Post/Author/DateTime	Post
tete 11-04-04, 07:32 AM	D&D is like an old girlfriend for me, when we are togeather we just fight and when we are apart all i can remeber is the good times. I am currently DMing an Eberron group and we just got through a very modified version of the fogotton forge. From there I have some great campaign ideas (some of which I wish i would have used instead of FF) or on to Shadows of the Last War. Im using alot house rules (vitality, class AC, Armor DR, Magic as a Skill to name a few). The problem is for halloween I ran a World of Darkness one shot and now Im loathing going back to D&D. Im also finding the more I read the Eberron book the less I like running a campaign from it. Its far too high fantasy for me. On the one hand I like it because it reminds me of playing Fogotton Realms in AD&D as a kid, where anything you could imagine exists. On the other hand its more like good memories than something I enjoy playing or running in my older age. As I am writing this I realised if I were to run SOTLW I would loose the little intrest I have left. Whats a DM to do? I really wanted this to be a long campaign but its like I no longer care.
billseurer 11-04-04, 08:23 AM	The problem is for halloween I ran a World of Darkness one shot and now Im loathing going back to D&D. Im also finding the more I read the Eberron book the less I like running a campaign from it. Its far too high fantasy for me. Whats a DM to do? I really wanted this to be a long campaign but its like I no longer care. Then DON'T run it and go play what you like. There's nothing wrong with that! There's nothing worse (RPG-wise) than being forced to play/run a setting/game you don't like.
tete 11-04-04, 08:26 AM	that seams like a crapy thing to do to my players...
shadowpavement 11-04-04, 08:57 AM	that seams like a crapy thing to do to my players... Then you might want to try having one of your players taking over the DM seat for the Eberron game while you start up something else. They need to respect your needs as much as you respect theirs. I actually just canceled my Eberron game this weekend when no one showed up for the session. My gf was teribly ill so I knew she was out but all the others had indicated that they were going to show up. Then friday rolls around and not a soul is there. And no one even bothered to e-mail or call to say that they couldn't make it. This isn't the first time this has happened and I had had enough. There needed to be a balance between my players and myself. I take care of all their character sheets and usually bring munchies with money out of my own pocket and put alot of work into the game as well as sending out weekly e-mails letting everyone know of the status of the game. I at least expected an e-mail or phone call from my players letting me know that they couldn't make it, but I didn't hear anything, and two weeks worth of planing and work went right out the window. The respect has to go both ways.
Bluebrush 11-04-04, 09:04 AM	Hm. Last year I GMed a game and, when the sixth player joined, the whole thing became a chore for me. I should have given up, but I just kept running a game with no heart in it. I was glad when it ended, rather than disappointed. If it's unrewarding for you to GM, tell your players and consider quitting. Same goes for playing. If it's no fun then don't play.
BuddyL33 11-04-04, 09:31 AM	If a low fantasy/low magic campaign setting is what you are looking for, perhaps Kingdoms of Kalamar is more your style, or better yet Ravenloft. Both are excellent low fantasy/magic settings, with the latter being one of my favorites. A third option would be the Scarred Lands setting, though it's a bit more fantasy than the first two I mentioned.
JBW 11-04-04, 01:51 PM	I find myself in a "similar but different" situation. I love Eberron as a setting, but I'm finding that I really don't like the D&D system. Unfortunately, this also causes me some disappointment with Eberron since so much of the setting has been artificially dictated by the D&D rules. At the core, I don't like class-based games, and d20's attempts to go classless all suck (IMO). Too much - mechanically speaking - in d20/D&D focuses on combat and rigid attempts to keep it balanced. To me, D&D feels too much like a minatures game with some rolplaying applied as a "template" to the base creature. I've considered transferring Eberron over to a variety of other rules sets: WW's Exalted, Earthdawn, Rolemaster (not high on my list), Decipher's CODA, and a few others. Many of the hang-ups come in when you try to reverse engineer a D&D mechanic into a skills-based game. My overall findings are that I play D&D for an "easy" game. Yep, that's right - easy! With most of the games that I prefer, making up a detailed adventure with a half-dozen NPCs can take a long time to accomplish. With D&D, half of my NPCs can come straight out of the MM while the other half only need a little work from the PHB. Spice them up with some treasure from the DGM and you're good to go. Easy, but just not as satisfying for long-term play. Jay
Lou/Vega 11-04-04, 04:34 PM	On the one hand I like it because it reminds me of playing Fogotton Realms in AD&D as a kid, where anything you could imagine exists. On the other hand its more like good memories than something I enjoy playing or running in my older age. As I am writing this I realised if I were to run SOTLW I would loose the little intrest I have left. Whats a DM to do? I really wanted this to be a long campaign but its like I no longer care. Welp, i know what your going through.I have always been a big forgotten realms / dragonlance guy.The problem is, with this setting bieng so new, it feels a little constricting.You and i are used to FR which is and always will be, so wide open.If you are really not enjoying this setting and want it to take a back seat until some more information is out on it, then change settings or games for that matter.Like i said, it's hard for me right now playing in this setting when i am used to things bieng so wide open and years worth of material at hand.All in all, it's really up to the DM to make things creative and players to a lesser extent.
Flack Jack 11-04-04, 04:37 PM	To me, D&D feels too much like a minatures game with some rolplaying applied as a "template" to the base creature. I play Eberron, and I don't use miniatures. IMO using miniature tailors your memory to seeing that little plastic guy move a grid instead of rolling under the table as the constable throws a pioson tipped viper in your direction. The viper missing, and falling into a fire place. Edit the templates. Take a goat man out of the MMIII, and make him a large evil outsider etc. P.S. None of that stuff ever happend, and yes I did say pioson tipped viper.
GMSteve 11-04-04, 06:26 PM	Well one of the things you can do is to run a semi-freeform system for Eberron. I have a very simple rules system that I use for PBP games as the more complex rules just bog down the PBP game. Really simple: Characters have 3 stats. Physical/Mental/Spirit. Range from 1 to 6. Players can pick half a dozen skills and/or magic powers. If you are unskilled you roll 2d3 and add to your stat, if you are skilled you roll 3d3 and add to your stat. The GM sets difficulty numbers. Players can be flesh wounded, seriously wounded, greviously wounded, or mortally wounded. I can easily expand on this - but probably not approriate for these boards. Make a really simple character sheet, and fun and fast cinematic game play, if a bit numbers light. You may want to try something like this if you like the flavor but don't like the rules.
greatfrito 11-04-04, 06:59 PM	Actually Steve, I really like your idea. As you've already said you don't want to post it here (maybe somewhere else with a link?), could you email me (greatfrito@gmail.com) your overall approach to the system? I too have been getting more and more fed up with how slow the rules make DnD run, and how much it can get bogged down in them. We started a CoC game this last weekend, and the first session just struck me as really awesome because we handled combat without a board or mini's, which essentially added more to the game than it took away. I was a little disappointed yesterday when we finished up when the DM busted out with a grid-map, but it was little more than a way to keep track of who was running away the fastest :D .
GMSteve 11-04-04, 09:43 PM	Well, there is really not that more to it. Other than relying on the GM to determine when/how much damage a battle has. Been Players and minor NPCs usually a single hit over the difficulty number (with the Difficulty number being the NPCs stat +1d3) is enough to mortally wound them. For PC's though it is best to say each hit increases the damage level by one. PCs can do more actions per turn, but each one causes the DC to go up. With the flexability of the DC system and a good GM you really don't need that much more. Like I said the only differance is the number of d3 different opponents roll. Some really minor characters roll 0D3 (i.e. nothing) while a great dragon may roll something like 8 or 10d3. The Important thing is the story. And this lets the GM use the story to drive the plot not the numbers. You may want to give it a whirl sometime, also great for quick pick-up games. For magic, I work it two ways depending on what feeling I am going for. For magic intenstive campaigns like eberron, I let the wizard or cleric type dictate a general kind of magic for each point of Spirit - like Diviniation, or Force Spells, or Leviation/Flying Spells, or Necromancy Spells or Personal Enhancement Spells or Healing Magic. As far as how much per day, upto the PC and the GM, but in general if I think that magic is becoming overused, then I start upping the DC's later in the day to represent fatigue or I give the wizard a flesh wound or similar. Hope that helps.
tete 11-05-04, 06:44 AM	At the core, I don't like class-based games, and d20's attempts to go classless all suck (IMO). Too much - mechanically speaking - in d20/D&D focuses on combat and rigid attempts to keep it balanced. To me, D&D feels too much like a minatures game with some rolplaying applied as a "template" to the base creature. I've considered transferring Eberron over to a variety of other rules sets: WW's Exalted, Earthdawn, Rolemaster (not high on my list), Decipher's CODA, and a few others. Many of the hang-ups come in when you try to reverse engineer a D&D mechanic into a skills-based game. Jay For your situation I would use Mutants and Masterminds. If your not too picky about bending some rules you just have to divide the hit points by 5 from the monster manual and you have a mutants and masterminds character... sorta, the points will be alittle off and such but its close enough IMO. My only problem is my characters are well along their merry XP way already, so the converting from a PC stand point may be alittle hairy if I was going to be fair about it.
JBW 11-05-04, 11:20 AM	M&M might work... I own a few of the books, but havn't given it too much consideration because of the superhero angle. Still, it has many diferent things that can work for magic/spellcasting, magic items, even class abilities (Strike for Monks, etc.). The only odd thing is that magic items will literally become a part of the character. Each item will be paid for with points that otherwise could have gone into an ability, skill, or Feat. Next the question comes up about characters swapping & stripping items. If my 120-point (PL 8) character gives your 120-point (PL 8) character a 15-point magic item, do I drop to a 105-point (PL 7) character while you increase to a 135-point (PL 9) character? This doesn't come up with superheroes that have gear assined as part of the "package" but is a common problem in the D&D world of magic item recycling. Of course, this may mean that characters get less points (such as 10 per PL + 5 per PL for equipment/magic items). Anything over/under the equipment allowance is treated just as over/under-equipped characters are in D&D. I'm beginning to like this idea... Thank you. Jay