RogueDM
2013-05-23, 01:35 PM
I went crazy one day and decided to start a "serial campaign" in place of my usual epic narrative as a sort of DMing experiment, and wanted to share it with the playground.
First, the setting: It's a campaign setting of my own device, set on a world dominated by small island nations. The party is hunting a particular pirate ship that destroyed their village and a mishap found them lost an unknown distance from their destination. I've also implemented a great deal of the Legends & Lairs book "Sorcery and Steam" to give the game a 16th century steam-punk sort of feel.
Serialized Encounters: Their journey home consists of numerous (potentially infinite) naval and island encounters that play out as one or two session stories. Think of The Odyssey but with muskets. The compact nature of the individual story arcs gives me the opportunity to let other people take the DM crown for a few sessions without disrupting the overarching storyline. I became the default DM by virtue of free time and ambition, however now and then some of the players get an idea they want to try and I can step aside and let them throw the party against an island containing the new DM's adventure. Afterwards its back to the ship and onto something new as they make their way home in search of revenge/justice.
Magic: Not every encounter (ship/island/etc) has a grasp of magic or technology parallel to the previous, some have more and some have less. To keep the party remotely on par with the changing setting I have thus far kept most magical items to a charge or daily limit so it has to be used judiciously as it may be needed more later.
Mentioned elsewhere I've also done away with XP, but there are enough threads discussing that currently. However, I invite questions, comments, and critiques of my set-up.
First, the setting: It's a campaign setting of my own device, set on a world dominated by small island nations. The party is hunting a particular pirate ship that destroyed their village and a mishap found them lost an unknown distance from their destination. I've also implemented a great deal of the Legends & Lairs book "Sorcery and Steam" to give the game a 16th century steam-punk sort of feel.
Serialized Encounters: Their journey home consists of numerous (potentially infinite) naval and island encounters that play out as one or two session stories. Think of The Odyssey but with muskets. The compact nature of the individual story arcs gives me the opportunity to let other people take the DM crown for a few sessions without disrupting the overarching storyline. I became the default DM by virtue of free time and ambition, however now and then some of the players get an idea they want to try and I can step aside and let them throw the party against an island containing the new DM's adventure. Afterwards its back to the ship and onto something new as they make their way home in search of revenge/justice.
Magic: Not every encounter (ship/island/etc) has a grasp of magic or technology parallel to the previous, some have more and some have less. To keep the party remotely on par with the changing setting I have thus far kept most magical items to a charge or daily limit so it has to be used judiciously as it may be needed more later.
Mentioned elsewhere I've also done away with XP, but there are enough threads discussing that currently. However, I invite questions, comments, and critiques of my set-up.