campaign startup [Archive] - Wizards Community

campaign startup [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
swallowyersoul
01-04-07, 02:05 PM so i tried an experiment opening my new campaign, and i have to say i was pretty pleased with the result.

we played for 12 hours (which was probably too long). players gave me their level 5 character sheets, which i reverse engineered so i had level 1 - 4 sheets for them, too, plus a sheet for the same character as a 10 year old child.

first adventure was the ten year olds (chasing down farm animals that had escaped during a storm).

the next adventure was at age 13. before action started, i did a little infodump (this is what you've learned about the world over the last 3 yers) and did some quizzing (what happened in your family in the past 3 years, have you had your first crush or kiss yet?)

by the end of the night, we'd had five adventures and passed through 11 years of game time. i've never seen characters developed so well so quickly.

it needs some tweaking, but i'm really happy with it.
Archmage Atrus
01-04-07, 02:43 PM That's pretty interesting, actually. Good way to get all of the characters to feel like they should ban together, too. Instead of just telling them "So you've known each other for the past 10 years..." you can actually show them, and they can then judge for themselves how they feel about one another.

I approve.
Azezel
01-04-07, 03:27 PM I want you to be my DM (or wife)!
Sereno
01-04-07, 03:46 PM players gave me their level 5 character sheets, which i reverse engineered so i had level 1 - 4 sheets for them, too, plus a sheet for the same character as a 10 year old child.

Why go through all the reverse engineering?

Why not just start out with the 10-year-olds and then progress to a "real" first level character and let them develop normally from there?
Regular_K
01-04-07, 05:01 PM Wow, I wish I did this same thing! Sounds like a great way to make characters know who they are too, insted of just a piece of paper and some stats.
swallowyersoul
01-04-07, 09:56 PM thanks for all the warm fuzzies. i was pretty happy with it.

and i did the reverse engineering for three reasons (realizing it took extra work for me)

1. so i could hand 'em a new character sheet each level instead of taking game time to level everyone up

2. so i could get a really solid grip on each pc.

3. so i could incorporate their development (i.e. learning a new feat, multiclassing) into the storyline.

yeah, it was a lot of work. might not do that next time.

but thanks again. i'm rather proud of it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
swallowyersoul 01-04-07, 02:05 PM	so i tried an experiment opening my new campaign, and i have to say i was pretty pleased with the result. we played for 12 hours (which was probably too long). players gave me their level 5 character sheets, which i reverse engineered so i had level 1 - 4 sheets for them, too, plus a sheet for the same character as a 10 year old child. first adventure was the ten year olds (chasing down farm animals that had escaped during a storm). the next adventure was at age 13. before action started, i did a little infodump (this is what you've learned about the world over the last 3 yers) and did some quizzing (what happened in your family in the past 3 years, have you had your first crush or kiss yet?) by the end of the night, we'd had five adventures and passed through 11 years of game time. i've never seen characters developed so well so quickly. it needs some tweaking, but i'm really happy with it.
Archmage Atrus 01-04-07, 02:43 PM	That's pretty interesting, actually. Good way to get all of the characters to feel like they should ban together, too. Instead of just telling them "So you've known each other for the past 10 years..." you can actually show them, and they can then judge for themselves how they feel about one another. I approve.
Azezel 01-04-07, 03:27 PM	I want you to be my DM (or wife)!
Sereno 01-04-07, 03:46 PM	players gave me their level 5 character sheets, which i reverse engineered so i had level 1 - 4 sheets for them, too, plus a sheet for the same character as a 10 year old child. Why go through all the reverse engineering? Why not just start out with the 10-year-olds and then progress to a "real" first level character and let them develop normally from there?
Regular_K 01-04-07, 05:01 PM	Wow, I wish I did this same thing! Sounds like a great way to make characters know who they are too, insted of just a piece of paper and some stats.
swallowyersoul 01-04-07, 09:56 PM	thanks for all the warm fuzzies. i was pretty happy with it. and i did the reverse engineering for three reasons (realizing it took extra work for me) 1. so i could hand 'em a new character sheet each level instead of taking game time to level everyone up 2. so i could get a really solid grip on each pc. 3. so i could incorporate their development (i.e. learning a new feat, multiclassing) into the storyline. yeah, it was a lot of work. might not do that next time. but thanks again. i'm rather proud of it.