RPGA Living Eberron?

[Dragnmoon]

Anyone in the RPGA heard any rumors of the RPGA starting a Living Eberron game?

[Matthew Koelbl]

I haven't heard anything, and I would be somewhat surprised by it - multiple Living Campaigns at a time can tend to conflict, unless they are each really distinct. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if they instead made heavy use of it for their game days and other 'events', though.

[Larry Latourneau]

What exactly is a "Living <Insert Setting here> Campaign"?

[Dragnmoon]

Matthew Koelbl wrote:

I haven't heard anything, and I would be somewhat surprised by it - multiple Living Campaigns at a time can tend to conflict, unless they are each really distinct. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if they instead made heavy use of it for their game days and other 'events', though.

That is too bad then, I have 0 interest in RPGA as long as I only have FR as a Choice, :-(.

[DigitalMage]

Dragnmoon wrote:

That is too bad then, I have 0 interest in RPGA as long as I only have FR as a Choice, :-(.

Ditto for me. I did post a thread on RPG.net to sell me on LFR but it hasn't done anything to persuade me to give it a try. So I will stick with PFS, at least for Season zero scenarios.

[Matthew Koelbl]

Larry Latourneau wrote:

What exactly is a "Living <Insert Setting here> Campaign"?

Living Campaigns are a setup where you take a shared campaign world and standardized adventures, and present a system where a player can take the same character from one session to another, end up playing with completely different groups of players and have events run by completely different judges, and still have a consistent play experience that lets their character develop and advance.

It is typically run through conventions (which organize numerous 'tables'), game days (which will often consist of a few tables) and, of course, simply home play. At the bigger events, each table will consist of a judge and generally 4-6 players. You order from various adventures that have been written for the campaign, so most folks end up having similar experiences - though there is plenty of room for DMs to personalize adventures for their groups, and these days, even write their own adventure just for one group of players.

You have certain creation rules for building your character (though pretty open ones in the current environment), and start at level 1. You'll go to an event, play an adventure, and get some amount of xp and treasure - each adventure generally has a similar amount available, assuming you don't lose encounters or the like. You then record how much xp/gp/treasure you got (in your own records), and then can take that character to any other place running adventures for the Living Campaign, and continue to advance.

Generally, different adventures are written for different levels, so you usually will try and find a group playing an adventure at the right level for your character. Sometimes this doesn't happen, and so many end up with multiple characters, making it easy to play regardless of the group.

The format provides many adventages: A shared experience, the easy ability to join groups and find games while maintaining your favorite character, and a balanced environment that gives you a sense of what to expect from game to game.

On the other hand, you do have to give up some things for this: You don't get individual plots for PCs, you might end up with inconsistencies you need to ignore (if you and someone else both played the same adventure but got different outcomes), and the system these days is largely 'code-of-honor', so some folks will abuse that.

But a good DM can make up for most of the flaws, and many groups simply run the games as almost a home game, just one where they occasionally take their characters out to conventions for special events and such.

The biggest strength of the system is that a Living Campaign tends to be whatever is needed for those that play it - a casual event you play a few times a year, a testing ground for countless new characters, an ongoing campaign that lets you get deeper and deeper invested into the plots you choose, or a chance to simply meet other gamers and see othe rgaming styles in action. Casual, hardcore, or somewhere in-between - the Living Campaign has room for them all, and that's what really makes it work.

[Blazej]

Larry Latourneau wrote:

What exactly is a "Living <Insert Setting here> Campaign"?

I believe it is Wizards of the Coast organized play within that setting. Instead of having to play with a single group consistently, things are standardized to allow players to bring their Living Campaign characters into games organized at conventions and game shops.

Edit: Darn you Matthew Koelbl! Although I'm not sure why I try to answer questions like this here given Koelbl is bound to give a better, more detailed answer than I come up with. :)

[Matthew Koelbl]

Blazej wrote:

Larry Latourneau wrote:

What exactly is a "Living <Insert Setting here> Campaign"?

I believe it is Wizards of the Coast organized play within that setting. Instead of having to play with a single group consistently, things are standardized to allow players to bring their Living Campaign characters into games organized at conventions and game shops.

Edit: Darn you Matthew Koelbl! Although I'm not sure why I try to answer questions like this here given Koelbl is bound to give a better, more detailed answer than I come up with. :)

It's really a matter of luck as to when I'm on, whether a topic catches my eye, and how informed I am on the matter. :P

[Robert Little]

Dragnmoon wrote:

Anyone in the RPGA heard any rumors of the RPGA starting a Living Eberron game?

I haven't heard anything, but if one comes out, I doubt it will be a full blown Living Campaign and just a D&D Campaigns (basically a shared world adventure path, with a finite number of mods and an end story).

If any sort of new campaign is announced, it will likely be at the RPGA members meeting on the first day of GenCon.