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I have a very particular style of game I like to run, and that my players enjoy. I like to run very cinematic combats, a lot of classic heroism, and a little bit tongue in cheek. Swashbuckling Pulp is a good description of what I like to run, the Disney version of the Three Musketeers or the Pirates of the Caribbean would be spot on.
My Style
I like to describe my style of GMing as this: My games are like a Saturday Morning Cartoon. Very high action, very cinematic with a focus on cool, not a lot of PC death, episodic in nature (but with a few reoccurring BBEGs that have their hand in every few adventures), and a lot of focus on the RP between the characters and the NPCs at their 'home base' location. (keep, city, town, whichever.)
Currently I'm filling my needs with Pathfinder, using Hero Points to help lend that cinematic feel to the game. My only complaint is that I want to spice up combats a bit more than I've been able.
My Question:
What should I keep in mind to make this work using Pathfinder?
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I had a GM who liked to do something very similar (except with a darker tone to the world, and a more epic ongoing sort of plot). The solution he came up with was to roll three random magic items for the players, making sure at least one of them was a weapon or armor. This generally makes battle easier, allowing room for lots of cinematic pulp balttles(especially if you end up with a +5 weapon weapon with flaming burst and brilliant energy). This also adds to the roleplaying in many cases. For example, my gnome started with a ring of X-ray vision. So we decided that he was a pervert and always kept it active. If you combine that with a high charisma score, then it makes for some very interesting roleplaying interactions between my character and the character of the girls in our group (one of the girls was even playing a gnome, lol). Just my suggestion.
Ha I know you.
On the wizards forums as well.
Well I found something that you may enjoy prime time adventure
Also I still recommed Exalted and Scion for the Saturday morning style of play.
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Ha I know you.
On the wizards forums as well.Well I found something that you may enjoy prime time adventure
Also I still recommed Exalted and Scion for the Saturday morning style of play.
Yeah, I've been posting this question around the various boards looking for different takes on the answer. :)
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I have a very similar play-style, I found this and haven't looked back:
it adds a couple of things like 'The Death Flag' which changes the assumption about player death, meaning PCs won't die unless they explicitly state that their characters are in danger of death. All the Saturday Morning Cinema you could ask for ^_^
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I have a very similar play-style, I found this and haven't looked back:
it adds a couple of things like 'The Death Flag' which changes the assumption about player death, meaning PCs won't die unless they explicitly state that their characters are in danger of death. All the Saturday Morning Cinema you could ask for ^_^
Oh... nice find. Thanks!
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I like this style too. I let the PCs have high stats, make sure at least one encounter per session is against mooks of the lowest CR that will bear XPs (not a concern after Pathfinder!), and let GM judgements err on the side of awesome. You already use some kind of Hero point system. Regardless of the mechanic, make sure they expire, so that they actually get used instead of hoarded.
I like this style too. I let the PCs have high stats, make sure at least one encounter per session is against mooks of the lowest CR that will bear XPs (not a concern after Pathfinder!), and let GM judgements err on the side of awesome. You already use some kind of Hero point system. Regardless of the mechanic, make sure they expire, so that they actually get used instead of hoarded.
Yeah, I made the mistake of giving out Action Points like d20 Modern instead of Eberron, so they don't expire. One of my PCs has over a 100 now. We even made a PrC for her so she can spend APs on her allies.
I run a similar campaign (lots of fights, PCs each have a "legacy" item or 2, swashbuckling galore). I usually run 2 or 3 different types of critters in 1 fight. I also made up some homebrew monsters that fit a highly mobile combat style.
I usually out number the PCs by 2 or 4 with CRs of each mook 1 or 2 higher than the PCs. I have 8 PCs with a DMPC aasimar healer, so they can take a lot of damage. I also try to have interesting battle scenes, with lots of cliffs, pits, hazards, riggings, chandeliers, etc.
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I like this style too. I let the PCs have high stats, make sure at least one encounter per session is against mooks of the lowest CR that will bear XPs (not a concern after Pathfinder!), and let GM judgements err on the side of awesome. You already use some kind of Hero point system. Regardless of the mechanic, make sure they expire, so that they actually get used instead of hoarded.Yeah, I made the mistake of giving out Action Points like d20 Modern instead of Eberron, so they don't expire. One of my PCs has over a 100 now. We even made a PrC for her so she can spend APs on her allies.
I run a similar campaign (lots of fights, PCs each have a "legacy" item or 2, swashbuckling galore). I usually run 2 or 3 different types of critters in 1 fight. I also made up some homebrew monsters that fit a highly mobile combat style.
I usually out number the PCs by 2 or 4 with CRs of each mook 1 or 2 higher than the PCs. I have 8 PCs with a DMPC aasimar healer, so they can take a lot of damage. I also try to have interesting battle scenes, with lots of cliffs, pits, hazards, riggings, chandeliers, etc.
This is exactly what I like to play, yup yup. Swarms of mooks with the big bads plowing through them.
As for my Hero Points, They start each session with /1/ and earn bonus ones every time they do anything classically heroic, or really cool. But they will /not/ earn a point any time they need to use a point.
At the beginning of the next session, it resets to one again.
You might want to make combat manouvers easy to pull off. Nobody will try to swing from a chandelier to kick a foe into a fireplace if they don't think they can pull it off. Maybe give a bonus to a roll if the action is dramatic enough.
Also, if the NPCs are swinging from chandeliers, jumping on to the dinner table, and bullrushing PCs into the fireplace, it encourages the PCs to do that as well. OOH! Disarm a PC and have her weapon land in the fire!
"More than prince of cats, I can tell you. O, he's the courageous captain of complements! He fights as you sing prick-song, keeps time, distance and proportion; rests me his minim rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom: the very butcher of a silk button, a duellist, a duellist: a gentleman of the very first house, of the first and second cause: ah, the immortal passado! the punto reverso! the hai!"
-Mercutio talking about Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet
The fencing terms mean forward thrust, backhand stroke, and home thrust. I enjoy the theatrical aspects of gaming, too. I've found that learning about the weapons and fighting styles from back in the day (they had schools for that sort of thing, which nobles got to attend) adds a lot of flair to combat. You don't just whack people with swords. You thrust, parry and execute a brilliant riposte!
Now THAT's a fight! :)
A nice book that you may want to use (if you aren't already) is the Tome of Battle: Book of the Nine Swords. What this does is turn melee classes into very aname style, psuedo-magic butt woopers. They get abilities that are very similar to spells that aren't quite as powerful but more easily recharable. A Spellsage, the most magical of the three classes, at one point can shoot a cone of fire out of his sword. The most fighter-like class can deal a good amount of damage on a charge by using an ability that crushes his foe for an extra 6d6 damage with a "mountain hammer" attack. It's makes fighter classes very cinimatic.