Hi everybody,
we're starting the Savage tide adventure path soon and I'm the DM. One of my players wants to play in the Forgotten Realms, the other hasn't decided what he wants. As much as I like the Realms, I don't want to play there.
First reason is, I want to be able to use those neat maps that are provided with the magazines, for example the superb Sasserine map.
Second, as most of the campaign is in the wild, I don't think it really matters that much anyway. I just don't want to change everything when it's much easier just taking it as it is. If I tell the player we'll go to the Realms, he might expect lots of realms stuff and will then probably be dissappointed.
Third, I'm fairly confident with the Realms but I haven't played there for several years. Plus I'm really not so fancy on reading the books again. This player knows a lot about the setting, much more than me. I'm already getting a headache when I think of having to argue about unimportant Realmy-lore with him.
Fourth, I simply prefer Greyhawk for it's style.
So what shall I tell him? He says he prefers the Realms for the intrigue, the interesting organisations and all the secrets. The setting and gods of Oerth bore him. I don't think he really knows that much about Greyhawk though...
Tell him if he wants to play in Forgotten Realms, he can always DM a new campaign... You're the DM for this one dude. Takie it or leave it.
And you're right about wanting to play with the neat maps provided by the magazine. That's what got me to DM in Greyhawk for the first time this year. Also, get a copy of Living Greyhawk. It basically has a text for every area on the world map, so you always have something interesting to tell the players when the decide to roll a Knowledge (local) check!
Ultradan
|
Well, as a FR DM who fondly remembers Greyhawk, here's what I'd recommend:
Make a player handout with the following
- dig up the greyhawk regional feats from Dragon. It'll be a familiar rule set for him.
- Go online to the rpga website and print out a bunch of the organization articles from Living Greyhawk
Regardless of setting, it's important you make it *your* setting. You say that you get headaches when you argue with him on Realmslore - what's he arguing? What happened in the latest novel? That shouldn't impact on your game - one thing I recommend is come up with your own realms-oriented events, and make it obvious that you are deviating your campaign (in any setting) from the published version.
In my FR, the players botched City of the Spider Queen and the Dales got overrun with revenants two years ago. The Hordelanders attacked Rashemen. My Aglarond has a major kenku infestation they are dealing with. Lolth is still silent. You get the idea ...
As a GH DM and a FR player, I enjoy both settings immensely. I'll second what Ultradan said. If this player is such a Realmslore fanatic that you anticipate having to argue Realmslore canon with him, I'd probably just change things around to annoy him on purpose, so in my case, it would be much better to set the game in Greyhawk so that DM "passive resistance" doesn't kick in.
sounds like you have your work cut out for you man... i am sorry i cant ever bring myself to put Greyhawk over FR, i just cant and i am going through the Savage tide mod thing from that evil magizine... we have lost SOOO many players... lost 4 players in one game once... but yeah dude the above is right this is your game if he does not like it tell him to run.
the point is to have fun let him know that you dont want to run there till you get more info about the place again or something. i mean heck it is a very good world and alot of fun anyway but Greyhawk has TONS to offer players..
I have found that the Adventure Paths provided in Dungeon are often so rich in detail that they are setting-neutral, zooming the players in rather than making them look at the big pic.
I worked a few adventures from AoW seamlessly into my home brew, and they neither overshadowed the setting or demanded connections to the world that I could not furnish. A few cosmetic changes were all that was necessary to interweave the two.
To paraphrase a popular saying "If the DM ain't happy ain't nobody happy", so inform your player that you are more comfortable running in the setting of your choice, and that's that.
That being said, Sasserine could just as easily be on the Southern Brelish Coast, The Dragon Reach, or in the Florida Keys. I used the map of Alhaster from Age of Worms as a demiplane city created by a mad ascendant deity in my homebrew, and nobody quibbled. Lashonna became an alter ego of my deity Q'uil Maya, and all I had to do was switch the names when it came up.
The mods from Dungeon are created for you the DM to use freely in your campaign (freely after the price of admission of course) and you are the final arbiter.
Mostly, just remember to have fun *grin*
|
Did the player say he is unwilling to play in GH, or would simply rather play FR? There's been lots of good reasons here to keep it GH, which I agree with. I really think all of those FR things that player is in love with would be a distraction in this case.
i am going through the Savage tide mod thing from that evil magizine... we have lost SOOO many players... lost 4 players in one game once...
I heard it was dangerous, but... man!... Players are dying right at the table? I've heard of characters dying, but if four of your players died in one session, I'd probably call it a day. And call the cops.
I would definately sit down with the FR player and find out what it is that makes him want to play in FR so bad. If, for instance, he just wants access to some of the myriad of feats and prestige classes, then you can look at them individually and work on porting them over. If, on the other hand, he loves the background and all the different factions and whatnot, assure him that there will be plenty of different factions in play and that the campaign itself fleshes out some of the oldest history in D&D. Things WILL be indepth and work with him to gain access to those things his character should know, going as deep as is appropriate (making sure you read up on the same things). He may be surprised that learning the secrets with his character can be a lot of fun.
Sean Mahoney
So what shall I tell him? He says he prefers the Realms for the intrigue, the interesting organisations and all the secrets. The setting and gods of Oerth bore him. I don't think he really knows that much about Greyhawk though...
I feel for you man, I get the same thing from my players. As another poster said, I recommend getting the Greyhawk Regional Feats from Dragons #315 and #319. Be sure to explain the difference between Greyhawk Regional Feats and Faerun Regional Feats (as in, he can keep getting more of them). That should help to perk his interest. Go to the Living Greyhawk website and download the Deities 2.0 list. And then check out my post here. That should help a lot.
In the Paizo store for $4, you can get the Player's Guide to Greyhawk, a 2nd edition (I think) guide that will come in handy for fleshing out characters. If you need more about the Suel or the Touv, download the Scarlet Brotherhood (also 2nd edition) for another $4. What's great about the pdfs from Paizo is that if you lose them for any reason or they get borked up, you can just redownload them from your account for free. Also if you find anything wrong with the pdfs (like a page is flipped or sized wrong, etc. etc.), just post it in website feedback and (I believe) they can fix their copy up and you can download the corrected version (again, for free). Just as a disclaimer, I'm not a Paizo employee or anything... just an enthusiast. :-)
Also, read up on the Core Beliefs and Demonomicon articles in Dragon. Very good stuff, and it's pure Greyhawk.
TK
Third, I'm fairly confident with the Realms but I haven't played there for several years. Plus I'm really not so fancy on reading the books again. This player knows a lot about the setting, much more than me. I'm already getting a headache when I think of having to argue about unimportant Realmy-lore with him.
So what shall I tell him? He says he prefers the Realms for the intrigue, the interesting organisations and all the secrets. The setting and gods of Oerth bore him. I don't think he really knows that much about Greyhawk though...
I think these comments are very telling. Some time ago in our campaign there was alot of PC vs PC fighting/backstabbing. IMHO it was because the players knew what the other players could do. Do I challenge the baron to the south who I know nothing about or attack the PC to the west who I know his level, number of troops etc. This is meta-gaming and it sounds like (I hate to say) your player wants to do the same. Intrigue is a by-product of the DM not the campaign setting.
October's Dragon magazine has an article all about the factions in Sasserine. Sit him down with it or give him a short synopsis on each. If he loves the intrigue and rich history that FR is known for, plan some side quests around the Scarlet Brotherhood. Maybe pull out some encounters that might seem repetitive or extraneous in previous adventures to make sure that the side quest in their down time won't push them over the level for the next adventure.
Or maybe he wants to get involved with the Dawn Council, perhaps doing some cloak and dagger dealings for the more underhanded members.
As the editors have pointed out on previous threads on conversion notes, the AP really is about its own flavor. I would be more concerned about the pirate theme than the particulars of the world. Otherwise, it's just a matter of changing pronouns and keeping them straight. Canon for any campaign setting should be tossed overboard the instant it becomes limiting.