Hello, I'll jump into the fray with a brief introduction of myself, the setting and my players.
First, my name is Kevin Beck. I've been playing some form of table-top rpg since around 1981 when I picked up my first "red box" of the Basic Set. Since then I've played a lot of different systems, almost exclusively as a GM, but my first love will always be D&D. When 4e came out I was skeptical at first but the more we've played the more I've grown to love it. It's not flawless (or else we wouldn't need house rules) but it is a lot of fun most of the time.
Our setting is a loose interpretation of Eberron set in a jagged version of the standard timeline. Dragonshards are just beginning to be harvested and Dragonmarks have to yet make much of an appearance in the world. The 100 year war is in the future and the land is in a huge amount of turmoil. The Five Nations, as we know them in the standard setting, have yet to form.
My regular players friends that I've know for a long while. Some make every Saturday night and others I don't see for months. So without further yammering from me, let me introduce them.
Regulars
Eric T. playing Cynthia Stormwalker a paladin of Evandra focusing on travel and exploration. Cynthia was seeking her destiny when an encounter with The Raven Queen brought it all into focus. She was to help unite the fractured world by establishing the first lightening rails and airship routes. Of course, at this point, these technologies are dangerous and rare at best. Even worse the lands between the points are wild and untamed.
Chris T. playing Infer. A chaos sorcerer who may be playing with higher stakes than he initially realized. He bargained for salvation, and a bard has said, he was given a lethal dose. Now he is trying to understand what he has stepped up to and if he will be able to regain his freedom, with his sanity intact. Infer covers all this uncertainty and fear with a narcissistic machismo that would make and bar room bravo proud.
Semi-Regular
Chris P. plays Khondar Greygate. A dwarven warden who is helping set the first elements of the Aurum. Because of the heavy burden he carries he is starting to show signs of the strain and frequently lashing out in unhelpful ways. The rest of the party is growing more and more concerned for his sanity.
Occasional Players
Andy B. plays Tarsus Direwan, a retired hit-man who has shown up several times in the campaign to provide just enough extra firepower to make things interesting.
Randa Choate playing Alyce Staggs. This burly foul mouthed warrior has shown up for a few session to lend a little tanking to the party.
Eric Kirkpatrick playing Rouki d'Cat. A stealthy ranger sniper, also an occasional player with a large sack of damage he likes to hand out to the bad kids.
Jeremy Duke playing Jinny Gearhands. Jinny is one of the many orphans living in Sharn. He lost both her hands at a young age and now has two fine Warforged grafts to help her get around. She has quickly risen as the de facto leader of the band of children calling themselves "The Spiders".
There's my strange little group.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Skill Challenge: Eberron (10th level)
Along the lines of what Dave posted, here's my skill challenge that I used for my Eberron group. It's the first skill challenge I've written. I've run a couple out of the new D&D adventures, but honestly, I wasn't crazy about any of them. They did teach me a few pitfalls to avoid in creating my own, however, and I was pretty pleased by how these worked out.
Encounter Complexity: 3 (8 successes before 4 failures -1,500 XP)
The Shifting Blades are rumored to be in Trolanport. Find out where they are and what they're up to, all while dodging the Trust, who would be treaty-bound to turn the Wolves over to Brelish authorities.
Primary Skills:
Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Streetwise
Bluff (DC 20, +1 for every success): Pretending to be with the Korranberg Chronicle, or seeking to hire the Shifting Blades, or something of that nature, could gain some information.
Diplomacy (DC 17): Seeking help from Aundarian diplomat Neya ir'Krell or trying to deal with local officials without tipping off the Trust could net information. Note: Failure in this case counts as two failures, as it will more easily bring the Trust down on the players' heads)
Endurance (DC 21): Some lusty carousing could get any of the information about the Kraken's Eye, in other words anything in the 1-5 area. After 5 has been dispensed, carousing won't earn any more answers, but it also won't incur any more failures.
History (DC 25): Once the name of the Kraken's Eye has been revealed, someone versed in history might be able to recall information about it from studies of the Lhazaar or Zilargo areas. Only information #2 and #3 can be revealed in this way. Any other attempts will fail, but will not be counted as failures against the skill challenge total.
Insight (DC 21): Once contacts have been found (via a single success in Diplomacy, Streetwise or Diplomacy), an Insight check could provide some hints that lead to the right questions about the gang of shapeshifters or the Kraken's Eye. Only two successes can be earned this way.
Intimidate (DC 20, +1 for every success): Once the gang is known of (after #5 has been revealed), intimidation can be used on the street to garner any of the information from 6-8.
Perception (DC 17): Once #1 is available, careful surveillance of the Kraken's Eye could reveal #2-3. Only those two successes are possible with perception.
Streetwise (DC 21): All of the information about Gerand, what he was up to, and the gang he probably got involved with, is available through streetwise checks. Any number of successes or failures can be achieved through this skill.
Information that can be gained (one per success, starting with the top)
1. Gerand Moor asked around at a tavern called the Kraken's Eye
2. The Kraken's Eye is only open at night, and generally caters to lowlives and thugs
3. The Kraken's Eye is run by an ex-pirate from Lhazaar and his wife, and they don't cooperate with law enforcement
4. A contact remembers Gerand mentioning that he had a meeting set up at the Kraken's Eye, and no one has seen him since
5. There's a small gang of shapeshifters in town with ties to the Tyrants, and they operate out of the Kraken's Eye
6. There are six members of this gang, which is primarily made up of changelings
7. The leader of this gang is rumored to be some kind of powerful magic creature, but anyone who has gotten close has been found with their throat ripped out
8. There is a succubus in the gang
Success: The Wolves learn valuable information that not only points them in the right direction but gives them hints as to what they might be up against
Failure: The Wolves have trouble keeping a low profile while digging for information. Any further pushing to determine answers either brings down an ambush whenever they are resting at their inn (or whatever base of operations they've chosen) from the Trolanport Tyrants (if they've gotten up to #5 or more) or agents of the Trust (3 gnome entropists, 2 gnome wolverines and a human pirate captain).
Encounter Complexity: 3 (8 successes before 4 failures -1,500 XP)
The Shifting Blades are rumored to be in Trolanport. Find out where they are and what they're up to, all while dodging the Trust, who would be treaty-bound to turn the Wolves over to Brelish authorities.
Primary Skills:
Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Streetwise
Bluff (DC 20, +1 for every success): Pretending to be with the Korranberg Chronicle, or seeking to hire the Shifting Blades, or something of that nature, could gain some information.
Diplomacy (DC 17): Seeking help from Aundarian diplomat Neya ir'Krell or trying to deal with local officials without tipping off the Trust could net information. Note: Failure in this case counts as two failures, as it will more easily bring the Trust down on the players' heads)
Endurance (DC 21): Some lusty carousing could get any of the information about the Kraken's Eye, in other words anything in the 1-5 area. After 5 has been dispensed, carousing won't earn any more answers, but it also won't incur any more failures.
History (DC 25): Once the name of the Kraken's Eye has been revealed, someone versed in history might be able to recall information about it from studies of the Lhazaar or Zilargo areas. Only information #2 and #3 can be revealed in this way. Any other attempts will fail, but will not be counted as failures against the skill challenge total.
Insight (DC 21): Once contacts have been found (via a single success in Diplomacy, Streetwise or Diplomacy), an Insight check could provide some hints that lead to the right questions about the gang of shapeshifters or the Kraken's Eye. Only two successes can be earned this way.
Intimidate (DC 20, +1 for every success): Once the gang is known of (after #5 has been revealed), intimidation can be used on the street to garner any of the information from 6-8.
Perception (DC 17): Once #1 is available, careful surveillance of the Kraken's Eye could reveal #2-3. Only those two successes are possible with perception.
Streetwise (DC 21): All of the information about Gerand, what he was up to, and the gang he probably got involved with, is available through streetwise checks. Any number of successes or failures can be achieved through this skill.
Information that can be gained (one per success, starting with the top)
1. Gerand Moor asked around at a tavern called the Kraken's Eye
2. The Kraken's Eye is only open at night, and generally caters to lowlives and thugs
3. The Kraken's Eye is run by an ex-pirate from Lhazaar and his wife, and they don't cooperate with law enforcement
4. A contact remembers Gerand mentioning that he had a meeting set up at the Kraken's Eye, and no one has seen him since
5. There's a small gang of shapeshifters in town with ties to the Tyrants, and they operate out of the Kraken's Eye
6. There are six members of this gang, which is primarily made up of changelings
7. The leader of this gang is rumored to be some kind of powerful magic creature, but anyone who has gotten close has been found with their throat ripped out
8. There is a succubus in the gang
Success: The Wolves learn valuable information that not only points them in the right direction but gives them hints as to what they might be up against
Failure: The Wolves have trouble keeping a low profile while digging for information. Any further pushing to determine answers either brings down an ambush whenever they are resting at their inn (or whatever base of operations they've chosen) from the Trolanport Tyrants (if they've gotten up to #5 or more) or agents of the Trust (3 gnome entropists, 2 gnome wolverines and a human pirate captain).
Skill Challenge Sample of Play
Okay, here's the D&D Skill Challenge example I wrote up for my players. I've house-ruled Skills Challenges to allow for Ability rolls and even Attack/Power rolls in lieu of Skill Checks - as long as they fit the story. I've pretty much dropped the differentiation between Primary and Secondary Skills, opting instead for variable DCs based on what the players are attempting.
Three first level adventurers, a Dwarven Fighter, Half-Elf Wizard, and Halfling Rogue, are in pursuit of a Goblin who's got information they need. The Goblin races into the heart of the city and the chase is on. The DM knows that this is a fairly easy 4/3 Skill Challenge (the players need four successes before three failures), but the players don't. I put notes about dice rolls in blue.
DM: The Goblin's bolting into the crowded marketplace. What do you want to do?
Halfling Rogue: I'm too short to be pushing through big-people crowds - can I hop up on top of the marketplace stands and awnings and spring across them?
DM: Sure, make an Acrobatics Roll!
[the DM decides this is fairly easy to do and secretly sets the Difficulty Class at 10; the Rogue rolls low, but he's trained in Acrobatics and still pulls off a total of 12, succeeding; this is the first success in the Challenge.]
DM: The rest of the party can only be impressed as you leap and cartwheel over the venders. You're able to keep a close eye on the Goblin and after the rest of the group pushes through the crowd, you lead them down a street in pursuit!
Dwarven Fighter: Grr, I don't want to chase this little bastard. I want to intimidate him into stopping. I shout out, "If you don't stop right now, every damn member of my clan will swear a death-oath against you!"
DM: What's a death-oath?
Dwarven Fighter: I don't know - I'm just messing with his head! Oh wait, does that make it a Bluff check?
DM: Nah, you're still trying to intimidate him. But I am going to give you a +2 for having a good, fake oath.
[the DM decides the Goblin flight instinct is strong and sets a moderate DC of 15; the Dwarven fighter rolls a 1, so even with his good Intimidate Skill and a +2 bonus, he fails; there has now been one success and one failure in the Skill Challenge]
DM: A 1, eh? Not only does the Goblin not stop, he responds to your threat with a crude gesture.
Dwarven Fighter: Oh, you're dead!
DM: He's darting in and out of alleys and pulling a little ahead of you guys.
Halfling Rogue: Can I make a Streetwise check and figure out where he's going?
DM: Hmm, Streetwise as a skill is really more about figuring out a city's movers and shakers, finding the black market, stuff like that. It's not literally the layout of the streets.
Halfling Rogue: Fair enough. What about an Insight Check to "get inside" his head and figure out where he'd go?
DM: Sure!
Halfling Rogue: Oh wait, my Insight sucks.
Half-Elf Wizard: I wanna do something, and my Insight's pretty decent!
[the DM sets a moderate DC of 15; the Half-Elf Wizard rolls well - a 22 - making for the second success of the Challenge]
Half-Elf Wizard: I've fought enough Goblins to know how those little beggars think. Between gasps for breath as we run, I tell the rest of you guys I think he's headed for the slums so he can hole up in some lowlife den!
DM (picking up on the player's idea): Good thinking. It does seem likely, so you let the Goblin vanish from sight and instead make for the slums to head him off. As you scan around between the poor laborers, hooligan kids and beggars, the Goblin darts from an alley and almost runs right into you! He curses in Goblin and races back toward the center of the city.
[the DM decides to have some cruel fun and have a small side event: hooligan kids from the slums try to pickpocket the players amidst the chaos! He makes a single Thievery roll to represent the kids and attacks the players' Reflex Defense with it. It only succeeds against the Dwarven Fighter, and the mean ol' DM rolls a D20 to see how much gold they got from him: 16 pieces. He lets the Dwarf make a Perception Check against the kids' Thievery roll to see if he notices. He makes the roll, so he does.]
DM: Dwarven Fighter, a grimy-faced half-orc kid appears to've reached into your coin purse and absconded with a big handful of gold.
Dwarven Fighter: First the Goblin gives me the finger, now this?! I go after the little bastard!
DM: Really? In the middle of the chase?
Dwarven Fighter: Hell yes! You don't take a dwarf's gold!
DM: Ha! Okay, you can chase after the kid, but you'll be unable to assist in the rest of the Skill Challenge.
Dwarven Fighter: Sorry, gang. Gold comes first.
DM: Okay, I'm definitely giving you some experience for doing something so "dwarfy", and we'll resolve the stuff with the kid in a minute, but for now let's stick to the chase. The Goblin's still getting away!
Halfling Rogue: Son of a -- ! Well, I think I just want to use Perception to track this guy by all the chaos he's making as he pushes past people.
[the DM against sets a moderate DC of 15; the Halfling Rogue roll only totals a 13; there have now been two failures as well as two successes in the Skill Challenge - one more failure and they lose him]
DM: This guy's wily. The chase has veered toward the docks, but he's tipping over crates behind him and creating an uproar that makes it really hard to see where he's going. You're on the verge of losing him.
Half-Elf Wizard: We can't let him get off the docks.
Halfling Rogue: Agreed, but I'm drawing blanks on ideas. Can I throw a dagger at him, try and trip him up from an injury?
DM: You can, but there're lots of people around and he'd probably be at long range for a thrown dagger. This will be a very tough shot [the DM's thinking DC 25, and the Rogue would need to roll extremely well to make it]
Halfling Rogue: Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't...
Half-Elf Wizard: It gives me an idea, though. My Flaming Sphere attack has a range 10, so maybe that'll give me a better chance. I actually want to use it to set the docks aflame ahead of the Goblin and box him in.
DM: It'll still be a tough shot to avoid hitting people, but you've got the range, so it'll be a bit easier than the dagger throw.
[the DM decides to go with a DC of 20, still pretty tough; the Half-Elf Wizard just makes it, though, coming in with a 21 when all bonuses have been added; there have now been three success and two failures in the Skill Challenge; the next roll will decide it all]
DM: Your fiery sphere appears in front of the Goblin and streaks across the docks, creating a wall of fire! He skids to a stop.
Halfling Rogue: It's funny, I probably drew my little dagger and was halfheartedly taking aim when our wizard here puts a hand on my shoulder - "Allow me" - and blows up half the docks!
DM: Ha!
Half-Elf Wizard: Damn right!
DM: Okay, so he's skidded to a halt and looks panicked, but he could still slip through your grasp with a sly maneuver. The next few seconds will decide everything...
Halfling Rogue: Would it be too cheesy to use Acrobatics again and to vault over the crates and right into him? I want to knock him flat and I'm really good with Acrobatics.
DM: Seems reasonable to me. This is pretty different from the first time you used it.
[the DM sets an average DC of 15 for the roll and the Halfling Rogue aces his roll, totalling 24]
DM: Major takedown, you've won the Skill Challenge! What are you picturing?
Halfling Rogue: The Goblin skids to a stop in front of the fire, spins around to look for a way out, and there I am, hand-vaulting, parkour-style over the crates! I give him both boots to his hideous face.
DM: Rockin'. Goblin teeth fly and he flops onto the docks, out cold. In the meantime, you can hear shouts for the city watch as a small section of the dock burns and collapses into the water.
Half-Elf Wizard: Oops. Uh, we'll make amends later. Lets scoop this guy up and race into some cheap inn before the watch arrives. We can question the goblin once we're out of sight.
Dwarf Fighter: Kill him!
DM: Hey, you're not even with them! But we do need to quick see how you dealt with your little pickpocket right after I hand out experience...
[and the game continues...]
My players (in a little more detail)
*Daniel Gibbs - Oden, a Deva Invoker who occasionally receives cryptic visions from Bahamut. He's the centerpiece of the group insofar as their adventuring rationale. Whatever the characters' individual goals, they know this guy is drawn to exotic locales and righteous causes.
*Syd Gibbs - Syddelius, a taciturn Dragonborn Fighter assigned to Oden by the warlord she follows. Also: a dude.
*Dan Grendell - Kairen, a Tiefling Bard looking to discover and chronicle lost secrets of Bael Turath. Also: a chick.
*Nick Budd - Vondal, a Dwarven Cleric who was once a warrior of Kord, but turned to the priesthood when he was sidelined by an injury and also opened a tavern for warriors. In recent years his injuries have healed up (divine providence?) and, as he hits his dwarven midlife crisis, he ventures out for a final shot at glory for Kord.
*Thomas - Lazam, a Halfling Storm Sorcerer fresh from the farm and looking to find his destiny as something bigger.
*Syd Gibbs - Syddelius, a taciturn Dragonborn Fighter assigned to Oden by the warlord she follows. Also: a dude.
*Dan Grendell - Kairen, a Tiefling Bard looking to discover and chronicle lost secrets of Bael Turath. Also: a chick.
*Nick Budd - Vondal, a Dwarven Cleric who was once a warrior of Kord, but turned to the priesthood when he was sidelined by an injury and also opened a tavern for warriors. In recent years his injuries have healed up (divine providence?) and, as he hits his dwarven midlife crisis, he ventures out for a final shot at glory for Kord.
*Thomas - Lazam, a Halfling Storm Sorcerer fresh from the farm and looking to find his destiny as something bigger.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wandering Wolves
I'm running two different campaigns right at the moment, both D&D 4th Edition. One, which I've been running since 4th Edition came out about a year ago, has gotten the name "Circle of Love" from a spell that one of the characters used to cast:
1. Dan Grendell - Tengri, a Dragonborn Sorcerer who specializes in thunder effects
2. Joe Royer - Taiha Lakar, a Goliath Bear Shaman
3. Jamie Royer - Brynn, a Half-Elf Ranger with a focus on using a bow
4. Max Romero - Mmirg, a Half-Orc Warden with more than a little barbarian about him
5. Ben Kimball - Fargrim, a Dwarf Invoker of Pelor
They are currently trapped in an extradimensional pyramid, and their goal seems to be to kill the warlock who trapped them three times in order to get out. We're playing the D&D 4th Edition series of modules, and we're currently on the Pyramid of Shadows. When we complete it, I'm going to move to playing and Ben is going to take over GMing.
I'm also running the Wandering Wolves, my Eberron campaign that ran for about two years as a 3.5 game. They hit 10th level, and we started there, rebuilding the characters in D&D 4.0, just a couple weeks ago. We're playing original adventures that I'm building using D&D Insider's awesome adventure-building tools. Characters are:
1. Ben Kimball - William d'Deneith, ex-vampire, ex-dragonmarked heir, current mercenary-minded Human Fighter
2. Paul Benjamin - Brand d'Orien, dragonmarked heir on the outs with his house, Human Ranger with a penchant for teleporting, moving around and chopping people with his duel swords or the help of his badass wolf companion
3. Jason Jones - Lysander d'Phiarlan, dragonmarked heir in good standing with his house, Elf Bard who had become quite famous before he and his friends were framed for attempted regicide
4. Nate Southard - Luggoth, rage-prone Razorclaw Shifter Barbarian who has a role to play in the Draconic Prophecy and a history with the Silver Flame and the Lords of Dust
5. Chris Nicholas - Pel, a Shifter Rogue with Cleric multiclass who worships the Traveler, has a strong connection with that god and also has connections to the Sharn gang known as the Tyrants
Both games are played on Friday nights at my place, we alternate weeks.
I post all my recaps and such on http://austingame.blogspot.com/ and have another blog site only I can read that I use for my behind-the-scenes notes, stats, etc.
1. Dan Grendell - Tengri, a Dragonborn Sorcerer who specializes in thunder effects
2. Joe Royer - Taiha Lakar, a Goliath Bear Shaman
3. Jamie Royer - Brynn, a Half-Elf Ranger with a focus on using a bow
4. Max Romero - Mmirg, a Half-Orc Warden with more than a little barbarian about him
5. Ben Kimball - Fargrim, a Dwarf Invoker of Pelor
They are currently trapped in an extradimensional pyramid, and their goal seems to be to kill the warlock who trapped them three times in order to get out. We're playing the D&D 4th Edition series of modules, and we're currently on the Pyramid of Shadows. When we complete it, I'm going to move to playing and Ben is going to take over GMing.
I'm also running the Wandering Wolves, my Eberron campaign that ran for about two years as a 3.5 game. They hit 10th level, and we started there, rebuilding the characters in D&D 4.0, just a couple weeks ago. We're playing original adventures that I'm building using D&D Insider's awesome adventure-building tools. Characters are:
1. Ben Kimball - William d'Deneith, ex-vampire, ex-dragonmarked heir, current mercenary-minded Human Fighter
2. Paul Benjamin - Brand d'Orien, dragonmarked heir on the outs with his house, Human Ranger with a penchant for teleporting, moving around and chopping people with his duel swords or the help of his badass wolf companion
3. Jason Jones - Lysander d'Phiarlan, dragonmarked heir in good standing with his house, Elf Bard who had become quite famous before he and his friends were framed for attempted regicide
4. Nate Southard - Luggoth, rage-prone Razorclaw Shifter Barbarian who has a role to play in the Draconic Prophecy and a history with the Silver Flame and the Lords of Dust
5. Chris Nicholas - Pel, a Shifter Rogue with Cleric multiclass who worships the Traveler, has a strong connection with that god and also has connections to the Sharn gang known as the Tyrants
Both games are played on Friday nights at my place, we alternate weeks.
I post all my recaps and such on http://austingame.blogspot.com/ and have another blog site only I can read that I use for my behind-the-scenes notes, stats, etc.
Randy's Gaming Links Episode I
Couple links of use for 4th Ed DMs:
1. Tokens for D&D 4th Edition (Requires Adobe Illustrator, not sure if Adobe Photoshop works)
2. D&D Monster Builder Beta goes live tomorrow on D&D Insider:
"Sometime tomorrow, a Beta version of the D&D Monster Builder will be available for all D&D Insiders to download and play with. You should expect to see an official news article tomorrow that coincides with the Monster Builder Beta being up for download. As always, I’ll pop back in and update you if I learn anything new and interesting."
1. Tokens for D&D 4th Edition (Requires Adobe Illustrator, not sure if Adobe Photoshop works)
2. D&D Monster Builder Beta goes live tomorrow on D&D Insider:
"Sometime tomorrow, a Beta version of the D&D Monster Builder will be available for all D&D Insiders to download and play with. You should expect to see an official news article tomorrow that coincides with the Monster Builder Beta being up for download. As always, I’ll pop back in and update you if I learn anything new and interesting."
D&D 4ED: Eberron
Okay, well I'm pretty much what you would call a GM newb. It's an undertaking, and I'm apprehensive about some aspects of GMing (mainly because I haven't done it before), but I'm really amped up for it. The plan is to meet every other Saturday night starting around 5:30. For the moment, we've got 5 players in the group, some who've been gaming for a long time to people who casually do it to people who've never picked up a D20 in their lives.
1. Stephen Carter - Cairn a Warforged Warden
2. Joan Palmer - Gonzo a Gnome Wild Magic Sorcerer
3. Will Palmer - Nil a Drow Ranger
4. Gayle Brandt - ????? a Eladrin Ranger
5. Jeff Brandt - ????? a Kalashtar Artificer
The campaign itself is a long term undertaking, with each session moving the characters further into the story. It starts in the towers of Sharn and will eventually branch out to the many other parts of Khorvaire. I'm attempting to really immerse the players in the world while at the same time encapsulating the whole globe-trotting adventure as best as I can.
Still, with me not knowing every rule in the book for D&D and having to cater to a variety of different playing types, I think I'm in for a challenge. I'm up for it though, or at least I think I am.
As for a site that I post stuff for the group...since we haven't started yet, I haven't decided if I'm going to do this or if emails to my players would better suit me. For the moment I'm in the midst of creating a GM only website (using the Google Site Application) so I can plan out all of the aspects of the adventure and be able to only need a lap top (plus the related books that I need) to run the thing. So far I'm liking how the site is shaping up.
1. Stephen Carter - Cairn a Warforged Warden
2. Joan Palmer - Gonzo a Gnome Wild Magic Sorcerer
3. Will Palmer - Nil a Drow Ranger
4. Gayle Brandt - ????? a Eladrin Ranger
5. Jeff Brandt - ????? a Kalashtar Artificer
The campaign itself is a long term undertaking, with each session moving the characters further into the story. It starts in the towers of Sharn and will eventually branch out to the many other parts of Khorvaire. I'm attempting to really immerse the players in the world while at the same time encapsulating the whole globe-trotting adventure as best as I can.
Still, with me not knowing every rule in the book for D&D and having to cater to a variety of different playing types, I think I'm in for a challenge. I'm up for it though, or at least I think I am.
As for a site that I post stuff for the group...since we haven't started yet, I haven't decided if I'm going to do this or if emails to my players would better suit me. For the moment I'm in the midst of creating a GM only website (using the Google Site Application) so I can plan out all of the aspects of the adventure and be able to only need a lap top (plus the related books that I need) to run the thing. So far I'm liking how the site is shaping up.
D&D 4th Ed.
With something like a decade gaming experience under my belt, I decided I really needed to try running the grandaddy of 'em all. I ran one test game (a highly modded one-nighter from the D&D Starter Box Set) and that went well enough that we've kicked off an ongoing. The game's got two roleplaying noobs (store customers Syd and her husband Daniel), and three other with varying degrees of experience (Nick, Dan, and Dan's roommate, Thomas). We game Sunday nights about once every two weeks.
The interesting thing about D&D is that in a lot of ways it goes against my roleplaying instincts for an uber-rules-lite approach. In the big scheme of things, D&D's far from being Rolemaster or Hero System, but for me...still more crunch than I'd like. I'm also trying D&D as my first long-form campaign - kind of tough, because I'm easily distracted, always ready to move on to the Next Big Thing.
This is an "off the rails" game, with me world-building as I go and writing original adventures. Local worldbuilding, I should say, no crazy cosmology stuff. Which is time-consuming but fun. There's no associated blog, but I do post brief recaps for my players via email.
And as I mainly fall into the roleplayer/storyteller category of gamers, what I'd like more than anything is to find a comfortable balance between action and roleplaying for this group. Randy suggested I post the "Sample of Play" Skill Challenge I wrote up for the group to clarify my somewhat hippie approach, and I figure it's not a bad way to showcase my general D&D philosophy. I'll post that sometime soonish.
The interesting thing about D&D is that in a lot of ways it goes against my roleplaying instincts for an uber-rules-lite approach. In the big scheme of things, D&D's far from being Rolemaster or Hero System, but for me...still more crunch than I'd like. I'm also trying D&D as my first long-form campaign - kind of tough, because I'm easily distracted, always ready to move on to the Next Big Thing.
This is an "off the rails" game, with me world-building as I go and writing original adventures. Local worldbuilding, I should say, no crazy cosmology stuff. Which is time-consuming but fun. There's no associated blog, but I do post brief recaps for my players via email.
And as I mainly fall into the roleplayer/storyteller category of gamers, what I'd like more than anything is to find a comfortable balance between action and roleplaying for this group. Randy suggested I post the "Sample of Play" Skill Challenge I wrote up for the group to clarify my somewhat hippie approach, and I figure it's not a bad way to showcase my general D&D philosophy. I'll post that sometime soonish.
Traveller
My Traveller campaign runs on alternate Saturday evenings at 6 PM, and has eight players:
The campaign is based (for now) in the Spinward Marches, having started on Regina/Regina. It's an episodic campaign, by which I mean I try very hard to make each session self-contained. It is not expected that every player will come to every session. In fact, if all eight players ever did show up on the same night, I'd have chair trouble. So far this is working out just right, with three to five people per session. Characters whose players can't make it to a given session become NPCs for that session, and will often just "stay on the ship" that week.
I plan to launch a web site for the campaign soon, featuring the usual character and session writeups, but also in-game information such as Traveller News Service posts, maps, and online tools for managing training and combat and whatnot.
- William Toporek — J.J. Felt, ex-Scout
- Cindy Roberts — Pearl Pepper, gumshoe
- Jason Jones — Baron Altara, aristocrat
- Trevor Watt — Cal Deudowski, former planetary police officer
- Adam Lipscomb — Daniel Esken, big game hunter and guide
- Alex Kimball — Knuckles, ex-mafia enforcer
- Lana Roberts — Unnamed, probably going to be an engineer
- Dave Farabee — Unnamed, maybe an Aslan?
The campaign is based (for now) in the Spinward Marches, having started on Regina/Regina. It's an episodic campaign, by which I mean I try very hard to make each session self-contained. It is not expected that every player will come to every session. In fact, if all eight players ever did show up on the same night, I'd have chair trouble. So far this is working out just right, with three to five people per session. Characters whose players can't make it to a given session become NPCs for that session, and will often just "stay on the ship" that week.
I plan to launch a web site for the campaign soon, featuring the usual character and session writeups, but also in-game information such as Traveller News Service posts, maps, and online tools for managing training and combat and whatnot.
First Post
This blog is being set up to serve as a place to post thoughts on GM-ing, from specific campaign ideas to recaps to example stuff. The notions Dave, Nick and I had when we started talking about it were putting up examples of skill challenges, quick recaps of games, links to stuff of interest to DMs and other such stuff.
To start with, I suggest a post about your campaigns and the players (and their characters) in them.
To start with, I suggest a post about your campaigns and the players (and their characters) in them.
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