Well my gaming theory has been used and abused.
- Thread starter Gundark
- Start date
The_Gunslinger658
First Post
JoeGKushner said:
Yes.
Scott
neg
Explorer
Gundark said:
Gundark, I feel your pain. Our group is struggling with the "what next" scenario at the moment as well. Who will DM? What setting? How long? What system? What modifications?
Though we haven't gotten to all members, 90% are for the d20 system and some kind of boxed campaign setting as we don't have time to homebrew goodness. It is causing some tension as one person, a good DM, no longer wants to play d20. So we are scratching our heads on what that will do to the group as a whole.
We have talked about looking at Monte Cook's Ptolus setting as it is soon to be released and promises to be massively supported by him.
We are currently enjoying Dawnforge a great deal, and I would highly recommend the setting if someone has the time to craft adventures, plots, and ideas. It is just poorly supported, but could be an excellent campaign setting as it is so well written and crafted. :\
Good luck with your eventual outcome, let us know what happened, it may help my group deal with the same issue. All I can truly recommend is a sitdown to discuss all your options and preferences.
-neg
Herobizkit
Adventurer
Hehe thanx for the compliments. 
It really is all about working with what you have and stretching your imagination to fit into the scope of what you have.
If you're ambitious and have lots of time on your hands, you could create a scenario that happens "simultaneously" in the Past, Present, and Future of a city, or a nation, requiring time travel to properly navigate and make things right. Or, steal a Zelda plot and have a Light/Dark world that affect one another. Or, play through the Rise and Fall of the Roman Expire, but extrapolate through the generations...
It really is all about working with what you have and stretching your imagination to fit into the scope of what you have.
If you're ambitious and have lots of time on your hands, you could create a scenario that happens "simultaneously" in the Past, Present, and Future of a city, or a nation, requiring time travel to properly navigate and make things right. Or, steal a Zelda plot and have a Light/Dark world that affect one another. Or, play through the Rise and Fall of the Roman Expire, but extrapolate through the generations...
elbandit
First Post
Since I am always the DM in my gaming group I usually throw out entire campaign concepts and let my players vote on which they would perfer to play using a number scale. If there are 5 proposed campaigns the players get a 5,4,3,2,1 stat to enter once. After the voting a tally a campaigns score and figure out what we shall play next. Typically we wind up with something that satisfies everyone. I also never fully develop a campaign until we vote on what to try.
Thus far it has worked perfectly for the past 6 years. Occassionaly I have the one player who informs that they will not play some campaign and usually within 3 sessions he is playing anyway.
Is this a little Dragconian? Probably.Though, it works for my group.
Thus far it has worked perfectly for the past 6 years. Occassionaly I have the one player who informs that they will not play some campaign and usually within 3 sessions he is playing anyway.
Is this a little Dragconian? Probably.Though, it works for my group.
Rotating Game Calendar
It certainly may not be to everyone's taste, but my group deals with this issue by rotating games frequently and having guest DM/GMs periodically. We plan our calendar four months in advance typically allocating 3-8 weeks to any single game system/setting/campaign. One member is our principle DM; he runs the game 8-10 months out of the year.
Personally, I am a huge proponent of this system. I already own so many games and campaign settings that I'll likely never get to play all of them, but by rotating the game and the gamemaster as we do, I get to dabble in almost everything that I want.
The downside to all of this is that we do not have anyone game that has been running almost continuously "for ever". That is not to say that we do not have long running games. In fact we have revisited many games over and over again. Still, for the hardcore, single character, single system gamer, this may not be a great option...but I like it...and we're contemplating adding an extra game night just for the purpose of playing a single long-running D&D game (my wife is going to kill me).
Chad
It certainly may not be to everyone's taste, but my group deals with this issue by rotating games frequently and having guest DM/GMs periodically. We plan our calendar four months in advance typically allocating 3-8 weeks to any single game system/setting/campaign. One member is our principle DM; he runs the game 8-10 months out of the year.
Personally, I am a huge proponent of this system. I already own so many games and campaign settings that I'll likely never get to play all of them, but by rotating the game and the gamemaster as we do, I get to dabble in almost everything that I want.
The downside to all of this is that we do not have anyone game that has been running almost continuously "for ever". That is not to say that we do not have long running games. In fact we have revisited many games over and over again. Still, for the hardcore, single character, single system gamer, this may not be a great option...but I like it...and we're contemplating adding an extra game night just for the purpose of playing a single long-running D&D game (my wife is going to kill me).
Chad
LostSoul
Adventurer
It sounds like everyone in your group is going to have to compromise in order to get a good session going.
If some people aren't willing to compromise, then you have problems. But let's assume that's not the issue.
Sit down with everyone and ask people what - exactly - they want to see out of the game. Especially the people who don't like Midnight that much. What would it take for them to love the game?
There was a gaming blog that had collaborative world-building techniques out there... I'll see if I can dig up the url. (I think it was Adam Dray's.)
If some people aren't willing to compromise, then you have problems. But let's assume that's not the issue.
Sit down with everyone and ask people what - exactly - they want to see out of the game. Especially the people who don't like Midnight that much. What would it take for them to love the game?
There was a gaming blog that had collaborative world-building techniques out there... I'll see if I can dig up the url. (I think it was Adam Dray's.)
Midnight Goodness
Sorry, this is going to drift a bit off topic.
I am only passingly familiar with the Midnight campaign setting, but if I were going to run a game. I'd start the charcaters in a dark cave or hovel lit only by candlelight. To get maximal effect, I'd dim/extinguish all of the overhead lights and light some real candles. I would then explain just how downtrodden the forces of good are, siting specific fronts on which ground is being lost on a daily basis, then sit back as the charcters (futilely) try to decide where they can do the most good in the campaign.
Chad
Sorry, this is going to drift a bit off topic.
I am only passingly familiar with the Midnight campaign setting, but if I were going to run a game. I'd start the charcaters in a dark cave or hovel lit only by candlelight. To get maximal effect, I'd dim/extinguish all of the overhead lights and light some real candles. I would then explain just how downtrodden the forces of good are, siting specific fronts on which ground is being lost on a daily basis, then sit back as the charcters (futilely) try to decide where they can do the most good in the campaign.
Chad
Why don't you try going small?
Just use the base handbooks and generate characters. See what types of characters people want to play and adjust your game accordingly. Be deliberately vague about the larger picture. Don't worry about what country you are in, just concentrate on the local village and its problems.
Play a couple of adventures, maybe a low-level published adventure. Just play basic vanilla D&D for a bit. Treat it like a cleanser for your gaming palate.
After a couple sessions, see where you are. Maybe your group will be attached to their characters and want to continue with them in a vanilla-ish world. Or maybe they'll be ready for something a little more exotic.
Just use the base handbooks and generate characters. See what types of characters people want to play and adjust your game accordingly. Be deliberately vague about the larger picture. Don't worry about what country you are in, just concentrate on the local village and its problems.
Play a couple of adventures, maybe a low-level published adventure. Just play basic vanilla D&D for a bit. Treat it like a cleanser for your gaming palate.
After a couple sessions, see where you are. Maybe your group will be attached to their characters and want to continue with them in a vanilla-ish world. Or maybe they'll be ready for something a little more exotic.
Similar Threads
