Help save a campaign

[Reln]

Re: Help save a campaign

 

Many of the same thoughts I have had. My problem lies in the fact that if I kill off the characters' date=' chances are we go to a different game. I am NOT playing D20 or Rifts. Blech. My main goal was to hook a bunch of newbs into Fantasy Hero, and at that I've succeeded. The info is there, they have it, they just don't act on it.[/quote']

 

 

There is nothing wrong with Rifts...as long as you convert it to Hero

 

My Rifts Hero game is going quite well.

[teh bunneh]

Re: Help save a campaign

 

I can't believe I'm taking advice from a RABBIT! And a dead one at that!

 

Bunnies are noted for their great insight. Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn't say, "Hey, it's keyes_bill. He's a real wise guy."

 

Bill.

[Old Man]

Re: Punish the players!

 

Elf' date=' the other white meat.[/quote']

 

That belongs in a .sig somewhere.

[tkdguy]

Re: Punish the players!

 

That belongs in a .sig somewhere.

Someone in the D&D forums uses it as a sig. Or did, at least. I don't visit that site anymore.

[War Cry]

Re: Help save a campaign

 

Thanks for all the great ideas and encouragement. I'll be finishing up my notes for the game Monday night. It's time they learned they've been used as pawns:eg:

[Nolgroth]

Re: Help save a campaign

 

Crush them! Crush them under the iron grip of oppression!

 

Or just have fun. Whatever comes first.

[Sunday_Gamer]

Re: Help save a campaign

 

Ah the joys of a motley party =)

 

The first and obvious question is ALWAYS "how can I assure party cohesiveness?"

 

Sounds to me like you HAD that problem but now that they are wanted fugitives, you should impart the "better stick together and watch each others backs or we're gonna start dropping dead." message. Seems to me all the elements are there.

 

The wood elf has fled, this is highly annoying. Now understand that everyone has a different playing style and GM'ing style so really, my ideas are no better than yours, I just throw them out there to help inspire you to retake control of your game.

 

First, remember that the game, in the end, is THEIR story. Don't make the mistake of it being about the NPCs or the world you crafted. You will have to deal with how THEY act and react, all you can do is know what's happening in the background with your master plan.

 

Now you need to unify your group. Worried about having to change systems if your PCs die? Well no one said they ALL had to die. Kill 1 and get your message accross. Dont kill him/her randomly. Let them do what they do, you do what you do, sounds to me like sooner or later, one of them is gonna bite off more than he/she can chew. Don't be afraid to illustrate the lethality of some consequences. If you drop 1, they'll make a new character and come back in, presumably. Now I myself is usually against killing my PCs unless they really ask for it. I prefer to maim and mutilate =) This does not just invovle physical violence, there's more than one way to skin a cat, if you pardon the rather odd and disgusting metaphore.

 

I recommend cheating, after all, you're the GM, it's your greatest power =)

 

I usually cheat right up front, my last 2 FH campaigns were a group of young barbarians from the same village, essentially the chiefs son and his childhood friends. And a city based campaign, in which the party were all orphans who grew up in an orphanage owned by a powerful immortal sorcerer... point is, the entire campaign was built to ensure party cohesiveness.

 

So how do you achieve party cohesiveness with a motley group? My main suggestion would be to mark them. Say there's a powerful mage involved. That mage has a plan which presumably, he'd like to see come to fruition. So he gets his hands on some augury and tries to see how his plan is gonna go, what mistakes he's making... you know, evil powerful mage stuff.

 

He sees a force that opposes him, whether knowingly or not, these people will be a problem for his plan, but who are they? So he casts a spell to do what he cannot, find his enemies. His spell goes out and places a tattoo on the targets forehead or gives them a tuft of white hair or whatever, doesn't even need to be visible, but the players have to be aware of its existance.

 

Now, there's something uniting the players. They're all marked. They don't know by who or what and what it means they just know they are marked and they can see the mark upon each other. Maybe only certain powerful NPCs or creatures can see it, maybe only children can see the mark, or animals. Maybe the mark gives everyone who sees them the heebeejeebees (extreme reaction) point is, it can be anything you want or nothing at all, as long as they know they are marked.

 

Then you pick on the elf =)

 

Alone in the woods? How unfortunate, you feel the spot where you're marked heating up slightly, it's a steady, slow building heat. (Give him time to haul *** back to the others)

Still alone? The mark suddenly flares, you see nothing but you feel it like a fire in your soul. (summon whatever creature you want, or the mark is now active and silently calling out to the forest, pissing it off and here comes the locals and they're furry and grumpy...again, whatever.)

 

This might give you the 2 birds with 1 stone effect and cause the Elf to die, if he persist in staying out there alone.

 

If nothing else, hope this inspires you to retake control.

 

Sunday.

[War Cry]

Re: Help save a campaign

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

 

It went pretty well. They realized just how deep they were before I even had a chance to get the ball rolling. The 1st hour or 2 was just the players characters conversing among each other trying to figure out what was exactly going on. Apparantly, they are paying more attention than I have been giving them credit for. They managed to figure out all on their own that somehow the liche, high chancellor, and a 3rd party were working together (and they correctly surmised the 3rd party to be Kaliderius, the Arch mage) It was a joy to behold. They even gathered all the NPC's together in the main hall of the manor and had a sort of "conference" to pool their knowledge and figure out the best course of action. Sprinkle in a surprise visit by a band of roving gladiators and the laws of hospitality to add a little tension (cuz' I was feeling left out). The night ended with the Arch mage appearing to them via an illusion and in a grand villianous fashion let the PC's know of his plans. They weren't impressed. Feng went so far as to stand up to the image of the Archmage. "This is MY house and you are not welcome here. Your day is coming. No matter how powerful you think you may be, there will always be someone bigger and badder than you. You have slaves. I have friends. We will destroy you.":thumbup: Color me impressed. The players did it all on their own. They have chosen to go to Demon's Cleft and the route they have decided on will take them through mostly wooded areas, and the northern borders of the wood elf kingdoms. These guys even found a way to get the most out of the wood elf.

Only real criticism I have is the large number of NPC's. A dwarf, a moneylender (who they view as a "financial advisor"), an enchanter of the 2nd Circle, a old man ranger and his son, a drug dealer and thief, the Eldrethi swordmaster's mistress, and an Inniathi (High Elf) trader and spy. It's a long journey, I'm sure I'll get a chance to kill a few of them off.