Starting a new campaign

[teh bunneh]

I'm going to be starting a new FtF Fantasy Hero campaign after the holidays, and I'm doing a lot of the groundwork right now. We'll be playing in a large, well-developed world, and there's a lot of things the heroes can do/go/see. To help narrow down the possibilities (for both them and myself) I've come up with a questionaire for my players to see what kind of game they want to play.

Any feedback would be appreciated! :)

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Adventurers travel around a lot, but there’s going to be someplace they call home. Where should the characters be based?
· In a big city. The excitement! The glamour! The danger! If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere!
· In a small town. We know everyone, and everyone knows us.
· In an outpost or fort on the frontier. Danger surrounds you, and help is far away, but at least the gates are strong. You hope.
· Far away from civilization. Maybe you're on a long caravan trail. Maybe you're exploring distant territories. All you know is the last time you saw another person was two weeks ago.
· On a ship. Set sail on the high seas! Every week you find yourselves in a new port.
· Other. Explain.

Like it or not, there is a world outside the PCs' circle. Kings and lords play their political games, and sometimes those broil over into violence. What is the area like where the PCs are based?
· The area is peaceful. This is a time of relative stability.
· The area is tense. Though there is no open warfare, different people are playing their agendas and things could go either way.
· The area is at war. You may not be personally involved, but conflict is the rule of the day.
· Other. Explain.

How did the PCs meet?
· Chance-met strangers. It's safer to travel in groups… assuming, of course, that you can trust your fellow travelers...
· Old friends. College chums, relatives, best friends growing up; you know each other better than you know yourselves.
· Brought together. You may not know each other, but you all know the guy who brought you together for this mission.
· Employees. You don't know each other, and you don't know much about the boss, but at least you're getting paid.
· Other. Explain.

The PCs need a reason to stay together. Often that reason is because of a third party – an employer of some sort. Who do you work for?
· Nobody. We work for ourselves, or for the highest bidder of the moment.
· We have a private employer – maybe a mercenary commander, a rich merchant, or a ship captain.
· We work for the government – secret agents or public servants.
· We work for the church, either a big temple or a small local place of worship.
· Not only do we not work for anyone, but we're actively working against someone in authority – like Robin Hood and his Merry Men vs. Bad Prince John.
· Other. Explain.

Obviously the PCs are the focus of the game, but you aren't alone in the world. How important should NPCs be to the game?
· There are many recurring NPCs. Some are allies, some enemies; they all have their own agendas.
· There are a few NPCs around, but they don't get involved unless we involve them.
· NPCs are there to serve drinks and keep out of our way!
· Other. Explain.


You can't be heroes without villains to oppose. What is the opposition like?
· A regular villain. An evil necromancer, a wicked duke, a corrupt bishop, a vampire lord – whoever it is, we run into him or his minions about every third week.
· No regular villains. Bad guy of the week. We've never seen him before, and we'll never see him again.
· Other. Explain.

Humor Level:
· Slapstick. Bad puns, musical numbers, villains with ridiculous names and absurd schemes. Maybe a banana peel or two...
· Normal level. We can't help but be silly sometimes, but we won't go out of our way.
· Grim. You won't be laughing when you're dead.
· Other. Explain.

What sort of things would you like to see in the game? Keep in mind that these things are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and most of them can be done with either a “light” or a “dark” setting.
· Political intrigue. Back-room dealings, dodging assassins, protecting the rightful heir, trying to gain a seat on the high council, that sort of thing.
· Combat. I'm not happy unless I'm killing someone.
· Exploration. What do you suppose is on the other side of that mountain?
· Character interaction. I'd rather meet and talk to new and interesting people than try to kill them.
· Criminal activity. Committing crimes or preventing them -- two sides of the same coin.
· Romance. Falling in love (PC to NPC, PC to PC) and all the drama that goes with it.
· Angst. "I've been gifted with superhuman powers and immortality. Oh, woe is me!" ;)
· Other. Explain.

[Matt Frisbee]

Nice questionaire -- but if the ones I've handed out are indication, you hand out five questionaires and you get five completely different forms handed back. There was never any concensus among my players about what they wanted. In the end, however, they always played in whatever I set up, so go figure.

Matt "Doing-it-my-way" Frisbee

[Eosin]

I really like the questionaire. It gets right to the heart of what players want to see and as long as there are more than 2 players you should be fine.

PS - the DM should fill one out as well before looking at the players answers to see if their wants coincide with the players. The DM sheet can also be used to negotiate ties or hazy results for a specific question ....

[Doc Democracy]

It's a good questionaire but I would use it as a template for a group discussion where you can make decisions (Matt is right unless you work for it you will never get a consensus).

If you get everyone together then they run through the campaign in rough - discuss the questions you've laid out and make their opinions known - as GM you'll make the final decisions but there should be lots of material for you to use in the campaign.

The only thing I wouldn't have in this even would be how the PCs got together or stay together. I demand that of my players. I say that each player must write some back story that links his character to two others (and no exclusive circles allowed) and give reaasons why they want to be working together. That is mandatory if they want to play.

Doc

[JohnTaber]

Hi Folks: This thread is why I conduct character creation sessions with all of my players. In these sessions I talk about the world, ask for input, then talk about the characters and their role in the world and with the other players. It has worked really well for me in the past. :)

[archermoo]

The questionnaire is an interesting idea, but I personally just prefer to sit down with the players and talk to them about what they are interested in. All at once or one by one, or even small groups.

Oh, and keep in mind that not everyone uses the default colour scheme on the board, so putting stuff in black text means that those of us who use the dark scheme get to try and read black text on a dark grey background.

:)

[teh bunneh]

The questionnaire is an interesting idea, but I personally just prefer to sit down with the players and talk to them about what they are interested in. All at once or one by one, or even small groups.

The questionnaire is intended more as a "Here's the starting post for our discussion about what we all hope to see in the campaign," rather than a "Fill this out and I'll make a campaign that matches your choices." :)


Oh, and keep in mind that not everyone uses the default colour scheme on the board, so putting stuff in black text means that those of us who use the dark scheme get to try and read black text on a dark grey background.

:confused:

[archermoo]

The questionnaire is intended more as a "Here's the starting post for our discussion about what we all hope to see in the campaign," rather than a "Fill this out and I'll make a campaign that matches your choices." :)



:confused:

In your initial post most of the text of the questionaire has the text colour specified as black. The dark background forum option has a default of white or slightly off white text on a dark grey background. However that gets overridden if the text being posted is formatted with a specific text colour rather than just left as the default. So anytime someone posts and specifies black as the text colour, it is hard for those of us using the dark background forum theme to read it.

As an example:

[SatinKitty]

Off Topic:

Looking forward to another one of your wonderful Adventure Logs ! :bounce:

[Cancer]

Something worth discussing: Is the lethality of the world vis-a-vis the PCs a negotiable thing? How likely is character death, and how catastrophic is it if/when it occurs? How numerous, and how powerful, are the entities that are specifically looking to see a PC dead?

[teh bunneh]

In your initial post most of the text of the questionaire has the text colour specified as black. The dark background forum option has a default of white or slightly off white text on a dark grey background. However that gets overridden if the text being posted is formatted with a specific text colour rather than just left as the default. So anytime someone posts and specifies black as the text colour, it is hard for those of us using the dark background forum theme to read it.

I have no idea how that happened. I don't recall changing the font color, though I did change the font. Sorry, man. :no:

[teh bunneh]

Something worth discussing: Is the lethality of the world vis-a-vis the PCs a negotiable thing? How likely is character death, and how catastrophic is it if/when it occurs? How numerous, and how powerful, are the entities that are specifically looking to see a PC dead?

That's a really good question. Thanks!

How's this:

Lethality Level:
• Toon-style. You get knocked down, you get back up again. Ain't never gonna keep you down.
• Not lethal. People might get injured, but no one will die.
• Average. Death is an option if you aren't careful.
• Deadly. Someone on the team will likely die.
• TPK. Total Party Kill. You'll be lucky if you make it out of the character generation session alive.

[teh bunneh]

Off Topic:

Looking forward to another one of your wonderful Adventure Logs ! :bounce:

Thanks! I'll probably start one up on the Fantasy Hero board once the game gets going. :king:

[OddHat]

Personally, I'd ask about Power Level and general Narrative Influences Influences.

Power Levels -

Apprentice Pig Keepers - PCs are lucky if they know which end of the sword is the pointy bit, at least at the start of the campaign.

Travelers - PCs have real jobs, but some of these (Tinker, Forester, Academic, Wagon Master) may have "adventuring" applications.

Adventurers - Typical fantasy game and novel starting adventurers, with a range of useful skills and tricks

Heroes - Skilled Wizards, Master Swordsmen, Feared Assassins

Legends - One in a generation Warriors, Great Wizards, Thieves well qualified to steal fire from the gods

Narrative Influences -

Tolkien Style World - Singing Elves, A single great conflict, Magic abounds but not really in the hands of the PCs

Gemmell Style World - Old Veterans and Young Prodigies, Grim & Gritty Realism in many areas, Magic largely restricted to Psi type effects with only a few exceptions unless a power source is available, power source allows High Fantasy magic

Pratchett Style World - Jokes and Puns Everywhere, Magic has laws it follows so long as it's funny, Ultimate Humanity of all characters asserted (especially non-humans), Political and Social Commentary sneaks in

Anthony Style World - It used to be good if silly, now it's just crap

[garou]

• TPK. Total Party Kill. You'll be lucky if you make it out of the character generation session alive.
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Aka the Paranoia option. (Though it could occur in the original Traveller game, too.)


As others have said, I'd lean toward discussing this in person with the entire group, using the questions/responses as a basis and going from there. Of course, IME, there is invariably one person who says they want "X" when everyone is prepping for the game, and then changes their mind to wanting "Y" and fails to tell anyone about it. Sometimes it's a player, sometimes a GM.

[TheQuestionMan]

Gemmell Style World - Old Veterans and Young Prodigies, Grim & Gritty Realism in many areas, Magic largely restricted to Psi type effects with only a few exceptions unless a power source is available, power source allows High Fantasy magic
<sighs> I miss him already.



Damn the man for dying.

QM

[bigdamnhero]

I did something similar before starting up my current Champions game. Tho my survey looked more at questions of tone and attitude than plot issues. Not saying there's anything wrong with asking the later, but disagreements over the former disrupt more games IMX.

For example:


What general tone would you prefer for this campaign:
Nihilistic; Grim; Gritty; Balanced; Light; Playful; Frivolous

Morality:
Black & white; Shades-of-grey; All morality is relative

Etc.

I then listed a bunch of genre elements and conventions and asked which ones they most loved/hated. Worked pretty well. Fortunately, our answers weren't all that far apart; afterwards we discussed the few areas where there was any disagreement.

[TheQuestionMan]

Give Examples and References for each choice.

Use Novels, Movies, Past Campaigns, etc...



Very important

QM

[Super Squirrel]

bugger. I was hoping it was a questionaire that we could give you feedback on. I had some neat ideas and then I started to reply and saw the part about players.

[teh bunneh]

bugger. I was hoping it was a questionaire that we could give you feedback on. I had some neat ideas and then I started to reply and saw the part about players.

You're welcome to answer the questions if you'd like. :)

[teh bunneh]

Which would you play? :D


The Age of Exploration
General Description: Set sail with other adventurers bold as you seek out what lies beyond the horizon! Mankind is taking his first tentative steps away from the familiar shores of home, exploring the vast ocean, searching for glory and hunting down the mysteries of the world. Find the fabled Isle of Dragons, brave the dangers of the Boiling Sea, face pirates, monsters, and even the gods themselves, and return home with your shield – or on it.

Importance of the PCs: The PCs are a very important part of the world. Bold heroes all, what you discover may change the face of history.
Morality: Good vs. Bad is mostly clear-cut. There may be some gray areas, but it should be clear when they come up.
Realism: Cinematic. The heroes will be swinging from chandeliers, fighting off hoards of mooks, and performing stunts which would amaze the average person.
Outlook: Mostly optimistic. Things will be tough but will usually work out -- as long as the heroes are up to the task.
Seriousness: Generally light-hearted, with some serious/dramatic moments.
Continuity: Continuity will be enforced. This will be a campaign, not a series of one-offs. It will definitely tie in with the rest of the world or established history – in fact, you will be writing history as you go.


Ocean’s 11
General Description: It's a simple job, at first blush. Steal a ring, get paid a fortune. Problem is, the ring is enchanted – which means it's well-guarded. But that's why they hired you, each one of you among the world's finest specialists. You've agreed to the job and you always keep your word, but something about this heist bothers you. Maybe it's your mysterious employer, or the stories surrounding the magic ring, or something else entirely… but you're committed to see the job done.

Importance of the PCs: You are professionals with a bit more going for you than the average person, but in the grand scheme of things you aren't that important.
Morality: Gray. You may be ethical, with a sense of honor and professionalism, but you're still thieves.
Realism: Mostly realistic. You'll have to get by on brainpower and careful planning, not swinging from chandeliers.
Outlook: Questionable. Success or failure is up to the choices you make – and your opponents won't be going easy on you.
Seriousness: Generally serious, with bits of humor and light-heartedness to break it up.
Continuity: Continuity will be enforced. This will be a campaign, not a series of one-offs. It will definitely tie in with established history (and a previous campaign).


The Fearless Monster Hunters
General Description: The PCs are the descendents of a group of high-powered and well-known adventurers from a generation (or two) ago. Trained in the ways of your forefathers, you seek to re-ignite the legend that once burned brightly across the land – the Fearless Monster Hunters! You will not only create your own characters, but the legends of your forbearers as well.
Importance of the PCs: You are young heroes with a bit more going for you than the average person. With enough experience and the right choices, you may become very important to the world.

Morality: Good vs. Bad is mostly clear-cut, but there will be gray areas.
Realism: Mostly cinematic. With a good roll, you can swing from a chandelier.
Outlook: Mostly optimistic. Things will be tough but will usually work out -- as long as the heroes are up to the task.
Seriousness: A mix of light-hearted and serious. A funny ghost-chase one week may segue next week into a dramatic passion play on the nature of death to a gruesome murder mystery the next.
Continuity: Continuity will be mostly enforced. This will be a campaign, but individual adventures may or may not tie back to what has come before.


The City on the Edge of the World
General Description: Former members of the Black Blood River Expeditionary Company (and new friends) head east, looking for adventure (and trying to steer clear of their enemies/debtors). You wind up in the exotic land of Morjiim, getting caught up in the political and social intrigue of this strange and foreign nation. A powerful warlord has built a city on the edge of the plains, and is trying to hold together a fragile alliance of powers in order to keep his dream alive. Danger looms in every corner, from marauding warbands of nomads to scheming foreigners who have their own reasons to see the city fail. Choose a side – for not choosing one in this cold war simply means that everyone is your enemy...

Importance of the PCs: You are relatively experienced adventurers who have seen more than your share of the world and the dangers it contains. The PCs are very important, as various factions court your favor (for whatever reason).
Morality: Mostly gray, with some black-and-white. There are a lot of factions, and sometimes it can be hard to tell which ones are the good guys and which ones are the bad guys.
Realism: Mostly cinematic. With a good roll, you can swing from a chandelier.
Outlook: Mostly optimistic. Things will be tough but will usually work out -- as long as the heroes are up to the task.
Seriousness: A mix of light-hearted and serious. A funny comedy of manners one week may segue next week into a suspenseful attempt to avoid assassins, to a gruesome murder mystery the next.
Continuity: Continuity will be enforced. This will be a campaign, not a series of one-offs. It will definitely tie in with established history (and a previous campaign).

[Supreme Serpent]

1st - FMH
2nd - AoE

[bigdamnhero]

Which would you play? :D
With the right GM (i.e. - you), any of them. ;)

My preference would be for Age of Exploration first (just cuz it sounds fun), and Fearless Monster Hunters last (only because it's somewhat similar to my last campaign).

[Manic Typist]

I like the first and fourth the most, but they all look promising.

[teh bunneh]

I'm going to make a decision over the Thanksgiving weekend. I've narrowed it down to the Fearless Monster Hunters and City on the Edge of the World. It depends on whether my players want more monster-bashing or more RP/intriguing.

[TheQuestionMan]

Do Buffy Musical Number!!!

<snickers>

QM

[SatinKitty]

I vote for fearless Monster Hunters- it sounds more YOU. :)
(Killer Rabbit ?)

[teh bunneh]

FMH it is! :cheers:

So far, we have a Dwarvish Warrior from the Axtmann school, a Darktouched Jill from the corrupt city of Brills, and a Gray Elf Wild Mage from the Elvish homeland of Pasion. I'll see what the others are playing later this week.

[teh bunneh]

I've opened a new thread for the Fearless Monster Hunters (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51367)in the Fantasy Hero board. :cool: