I'm running a game now with a couple of different themes and factions. It's complicated, but this campaign is intended to go all the way to 20 (and maybe beyond). I'm still a pretty new GM, though, I've only been playing for a just over a year now. I seek advice on a few different things from you fine folks.
First and most important, how do I manage a game that takes place in two planes? I want the party to be spending their time on the material plane (my homebrew world) and the shadow plane (Jon Brazer Enterprises' Shadowsfall + homebrew stuff), with about a 65%/35% split for now. The thing is, they're level three. How do I get them to travel back and forth? They do have something of a mentor party of very experienced adventurers that can help them across, but I don't want them to be totally reliant. Also, how do I make the shadow plane really feel different?
I feel pretty comfortable with the aberrations and the prophecies. I've got cool ideas for those. The thing is, there are a number of major factions that I all want to matter and feel distinct. There's the drow, the dwarves, the elves (represented mostly by the lantern bearers, which one party member aspires to become), a kyton demagogue I have yet to detail, several human lords and a king, and the elans. That's a lot. How do you manage this many different groups with all sorts of different goals in a game? There might also be a resurgence of the ancient cyclops empire.
Just a note, the game is mostly open-world, with the players making a lot of decisions.
How do I get them to travel back and forth? They do have something of a mentor party of very experienced adventurers that can help them across, but I don't want them to be totally reliant. Also, how do I make the shadow plane really feel different?
1. If you're already homebrew, have locations where the planes are very close, and at certain times (dusk, evening) the veil between planes drops. They can find these things, because Shadow stuff come through and devastate the local Material plane or kids accidentally fall through and need to rescued. Track the stuff back.
If there are agents on a powerful organization or BBEG that need to travel between planes, then there are probably items that allow travel (limited Plane Shift only to Shadow) once per day or something like that. The party can find one of them.
2. Describe the plane of shadow differently. Change physics. Make it never brighter or darker than dim light except if someone casts Daylight or Darkness. Make living off the Shadow plane using Survival impossible of very challenging.
cheers
Great ideas, Jubal! I already have "rifts" between the planes at the very darkest places, and it's never occurred to me that things should go through them both ways. The survival thing should really make a difference, because I make my players make those survival checks to get by in the wilderness. Also I'll make sure the lighting is always at most dim, because only one of them has dark vision and they'll really feel it. They'll know how harsh it is there.
How do you make a plane different, shadow or otherwise? Well lets start with it being essentially a dimension different from our own. The things we take for granted like gravity and distance don't have match up. Heat doesn't have to rise and standard-issue creatures don't need to have spinal cords.
If you want to do this in mechanical game terms for your shadow plane, come up with something that makes this plane different from ours, other than "there is less light." Where is the light coming from, by the way?
Is the shadowy gloom in the plane inhibitive? Spells with the light or healing keywords require a caster level check. Armor check penalties are doubled. The DC on charisma based checks is increased.
What fights off the gloom? A strong wind? Healing magic? Light? The death of a living being? Maybe nothing at all...
How are the plane's inhabitants different? Maybe they can disappear in shadow at will, or they can teleport. Maybe growing up in the environment makes it difficult to even stand up. Do they have limbs and heads like us, or some other shape? Are they made of solid matter? How does magic affect them, and how would they respond to even a candle light? Do they hate it or are they captivated by it?