Archive for the 'RPGs' Category

This is a fairly simple idea, but it’s modular enough that you could work it into a variety of contexts. The major downside to this idea is that you’ve got less flexibility in dealing with character turnover, and so for that reason it probably wouldn’t work all that well in a gritty campaign, or one which people attend irregularly.

The idea is that each player character was born under a specific star sign, a sign under which few are ever born. This designates them as people who have great destinies. In game terms, you may also wish to expand this idea further to say that their special attunement to the stars grants them an increased affinity for magic. You could then use this as a possible explanation of how PCs could be readily healed and resurrected, but important NPCs, such as kings, may not be able to be. The explanation should facilitate creating a game world where dramatic actions have consequence on the game world, but which don’t overly penalize players.

As a campaign, once you have set forth that the players are all bound to this same destiny, you have a plethora of ways to get them together for a story. I suggest that you create an NPC character, an astrologer/astronomer, who has sent a summons to each character. When they arrive, the characters will be informed of the common bond between all of them.

At this point, with the characters assembled and, bound, however tenously, you can easily begin any adventure you like. There are a couple of ideas which I believe may work better than a standard-issue “Clear out the nearby goblin village” sorts of quests, though.

-The player characters are only part of the group that was sent a summons. There remain several individuals who did not manage to heed the astrologer’s call. The PCs are instructed to seek out these few remaining individuals. The conflict here would be that someone else has learned of these individuals’ special destinies and has been hunting them down and killing them. The villain himself could be one of these individuals, who has realized that only others born under this star sign may have the potential to stop his plans.
-The player characters have learned of their destiny, but must complete a ritual to complete their attunement to the stars. In order to do this, they must undertake a quest. This particular possibility would not pit the players against a specific enemy, but rather against a series of trials. Ideally, this line would focus on building the bonds of trust between characters as they face the obstacles.
-The astrologer may have nefarious plans, and is attempting to subvert the PCs into doing his will by posing as a mentor-type character. The PCs may be instructed to carry out various plans, but hints should be dropped that not all is as it seems.

Basic introductory campaign idea designed to introduce players to the setting, establish the group without relying on “You all show up at a tavern” tropes.

Types: Semi-Travelogue, Fish out of Water

Scene 1: Fight scene. This scene establishes a villain/antagonist for the characters by immediately pitting them up against the antagonist and/or some of his henchmen. Premise for this fight is that the antagonist is trying to retrieve X, where X is an item or components of an item.

Scene 2: Flashback to the initial party meeting, which is on a ship. Each character has been hired by the Captain, and their mission to deliver X to [some location or NPC] is explained.

Scene 3: A storm strikes, and the ship is under attack by [pirates / mercenaries / unknown]. A battle ensues and the ship is wrecked.

Scene 4: The characters wake up on the shores of [some location on the same landmass where they were headed]. The majority of the crew seems to be lost and only the PCs are fit for travel, so they head on to finish their mission.

-After roughly another scene or two, the PCs should be ‘caught up’ in narrative time with Scene 1, after which they continue onward in ‘real time.’
-Subsequent scenes introduce the characters to the setting [mood/themes] and set up different factions of antagonists / allies. Since all characters are from a different location, play up customs and other elements that may seem strange to the PCs (and also to the players).
-By the end of the mission the PCs should have forged a bond with at least one faction, which will offer them some sort of ongoing relationship at the end of the initial scenario and possibly serve as the basis for further scenarios.

Yesterday I was talking to one of my Pen and Paper gaming friends and he, for whatever reason, loaded up the Wizards of the Coast website. When he did, he was greeted with a little countdown to 4DVENTURE, which we immediately guessed was an announcement for 4th Edition.

I’m not entirely sure yet, but there are a few articles so far claiming that Wizards is coming out with 4th Edition next year. Although I’ve been expecting 4th Edition for awhile, I’m kind of surprised at how this announcement is being done. I’d actually expect to hear about playtesting accounts or design goals from the designers before we get a deadline for release.

I already outlined what’d make me buy the new system, but after looking over Star Wars Saga Edition a few weeks ago, I don’t think it’s going to live up to my expectations. Well, either way, we both agreed that we’d probably be sticking with 3.5 for some time to come (or move to something homebrew / true20 / etc.).