so i want to start a new game with me my friend and hopefully one more person ... i would like tips on how to play a char and dm at same time and maybe some ideas on the campaign i wanna run.
start out in a jail/prison/cage on a boat with amnesia (cant remember who they are why they are there yada yada yada) this requires the players to interact i believe. then they break out of cage by pickpocket charisma check or just knocking out the guard (not sure yet) then they have to escape either on the life boat or swimming ... or do i give them the option to steal the big boat...
and what kind of boat would have 3 or more prisoners on it i wasnt sure. and then im not sure what i should do when they get off the boat
any advice would help
one of the ideas i had was the jailors ring minor scrying thing let some mysterious bad guy be able to spy on them later with out them knowing
I like the Jailers Rings, those can make some interesting occurrences and roleplay(Who's the first to cut their finger off out of paranoia). To play a DMPC, good advice is to be a useful and interesting character but don't hog the spotlight. The focus should be the players, it's alright if the DMPC does some cool things some times but don't make them them the biggest badass around(Something I've had DMs do in the past). You also don't want the DMPC to just blend in the background.
Now how big of a prison is this they're going to? Is it the Alcatraz of the area? If so the boat is probably gonna have at least 50-60 prisoners. Although probably only about half the guards. Does the prison deal with magic users often? There should be some stuff to contain mages, sure shackles help some but don't stop everything. In the long run, give them a chance to steal the ship, maybe convince some prisoners to help, but make it difficult. It is a prison break after all, and don't afraid to actually send them to prison I could see that being really fun if run right. I would really give the players a chance to think about how to escape, or even if they're going to.
Anyways, I would definitely get some solid ideas about the prison, make a map of the boat(Even a quick paper and pencil sketch) and think of a few important inmates, both on the boat and in the prison and just see where the game goes.
im thinking since there is three players (including myslf) i would have about 4 prisoners one being a npc that can give quests later and i thought about letting them quest later to have a base of operations like a guild base or city that they can own and then that leaves room for enemy citys or what not and the boat was just a small thing that i was thinking but now the jail thing sounds fun if they cants escape send them to jail but then that can leave so many opportunities for them about different things i can think of
thank you
by the way my char will be a cha based thief so i dont think i can become a complete badass
Quick question looking at the prd's I found the shipmates template 1/2 CR but says in a group of 6 CR 4 now I want to make them goblin so -2 str -2cha and +4 does that change the CR of 6 goblin shipmates from CR 4 to something else and do they drop same gear? Or do they drop better stuff? (there are three players lvl 5 currently have nothing one being a dm char if that makes a difference) first challenge of campaign slip cage and escape ship there are 6 shipmates dunno bout captain or first mate the templates too high CR... Thoughts? Figured use same thread as to not clutter the message boards
bump
I don't know how our GMs have done it (they have 'tag-teamed' Second Darkness) One played a Witch and the other a kind of Thug monk. At first they created a teleport ring so one would be in the game when the other was GMing and vice versa and then towards the middle, they were both in the game.
As far as what they did? The monk guy created a schtick in the game for attracting the wrong female (harpies, banshees, succubus) It got so bad it was fun. We scared his character once by suggesting a certain monster was female and was out to get him :D
The witch started the game with crafting and was making magic items for us. He was there when we needed him. The witch had this Hair that he with reach. On several occations, he grabbed my near dead monk with his hair and pulled me back around to the cleric. Other times he was right there to hand me a potion so I could survive to the end of the round.
I think if you play a GMPC and it is a very small group, you are bound to get into too much action. Our GM's let the rest do most of the work. Even our Thug Monk seemed more like a bungling fool.
My guess is that with such a small group you won't be using a screen as you will be part of the group and rolling in front of them.
those are some good ideas i am probably gonna play either a stealing thief that gets them better deals or i would... i dunno still haven't decided i thought about making one of my normal chars which is op as hell lol then just not using it to my full potential until they are bout to die or have died ...
or making a buffer and making a good char that helps them win but with out making a single attack against the bad guys lol
My son badly wanted an intelligent item for one of his characters. It keeps very quiet most of the time, because it's previous owner is searching for it and it doesn't want to be found. It can cast the occasional helpful spell if things get desperate, or offer advice if the party seem stuck.
(By the way, I find your posts quite hard to read without any capital letters or full stops. Paragraphs help too)
Sorry most of this is posted off a touch screen phone, still not used to the touch screen.
I like the intelligent items but isn't that usually another GM ran item, or do players control their intelligent items?
Next item of question me and my friend like these types of games my gf agreed to play but usually doesn't do these like WoW . How do you get someone involved with out to much pushing on your part?
That was suppose to be she likes wow ... Stupid phone.
Sorry most of this is posted off a touch screen phone, still not used to the touch screen.
I like the intelligent items but isn't that usually another GM ran item, or do players control their intelligent items?
Next item of question me and my friend like these types of games my gf agreed to play but usually doesn't do these like WoW . How do you get someone involved with out to much pushing on your part?
It's your game, you don't HAVE to use all the rules. Find out what that person is interested in. If you think you can fudge the rules a little to get that person to have fun in your game but not over do it then go for it.
As the saying goes YMMV.
I like the intelligent items but isn't that usually another GM ran item, or do players control their intelligent items?
Yes it is, but most of the time it doesn't interact with anyone. In this case I run it because it definitely has its own personality and agenda, which the player doesn't know about.
When I used to play (1st edition) we started with a large group of PCs which became a smaller group of PCs and assorted NPC hangers-on as players dropped out. Players played the NPCs with the GM stepping in if he thought they were being abused (eg expected to give valuable items to PCs or doing something suicidal).