Was reading the gamer connection post about the home brew rotating DM game and was thinking that -- after having 2 or 3 games die out on me when the DM disappeared -- this could be a very easy way to get a game that could survive that problem.
And if it gives me a chance to actually play (I'm enjoying running a Kingmaker game a lot, but I'd also like the chance to try playing in a PBP for more than a page or two), I figure it's worth a shot.
I'd suggest we find six interested people, and can figure out the best way to do a rotation. Monthly could work, though I wonder if it might not be better to do it by adventure or level (since it could be awkward if you're taking over in the middle of a dungeon that you don't have a map/contents of). People would have the freedom to do something of their own, or grab an old Dungeon adventure or some other module.
At this point, I'd say let's see what interest there is, since obviously it will have to be a fairly collaborative decision about the setup for the game (I'd propose 4d6, three highest, or 25-point buy, whichever is higher). I'd also suggest we start at 5th or 6th level, just for a little variety. Core and APG only (I'm fine with bringing in Ultimate Magic/Combat once they're officially released, though I'm not planning on buying them myself).
I'm certainly willing to be the first DM (unless someone else wants to claim the mantle), though I might need a week or two to come up with an initial adventure, depending where we start. I would suggest we begin the game all knowing each other as well, or at least most of the group. The group should probably decide if we want a central location as well, and if we should come up with some overarching story arc (though I suspect that's a bit tougher with a collaborative campaign.
Thoughts/interest?
|
It does sound interesting but I would have to see how much time I have free to be a rotating DM. Although I will make a couple of suggestions.
25 point buy is nice if your trying to keep the party on a fairly even power level, especially since 4d6 drop the lowest can give some people some fairly poor stats.
Perhaps instead of doing individual dungeons, perhaps starting with an established AP would at least get you guys kicked off and then once you have an established player/gm base you can move on from the AP to a more personal Campaign world or multiple different adventures. Besides an AP would give you the time to hash out exactly how you and the other, rotating, GM's want to work things.
I've done this setup before and the only problem when you have different GM's running a different adventure every couple of months makes the feel of you Character as more combat and less rp/character development. Because when everyone is running a different adventure, you have really no direction or motivation to develop a character or build camaraderie because you off to the next dungeon after the last one is defeated. But if thats what your aiming for then never mind what I said. ;)
Sorry i'm not very concise. ^^; Good Luck though and hopefully in the next couple of days I will know if I have the free time to throw in on this endeavor.
I've done this setup before and the only problem when you have different GM's running a different adventure every couple of months makes the feel of you Character as more combat and less rp/character development. Because when everyone is running a different adventure, you have really no direction or motivation to develop a character or build camaraderie because you off to the next dungeon after the last one is defeated.
That's why I was thinking by level might make sense (though might end up with someone being DM longer than he/she wants). I know in my RL campaign, I tend to look at each level as a self-contained arc in the larger story (but we're also playing at 10th level, so are sticking at each level for longer).
I know speaking for myself, I'll very rarely run a dungeon -- I tend to prefer mysteries and other things that allow for role-play. Hopefully we'd get a nice mix.
|
|
True by level would work fairly well, although if you start at low levels you may have to do every 2 levels until you get to 6th or a point that the level gain slows down. That is if you don't decide on taking the slow experience trend. ;)
As you have mentioned Kingmaker already~ That Ap would be a fairly decent one to start a rotating GM's campaign in and all you'd have to is expand on the current dungeons, or add you own ;), and other adventure areas to make them into mini-adventure sites. While already having an established map to set wherever you want.
Just some idea's, hopefully you find them somewhat helpful =).
I too like to do mysterious and horror style campaign's although I tend to overuse undead :P I made exceptions for rogues in 3.x so that they could still use sneak attack~ But if i'm unable to join, I will still enjoy watching this grow =)
|
I'm interested. I'm running a Midnight game and it's pretty strong. More than 5k posts by now. I can do daily posting easily, although I tend to have a week-long pause every two months or so, because of work-related issues.
Can I suggest some other, more obscure world rather than Golarion? Perhaps Scarred Lands, or Ravenloft or Oathbound or Ptolus? There are to many Golarion games right now, methinks.
|
|
Midnight is a crazy setting, although when I played in it last. My DM enjoyed in making it an oppressive and extremely hero-less setting, the more good we did the more evil seemed to triumph. It was a lot of fun but it was depressing at times lol xD.
There are a ton of settings you can choose from, I merely suggested Kingmaker AP because of its sandbox like nature. Which leaves rotating GM's some wiggle room ;) no matter the setting, but if you have a lot of free time it shouldn't take long for some homebrew to fire up. lol =)
Iron Kingdoms is another great setting + it is very steampunk and has gun's and other fun stuff =)
|
|
I would LOVE to both play and GM in Iron Kingdoms.
BTW, my Midnight is more heroic and less grim than usual. Hope is very strong, although the group has had more than 50% casualty rate. Soon I'll divide the party in two lesser groups (I have nine players right now), so you are welcome to join the game if you are interested.
I'm interested in this idea. I'm running a CotCT PbP here and playing in Motteditor's Kingmaker campaign (and I heartily recommend him as a DM).
I'll second Nightflier's interest in non-Golarion settings/games; unfortunately, I don't own any of those mentioned, which I imagine could be a common problem if we're rotating DMs. Although if a common world/setting is agreed on, I'd buy it.
Thanks, Ioun.
I think the big thing is getting a common setting we all know/can use. That's part of why I suggested Golarion, as I assumed most people here would have at least some knowledge of it. For me, I've got the main Golarion sourcebook and lots of Forgotten Realms stuff, but little else -- I know nothing about Iron Kingdoms or Midnight.
(We could possibly try to adapt a fantasy setting that we might all know -- I think playing something in Jim Butcher's Alera setting or maybe Jordan's EoTW with some obviously major tweaks to make it more Paizo friendly could be fun, though maybe that would take a bit too much work.)
As for starting with Kingmaker/another AP, my only problem with that is it might feel too much like something we've already done/experienced.
That sounds like an awesome idea, but work will certainly have to be done to anchor the characters, both to the setting and to the party as a whole. It almost sounds like everyone would have to play a different class, just for the variety needed to keep everyone's attention, but also as well as covering all the bases to keep the party tied.
The idea of rotating at the end of story arcs sounds plausible as well, which also reduces planning for the next arc until it gets close to ending.. I like the technicals behind this, so I'll be keeping an eye on it, just to see what will come of it.
Coincidentally, I have been looking to DM a game, since I haven't hashed out my "Alkenstar Heroes" Summer game yet.
|
|
As for starting with Kingmaker/another AP, my only problem with that is it might feel too much like something we've already done/experienced.
I understand completely I only suggested it because of the wide open nature of the AP and that we would have 4 huge maps to place adventures/dungeons and what not in.
Iron Kingdoms has a wiki and Midnight does too I think. Both settings are very interesting and neat.
Iron Kingdoms - Gun's, Gunpowder and entering the age of steam/industrial age. Guns do not completely own the setting, a bow man could out-shoot and possibly out-damage a rifleman or pistoleer but it all depends on build's.
But if you have a musket its a standard (or move action to reload) Granted there are feats to decrease reload time but like I said it depends on builds. But a musket does 1d12 damage per shot and has shorter range then a shortbow.
While a Vanyar Liberator (Which is like a small cannon in rifle form) does 2d8 or 2d10 damage per shot but it takes 2-3 standard actions to reload and has great range. So the setting has a way of policing itself without guns being crazy powerful. They are more for flavor and style which is neat. Also ammo for the guns can be crazy expensive! you can also customize your guns gear and much, MUCH, more.
There is a lot more to the setting more then I could ever type lol.
Midnight (From the way my DM and my perspective on it is~)
An evil angel/god was defeated and cast down from the heavens, all according to his diabolical plan, and in his fall he used almost all of his magic to cut off the material plane from the other planes. Even though this act costed much of his divinity to do so, he was the only 'god' in the world now. Clerical magic became nearly non-existent and this evil god waged a war for dominance of the land. Depending on where you start in the timeline it is mostly a sad and depressing setting where heroes are in dire need but it almost seems there efforts are for naught as their enemies continue to march to war and seem to undue the best efforts of hero characters.
Don't get me wrong its a great setting! It just sounds/is depressing at times. As Nightflier said for his though, his characters are brining hope and change~ So its all in how you take it, or play it ;), but it is truly a setting that unsung heroes will eventually make a difference and become the greatest heroes of the age.
Its also a more martial setting as magic (both arcane and divine) is very scarce until PrC's levels.
But these description barely scratch the surface of these settings~ the wiki's will provide much more info. lol
It would be nice to decide on a concrete setting to play in, then build/add on from there~
I've been playing since 1st edition and... I own way too many friggen books. It didn't help that every once and awhile you can find books for sale on amazon for 1 dollar (for a 25-35 dollar book!) xD I paid 50 bucks in shipping once and got well over 40 books from one guy >.<; it was nuts!
I'd still prefer Golarion. I think it's just easier to use that system, which would allow for firearms with Alkenstar.
Do we have six people definitely interested in doing this? Sounds like Nightflier and I would be two, but can't quite tell if intrigued/interested translates to "I'm in." (And what process we'd use to winnow if there are more than six; I guess just do first-come, first-served at this point.)
I think once we've got that done we can make sure we're all cool with one setting and then get down to creating characters and figuring out ones that will work well together (IRL, my group generally starts at higher levels and we work some type of shared background/goal into creation as opposed to just having a group randomly meeting for the first time). Any thoughts on the idea of starting at 5th or 6th level?
|
I'd still prefer Golarion. I think it's just easier to use that system, which would allow for firearms with Alkenstar.
Motteditor--
If it's Golarion, then I'm happy to be in. I'm happy to start at any level and even happy to be the first 'round' GM.
Let's get our 6/7 people and decide what awesome we want to create.
-Pain
OK, looks like we've got three. Anyone else?
I'm not sure I could ever get into the idea of a rotating DM. Surely it must be very hard not to metagame if it was something like halfway in a dungeon and especially over a AP as my experience of reading them they are filled with spoilers about the entire storyline of the AP saying who's behind what along with grand plans.
An interesting throught would be a homebrew where the rotation was by plotline. Then the story could possibly change quite a bit and make for a interesting narrative perhaps?
I'm not sure I could ever get into the idea of a rotating DM. Surely it must be very hard not to metagame if it was something like halfway in a dungeon and especially over a AP as my experience of reading them they are filled with spoilers about the entire storyline of the AP saying who's behind what along with grand plans.
An interesting throught would be a homebrew where the rotation was by plotline. Then the story could possibly change quite a bit and make for a interesting narrative perhaps?
Yeah, I definitely think an AP wouldn't work as well on this, nor just having a set time period before rotating. I think going by adventure/plotline is definitely the way to do it.
|
|
I agree, you never want to rotate out mid adventure that would stink >.<;
The Rpol community i'm in calls there adventures 'chapters' so x & do their adventures in chapter 1. Then A & B dm's do theres in chapter two~.
RPOL is an interesting forum style as well~
I only suggested an AP for all the maps that come with (because i'm terrible with computer mapmakers~), just to make it easier to come up with where your adventure takes place and what not. But I look forward to what we come up with =).
Golarion is fine with me too by the way~
I'd be interested, but based on my experience on rotating GMs, I find it is quite difficult to maintain a good story arc due to the limited time frame especially if rotating on a monthly basis.
I'm running a game right now, it's at the 500+ post mark in 2.5 months.
Anyway, I would be interested in joining in. We could start off two or three games, each would partner up and run an adventure for the other group and vice versa. Its like a mini DM-ing club.
Maybe it's a good idea to post my posting habits if it helps.
Timezone: +8GMT
Regularity: At least once a day, everyday.
Why I'm interested: The boards have too many players and too few GMs. When a new opening for an APs opens up, there's too much of a battle to win a place. Hopefully by getting involved in a group like this, I could be sure of getting a chance to join an AP finally.
Adventures to offer: I could run NeMoren's Vault if this works out.
So looks like we now have me, Nightflier, Painlord, Corerue, Diskordan and Randall.
I think now figuring out some kind of shared background for the characters for the characters would be nice. Obviously could be simply -- we all served together in a Mendevian crusade or in a mercenary party and decided to strike out on our own.
Or I have to admit I've always enjoyed a slightly more campaign-geared background. I'll throw out something like our parents all adventured together and entered into some pact -- which our characters may or may not know about -- but we've all been marked with some strange tattoo/birthmark (perhaps some type of map?) and are being hunted or need to fulfill our parents' part of said pact...
Also, what are people wanting to play? I've been really eager to try an inquisitor, so I'm hoping I can call dibs. I'm thinking I've got a fun idea for a Galtan inquisitor of Shelyn.
|
|
Motteditor--
I'm in and love the idea of the Mendevian Crusader idea. In fact, if I get to run first, I have a good first scenario appropriate to the concept ready to go.
May I suggest creating an OOC thread for this group for discussion of characters and concepts and leave this Gamer Connection thread for recruiting?
I'll opine on details in the OOC thread.
-Pain
I have no problem with you going first, Pain. I appreciate the offer.
The discussion thread is now up. I called it Blades of Golarion for lack of any better name for the campaign at the moment; figured that was broad enough to include anything we do.
So let's head over there and start discussing campaign and character ideas.
This thread needs a healthy bump to inform that there's 6 interested players and 1 more person should seal it.
Hi guys just wondering if that last place was still available?
just a question what happens to the DM's character when they're in the 'hot seat?
otherwise i could be a part of this.
my DM style is quite Railroaded (banned word nowadays i know) aiming for more of an 'out of the box style' of challenge solving. risk and reward is very much my mantra.