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I've sometimes had problems getting some of my rl players to feel connected with the setting; they generally approach it simply as a backdrop for the adventure, without really delving into the setting or becoming engaged with their surroundings, which lessens the depth of the campaign.
So I've been tossing around ideas on how to get them a little more engaged with the world around their characters, and looking through my FLGS' copies of the Dresden Files RPG I got the idea: what if I involve my players in creating (at least to an extent) the surroundings of their characters?
I need some guinea pigs for my little experiment, and that's where you come in.
Basically my idea is to find 4 or 5 people and design a location in which to start an adventure and then ultimately play a game in that place. To start, the players involved would toss out ideas for what general kind of campaign they'd like to play, and then once one was settled upon, we'd move on to more specific details.
So, is anyone interested in pursuing this little experiment of mine? I'm looking for 4-5 players, setting will be Golarion, system will be Pathfinder.
I actually feel the exact same way about my RL players. Since I am in your other game I will not ask to be in this, but I will follow to see how this turns out.
Iwould actually be interested in this.
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At this moment in time I'm picturing a white haired figure hunched over a laptop sitting in a kiddie sandbox :P
Alright, what scale of an urban setting? A thorp, a small town (on the scale of say, Sandpoint), or a large city (on the scale of Magnimar or Korvosa)?
To clarify on the concept behind this: as a group we will create a locale for the adventure, including but not limited to the history, basic economic/political situation, and NPCs. Then I (as the DM) will create an adventure based there.
I am interested in this as well. I'm kinda doing something like this in my own gaming group. Starting up a new campaign setting world and having them help me make it. That way everyone has put there own effort into it and has a good idea of how the world works. Gives the players a better chance to play a game they want to too.
I like the idea of an urban or rural setting. Just to get the ball rolling, maybe an Asian setting? I'm not to sure if they have done this in pathfinder. Maybe something inspired by avatar the last airbender? There is a city walled off where the inhabits are ignorant of a war, and anyone making reference to in are brainwashed. something like that could be cool. Maybe contact outside of the city is not tollerated and the city is super isolationist?
Maybe the society is based off of dragons? Each clan or group of power /city state/region of the city/country has a Paton dragon and a representative that that speaks for the clan in a council?
Edit: added some more ideas
Ohh OK, I thought you where making your own city/country in the region. My mistake.
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We will possibly be making a city/town, or simply fleshing out an already published location, depending on what the group prefers. However I'm keeping it to the Inner Sea regions largely because there's a substantial framework there with which to create a specific location.
For simplicity's sake, I don't want to attempt creating an entire nation or something on a similar scale.
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Hahaha. I know the feeling, Grim.
I'm a fan of metropolis-size towns, similar to Korvosa and that wretched City of Doors. I enjoy having alleyways and rooftops to run across, all the while performing whatever deeds my character wishes. But, as I said - I am willing to play whatever the consensus comes to.
Edit: I felt I needed to clarify my favoritism. I enjoy the intrigue of a city's life with adventurers amongst them. Merchants tend to make more money, guards have to be dealt with, and deals are always ready to be made. It's more interaction, and that's something I always seek in a game.
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For right now, I'm looking for a few more people; input on what will be designed should be made in the design thread, which I will create when I'm concious enough to coherently word it :P
I'm fond of both heavily urban and rural environments, as both lend themselves to some very fun types of games.
If the consensus ends up being to go for a larger city as the base environment, then we will chose an established city (such as Korvosa, Egorian, Magnimar, Riddleport, ect.) and then detail specific areas of and factions of it that are pertinent to the kinds of characters that will be played.
Something somewhat Venician could be nteresting as well. Urban with a twist.
Posting as interested.
A small urban/rural setting like sandpoint or falcon's hollow offers the most creative freedom for the surroundings (haunted temple, evil druid, ruins and tombs etc, etc, etc.) but I'm up for city adventure as well. Hidden cults, secret orginizatons, odd jobs and lot's of people to interact with.
I'd be interested as well. Have the same problem with my RL players not getting involved with their environment. This would be a very interesting experiment to see how to make things more interactive. I tried giving out bonus feats, experience points, action points etc, to help develop the world hoping that would give them more interest, but alas, their characters were all they cared about.
I like small rural environment as a starting point, The wonder of going to the big city for the first time, and encountering new cultures always appeals to me in literature, and lets players experience the setting in bite sized chunks.
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To those who have posted thus far: discussion thread is up here. Please post your response to the questions there.
I've decided that, since this is an experiment, the easiest type of location to design will be a small urban environment, probably in a somewhat rural area. Later on, depending on time limitations and how this progresses, something else might be designed.
I'm still open to getting 1-2 more people involved in this.
Sounds interesting...I'd be up for it. I'll head over to the discussion thread.
Mhm, quite interested also. Might be entertaining and spring some new ideas :)
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Just my ha'penny's worth of unsolicited advice - feel free to take or leave it as you may - but IMHO the key to getting players 'connected with the setting' is through well-developed and presented NPCs.
Generally speaking we relate more to social interaction (people) than we do to 'things' (objects and places), and in the written medium we interact easier with speach than with flat description. That is to say, if you present a conversation between two NPCs debating the pros and cons of the local Duke's rule (or whatever), it grabs the players' attention and immerses them in the world much better than writing an essay on the pros and cons of the Duke's rule, even if, in the end, the same information is covered.
Likewise, getting players to care about 'the village of Ironbridge' by describing all the houses in it, the long history, etc. is tough; but presenting them with the cute little orphan girl who follows them around, the well-meaning village idiot, the overbearing local priest, the busybody fishwife, and various other NPCs which they learn to love, or love to hate, tends to work much better. When the dragon blasts the village smithy to cinders, who cares? When the PCs come across the charred remains of little orphan Suzi's prized doll in the cinders of that smithy... well, just watch them get their mad-on: screw its DR, that dragon is going down!
Like I said, just my ha'penny's worth - do with it as you will - and good luck with the project, should be fun!