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On Necromancy, Mirroring some of the thoughts already expressed you could easily do the sort of thing where Necromancy is seen as an honoured tradition that enables other traditions important to the culture. For example: in StarCraft via some :technobabble: involving crystals, psionics, and technology, the spirits of fallen Protoss warriors can be housed in Dragoon exo-skeletons so that they can continue to fight; and, as already mentioned, there is a similar thing in Warhammer 40,000 involving critically injured Space Marines being refurbished as Dreadnoughts. You can easily re-flavour the techno-babble with necro-babble to achieve the same or similar ends: the holiest of warriors, or the greatest champions of the Order of Whatever, or the favoured Knights Errant of the Benevolent Whatever, or the Personal Retinue of His Imperial Majesty, could be elite, literally-unkillable (because they're already undead!) super badass warriors with a great deal of ceremony and prestige attached to them. Even if you're not playing up a martial society, you can still drops hints about how great they are in the occasional admiration of NPCs. Make the Undead Commandos like the country's Navy SEALs, SAS, or something: maybe everyone doesn't want to be one, but everyone realizes how awesome they are, etc.
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Oct 25, 2012 21:12
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Nietzschean posted:For example: in StarCraft via some :technobabble: involving crystals, psionics, and technology, the spirits of fallen Protoss warriors can be housed in Dragoon exo-skeletons so that they can continue to fight; and, as already mentioned, there is a similar thing in Warhammer 40,000 involving critically injured Space Marines being refurbished as Dreadnoughts. The dragoon thing was iirc crippled warriors not spirits, I think they flavored the vapor trail for zealot death as an emergency teleport device. Yeah I mean there's basically nothing wrong with a likable 'classic' necromancer, I think a tragic villain or antihero could be likable in that regard. You could have a necromancer who practiced his art out of the need to defend himself/others but was persecuted because of this. He's not liked by society but his intentions are noble or were noble at one point. Or think of it like Magus from Chrono Trigger, only he seeks to make himself a lich so he can battle/seal a greater evil from the world. Essentially you leave the mechanical aspects of necromancy intact and just change the intention of the act. Which is probably cliche as gently caress but is more adaptable. Admittedly why necromancy has any evil stigma to it at all in most settings is kind of puzzling to me.
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Oct 25, 2012 21:52
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I would assume the stigma towards necromancy in most settings is related to how Necromancers usually acquire dead bodies or skeletons in the first place.
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Oct 25, 2012 21:56
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You could shamelessly rip off Frankenstein and have your likable necromancer be a doctor who's trying to cure death.
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Oct 25, 2012 22:12
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In addition, reanimating the undead often requires pacts with entities that don't have the most noble of intentions, and often to animate undead the necromancer requires souls or fractional souls to animate the bodies. This is not the sort of a thing nice, helpful people usually come across by accident. The other thing is undead make great enemies. Even Orcs have mothers, but that shambling, mindless zombie is already dead.
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Oct 25, 2012 22:15
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P.S. STILL COMPLETELY DEVOID OF MERIT
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Yeah but that's defined by the system. There's that animu with a necromancer that definitely makes her seem benevolent (moe shenanigans aside) - she is a huge magic source and empathic to all zombies she creates, and also said zombies are fully sentient. If you take away the otherworldly sources of power and questionable sources of corpses and customs regarding reverence of the dead that center around the dead staying dead then there should be nothing innately vile regarding necromancy. Who said the undead had to look disgusting and shamble?
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Oct 25, 2012 22:39
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Question: I've been running a science fiction tabletop game for about three years or so now. It's very heavily character and story-based, with a strong emphasis on atmosphere and immersion. We've been using D20 Modern, but I play fast and loose with the rules and end up having to jury-rig quite a few of them. I think it's a boring system, and I would like a little more structure, but I want to institute it in a way that is compelling enough to make me want to really get to know whatever new system I switch to. The game is very heavily inspired by Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell; it's mostly urban-based with a noir and espionage bent. Most of the characters are involved in law enforcement or organized crime. There's no magic and no real aliens to speak of. With this said, what system should I consider using/switching to that would be most appropriate? Anyone care to help out a relative rookie?
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Oct 26, 2012 01:50
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Guesticles posted:People's Undead Army Corps Campaign for Dead Rights, like in Discworld. They could be after the right to vote, to hold office, to own property, or all sorts of things traditionally denied to the dead. There could even be a dead, dead-friendly, dead-allied, or nearly-dead party member who hands out leaflets and shouts slogans at living-rights protestors. Now I want to run a campaign about the differently alive campaigning for civil rights. Edit: Members of the Adventurers Guild start a Ghast, Lycanthrope, Banshee alliance club, clerics and temple groups condemn it and the Guild Board says that the club can't meet on Guild property. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Oct 26, 2012 |
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Oct 26, 2012 03:53
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AlphaDog posted:Campaign for Dead Rights, like in Discworld. "Differently alive" is just a polite way of saying the undead are second-class citizens. You don't call the living "regularly alive". The distinction is the problem. There will be no true equality until the distinction is removed entirely. Separate is not equal!
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Oct 26, 2012 03:55
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Cis-vital and trans-migrated. A game I was in a while ago had a necromancer in the party. He was more focused on spells that manipulated life force than on raising the dead, but the GM wanted some way to bring traditional elements of the school into play without necessarily being all evil and gross. I suggested geocaching. Lo and behold, next session we were introduced to Chilly Bob the necromancer, and through him, undead geocaching. You'd animate something, cast a new spell on it to remove your control and put it into stasis, and swap it for something else in the crypt-cache.
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Oct 26, 2012 04:35
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I also had a player that drew a hard line at not raising a sentient race. Anything a person would hunt or eat was fair game. He started with a pair of skeleton dogs and ended by asking me what the stats would be for him to have a hive of zombie bees.
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Oct 26, 2012 05:28
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Razorwired posted:the stats would be for him to have a hive of zombie bees. That is both terrible and awesome.
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Oct 26, 2012 06:47
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Honestly, what strikes me weird about most traditional necromancy things is that most people don't look at say, the way Mexicans view their dead for inspiration, going only with other stuff. Or even just old ancestor worship things. The closest anything got to that in memory is Eberron (owns). Someone whose undead assistants consist mainly of family returned for old favors or to make sure Little Joe actually passes that math test instead of bouncing off to play hide-the-knife is pretty reasonable. If you limit physical manifestations to certain important times of the year, anniversaries and other important dates, you get an interesting part where, say, Tía Celeste is the only one around to help because she's got the only grave you still take care of (or know the location of) for this time of year. Of course, this involves recognizing that PCs might have families or history, and I've had groups that wanted to murder me for that. So who knows if it'll work for you.
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Oct 26, 2012 15:04
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Razorwired posted:I also had a player that drew a hard line at not raising a sentient race. Anything a person would hunt or eat was fair game. He started with a pair of skeleton dogs and ended by asking me what the stats would be for him to have a hive of zombie bees. Zombees
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Oct 26, 2012 15:25
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Swagger Dagger posted:You really need to get your hands on Damnation City: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/28796/Damnation-City?it=1 I've been reading this a bit and really, really like it. Much obliged!
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Oct 30, 2012 19:11
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Hoping for a quick brainstorm. My players are investigating the various Fae courts, and in the process of rescuing some kidnapped children, have literally encountered Candyland. After some divinations, they've learned that Candyland is at war with the Court of the Night, of whom the players are TERRIFIED of, and for good reason. Of course, they do not respect the "Candy Court" of fae, and I want to change that. My thought is that the Court of the Night deals with unknowns... "the monster under the bed", "the boogeyman", etc, but also much more terrifying unknowns. While the "Candy Court" is actually the Court of Unrestrained Desires, merely appearing as candy because of the children they were rescuing. I want the players to respect and fear this Court as much as they respect and fear the Night Court. I could do sortof do this with succubi-like creatures and such, but I want to make it clear that these succubi are ALSO the same fae from the "Candy Court" they encountered before. And I think it'd be great to also include, you know, Lord Licorice, King Kandy, Mr Mint, and so forth. But I need to do it in a way that inspires awe and respect, which the players lack right now. Ideas?
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Oct 31, 2012 18:35
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Iunnrais posted:Hoping for a quick brainstorm. My players are investigating the various Fae courts, and in the process of rescuing some kidnapped children, have literally encountered Candyland. After some divinations, they've learned that Candyland is at war with the Court of the Night, of whom the players are TERRIFIED of, and for good reason. Stop having it be just Candyland. Have the (secret, immoral) desires of the PCs begin to slip through the cracks, especially when the kids aren't around. Maybe someone's dead SO or murdered parents are seen walking into the gumdrop forest. Maybe as the children walk away from the chocolate pond, the paladin begins to see the chocolate bubble and burn because she really wants is to just let the world die. Et cetera. Do the same thing for the rulers.
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Oct 31, 2012 19:04
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Start having things get unrestrained. What happens when Candy Land dials it up to eleven? If the characters are scared of the Court of Night, show them why Candy land can be in a war with the thing that makes them terrified. Let the party separate for some good reason, and have the group that isn't with the kids find that Candy Land is now Gold Coins Glory And Gals Land. Or Gold Coins Glory And Guys Land, depending.
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Oct 31, 2012 19:18
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Iunnrais posted:Hoping for a quick brainstorm. My players are investigating the various Fae courts, and in the process of rescuing some kidnapped children, have literally encountered Candyland. After some divinations, they've learned that Candyland is at war with the Court of the Night, of whom the players are TERRIFIED of, and for good reason. Achmed Jones' advice owns; I'd throw in a bit of darkness that depends on some of the kids' backgrounds as well. Think about it - you're talking about the Court of Unrestrained Desires. What little kid hasn't wished, if only for a minute, that their parents were dead and gone, so that no one could tell them when to go to bed and when to stop playing? So when Lord Licorice shows up and brutally murders the parents of a small village... well, the PCs will start respecting them right quick. Of course, once they drive off the CandyFae and break their glamour, the little kids are going to start missing their parents - which makes for an interesting adventure hook in and of itself. "Okay, adventurers, you are now surrounded by thirty distraught children, all of whom are begging you to bring their mommies and daddies back, and who have latched on to you as the closest thing they have to parental figures, which is why when you try and drop them off at the cleric's local temple they wail in agony and run after you. So... now what?"
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Oct 31, 2012 19:22
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Achmed Jones gave you some advice. Some supporting ideas Have some of the Court of the Night monsters/leaders that the players fear be scared of the Candy Court. Like they are being chased by the Nightmare Calvary, who brake their horses at the border of Candyland, unwilling to follow your players because they're afraid of what might befall them. Or maybe have them kidnap one of the Night nobles, and that noble is terrified of being a prisoner of the Candy Court. Have you seen the Twilight Zone episode Its a Good Life? Candyland turns you into an addict. Have the party encounter 'junkies' that willing to follow any order, do anything, to be let back inside. The Candy Court abducts the children, gives them their wish and desire, and then threatens to return them to the normal world if they don't do exactly what the court commands them to do.
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Oct 31, 2012 19:54
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MadPierrot posted:Question: I've been experimenting with hacking FATE and *World style GMing into Pathfinder with great success. You can't fix any fundamental balance issues, but with some simple hacks to the base mechanic and skill system you can get a style of play which is streamlined, more dramatic and improvisation-friendly. Idea 1: Only roll for dramatic events. If there is no inherent risk and drama to an action, don't make a roll, don't take 10/take 20, just breeze past the event with whatever makes sense and keep the story on fast forward until you get to some real danger or conflict. Idea 2: Good/Bad rather than Success/Fail Avoid null events. Absolutely every roll should have an outcome. Every 'failed' roll should have bad consequences. For instance: character is investigating a room and they fail their roll so perhaps they discover some unwelcome knowledge that has dire implications. Another example: character is hacking a computer terminal and fails their roll, so perhaps an alarm is tripped and a security robot is sent towards their location. Instead of negating actions through failure, you use failures to heighten drama and enrich the story. Idea 3: Turn Near Misses into Partial Success You can introduce Partial Success into the d20 mechanic by leaving an open offer of "add +4 to any roll in exchange for some consequence". This will let them turn near-misses into successes, but you get to do something like deal some non-lethal damage or they trip or drop an item, etc. Partial success should never be offsetting outcomes, as "something good and something bad" is inherently more interesting than "nothing happens". Idea 4: Degrees of Success (aka Shifts) Let players pick extra benefits for every 4 points by which they exceed a target roll. You can either let them gain extra mechanical effects (extra dice of damage, temporarily daze, etc), or prompt them to add beneficial narrative elements. You will need to do some figuring out of appropriate DCs, but if you aim for a target around 10+ the player's bonuses, with the partial success and shifts mechanics thrown in there it gives an outcome distribution of 25% bad, 20% good/bad, 20% good, 20% great, 5% awesome.
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Oct 31, 2012 22:17
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In reference to the Candy Land question, have you heard of the original Assassin's Cult? They go by the name of "The Old Man on the Mountain" I believe. Their founder started using these old brainwashing tricks he found, along with some that he came up with, to build up the group that would eventually be the assassin's group from the Assassin's Creed series. Basically, he bought a fancy castle - set up beautiful gardens filled with every imaginable fruit, crystal clear streams running through it, the best lovers imaginable (ala 72 virgins), and the most lavish decorations that money could buy. Upon meeting people who he thought would make good minions, he'd invite them to talk and eat at his "real" home, drug them up really good, let them enjoy "Paradise" for a few days, then have them re-drugged and brought back before him. He'd then tell them that he was the destined leader spoken of by Mohammed, and that he had the power to give them Paradise whenever they wanted, as long as they serve him. This would be accepted with little difficulty, considering that prophesy would make him a literal representation of God. You could probably use something along those lines to show just how evil Unrelented Desires can be.
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Nov 1, 2012 13:22
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I gotta ask for an idea and to do that I have to dump a load of backstory on you guys. My campaign's main antagonist right now is a wizard by the name of Walter. Walter used to be a good guy back in the day - 1500 years ago he helped save the world from destruction by Tharizdun, but in return the gods granted him a wish, and that's when the trouble started, because he wished for eternal life. Present day, Walter cannot die, and at this point, lord knows he's tried. His mind can't handle it, and he's aligned himself with Tharizdun to further his plan of destroying the world - if that doesn't do Walter in, nothing will. The party is in the Shadowfell, trying to find a way to make Walter mortal again so they can face him (because last time did not turn out well). Little problem there: Walter's wish was granted by Necron, the god of death, but Necron has been killed in the meantime by a warrior who took his place, the Raven Queen. She cannot reverse that wish. They still want to visit her near the Necropolis where Necron is entombed to try and find another way. So that's what I established, and then realized, as I often to, that I have no idea how they could pull that off and what they would have to do, except that it would be great if it could be done within an 8-hour-game session that already has to cover the dangerous journey to the Necropolis. Anything that involves Far Realm creatures, Slaad or equally relevant elements would be a bonus. e: I guess equally acceptable would be "what would the Raven Queen have them do before she restores Walter back to mortality" except if I establish she's capable of that it's just gonna be the old "I tell her the world itself is at stake, that's a 52 on Diplomacy" again and I mean there's lots of reasons why that wouldn't work but I'd just rather not even go there, y'know? My Lovely Horse fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Nov 1, 2012 |
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Nov 1, 2012 18:24
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My Lovely Horse posted:I gotta ask for an idea and to do that I have to dump a load of backstory on you guys. Time travel back to Walter's wish and mess it up a little so that there's an inconvenient-but-possible way to kill him in the present. Maybe slaads are so weird because the time-space continuum messes them up.
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Nov 1, 2012 18:34
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My Lovely Horse posted:I gotta ask for an idea and to do that I have to dump a load of backstory on you guys. First thing that comes to mind: Walter's immortality only covers him on the material plane. (but I'm guessing its been established that it extends to other planes; but maybe not the far realm?). Next, just because he can't be killed doesn't mean he can't be disabled. Petrify would take Walter out of commission. It could also set him up to an antagonist in other campaigns. Going with your current plan, that is, the party breaks into Necron's tomb, the party could find some trinket or talisman inside. Immediately after taking this bauble, they are beset by servants of the Raven Queen; its obvious she wants whatever it is they find, and is willing to negotiate. For the Far Realm/Slaad angle, maybe the Slaad are trying to break into the tomb. What results is a running battle (against the clock?) to get to the Tomb first. Maybe the Raven Queen knows what the Slaad are up to, and won't be swayed by the party's 58 Diplomacy until the Slaad have been dealt with.
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Nov 1, 2012 19:30
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Guesticles posted:First thing that comes to mind: Walter's immortality only covers him on the material plane. (but I'm guessing its been established that it extends to other planes; but maybe not the far realm?). Since nothing in the multiverse can kill him, the obvious solution is for them to go on an epic quest to obtain a weapon from outside reality. They could also potentially reset the fuse on the guy by wiping out most or all of his memories. Really, though, what he ought to be doing as a DM is just present them with the problem, with maybe a plan or two in mind, and then see what ideas they come up with, and then figure out why one or more of those ideas will work, rather than declaring why they won't.
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Nov 1, 2012 20:46
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The answer is to let them present and pursue a solution which does not immediately succeed but which gives them a lead on another solution that will work. This will drive home the fact that it's a difficult task. If that fails, then be sure they make a pit stop in Double Hell on the way to Scarytown: 
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Nov 1, 2012 21:05
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While I've been playing in and running various game systems since the late 80's, I still consider myself a new DM, and I'd appreciate some assistance in making the next few sessions of my D&D 3.5 group interesting. Currently the party is level 15, headed through some underground/labyrinthine caverns to pick up the macguffin from an elder black dragon -- I'm aiming to have them hit level 17/18 by the time they get to its lair, as they will very likely need to kill the dragon to get the item. The players and characters are motivated to get to the big fight, but I want to make their trip adventuresome and memorable over the next few weeks/months. We have two wizards (both very experienced D&D players; one diviner/evoker, one illusionist), two clerics (both very inexperienced D&D players), a rogue, and a dwarven defender (in the middle). All have played in the campaign since basically Level 1, and so are tight-knit. I'm thinking of having them encounter underground lakes or seas, run into dark elves, possibly some elementals, and lots of magic and historic technology gone awry. We're using the Ptolus campaign setting, and I was hoping to pick your collective brains for different scenarios, puzzles, or interesting monsters I could throw at them, that wouldn't just be the standard "hack, slash, spell, kill, rest, rinse, repeat" formula. The party works extremely well together, and it is difficult for me to balance encounters that won't be blown to bits by the two wizards, can actually hit the defender, but won't be insanely lethal to the rogue/clerics. Thoughts?
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Nov 1, 2012 21:14
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The primary problem you'll have in a group that's heavily magic-reliant is in finding a way to challenge them that isn't either: a) instantly circumvented by magic, or b) an anti-magic field. Non-combat encounters are the best way to challenge players at any character level, because their degree of success depends less on mechanical bonuses and more on the aptitude of the players.
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Nov 1, 2012 21:29
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My Lovely Horse posted:I gotta ask for an idea and to do that I have to dump a load of backstory on you guys. Walter wants to die. Walter is only an antagonist because he wants to die. Okay... but why does he want to die? Because who the hell can handle living that long and seeing everything they love crumble, right? ...so why can't someone just put him into enchanted sleep? He still lives, but he's not conscious of it - all that ennui and angst has nothing to latch on to. Instead he can dream for all eternity. And being a powerful wizard, his dreams can probably be used as fuel for plot points all their own. Maybe the key to Tharizdun's defeat is obtained by venturing into the Dreamlands and questing through Walter's subconscious until they find a Macguffin - literally the Artifact Of His Dreams - and find a way to bring it into the material plane.
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Nov 1, 2012 22:06
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Ill Switch Worse posted:Having run a small Vampire: the Masquerade game with some old friends over the summer with moderate success, I've decided to start planning a new game with players from my university who have a bit more experience. My idea was a game set in Las Vegas, with the city run by a Ravnos Baron with a vice for gambling. I'm looking to set up a power structure within the city, but that seems a little more difficult than standard Camarilla fare. Can anyone offer advice on how independent cities are typically structured or recommend any resources that can help on dealing with that? I have ideas for spheres of influence, but I'm really wondering more about kindred politics and a hierarchy there, should one really exist at all. Watch Casino and steal from it mercilessly. Seriously, just rip it off wholesale and then add a bit of your spin and let the rest come out in play. They'll never notice. I mean, come on: vampire Robert de Niro.
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Nov 1, 2012 22:07
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Ill Switch Worse posted:Having run a small Vampire: the Masquerade game with some old friends over the summer with moderate success, I've decided to start planning a new game with players from my university who have a bit more experience. My idea was a game set in Las Vegas, with the city run by a Ravnos Baron with a vice for gambling. I'm looking to set up a power structure within the city, but that seems a little more difficult than standard Camarilla fare. Can anyone offer advice on how independent cities are typically structured or recommend any resources that can help on dealing with that? I have ideas for spheres of influence, but I'm really wondering more about kindred politics and a hierarchy there, should one really exist at all. Missed this question earlier. The way they're typically presented in the canon, independent cities tend to be largely controlled by a single Clan (for instance, 'canon' Vegas is run almost entirely by the Giovanni, and members of other Clans exist there pretty much by their sufferance), or they tend to be essentially Camarilla cities that happen to not be part of the Camarilla (see Vancouver by Night, which is structured basically as Cam territory with the serial numbers filed off). Honestly, the latter - with some modification - is probably your best bet. You have a Central Figure who runs the place; that's your de facto Prince, no matter what he calls himself. The key is to look at the typical Camarilla power structure and figure out which parts of it only exist because of the Camarilla, and whether or not you can throw those out. As an example, the Primogen - odds are a Ravnos-run city won't have any sort of codified, recognized council. However, they may have an informal equivalent - a bunch of Clan Elders who have an uneasy arrangement, the sort of 'none of us is strong enough to take power for ourselves, but if we present a semi-united front we can get the boss to listen to us on the matters we feel are important' setup that first introduced the Primogen concept back in the old 1st Edition Chicago by Night (still my favorite V:tM setting book). Likewise, there may be no designated Sheriff, but there may be a particular enforcer type who serves as the boss' strong right hand, even if there's no official job title that comes along with the deal (again, see 1e Chicago; 'Sheriff' was actually a 'title' given to the Prince's lackey by people who hated him. It wasn't a job description, it was an insult). Then expand on these differences a bit. Instead of one From there, work on the differences that make your city unique. Maybe your Ravnos runs Vegas, but some of the bigger casinos are essentially little fiefs-within-fiefs; Caesar's is run by a Giovanni family and no other Kindred are allowed inside, the Wynn Las Vegas is actually considered Camarilla territory and has its own Prince, et cetera. Most of what I'm saying boils down to "a similar hierarchy to the Camarilla, but much looser and more flexible." Camarilla power structures work, after all, and they're a ready-made template; adapting them for an independent city is easier and gives your players a semi-familiar grounding. Just keep in mind that without the Camarilla structure of Archons and Justicars and such to enforce the One True Vampire Political System, things will get adapted; what works stays, what doesn't gets thrown out. So long as there are enough differences that your players will get caught if they make too many assumptions, you should be fine. P.S. Yes, steal mercilessly from Casino. This is never bad advice. For any game.
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Nov 1, 2012 22:36
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Lotta splendid ideas but man, the time travel one just kicked off a whole cascade of ideas, which include: - no one knows the exact wording of Walter's wish since part of it was that the wording be forgotten after the wish was fulfilled - he took a long time to make it as watertight, safe and non-divinable as possible. Little does he know some jackass time-travelling adventurer group intercepted his wish letter and messed with it! Now they and only they know how he can be killed. - Tharizdun wants to protect his investment and sent some creatures to guard Necron's tomb, since he has a hunch someone might try and mess with Walter's immortality there. Turns out when really powerful Slaad die it can create a time portal. Possible tie-in with the Raven Queen as goddess of fate here? - Modrons watching over the timestream, ensuring that nothing already established gets invalidated by jackass time travellers. Everyone likes modrons, right? I always feel better if I have a default path to fall back on, that said I am leaving the door open for player ideas. For example, the possibility of resurrecting the God of Death is on the table. That's something I'd also regard as suitably epic for the occasion.
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Nov 1, 2012 22:53
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My Lovely Horse posted:Lotta splendid ideas but man, the time travel one just kicked off a whole cascade of ideas, which include: This is actually what I had in mind. There should probably be other unexpected consequences -- they return to the present and some things are different -- or they have to get to the past not knowing how they'll actually return to their time. Maybe they have to leave messages for their future selves.
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Nov 2, 2012 02:18
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Every time they want to do something in the past that would change things from what they know, they have to find a way to sneak that past the modrons. Also these guys have been playing D&D for a long time, I'm sure they'll enjoy formulating a wish that looks watertight but has one specific out. Hell maybe they end up killing Walter in the past. That would take the whole campaign into a different but pretty cool direction.
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Nov 2, 2012 06:59
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Nostalgia4ColdWar fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Mar 31, 2017 |
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Nov 4, 2012 23:56
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Is this Church a casting Church? If so, Cause Fear, let the civilians trample themselves if they can't gaze upon the face of God with a calm heart. If not, alchemical grenades for a similar effect. It sounds like you're delving pretty heavily into themes of oppression. One way you might want to advance that further is to think that basically all these powerful organizations have gotten too big and widespread to actually be able to coordinate effectively - their left hand doesn't know what their right hand is doing. Who doesn't want the kobolds back? The Church has an obvious interest, but the Great Houses may have a valuable collection of curiosities that would rapidly become less so if a stable kobold civilization was producing them all the time. Maybe the Guilds are chartered against kobold participation and would rather not spend ten years trying to get everyone to agree to the new status quo. Maybe a bunch of people were making separate moves against them and just all happened to come together, Murder on the Orient Express style. The monk's old buddy was scammed into being a scab worker and now the guild enforcers are tracking him down. Some minor functionary in the Great Houses paid an assassin a hefty sum for the Rogue, guaranteed dead, with penalties when the contract isn't carried out and the killer is currently going broke trying not to wind up destitute. I don't know, maybe that's not a way you want to go with this.
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Nov 6, 2012 15:46
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So I'm just gettin into this thread but I have a question about my Requiem game: I have three PCs and their three sires. One sire has gone his own way and may return later, one PC is, essentially dating her sire (who is not much older than her) and the third sire is a very old Meket who is too powerful to bring in most of the time. How can I encourage my players to not be so dependant on their sires aside from "Oh, well he just didn't answer his phone"? Last boss-type encounter had a very powerful NPC do the bulk of the fighting and killed the mage at the behest of the players. The encounter was tuned perfectly for them to handle it and it feels like they don't want power and glory.
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Nov 6, 2012 22:10
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Inzombiac posted:So I'm just gettin into this thread but I have a question about my Requiem game: If the sire characters themselves are a problem, give them reason to distrust their sires or find ways to otherwise make said npcs unavailable (physical incapacitation, important business elsewhere). Are they actively manipulating NPCs into doing their bidding? Maybe that's their preferred playstyle, and if this is the case they could be on their way to playing rear end in a top hat Bards, which can be fun in its own right. If you feel like your players are being passive about things in general, ask them what they expect out of the game and try to change the game so they are actively engaged in it. The description in question about a powerful NPC doing most of the fighting sounds dangerous though -- definitely avoid actions that take away from what the players can accomplish. If an NPC has to be involved make it so that they empower the players somehow or the players have to take an active role to enable said NPC or disable said NPC's opponent - so that the victory is ultimately dependent on what the players do.
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Nov 6, 2012 22:36
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| # ? May 12, 2024 12:40 |
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Some neurons have been firing for a campaign and I thought I'd ask this thread a couple questions. When it comes to world building and campaign construction, how do you guys normally go about the process? How much of it do you do before the sessions start? Obviously player input is a great device for both creating a diverse world and getting the players invested, but when are some situations when it would not be appropriate? (barring the obvious "My guy is super awesome and everyone loves him everywhere") The campaign I have in mind is set in a northern italy type setting, with different cities coexisting in a region, each one vying for power and all of them attempting to resist outside invasion. Each one with different customs, culture, rulers, and governments. I'd like the ability to go into detail about these things should the players be interested, and would probably end up spending a bunch of time working on them. I also think it would be cool if my players would create a city for the setting, either building it in character, or OOC telling me what that poo poo is all about. If I do this, should I really spend so much time on the other stuff? Would I just be wasting my time if the players are very likely to spend all of their time in something they created? Another thing I mean to ask, what's a good way to divulge all of this information, and how much is too much? If these are characters that have been living in the setting their whole lives and have been traveling in-between, should I break Show, Don't Tell and give them access to a cliff notes of each city? Or would it be best to let the players infer knowledge through narrative, and have them roll knowledge checks along the way for whatever questions they have? I'm digging the intelligent discussion in this thread (Necromancers in particular, you guys are awesome). I'm thinking of adding a bookmarks section to the OP so that any straggler can wander in and click on a topic they might like. (e: If you guys have any in particular that you want added, message me a link to where it starts, or just post it in the thread) Arrrthritis fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Nov 8, 2012 |
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Nov 8, 2012 03:33
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