The hazards of letting a writer run your game...

[francisca]

mmmm. let me see. I have about 18,000 words written down for my homebrew campaign, but it's for my consumption.

I give new characters a half page about the local area they grew up in, and another half page describing their experiences after they choose their class, and give me a hint about life before adventuring. In the latter doc, I try to give them something unique that they can use later in the campaign. Other than that, there is another half page about general history and geography for areas more than 2 weeks ride from their homeland, most of which is sketchy and "fable-ish", if you take my meaning.

I make them read it upon the character's introduction to the game. When I say something that they should recognize, and they give me that blank stare, I remind them that they have that sheet. I've never had to do that more than once for each player. They read about everything now, because it is meaningful. The fact that they are easily digestible half-pages helps to.

 

[Delemental]

One trick I've tried when running my Dragonstar game was to type up a brief, general description of a new area, the kind of "visitor's bureau brochure" info that anyone would probably know with minimal effort. But partway down the page I will add another paragraph with more specific details, and then fold the bottom of the page over it and add a note saying something like "Lift flap and read next paragraph if you succeed at a Knowledge (Local) check at DC 17 or Knowledge (Empire) at DC 22". Then I can just pass this sheet around the table, let everyone read it, and the characters who make their checks get more info. It seemed to work really well.

I would also occasionally give them "news reports" with about a dozen or so headlines of major events. Most were just fluff, but a few were vague references that would lead up to future adventures.

Even though it's difficult to do at times, I like the feel of playing in a living, growing campaign world. I'm one of those kind of players that will make background material up if it's not provided to me. I can tolerate 'setting-free' gaming for a little while, but not long-term.

 

[The_Gneech]

I write intros to each session that are a few pages long and have NPCs chatting about stuff, or the villains plotting, or set up something that's going to come up, basically like the teaser before the opening credits of a TV show. Most players like it, it helps them get into the scenario that much faster (and often provides hints and/or direction).

However, I once went a little nuts with one that ended up 24 pages long. Aheh. Took the first 45 minutes of the session for everyone to finish reading.

I also have binders and binders full of info for my first homebrew world; I loved writing every page of it. Most of the players only read one or two bits that were salient to their character, but I certainly felt "at home" running anything in the setting.

-The Gneech

 

[Agback]

Still, perhaps 15,981 words is a bit much to expect people to digest in "campaign-info" handouts...

Nonsense! I rarely bring in a world briefing document under 20,000 words, and Gehennum has about 80,000 words of backup reference material in addition to the 24,000-word info handout. And then there is usually a 1,000-2,000 word campaign prospectus and several thousand words of house rules and variant tables.

16,000 words is a doddle.

Regards,


Agback

 

[Aeolius]

The Background for the undersea campaign that I began in 1998 is up to 8,500 words, but I have a larger revision in mind, incorporating bits from Fiend Folio and the D&D 3.5 revisions. Also, it's set in the World of Greyhawk, so information regarding geography, religion, history, and politics has been partially covered in other references. I'm also revising a second document which summarizes WotC's published aquatic references for 3e D&D, includes a modified undersea calendar, and lists the unique monsters, magics, PrCs, etc, that I have devised.

 

[Darth Shoju]

Yeah I'm with the crowd on keeping the handouts short. I gave my players a measly 20 page handout on the main points of my homebrew campaign and only one of them read the whole thing.

I figure, give them a page or two of info relavent to their character (restricted to what their character would know). Then maybe setup a website or print out a larger campaign setting book that has more (but still general) detail that people can look at if they are interested. Actually, it would probably be a good idea to have that book or website setup before-hand, so people can decide where their characters are going to be from.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

if you don't post a link to that handout, i'd like to see it as well. I'm putting together my own campaign setting for a game I intent to run when my current DM falls to burnout, and i'm always looking for inspiration (read as: things to plagarize ).

...

Me too Mouse! Let's see it - please?

Personally, I think the player handout is a great idea. There are just certain things that a character is "supposed to know" about a setting ( and character/race options etc... ) . And of course, much that they shouldn't know!

Frankly, published setting books do not do a good job of differentiating DM/Player info, so even if you are running a published setting, the DM needs to do some of type of encapsulation/repackaging of data.

Obviously, this player package is not necessary, but certainly damned cool! I think your players will appreciate it. This is my goal for a homebrew I'm developing now...

Thanks in advance for the look at your guide... You weren't just teasing us were you?

BFG

 

[Sam Witt]

>>Out of curiosity, does anyone run regular games without a campaign setting?<<

I did, for about 10 years. The thing about campaign settings is that they really should grow organically around the events of the campaign - it helps cement the players as the center of the game universe.

Of course, I also ran a couple of years in FR way back when and another year recently, as well as about six months or so in Oathbound. FR really sort of fell by the wayside for me, though, mostly because I set it up in the far north and stopped caring about the world's backstory. Oathbound I like, as a setting, because it ties itself together very well.

This Dawnforge thing, though - I dunno about that yet. I mean, the guy writing it is my DM and he's so interested in game balance and tweaking character roles that I really am not getting in my quota of roleplayah time.

He also made me play an elf. Baby jesus weeps.

Sam

ps - I also think giving players more than a couple pages of handouts is a waste of time. They'll forget most of it and misconstrue the rest of it. Players are cruel and unforgiving with no appreciation for finely crafted writing. We hates them, my preciousssss . . . .

 

[Agback]

How much does a 1st level character know about the world?

He or she might not know much about geography, but he or she probably knows a lot about the structure and norms of his or her own society, architecture, religion, religious and political hierarchy, calendar, festivals, local institutions such as the fyrd, watch, or gendarmes, costume, agricultural customs, economic arrangements. powers of local officers, identities of national officers.

He or she knows want people in his or her home community do around the year, what they grow, what they pay in tribute/rent/taxes and to whom, what they wear, what (if anything) they aspire to, who they court and marry, how they goof off, what happens if they get caught foolin' around, how a door is made, what rooms are in a typical house and what people do in them, what weapons and armour soldiers use, how often people get sick, what happens when they do.

Taking a mediaeval example, a peasant child knows the difference between a servus, a cottar, a villein, and a freeholder, knows the difference between the reeve, the bailiff, and the steward, knows the difference between a curate, a vicar, a rector, a canon, a dean, and the bishop, knows the difference between the lord, a baron, an earl, and the King. A peasant can tell a chapman from a peddlar, and can tell a countryman from a burgher before he opens his mouth.

Besides all those things, a first-level character has probably heard a great many stories and folk tales. And has been told a lot of things about the Trinity and witchcraft, for example.

Now, a lot of roleplayers think they know all this stuff, but to be blunt most are as ignorant as pigs. Besides which, my homebrew worlds are not much like any area or time of mediaeval Europe.

Regards,


Agback

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

[B...He also made me play an elf. Baby jesus weeps.

.. . [/B]

This is just wrong on so many levels. What color is they sky in Dawnforge anyway? I feel for ya bro...