Friday, November 21, 2008

"Re-building" an established campaign

Okay, so here is a problem I have on my DM plate: I have a long-running, multi-year, deeply roleplay immersive campaign that was begun in 3.5 DnD.

Yeah, duh, it's "Elven Quest"!

So, the wonderful engine of the story and awesome, broad roleplay and character development has ground to a halt, because the group changed a little, we are down to at best 4 players, on a very good day, and we are exploring low-level 4e with an overlapping gaming group. (By overlap, I mean some players are in both groups).

I want the campaign to continue, but to do that, one of things I must consider is adding new players to a story which has a LOT of background, and possibly having them feel like someone is telling inside jokes all the time, and they are left out.

So, I'd love to hear any ideas from people as to how they might handle it... and "end the campaign" is not an option!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Blog Title?






Okay, while my bias leans more and more to 4e DnD, my Blog was named for a 3.5 campaign, which we called at the table, "Elven Quest". It began when WotC published the Lost Empires of Faerun hardback for Forgotten Realms campaign setting.

Basically, we said "Let's have a campaign begin with some common theme..." and I chose, Elven History...

Who would have known? Among several awesome DnD campaigns over the years, including great gameplay and roleplay by wonderful players, this one is the best to date!

4e has brought back an Old School feel for me, and I enjoy DMing again! So if I could get EQ campaign to level 12, slowly, over years (playing like, once every 8 - 10 weeks) even in 3.5, I wonder where it would go if I convert it to 4e, write some background to help the transition, and then move forward. Maybe it's selfish, but damn I would love to see 30th level with those characters and those players.

Two movies to share

Okay, I have two completely different movies to share with you, which both are--to quote Sean--"Brilliant!"

First of all, there is this unique movie I discovered in the Blockbuster Blu-Ray section called "The Fall". Let me just say, it's not only incredibly well acted, but filled with some of the most amazing "real" imagery from locations all around our world. This is the kind of movie I would sit everyone down in front of at least once, and it's one of the reasons I game, because of the way it looks at the world. Don't take my word for it, but if you don't find something to like in "The Fall", I'll buy you dinner.

http://www.thefallthemovie.com/

Second, I needed to laugh, and not only did I laugh, but I nominate Robert Downey Jr. for ever frikkin movie award there is, followed by Ben Stiller. Yes, and a few other actors who you may or may not care too much about, or think deserving of Oscars... well... then you haven't seen "Tropic Thunder". This cast of actors must have gotten together and decided to show the world what they can do best....and they pull it off with style. I won't even say how fun Tom Cruise is, in this one. Watch it, Jack Black alone is worth it.... Forget anything these guys did which you don't like, and watch it!

http://www.tropicthunder.com/

Both of these movies make me think of the fun of gaming, when you get to create unique characters, who may or may not "go together in the party" when the campaigns begin...but... :)