The TTRPG Revival of PC Bases, Strongholds, and Communities

[overgeeked]

I am sure there are plenty of more and I certainly welcome hearing about them. But what might have triggered this renewed interest in having bases, communities, and strongholds be a part of play?

My guess is a desire for more immersion and for the game to change as you advance. Instead of just slaughtering monsters ad infinitum, players want to steep themselves more in their worlds and become more invested and immersed by living more in the worlds they're playing in.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I always include the provision for the PCs to have a base. It inevitably becomes jam-packed with souvenirs and stuff that looked interesting at the time.

And skulls. Always skulls.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Sounds really interesting. Keep me updated please!

Thread 'Quest For Chevar (my TTRPG WIP)'
Quest For Chevar (my TTRPG WIP)

 

[GreyLord]

Don't forget Paizo's Pathfinder: Kingmaker AP path (and eventually, hardback AP release with rules adaptations for Pathfinder 1e and D&D 5e if I understand it right).

 

[Lanefan]

I am sure there are plenty of more and I certainly welcome hearing about them. But what might have triggered this renewed interest in having bases, communities, and strongholds be a part of play?

I don't know what triggered it but I'm all for it!

 

[Aldarc]

Matt Coleville's Strongholds & Followers for 5E was a 2 Million dollar Kickstarter. It is rooted in the old school AD&D concepts, but allows for strongholds to come into the campaign at lower levels.

It's definitely a supplement that I had in mind when creating this thread. S&F was a highly successful kickstarter, but I wasn't sure whether or not to include it since it's a 3pp that doesn't necessarily reflect the core game experience of 5e D&D.

I think that WotC, in general, doesn't really see PC strongholds and bases as an integral part of 5e D&D's gameplay. So that has resulted in 3pp like Matt Colville or @Morrus having to pick up the pieces.

My guess is a desire for more immersion and for the game to change as you advance. Instead of just slaughtering monsters ad infinitum, players want to steep themselves more in their worlds and become more invested and immersed by living more in the worlds they're playing in.

That's a good bet, though I definitely am biased as I possess a similar sentiment. I do know that in the case of Stonetop that the author was intentionally writing and defining their hearth fantasy game, in part, as being an "anti-murder hobo" work. And murdering your way through the countryside won't necessarily solve the problem of a famine or plague in the village.

But it's also, IMHO, not just an anti-murder hobo trend but also an anti-setting tourism one, which I believe you also allude to. What's one way to prevent your PCs from being turned into tourists for the game master's world? You make the tourists into residents of a village/city, community, or headquarters who have all invested personal interests in that place. It also keeps the locations (generally but not always) smaller scale, and I also am growing to like smaller scale settings (e.g., OSE's Dolmenwood).

Forbidden Lands does promote the use of a Stronghold with things to improve, their cost and a list of resources. There's also tables to roll on while the PCs are away.

Yep. It's a game that really wants to support this old school play where strongholds were part of the mid to late game.

I don't know what triggered it but I'm all for it!

Same. It would also be a great addition for West Marches style games.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

But it's also, IMHO, not just an anti-murder hobo trend but also an anti-setting tourism one, which I believe you also allude to. What's one way to prevent your PCs from being turned into tourists for the game master's world? You make the tourists into residents of a village/city, community, or headquarters who have all invested personal interests in that place.

That's a good observation.

Beam Saber, which is Forged in the Dark, has a home base for a military unit that you buy upgrades for, a bit of a step up from the criminal lair in Blades in the Dark.

One variation on the theme is the travelling base - often some kind of ship.

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by

Scum and Villainy has a Firefly-esque or Cowboy Bebop-esque ship that the crew shares, but even going back to the early days of roleplaying, Traveller and the various Star Trek and Star Wars games have all had a PC home ship by default. Warbirds has all the PCs flying fighters from a single carrier airship...

 

[MGibster]

One of the few things I liked about the Rogue Trader RPG was that every character has a stake in how well the the ship does. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it's set in the Warhammer 40k universe and you're crewmembers aboard a rogue trader, a ship captained by an individual with a mandate to explore and trade (even with aliens) outside of the normal laws of the Imperium of Man. When the missions are successful, it isn't just the captain who reaps the rewards it's all the PCs. They all have an incentive to improve the ship.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

One of the few things I liked about the Rogue Trader RPG was that every character has a stake in how well the the ship does. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it's set in the Warhammer 40k universe and you're crewmembers aboard a rogue trader, a ship captained by an individual with a mandate to explore and trade (even with aliens) outside of the normal laws of the Imperium of Man. When the missions are successful, it isn't just the captain who reaps the rewards it's all the PCs. They all have an incentive to improve the ship.

Does it do the Scum and Villainy thing where some of the upgrades to the ship give buffs to all PCs?

 

[Jd Smith1]

I don't know what triggered it but I'm all for it!

The Fallout series (Video) has steadily moved into the player base concept, with both Fallout 4 and especially Fallout 76 putting considerable emphasis upon it. Speaking of which, I need to remember to craft and display my new beer stein in 76....