Behold_the_Void
2009-06-27, 10:39 AM
I'm going to be running a game come early August for my girlfriend and some other friends, and I thought I might give the whole "Open World" thing a try, if I can wing it. The problem, though, is I am notoriously lazy as a GM when it comes to planning ahead. I've always been good at flying by the seat of my pants when GMing, so to speak, so I tend to just grab some stats and go with it. While this may come in handy with running said game, I'm trying to be a good boy and actually get a feel for how this place works. My players are generally fairly docile, and will usually run dutifully along the rails without complaint, but in the last game I've been running they seemed to want to move away from the primary plotline a bit so I'm trying to mix things up.
Game-wise, I'm using the homebrew system I've created since it needs more playtesting. The setting is going to be a steampunk-style world with some magitek civilizations living in floating continents. There's a bit of a clash between the magic users (who pass their abilities on through blood, although a mage can be born to a non-magic family and vice-versa) and people without it. There are a number of countries, though those without magic are far more numerous and the first thing I'm doing is getting a basic overview of all the countries and their basic relationships with each other. I'm thinking the overarching world plot will eventually be heightening conflicts between the mages and the normal people. Since we're all big mecha fans, there may be a number of homages to Mobile Suit Gundam, by which I mean at some point a blond man in a white mask may try to drop one of the floating continents on the mainland, but overall war is likely to be a big thing and with more than just two factions.
My basic thought is to build a sort of time-line of what is going to happen in the world without PC intervention and then set them loose. I'll start them in a mercantile association where they'll be able to pick up a job or two to get them together, but generally leave them free to go do as they will.
Stat-wise I will probably have to put together a number of stat-blocks to use as-needed. Airships will play a large role in travel and war, and I intend to put together the basic ships in a country's fleet, and since the system itself is so fluff-light at it's base to allow for whatever flavor you want, I can probably get by just fine with making a number of builds that fulfill different roles at different levels.
So, finally getting to the point, for those who run Open World often, beyond what I've got in mind what else does one do to prepare for these kinds of games? What should they have on-hand, and what should they leave open until it comes up?
Game-wise, I'm using the homebrew system I've created since it needs more playtesting. The setting is going to be a steampunk-style world with some magitek civilizations living in floating continents. There's a bit of a clash between the magic users (who pass their abilities on through blood, although a mage can be born to a non-magic family and vice-versa) and people without it. There are a number of countries, though those without magic are far more numerous and the first thing I'm doing is getting a basic overview of all the countries and their basic relationships with each other. I'm thinking the overarching world plot will eventually be heightening conflicts between the mages and the normal people. Since we're all big mecha fans, there may be a number of homages to Mobile Suit Gundam, by which I mean at some point a blond man in a white mask may try to drop one of the floating continents on the mainland, but overall war is likely to be a big thing and with more than just two factions.
My basic thought is to build a sort of time-line of what is going to happen in the world without PC intervention and then set them loose. I'll start them in a mercantile association where they'll be able to pick up a job or two to get them together, but generally leave them free to go do as they will.
Stat-wise I will probably have to put together a number of stat-blocks to use as-needed. Airships will play a large role in travel and war, and I intend to put together the basic ships in a country's fleet, and since the system itself is so fluff-light at it's base to allow for whatever flavor you want, I can probably get by just fine with making a number of builds that fulfill different roles at different levels.
So, finally getting to the point, for those who run Open World often, beyond what I've got in mind what else does one do to prepare for these kinds of games? What should they have on-hand, and what should they leave open until it comes up?