/tg/ -Open Table Campaign at FLGS

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File: 033794f9d574a47⋯.jpg (43.72 KB,500x311,500:311,zero1-500x311.jpg)

Open Table Campaign at FLGS Anonymous 07/01/19 (Mon) 21:51:41 No.422895

As my current campaigns draw to a close, I am considering what to do next as a GM. I have been running Pathfinder for years and I am sick of it. I run games on the weekends. I will continue to do so but I am somewhat interested in trying to run an "open table" game at my FLGS.

I've become quite enamored of OSR D&D and have begun condensing the B/X rules to fit what I want for my setting. I plan to make a hexcrawl. I've considered several premises for this hexcrawl. One would be a simple frontier world, a small points-of-light setting with some towns here and there. Another would be a more complete setting with several small human kingdoms as well as multiple monstrous realms where such tyrants as the Troll King lord over their minions. A third would be a colony land, where after a black plague many people have set out on ships as the plague wipes out the old world, and in the new world find ruins of an ancient civilization as well as natives.

The main criterion for deciding between the three is the idea that this campaign will be part of an ongoing narrative. The first D&D campaign I ran went on for 8 years and I had planned for the next campaign to continue years after, in the world the old characters had changed and become rulers of. But that didn't happen and I thirst for something like that. Part of the reason I abandoned it is because the setting was something I had created as a teenager. It wasn't bad, but it was underdeveloped and didn't have the flavor I wanted from it.

One of my issues with B/X is that I like to use figurines for combat and B/X does not heavily rely on that. I suppose I could introduce rules for flanking and maneuvering, in fact I could lift them straight from 5e or D&D 3.5. I am not sure this is a good idea, though.

I am also not sure if it is a good idea to do an open table game at all. West Marches is a cool idea but I have done a practice game with it in Savage Worlds and while enjoyable it just doesn't feel engaging. Perhaps because Savage Worlds is incredibly easy so they just slaughter everything. Or maybe because without consistent attendance and a campaign focused on exploration, there isn't much in the way of story. I intend to change that by having multiple threats that emerge as the characters explore, but having them tied to a village they must return to at the end of each session, really hampers any potential that that has.

Overall i just feel a wanderlust to get away from 3rd edition and maybe even 5th edition. But therein lies the final conflict: I cannot even decide on a system for my hexcrawl. If I could create a comprehensive list of what classes, PrCs, and feats are allowed I would happily play 3.5 (NOT Pathfinder). If I am desperate for players, I will run 5e, which I consider a good system but still far too player-facing. My current plan is to run B/X and if I don't get any players I will submit and run 5e. But, there are still aspects of 5e I enjoy, and it directly and easily supports tabletop grid combat which I enjoy. it just feels convention-y and I enjoy it, especially since I can set up and run combats very quickly.

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

____________________________

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Anonymous 07/01/19 (Mon) 22:30:35 No.422898

File: 9c2a03786efedf6⋯.jpg (11.93 KB,300x256,75:64,1455205949394-3.jpg)

>savage worlds if incredibly easy

learn what pulp fiction is, really enforce the benny rules and understand how and what shakens doing and you can put your pc's in for a world of hurt.

>West marches game has no story with a revolving cast

Stop trying to make a 'campaign' and railroad the snot out of them, think of it as more 'how the Dnd was won' and less about character arcs. If you get reoccurring characters great, have the character be the man with no name, not the Wizard2/Rogue7/MagicalTricker3. Be ready with premade character sheets and be generous with screentime and rewards. I don't see how this can go wrong honestly "Dammit Wizard there's greenskins about and lands to cleanse/exploit/crusade/explore"

>I'd love to hear your thoughts

I think your a faggot, but I am mildly interested in hearing the exploits of a west marches style game if you keep your faggotry to a minimum in either OSR, DDC or SW.

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Anonymous 07/02/19 (Tue) 00:13:41 No.422903

File: 71d53c42f4a6148⋯.jpg (513.87 KB,1200x1000,6:5,dab148ad4d4f8243b33bda3730….jpg)

>>422895

If you're going to run a West Marches game, you absolutely need to run it using an old-school system. You also need to understand that open-table also means your table, your rules - you can't let other people pressure on system, or anything else. 5E is not old-school.

If you want good system recommendations, you can go with B/X or an OD&D fork for the best results. I'd recommend ACKS if you want a game that offers a lot of customization options, and if you plan on running into long-term campaign-play and war-gaming crossovers. If you want straight dungeon-crawling and adventuring to exciting places, I'd go with 7 Voyages of Zylathen as a good OD&D derivative. Obviously it's better to just go with your own house-rules, once you know what you're doing.

The big key with West Marches is that exploration is the big key. The first thing you need to do is make a giant fucking dungeon full of shit. The second is get out your hex paper and make a giant fucking wilderness to explore. You don't need everything at once - just keep adding levels to your fuck-huge dungeon as they get cleared out, and repopulating cleared levels with new shit. Keep expanding your wilderness. When the players find treasure maps or whatever, build a new dungeon somewhere, and keep digging down with that one. That's how the game-world expands.

Your rules will and should change over time. Just be transparent about it, and make notes when you rule on things, so you remain consistent. Don't go in making up house-rules and shit just yet if you haven't figured out why a thing was done, though. Add or subtract with time.

Finally, encourage your players to run their own games, and to allow characters to move between these campaigns. That's how you actually do community-building.

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Anonymous 07/02/19 (Tue) 05:32:38 No.422912

>>422898

>learn what pulp fiction is

No, I know what it is. I knew it was doomed from the start, I've run some great campaigns in Savage Worlds. But that was not one of them. It was an experiment for the campaign structure, SW was the only way I could convince them to try it.

>Be ready with premade character sheets and be generous with screentime and rewards.

That's my plan. I want the players who invest in the game the most to be the ones who are rewarded the most, and the low power curve of OSR will help with this because mixed levels won't be as big a deal.

>>422903

ACKS is kinda cool but there are some things about that psis me off (some of the extra classes and even the base classes, as well as how cheap plate armor and such is) so I'll just be modifying the One True God B/X. That said I will be keeping the fighter damage bonuses from ACKs cause I like them.

>giant fucking dungeon

>giant fucking wilderness

That's my plan. I'm going to try going for something like the Nentir Vale from 4e, but much different and different races since I don't like tieflings.

>Don't go in making up house-rules and shit just yet if you haven't figured out why a thing was done, though.

I have no idea why plate armor is so cheap in B/X when I think it should be something you don't get until at least level 4 or 5, but that's just me.

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Anonymous 07/02/19 (Tue) 07:58:58 No.422917

>>422912

>I have no idea why plate armor is so cheap in B/X when I think it should be something you don't get until at least level 4 or 5, but that's just me.

This is a hold-over from OD&D. In OD&D, your AC and Movement are directly more or less directly correlated:

AC 9 = 15" // AC 7 = 12" // AC 5 = 9" // AC 3 = 6"

Mail and Plate have the same move class in my games, so I have Plate cost a lot more (B/X equivalent: 1000gp) - it is, after all, a general improvement, held back primarily by the fact you die like a bitch if you fall in a 20ft pit of water.

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Anonymous 07/02/19 (Tue) 08:23:44 No.422920

>>422917

>>422912

Oh, and a few extra things:

http://blogofholding.com/?series=mornard

https://wmusswtwbf.wordpress.com/2019/02/23/gronans-guide-to-gaming/

The stuff from/on Mike Mornard is excellent for getting an idea of what made the original games "tick" so much for people. It's a bit of a system shock from modern games, but it's a worthwhile one.

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Anonymous 07/02/19 (Tue) 22:04:30 No.422952

>>422920

Those were good reads, thanks. I'm already fairly familiar with OSR mentality, I've played a bit of B/X, but only as a 1v1 where I controlled a party of 4 characters.

>>422917

That makes sense. I've never been able to find the swimming rules, but I might make up my own, in that if you are in platemail you need to make a 5+ on a d6 to be able to keep your head above water.

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Anonymous 07/04/19 (Thu) 19:08:11 No.423034

Did you take a look at Basic Fantasy anon?

I didn't read the newest edition and never played it but 2nd edition captured the 'old-scholl' feel imho.

It is open source and free so apart from your time you won't lose anything if you take a look at it.

https://www.basicfantasy.org

You could also try to ask in the OSR thread but I think most of the guys that post there already posted here

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Anonymous 07/10/19 (Wed) 02:51:05 No.423371

>>423034

I've looked through it. It's not that far off what I want, so I might use those rules.

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