Nick Trandahl's page

I guess my group's gaming schedule is pretty strict. We game every other Friday starting at 8:50 pm when I ask my players questions about the previous session (awarding a little XP for correct answers). That really encourages them to take notes, keep journals, and otherwise pay attention. Our session starts exactly at 9pm and we go until 2am with a 5 minute break at the end of every hour. With my players paying complete attention during the session and with a quick break every hour bsing during the game simply doesnt happen with us.

"This time, the world is going to end up being pretty different... Differences on the scale of Eberron, in fact. The basic rules are still there, as are the basic classes, but a lot of the world concept is going to be different, and there are a lot of new classes (mostly prestige classes) and new monsters. Maybe even a new PC race, although I'm not sure about that. I haven't seen a compelling reason for that yet."

Go crazy. I see creating your own campaign setting as a chance to see everything you love about the genre materialized and it is great to really see your players interact with "your" world and make it "their" world. I just finished my complete setting, Arko, after four years of playtesting and writing away may life like caged rat, much to the exasperation of my lovely wife, and it is completely original and filled with new prestige classes, monsters, races and the like. So yeah go crazy with your setting and let your originality show.

I have been an avid FR fan since they remade it for 3rd edition and have bought every single sourcebook and many of the novels since then, but I have even pretty much stopped playing FR (except for the new AP that im converting) and focused on my homebrew. So as a FR fan I have to grudgingly admit that it has reached its pinnacle, or may be after the release of Champions of Evil and the Waterdeep sourcebook which I think will be a tremendous boost for the setting.

Well said, Lex.

I have pretty much done away with published settings (though I still buy every Forgotten Realms sourcebook just in case) and devote all my dming to my homebrew, but if I had the money to buy the Eberron books and didnt have the time to create my own material I think I would use the Ebberon content. The setting is very original. good work Keith

Thanks for the post, Donald. I was so excited to get a reply I feel like I won the lottery.
Well to keep you up to date on the sessions (Just finished the 3rd) it just gets better and better. Im really getting a chance to explore the intricacies of Arko and connect the current PCs with things that happened the very first time I and my wife played in the setting 4 years ago (110 years ago in game time). That is making the setting seem real and viseral to my players and I. Also last session one of my players began to use Arko terminology and phrases in game. It feels good to hear that.
I would also like to know how your sessions are going and what setting you are DMing. I love homebrew settings cuz its the best to see someone's interests and originality really shine, but I am also devoted to Forgotten Realms. I havent played in Greyhawk in years but I still like it, and Eberron sounds really intriguing but im too cheap to start buying books for another setting.
Anyway, enough rambling (Just excited to hear from a gamer in the Black Hills) I would very much like to get in contact with you. I would love to join your campaign as a player (havnt been a player in a long time) and that would be perfect to have you and any of your players come to Arko.
Im not sure how to go about getting in contact with you so im gonna give you my email( snake_dog5@yahoo.com )
Thanks

Ive been trying to find the best way to convert the Shackled City to Forgotten Realms but i was stumped. You guys just helped me out a ton. In the Serpent Kingdoms it actually describes the city of Tashulta as being inside a dormant volcano so with a bit of tweaking that could also serve as a site for Cauldron.

I live in Spearfish SD and it is beginning to get hard to find new players. Right now all my time and DMing is in my own campaign setting that is called Arko. It is a forested island magically sealed withen a gem. It doesnt have any humans, dragons, evil outsiders, or any naturally evil monsters in it (though in the past they were present in Arko), and PCs can play as numerous types of elves, dwarves, gnomes, centaurs, lizardfolk, and fey. The setting took me four years to completly write and I am still writing sourcebooks for it so needless to say it is very detailed and is a place of very rich fantasy and magic. I have two players right now that have just finished the first session (they are completely in love with the setting). They both are very easy to get along with as am I. One of them is a player I have DMed since 2nd edition and the other is pretty new to DnD but loves fantasy and so far is doing great. But I am needing some more players from my area to add some diversity to the group and to make it easier to write adventures for Arko. Thanks