Have fun.
.-= Katana Geldar´s last blog ..It’s nice to play together =-.

Since none of us played the game or read KotOR novels, it will all be news to us.

I GM a Star Wars game, and all of us are Star Wars fans. So there’s really a lot of things we can’t do unless we are all willing to throw continuity to the side.

This is why I managed to win an argument with the GM last week when he wanted us to kill of Quinlan Vos. I refused, and so did another player.

Of course, you can stretch out and do your own thing. But you need to find the right time and place in the galaxy far, far away.
.-= Katana Geldar´s last blog ..There’s one at every table… =-.

Articles of AwesomenessLots of link love. Labels and comments where possible. Will update as necessary. Linkbacks (if you’re coming here from a search engine, and you want to give me some link love) can be point to this post, my personal blog, our r…

Eric Martindales last blog post..Flock Tip: Add Services To Your Sidebar (Sorta)

I really like what I see of it. I’ve been gaming off and on since I was 6 or 7 which was… umm.. yeah, we’ll just say that was a long time ago. I’ve tried my hand at a whole slew of different games from basic box D&D to a bit of Middle Earth ala MERPS, GURPS, Shadowrun, Star Wars (d6 not d20), Ars Magica, Rifts, more Storyteller/World of Darkness games than I can shake a stick at, etc. The three I like the most are Amber Diceless RPG, Earthdawn and BESM, not necessarily in that order. Kinda thinking BESM will be my favorite once I start in on it. The downside of using it is that it asks you to think of an effect first and then work on mechanics. Most games are a bit more like the old “choose your own adventure” books. You get so many choices or building blocks to work with and go from there. The advantage that comes from this is I think a lot of the system work you do would be easily recyclable from game to game even if a lot changes.

As far as support for it goes you’re kind of on your own. White Wolf picked it up but it’s not a core product for them. It’s under the Arthaus imprint. I’m haven’t looked at adapting any 2nd edition stuff yet but I don’t think it would be too difficult. In 3rd everything is bought from the same points pool and some point values changed. If you decide you like 2nd better there are still some things from 3rd that you’d probably want to backport (templates for instance). What you’d really want more of here would be content. To some extent the system is simple enough to adapt content for other games into it fairly easily. Some things would be really obnoxious to implement fully like the Balor (ugh, spell-likes). Other things would be a lot easier like the tarrasque (it’s a brick/shredder with a few extra attack and defense modes – no problem!).

If I get a game going with this I can talk about I’ll let you know.

Heck, I’m having enough trouble with Comic Book Creator… I really should read the manual on these things!

After doing a few you’ll understand the basic concepts. Beyond that, there are millions of GIMP tutorials for basic projects available on the webs.

If you’ve never used such programs before, play around with Layers, upon which all images are made. Layers are god!

However, I’m totally with you for BESM. It is by far my favorite non-d20 RPG. It’s the ultimate fast paced, simple generic RPG that allows you to do almost anything. It’s streamlined and easy to master. Heck a character takes a few minutes to make.

How’s the third edition? Is it supported like the 2nd was? Pity for Guardian of Order going under.

Oh and great map and tips by the way, thanks for sharing those!

I’ll do a few quick answers here:
Eisenwald is a dark Germany analog (heavy forests). It is a high plateau ruled by a witch. Under her influence the moon is full every night, and there are no flowering plants.

Luxor is located where two rivers meet a river of lava. They poor into a hole in the earth, and a city was built to capture the steam created. Giant iron boilers and simple machinery dominate the city, which is run entirely on steam power.

The world is iron poor, so most weapons and armor are bronze and brass (allows steel to become a useful reward) (mechanically, steel weapons get +1 to hit / damage, masterwork +2). Iron, being the antithesis of magic (think of why fey hate iron), cannot be enchanted.

The oceans are freshwater, so salt is extremely valuable, the ocean’s freeze easily and the coasts are wracked by storms.

The Green Wind is a force of nature, reclaiming all land not actively settled and expanded, decaying structures and corroding metal, bringing beasts and forest back very quickly. Any civilizations not actively expanding lose territory.

I point you to the Cartographer’s Guild, as that’s where I learnt everything about mapping:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/

You’ll have to dig through the forum posts to find the maps you want, but EVERY style is shown there. There’s several guides in the Tutorials section, find a map who’s style grabs you and have some fun.

I don’t think I’m a great GM. When I start up games I tend to work out a general idea of the first adventure and then wing it for the rest. The games I prefer still have some leeway on the genre (Amber diceless RPG allows some genre choices, Earthdawn can concentrate more on fantasy or horror depending, and BESM which I’m still getting into is extremely versatile). I get to have fun conversations like “So… what interests you more as a starting point? Sci-fi, fantasy or something vaguely like the real world?” Tone tends to be whatever interests me at the time and campaign mission I tend not to worry about. Generally if the players wouldn’t like the game I’m describing they don’t get on-board in the first place and we play something else. That probably sounds a bit simple but so far it’s mostly worked even if it sounds a bit hit or miss.

Nice work Weasel and I second Tommi’s request!

I typed a list of concept areas and made a map (All done with the GIMP):
http://www.unc.edu/~krstraus/maps/world%20map.png

Then I decided what the overarching world defining aspects were. As with the areas, I wanted a short, interesting list, something that would grab players fast.

Finally, I decided on a basic idea for the campaign mission and tone for the game and started fleshing out the starting zone.

I too plan very little long term. Broad strokes and genre only, and even those I find broken easily so I don’t rely on them exclusively.

I take a lot of lessons in planning from writing (especially novels.) When a story gets going, events will start to suggest themselves, and your work will be done for you AND it’ll help the campaign feel more organic. Plus, if done well, the stuff that just happens to come together will look like you planned it from the beginning from your player’s point of view, and you’ll look like a genius.

Plus there’s the old danger of railroading… but even that side, the players are going to feel a lot better when their characters are shaping the events around them.

Thanks for the info, Chatty!
-Scotticus