An idea I've been kicking around for a while is DMing a minimalist NWN campaign. Last time I tried DMing NWN, I got bogged down in tool details. If I could do it over again, I wouldn't design the maps at all. I would use large empty levels, perhaps one outside and one inside. I'd use pause most of the time. I'd definitely use Teamspeak instead of chat or, god forbid, conversation trees. I would design some NPCs and encounters beforehand and keep them in my hotkeys. I would also create the world, just in my head or on paper instead of rendered in-game.
The idea would be to run an IRC-style campaign, only with NWN to use essentially as miniatures and for resolving combat, and with Teamspeak instead of chat.
I realize most of the inveterate D&D players here are probably already involved in a game somewhere and might not be looking for another one at the moment. If anyone is interested, though, or might be interested later, post so we can keep the idea around.
No build NWN
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Jonathan
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Alright, 2.5 people is enough to go on with. Here are next steps in no particular order:
Your characters will be level 1. You have grown up together in the same little hamlet. I'd prefer it if you were all human, but if someone really wants to be a half-breed that's cool. If y'all really don't want to be human, all agree on something else and go with that. Go ahead and collude on character creation. Probably best if your characters mesh.
I'm sure there's other minutia that's bound to come up. Just ask. Off the top of my head, I'd say don't train the Persuade skill. If anyone tries a really spectacular bullshitting or shakedown, I might do a Taunt check. I need to check if I can lay down traps while in DM mode; otherwise this will be a very trap-free campaign. I'll try fleshing out the background more soon.
- Get TS server up.
- Everyone get NWN installed and patched up. I've already done this. I only have the original campaign; I never got SoU or HotU.
- Crack open the manual and reacquaint myself with the DM tools.
- Character creation. See below.
- Make the empty rooms I mentioned before.
- Make sure everyone can connect to my server.
- Pick a time to play.
- Send everyone a "map" and background info.
Your characters will be level 1. You have grown up together in the same little hamlet. I'd prefer it if you were all human, but if someone really wants to be a half-breed that's cool. If y'all really don't want to be human, all agree on something else and go with that. Go ahead and collude on character creation. Probably best if your characters mesh.
I'm sure there's other minutia that's bound to come up. Just ask. Off the top of my head, I'd say don't train the Persuade skill. If anyone tries a really spectacular bullshitting or shakedown, I might do a Taunt check. I need to check if I can lay down traps while in DM mode; otherwise this will be a very trap-free campaign. I'll try fleshing out the background more soon.
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Jonathan
- Grand Pooh-Bah
- Posts: 6722
- Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 8:45 pm
- Location: Portland, OR
- Contact:
As far as scheduling goes, Amber leaves tomorrow and comes back a week from Thursday. I'm on vacation through the end of the week. So I'm free anytime starting tomorrow. I have no plans or life until next week.
If there's just 3 or 4 of us, we might could just schedule on the fly using IM, like a flash mob. 4 is probably pushing it though.
If there's just 3 or 4 of us, we might could just schedule on the fly using IM, like a flash mob. 4 is probably pushing it though.
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Jonathan
- Grand Pooh-Bah
- Posts: 6722
- Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 8:45 pm
- Location: Portland, OR
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As should be abundantly clear, I'm not a cartographer. Rather than make up a map with a bunch of squiggly lines, we'll use real geography. Your hometown is the made-up village of Gambol in the Wabe, in Austria. The nearest large town is Vienna. It's over a hundred miles away as the crow flies.
Instead of making up a bunch of fake place names, I'm going to use real medieval European names and countries. For purposes of making everything easier, we'll assume modern national borders. I will assign certain groups historical names, providing you with a shortcut to understanding what they're all about. Don't get hung up on the history, though, because I will bend history to suit my purposes. We're doing a fantasy campaign here, not a historical one.
The setting is Austria, prior to the invention of cannon and after the fall of the Roman Empire. Muslim armies hold all the Balkan nations. Vienna is nominally a Christian city-state, but the question of who holds her at the moment is still very much up in the air. Your village is neither Christian nor Muslim. You are pagans, with your own animist traditions worked out over centuries of cohabiting with local spirits.
When the D&D and NWN rules conflict, we'll be using the NWN rules. I will be supplementing the NWN rules with D&D rules and whatever I make up. If something in your character creation is unclear, just ask.
Instead of making up a bunch of fake place names, I'm going to use real medieval European names and countries. For purposes of making everything easier, we'll assume modern national borders. I will assign certain groups historical names, providing you with a shortcut to understanding what they're all about. Don't get hung up on the history, though, because I will bend history to suit my purposes. We're doing a fantasy campaign here, not a historical one.
The setting is Austria, prior to the invention of cannon and after the fall of the Roman Empire. Muslim armies hold all the Balkan nations. Vienna is nominally a Christian city-state, but the question of who holds her at the moment is still very much up in the air. Your village is neither Christian nor Muslim. You are pagans, with your own animist traditions worked out over centuries of cohabiting with local spirits.
When the D&D and NWN rules conflict, we'll be using the NWN rules. I will be supplementing the NWN rules with D&D rules and whatever I make up. If something in your character creation is unclear, just ask.
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Jonathan
- Grand Pooh-Bah
- Posts: 6722
- Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 8:45 pm
- Location: Portland, OR
- Contact:
You are peasants. You were subsistence farmers. You own your own land, if for no other reason than nobody has tried for force you off it or tax you. Passing armies, local brigands, and foraging deserters from both sides of the conflict have taken off this year's crop and next year's seed. The men and boys in your village have been killed, joined an army, or fled. The women are now camp followers, if any are still alive.
We won't worry about rations, for the most part. If you go somewhere desolate or enclosed, like a desert or cave, I will require that you keep track of what you've got to eat.
I'm not going to give you any healing potions in your initial kit. I will give you healing kits +1, though. As long as you are within five miles of your village, you can spend a day trying to make another healing kit +1. If you aren't interrupted, you'll have a pretty good chance of finding enough herbs and whatnot to construct one. Once you're on the road, though, the chance goes way down.
Your village has collectively saved its money over the years and buried it. You all know where the money is, and doubt anyone else has had a chance to dig it up. There might be close to 300 GP there, in various denominations. Certainly more than enough for someone to kill you for it. Other than that cache, you haven't much in the way of material goods. If anyone plays a 1d10 HD class, he can have a short sword and tattered armor. The rest of you can have equipment costing less than that.
Most of the people in either army don't speak your language, but you find you can generally communicate using a pidgin, enough to make threats or trades.
Your village is on a small river in the foothills of the Alps. The mountains are to the south and west. The river flows north, feeding into the Danube. You know the sea is to the south, though you've never been.
We won't worry about rations, for the most part. If you go somewhere desolate or enclosed, like a desert or cave, I will require that you keep track of what you've got to eat.
I'm not going to give you any healing potions in your initial kit. I will give you healing kits +1, though. As long as you are within five miles of your village, you can spend a day trying to make another healing kit +1. If you aren't interrupted, you'll have a pretty good chance of finding enough herbs and whatnot to construct one. Once you're on the road, though, the chance goes way down.
Your village has collectively saved its money over the years and buried it. You all know where the money is, and doubt anyone else has had a chance to dig it up. There might be close to 300 GP there, in various denominations. Certainly more than enough for someone to kill you for it. Other than that cache, you haven't much in the way of material goods. If anyone plays a 1d10 HD class, he can have a short sword and tattered armor. The rest of you can have equipment costing less than that.
Most of the people in either army don't speak your language, but you find you can generally communicate using a pidgin, enough to make threats or trades.
Your village is on a small river in the foothills of the Alps. The mountains are to the south and west. The river flows north, feeding into the Danube. You know the sea is to the south, though you've never been.
Last edited by Jonathan on Wed Aug 10, 2005 1:05 am, edited 3 times in total.