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View Full Version : Help with fleshing out an idea for a potential campaign story through email.



iamstillwater
2010-04-16, 05:31 AM
Hi folks,

Since I'm currently in learning mode regarding Dungeons and Dragons, I brought up with Aslan Cross the possibility of him helping me out with creating a campaign based on an idea I'm developing.

The thing is, I need some folks to read through the actual backstory and idea for me, but I'd like to keep the actual thing secret from the majority so that if I can actually get this campaign set up, I'd be able to write about it here and let everyone enjoy it as a full-fledged story complete with outcomes and whatnot.

Would any DMs versed in D&D 3.5 (sans Aslan, as I'm already talking to him) be willing to sign up for helping a newbie flesh out the idea for a campaign that Aslan and I can work on together? :)

If so, just sign up here, and I'll PM you details and maybe ask for your email so I can correspond with you directly and en masse.

I have experience writing stories and essays, but I know that campaigns will probably be a different beast, so if there's any specific format a DM volunteer would like me to write in, please specify the format (hell, if you want a specific font size so it's easier to read, mention it too) as well. :)

Just as a teaser to those who might be wondering what this is all about, the antagonist of this adventure will be known to the majority of the populace as "The Timeless One," so you can imagine what that would imply in your heads. :D

Cheers!
-Victor Stillwater.

PS: Will check back in an hour or two, as I have to eat dinner now. Take care, everybody! :D

Anasazi
2010-04-16, 05:43 AM
Sup Vic,
in conjunction with both this and your other post asking for the 3.5 to 4e differences and whatnot, I'm surprised that as a new GM you went with 3.5 to run your campaign. Yes, there are a ton more people out there that can help you with 3.5, but if you chose the 4e route you could help yourself.
To be honest, I'm surprised Aslan suggested 3.5 also, as he should know good and well that 4e is a great deal more friendly to new players and new gm's. I'm not a fanboy of 4e or anything, but I find that people that remain holding onto 3.5 are grabbing at the world they know, because they dont have the time or patience to learn the next. I played 3.5 for a great deal, and theres alot of things about it that I miss, but 4e is by far more friendly to everyone. As a new player/gm, I would think that adjusting yourself to a smaller world would be a great deal easier than adjusting yourself to a world that has countless suppliments.
If you change your mind, I'll be happy to overlook your story and see how it relates to the 4e universe. Otherwise, I wish you the best of luck in your campaign journey.

Kol Korran
2010-04-16, 06:03 AM
i'm not sure how much time i'll have to give input, but i'll try my best, that's all i can do really. one small note though- remember you're planning a Game not a story- the players should have meaningfull ways to affect the world, and not just in expected ways.

also, i don't have many books, so assume that some material i just don't know or have access to.
looking forward to it,
Kol.

iamstillwater
2010-04-16, 06:19 AM
@ Anasazi

Hi there. I chose 3.5 mostly because we had more resources on hand with which to create an adventure that way. As a student, I am currently hard pressed to fund the purchase of 4.0 books when I already have 3.5 resources available to me through websites and Aslan's books. :)

That said, please believe me when I say that this thread for campaign assistance and the one about the meta-history of 3.5 to 4.0 D&D are actually separate entities. I wanted to learn more about the strengths of both game types in the latter, and in this thread I wished to elicit assistance for the currently available path I can take at present.

@ Kol Korran

Thanks. I'll have something available for you to peruse by the weekend, possibly Sunday. :)

AslanCross
2010-04-16, 06:34 AM
To be honest, I'm surprised Aslan suggested 3.5 also, as he should know good and well that 4e is a great deal more friendly to new players and new gm's. I'm not a fanboy of 4e or anything, but I find that people that remain holding onto 3.5 are grabbing at the world they know, because they dont have the time or patience to learn the next.

I recommended 3.5 for the following reasons:
1. It's readily available. I've got over 20 books, and additional books come cheap here at 60% off. Anyone starting off 4E here needs to shell out at least Php 2000 (about US $40) which is a tall order for a country with low per capita income. And that's just one book. At least with 3.5 there's the SRD.

2. Since I'm going to be his DM most of the time and I've given 4E a try (even wrote a complete adventure for it) and decided I didn't like it, might as well go with what we know.

3. I disagree that 4E is clearly more friendly to new gamers. I think the learning curve's just about the same. Building a character's mechanics might be easier, but for someone who's got no gaming experience at all I do not agree that it is necessarily an easier starter. In my experience the only reason why I had an easy time picking it up is that it still has some holdover mechanics from 3.5.

4. Stillwater's had some experience with 3.5 in CRPGs, so he more or less knows what skills and feats are.

Anasazi
2010-04-16, 07:41 AM
You both make excellent points, and I do apologize if I came off accusingly. There are means by getting what you need but I understand what you like about it. Like I said, I played 3.5 for some time, but when it comes to casters and melee, I think its easier for players to get into because theres less to keep track of (in the case of casters) and more amusing to play (in the case of melee).
When you have what you have invested into one of the editions, I can see why you would select it over others also. I somehow got it into my head that water was going to be the GM, in which case I do believe its easier to handle. Alot of annoying number crunching has been streamlined in 4e that does make GMing easier, but again, just my opinion. Aslan, I say more power to you if you're willing to GM someone elses game. If you guys need help with continuty or whatnot, I'll be happy to help.

iamstillwater
2010-04-16, 07:50 AM
@Anasazi

It might take me a while to get the hang of DMing a session, so I'm thinking that Aslan should run the game with some input from me here or there to allow the flow of the game to progress smoothly towards the next phase of the adventure, while I chronicle the exploits of the people playing it.

That said, if you're willing to provide continuity support, I'd be glad to have you advise me. Just send me a PM with your email address and I'll have the first draft of the backgrounder done by Sunday, American time. :)

MarvinMartian
2010-04-16, 08:19 AM
Had quite a bit of experience DM'ing 3.5 (RL only) so would be interested in seeing what you come up with. My personal style of DM'ing was more the RP-heavy kind, with sufficient hack-'n-slash opportunities for those players not interested in the RP side of things (about half of them).

PM me and we will see how it goes. (I.e. if I have anything useful to contribute...)

As to how to set things up... my personal preference when making my own campaign was to draw, doodle, and sketch plots, time-lines as well as detail notable NPC's in the area. I also like writing, so often I would write for myself a short piece on how the area felt to me (city, country, population, reason for being, etc) basically including anything that felt relevant to the situation at hand. With all of this material, I would then try and set up a story line that would be progressing (i.e. villain's plot) continuously in the background.

Some of the items on the time-line would occur regardless of PC involvement, and yet others were open to PC involvement. This (at least in my group) gave the PC's a feeling that the world was much bigger than just them - BUT importantly if they felt like getting involved in things they could have an affect. Again this was mostly due to a feeling I wanted to give the PC's at the time that they were small fish in a big ocean... Also I wanted to avoid "rail-roading" my PC's into the main "story" line.

In the end it was their choice (eventually) to get involved and start changing things... [this also coincided with them become much more powerful in terms of level and weatlh]. In the meantime I had multiple shorter "story" arcs running that would let them (and me :smallbiggrin:) explore the world they were in and meet interesting people - introducing useful NPC's or annoying enemies - that they could call upon as the campaign progressed...

But hey enough spit-balling; show me what ya got...

iamstillwater
2010-04-16, 08:32 AM
Thanks MarvinMartian. Sent you a PM. Expect something by Sunday, American time at the latest. :)