I like the idea of the DM creating his own D&D campaign world. Putting his stamp on it. Knowing it inside out. Expanding it as needed.
On the other hand, there are plenty of quality published settings from which a DM can draw inspiration from or use as a baseline for creating his own setting. Perhaps just the maps are adopted from these published settings and the DM fills out the details. Maybe someday I'll feed the need to create a campaign world from scratch, but for now I am quite content with capitalizing on the wealth of existing campaign world material and customizing it where I feel the need and inspiration.
AD&D2E saw the publishing of many interesting worlds (Dark Sun, Dragonlance, Planescape, etc.) and maybe someday I'll use them for more than just inspiration. For now and for a Classic D&D campaign, the most obvious choices for serving as campaign baseline are Blackmoor, Greyhawk, The Known World (a.k.a Mystara), and the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. To summarize:
Blackmoor
I don't own much Blackmoor material, so am unable to say much about it. What I do have (First Fantasy Campaign from Judges Guild, and a pdf of the Blackmoor OD&D supplement) is more house-rule compilation than campaign world material, so will mostly serve as a source of inspiration rather than as a campaign world baseline.
Greyhawk
The Greyhawk world, as originally presented, is a container for the classic AD&D1e modules by Gygax and others (G1-3, D1-3, etc.). Though Greyhawk would later mature into a full-fledged campaign setting, it's my understanding that the early Greyhawk flavor is best experienced by playing those classic modules. If those modules are played (and surely some of them will be played if the campaign continues long enough), the campaign can't help but get a dash of the Greyhawk flavor. The World of Greyhawk setting material (1983) may also be mined to reinforce the Gygaxian stylings of the classic modules. Its colorful poster maps are inspiring just by themselves.
The Known World
The default setting for Classic D&D was first introduced in the module X1 The Isle of Dread, released in conjunction with the "Expert" rules set (1981). This early presentation is rather minimalist: A two-page b&w hex map of "The Continent" and a paragraph description of each region or nation. Not very impressive by later standards, but it served its purpose well, giving the DM of a Basic+Expert D&D campaign a springboard from which to build his own world. Perhaps the only distinguishing feature of the Known World was that each nation had a unique flavor analogic to some real world culture or era. Something for everyone.
In the late 1980s, TSR published the Gazetteer series of supplements detailing each nation of the Known World. Taken individually, these are fine supplements for adding depth to a campaign, plus they came with nice color poster maps. Taken altogether, though, they are somewhat overwhelming and at odds with the spirit of Classic D&D. My preference is to pick and choose which Gazetteers to include in the campaign. A favorite of mine is the Karameikos Gazetteer, a generic fantasy setting and home to many of the B-series modules.
Wilderlands of High Fantasy
I tend to think of Judges Guild's original (1970s) Wilderlands as less of a campaign world and more of a campaign tool. Maps and tables mostly. There are many great modules and city supplements set in the Wilderlands, but they seem to serve as examples of the diversity of a Wilderlands campaign, rather than as official components of the setting. I find the Wilderlands maps to be highly inspirational, in a sepia-toned kind of way.
Where does this all lead as I contemplate the world of my current D&D campaign? Really, it doesn't make much difference which setting serves as baseline, since I will be mixing and matching anyways. The large Wilderlands poster maps (all 18 of them) lend themselves well to being the "big picture" world maps. The Greyhawk and Karameikos maps and modules can fit into the generic structure of the Wilderlands with ease. Most importantly, the actions of the players will be the deciding factor in determining the growth and detail of the campaign.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Ridin' High
If this site's design wasn't based on Hot Tuna's Burgers, maybe it would have been based on Jerry Jeff Walker's Ridin' High. A rugged fella (JJW himself) on a horse riding into the dusk. Fantastic.
I don't buy much music these days, but it seems each year there is an artist or band that really impresses me and I go out and buy a handful of their albums. This year it's Jerry Jeff Walker.
A co-worker intruduced Jerry Jeff's music to me sometime last year. I liked it but didn't give it much notice. Then I saw Gordon Lightfoot in concert last fall. Gordon was chatting with the crowd and eventually he started talking about which musician of his ilk played, partied, and jammed the longest into the night. Gordon said it was Jerry Jeff Walker.
Well, there ya go. Endorsed by Gordon, I had to take a closer listen to Jerry Jeff so I ordered Viva Terlingua on vinyl. A few month later I ordered three more of his LPs. Then a few months after that I ordered yet another three Jerry Jeff LPs. I expect to get a few more in the coming months (I aim for the 99 cents plus shipping deals on ebay). Viva Terlingua is my favorite, but Ridin' High is a close runner-up.
What do I like about Jerry Jeff? First off, he fills a void in my music collection that I've been trying to fill for several years. It's entirely subjective, but Jerry Jeff to me is the missing link...the magnum creatum...the great unifying artist of the country, rock, and folk genres. Jerry Jeff is better known for his rowdy honky tonk anthems, but it's his tender ballads that keep me interested.
Today I bought two tickets to see Jerry Jeff live in concert on August 23 at the Minnesota Zoo. How 'bout that.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Fame and Fortune
The online D&D campaign that I DM is nearing the point where experience points (xp) will be awarded to the surviving characters for the first time. In the many editions of classic D&D there is variance and flexibility in the guidelines for awarding xp, so I thought it best to decide exactly how it will be done in this campaign.
Perhaps the most prominent feature of the classic D&D character advancement guidelines is that treasure is literally worth it's weight in xp. One gold piece worth of treasure is worth one xp. This is commonly cited as one of the worst flaws of classic D&D. At one time I was in agreement, but eventually I came to see it as a defining and wonderful feature of the game. There is no single correct way to play classic D&D, but my preferred theme is that of "poor adventurer seeking fame and fortune" and the 1 gp = 1 xp guideline encourages and reinforces that theme.
Depending upon how much treasure the DM makes accessible to the PCs, this guideline can have the effect of making treasure the primary source of xp for the PCs. The xp gained from slaying monsters is comparatively small. This in turn can have the effect of encouraging the PCs to avoid combat if possible and instead try to be more sneaky and clever in their quest for fame and fortune.
Anyways, back to the task at hand...deciding how to award xp in this campaign. It adopts the xp for gp guideline because it reinforces the theme (especially the fortune part) of this campaign, but how else can xp be earned? Classic D&D also contains guidelines for awarding xp for other things such as good roleplaying and accomplishing quests, etc. These guidelines are rather nonspecific, so to tailor them to this campaign I've decided to define it as:
Any accomplishment or action that contributes to the growing fame of the PCs is rewarded with xp.
An example would be defeating (killing or cleverly bypassing) monsters. Conveniently, the rules already define how much xp is earned for defeating monsters, but xp awards for other accomplishments are not so precisely defined. So, I'll make judgment calls in these situations, awarding xp based upon the risk and results of the actions and accomplishments. By this measure, I suppose xp could even be awarded for spectacular failure.
To summarize, the advancement system in this campaign is an abstraction for tracking the growing fame and fortune of the PCs. As an abstraction, it doesn't necessarily aim to simulate and accurately track every factor that contributes to a PC's growing power, but rather is a user friendly aggregate of many factors such as perceived wealth, influence, skill, fame/infamy, confidence, etc.
Another issue is that of training. In this campaign, formal training is not necessary to advance from level to level as it is in some RPGs. The abstract advancement system already factors such honing of skills into account. In fact, a PC could plausibly gain xp from formal training, but only relatively small amounts since training alone usually doesn't contribute much to fame and fortune. One must prove oneself.
..............
This next thing isn't connected to the D&D campaign, but is instead a related concept for designing a new RPG:
If the classic D&D level advancement system is an abstract representation of the character's growing power, what about taking it one step further and making the gameplay itself a representation of the character's exploits? In other words, the players don't play the ADVENTURES of their characters, they play the LEGENDS of their characters. Or something like that. It may be a subtle distinction, but game mechanics could be devised to create and reinforce an immersive play experience of being a "participant in a legend" rather than a "player of a character".
Sure, nearly any RPG session could be interpreted in hindsight as the creation of a legend, but I'm talking about something more explicit and integrated into the mechanics of play so as to facilitate a different play experience. One quality that the game would emphasize is the episodic and ephemeral feel that myths and legends often have.
I don't claim this idea is entirely unique. I first thought of it more than a year ago and will someday try to hammer out some mechanics to make a little RPG out of it. In the meantime, I've come across related ideas in various RPGs, but nothing exactly like what I have in mind.
Perhaps the most prominent feature of the classic D&D character advancement guidelines is that treasure is literally worth it's weight in xp. One gold piece worth of treasure is worth one xp. This is commonly cited as one of the worst flaws of classic D&D. At one time I was in agreement, but eventually I came to see it as a defining and wonderful feature of the game. There is no single correct way to play classic D&D, but my preferred theme is that of "poor adventurer seeking fame and fortune" and the 1 gp = 1 xp guideline encourages and reinforces that theme.
Depending upon how much treasure the DM makes accessible to the PCs, this guideline can have the effect of making treasure the primary source of xp for the PCs. The xp gained from slaying monsters is comparatively small. This in turn can have the effect of encouraging the PCs to avoid combat if possible and instead try to be more sneaky and clever in their quest for fame and fortune.
Anyways, back to the task at hand...deciding how to award xp in this campaign. It adopts the xp for gp guideline because it reinforces the theme (especially the fortune part) of this campaign, but how else can xp be earned? Classic D&D also contains guidelines for awarding xp for other things such as good roleplaying and accomplishing quests, etc. These guidelines are rather nonspecific, so to tailor them to this campaign I've decided to define it as:
Any accomplishment or action that contributes to the growing fame of the PCs is rewarded with xp.
An example would be defeating (killing or cleverly bypassing) monsters. Conveniently, the rules already define how much xp is earned for defeating monsters, but xp awards for other accomplishments are not so precisely defined. So, I'll make judgment calls in these situations, awarding xp based upon the risk and results of the actions and accomplishments. By this measure, I suppose xp could even be awarded for spectacular failure.
To summarize, the advancement system in this campaign is an abstraction for tracking the growing fame and fortune of the PCs. As an abstraction, it doesn't necessarily aim to simulate and accurately track every factor that contributes to a PC's growing power, but rather is a user friendly aggregate of many factors such as perceived wealth, influence, skill, fame/infamy, confidence, etc.
Another issue is that of training. In this campaign, formal training is not necessary to advance from level to level as it is in some RPGs. The abstract advancement system already factors such honing of skills into account. In fact, a PC could plausibly gain xp from formal training, but only relatively small amounts since training alone usually doesn't contribute much to fame and fortune. One must prove oneself.
..............
This next thing isn't connected to the D&D campaign, but is instead a related concept for designing a new RPG:
If the classic D&D level advancement system is an abstract representation of the character's growing power, what about taking it one step further and making the gameplay itself a representation of the character's exploits? In other words, the players don't play the ADVENTURES of their characters, they play the LEGENDS of their characters. Or something like that. It may be a subtle distinction, but game mechanics could be devised to create and reinforce an immersive play experience of being a "participant in a legend" rather than a "player of a character".
Sure, nearly any RPG session could be interpreted in hindsight as the creation of a legend, but I'm talking about something more explicit and integrated into the mechanics of play so as to facilitate a different play experience. One quality that the game would emphasize is the episodic and ephemeral feel that myths and legends often have.
I don't claim this idea is entirely unique. I first thought of it more than a year ago and will someday try to hammer out some mechanics to make a little RPG out of it. In the meantime, I've come across related ideas in various RPGs, but nothing exactly like what I have in mind.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Welcome to Burgers
This is a blog mostly about me. I imagine many posts will fall into the "things I'm enthusiastic about" category. My hope is to have each post contain some "meat", be it a semi-original thought, creative work, etc. From that perspective, the blog is somewhat of a repository and I invite your comments. I'm not expecting a high posting frequency...maybe 2-4 posts a month.
The title and style of this blog is an homage to one of my favorite album covers: Burgers by Hot Tuna. I'm not a big car connoisseur, but the '35 Buick is sweet.
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