Campaign writeup advice needed

[megaplayboy]

I'm in the early stages of writing up a fairly comprehensive campaign setting, and I'm looking for advice from a)anyone who's done it before, and b)players who have insight into what they like to know about a campaign, both at the outset and as the campaign progresses.

 

IOW, I'm planning sort of a summary description to lure in players, then a more detailed "player campaign sourcebook"(probably in pdf format) for each PC, and a comprehensive "GM campaign sourcebook" as the "bible" for the campaign.

 

My general thoughts on what will be included:

1. History and timeline

2. campaign tone and themes

3. campaign parameters and house rules

4. magic, religion, deities and other dimensions

5. aliens and space stuff

6. technology, mundane and exotic

7. culture, politics, geography, etc.

8. good guys--heroes, helpful npcs, good guy orgs, etc.

9. bad guys--villains, their helpers, bad guy orgs, etc.

10. important locations

 

What questions would other GMs seek to provide answers for, and what questions would experienced players likely ask about a campaign setting, both before they start playing in it, and after they get settled into it?

 

thanks:)

[megaplayboy]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

(shameless bump)

[teh bunneh]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

IOW, I'm planning sort of a summary description to lure in players, then a more detailed "player campaign sourcebook"(probably in pdf format) for each PC, and a comprehensive "GM campaign sourcebook" as the "bible" for the campaign.

 

My general thoughts on what will be included:

1. History and timeline

2. campaign tone and themes

3. campaign parameters and house rules

4. magic, religion, deities and other dimensions

5. aliens and space stuff

6. technology, mundane and exotic

7. culture, politics, geography, etc.

8. good guys--heroes, helpful npcs, good guy orgs, etc.

9. bad guys--villains, their helpers, bad guy orgs, etc.

10. important locations

 

What questions would other GMs seek to provide answers for, and what questions would experienced players likely ask about a campaign setting, both before they start playing in it, and after they get settled into it?

 

Sounds like a really good plan, MPB. You've touched on most of the stuff that I'd think of. Of course, players always, always come up with questions that the GM never anticipated.

 

One thing I'd advise: ask your players what they want. F'rinstance, if they want to interact with other civilizations from across the stars, you'll want to detail that. If not, then you can put it on the back burner. And of course, what isn't important at the beginning of the campaign may become crucial later, so be ready to fill in the details as they come up.

 

In order of importance, I'd arrange your list something like this:

 

1. campaign tone and themes

2. campaign parameters and house rules

3. History and timeline

4a. good guys--heroes, helpful npcs, good guy orgs, etc.

4b. bad guys--villains, their helpers, bad guy orgs, etc.

5a. magic, religion, deities and other dimensions

5b. aliens and space stuff

5c. technology, mundane and exotic

5d. culture, politics, geography, etc.

5e. important locations

[MitchellS]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

I'd probably throw in some stuff about the campaign city as well as other cities around the country; especially if these cities are home-made. It's one thing to say the Sentinels are in New York it's another thing to say they are in Easthaven. If you're using fictional cities you might want to give a basic overview of them to the players:

 

Easthaven is high-tech and majestic and home to the Guardians whose efforts have managed to give the city the lowest crime rates in the country.

 

Crimson Fields is dark, mysterious, and haunted by the evil done there 75 years ago, but the Watchmen are making bold strides in cleaning the city up.

 

Middleton is the backbone of the country and the primary rail center in the middle of the country. The rail yards and warehouses are a haven for organized crime but the Minutemen are doing all they can to protect the people from the evil's influences.

 

And so on...

[megaplayboy]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

Sounds like a really good plan' date=' MPB. You've touched on most of the stuff that I'd think of. Of course, players always, [b']always[/b] come up with questions that the GM never anticipated.

 

One thing I'd advise: ask your players what they want. F'rinstance, if they want to interact with other civilizations from across the stars, you'll want to detail that. If not, then you can put it on the back burner. And of course, what isn't important at the beginning of the campaign may become crucial later, so be ready to fill in the details as they come up.

 

In order of importance, I'd arrange your list something like this:

 

1. campaign tone and themes

2. campaign parameters and house rules

3. History and timeline

4a. good guys--heroes, helpful npcs, good guy orgs, etc.

4b. bad guys--villains, their helpers, bad guy orgs, etc.

5a. magic, religion, deities and other dimensions

5b. aliens and space stuff

5c. technology, mundane and exotic

5d. culture, politics, geography, etc.

5e. important locations

 

Thanks, I like that sequencing.

[Mike W]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

I agree with Mitchell that you may need to give snapshots of fictional cities.

 

Beyond that, I find that it is important to tie everything together in some way. Most universes, everything is tied together. The mystics may be off on their own a bit, but even then, major mystics/gods on mainstream teams is normal. So make sure that you not only know what all the history, technology, magic, etc ARE but how they relate to each other. How they intertwine.

[megaplayboy]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

I'd probably throw in some stuff about the campaign city as well as other cities around the country; especially if these cities are home-made. It's one thing to say the Sentinels are in New York it's another thing to say they are in Easthaven. If you're using fictional cities you might want to give a basic overview of them to the players:

 

Easthaven is high-tech and majestic and home to the Guardians whose efforts have managed to give the city the lowest crime rates in the country.

 

Crimson Fields is dark, mysterious, and haunted by the evil done there 75 years ago, but the Watchmen are making bold strides in cleaning the city up.

 

Middleton is the backbone of the country and the primary rail center in the middle of the country. The rail yards and warehouses are a haven for organized crime but the Minutemen are doing all they can to protect the people from the evil's influences.

 

And so on...

 

The campaign setting will probably be oriented towards a variety of possible starting levels, from super-teens in high school to spandex gods in orbital platforms, so there will likely be one city described in great detail, and a bunch of other locations described in less detail(enough to get a general feel for them).

 

 

E.g., Superhero City was founded in 1951 by Captain Liberty, following the volcanic eruption in the Gulf of Mexico. The city was built on the island which emerged, and intended as a safe, welcoming haven for superhumans to live and raise their families in. Ever since, it has largely lived up to that promise, and boasts the highest per capita concentration of superhumans of any place on or off planet.

 

Kaiju Eiga, aka Monster Island, is the home of several of the world's giant mutated creatures, be they alien, ancient, or manmade. It was conceived as a location to "fence" in the creatures, and keep them from making their "nests" in major population centers. In practice the results have been mixed...

[CBikle]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

For Champions campaigns, I'll usually tailor that stuff around the initial group of PCs backgrounds.

 

I've never subscribed to the school of elaborate campaign histories.

 

Most of mine have always gone something like this:

 

"The world is pretty much like ours with the notable exception of super-powered heroes and villains who've been around since the late 30's.

 

Over time, federal agencies like PRIMUS (sort of like GI Joe, Checkmate and THUNDER) and international organizations like UNTIL (kind of a Star Trek Federation/SHIELD hybrid) deal with criminal organizations like Viper (like Cobra and Hydra) and hostile extra-terrestrials (who've been active since the 50's).

 

Although very high-levels of technology exist, it really hasn't filtered to the non-military private sector due to prohibitive costs, legislation and public safety concerns.

 

Most super heroes have a relatively friendly relationship with law-enforcement agencies (partially out of necessity and partially due to the heroes popularity) and are given a great deal of leeway in regards to the law (this usually only gets challenged if it is believed that the heroes employed excessive force or controversial information-gathering methods).

 

For the most part, the US is believed to have the densist super-human population; there are many theories to why this is.

 

Although there are self-proclaimed gods and sorcerors, the vast majority of the American public doesn't believe in magic, etc. "

 

Over time, I'll fill in whatever blanks I've missed.

[megaplayboy]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

For Champions campaigns, I'll usually tailor that stuff around the initial group of PCs backgrounds.

 

I've never subscribed to the school of elaborate campaign histories.

 

Most of mine have always gone something like this:

 

"The world is pretty much like ours with the notable exception of super-powered heroes and villains who've been around since the late 30's.

 

Over time, federal agencies like PRIMUS (sort of like GI Joe, Checkmate and THUNDER) and international organizations like UNTIL (kind of a Star Trek Federation/SHIELD hybrid) deal with criminal organizations like Viper (like Cobra and Hydra) and hostile extra-terrestrials (who've been active since the 50's).

 

Although very high-levels of technology exist, it really hasn't filtered to the non-military private sector due to prohibitive costs, legislation and public safety concerns.

 

Most super heroes have a relatively friendly relationship with law-enforcement agencies (partially out of necessity and partially due to the heroes popularity) and are given a great deal of leeway in regards to the law (this usually only gets challenged if it is believed that the heroes employed excessive force or controversial information-gathering methods).

 

For the most part, the US is believed to have the densist super-human population; there are many theories to why this is.

 

Although there are self-proclaimed gods and sorcerors, the vast majority of the American public doesn't believe in magic, etc. "

 

Over time, I'll fill in whatever blanks I've missed.

while i certainly respect that approach--I've done it myself, many times--the only aspect I'd likely retain is to integrate the PCs backgrounds into the campaign setting, allowing them a fair degree of input as to what exists in the campaign backstory. If they want to create their own hunted, and want it to play an important role in the campaign, great, I'll work with them to make it happen. If they want to be a wealthy industrialist running a big high tech corporation, with a rivalry with another rich playboy, I can work that in there too.

 

But the concept I have is for a very "non-generic" campaign setting:)

[Fedifensor]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

The best advice I can give is to start small, and build on what you have over time. I made the mistake of trying to do everything at once - the end result was that I never was ready to run the game.

 

This time around, I've started with a simple, two page handout to give the players the general background of the game. When I'm ready to begin, I'll simply build on that background with the help of the players, until I get something about as detailed as Champions Universe (well, I can dream...).

 

In case you're interested, here's the kind of thing I'm suggesting:

http://www.peakpeak.com/~fedifensor/games/hero/CatalystCampaignIntro.pdf

[Matt Frisbee]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

Hey Megaplayboy,

 

If your players are really into reading about the world their characters are in, then this effort is going to be worth the time. Otherwise, my suggestion is keep a fairly loose timeline and keep fairly tight campaign notes on the places where the characters are going to be interacting for an extended time (the home city).

 

Never, ever fall into the trap that the whole world has to be defined before the campaign starts. Just make sure you're solid on those parts of it where the characters are going to be during the adventures. Anything else, you can either mention in passing while making a note to yourself to develop it when you have the time, or (if appropriate) let the player concerned develop the item, idea, etc. on their time, and work with him or her to make it fit into the campaign. It's been my experience that good players welcome this opportunity to contribute. Most players will toss some ideas at you and leave it to your imagination. The bad players don't do anything and you have to decide how badly you want them in the game.

 

Silly question -- just how serious are you going to play this campaign? Is it a dark and moody universe or a more light-hearted one? Is it going to be serial in nature or episodic? The more continuity you want in the game is going to dictate how much detail you're going to need to pull it off.

 

Good luck with the campaign!

 

Matt

[Duke Bushido]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

The news. Throw in the news. Regular updates-- things that may or may not interest them, at appropriate times. Not always campaign-plot related, though. This helps to flesh out a world; it gives you a chance to 'update' the world with new or refreshed details, and it gets the players more into figuring out clues, etc, rather than chasing every detail as it _must_ be important because it was mentioned.

 

Everyone else has touched on the biggies; the only other suggestion I would offer is to go ahead and sketch-- very roughly-- any over-arcing continuous plot you might have. Once the final characters are approved, tweak it to suit them. Refer to it often, just to keep yourself from running too far afield.

 

And have a great time with it!

[megaplayboy]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

Hey Megaplayboy,

 

If your players are really into reading about the world their characters are in, then this effort is going to be worth the time. Otherwise, my suggestion is keep a fairly loose timeline and keep fairly tight campaign notes on the places where the characters are going to be interacting for an extended time (the home city).

 

Never, ever fall into the trap that the whole world has to be defined before the campaign starts. Just make sure you're solid on those parts of it where the characters are going to be during the adventures. Anything else, you can either mention in passing while making a note to yourself to develop it when you have the time, or (if appropriate) let the player concerned develop the item, idea, etc. on their time, and work with him or her to make it fit into the campaign. It's been my experience that good players welcome this opportunity to contribute. Most players will toss some ideas at you and leave it to your imagination. The bad players don't do anything and you have to decide how badly you want them in the game.

 

Silly question -- just how serious are you going to play this campaign? Is it a dark and moody universe or a more light-hearted one? Is it going to be serial in nature or episodic? The more continuity you want in the game is going to dictate how much detail you're going to need to pull it off.

 

Good luck with the campaign!

 

Matt

 

The last time I started running it, the campaign was largely episodic, albeit with some continuity and a few story arcs. The episodes tended to vary between somewhat dark and moody to light-hearted and comedic(in order to keep things from veering too far one way or the other).

[Fedifensor]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

The news. Throw in the news. Regular updates-- things that may or may not interest them' date=' at appropriate times. Not always campaign-plot related, though. This helps to flesh out a world; it gives you a chance to 'update' the world with new or refreshed details, and it gets the players more into figuring out clues, etc, rather than chasing every detail as it _must_ be important because it was mentioned.[/quote']

I don't do this when making up a campaign, but every few game sessions I'd write up a handout that lists a few headlines from each section of the local paper. About half are actual headlines modified slightly for the game world - the other half I make up from scratch, giving clues for future game sessions.

[zornwil]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

Late reply - megaplayboy, I hope things worked out with your campaign.

 

When I started mine a few years ago, I set up a few articles on the world. If you see the list at http://www.realschluss.org/x-champions/x-champions_setting/index.html, of that the only ones I originally did were the Detroit article, the guidelines and questionnaire (the latter was just cripped anyway), the history article (which, while still incomplete, had less data back then, what I did was concentrate on the US as that was where they were starting), the currently active major supers article, the types of supers they will likely encounter, and American society c. 2000, Of these, the Detroit one (as that is where they were based), the two articles on current supers, and the American society one were to me most important, about in that order, too.

 

Other articles listed were added later as they became subjects of interest in the campaign.

[megaplayboy]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

It's still on my "to do" list, but I hope to cobble together the various and sundry parts early next year.

 

I did have a "bullet points" summary to guide me, so that should speed things up.

[megaplayboy]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

Late reply - megaplayboy, I hope things worked out with your campaign.

 

When I started mine a few years ago, I set up a few articles on the world. If you see the list at http://www.realschluss.org/x-champions/x-champions_setting/index.html, of that the only ones I originally did were the Detroit article, the guidelines and questionnaire (the latter was just cripped anyway), the history article (which, while still incomplete, had less data back then, what I did was concentrate on the US as that was where they were starting), the currently active major supers article, the types of supers they will likely encounter, and American society c. 2000, Of these, the Detroit one (as that is where they were based), the two articles on current supers, and the American society one were to me most important, about in that order, too.

 

Other articles listed were added later as they became subjects of interest in the campaign.

 

kudos for including Flaming Carrot into your campaign uni.

[zornwil]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

kudos for including Flaming Carrot into your campaign uni.

Thanks! Two of his villains have appeared in the game, Artless Dodger and, in a much more modified form, Red Dyke but as Red Amazon, given the name. She's not really a villain, either, just a sort of Russian Communist Captain America, in essence. Dodger has been played pretty much as from the comics though rather less violent.

[Karma]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

The news. Throw in the news. Regular updates-- things that may or may not interest them, at appropriate times. Not always campaign-plot related, though. This helps to flesh out a world; it gives you a chance to 'update' the world with new or refreshed details, and it gets the players more into figuring out clues, etc, rather than chasing every detail as it _must_ be important because it was mentioned.

 

My only cavet is that you'd better be ready to flesh out some if not all of your 'news filler' since players will always find a way to follow your red herring or useless amusing titbit as if it were important while ignoring the huge plot hook your trying to give them.

 

"It says in the personal adds that there's some busty readhead looking for a relationship, that could be Flame-Lady. I think we should check that out. The stuff on Dr. Destroyer, probably just the media blowing everything out of proportion."

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

1. campaign tone and themes

2. campaign parameters and house rules

3. History and timeline

4a. good guys--heroes, helpful npcs, good guy orgs, etc.

4b. bad guys--villains, their helpers, bad guy orgs, etc.

5a. magic, religion, deities and other dimensions

5b. aliens and space stuff

5c. technology, mundane and exotic

5d. culture, politics, geography, etc.

5e. important locations

 

So first, yes, this is a good overview of an organization structure. I could go on for pages (and pages, and pages) of various bits of advice on how to do this, but I don't want to appear condescending nor do I know what you have or haven't done. With that in mind.

 

Someone already mentioned "draft your overplot" and if there were one thing I would reinforce, it would be that. Boil your overplot down to a single thesis statement. F'rinstance (stop using my word, Bill! - DEM) "An ancient artifact recently unearthed in the Amazon holds the secret to the ancient technology used to colonize Earth, and will rewrite history as we know it; mankind is now in an arms race, involving supers and the military, to claim this artifact."

 

A statement like the one above gives you tons of starting ground. You've already succinctly established that there are multiple key players, and those key players have & employ Supers. Those Supers are aware of their duty and will likely be involved in claiming the 'artifact' which could be anything. Or nothing. Could be a hoax! Tons of options.

 

You build your version of a Rainforest first, because that's your point of central conflict and where you'll likely open your campaign. Work outwards from there. "Well, the US, the Russians, this non-affiliated Peace Keeping Supers Corps and this villain group are all operating within 100 miles of this area. I know the Rainforest is the size of X, giving me plenty of room to establish bases, ambushes, hidden ancient caves, and so on."

 

It also gives you an excuse to create all new types of super villains, strange alien creatures who are waking up "on time" according to the ancient Mayan prophecies (roughly 2010, see Shadow Run for reference on the same event I'm referencing here) and then explode it into an Interstellar war as the rather irked Mayans show up to claim the planet they thought they'd colonized.

 

Oops.

 

My point here is that by setting a thesis statement first, everything else flows out of need. Instead of banging your head against the wall wondering "Who's in charge of which for what?" you've always got a clear path. All things in the campaign either involve, or actively do not involve, this overplot. It allows you to swiftly guage the importance of it, include simple plot hooks to keep people on track, and as necessary, create "auto events" that are going to occur regardless of PC action. The aliens will always invade because otherwise you're missing a massive part of your story. So-and-so's sister must die (See: Silver Surfer by Moebius) because it's required to show that Galactus is evil.

 

Hope some/any/all of that helps.

[Chuckg]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

I have a campaign coming up soon ("Unity Prime", plug plug).

 

Last night in a chat session, I had to answer several questions asked about my upcoming campaign setting with 'I hadn't thought that one through. Let's leave that open so I can mine it for plot seeds later.'

 

(Questions such as "Exactly how much technology was left behind by the Dimensional Invasion?" "What's the current state of FTL travel research?" "Just how did Firewing participate in the Siege, anyway?")

 

I know it's unsatisfying to my players, but if I took time to intellectually crunch through every possible answer in detail, we'd never get started. And if I just tossed off answers from the hip, I'd write myself into corners that would foreclose room to improvise in response to player decisions later.

 

I made an outline, a timeline, some general setting notes, and detailed close-ups on a few (but not all) of the major players, and have a generic 'Where Are They Now?' in my head for most NPCs as of campaign start. I also have a couple possibles nailed down for an 'overplot', in addition to whatever the players might dig up on their own.

[megaplayboy]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

There's definitely an inclination to let the players fill in some of the blanks, via the back stories they present for their PCs. Obviously, in many cases, though, they're going to want to know whether certain things exist, whether there's any anti-super prejudice, how does magic work, etc.

For example, in my campaign back story(still in development), communism never really got off the ground, and a number of prominent world cities were destroyed by atomic bombs in an exchange between the US and Fascist Europe which occured prior to the ceasefire ending WW2, aka the 2nd Ten Year War, aka "the 2nd Ten". So "I'm from New York City" or "My character escaped Communist persecution in China" probably would have to be modified to "I'm from Big City" or "My character escaped Fascist persecution in China".

[zornwil]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

So first, yes, this is a good overview of an organization structure. I could go on for pages (and pages, and pages) of various bits of advice on how to do this, but I don't want to appear condescending nor do I know what you have or haven't done. With that in mind.

 

Someone already mentioned "draft your overplot" and if there were one thing I would reinforce, it would be that. Boil your overplot down to a single thesis statement. F'rinstance (stop using my word, Bill! - DEM) "An ancient artifact recently unearthed in the Amazon holds the secret to the ancient technology used to colonize Earth, and will rewrite history as we know it; mankind is now in an arms race, involving supers and the military, to claim this artifact."

 

A statement like the one above gives you tons of starting ground. You've already succinctly established that there are multiple key players, and those key players have & employ Supers. Those Supers are aware of their duty and will likely be involved in claiming the 'artifact' which could be anything. Or nothing. Could be a hoax! Tons of options.

 

You build your version of a Rainforest first, because that's your point of central conflict and where you'll likely open your campaign. Work outwards from there. "Well, the US, the Russians, this non-affiliated Peace Keeping Supers Corps and this villain group are all operating within 100 miles of this area. I know the Rainforest is the size of X, giving me plenty of room to establish bases, ambushes, hidden ancient caves, and so on."

 

It also gives you an excuse to create all new types of super villains, strange alien creatures who are waking up "on time" according to the ancient Mayan prophecies (roughly 2010, see Shadow Run for reference on the same event I'm referencing here) and then explode it into an Interstellar war as the rather irked Mayans show up to claim the planet they thought they'd colonized.

 

Oops.

 

My point here is that by setting a thesis statement first, everything else flows out of need. Instead of banging your head against the wall wondering "Who's in charge of which for what?" you've always got a clear path. All things in the campaign either involve, or actively do not involve, this overplot. It allows you to swiftly guage the importance of it, include simple plot hooks to keep people on track, and as necessary, create "auto events" that are going to occur regardless of PC action. The aliens will always invade because otherwise you're missing a massive part of your story. So-and-so's sister must die (See: Silver Surfer by Moebius) because it's required to show that Galactus is evil.

 

Hope some/any/all of that helps.

With all due respect, and I'd like to even be clear in saying I think this is good advice, I want to be a bit heretical and say that the "overplot" is really not necessary. Now, that being said, it is "better" to have one in that it provides focus and generally enriches any campaign, but depending on the GM and group, it could actually be superfluous in the end. For some groups, it's enough to have a strong simulation of the environment and react against that. In fact, my current campaign is the first one I did with any sort of overplot or theme. Prior campaigns I ran simply with a world setting and a few, non-related, plot hooks. they were fine, even on occassion great, if I say so myself. "Overplots" or long-running/campaign themes developed rather than were created for those. Of course, I was running a much more simulationist style, very heavy on that side of things.

 

But I think it's important to note it can be viable to do things differently than suggested here, even though I stress I think this is good advice. I would just say if a GM is comfortable and experienced with simulation stylings or otherwise has a strong enough idea for his world but it's not plot or theme centered, this may not be necessary.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

No apology or explanation needed. I draft overplots; that's where I mine and draw all my ideas from, it's a basic writing technique. You get further starting with a simple premise and exploding it than you do trying to get a massive idea and draw everything into it, only to be left with tons of blank canvas.

 

The same theory would apply to a one shot, or to an 'open ended' game, such as my Ravenloft campaign. F'rinstance. "Your Uncle was murdered and has left behind his mansion estate for you to do with as you please. Draft all character histories to include knowing each other, being close to Hammet, and having spent a great deal of time in this house. Go." I have no idea what they'll do next half the time, but I can create threads, change styles, and introduce things as necessary based around them "solving the murder" as the overplot. There's no clock on it, but everything is drawn from and around it.

 

The other thing to bear in mind is the difference between a well run overplot - one the PC's can influence, and a poorly run overplot, which is more like playing a videogame with a great deal of railroading (see: FF VII, which uses trains as a running joke). This is also part & parcel of my signature, because people get confused when I say "overplot" - they think it's a binding device used to squeeze players into shapes they don't want to be in. I simply use it as a guiding mechanic for how the world moves and the conflicts within it. Without conflict there is no story, and the overplot (so-and-so taking over the world) is the key beginning of any conflict.

 

Don't think for an instant that I'm suggesting drafting it and holding to it. I'm suggesting drafting it and realizing, openly and happily, that the players are going to make it change. Otherwise you don't need players (see also "system doesn't matter" - this is basically what I'm talking about, the system drives mechanics, the GM drafts the story, and the players make the story go.)

 

More thoughts.

[Chuckg]

Re: Campaign writeup advice needed

 

Well, as I said, I don't have one overplot, I have several possibles -- there are a few "big things" my players can potentially do to determine the fate of humanity in the future, some of them apparent from reading the campaign intro material, and some not.

 

Plus, of course, given who my players /are/, I am expecting at least one 'overplot' idea that I had absolutely no conception of to materialize.