Ivanhoe
2013-12-16, 07:36 AM
Hello everyone,
this is my first thread here and I hope I can find some inspiration for campaign that I want to start over the next months with my wife (who has absolutely no experience with RPGs whatsoever).
So I thought that I would start with the core 3.5 game (keeping the rules as simple as possible), do some introductory adventures with her, and then expand to a group (who may have some more experience, at least with RPGs, if not 3.5).
This is what I got so far - the pc:
My wife would like to play in a medieval setting with a small, cat-sized animal (probably a small dog) at her side which knows some magic and helps her out in tough situations. Preferably she wants human as a race (since she knows nothing about the others, so it is easier for her to imagine).
Additionally, she wants to be able to shoot with a bow and be some sort of hunter.
As such, I have thought about the following class:
- either human druid with a dog animal companion (reduced to small or even tiny size)
- or a human sorceress or wizard with a dog familiar.
Depends probably a bit on whether she imagines her character to focus on intellgence, charisma or wisdom (this is not clear yet).
In both cases, she would take a weapon proficiency to shoot with the bow. Also (and this is the homebrew/core-ish part) I would have the spells she (as a class) knows cast through the dog. Over the course of the campaign, I would then transfer more of the spellcasting decision on her.
This way, she would be a spellcaster but without the difficult decisions of spellcasting (at first) that are maybe a bit too much for a complete beginner.
This is what I got so far - the campaign start ideas
Since my wife is quite new to the fantasy genre in general (though she was OK with game of thrones TV series and Merlin TV series), I'll probably aim for a late medieval setting (possibly even historical with a twist...) and low-magic campaign.
During the course of the campaign, she would discover more and more unusual things like non-human races, different magic to that of her dog, monsters, witches, undead etc.
The campaign start would be a mountain area, and a small village/valley (so I can make up more stuff of the country/political situation etc. later).
Possibly the fluff/atmosphere is a bit like "The Brave" animated movie.
The plot starts when she has to disover the new dog companion as part of a family tradition ("The youngest/oldest girl of our familiy will always at go to the old stone circle to receive a magic guide.") Of course, this kind of thing hardly has ever happened, not to a living familiy member Etc.
So the unusual thing will be that this actually works: she will go to the stone circle, during the night, do the strange ritual - and the dog appears.
Now, as soon as she will have her companion, I imagine her discovering an old grave hill nearby the circle containing some hint for further treasure (my wife loves stories which include treasure hunts and mystery!).
The big questions now are (where I need help):
1. What kind encounters should be in there that are fun, challenging but not overwhelming?
[I]So far I thought about skeletons guarding an old hero grave where she finds the hint to the next adventure.
Maybe some centipedes of the appropriate size, and some old traps.
Possibly wild animals on her way to the stone circle/back to the village.
2. What could you suggest concerning her PC? What point buy should she get? Perhaps even a magic item (exceeding wbl) to support her?
3. What do you think about my solution that the animal companion/familiar does the casting and acts as some sort of "tutor" until she will take on more and more of the spellcasting herself? The "tutor" role would be more fitting for a familiar (which is quite intelligent), but an animal companion plus the druid class would make her a bit more resilient at the beginning (plus give woods-related skills as class skills). Or would this risk to much "DMnpcing?"
4. Do you have any suggestions in general for handling play/designing adventures with complete beginners?
Thanks for any help!:smallsmile:
this is my first thread here and I hope I can find some inspiration for campaign that I want to start over the next months with my wife (who has absolutely no experience with RPGs whatsoever).
So I thought that I would start with the core 3.5 game (keeping the rules as simple as possible), do some introductory adventures with her, and then expand to a group (who may have some more experience, at least with RPGs, if not 3.5).
This is what I got so far - the pc:
My wife would like to play in a medieval setting with a small, cat-sized animal (probably a small dog) at her side which knows some magic and helps her out in tough situations. Preferably she wants human as a race (since she knows nothing about the others, so it is easier for her to imagine).
Additionally, she wants to be able to shoot with a bow and be some sort of hunter.
As such, I have thought about the following class:
- either human druid with a dog animal companion (reduced to small or even tiny size)
- or a human sorceress or wizard with a dog familiar.
Depends probably a bit on whether she imagines her character to focus on intellgence, charisma or wisdom (this is not clear yet).
In both cases, she would take a weapon proficiency to shoot with the bow. Also (and this is the homebrew/core-ish part) I would have the spells she (as a class) knows cast through the dog. Over the course of the campaign, I would then transfer more of the spellcasting decision on her.
This way, she would be a spellcaster but without the difficult decisions of spellcasting (at first) that are maybe a bit too much for a complete beginner.
This is what I got so far - the campaign start ideas
Since my wife is quite new to the fantasy genre in general (though she was OK with game of thrones TV series and Merlin TV series), I'll probably aim for a late medieval setting (possibly even historical with a twist...) and low-magic campaign.
During the course of the campaign, she would discover more and more unusual things like non-human races, different magic to that of her dog, monsters, witches, undead etc.
The campaign start would be a mountain area, and a small village/valley (so I can make up more stuff of the country/political situation etc. later).
Possibly the fluff/atmosphere is a bit like "The Brave" animated movie.
The plot starts when she has to disover the new dog companion as part of a family tradition ("The youngest/oldest girl of our familiy will always at go to the old stone circle to receive a magic guide.") Of course, this kind of thing hardly has ever happened, not to a living familiy member Etc.
So the unusual thing will be that this actually works: she will go to the stone circle, during the night, do the strange ritual - and the dog appears.
Now, as soon as she will have her companion, I imagine her discovering an old grave hill nearby the circle containing some hint for further treasure (my wife loves stories which include treasure hunts and mystery!).
The big questions now are (where I need help):
1. What kind encounters should be in there that are fun, challenging but not overwhelming?
[I]So far I thought about skeletons guarding an old hero grave where she finds the hint to the next adventure.
Maybe some centipedes of the appropriate size, and some old traps.
Possibly wild animals on her way to the stone circle/back to the village.
2. What could you suggest concerning her PC? What point buy should she get? Perhaps even a magic item (exceeding wbl) to support her?
3. What do you think about my solution that the animal companion/familiar does the casting and acts as some sort of "tutor" until she will take on more and more of the spellcasting herself? The "tutor" role would be more fitting for a familiar (which is quite intelligent), but an animal companion plus the druid class would make her a bit more resilient at the beginning (plus give woods-related skills as class skills). Or would this risk to much "DMnpcing?"
4. Do you have any suggestions in general for handling play/designing adventures with complete beginners?
Thanks for any help!:smallsmile: