UnCon Event: Dragon's Landing Q & A [Archive] - Wizards Community

UnCon Event: Dragon's Landing Q & A [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
kilishan
10-23-06, 05:08 PM What's with this Q & A thing?
All week long the Dragon's Landing crew (Chuck & Lonnie) will be fielding questions about roleplaying. Any type of question. Any genre. Any system (though be warned that we don't typically cover system/mechanic specific questions.)

Now is your chance to be part of a "live" podcast. We'll take some of the most interesting questions on this thread, giving preference to those questions that would best benefit our audience, and invite those people to join us for a SkypeCast on Sunday, October 29, 2006. We'll cover the questions more in depth there and, in general have a lot of fun.

So, get those questions coming and lets have fun!

What is the Dragon's Landing Podcast?

Our podcast is focused on looking at ways to run and play in more exciting campaigns. We generally come from a very story-based viewpoint and focus on ways to make the players get into the story more. In the past we have covered topics including: worldbuilding from a literary angle; using Dynamic Terrains to help keep the game alive exciting; and we're currently doing a series on different types of Adventure Styles and how to use them in your game.

One of the things that we feel has led to our surprising growth over the last 16 months has been that we do not focus on any one rpg system or genre. While our examples have a tendency to be fantasy based with d20 as the system, we also try to bring up examples of how this will work in other genres.

We have also handled many questions ranging the field from "how do I find a group?" to "what makes Eberron so great?" to "how to best use weather in my game?".

We don't claim to know it all, and I'm sure that many people have every bit as much experience as we do (or more) but we hope that we can provided fresh angles and insights that will help you run or play in a deeper, more enjoyable game.

You can listen to all of our past episodes and get the show notes over at DragonsLanding.com (http://www.dragonslanding.com).
WizO_Autumn
10-24-06, 11:10 PM Well I have questions!

What are the best D&D "Deals" you've found? (Cheap ways to make maps, mini-usage, and tangible flavor items for the game?)

I like to get character inspiration from media- movies and TV. But how do I adapt a character I love without just mimicking the character?
kilishan
10-24-06, 11:55 PM Well I have questions!

What are the best D&D "Deals" you've found? (Cheap ways to make maps, mini-usage, and tangible flavor items for the game?)

I like to get character inspiration from media- movies and TV. But how do I adapt a character I love without just mimicking the character?

Wow - the first one is tough to answer in a short space. On the podcast we'll go into it in a bit more detail, but there are a number of great sites out there to get free art -- whether its fantasy artists for setting moods of location, or grabbing portraits to give your players a feeling of the NPC's. For those on budgets, one of favorite (and easiest) methods for minis is forgetting about buying all those figures and just M&M's or different sorts of candies. One of the best things here is that you get to eat the bad guys when you defeat them :)

When you adapt a character from TV, movies or books and don't want to rip them off completely you basically have to figure out what you love about that character - is it their "devil-may-care" attitude or the way they handle their profession, or is it even just their profession and witty one-liners? Once you figure out what it is about that character that makes you love them so much, use that as a basis and build your character from there. That way, the character will have the same feel but be uniquely your own.

If you can make it for the "live" podcast on Sunday, I'd love to work with you to take one of your favorite characters and build a new PC with you!
Andron
10-25-06, 06:40 PM I sometimes worry about creating stereotypical villain archetypes. There's nothing wrong with that, but I like to get away from been there and done that routine. How would I go about creating a recurring villain that would be truly memorable?

Also, how detailed should I get when creating the world for my campaign? (It's a fantasy campaign, but I also GM Superhero and SciFi rpg's and want to get away from the "official" settings.)
keethor_smash
10-27-06, 03:48 PM My current group of gamers are moving away, I've been gaming with these guys forever ((started when i was 14 now I’m 21)) since i am the one sticking around i have been tasked with the job of making the final game of my gaming group. I don't want to use a pre-generated adventure. How would you guys go about creating a exciting memorable game, without insane prep times and with out a whole lot of game sessions to accomplish a long term game.

(ps I’m running Eberron probably level 5 just so can be fun yet controllable. Probably going to be doing something them being last war Veterans from Breland and ether clearing themselves of war crimes, or just after one more grab for Glory))
DLChuck
10-28-06, 10:46 AM These are some great questions and I look forward to talking about them on the podcast.

Now, about the "Live" podcast. This weekend just happened to fall on the very dates that Lonnie is having to move to a new house and I have to watch half a dozen kids for my middle son's birthday party. In other words, the live poodcast won't work out this weekend.

But never fear! We will be able to do it next weekend. It will be a Skypecast, so if any of you want to be involved, all you need is the latest version of Skype (http://www.skype.com) and a microphone, and you are set.

This will be a moderated voice/text chat, where you will be able to talk to us via text chat when you want to make a comment or ask a question, and then we can un-silence your channel and you'll be talking for all to hear. Kind of like a call-in radio show. This way we don't get a hundred people all trying to talk at once.

So, anyway, my apologies that life got in the way this weekend, but we will do the live show next weekend (I'm looking atsaturday evening sometime.) Keep an eye on this thread and on the front page of our website (http://www.dragonslanding.com) for details on the exact time of the show.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
kilishan 10-23-06, 05:08 PM	What's with this Q & A thing? All week long the Dragon's Landing crew (Chuck & Lonnie) will be fielding questions about roleplaying. Any type of question. Any genre. Any system (though be warned that we don't typically cover system/mechanic specific questions.) Now is your chance to be part of a "live" podcast. We'll take some of the most interesting questions on this thread, giving preference to those questions that would best benefit our audience, and invite those people to join us for a SkypeCast on Sunday, October 29, 2006. We'll cover the questions more in depth there and, in general have a lot of fun. So, get those questions coming and lets have fun! What is the Dragon's Landing Podcast? Our podcast is focused on looking at ways to run and play in more exciting campaigns. We generally come from a very story-based viewpoint and focus on ways to make the players get into the story more. In the past we have covered topics including: worldbuilding from a literary angle; using Dynamic Terrains to help keep the game alive exciting; and we're currently doing a series on different types of Adventure Styles and how to use them in your game. One of the things that we feel has led to our surprising growth over the last 16 months has been that we do not focus on any one rpg system or genre. While our examples have a tendency to be fantasy based with d20 as the system, we also try to bring up examples of how this will work in other genres. We have also handled many questions ranging the field from "how do I find a group?" to "what makes Eberron so great?" to "how to best use weather in my game?". We don't claim to know it all, and I'm sure that many people have every bit as much experience as we do (or more) but we hope that we can provided fresh angles and insights that will help you run or play in a deeper, more enjoyable game. You can listen to all of our past episodes and get the show notes over at DragonsLanding.com (http://www.dragonslanding.com).
WizO_Autumn 10-24-06, 11:10 PM	Well I have questions! What are the best D&D "Deals" you've found? (Cheap ways to make maps, mini-usage, and tangible flavor items for the game?) I like to get character inspiration from media- movies and TV. But how do I adapt a character I love without just mimicking the character?
kilishan 10-24-06, 11:55 PM	Well I have questions! What are the best D&D "Deals" you've found? (Cheap ways to make maps, mini-usage, and tangible flavor items for the game?) I like to get character inspiration from media- movies and TV. But how do I adapt a character I love without just mimicking the character? Wow - the first one is tough to answer in a short space. On the podcast we'll go into it in a bit more detail, but there are a number of great sites out there to get free art -- whether its fantasy artists for setting moods of location, or grabbing portraits to give your players a feeling of the NPC's. For those on budgets, one of favorite (and easiest) methods for minis is forgetting about buying all those figures and just M&M's or different sorts of candies. One of the best things here is that you get to eat the bad guys when you defeat them :) When you adapt a character from TV, movies or books and don't want to rip them off completely you basically have to figure out what you love about that character - is it their "devil-may-care" attitude or the way they handle their profession, or is it even just their profession and witty one-liners? Once you figure out what it is about that character that makes you love them so much, use that as a basis and build your character from there. That way, the character will have the same feel but be uniquely your own. If you can make it for the "live" podcast on Sunday, I'd love to work with you to take one of your favorite characters and build a new PC with you!
Andron 10-25-06, 06:40 PM	I sometimes worry about creating stereotypical villain archetypes. There's nothing wrong with that, but I like to get away from been there and done that routine. How would I go about creating a recurring villain that would be truly memorable? Also, how detailed should I get when creating the world for my campaign? (It's a fantasy campaign, but I also GM Superhero and SciFi rpg's and want to get away from the "official" settings.)
keethor_smash 10-27-06, 03:48 PM	My current group of gamers are moving away, I've been gaming with these guys forever ((started when i was 14 now I’m 21)) since i am the one sticking around i have been tasked with the job of making the final game of my gaming group. I don't want to use a pre-generated adventure. How would you guys go about creating a exciting memorable game, without insane prep times and with out a whole lot of game sessions to accomplish a long term game. (ps I’m running Eberron probably level 5 just so can be fun yet controllable. Probably going to be doing something them being last war Veterans from Breland and ether clearing themselves of war crimes, or just after one more grab for Glory))
DLChuck 10-28-06, 10:46 AM	These are some great questions and I look forward to talking about them on the podcast. Now, about the "Live" podcast. This weekend just happened to fall on the very dates that Lonnie is having to move to a new house and I have to watch half a dozen kids for my middle son's birthday party. In other words, the live poodcast won't work out this weekend. But never fear! We will be able to do it next weekend. It will be a Skypecast, so if any of you want to be involved, all you need is the latest version of Skype (http://www.skype.com) and a microphone, and you are set. This will be a moderated voice/text chat, where you will be able to talk to us via text chat when you want to make a comment or ask a question, and then we can un-silence your channel and you'll be talking for all to hear. Kind of like a call-in radio show. This way we don't get a hundred people all trying to talk at once. So, anyway, my apologies that life got in the way this weekend, but we will do the live show next weekend (I'm looking atsaturday evening sometime.) Keep an eye on this thread and on the front page of our website (http://www.dragonslanding.com) for details on the exact time of the show.