It occurred to me that I’ve not talked a lot about the gaming that I do with my friends. Aside from the early part of the school year where my weekends are largely taken up with extra-curricular activities, I get together most every Friday night with my friends to play RPGs. Let me tell you about my game! (Yeah, I’m that guy).
Well, Actually…
I don’t have a game going on right now. Because I’ve been out of commission, the gaming has stalled. However, I’m planning my next campaign, and this time I think I know how to do it properly. Famous last words, right? You see, I’ve got an issue where I start campaigns really well, and then they peter out after 5-6 sessions. I lose track of my threads, I lose focus, I realize that I’ve painted myself into a corner, I don’t like the system as much as I thought I did, etc. So many “reasons.” I call them excuses. I’ve got all of the capability I need to run a great campaign, I just need to approach things properly. Here’s how I’m proceeding this time.
Go Back to My Roots
The first campaign I ever ran was a 4e game in a homebrewed world called Soreth, and I seem to rememeber a lot of player engagement until I ran into my usual problems. The world was compelling enough, the NPCs were interesting, there were plenty of places to go, and things to see and do. In fact, it’s the most developed homebrew world I’ve ever run. It makes no sense for me to try and do something else. I have all of this material, so why not us it?
That’s not to say that there aren’t some changes that are going to happen. It’s almost like the changes that happen in the Forgotten Realms every time a new edition of D&D comes out. I started this game in 4e, but we play Pathfinder now. There are some fundamental differences in the assumed universe between 4e and Pathfinder. Some of those things can stick around, but some need altered.
The 12 Marches
This is the location in which the campaign took place. 12 loosely allied countries, all dealing with the same problem: the Worldshift. The empire that had occupied this continent shattered when the rulers made a bad deal with the denizens of the Nine Hells. The resulting cataclysm shifted the landscape, continually. Mountains rise and fall, rivers re-route, deserts replace grassland, and vice versa. It all looks like a time-elapsed video, and happens smoothly. In the centuries since the Worldshift, things have settled, and the previous campaign picked up with the Marches having been established for almost half a millenium. There was solidty, but it was fraying at the edges.
Timeline
Much like FR, I want to jump the timeline ahead so I don’t run into issues with the stuff that was happening during the previous game. A lot was in flux in the previous game. An old power was rising in countries on the continent, uniting disparate nations under a tyrannical banner. At the same time, an invasion from unknown lands across the sea was happening. As well, two magically-minded nations caught thieves in their safest vaults, causing them to lock down their borders, allowing no one in. Finally, one of the countries had some really wiggity stuff going on with star-pact warlocks.
I want to take the timeline and advance it 15-20 years. That will let those events settle out, and give me mature issues to deal with. There are only a couple of countries that are still largely free of trouble, and those are where the game will take place.
Races
The most obvious differences between Pathfinder and 4e are the races, mechanics aside of course. Dragonborn, eladrin, and teiflings were all in the mix. Happily, we moved on to another game before D&D had any racial supplements, so I only have to account for those three.
- Teiflings – These guys are the easiest: no changes needed. In the original game, the teiflings were responsible for some bad stuff many, many moons ago. They’re not persecuted necessarily, but they can be. I like the thought of keeping them in. As well, with Pathfinder, I can add in assimar as a balancing force… or maybe just to mess with things.
- Dragonborn - These guys are trickier. I don’t fancy using a custom race for them, which I’m sure I could find easily, because many of my players use Hero Lab to make their characters. That means I need to handle them narratively. There was a country predominantly populated by dragonborn in the original game, and when we left off the game, that country was being invaded by lizard men. Because of the fell magic of lizardmen, the dragonborn across the country have been co-opted, and are now fighting alongside their scaly brethren. That means I can use them as enemies, but not have to worry about my players needing the stats.
- Eladrin – Eladrin are relatively simple to deal with as well. Due to some of the changes on the continent, they’ve lost their Fey Step ability. Other than that, they’re basically highly magical elves. There are plenty of options in the Advanced Races Guide that allow for there to be two different races of elves in the world.
Ties to the Shadows
One of the things that I’ve been pondering off and on since I started work on Shadows of the Collegium was how that setting fit into a larger world. Obviously, Shadows was dealing with just Kage and the Collegium, but that area is situated within a larger world. As soon as I started pondering that, I thought about using Soreth. Turns out, it would work well. With a deity being imprisoned under the Wracked Lands, and the Collegium wanting power any way they could get it, it makes sense that some of the problems that the 12 marches had were tied to the Collegium.
In fact, the time of the Worldshift ties almost directly to the time when the Masked Council imprisoned the Nameless God. Because tht was such a world-changing event, I imagine lines of power radiating out from the Collegium, and crossing the world, giving the Masked Council influence across the world. Incidentally, this isn’t far different from the Dark Tower series where the Tower had lines radiating from it. There are some intrinsic differences, of course, but I like the feel of the idea. If I ever get to the point of publishing Shadows, I’ll be sure I’m not just ripping off the idea whole-cloth. Since this is my home campaign, I’m safe for now.
Beginning Again
This new campaign won’t happen for a little over a month, but I’m excited for the prospect of it beginning. I hope very much that I can make this a much longer campaign, and that the players will get some of the same engagement that they had in the original game. I do record the audio of the game sessions and post it at the Gamer’s Haven, so when that happens, I’ll be sure to let you know.