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Post by branderwydd on Dec 5, 2008 19:06:18 GMT -6
this is my first post here, but i wanted to do so as i've been greatly inspired by FO!. i've been gaming since '81 and run many a-campaign in (usually) premade worlds, using either d&d or t&t. however, after the first two issues came out (and i just got done with the third), i was inspired to create a new 'world'. we're starting a brand new campaign tomorrow night, set in a world i'm calling FINGOTH (get it?). i'll be using 5e t&t as the rule set, but i'm constructing the entire campaign using nothing but material from FO! (and of course, my own ideas inspired thereby - which is the point, i think ). usually i draw from many sources in my gameplay; this is the first time i've ever had such a tight theme, but i have to say it is pretty cool flavor that is developing.
anyway, a bit overly sappy perhaps, but i haven't been this enthusiatic about a new campaign in longer than i can remember. the party will consist of seven characters (one a swanmay ;D) who will be the next generation of the seven champions questing to regain the seven swords of power. i'm creating a history in which the seven champions were the head of the army that defeated the black lord of nothingness way back, and now the black lord is starting to stir again. these new green characters will build into the new champions and ultimately oppose the black lord (way down the line, of course). once the die is cast however, and the players have enough material to get going, this will be a 'sandbox' campaign based on the article - another first for me. usually the campaigns are a mix of GM- and player-led ideas, but this time i'm gonna leave it all up to them.
i've found enough material in the first three issues alone to game for years, even if other issues never come out (but they had better ). anyway, i wanted to say thanks for inspiring what looks to be one of the best campaigns i've run.
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jrients
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 411
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Post by jrients on Dec 5, 2008 19:44:50 GMT -6
branderwydd, thanks for taking the time to post that! I can't tell you how pleased I am to hear that Fight On! made such an impression on you. Would you consider a brief write-up of your new campaign as a submission for issue #4?
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Post by calithena on Dec 5, 2008 20:54:53 GMT -6
Ditto on that!
Speaking of which, I need to get back to kensanata about his campaign....off to do some research....
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Post by coffee on Dec 6, 2008 2:08:45 GMT -6
I agree with Jeff and Calithena. We'd all like to hear about your new campaign (or, for that matter, reminiscences of old campaigns...)
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Post by geoffrey on Dec 6, 2008 13:57:53 GMT -6
i'm constructing the entire campaign using nothing but material from FO! What a cool idea.
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Post by branderwydd on Dec 6, 2008 16:08:07 GMT -6
Would you consider a brief write-up of your new campaign as a submission for issue #4? i appreciate the positive feedback, and to address the question above, i would be willing to write a submission. however, i'm not sure exactly what you would like to see covered in the submission. on top of that, i'm using the ideas (intellectual property?) of other FO! writers; i'm taking various snippets of places, people, history, and lore, et cetera, and arranging it into a comprehensive region with a timeline. we all do this in our home campaigns, but i feel uneasy about reallocating the work of others into a article in this way about 'my setting', because i didn't completely originate it. yeah, many of the ideas are mine, after being inspired by reading someone else's work, but a lot of FINGOTH is ye olde snatch & improve.
on the other hand, perhaps you are thinking that the submission should be about the process of doing this - which would be even tougher to write, i think. anyway, if you can give me further direction as to what you would like to see, perhaps i can do something.
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Post by branderwydd on Dec 6, 2008 16:15:58 GMT -6
as a follow up to the last post, and in answer to the request to make posts about the campaign, i propose this for now: as i work on the campaign, and we play it, i'm willing to make posts here showing how the process is going. if this is favorable, and the kind of thing you'de be looking for as a submission, i can elaborate on the posts from there.
understand that the campaign is largely in rough notes right now (as i only recently started this idea), and a lot of it is only in here ---> . additionally, this campaign will be very exciting and a journey for me as well for two reasons: 1) the 'sandbox' approach i mentioned above, and 2) since i'm only drawing from FO!, i have no idea what kind of cool articles will be in future issues, which will build upon what has already been established and move us off in new directions.
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Post by calithena on Dec 6, 2008 16:19:46 GMT -6
Just write up stuff if it feels natural to do so, branderwydd. The main thing is to have fun with the game, let anything you write (if there is anything) come out of that. Don't get stressed - this is about having fun!
But do keep letting us know how the game is going!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2008 16:20:12 GMT -6
but a lot of FINGOTH is ye olde snatch & improve. "Originality is the art of concealing one's sources ... "
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Post by garish on Dec 6, 2008 17:43:20 GMT -6
I think Branderwydd has a great plan, and also look forward to updates. Between this forum, S&W, and "Fight On!" I'm almost suffering "inspiration overload" myself. My gang is about to start a "sandbox", in addition to the campaign I'm already writing.
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Post by branderwydd on Dec 8, 2008 20:02:39 GMT -6
Originality is the art of concealing one's sources ...
i agree completely, and in other situations this may be an option - but i've already said that everything is coming out of FO!, so there's little room for concealment.
in regard to calithena's comments about not sweating it, i don't intend to, but i also believe in respecting the works of others.
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Post by branderwydd on Dec 8, 2008 20:25:06 GMT -6
we had out first session saturday night. played for about five hours. as i mentioned previously, i'm using T&T for the rules in this campaign, but with more an old school D&D flavor (as compared to T&T's quirky norm, if that makes sense to people). [by the way, i realize this an OD&D board, but i'm specifically referencing FO! here, which i think supports T&T as an old school game, so i hope i'm not stepping on any toes.] the only reason i even mention T&T is because it has what are called the six good kindred - humans, elves, dwarves, hobbits, leprechauns and fairlies. there were supposed to be 7 players, who will assume the roles of the 7 champions, but only 4 people could make it. in FINGOTH, the 7 champions were one each of the good kindred, plus a swanmay (secretly played by wife, posing as a normal human), who's role has been lost to the mists of time. the players have yet to put all of this together. for now they see themselves as a typical motley T&T party, just starting out.
new characters were rolled, and equipment purchased.
the PCs were all childhood friends who went away for 7 years to receive training in their chosen professions and see a bit of the world. they all agreed to hold a reunion on the 1st day of the year at the 'inn of indomitable circumstance' to catch up on old times and see each other one more time before going on to the jobs they had lined up for themselves. much of the lore of FINGOTH was established through chatting with locals. they retold stories of their youth and gambled with a visiting con man; a troupe of monks from the nearby ruined temple came by to tell of its recent destruction. a group of goblins raided the inn's barns to steal livestock. some visitors managed to temporarily trap them in the stable while the PCs were sought. two held the doors closed while two others climbed through a loft window using a grappling hook. the armored dwarf sought to leap from the loft to ambush the goblins, but crashed through the stable's old floor boards, driving many splinters into his shins! the hobbit managed to snap its short sword in two on the second round of combat after fumbling a roll. the goblins defeated, it is realized that other goblins had meanwhile made off with a number of the ostler's goats. their tracks were easily followed in the snow, seemingly headed to the ruined temple, until more tracks - canine - link up with the goblins' and the party realizes they are in over their heads. they return to inn to heal and recruit addiitonal support.
overall, a fun time that set the theme for the campaign well, i thought. much was learned about each other and the setting. no one died, but they were all partly wounded. calling it off for the night was a wise decision.
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Post by calithena on Dec 8, 2008 20:56:49 GMT -6
Cool!
I should respond to your play report, but since I wrote the article I'm just thinking about how to do a Swanmay in T&T. Cha x2 or x3 seems likely for starters.
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Post by branderwydd on Dec 8, 2008 21:14:44 GMT -6
i did INT and CHR times two, as you describe them as wise and beautiful, if my memory serves. i gave her the ability to shape change between swan and 'human' forms for a WIZ cost of 5 (like leprechauns and wink-wing). third form will arise later, if a high enough level is reached.
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Post by simrion on Dec 18, 2008 15:45:19 GMT -6
Curious...are you using T&T due to familiarity and/or flexibility versus OD&D? Are you modifying the names of some of the more tongue-n-cheek spell names (like Take That You Fiend) or playing them as is. I've quite a bit of T&T stuff but my group likes a little more crunch at this particular timeframe.
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Post by branderwydd on Dec 18, 2008 16:28:31 GMT -6
Curious...are you using T&T due to familiarity and/or flexibility versus OD&D? Are you modifying the names of some of the more tongue-n-cheek spell names (like Take That You Fiend) or playing them as is. I've quite a bit of T&T stuff but my group likes a little more crunch at this particular timeframe. let's see...i'm using T&T for its familiarity, for sure. it also happens to be what my group likes best.... generally i just go with pure T&T spell names, but this time i'm encouraging as different feel for the world (to establish a unique FINGOTH milieu) so i'm going for something a little discworldian and vancian(?). all spells are individualized by the player, so a TTYF might be known to one wizard as Aura's Molecular Disenfranchiser, while a Hidey Hole might be Raven's Most Excellent Cloak of the Unseen. anyway, i want the feel of an old-school D&D game, without actually playing D&D. odd, i know....
having said all of that, T&T sometimes has a bad reputation, but if you put yourself into it with the right understanding of how the game really works, and players really develop their characters, rather than acquiring pre-fab character concepts like in D&D 3e/4e, there's as much crunch for T&T as anything else. the idea of talents from T&T 7e and concepts like tori bergquist's 'archetypes' also add a lot of crunch. T&T's fans have created countless spells, types, kindred, house rules, et cetera, that cover almost any base you want covered.
the above comments about D&D 3e/4e were not meant as criticism, but just as comparison. i've played little 3e and no 4e, so i can do little more than compare, "but that's the impression that i get".
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Post by branderwydd on Jan 7, 2009 18:43:54 GMT -6
just an update: sadly, the group has suffered from 'false-start syndrome', and it looks like my dream of an all FO! campaign will remain but that. if anyone else goes this route, i'd love to hear about it because it seems like a fun concept to try out.
if we manage to pull something together, i'll certainly post it here, but i'm not too optimistic at this point.
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Post by calithena on Jan 7, 2009 19:12:26 GMT -6
That's too bad!
When you think there's a chance, why don't you just reframe the thing as a one-off and see how it goes? A lot of games are killed by too many expectations and prep. One thing I always liked about OD&D is that you could start out with the 'dungeon game' as a mellow intro and then see where it went from there - sometimes to more dungeons, other times to weird thematic stuff and setting exploration.
Anyway, good luck in the future, and check back in if anything new happens!
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Post by branderwydd on Jan 7, 2009 20:03:52 GMT -6
hey, regardless of what happens to the campaign i prepped, i'm a fan of FO!, so you'll see me around these parts. when i can write up something, i'll be sending it your way.
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Post by branderwydd on Apr 13, 2009 18:31:08 GMT -6
probably no one is interested in this anymore, but i'm trying to revive my FO! inspired campaign with a few of the old players and two of our children (mine and another dude's; ages 10/11) to replace those fallen in action. we lost three of the other adults originally playing.... i'm hoping that it will be able to get going again and that it will be a cool way to bring our children into the fray (my other children are still a bit too young to play in a serious game).
the material i've now acquired from issues 1-4 and also calithena's (mighty cool) campaign compendium is shaping things up nicely. i'm always lucky gaming wise, to find almost exactly what i need when i need it in magazines and other material. now if i could only be so lucky finding replacement players, or better yet, a new job....
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Post by Finarvyn on Apr 13, 2009 21:10:58 GMT -6
Some interesting ideas, but I thought it might fit in the "Around the Campfire" section since it's mostly talking about a campaign you're running. Feel free to share!
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