While the Bard came out as a clear winner in the most anticipated class from the PHB2, the battle of the races has come to a less definitive ending. After a rough battle filled with pet badgers and silver bullets, the Gnomes and Shifters are tied for the race that you most want to play! In a very close second comes the new race Deva (aka Aasimar?), and only one vote behind them in third are the half-giant Goliaths. Only one vote behind them, in fourth, are the Shades leaving a surprise last place to the disgruntled Half-Orcs. Perhaps this shows it was a good decision leaving them out of the core books, but I’m sad to see them in last place. This has to be one of our closest polls ever, but I’m pretty sure everyone voting for Deva just thought they were voting for “Dave” with the letters switched around.
For this week what has been on my mind is how my D&D campaign is going to progress into the future, both Dave and I are running games right now and our players have just reached mid-heroic tier, which means there are many new possibilities opening up to them and us as DMs. I began to consider how my game has gone up until now, and had some discussions with Phil and The Main Event about it, but the thought entered my mind about how a campaign might change style mid-campaign either intentionally or through a natural progression because of the players and DM and how they act at the table.
[poll id=”111″]
Styles:
Dungeon Hack: Raid the dungeon, kill everything in your path, take all the loot. Dungeon crawling is a tough life, but it’s easier than talking!
High Politics: Corrupt lords, a benevolent queen, and the head of the church are all out for the reins of the empire. Assassinations and dirty dealings are rampant, and only your quick wits or silver tongue can save you!
Sandbox / Freeform: That place looks dangerous, let’s not go there, it’s a silly place. You never know what lay over the horizon (hopefully the DM does), but you’re sure to find adventure wherever you go.
Empire Building: Kings and lords aren’t the only ones deserving of a castle all their own, after all you’re the ones who cleared out he monsters and saved the town. A home to call your own, hell why not a nation to call your own? After all, why bother with the monsters when you can make war with the neighboring kingdoms?
Themes:
Heroic: Evil threatens the world at every turn, innocents are in danger, and you’ve got to save them all! There should be no hesitation in executing your swift brand of justice, with praise and glory as your rewards. You are heroes, it’s time to start acting like it.
Villainous / Evil: Those guys are the jerks, killing people with out even blinking. At least you don’t hide behind the thin veil of righteousness and claim to be good while killing masses of living beings, no you’re perfectly aware of how evil you are, and damn proud of it! I expect you to talk, and die, not necessarily in that order.
Gray Morality: It turns out those goblins were only stealing from the town to feed their families, and you wiped them out. The evil lich who has been harvesting souls is only trying to bring his long lost love back to life after she was killed in a demonic ritual.
Progressions:
Heavily Plotted / Railroading: You exit the dark corridors of Shadowfell Keep and see before you the gaping entrance to Thunderspire Labyrinth. The Drow mob boss has your loved ones captive, and you must follow all of his orders exactly or else. OR. ELSE.
Character Driven: You are Ta’varen and the world seems to shift around your actions, probability changes in your favor and important events just seem to follow you wherever you go. Your decisions and actions have a far reaching and vast impact on the future, and it’s time to make a difference.
My votes reflect my belief in the collaborative nature of play. I like to receive input as a GM and give it as a player!
Character-driven, sandbox, empire-building deliciousness comprises the current d20 future game I’m playing in…that wins because it’s easily the most fun I’ve had in a long while…
Reverend Mike´s last post: Demotivational Monday: Futile Resurrection
My natural style really pushes for Heroic, character driven campaigns. Although we often end up with heroic characters with large streaks of grey/anti-hero.
The Chatty DM´s last post: DM Chronicles: Hey, that’s actually fun! Part 2
It should be no surprise that I like heroic sandboxes, where I can either dungeon dive or build my stronghold/empire, and letting the characters drive the story. I like to run those same games as well as play in them.
Chgowiz´s last post: OD&D Solo Game with my wife – Day 6 concluded
I have to second what the Main Event said, “I like to receive input as a GM and give it as a player!” This has become something very important to me as a DM, getting feedback but also giving it when I am a player in the hopes that we can all improve in what we do.
Rev: Sounds like a lot of fun!
Chatty: I love the heroic with a streak of gray/anti-hero characters, often makes for a great dichotomy of gaming and roleplaying experiences.
It looks like at this point character driven storytelling is the preference by far.
I think Bart brings up a good point. I think that “Heroic” games can actually sustain a variety of “alignments”, but the goals of the game/party are heroic. Oftentimes it IS the bad guy with the heroes or the anti-hero that stands out in these games, but the difference is that they have heroic goals… if not methods. On the other hand, Villainous games center around largely selfish goals and characters, but could possibly deal with a good hearted soul caught up in the mess.
I like to be a sandbox DM with character-driven ideals, since I like that as a player. My players tended to like linear rail-roading, even if I hated doing it. They loved their CRPGs too much…
Now I just finished working on concept work for a CRPG and trying to make it as non-linear as I can, so I would love to see what my old players would make of it…
Dungeon hacking sounds as dull as railroading. Proper dungeon exploration and politicking is a fun activity, though.
Character-driven sandboxes with grey morality are my default preference. Heroism or villainousness comes from the players (see character-driven) and is not mine to decide.
I love campaigns where I can make a difference. Based on the voting, I’m not alone. I used not to like railroading at all, but Dave pointed out to me that it’s sometimes necessary. I just wouldn’t want it for an entire campaign.
I dunno, Krog. I used to feel the same way about railroading, and there’s a part of me always screaming that railroading is bad, but I’m here to have fun, be heroic, and make a difference in the game world. If the DM points me to a place where I can do and be all those things, why would I complain?
As a DM I tend to plan to the side, so it’s railroading, but I offer three of more railroaded paths and adventure sites. It makes initial planning a bit daunting, but then you can relax as a DM for some time as you “age” your adventures to your growing players.
RPG Ike´s last post: 5 Ways to Spice up Lower-Level Encounters
As a DM I try to create a sandbox world for my players to explore, so that they can drive the story in whatever way they want. To some degree, this requires me to have other play styles ready to go, in case the players want to dungeon hack/politic/empire build. My world tends to be fairly gritty and very gray in terms of morality.