Post/Author/DateTime	Post
xlawedjeanne 08-03-05, 05:49 PM	see the problem here is i have 1 player (thats a druid). therefore i wish to start them off in the woods (lvl 1). with all that said and done, i am NO GOOD at mapping. i can make adventures, but i need a map. this time i am not asking for someone to make a map, that will take too long ><. but if you know a good map to start off a lvl 1 druid, and just one player that will be great. please help caus i dont want to disapoint them their first game -.- o yea, and since its a sleep over and i just got a lm i really wanta play a necromancer -.- its just i dont know how i can play a necro with my friend. i dont know if i should be a cohort, npc, enemy (i dont wanta go there :() or if i should have my friend try dming on their first day, so i can play my necro :(
VirgilCaine 08-03-05, 06:44 PM	There's a SHIFT key on your keyboard. Use it. Look for the Map-A-Week feature in the archives. There's lots of maps there. o yea, and since its a sleep over and i just got a lm i really wanta play a necromancer -.- What is a "lm"?
xlawedjeanne 08-03-05, 06:45 PM	There's a SHIFT key on your keyboard. Use it. Look for the Map-A-Week feature in the archives. There's lots of maps there. What is a "lm"? Im is I'm... i looked at the maps a week, and i didnt find any good ones =/
ChaoticGood 08-03-05, 07:18 PM	If you're playing in the woods, you really don't need much of a map. Here's what you do... 1. Get a nice big piece of paper. Or better yet, a big sketch pad. Go to a dollar store, you can get them for... well, a dollar. Plus tax. 2. Get four markers/crayons/colored pencils in the following colors: blue (for water), green (for vegetation), black or gray (for solid objects like rocks or walls), and any other color (for whatever random stuff you might encounter). 3. DON'T DRAW A MAP. That's right, don't draw a map. At least, not ahead of time. See, if you're playing in the woods, you can pretty much make stuff up as you go along. It's not a like a building, where the stairs going up on the first floor have to match where the stairs go down on the second floor. You can just point your pencil and say, "There's a tree here." Of course, if your problem is the actual drawing, you needn't worry about that, either. Most of the DMs I have gamed with were terrible artists. A large squiggly green circle is a tree, two more or less parallel squiggly blue lines make a creek, a fairly straight line is a fence or a wall. Don't sweat it - as long as you say what each thing is while you draw it, your players.. er, player... should be able to visualize it. As for your desire to play a necromancer... why not make the necro your primary villain? Just be sure you devise appropriate protections and getaway plans for him, and you can have all the fun of playing your character while your friend has all the fun of fighting him... repeatedly.
xlawedjeanne 08-03-05, 07:23 PM	If you're playing in the woods, you really don't need much of a map. Here's what you do... 1. Get a nice big piece of paper. Or better yet, a big sketch pad. Go to a dollar store, you can get them for... well, a dollar. Plus tax. 2. Get four markers/crayons/colored pencils in the following colors: blue (for water), green (for vegetation), black or gray (for solid objects like rocks or walls), and any other color (for whatever random stuff you might encounter). 3. DON'T DRAW A MAP. That's right, don't draw a map. At least, not ahead of time. See, if you're playing in the woods, you can pretty much make stuff up as you go along. It's not a like a building, where the stairs going up on the first floor have to match where the stairs go down on the second floor. You can just point your pencil and say, "There's a tree here." Of course, if your problem is the actual drawing, you needn't worry about that, either. Most of the DMs I have gamed with were terrible artists. A large squiggly green circle is a tree, two more or less parallel squiggly blue lines make a creek, a fairly straight line is a fence or a wall. Don't sweat it - as long as you say what each thing is while you draw it, your players.. er, player... should be able to visualize it. As for your desire to play a necromancer... why not make the necro your primary villain? Just be sure you devise appropriate protections and getaway plans for him, and you can have all the fun of playing your character while your friend has all the fun of fighting him... repeatedly. but i wanna kill ppl wid my necro :( he has like all kill spells on him and i can draw all right ^^ but what if he wants more story? a random map may not be the best for that :(
ChaoticGood 08-03-05, 07:33 PM	You can kill people with the necromancer... just not the druid. Well, at least not permanently. At least, not if you want to keep gaming... :D Actually, here's an idea for you. What if your necro has a taste for more unusual undead... not fantastic monsters, but animals. Zombie birds, skeletal wolves, ghostly muskrats... You would be a perfect foil for the druid as you stalk the woods, killing off his animal pals. Maybe I'm missing what you mean by mapping your adventure. I thought you meant making battle sites, but I guess maybe you mean a regional map. Still, the same principal applies. This jagged line is some mountains, this green squiggle is your forest, this blue squiggle is a river, and these three dots are towns. The only rule I would suggest you remember is that rivers never flow up mountains. Here's another idea for you: get a map of a national park and fine-tipped marker. Write new names over whatever man-made features on the map don't make sense in your campaign. Campsites can become bandit camps, picnic spots can become hunting grounds, and restrooms can become the lairs of major monsters. For actual site maps, you can go back to the above ideas.
xlawedjeanne 08-03-05, 07:37 PM	You can kill people with the necromancer... just not the druid. Well, at least not permanently. At least, not if you want to keep gaming... :D Actually, here's an idea for you. What if your necro has a taste for more unusual undead... not fantastic monsters, but animals. Zombie birds, skeletal wolves, ghostly muskrats... You would be a perfect foil for the druid as you stalk the woods, killing off his animal pals. Maybe I'm missing what you mean by mapping your adventure. I thought you meant making battle sites, but I guess maybe you mean a regional map. Still, the same principal applies. This jagged line is some mountains, this green squiggle is your forest, this blue squiggle is a river, and these three dots are towns. The only rule I would suggest you remember is that rivers never flow up mountains. Here's another idea for you: get a map of a national park and fine-tipped marker. Write new names over whatever man-made features on the map don't make sense in your campaign. Campsites can become bandit camps, picnic spots can become hunting grounds, and restrooms can become the lairs of major monsters. For actual site maps, you can go back to the above ideas. i was thinking of having a temple of druids, but it really was a temple to nerull. its good for lowlevel, since its obvious due to; 1. theres a graveyard in front 2. theres guards at the door 3. theres studies 4. the druids are not wearing bark and stuff lol cant get any more obvious ^^ but i am a lil bit nervous on how i can make the flow of such. i plan on having the whole gravyard be risen, but thats a LOT of undead for a poor lvl 1 (and one person at that) to handle. including the necromancers =/
ChaoticGood 08-03-05, 07:55 PM	Do you want him to infiltrate this place, or will he already be part of the temple only to find that his order is not what he thought it was? In either case, you are definitely right about that being far two many undead for a level 1 character. You should probably make sure he realizes this, and encourage him to come back to the temple when he is a little higher in level. In the meantime, your necro can harass him, trying to lure him into open battle before he is ready. As long as you make it clear that the necro is more powerful than he is, it will be his own fault if he goes after the guy right away. (Cue the evil DM music! :plotting: ) One more thing: there's no reason that a group of druids can't be both a druid circle and a temple of Nerull. Nerull is NE, an alignment which is legal for druids. Instead of guarding magical secrets, they are more likely to guard secrets about the true nature of life and death.
xlawedjeanne 08-03-05, 10:05 PM	i decided i will make an elite faction of the cult, in which my necromancer will lead his squad :schemes:. it will be the meanest squad of necromancer type people. my necro (the leader) will be the main resurector and creator, and will be the one doing the summons. the two dire singers will pump up those skellys (even more) with their songs of sorrow. that leaves my two masters if shrouds to lead the front line :).(deaths chosen just suck, anyways there is no undead mastermind behind this). these people will be sick, and will make a perfect archenemy type situation for mr druid. have him meet when he discovers the temple, my necromancer and than have dead rising everywhere and him probally running out. however i will set up that my necromancer upon discover summons two medium skeltons as the boss, and than he can run away. (not yet meeting the other members). than theres gonna be a whole thing with his dead animal friends :evillaugh: (bambis reeking of death :)) this will be perfect. still need maps though =/
Siduakal 08-04-05, 04:50 PM	There's a SHIFT key on your keyboard. Use it. Look for the Map-A-Week feature in the archives. There's lots of maps there. What is a "lm"? LM = Libris Mortis
Nobuddy 08-04-05, 07:40 PM	I think your worrying alittle to much about this whole, WHAT IF, stuff! Dude just tell the story as you know it and leave him to figure things out on his own. Just because you don't have all the answers now just wait, chillax and stop, it will come to you I swear.
xlawedjeanne 08-04-05, 08:07 PM	I think your worrying alittle to much about this whole, WHAT IF, stuff! Dude just tell the story as you know it and leave him to figure things out on his own. Just because you don't have all the answers now just wait, chillax and stop, it will come to you I swear. wat if u are wrong :(
pangalactic 08-04-05, 09:30 PM	wat if u are wrong :( (S)he isn't wrong. One of my biggest loves is writing (well, just creating worlds and stories and characters, really, but that's comes out through writing). I know from experience that when the well dries up, you take a break. NEVER force creativity. Instead, let it come to you. While you're on a break from creating, your mind will be subconciously playing around with what you've got. When you come back to it, you'll be surprised by all the ideas you'll suddenly have. Also, if you start playing now, without it fully developed, your player may do something that you didn't expect and force you to think about it from a different perspective. That's one of the best things that can happen to you, and one of the only times forcing creativity can work. Sometimes, looking at something from a new angle is all you need. Good luck!