that celebrates all the time. Anyone entering the plane has to make a will save DC 25 or be elated, overcome with joy and suffering/benefiting from a desire to celebrate anything and everything.

I believe there was only 1 combat in the adventure that took place on this plane, most of the time was spent bribing people to give them information about an artifact and of course partying and shopping.

Also, when you design an organic campaign don't envision endings that are constrained by particular events. Think of as many possible endings as you can and then realize the PC's will have even more options. Instead of drafting an ending develop all the pieces (NPC's, items, etc) that interact with the ending. This way if the PC's change their mind about something you don't need to rewrite anything (since nothing is written in the first place) and you have a list of npcs and places and events that the PC's can interact with. As the PC's influence the story you can change it on the fly. Have a plot, make sure the players are interested in the plot and their characters, develop NPC's connected to the plot, visualize some possible actions and events, and then you can guide the pc's down towards the "end". Think of it like a river, you are the banks and the PC's are the water they need to go in one direction (progressing the plot) but they have room to move about.

 

[Orryn Emrys]

That second town sounds like it's right out of Dogs in the Vineyard.

Given the themes and genre of Dogs in the Vineyard, I can definitely see that... though I've never had the pleasure...

 

[Orryn Emrys]

I think you should also read Heroes of Horror, if you haven't already. It has a lot of advice for this sort of campaign.

I've had a single opportunity to peruse the text, and I admit that I very much appreciated what I saw. For a lot of the same reasons (probably not too surprisingly, given the discussion), I was quite fond of running Ravenloft games in the days of yore. It's not too terribly uncommon for horror elements to intrude on almost every game I run, to some small degree... though it isn't always obvious. I just learned a lot about influencing character reactions through the emotional responses of the players when I was running a lot of horror games. (I still run a horror/conspiracy D20 MODERN game on a different night of the week. It's very popular.)

So, yeah, give 'em a clear victory once or twice. But even those encounters can be dark and whatnot, to fit the setting you're building up - Zombie fights, or haunted houses. Hell, you can even have people shepherding children - so long as the PCs rescue said children by the end, it's good.

because if you throw things like goblins at the PCs (in what has otherwise been a horror game) you're just derailing your own campaign. I guess I'm just saying Keep the horror theme, but every now and then, drop the moral ambiguities and go for a "we saved the world with no badsides" ending.

Ironically, my newest adventure is chocked full of goblins. Specifically, the artifact in question implemented a residual effect that, when encountered by one of the local goblin population, allowed said beastie to fullfill whatever black little desires his heart could harbor... and he is now the king of his tribe, and the nearby human villagers have become goblin fans, living to serve him and see his people thrive. The PCs are quite understandably distressed by this behavior...

There's all ready plenty of comedic roleplaying occurring to kinda help undermine the trials they've been dealing with... but the characters are quickly coming to understand the more sinister developments occurring behind the scenes.

... I feel evil.

Also, I like how you're following the plot organically. It's always fun to do, and it's exactly what you should be doing in an RPG. I wish more GMs would do it.

Thank you. I try hard to keep my games organic, though this is sometimes easier said than done. A good sense of the dramatic doesn't hurt, either.

 

[RangerWickett]

Cool ideas. You sound like you have a cool game. Now to read the rest of the thread.

 

[LostSoul]

Given the themes and genre of Dogs in the Vineyard, I can definitely see that... though I've never had the pleasure...

It's a good game, if you like that sort of thing, and the town creation (re: adventure creation) rules in it can easily be applied to other games. Those rules set up a town that's ready to explode - and that's when the PCs ride in...

A handy resource but it sounds like you've already got it down.

 

[Orryn Emrys]

So, if you want advice, mine would be to proceed with caution, getting to know your players as you go, but don't skimp on the details if you believe they should truly have an impact.

It is something of a balancing act, made all the more complicated by the fact that I moved from a town where I'd been running games for over a decade. Players came and went, sure... but I got to know the majority of them pretty well, and I've always built my campaigns with a firm understanding of how my players would deal with a scenario or react to an overall plot development. I wasn't right 100 percent of the time, of course... but I had a general feel for their interests and response patterns, and adjusted as I went.

Now I don't actually have that advantage. I'm getting to know these guys, but it's a slow process. Interestingly enough, it sounds like their other gaming groups are a lot different, focusing on mechanics and tactics and a hack-and-slash style of play. This seems to be their first indulgence in character-driven, roleplaying-oriented play (all except my fiance, of course), and they're loving it. It's an adjustment, but the gameplay gets smoother every week.

That might be why they've responded so well to a plot that requires hard decisions and invokes powerful emotions.