Writing, managing, and expanding campaigns.
11
votes
5answers
2k views
How to design a game for sociopathic characters?
A few years ago, I played a D&D 3.5 game in Forgotten Realms with an evil party. The characters (played by my brother and me) were sociopaths, bent on exploiting anyone and everyone. The game ...
10
votes
5answers
446 views
Advice on setting up a campaign for a new GM?
A month or two back, I bought the GURPS Basic Set with the hopes of GMing a campaign at my school. I'm fairly familiar with the rules and general concepts by now (GURPS is very well documented), but ...
10
votes
4answers
209 views
Do I need to stat out & measure everything?
I am preparing a session that contains a fair amount of absurdity. Many of the creatures and situations that my players will encounter will probably not be encountered again.
On the one hand, I know ...
10
votes
3answers
388 views
How can I emulate TV Shows with only 2-3 main characters?
I watch a lot of TV. Probably too much.
Shows like Buffy the vampire slayer and Firefly have a whole slew of characters, which is perfect for a gaming party as you fill in the slots to the point you ...
10
votes
2answers
254 views
Atmosphere of alienation and horror — halloween game
It is Halloween soon and I am planing to run a horror game featuring zombies. Lots of zombies. In fact, hordes of zombies. The setting is akin to Walking Dead than Shawn of the Dead and set in the ...
10
votes
4answers
160 views
How far do you go with custom rules before you have a new game?
We are working on a setting with low magic for Pathfinder, and we initially started out on creating lots of custom rules to go with that. However we found that the more rules we created, the more we ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views
Game of Thrones (D20/Tri-Stat) vs Song of Ice and Fire RPG: which has the most substantial setting information?
Of these two game lines for the Song of Ice and Fire series of novels, Game of Thrones by Guardians of Order, or Song of Ice and Fire RPG by Green Ronin, which contains the largest amount of ...
9
votes
2answers
391 views
Group-wise Combinable Magic Items (each member owns 1)
I realize this isn't the best reference, but there was a show in the 90's "Captain Planet" where there was 5 kids, and each had a ring of power, and it was when they would combine all of them the ...
9
votes
6answers
353 views
Any sites or periodicals dedicated to campaign ideas/concepts?
Like many GMs, I'm perfectly content to sit around and think up new ideas for campaigns or one-shots (with only about 10% of these ideas ever making it to the table). Also like most, I really enjoy ...
9
votes
4answers
553 views
Good Lich Resources
I'm trying to develop a plot were a cult leader is trying to become a lich. Do any of the currently published D&D 4e books provide any canon for this?
9
votes
3answers
1k views
List of freely available D&D books and resources [closed]
I'm trying to amass a list of D&D books and or resources to use in my DM-ing, like D&D Maps, 83 free D&D adventures, etc. The books can be about a particular Realm or about generic ...
9
votes
1answer
134 views
Playing a pregame, how to keep sense of continuity in campaign
My players and I are currently playing a "pre-game" for a whole campaign I have written. I want the players to be aware of the "how did it get to be this way", so I make them play two games 4000 and ...
9
votes
1answer
2k views
What is the best first adventure to run in D&D 4e?
I am very new to Dungeons and Dragons 4e. I recently picked all the necessary books and surprisingly low priced pound of dice from eBay. I have also coaxed my friends into giving it a shot while I ...
9
votes
1answer
206 views
Where can I learn more about the World Tree?
I am going to be taking over the role of Dungeon Master soon, with a group of players that have leveled from 1 all the way up to epic tier. The characters will be level 21 at the start of my campaign. ...
9
votes
2answers
279 views
What collaborative mapping software would meet my needs?
Background
I am the head of plot for a boffer LARP that runs monthly. A given game has anywhere from 10 to 50 players. We have around 5 people that run plot. I need the entire plot team to be able to ...
8
votes
5answers
397 views
Starting a campaign at higher level
It's been difficult for me to start a game at higher level than level 1-4 in Pathfinder.
At higher level, the scale of the game changes. In the beginning of level 1-4 you save a village or a clan ...
8
votes
10answers
693 views
What RPG worlds/systems work best together in crossover combinations? [closed]
I'm curious: What RPG worlds have you combined most successfully in a crossover setting as a GM? (Or what was the best crossover that you played as a player?)
My best experiences almost always ...
8
votes
3answers
360 views
How to write in-character introduction to new players for a new game background
So, I have this uber cool game world and I want to run a super cool game in it. It should not really matter what genre for this, but let us assume it is fantasy. Instead of either a long conversation ...
8
votes
3answers
207 views
How do I make a story based campaign revolve around a megadungeon?
I'd really like to make a more story-heavy setting in my next fantasy campaign, but I also love megadungeons. What is a good way to use a megadungeon to tell a story instead of as a place for ...
8
votes
3answers
349 views
Role playing/plot focused one shot sessions
I am faced with a challenge with creating a one shot session for a couple of friends. From experience I can see that it is difficult to indulge players into setting, plot, world, characters in a ...
8
votes
3answers
269 views
Any mechanics out there for developing and maintaining a spy/information network?
I have a player who would like his character to begin developing a network of people in the towns they visit. For lack of a better phrase, and because it seems that would be the most likely mechanic ...
7
votes
4answers
300 views
Looking for local colour for a Cyberpunk set in Brazil
I have a plot line and with the addition of player characters' background I think I have a solid game planned. However, so far the plot could happen in any odd city in the world. I was thinking of ...
7
votes
3answers
396 views
Adapting literary works into RPG adventures
Beowulf is a classic tale which has been translated many times and has had many film adaptations. Seamus Heaney's new translation and Frederick Rebsame's translation
are good starts if you have not ...
7
votes
7answers
208 views
What should go into a campaign synopsis (for kids)
My kids have complained that they want more back-story on my campaign world and they want handouts (must be genetic or something). So I'm writing a campaign synopsis. I'll be honest I'm very, very ...
7
votes
4answers
232 views
How do I get my dresden files players involved in city creation?
I've tried to involve my players in city creation a few times through the course of the game, usually whenever they are about to finish up a story arc, but I usually all I get are just get a few ...
7
votes
6answers
213 views
Software for diagramming branching campaign plotlines
I'm looking for something that simply allows me to connect nodes for different progression paths throughout the campaign, and that will let me connect them in arbitrary ways so that I can connect two ...
7
votes
2answers
297 views
What can I have the players do in my surreal horror scenario?
I'm gonna have the vast majority of my campaign take place in a large strange misty forest and I'm not gonna have any friendly human NPCs around too explain things.
Here is the premise:
After a ...
7
votes
3answers
469 views
Are there any tools for creating a campaign from scratch?
I am toying with the idea of writing up a custom campaign from top to bottom. Are there any tools out there for this sort of thing?
I'm thinking of an editor that allows you to insert the stuff ...
7
votes
2answers
128 views
Writing a VtR Chronicle
I'm new to Vampire: the Requiem and I would like to write my own chronicle but I don't know where to start. Where can I get inspiration and how can I structure the campaign/chronicle so it's cohesive ...
7
votes
2answers
222 views
What campaign wiki - or other collaborative tool - has these features?
I saw the question "Is there a campaign wiki with mobile support" and realized that perhaps I could find what i was looking for with a more targeted question.
I am organizing a plot team (for a LARP) ...
6
votes
9answers
411 views
What are ways player characters could awake an ancient evil? [closed]
Almost any epic level threat will do, but he/she/it should arise as a direct/indirect result of player character meddling (thereby making them responsible to destroy it). Preferable if PCs have a ...
6
votes
6answers
195 views
Any good resources for would-be authors of a line of gaming products?
Were you to move into authoring RPG material, where would you go to for advice?
Edit for clarity: I am thinking of publishing a whole line of gaming products. However, I am not adverse to hearing ...
6
votes
3answers
3k views
Custom Race Creation for D&D 4e
The Monster Manual and Dungeon Master's Guide provides a few examples of how to adapt monsters into full-fledged PC races, but they're limited to only a few options.
Are there any resources or other ...
6
votes
4answers
398 views
Does anyone have good examples of an Adventuring Guild charter?
I'm planning on using established guilds as npc rivals. The player characters start out as nobodies, in some cases as slaves, and will eventually have the opportunity of starting up their own ...
6
votes
3answers
257 views
Help with some ideas for a campaign
Okay, so I am a relatively new GM. I've started running the Road Trip campaign for Monsters and Other Childish things for my group. I thought I'd run a one night one-shot Halloween themed campaign for ...
6
votes
2answers
731 views
What information is available for the town Fallcrest?
My next campaign will have some town adventures. I'm looking at the Fallcrest town detailed in the Dungeon Master's Guide.
Before I get too far into it, I'd like to know if the town has been ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Are there other cooperative world building games like Dawn of Worlds?
I found Dawn of Worlds on the web and got the PDF of it. My group tried and loved it. I was wondering has anyone else worked with this very novel system for cooperative world building?
6
votes
5answers
186 views
What should I read/watch for information about the 1930s United States?
I'm currently writing a Trail of Cthulhu campaign, in which Investigators travel across the United States in the 1930s. To get inspiration for the scenarios, I read books and watch movies about ...
6
votes
3answers
254 views
What do I need to make a campaign?
I am a sorta newbie DM (been playing for about 5 months) and I have a couple dungeons. So is that all I need to make a campaign? I have about 6-8 friends that I play with every week, but they are ...
6
votes
3answers
235 views
How to play a Templar Knight
I am looking to create a character that is a member of a monastic order of Templar Knights. The game setting is a historical one set around the 1200s. Thus, I am looking at source material for ...
6
votes
3answers
268 views
What system or sourcebooks should I use to run a pre Roman, Celtic Britain campaign? [closed]
Someone I know, wants to run a campaign in Celtic Britain. He normally uses Pathfinder but is looking for something more appropriate to the background.
6
votes
1answer
90 views
How can I balance and blend spotlight time between PCs of different Lodges?
Recently, one of the players in my Werewolf game has taken on the Lodge of Spires, which is effectively "Batman: The Lodge". One of the benefits of this lodge (for those who don't play, consider a ...
6
votes
2answers
478 views
Sword of Truth 4e Setting
Has anyone seen or heard of anyone working up a Sword of Truth series 4e setting?
5
votes
5answers
274 views
Advice and sources for designing a fantasy political campaign?
A friend of mine is running a Middle-earth campaign and wants to make a political twist. As he knows I use to play that gamestyle (although in a contemporary setting), he has asked me to get involved ...
5
votes
4answers
246 views
How do I promote my gaming campaigns?
I have two campaigns on two different sites and I need players. So how do I promote my games in order to get more players?
5
votes
4answers
219 views
How to avoid the feeling of railroading in my campaign pregame?
This question is related to my other question. Please see that one for campaign background, rather than me repeating it all here.
I don't want the players to feel "trapped" and forced into a ...
5
votes
2answers
241 views
Point buy/structured system for cooperative 4e campaign building?
Our group is currently building a campaign world (one nation per player) for the Pillars of the State campaign (as suggested in the DMG2 somewhere around page 170).
Today we encountered the "problem" ...
4
votes
1answer
136 views
How to adapt a 3e community-building system for a larger-scale use in a 4e game?
This question is a follow up to Point buy/structured system for cooperative 4e campaign building?.
I've found a system that is quite close to what we want/need, but there's a catch: it's for 3e and ...
4
votes
1answer
145 views
Narrative options in an antique shop, old bookstore or library [closed]
I'm currently storytelling a Delta Green chronicle and, while studying various resources and scenarios, I was extremely intrigued by a scenario called "The Bookstore". That is a great opportunity to ...
3
votes
2answers
119 views
3 enchanted items to cast ritual - D&D
In planing my D&D campaign, I have an section where the group will have to find three enchanted copper pots to seal away a powerful daemon. I have an idea on how I want it to work, but not sure if ...
