ZZZ [Completed] DM Salsa Presents: A Dinner Party of Five (Inactive)

Game Master AdamWarnock

Even just the wolves with glasses was a nice humorous twist. This really continues to remind me of some early 90s games in my friend's basement when we were 0% serious at all times. Good stuff, Id play a full campaign of it.

One thing that makes this campaign really fun is the sheer amount of unexpected events.

To put it mildly. ;)

I don't know if I could do this for a full campaign, at least not without running something serious to help get that out of my system.

Speaking of campaigns. I do want to run something a little longer. Not a full campaign just yet, but an adventure that might take around four to eight sessions of a realtime game would be about right. Not sure what it will look like yet, but I've got a few ideas and would be happy to take in any that y'all have. I've also got a setting that I'm working on that I want to use for a longer campaign, but I'm waiting on some stuff that I backed to come out, so that's a while away.

Ya, this game is f@#kin' Great!

I don't know if I could do this for a full campaign, at least not without running something serious to help get that out of my system.

Speaking of campaigns. I do want to run something a little longer. Not a full campaign just yet, but an adventure that might take around four to eight sessions of a realtime game would be about right. Not sure what it will look like yet, but I've got a few ideas and would be happy to take in any that y'all have. I've also got a setting that I'm working on that I want to use for a longer campaign, but I'm waiting on some stuff that I backed to come out, so that's a while away.

Sounds great!

I'm definitely game for another campaign. This is a fun group!

No post tonight. I'll get us moving again tomorrow.

In the meantime, what kind of adventure would you like me to run next?

I'm rather open, but have had Dark Sun, Planescape, and Spelljammer itches for a long while. I know those are a pain to prep though, and not friendly to new players. Always down for an old school dungeon crawl.

On a more general level, I like the 'we're gritty mercs' angle more than the 'we're princes and chosen ones' types.

A good one! No! A great one!!!

Seriously, do you have any strong urges in one direction or another? Is it the scope, the setting, the themes, the challenges, or the mood that you can envision more clearly? We're all quite different.

In my case, I will start by saying that I swore not to join another game unless a few ingredients are there. In the past, I've started, joined, games with one ingredient, for example Eberron, but that has never proved sufficient. I'll also add that I'm flexible, but that if I can't figure a good character concept, I'm doomed. Either I don't join, or I lose interest.

All this to say, I enjoy games where character concepts matter, where we get invested in the game. This can be through connections, (real) impact on the setting, a feeling of accomplishment and a feeling of loss, and a feeling of control, where we feel there's not just one answer (the one the designer thought of) that will be considered.

Anyways, I would also add that this is not only the responsibility of the DM, but of the players. If players only interact with the DM, if they don't build their collective relations, then it's not as great as when they have connections, goals they share, goals that conflict, personalities that connect and don't connect. An example that comes to mind is Grimly without Legolas. They synergize.

So a good enough DM, a good enough setting, a good enough story, good enough players, and a shared goal to build a great story TOGETHER.

Ok, I've waffled enough and have only been vaguely speaking in generalities. Did you have something in mind?

I'm rather open, but have had Dark Sun, Planescape, and Spelljammer itches for a long while. I know those are a pain to prep though, and not friendly to new players. Always down for an old school dungeon crawl.

On a more general level, I like the 'we're gritty mercs' angle more than the 'we're princes and chosen ones' types.

Related, it's easier for me to think of normal (Joe the Plumber) people called up to face great things.

Personally, a favorite of mine is the character that is meek and lacks confidence grows into the role of a hero. My favorite character like that was a paladin that I played in a Shattered Star game.

As for what I would like as a GM, I guess I should explain this one.

I planned this to be something that could be run in a single session, perhaps two, hence the pace and somewhat railroady plot. I mainly did it as a way to prove to myself that I can see a game through. It was also an exercise in designing an adventure around a few key points and filling things in as I went. I figured something comedic would make for a good one-shot, but as I said, comedy is hard.

For the next adventure, I'd like to run something longer with more depth to it. I don't think I could do a silly adventure that long, at least not without going tongue in cheek and that can be highly subjective. What I find hilarious the rest of you may not find funny at all and vice-versa. I would still have some comedy, but it wouldn't be the tone the whole time. Other than that, I'm confident enough in my ability to run things that I can probably work something out no matter the setting.

I guess to sum all of that up, I'm wanting to run something that's longer, closer to a good-sized module than a short adventure, with more a more serious tone, but still a little on the light-hearted side of things. (I guess that's the scope and mood)

As for setting, I have the 5e books for a few different settings.

- Humblewood, which I haven't read all of yet.
- Midgard, which I have an okayish grasp on.
- Ebberon, Haven't Read.
- Ravnica (Which is Planescape I think?), Haven't Read.
- Sword Coast of Faerun, Haven't Read.

And I've got a setting I really need to just sit down and write out already. As long as I can google it, I can probably work with whatever setting you guys are dead set on, so don't worry about that. As for themes and challenges, I think that's partly going to depend on what sandbox y'all want to play in. I do like banter though, as well as trying to tie people's backgrounds into the story I am weaving. I also love working with dreams and nightmares, even when I'm just a player.

I hope that isn't too confusing. I look forward to all of y'all's thoughts on this.

I wouldn't mind building a setting together, have had some games like that before. Basically during character creation we also create little pieces of the world, then play it out connecting, improving, adding etc. This seems like a pretty mature/tight/creative group so it might be fun if everyone was down for it. Could use your setting in progress as a skeletal backbone, maybe. Just a thought.

But something more normal module length, there's of course the solid Yawning Portal and Saltmarsh modules. I've run a few in the past and they really require almost no prep on the DMs part, which is nice because all your energy can be spent in other creative directions.

You might also consider running some AL modules with or without AL credit. Unlike the PFS pieces of shit they are awesome modules more often than not and slightly lengthier. 2 of the 4 hour modules is a nice length...recently I took a group through 2 of them on pbp and they completed it in 3 months real time (January to end of March, 2 levels). A friend here did the same and took us through 4 separate modules on pbp, spanning levels 1-5 that took 7 months (September to March). They are also completely simple to prep as DM, leaving you to focus on descriptions and fun stylistic stuff.

Oh, and as far as existing setting, from that list FR gets my vote but I don't mind playing others.

I used to be big into Eberron when it first came out, but its easy to make a game you say is 'in Eberron' and totally whiff on the feel of the setting (over the top pulp noir) that I like.

Ravnica isn't Planescape, its a setting based on Magic the Gathering card game. Never played the dnd setting.

Midgard I'm kind of meh about just since I am DMing one game and playing in another at the moment. Still there's definitely some cool stuff worth exploring.

Humblewood doesn't seem my cup of tea but willing to try it.

edit: Also a long shot, but theres Kaer Maga from Golarion. Only thing I ever liked about Golarion, but its totally badass imo. Could do a neat urban adventure there.

I'm in an Ebberon game that could probably be best described as Looney Tunes meets Lovecraft, more because of the players than the GM.

Thanks for setting me straight on Ravnica, by the way.

Humblewood, from what I've read so far, is kinda like what you'd get if you made Disney's Robin Hood into a DnD setting, but less kid friendly and with some legitimate political and societal tensions thrown in. How the setting comes off is going to depend a lot on how the GM portrays it.

As for Kaer Maga. I like it too with all of it's strangeness, though I don't know if I ever got the book or not. I do have my own city that could work as well, Dovan Dur, the Unconquered, First and Greatest City of the Dwarves. It's no where near as fleshed out, but it has it's own interesting oddities, like the Magery, a complex tangle of interdimensional space in a chunk of rock that the dwarves know has nothing of value and isn't structurally integral to the caverns that house the Lower City. If I can find my notes on it, I could probably run an entire campaign just exploring that city and its hinterlands.

The setting that I am needing to write down is one that can be a little hard to describe without some visual aids, but I'm going to try. The universe is made up of layers of spheres. At the center of the universe is Aletheria, a world made of layers of rock that rotate around one of the three axes marked by the Godtowers. Each tower has its own city built into and around it. The deeper one goes into Aletheria, the less of the sky they see, and the less often they see it. Travel between the layers is done by skyships, ships that are built around crystals of elemental power. The sun, moons, planets, and stars are all palaces to various pantheons, gods, and demigods. Honestly, I think the biggest issue with this one is how complex the movements can be on the world and how they would affect the cultures. I don't imagine everyone even has access to a common frame of reference.

I must confess that I'm not a big fan of collective world-building, so I wouldn't be much help.

I like Eberron, FR less, Midgard more. I'd be happy with any of these. I think the vibe is relevant and built by the group, but, to me, some cohesion helps. Most settings are huge worlds and characters can easily an impractical mix where it becomes harder to give room to culture, history, and characters' arcs. Eberron is a good example. I find it has so much flavor, but it's hard to convey when the party includes a Valenar Elf, a Thrane paladin, and a Vol cultist meeting in a bar in Sharn. It's doable, but hard. But if all characters are linked to Dakhaan, then it helps everyone to focus on a few relevant things.

But we need to finish this one first!

It's not for everyone or every group. It can also result in a mishmash if everyone's not on board with the at least some basic guidelines. I think it tends to work better for smaller details and filling out the map past the edges than building a world at large, but it can be a fun exercise if you have a group that's full of world builders.

Not all world building looks the same, I'll also add.

The level of detail in FR is wtf crazy off the charts. The designer was already known for ridiculous levels of detail when he started, then add to that 30+ years of additional content and 300+ novels written from various authors...its a lot.

Contrast that with something like Dolmenwood from Old-School-Essentials. Everything is just a single terse paragraph...really quite beautiful and still does the job. Even the most brief glance at the document and you know exactly what the setting is all about.

I'd be more into the latter. And off topic, but I feel that way about character creation as well. But was just a thought.

I actually had a setting once (one major city, factions, gods based on Neil Gaiman's Sandman, 1000 years of history) but lost all my notes after spending 3 years abroad...never have had the energy to get it back down, only remember bits and pieces.

I like a mix of both. Detail important places and things and leave room to play around in between. The trick to the sparse style of setting design, i think, is to be evocative with your prose.

Character creation, on the other hand, kinda depends on my mood. I can get by with a paragraph, but there are times I go nuts and write out pages and pages of backstory. At least when I do go nuts, I try to give the GM a summary and use the prose as an idea of what I'm capable of. I tend to write backgrounds like I would like to see them, showing thought and giving the GM some hooks to use. It's one of the reasons I tend to pick characters that either have interesting interactions or hooks to hang a plot on.

I guess it's the same with settings to an extent.

I enjoy world building, but I've never actually done it with more than one other person. With that being said, I usually like to build worlds based on the campaign. I start with a few high end things (country names, deities, a dozen or so historical highlights) and mostly focus on the area where the campaign will be based at the start and then radiate out from there. It makes it alot less work at the onset.

That's a good point. Though it can help to establish some bigger things about the universe if you're going for a more unusual setting.

This has been a fun conversation. I think I have an idea of where to start one the next adventure.

Sure it will be great, you're damn talented dude.

I'll add my two copper pieces.

Thoughts on those settings:

Dark Sun: I love it.

Humblewood: It's not grabbing me.

Midgard: I'm curious.

Ravnica: I have the book but haven't played yet. Setting is a world-spanning city. The big powers are ten guilds. Lots of potential for politicking and skullduggery. Definitely interested.

Eberron: played a little, have the book. Would be game.

Forgotten Realms: played a lot. Can take or leave depending on the campaign pitch.

Kaer Maga: sounds fun!

As for homebrew, I'm also game.

A thought on text. I'm less keen to read or write masses of text for character backgrounds. It's too easy to miss something or let quality slip that way. I lean towards introductory paragraphs, questionnaires, bullet points, etc to get the essential points across.

Dolmenwood is a great example of that thinking put to a setting. Terse, evocative pieces.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the new canpaign.

Midgard is pretty dope. I'm currently playing a PBP of it on the boards.

Dark Sun is also pretty good. I love how the setting actively tries to kill you.

I've never heard about Humblewood.

You can find it here.

It seems silly at first, but there's actually a lot of thought and a good bit of depth to it from what I can see.

Sorry for the triple post. Wifi problems

I currently have an earache so my response time might be affected.

No post from me tonight. I'm okay, just really tired.

No worries.

Too tired. Will post tomorrow.

No worries. I've pretty much hit a brick wall myself.

So I spotted a pay-what-you-want product on Drivethrurpg:

Adamantine Chef

That is interesting. I'll have to bookmark it for later consideration. :)

Heya, just noticed they redid my UA subclass, the Revived. Now its called the 'Phantom'.

UA revised subclasses

Havent added it to dndbeyond though.

Best change I see is making skill swapping possible on a short rest instead of long rest...thats rather kewl.

Neat!

Sorry for the slow down over the weekend. I'll try to have a post up tonight.

Frankly, I probably bit off more than I have time to chew, but I'll manage it somehow. Don't worry, we're getting close to the home stretch.

Understood.

Can you remind us the time constraints of the quest and how this delay affects.

thanks

You still have two days, so a half day to return and another day and a half for other shenanigans. :D

No post until tomorrow. Sorry.

No worries!

Patience is a virtue. :)

That's good. Trying to catch up on all of my games, which is proving to be slower than I'd like.

May be another day before I post. Sorry. :(

I was having the same issue for most of the last week, so I get it.

Thanks for the heads up. Always appreciated.

Is there a battle map? I've having a hard time imagining what's happening.

thanks

Er, no map. You can reach any of your opponents with a single move, if that helps.

Right now, there's three Yuan-ti that are about twenty-ish feet ahead of you. There are two raptors next to Nestis and Corso. About thirty feet back are two more Yuan-ti that Nestis may or may not recognize.

Does that help?

Guys terribly sorry but I really need a break from the boards, I'm going to step away for a few months and clear my head.

Sorry to hear that. Oh well, wellbeing comes before games. We're almost at the end anyway. Take care of yourself and hope you get to feeling better.

Take good care.

All the best wishes, Nilelane.

Okay, too tired to actually write up a post that moves things forward and sends Nilelane off to her happy, or not, ending.

I'll try to have something up tomorrow.