Looking to bounce some idea's off people concerning a Dark Tower themed homebrew.

[The_cous]

Ive been playing for a few years now and i think im ready to take on being a GM.I just finished my 4th read through of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King and i think that world would mash very well with pathfinders. giving a lot of meta opportunities to slip in my own humor and references.

As far as story is concerned i'd figured i could follow the main path for the most part, But i'd start then waking up in the waystation and THEN making their way to tull where i may/may not make them murder the town.

my first main question is that of how meta i want to take this, my first idea was to have them BE themselves. before coming to the table i'd have them come up with their death in the real world. At the start they tell their stories and then they wake up, exhausted, in a new world, a man in black standing over them, saying something cryptic and spooky then taking off.they find themselves vaguely remembering other lives(levels of the tower) they've lived as well as discovering new powers/skills/equipment and such depending on what class they roll, and so they'd play a fictional version of themselves.

my second problem is what to do with roland. i dont want to ignore him completely,or just reference him a bunch. im not sure if i really want to roll and play and NPC, guiding them the whole way either. I think i may have a solution though. After the Tunnels, in the Golgotha, they find an old decrepit roland (the fistula worked too well on this cycle) who can barely move let alone fight. Im thinking i may force them to drag him all the way up the beach, fighting lobstrosities and a boss...why not zoidberg? And at the end, they find a dogan, inside this dogan is a machine that will transfer his mind into that of a tiny device ala Daria from Wind Through Keyhole. That way he can give contextual information and help steer them in the right direction without railroading them. If none of them are gunslingers(high probabilty) then the machine will also melt down Roland's guns into other useful weapons.

so....few random thoughts there. sorry for the wall of text. lemmie know what you think.

[Zelgadas Greyward]

The_cous wrote:

my first main question is that of how meta i want to take this, my first idea was to have them BE themselves.

This might not be a great idea. If a GM told me that I had to play myself, I would not play in that GM's game. I don't play Pathfinder (or other RPGs) to be myself.

I would suggest first discussing the idea with your players individually and seeing if they would be comfortable with that. If not, then scrap it.

[Morqadayn]

How about just using the world, its creatures and mythology and create a whole new story for your characters. For example, the Star Wars galaxy and Middle Earth have a plethora of adventures, heroes and villains and Mid-world can as well. Besides chances are good that the people that come into your campaign have read the series several times themselves and following in the all too familiar footsteps of the main character(s) wouldn't be that much fun for them.

The heroes may have their own reason for traveling to the Tower, from simply getting home to their world or stopping what may unravel the entire multiverse. Perhaps they were drawn in by a version of "It," searching for a mysterious "Talisman" while desperately staying one step ahead of an ominous "Mist." Or maybe they are locals, born of Mid World, opposing a new menace, or simply eking out a living in an increasingly hostile environment.

I admit, I've only read the first three books, but from that I know that it can be the start of an unusual and exciting campaign. Just take some elements from the stories, create some of your own that feel right for the setting and you can have the beginnings of an epic saga you can call yours.

[The_cous]

"Besides chances are good that the people that come into your campaign have read the series"

actually the main motivation is that none of the bastards have read it, or hardly and King at all. ive given out so many books only to have them be ignored that i kinda wanted to shove it in their face!

"How about just using the world, its creatures and mythology and create a whole new story for your characters"

that was the original idea, but then you know, drugs and achohol later and i thought including them in the story would be cool. but in the beginning i like the pacing and the struggle for survival of going through the desert, catching your breath at tull, going through the mountain, coming up the beach, entering the forest, fighting a big bear and then sort of opening it up from there for them to explore. i just needed an excuse to have them all at/near tull and chasing the man in black as i wanted to include him as a main antagonist for a while.

"This might not be a great idea. If a GM told me that I had to play myself, I would not play in that GM's game. I don't play Pathfinder (or other RPGs) to be myself.
I would suggest first discussing the idea with your players individually and seeing if they would be comfortable with that. If not, then scrap it."

i had a feeling it was terrible idea. but its not nessecarily that you'd be playing YOU, youd be playing you from another level(s) of the tower, alternate versions with incomplete memories of other worlds and other lives, but they'd have to grow into those people, i just liked the idea of them being fish out of water, being that they really dont know the story or world at all.

[Morqadayn]

"ive given out so many books only to have them be ignored that i kinda wanted to shove it in their face!"

"... and i thought including them in the story would be cool."

Sounds like you have much of it already planned out :)

Still, you have a pretty big world to play with and at any time you can throw in all kinds of "King" bits. I can envision a town in which everyone in it has been brought back by a nearby cursed burial mound...or Mr. O Dim dispatched a telekinetic but unhinged young woman to cause mayhem with the group.

Gotta go, but I'll chat more :)

[Heathansson]

Zelgadas Greyward wrote:

The_cous wrote:

my first main question is that of how meta i want to take this, my first idea was to have them BE themselves.

This might not be a great idea. If a GM told me that I had to play myself, I would not play in that GM's game. I don't play Pathfinder (or other RPGs) to be myself.

I would suggest first discussing the idea with your players individually and seeing if they would be comfortable with that. If not, then scrap it.

We used to do this all the time; makin up characters of ourselves then wed play Rifts. We joked that so many of us went into the armed forces just to get weapon proficiencies for our rifts game characters.

I think we did a Steven King novel too; The Talisman or something.
Always thought about doing a Dark Tower homebrew; I think I would be partial to just bopping around in Gilead and finding ancient weaponry or old copies of National Geographic........fighting bandits with weird powers......what have you.