It occurred to me that the last few campaigns I have been involved in have been overly complex. They have been filled with odd races, new classes, and each character was literally armed to the teeth with magical items. While they were fun all seemed to be lack luster or forced, I usually don’t feel like I’m in a party with friends and people I care about, but more as if they are competitors who cut my loot. Duskblades, Half-demon Walocks, Paladin Dragons, Oh My! We do role play don’t yet me wrong, but it doesn’t click like it used to. So I decided to start a new campaign getting back to basics.
When I say back to basics I don’t mean the core books, but why I first started playing D&D and what made me want to keep playing. What was the hook?
What are the key elements that you would feel dishearten to go without?
What did you most enjoy in the beginning? Was it that first magic item? That first victory?
What classes, what races, seemed the most intriguing when you were starting up, and why did you want to play them?
Has any setting every screamed D&D to you?
What are the basic elements that you want in a campaign and in D&D in general?
Your responses are much appreciated I’m hoping to roll all of them into a great campaign.
Come on old timers dust of your memories.
Fizz
The Wizard is where it started for me. I loved the idea of being able to master the arcane arts. I was also so thrilled by the first spell book I found as treasure. I didn’t want crap: screw the gold, the jewels, the rings, the what ever just give me that spell book NOW! I was Rasitlin before I new who Rasitlin was. This is still a thought that makes me happy to this day.
Dragons were big deals not tissue paper monsters. The first dragon my first character help kill nail biting. Then trying to decide not only what to do with the loot, but all the arcane things I could do with dragon blood, fangs, heart, claws, hide. While the rest of the party is looking at me like I’m insane.
Races never seemed just to thrill me they were all cool, but human seemed the way to go. Simple, great, can’t go wrong.
Soon after I discovered Dragonlance and that has always been D&D to me. Magic was rare and secretive. Magic items were fabled. You didn’t need to be a paladin to be a paladin. The average town didn’t have a melting pot of elves, dwarves, humans, assimars, tieflings, warforged ogres, orcs etc. which allowed these races to seem special.
I also liked the idea of a hero in a world were they aren't a dime a dozen.
Yet again all help is greatly appreciated
Fizz
What are the key elements that you would feel disheartened to go without?
This is kind of a vague question, and I don't have any specific things really - just a general "make me feel excited about the game."
What did you most enjoy in the beginning? Was it that first magic item? That first victory?
In the beginning, I loved exploring the underground ruins. Succeeding against the odds that were most assuredly not in my favor.
What classes, what races, seemed the most intriguing when you were starting up, and why did you want to play them?
Classes? Magic users definitely. Races really didn't matter. Magic users because it was, well, different than the real world.
Has any setting every screamed D&D to you?
Hmm...I didn't have any setting to start with, so it's swayed back n' forth over the years. Right now though, it's Golarion.
What are the basic elements that you want in a campaign and in D&D in general?
Places to explore, mysteries to uncover, ways for my characters to make a difference, or fail in trying.
Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder
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When I say back to basics I don’t mean the core books, but why I first started playing D&D and what made me want to keep playing. What was the hook?
I loved epic battles. Fighting the undead pirate ship. Venturing into a city (full of "super zombies")cursed by the Prince of Fear. These were all adventures you read about in books, saw in the movies...and here we were, PLAYING them.
What are the key elements that you would feel dishearten to go without?
As I have played all the editions thus far...I truly believe that you'd have to make a real STRONG effort to destroy that D&D feel. It's always been D&D, no matter if it was THAC0, thief, magic-user, sorceror, warlock...whatever. It's us, those who PLAY the game that make it D&D...it's ours to use, mold, run. Homebrews exist for a reason, you know.
What did you most enjoy in the beginning? Was it that first magic item? That first victory?
First magic item? Wow. I had a shield ring. Little ring that expanded to the size of a tower shield, weighing practically nothing.
What classes, what races, seemed the most intriguing when you were starting up, and why did you want to play them?
I was totally into elves...like Elfquest elves. In the beginning, nearly every character I played was an elf fighter/magic-user. Slightly feral. I think my character's battle cry was "Banzai!"
Has any setting every screamed D&D to you?
Greyhawk did...totally. Of course, it was the first and only at the time. But, I loved Planescape...Walk through a door, into Hell. Or Pandemonium. Or Greyhawk. Endless possibilities.
What are the basic elements that you want in a campaign and in D&D in general?
I have always enjoyed the opportunity to roleplay...really play off the others, and have them play off me. And I enjoy a campaign that has a great story arc. I have been in a game that had things that happened in the beginning of the campaign come full circle after 2-3 years of playing. That blew my mind, and I realized that I had become totally invested in my character.
Your responses are much appreciated I’m hoping to roll all of them into a great campaign.Come on old timers dust of your memories.
Fizz
*Cough**cough* (Damn it's dusty up here).
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I recently started a campaign with a group of first timers. It was Temple of Elemental Evil (the last time I had run it was 27 years ago).
They have really invested into Hommlet and I've added a number of villains and plots for them to adventure in the area.
Here's the point, in a recent session the PC's were sat deciding what to do next of all the choices before them.
They chose "the dragon." The eyes had misted over, they had "heard of a sage who vaguely knew how to fight dragons".
That was it, they were off like a shot.
Dragons get players excited.
Cheers
What was the hook?
Fantasy- being somewhere, sometime, somehow different to... ordinary.
What are the key elements that you would feel disheartened to go without?
Adventure- if it became Businesses and Bureaucrats I'd be a little disappointed.
Mystery- while I've played low- or no-magic games, the feel of mystery is important.What did you most enjoy in the beginning? Was it that first magic item? That first victory?
Telling the story they I wanted it... if Galahad though it would be better to turn and fight the dragon, he could, instead of following the storyteller's interpretation of what happened.
What classes, what races, seemed the most intriguing when you were starting up, and why did you want to play them?
Well, that Lizardman barbarian just had me hooked from the get-go... no, I always wanted to be the 'champion' player... Superman. Defend the helpless (or "those without stat blocks"), care for the weak, fight the good fight. I loved Paladins, and the moment I found the class (2nd ed, not 3rd) that was pretty much it. I've flirted with straight-fighters (gritty) and rogues (cheeky and debonair), but it always comes back to the paladin.
Has any setting every screamed D&D to you?
The original Dragonlance setting (before all this "war of the gods" nonsense... Tanis, Caramon, Raistlin et al. I looooved 2nd ed Dark Sun, and I was really disappointed that it never 'came out' the way I liked in 3e. In fact, all of them, in their own way. FR had oodles of... stuff, marinated in magic juice (Elminster's magic juice, or shall we not go there?), Greyhawk had tons of history, which I never quite understood, having never got any of the published adventures before "Return of the Circle of Eight".
What are the basic elements that you want in a campaign and in D&D in general?
Heroism; struggle against the odds; oppression, darkness and fear and hope at the far end; character development (episodes IV-VI, not I-III); dragons as monolithic monsters and destruction engines, not shapechanging political sorcerous reptiles who'll apparently breed with anything these days, including kobolds... eew (no offense Arctaris, KoboldCleaver).
Your responses are much appreciated I’m hoping to roll all of them into a great campaign.
Come on old timers dust off your memories.
Now if only I could remember where I left my hat...
Ahh! You seek an exciting blend of roasted Arabica nostalgia with a full-bodied simplicity bean. I will endeavor to answer your questions in hopes that it helps. My sense is that a full, fresh start often achieves that. My return to the wonderful feeling of "it's all new" came with Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed (now Arcana Evolved). It was a complete D&D game and setting with new races and options that worked well together without being overwhelming. After I answer your questions I shall momentarily wax philosophical about D&D 3.5 and options.
What are the key elements that you would feel dishearten to go without?
Good players and a good DM.
What did you most enjoy in the beginning? Was it that first magic item? That first victory?
The feeling of being someone else, somewhere else, in a world where magic was real. Casting my first spell, holding my first torch in a darkened corridor, and winning our first really hard-fought victory.
What classes, what races, seemed the most intriguing when you were starting up, and why did you want to play them?
Anything that used magic. Later, anything like a knight. Much later, anything raffish, roguish and swashbuckling. Today? All of the above. I wanted to play them because I enjoy those types of characters in novels and movies. Especially the idea of using magic.
Has any setting every screamed D&D to you?
Yep. Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Kalamar, CSIO, Wilderlands, Ptolus
What are the basic elements that you want in a campaign and in D&D in general?
This seems overly broad. Nonetheless, I would say, a good adventure in an interesting locale, with a plot that I can get involved with are the "high-level" elements. On the more personal level, I like advancing (ie leveling) and gaining a couple of unique items that have a history to them, especially if part of that history is how my character got it.
Now, onto the philosophy. This edition of D&D more than any other (although admittedly I did not play Second Edition) glorified player options while expanding mightily the volume of written options. A percentage of players in any group love customization. That you might have to have purple horns to get Immunity to Fire doesn't matter. Only that you have it. Layer a template upon a template, a feat upon a feat, and 17 prestige classes upon one another, and you have a complex set of mathematical interactions producing a result desired by the player.
This set of mathematical interactions, while producing a superior result for the player interested in them, requires a large effort on the DM's part to understand and master. A DM is a generalist within the system, handling hundreds of disparate and different options (ie opponents, spells, towns, gods, you name it). To have to stop and become a specialist is like asking an internal medicine doctor to drop everything and become a plastic surgeon. Both have degrees in the same broad field.
So I think you're seeking something easier for you, the DM to hold within your head, while you may have players who will still want to get good at what they do and have lots of options.
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Kudos on the Thread topic, Fisban!
For me, it was ALL about the pictures in the Monster Manual. And then the Deities and Demigods. And then the Fiend Folio.
It's a simple observation with really interesting implications: that we start with the basic stuff and "evolve?" -- "degenerate?" -- "advance?" to the more outlandish and too fantastical.
I think it's because we get used to the fantastical, that it becomes mundane through desensitization, and that we who were drawn to the fantastical in the first place must eventually find a "deeper drug" to sate our fix.
But it's true, we still want the old "basic stuff" to do it for us the way it used to. I mentioned something along these lines in Lilith's "Favorite Gaming Memorabilia" Thread and my old addiction with "Dark Tower."
I wonder if addicts, staring down at their Naked Lunch wish for the rush they got when they first started.
-W. E. Ray
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For me it was all about exploration of the unknown. I started out with the Red Box and all I knew was that there was a town with some spots to explore nearby. There was a magic using bandit named Bargle and he killed that good looking cleric lady.
As we progressed we learned the town was Threshold and branched out further. Everything was new, everything was a surprise and it was unimaginable fun.
As years went by, I lost that initial sense of wonder. I knew all about the campaign settings I used. I knew the MM cover to cover, etc. I lost that sense of exploration.
Then I stumbled across Wrath of the Minotaur (a Fast-Play adventure for new gamers) one day for 2nd Edition. I was introduced to the Vale, a simple little setting that had a nearby dungeon. It was new, this Vale and its Patriarch were, and that sense of exploration returned to me and rekindled a spark I had been missing. Eventually, Wrath of the Minotaur and it's follow up Eye of the Wyvern spawned an entire homebrew setting for me and my group that was new and exciting for us all.
But, as always that spark faded as well. After the release of 3e that spark and interest dimmed considerably. Then, one day I stumbled across a cool looking module entitled Crucible of Freya. I picked it up because I liked the cover and after getting home and reading through it...that spark was once again rekindled. An intriguing new mini setting to explore and man what fun it was. The Wizards Amulet, Crucible, Tomb of Abysthor, those were some exciting and new sessions for us. The Dungeon of Graves!?!?! of course my players had to go there, the name alone dared them.
So, each time I lost that "something special, it was the return of that feeling of exploration, the wonderment of immersing ourselves in a setting new and ripe for exploration. Not a huge campaign world..something small...local. Something that even the DM didn't really know what was beyond the border of that little map but you damn well better believe the group would discover it all together.
I love campaign settings, new continents, etc. But I have to admit, the mini setting that grows with the players will forever scream D&D to me more than anything else.
When I first started the best bit was killing monsters and taking their loot. I really liked dungeons, the bigger the better. 20 levels of rooms with monsters and treasure was the cats pajama's.