Bobby Baratheon
2017-03-18, 10:14 PM
This is a journal for the ongoing campaign I'm DMing. We are using very simplified D&D 3.5 rules in a modern setting, but the campaign itself is a cosmic horror story set in a slightly modified Cthulhu Mythos.
Notable points of difference from normal 3.5:
-Players are restricted to NPC classes and are functionally under the E6 system
-Some skills have been replaced by modern equivalents (ie Ride -> Drive)
-Sanity points are in play, with the severity of each loss determined situationally by the DM (me)
-Psychological disorders are also in play (with enthusiastic player support)
-Weaponry and equipment have been modernized (little to no effective armor available to players, generic firearms/improvised explosives now being a part of the game, etc)
-The game is set in Spokane, Washington
-The main idea here is for relatively weak protagonists and a narrative campaign based more on skill use. Combat and action is frequent, but not nearly to the degree of a standard D&D campaign.
-Since all three of them chose to be aristocrats, I let them select ten skills provided they could justify them within the characters' concepts.
One thing I do want to make note of is that the antagonistic cult group they are investigating, the Children of the Sun, purports to be a Buddhist offshoot but is not in fact a Buddhist sect. I mention this just to establish that any malfeasance which they get up to is in no way a comment on Buddhism.
The players are all new to D&D, though I ran them through a short practice campaign beforehand to get them acclimated to it. I'll use fake names for them cause it's the Internet. All three of them are level one aristocrats.
"Jeff" is a cunning player who despite his inexperience has proven to have a good understanding of the mechanics of the game and how to exploit them. He often ends up leading the group by default, and seems to be a bit more of a rollplayer than a roleplayer (though it's hardly egregious). He has a distinct fondness for explosions and firepower, and often provides quite a bit of the group's combat punch. He's playing Bud, a 33 year old divorced man from Louisiana who works in a local university (the Arkham University of Science and Engineering) as a lab supervisor and has quite a bit of education in the field of chemistry. He also has a few firearms stashed around, as befitting an avid hunter. His wife left him years ago to get involved in a commune, which has left him embittered towards religion (and especially those he deems a cult). In fact, he moved up to Spokane to get away from all that cult business that he left behind with his ex-wife in Louisiana.
"Ingrid" has some prior experience with D&D, but tends to enjoy the social aspect of it more than the mechanics of the game. She is, however, very good at keeping the rest of us on point when the inevitable jokes/memes/etc pop up. She very much enjoys burning heretics, and is playing a college student named Alli from fantastically wealthy parents (and is even the grandchild of the great Louis Sois, a famous archaeologist who went missing a few years back). Alli is the youngest member of the party and is very much focused on her grades. She has a close relationship with one of her Professors, a certain Dr. Benson who was close friends with her grandfather. She's been very concerned about her grandfather recently, and privately holds out hope that he's still alive despite the general consensus that he's dead. He was last seen in at a dig site in Indonesia that is supposedly connected to a radical offshoot of Buddhism called the Children of the Sun.
"Mika" is new to roleplaying, but is very enthusiastic and enjoys creating a character and inhabiting their skin for a few hours. She isn't especially fond of all of the mechanical rules associated with the game, but enjoys the often insane adventures had within it. Her characters are very eccentric, as shown by Todd. Todd is another wealthy student of Arkham but has spent years there without ever really progressing towards anything. He's had problems with substance abuse, and doesn't seem to have much direction or meaning in his life. Recently his girlfriend Camina was inducted into a strange sect of Buddhism called the Children of the Sun, and she's grown very distant from him. He's more than a little disturbed by this, and it's been taxing on his already frail mental health.
I'll get a write up of the full first session once I get a chance. We are about two months in, so there's plenty of material to catch up on. Also, feel free to comment plot ideas or suggestions in spoilers. I'd love to hear the playground's feedback and ideas :smallsmile:
Notable points of difference from normal 3.5:
-Players are restricted to NPC classes and are functionally under the E6 system
-Some skills have been replaced by modern equivalents (ie Ride -> Drive)
-Sanity points are in play, with the severity of each loss determined situationally by the DM (me)
-Psychological disorders are also in play (with enthusiastic player support)
-Weaponry and equipment have been modernized (little to no effective armor available to players, generic firearms/improvised explosives now being a part of the game, etc)
-The game is set in Spokane, Washington
-The main idea here is for relatively weak protagonists and a narrative campaign based more on skill use. Combat and action is frequent, but not nearly to the degree of a standard D&D campaign.
-Since all three of them chose to be aristocrats, I let them select ten skills provided they could justify them within the characters' concepts.
One thing I do want to make note of is that the antagonistic cult group they are investigating, the Children of the Sun, purports to be a Buddhist offshoot but is not in fact a Buddhist sect. I mention this just to establish that any malfeasance which they get up to is in no way a comment on Buddhism.
The players are all new to D&D, though I ran them through a short practice campaign beforehand to get them acclimated to it. I'll use fake names for them cause it's the Internet. All three of them are level one aristocrats.
"Jeff" is a cunning player who despite his inexperience has proven to have a good understanding of the mechanics of the game and how to exploit them. He often ends up leading the group by default, and seems to be a bit more of a rollplayer than a roleplayer (though it's hardly egregious). He has a distinct fondness for explosions and firepower, and often provides quite a bit of the group's combat punch. He's playing Bud, a 33 year old divorced man from Louisiana who works in a local university (the Arkham University of Science and Engineering) as a lab supervisor and has quite a bit of education in the field of chemistry. He also has a few firearms stashed around, as befitting an avid hunter. His wife left him years ago to get involved in a commune, which has left him embittered towards religion (and especially those he deems a cult). In fact, he moved up to Spokane to get away from all that cult business that he left behind with his ex-wife in Louisiana.
"Ingrid" has some prior experience with D&D, but tends to enjoy the social aspect of it more than the mechanics of the game. She is, however, very good at keeping the rest of us on point when the inevitable jokes/memes/etc pop up. She very much enjoys burning heretics, and is playing a college student named Alli from fantastically wealthy parents (and is even the grandchild of the great Louis Sois, a famous archaeologist who went missing a few years back). Alli is the youngest member of the party and is very much focused on her grades. She has a close relationship with one of her Professors, a certain Dr. Benson who was close friends with her grandfather. She's been very concerned about her grandfather recently, and privately holds out hope that he's still alive despite the general consensus that he's dead. He was last seen in at a dig site in Indonesia that is supposedly connected to a radical offshoot of Buddhism called the Children of the Sun.
"Mika" is new to roleplaying, but is very enthusiastic and enjoys creating a character and inhabiting their skin for a few hours. She isn't especially fond of all of the mechanical rules associated with the game, but enjoys the often insane adventures had within it. Her characters are very eccentric, as shown by Todd. Todd is another wealthy student of Arkham but has spent years there without ever really progressing towards anything. He's had problems with substance abuse, and doesn't seem to have much direction or meaning in his life. Recently his girlfriend Camina was inducted into a strange sect of Buddhism called the Children of the Sun, and she's grown very distant from him. He's more than a little disturbed by this, and it's been taxing on his already frail mental health.
I'll get a write up of the full first session once I get a chance. We are about two months in, so there's plenty of material to catch up on. Also, feel free to comment plot ideas or suggestions in spoilers. I'd love to hear the playground's feedback and ideas :smallsmile: