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I remember when RotRL first came out. reading through that first adventure fired my DM imagination. I had so many ideas for side-treks and crazy happenings, custom content. Whole mini-adventures into the mushfens to harvest crazy fungi (from a Dungeon issue, the one with the crashed airship), Achmed the Sane, traveling proprietor of magic items.
in CotCT, I came up with an encounter that I never even used. And now, in SD, I have a really great idea involving a Tsocar (Lords of Madness) trying to infiltrate the Order of Cyphers. And this idea reminded me of the recent dirth of creativity I've been having.
Maybe Its because its summer, and my CotCT group are a bunch of sub-munchkins (they claim to want to play, but they just make fart jokes around the table, or discuss other things). Maybe once I get back to campus and start DMing for real players, I'll get my groove back.
But, Ive noticed the same thing on the boards. Very few people seem to be posting their own ideas or custom content anymore.
Is the creative bloom off? Has Pathfinder's world become set in stone? Or maybe it was the mini-dungeon setup of CotCT-the AP seemed so packed as it was, adding more seemed foolish. Has Paizo printed less open-ended material, or are they now addding so much material, in the form of setpeices, that custom content is superfluous?
Any thoughts?
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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I don't know if this is the reason for everyone, but I am suddenly very behind in my reading - Pathfinder Beta got bumped to the top of my list, and I still haven't finished CotCT's last installment and I also got the latest issue of KQ in the mail yesterday. All of these need to be read before I have the time to start SD. Since SD came out at the same time as #12, that's another part of the backlog of gaming reading on my part.
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Personally, the advent of the Campaign Setting Hardcover set off a creativity bomb in my head (I, of course, promised my wife I'd clean the mess up later). I've even bugged James about some ideas that tie into the Gods & Magic and Into the Darklands chronicle books. I'm totally stoked about where I want this campaign to go. It happens to be the only Beta campaign I'm running. (I'm running RotRL and a Darkmoon Vale campaign in straight-up 3.5e.)
The CS book also inspired my closest friend to start up a campaign set in Tian Xia, even though he has avoided running anything in D&D since 2nd Edition went away. That, in turn, led me to develop a modified sorcerer class based on the 5 elements theory in Asian philosophy, which I'm really looking forward to playing.
So, for me, there's been no dearth of creativity...there has, however, been a dearth of time and energy...but that's normal. ;)
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But, Ive noticed the same thing on the boards. Very few people seem to be posting their own ideas or custom content anymore.
I noticed that myself, so I decided to whip up some otherplanar Improved Familiars (to complement the Quasit and the Imp, but for people of other alignments, or attuned to other planes) in the 3.5/OGL section.
The 4E vs. 3.X hoopla should pretty much dead and buried. It's out now. Play 4E and shut up about 3.X, or play 3.X and shut up about 4E. Speculation-time is over. It's like Madonna's breasts. Anyone who wants to see them *has* seen them, so there's no need to talk about them anymore. Roll dice and game on!
As a result, I'd definitely like to see more 'signal' and less 'noise.' (Well, less annoying counter-productive 'my Epeen is bigger than your Epeen' noise. Heathensson-type 'noise' is fine, and even fun, in recommended doses.)
So that's my goal. More signal (cool ideas, campaign useful stuff, mechanical cruch, etc.). Less noise (responding to people who like to pour fuel on fires and then complain about the heat). Both in what I write and in what I read.
Possible reasons we haven't been seeing a lot of stuff;
1) Everyone's creativity is focused on the Beta and not on their own original ideas (or trying to kludge their ideas into the Beta!).
2) It's possible that some people are 'hoarding' ideas instead of posting them, hoping for some new RPG Superstar contest.
3) Some of our more creative minds have been writing stuff for Paizo or Goodman Games, if the ginormous list of contributor names in some of these books is any indication.
4) Some of our more creative minds have been going to conventions and running games and burning their midnight oil in that direction.
4) Edition wars, winding down, but still, left a lot of folk drained.
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I've posted some stuff, but it hasn't received much of a response. Of course, that's probably just me...I notice that I'm often the very last person to post in several threads...to the point where I've thought of adopting the moniker "Thread Killer."
I'm kind of thinking that, if I happen to hit on a good idea, it would get the attention of the Paizonians...thus opening the door of opportunity by another hair's breadth. (And I do say "deign" with respect...despite its more frequently used connotation.)
Post deleted because I just noticed Paris posted on this thread.
I posted a fair amount of RotRL material because I was running it successfully. We were not successful with CotCT (the game died partway through _Seven Days_), and Second Darkness looks impossible for us to run unless we have all six in hand (and, frankly, not promising even then). So, no game==no game material. I've started up "Death in Freeport" and we'll see how that goes.
I was violently allergic to the whole structure of CotCT, and I'm seeing similar but possibly worse problems with Second Darkness. It may be time to take off a year or so and see what develops.
Mary
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Well, first off, would try to think back to day-to-day life in thassilonian times.
I've always thought of Thassilon as being run like a exaggerated version of an Old-school university, like Cambridge or Oxford or something. Everything exists for the Faculty, and everyone else is the equivalent of a janitor, porter, or servant.
On that basis, all the thassilonian monuments were either useless penis-extenders for the Runelords to display how awesome they were, or magical facilities that also doubled as ego-boosters, or genunely useful structures like dams. The common folk would live in crappy shacks or large barracks. In the case of seriously high-class people, I'd imagine a certain bare-bones quality to the interiors, with much of the actual furnishings being magical in nature- illusory tapestries, couches of invisible force. Maybe even the doors wouldnt actualy have physical hinges; free-floating force structures could serve instead. such enchantments would have long ago faded away, of course. Something about the tech level actualy being very, very low appeals to me, somehow. No gears or springs or hinges, just force enchantments.
Somehow, I'm reminded of the Forerunner structures from Halo as I write this.
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Is the creative bloom off? Has Pathfinder's world become set in stone? Or maybe it was the mini-dungeon setup of CotCT-the AP seemed so packed as it was, adding more seemed foolish. Has Paizo printed less open-ended material, or are they now addding so much material, in the form of setpeices, that custom content is superfluous?
Any thoughts?
I think that a lot of the people with heads full of ideas have passed the point of; "this is amazing, where can i take it?!" and are now mid-way through DMing RotRL or CotCT.
Joke?
Does it occur to you that the fact that few people have posted on this thread has more to do with the original posters concern than you?
I wasn't around for Runelords or CotC so I'm not sure how much content people cranked out this early in the cycle. Personally, I've only had the PDF for about a week and haven't even seen the hardcopy so I haven't had much change to look through it and will likely not do many changes until I'm very near running the module.
One issue I see is that when the other modules were new there weren't as many distractions on the board. With Pathfinder RPG out there and 4e now, people are running in all different dircetions. You can see the conversions on this board for both of those but in general I think there are just a lot of creative outlets we're competing with, including the existing modules which many people are still running.
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Joke?
Does it occur to you that the fact that few people have posted on this thread has more to do with the original posters concern than you?
Hold up. I think there's been a misunderstanding. Sorry if my comments came across as snarky or pouty, DdO. I was actually trying to be funny, but it obviously didn't read that way.
I will cease and desist with that line of (attempted) humor.
Hold up. I think there's been a misunderstanding. Sorry if my comments came across as snarky or pouty, DdO. I was actually trying to be funny, but it obviously didn't read that way.Joke?
Does it occur to you that the fact that few people have posted on this thread has more to do with the original posters concern than you?
I didn't mean to come across harsh, stupid internets... all is cool with me.
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LOL! That's good. I was kind of worried. I should never have bothered with my earlier comments, anyway. I went back and read them and they just don't look good at all.
Perhaps we need to go to a video messageboard to allow for vocal tone variations and funny faces. (Egad! Can you imagine?)
LOL! That's good. I was kind of worried. I should never have bothered with my earlier comments, anyway. I went back and read them and they just don't look good at all.
Perhaps we need to go to a video messageboard to allow for vocal tone variations and funny faces. (Egad! Can you imagine?)
I understand the Gleemax domain will be freed up shortly. Maybe we could pick that one up.
/ogre dodges thrown vegetables