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The Rise of Felskein [Completed]
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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 4152425" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p>Session 1 Crunch.</p><p></p><p>I'm thinking after each narrative of the action, I'll write in what I can remember of the mechanics of what happened. Mostly DMing-related stuff, just because I found those bits - and the reader comments - in Shamus Young's <a href="http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=1" target="_blank">campaign</a> so interesting. If you don't care about this part, feel free to skip it. Some of these earlier ones might be a bit fuzzier since they were almost a year ago, but I'll see what I can remember.</p><p></p><p>Since this was the first session, I'll talk a bit about my DMing style, the world, and character creation. </p><p></p><p>From the inadvertant tastes of RPG theory/philosophy I've gotten reading the 4E section, I'd be mostly what you'd call a simulationist DM. I create the world, figure out what's happening where, and then the PCs are set loose into it to do what they will.</p><p></p><p>The world as the PCs know it is a continent named Felskein settled above the Endless Sands. On all sides, the continent ends in thousands-of-feet tall cliffs that drop down into the Sands. As far as anyone knows, nothing can survive out in the sands and no one has ever heard of there being anything else out there - just sand stretching into infinity.</p><p></p><p>They also knew they were starting in Northmand, a city-state settled on the edge of Mirror Lake. Nearby are the Ragged Hills where the Hobgoblin Iron Tribes live and have had a long history of conflict with Northmand. About a century ago, the Iron Tribes laid a years-long siege to the fortress-city of Northmand, causing the military council to seize the government and declare martial law. When the war ended, the military council retained power and it became the governing system for Northmand.</p><p></p><p>The world - like most of my fantasy worlds - was a Points of Light setting before the term had entered the DnD vocabulary.</p><p></p><p>For character creation, I let the characters select the level they wished to start, between 1 and 5. The lower the level, the better dice-rolling method they got to use: from 5d6, drop two, roll two columns and pick the best at first level to 3d6, one column, at level 5. If they rolled poorly enough, they could use point buy, with points varying depending on level. Also, if their characters died, they used this same method for the rest of the game for making new characters.</p><p></p><p>I also suggested they create up to 5 "quirks" and 5 secrets. I defined quirks as anything distinguishing about a character that could probably be learned within a few minutes to a day or two of knowing them. Secrets didn't have to be massive, dire secrets, just anything that someone wouldn't learn until they knew the character fairly well, dug deep into their life, and that might not even be discovered even then. I awarded the PCs 1% of a level per quirk or secret they created as additional incentive.</p><p></p><p>I credit this creation method, the PHBIIs affiliations, and the tick system(see down below) with making this the most successful and long-running game I've had in almost a decade.</p><p></p><p>Harold Trisden's player decided to risk going with level 5 and rolled exceptionally well, better even than some of the others who all chose level 1-3. He whipped up a duty-obsessed, sometimes arrogant Duskblade/Ranger/Fighter archer from a distant democracy named the Crystal Towers. He was a member of the honor guard escorting the Crystal Towers diplomat to Northmand, seeking allies in their war with the Ashen Tower.</p><p></p><p>Suniel Au's player went with level 3, creating a soft-spoken, nondescript elven wizard with a mysterious past(I'll save his secrets for the narrative) who now works as a travelling magic-item creator/seller/supplier. He created his own affiliation known as the Black Carriage, with the intent of eventually making it a continent-wide affiliation of travelling wizards.</p><p></p><p>Ming's player went with a level 1 fighter, a rough-and-tumble, hulking woman with a family heirloom amulet, strange silver hair, and a troubled past.</p><p></p><p>A couple other players made characters, but weren't able to make the first session.</p><p></p><p>One of those created Ilsa Goldhammer, a 2nd level female dwarven dragonshaman/fighter, a servant of Wyrmsrule, a tiny city-state to the north of the Ragged Hills that serve an Ancient Gold Wyrm. They were also sent on a diplomatic mission to Northmand, seeking aid against Iron Tribe incursions and against the orcs of the Mist Tops on the other side of Mirror Lake from Northmand.</p><p></p><p>Ilsa's player's brother - who only played one session - created Kendrin Moonfire, a 3rd-level half-elf cleric and also a servant of Wyrmsrule.</p><p></p><p>The last mechanic I use is called ticks. I used for a bit years ago when I first heard about it from somewhere on the Internet, but then forgot about it until starting up this campaign. Ticks are rewards for showing up, good roleplaying, keeping the game running, etc. </p><p></p><p>General tick rules:</p><p>I give out 5 for someone showing up, a bonus 1 for being on time, and 5 for staying for the full session.</p><p>I give out one or two for staying in character(staying with alignment, affiliation goals/traits, exhibiting quirks, general good roleplaying) whenever it seems appropriate.</p><p>Occassionally, I also give them a few if there are long stretches without combat(selling/buying gear, calculating and splitting treasure, etc) that are requirements of 3.X but don't really progress the plot.</p><p></p><p>Ticks are spent any time between sessions or 5 ticks can be spent to "collect" and spend them during a session. Those 5 ticks also let them get any xp they have earned that session. (I've never had a player choose to do this). Once 100 ticks are accrued, they must all be spent immediately to prevent hoarding.</p><p></p><p>Ticks can be spent on:</p><p>1 tick - 1% of a level.</p><p>1 tick - 1 reroll of any d20, kept even if worse, or 1 per reroll of a stabalization dice.</p><p>10 ticks - 1 skillpoint (never had a player do this, even after I dropped it to 5 ticks per skillpoint)</p><p>50 ticks - 1 feat</p><p>50 ticks - 1 attribute point</p><p></p><p>The majority have been spent on xp(especially the craft-heavy wizard), with occasional drops here and there on feats and attributes. Ticks weren't spent very often on re-rolls early on(I don't think I added that option until a few sessions in anyway), but now in the 10-15 level range and tons of enemies with save-or-horrible effects, 5-10 on average have been spent amidst the group per session on re-rolls, with the number spend per session growing).</p><p></p><p>For the actual 1st session, we spent alot of it finishing up characters, me telling them a bit about what they knew about Northmand and the area, and so we got started kinda late. They roleplayed a bit and then were attacked by the hobgoblins. I rolled a d8 to figure out how many rounds it would be until the guards showed up to help... and got an 8.</p><p></p><p>It didn't end up mattering since they wiped them out in about 4-5 rounds. From the player crunch perspective, all I remember is Suniel spent most of the fight invisible, just watching, Harold used a bunch of Duskblade deflections to make most of the incomming arrows miss, and Ming's player was rolling awesome that night.</p><p></p><p>Edit: Suniel's player recently reminded me that his staple spell combo was invisiblilty/summon swarm. I wondered what he cast besides Kelgor's Firebolt and magic missile. Anyway, he reminded me of that too late for it to be in the narrative much, but that's what he did.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 4152425, member: 60965"] Session 1 Crunch. I'm thinking after each narrative of the action, I'll write in what I can remember of the mechanics of what happened. Mostly DMing-related stuff, just because I found those bits - and the reader comments - in Shamus Young's [URL=http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=1]campaign[/URL] so interesting. If you don't care about this part, feel free to skip it. Some of these earlier ones might be a bit fuzzier since they were almost a year ago, but I'll see what I can remember. Since this was the first session, I'll talk a bit about my DMing style, the world, and character creation. From the inadvertant tastes of RPG theory/philosophy I've gotten reading the 4E section, I'd be mostly what you'd call a simulationist DM. I create the world, figure out what's happening where, and then the PCs are set loose into it to do what they will. The world as the PCs know it is a continent named Felskein settled above the Endless Sands. On all sides, the continent ends in thousands-of-feet tall cliffs that drop down into the Sands. As far as anyone knows, nothing can survive out in the sands and no one has ever heard of there being anything else out there - just sand stretching into infinity. They also knew they were starting in Northmand, a city-state settled on the edge of Mirror Lake. Nearby are the Ragged Hills where the Hobgoblin Iron Tribes live and have had a long history of conflict with Northmand. About a century ago, the Iron Tribes laid a years-long siege to the fortress-city of Northmand, causing the military council to seize the government and declare martial law. When the war ended, the military council retained power and it became the governing system for Northmand. The world - like most of my fantasy worlds - was a Points of Light setting before the term had entered the DnD vocabulary. For character creation, I let the characters select the level they wished to start, between 1 and 5. The lower the level, the better dice-rolling method they got to use: from 5d6, drop two, roll two columns and pick the best at first level to 3d6, one column, at level 5. If they rolled poorly enough, they could use point buy, with points varying depending on level. Also, if their characters died, they used this same method for the rest of the game for making new characters. I also suggested they create up to 5 "quirks" and 5 secrets. I defined quirks as anything distinguishing about a character that could probably be learned within a few minutes to a day or two of knowing them. Secrets didn't have to be massive, dire secrets, just anything that someone wouldn't learn until they knew the character fairly well, dug deep into their life, and that might not even be discovered even then. I awarded the PCs 1% of a level per quirk or secret they created as additional incentive. I credit this creation method, the PHBIIs affiliations, and the tick system(see down below) with making this the most successful and long-running game I've had in almost a decade. Harold Trisden's player decided to risk going with level 5 and rolled exceptionally well, better even than some of the others who all chose level 1-3. He whipped up a duty-obsessed, sometimes arrogant Duskblade/Ranger/Fighter archer from a distant democracy named the Crystal Towers. He was a member of the honor guard escorting the Crystal Towers diplomat to Northmand, seeking allies in their war with the Ashen Tower. Suniel Au's player went with level 3, creating a soft-spoken, nondescript elven wizard with a mysterious past(I'll save his secrets for the narrative) who now works as a travelling magic-item creator/seller/supplier. He created his own affiliation known as the Black Carriage, with the intent of eventually making it a continent-wide affiliation of travelling wizards. Ming's player went with a level 1 fighter, a rough-and-tumble, hulking woman with a family heirloom amulet, strange silver hair, and a troubled past. A couple other players made characters, but weren't able to make the first session. One of those created Ilsa Goldhammer, a 2nd level female dwarven dragonshaman/fighter, a servant of Wyrmsrule, a tiny city-state to the north of the Ragged Hills that serve an Ancient Gold Wyrm. They were also sent on a diplomatic mission to Northmand, seeking aid against Iron Tribe incursions and against the orcs of the Mist Tops on the other side of Mirror Lake from Northmand. Ilsa's player's brother - who only played one session - created Kendrin Moonfire, a 3rd-level half-elf cleric and also a servant of Wyrmsrule. The last mechanic I use is called ticks. I used for a bit years ago when I first heard about it from somewhere on the Internet, but then forgot about it until starting up this campaign. Ticks are rewards for showing up, good roleplaying, keeping the game running, etc. General tick rules: I give out 5 for someone showing up, a bonus 1 for being on time, and 5 for staying for the full session. I give out one or two for staying in character(staying with alignment, affiliation goals/traits, exhibiting quirks, general good roleplaying) whenever it seems appropriate. Occassionally, I also give them a few if there are long stretches without combat(selling/buying gear, calculating and splitting treasure, etc) that are requirements of 3.X but don't really progress the plot. Ticks are spent any time between sessions or 5 ticks can be spent to "collect" and spend them during a session. Those 5 ticks also let them get any xp they have earned that session. (I've never had a player choose to do this). Once 100 ticks are accrued, they must all be spent immediately to prevent hoarding. Ticks can be spent on: 1 tick - 1% of a level. 1 tick - 1 reroll of any d20, kept even if worse, or 1 per reroll of a stabalization dice. 10 ticks - 1 skillpoint (never had a player do this, even after I dropped it to 5 ticks per skillpoint) 50 ticks - 1 feat 50 ticks - 1 attribute point The majority have been spent on xp(especially the craft-heavy wizard), with occasional drops here and there on feats and attributes. Ticks weren't spent very often on re-rolls early on(I don't think I added that option until a few sessions in anyway), but now in the 10-15 level range and tons of enemies with save-or-horrible effects, 5-10 on average have been spent amidst the group per session on re-rolls, with the number spend per session growing). For the actual 1st session, we spent alot of it finishing up characters, me telling them a bit about what they knew about Northmand and the area, and so we got started kinda late. They roleplayed a bit and then were attacked by the hobgoblins. I rolled a d8 to figure out how many rounds it would be until the guards showed up to help... and got an 8. It didn't end up mattering since they wiped them out in about 4-5 rounds. From the player crunch perspective, all I remember is Suniel spent most of the fight invisible, just watching, Harold used a bunch of Duskblade deflections to make most of the incomming arrows miss, and Ming's player was rolling awesome that night. Edit: Suniel's player recently reminded me that his staple spell combo was invisiblilty/summon swarm. I wondered what he cast besides Kelgor's Firebolt and magic missile. Anyway, he reminded me of that too late for it to be in the narrative much, but that's what he did. [/QUOTE]
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