Post by gloriousbattle on Aug 8, 2011 19:34:17 GMT -6
Curious who has tried this. Similar to solitaire D&D, but notexactly the same. Usually, the idea is to have the players take on the role of the DM collectively.
Usually, such games are heavily driven by random encounter tables and similar, often with additional randomizers thrown in.
For example, once per day during a gaming session, the players might run into a 'special' encounter, generated as below:
Special Encounter Subtable (1d100)
This is simply a series of idea generators, rather than specifically detailed encounters. It can be used in a dungeon, wilderness or city setting. Roll 1d4 times on this table, and combine the results in any way that seems adventurous.
01 Scholar / map-maker / bard
02 Runaway / wanted
03 Someone lost (long way from home)
04 Locals hunting
05 Equiptment dropped / stray beast
06 A cry for help nearby
07 Dead body / bodies
08 Victim of mugging / robbery
09 Foreigner
10 Inhuman / half-breed (roll again)
11 Angel / Devil
12 Demon
13 Lord / Lady / Prince etc / son or daughter
14 Merchant / travelor
15 Other planal being
16 Legendary hero / heroine
17 Legendary villain / foe
18 Spirit
19 Asassin / spy
20 Old friend / enemy
21 Murderer / psychopath
22 Saint / blessed person
23 Organisation
24 Someone dying (roll again)
25 Messenger (roll again)
26 Slaver / Evil-doer
27 Artisan / trader of antiquities / artefacts
28 Mad being (roll again)
29 Victim (roll again)
30 Local mystic / herb-person
31 Beings in exodus, seeking something
32 Mass grave / suicide / muder
33 Gathering of (roll 3 times)
34 Gate to another plane
35 Conflict between 2 or more beings (roll again, twice)
36 Magical battle
37 Vision of something very powerful
38 Magical golem / construct
39 Termporal travelor
40 Yourself
41 The Balance itself
42 Prophecy event
43 Sacrifice event
44 Ritual event
45 Holy day
46 Cursed day
47 Celebration day
48 Fire, ie smoke in distance
49 Coronation
50 Release of a prisoner / hero
51 An Execution
52 A robbery / raid
53 A field battle / skirmish
54 An initiation
55 A massacre
56 A wedding
57 A funeral / burial
58 A birthday / party / dance
59 A vigil of prayer etc for sick etc
60 A birth / death
61 An accident
62 An arrest
63 Property damage
64 Waterhole / pool
65 A proclamation
66 Plague / disease
67 Astrological phenomenon, ie conjunction
68 Spiritual phenomenon, overlapping realms
69 Astral phenomenon, ie flare
70 Magical phenomenon, ie node eruption
71 Natural phenomenon, ie rainbow, tornado, starfall
72 Natural disaster, ie forest fire / earthquake
73 Eclipse / Blue moon etc
74 Terrible storm, ie ice / hail etc
75 Planal phenomenon, ie distortion, portal
76 King or Queen of random country
77 Item owned by someone / something (roll again)
78 Familiar
79 Rare, blessed creature
80 Talking beast
81 Carrier of plague / rare disease
82 Unusual ability (ie chameleon power)
83 Dropped purse / bag
84 Jewelled ring / necklace etc
85 Secret cache
86 Treasure map
87 Rumour / story of treasure
88 Magic item
89 Strong hint / lead to treasure
90 Loss of treasure / theft
91 Damage of treasure
92 Vegetation-Nothing special; maybe a strange looking foliage in the rural area’s, while maybe an impressive looking garden in a city.
93 Special Feature-A statue of a long dead hero, or just an impressive looking building that warrants a more detailed description.
94 Local Residents(Working)-Simple folk, overlooked by many adventurers, but what is happening under the surface?
95 Local Residents(Playing/Relaxing)-As above.
96 Actors/ Minstrels- Alas poor character I knew him well. You could throw in a bard with an interesting tale to tell the P.Cs.
97 Merchant’s- Tales to tell-wares to sell, these people can be an open source of fun with knowledge of far away lands.
98 Assessor’s/Tax Collectors-Boo hiss the dreaded tax man, play him up as evil as possible because everyone knows he loves his work.
99 Book, treatise, scroll, legal document, battle plans, etc.
00 Lord of Law, Lord of Chaos, Elemental Lord, Beast Lord, Titan, or Entelechy
The idea is not to run into some monstrous nonsense, but for the players to put their heads together, and think of some way in which the elements generated might LOGICALLY be put together, and use to generate a plot or enhance one already ongoing.
This is just one idea, of course. You could also use something like Paizo's GameMastery Plot Twist Cards paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/paizoPublishingLLC/gameMastery/itemPacks/v5748btpy8b8m to the same effect.
In all, though, the idea is to collectively advance the plot.
Another possibility is to use a sort of round-robin DMing system, where each player takes over the next week where the last player left off, and the last player gets no say as to what is done with the elements he added to the game. This was done with some success in various Old West shoot-out games, and updated somewhat about ten years ago in GW's Inquisitor.
Curious how many others have done similar things.
Usually, such games are heavily driven by random encounter tables and similar, often with additional randomizers thrown in.
For example, once per day during a gaming session, the players might run into a 'special' encounter, generated as below:
Special Encounter Subtable (1d100)
This is simply a series of idea generators, rather than specifically detailed encounters. It can be used in a dungeon, wilderness or city setting. Roll 1d4 times on this table, and combine the results in any way that seems adventurous.
01 Scholar / map-maker / bard
02 Runaway / wanted
03 Someone lost (long way from home)
04 Locals hunting
05 Equiptment dropped / stray beast
06 A cry for help nearby
07 Dead body / bodies
08 Victim of mugging / robbery
09 Foreigner
10 Inhuman / half-breed (roll again)
11 Angel / Devil
12 Demon
13 Lord / Lady / Prince etc / son or daughter
14 Merchant / travelor
15 Other planal being
16 Legendary hero / heroine
17 Legendary villain / foe
18 Spirit
19 Asassin / spy
20 Old friend / enemy
21 Murderer / psychopath
22 Saint / blessed person
23 Organisation
24 Someone dying (roll again)
25 Messenger (roll again)
26 Slaver / Evil-doer
27 Artisan / trader of antiquities / artefacts
28 Mad being (roll again)
29 Victim (roll again)
30 Local mystic / herb-person
31 Beings in exodus, seeking something
32 Mass grave / suicide / muder
33 Gathering of (roll 3 times)
34 Gate to another plane
35 Conflict between 2 or more beings (roll again, twice)
36 Magical battle
37 Vision of something very powerful
38 Magical golem / construct
39 Termporal travelor
40 Yourself
41 The Balance itself
42 Prophecy event
43 Sacrifice event
44 Ritual event
45 Holy day
46 Cursed day
47 Celebration day
48 Fire, ie smoke in distance
49 Coronation
50 Release of a prisoner / hero
51 An Execution
52 A robbery / raid
53 A field battle / skirmish
54 An initiation
55 A massacre
56 A wedding
57 A funeral / burial
58 A birthday / party / dance
59 A vigil of prayer etc for sick etc
60 A birth / death
61 An accident
62 An arrest
63 Property damage
64 Waterhole / pool
65 A proclamation
66 Plague / disease
67 Astrological phenomenon, ie conjunction
68 Spiritual phenomenon, overlapping realms
69 Astral phenomenon, ie flare
70 Magical phenomenon, ie node eruption
71 Natural phenomenon, ie rainbow, tornado, starfall
72 Natural disaster, ie forest fire / earthquake
73 Eclipse / Blue moon etc
74 Terrible storm, ie ice / hail etc
75 Planal phenomenon, ie distortion, portal
76 King or Queen of random country
77 Item owned by someone / something (roll again)
78 Familiar
79 Rare, blessed creature
80 Talking beast
81 Carrier of plague / rare disease
82 Unusual ability (ie chameleon power)
83 Dropped purse / bag
84 Jewelled ring / necklace etc
85 Secret cache
86 Treasure map
87 Rumour / story of treasure
88 Magic item
89 Strong hint / lead to treasure
90 Loss of treasure / theft
91 Damage of treasure
92 Vegetation-Nothing special; maybe a strange looking foliage in the rural area’s, while maybe an impressive looking garden in a city.
93 Special Feature-A statue of a long dead hero, or just an impressive looking building that warrants a more detailed description.
94 Local Residents(Working)-Simple folk, overlooked by many adventurers, but what is happening under the surface?
95 Local Residents(Playing/Relaxing)-As above.
96 Actors/ Minstrels- Alas poor character I knew him well. You could throw in a bard with an interesting tale to tell the P.Cs.
97 Merchant’s- Tales to tell-wares to sell, these people can be an open source of fun with knowledge of far away lands.
98 Assessor’s/Tax Collectors-Boo hiss the dreaded tax man, play him up as evil as possible because everyone knows he loves his work.
99 Book, treatise, scroll, legal document, battle plans, etc.
00 Lord of Law, Lord of Chaos, Elemental Lord, Beast Lord, Titan, or Entelechy
The idea is not to run into some monstrous nonsense, but for the players to put their heads together, and think of some way in which the elements generated might LOGICALLY be put together, and use to generate a plot or enhance one already ongoing.
This is just one idea, of course. You could also use something like Paizo's GameMastery Plot Twist Cards paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/paizoPublishingLLC/gameMastery/itemPacks/v5748btpy8b8m to the same effect.
In all, though, the idea is to collectively advance the plot.
Another possibility is to use a sort of round-robin DMing system, where each player takes over the next week where the last player left off, and the last player gets no say as to what is done with the elements he added to the game. This was done with some success in various Old West shoot-out games, and updated somewhat about ten years ago in GW's Inquisitor.
Curious how many others have done similar things.
It's a relatively cleverly-engineered fusion of a verbal Rohrschach test and the Magic Eight Ball. The artwork which peppers the small text is juvenile to the point of embarassment, but that's a minor quibble. If used in conjunction with some homebrewed random gen tables it could prove satisfactory or even quite well.