I wanted to know what you guys thought - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

I wanted to know what you guys thought

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
equilibrist
Jul 28, 2012 12:54:36 So my overall campaign idea I've started on is as follows:

A seer asks you to get an orb for her
It is being held by a duke, in his castle
get the orb for the seer
she shows up
orb goes to her
battle happens, but is interrupted by the world getting sucked into itself
party awakens in a field
(random adventuring)
slowly find out that they are in an alternate reality
(random adventuring)
When a wizard tells them they are in an alternate reality (if they haven't figured it out already), he advises them not to run into their alternate selves
(Random adventuring, almost running into their alternate selves multiple times)
They must find the orb of this world (which gives you your worst nightmare)
(random adventuring)
When they find it, the seer appears
Seer kills all of them
their real selves appear, revealing to the PCs that they have been their alternate selves this whole time, remade to believe that they are not of this world so as to protect the true party
The seer is greatly dispowered from the fight with the alternate selves, leaving the true party able to defeat her
As she falls, she drops the orb off of a cliff (it alters this world to match what happens to it. i.e.: if it falls into fire, the world goes up in flames)
The party must chase it
The party either gets it and breaks it, or it breaks during the fall
The entire world shatters like glass, the peices falling away
As the party floats in an infinite void, they see the seer and their world's orb (the desires one)
They fight with the seer for the orb, both constantly missing checks to get it and sending it flying away

As you can see, I left some wiggle room for free will (and for me as the DM). So far, my players have arrived in the alternate reality and I have succeeded in making them completely disoriented. We ended that day's session and I asked them what they think just happened. No one has any clue.

What do you guys think? Questions/comments?
#2
equilibrist
Jul 28, 2012 12:57:24 Forgot to mention: The first orb grants whoever's touching it their greatest desires (but in a warped way, like an oldschool genie). The seer wants to control the world, so the orb "obtains" the world for her. But she lets go of it in the battle. So she and the players are part of the the world that the orb is sucking in
#3
yellowdingo
Jul 28, 2012 20:31:44 Apart from the insane railroad...you have a plan for an adventure arc. You might want to understand that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. So If perchance the orb is crushed in a fight - or damaged, or what ever it may be - it end your plans right there.

The campaign setting functions more like a mesh across which events cause ripples of change - a war in a province flushes refugees across a border - disease and plague appear - lycanthropes raid border communities - goblins raid for silver to fight the goblins - adventurers are called in. So with a Magic Orb - rivals may want it, the emergence of an artefact draws the attention of those who know of its existance - spies watch for the Seer to make his/her move,
#4
mastercliff
Jul 29, 2012 4:15:23 Plus, it requires killing the group. That's a big flag right there. I don't care if they are going to have alternates-that-are-the-same-but-not-but-are. You need to ask yourself, is this just a power trip?
#5
equilibrist
Jul 29, 2012 17:55:51 My players don't really care if I kill them all off, as long as I have good reason. When the first orb sucked them all in, they thought that I had just killed them. But when I revealed that they wake up in a field, they started questioning what just happened, which is what I wanted. Everyone's okay with it, except one guy who's a total crybaby about everything. He's tried to fight me on pretty much every negative thing that happens to him, even if I give good reason (example: "You try to climb out a window, but the rope breaks and you fall. Take 1d6 of damage." "Why didn't anyone else take damage?! I rolled the same as [the lowest successful check." "Because you're 100 lbs heavier than the 2nd heaviest player and got a -2 to it." "That's bull****!" "That's the price you pay for being a Minotaur.") So I and the rest of the team as started to love huge twists that "kill" everyone because it's funny to watch his reaction.
#6
mastercliff
Jul 30, 2012 1:16:36
My players don't really care if I kill them all off, as long as I have good reason. When the first orb sucked them all in, they thought that I had just killed them. But when I revealed that they wake up in a field, they started questioning what just happened, which is what I wanted. Everyone's okay with it, except one guy who's a total crybaby about everything. He's tried to fight me on pretty much every negative thing that happens to him, even if I give good reason (example: "You try to climb out a window, but the rope breaks and you fall. Take 1d6 of damage." "Why didn't anyone else take damage?! I rolled the same as [the lowest successful check." "Because you're 100 lbs heavier than the 2nd heaviest player and got a -2 to it." "That's bull****!" "That's the price you pay for being a Minotaur.") So I and the rest of the team as started to love huge twists that "kill" everyone because it's funny to watch his reaction.

Ah, I see. You know what? It's not just your game. it's you. You are doing the exact wrong things in running a game. Saying the players don't care is no excuse. You make a massively convoluted adventure that has you killing the group. You make the players go through all that, and then put a save or die feature for the end, making all their efforts useless. Then, if they make the save, they go through more effort, only to save or die once again. You admit to picking on a player just to make him feel bad. And then when people tell you what they think, you dismiss it offhandedly.

What you need to do is read the how to dm forum. Search how to actually run a game. Look at the dos and donts.
#7
equilibrist
Jul 30, 2012 10:25:55
My players don't really care if I kill them all off, as long as I have good reason. When the first orb sucked them all in, they thought that I had just killed them. But when I revealed that they wake up in a field, they started questioning what just happened, which is what I wanted. Everyone's okay with it, except one guy who's a total crybaby about everything. He's tried to fight me on pretty much every negative thing that happens to him, even if I give good reason (example: "You try to climb out a window, but the rope breaks and you fall. Take 1d6 of damage." "Why didn't anyone else take damage?! I rolled the same as [the lowest successful check." "Because you're 100 lbs heavier than the 2nd heaviest player and got a -2 to it." "That's bull****!" "That's the price you pay for being a Minotaur.") So I and the rest of the team as started to love huge twists that "kill" everyone because it's funny to watch his reaction.

Ah, I see. You know what? It's not just your game. it's you. You are doing the exact wrong things in running a game. Saying the players don't care is no excuse. You make a massively convoluted adventure that has you killing the group. You make the players go through all that, and then put a save or die feature for the end, making all their efforts useless. Then, if they make the save, they go through more effort, only to save or die once again. You admit to picking on a player just to make him feel bad. And then when people tell you what they think, you dismiss it offhandedly.

What you need to do is read the how to dm forum. Search how to actually run a game. Look at the dos and donts.

I reread through my notes, and noticed I have a lot of encounters that might kill the entire team. I meant it for a sense of danger, but it is a little too much. Maybe the one time, but I need to rewrite all the others. And the one huy? I'm not playing favorites against him. that's just how the dice land.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 equilibrist Jul 28, 2012 12:54:36	So my overall campaign idea I've started on is as follows: A seer asks you to get an orb for her It is being held by a duke, in his castle get the orb for the seer she shows up orb goes to her battle happens, but is interrupted by the world getting sucked into itself party awakens in a field (random adventuring) slowly find out that they are in an alternate reality (random adventuring) When a wizard tells them they are in an alternate reality (if they haven't figured it out already), he advises them not to run into their alternate selves (Random adventuring, almost running into their alternate selves multiple times) They must find the orb of this world (which gives you your worst nightmare) (random adventuring) When they find it, the seer appears Seer kills all of them their real selves appear, revealing to the PCs that they have been their alternate selves this whole time, remade to believe that they are not of this world so as to protect the true party The seer is greatly dispowered from the fight with the alternate selves, leaving the true party able to defeat her As she falls, she drops the orb off of a cliff (it alters this world to match what happens to it. i.e.: if it falls into fire, the world goes up in flames) The party must chase it The party either gets it and breaks it, or it breaks during the fall The entire world shatters like glass, the peices falling away As the party floats in an infinite void, they see the seer and their world's orb (the desires one) They fight with the seer for the orb, both constantly missing checks to get it and sending it flying away As you can see, I left some wiggle room for free will (and for me as the DM). So far, my players have arrived in the alternate reality and I have succeeded in making them completely disoriented. We ended that day's session and I asked them what they think just happened. No one has any clue. What do you guys think? Questions/comments?
#2 equilibrist Jul 28, 2012 12:57:24	Forgot to mention: The first orb grants whoever's touching it their greatest desires (but in a warped way, like an oldschool genie). The seer wants to control the world, so the orb "obtains" the world for her. But she lets go of it in the battle. So she and the players are part of the the world that the orb is sucking in
#3 yellowdingo Jul 28, 2012 20:31:44	Apart from the insane railroad...you have a plan for an adventure arc. You might want to understand that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. So If perchance the orb is crushed in a fight - or damaged, or what ever it may be - it end your plans right there. The campaign setting functions more like a mesh across which events cause ripples of change - a war in a province flushes refugees across a border - disease and plague appear - lycanthropes raid border communities - goblins raid for silver to fight the goblins - adventurers are called in. So with a Magic Orb - rivals may want it, the emergence of an artefact draws the attention of those who know of its existance - spies watch for the Seer to make his/her move,
#4 mastercliff Jul 29, 2012 4:15:23	Plus, it requires killing the group. That's a big flag right there. I don't care if they are going to have alternates-that-are-the-same-but-not-but-are. You need to ask yourself, is this just a power trip?
#5 equilibrist Jul 29, 2012 17:55:51	My players don't really care if I kill them all off, as long as I have good reason. When the first orb sucked them all in, they thought that I had just killed them. But when I revealed that they wake up in a field, they started questioning what just happened, which is what I wanted. Everyone's okay with it, except one guy who's a total crybaby about everything. He's tried to fight me on pretty much every negative thing that happens to him, even if I give good reason (example: "You try to climb out a window, but the rope breaks and you fall. Take 1d6 of damage." "Why didn't anyone else take damage?! I rolled the same as [the lowest successful check." "Because you're 100 lbs heavier than the 2nd heaviest player and got a -2 to it." "That's bull****!" "That's the price you pay for being a Minotaur.") So I and the rest of the team as started to love huge twists that "kill" everyone because it's funny to watch his reaction.
#6 mastercliff Jul 30, 2012 1:16:36	My players don't really care if I kill them all off, as long as I have good reason. When the first orb sucked them all in, they thought that I had just killed them. But when I revealed that they wake up in a field, they started questioning what just happened, which is what I wanted. Everyone's okay with it, except one guy who's a total crybaby about everything. He's tried to fight me on pretty much every negative thing that happens to him, even if I give good reason (example: "You try to climb out a window, but the rope breaks and you fall. Take 1d6 of damage." "Why didn't anyone else take damage?! I rolled the same as [the lowest successful check." "Because you're 100 lbs heavier than the 2nd heaviest player and got a -2 to it." "That's bull****!" "That's the price you pay for being a Minotaur.") So I and the rest of the team as started to love huge twists that "kill" everyone because it's funny to watch his reaction. Ah, I see. You know what? It's not just your game. it's you. You are doing the exact wrong things in running a game. Saying the players don't care is no excuse. You make a massively convoluted adventure that has you killing the group. You make the players go through all that, and then put a save or die feature for the end, making all their efforts useless. Then, if they make the save, they go through more effort, only to save or die once again. You admit to picking on a player just to make him feel bad. And then when people tell you what they think, you dismiss it offhandedly. What you need to do is read the how to dm forum. Search how to actually run a game. Look at the dos and donts.
#7 equilibrist Jul 30, 2012 10:25:55	My players don't really care if I kill them all off, as long as I have good reason. When the first orb sucked them all in, they thought that I had just killed them. But when I revealed that they wake up in a field, they started questioning what just happened, which is what I wanted. Everyone's okay with it, except one guy who's a total crybaby about everything. He's tried to fight me on pretty much every negative thing that happens to him, even if I give good reason (example: "You try to climb out a window, but the rope breaks and you fall. Take 1d6 of damage." "Why didn't anyone else take damage?! I rolled the same as [the lowest successful check." "Because you're 100 lbs heavier than the 2nd heaviest player and got a -2 to it." "That's bull****!" "That's the price you pay for being a Minotaur.") So I and the rest of the team as started to love huge twists that "kill" everyone because it's funny to watch his reaction. Ah, I see. You know what? It's not just your game. it's you. You are doing the exact wrong things in running a game. Saying the players don't care is no excuse. You make a massively convoluted adventure that has you killing the group. You make the players go through all that, and then put a save or die feature for the end, making all their efforts useless. Then, if they make the save, they go through more effort, only to save or die once again. You admit to picking on a player just to make him feel bad. And then when people tell you what they think, you dismiss it offhandedly. What you need to do is read the how to dm forum. Search how to actually run a game. Look at the dos and donts. I reread through my notes, and noticed I have a lot of encounters that might kill the entire team. I meant it for a sense of danger, but it is a little too much. Maybe the one time, but I need to rewrite all the others. And the one huy? I'm not playing favorites against him. that's just how the dice land.