Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ski2060 Jun 16, 2011 13:30:41	Has anyone attempted to run a campaign based on any of the Magic TCG expansion blocks?  I haven't been able to run my groups Eberron campaign in a while due to real life issues.  I recently got back into MTG after a decade long hiatus, and some of the recent expansions have some great imagery. I thought it might be cool to write up some campaign background based on Zendikar or Scars of Mirrodin, and was wondering if anyone else had attempted this before. I'm thinking Zendikar, with the Rise of the Eldrazi.  Have the characters as relic hunters going after relics in the long lost Eldrazi ruins everywhere.  Introduce them into the fight as the smaller Eldrazi hosts begin to awaken, and eventually rise into open warfare between the natives of Zendikar and the re-awakening Eldrazi.
#2 revamp Jun 18, 2011 0:48:19	Has anyone attempted to run a campaign based on any of the Magic TCG expansion blocks?  I haven't been able to run my groups Eberron campaign in a while due to real life issues.  I recently got back into MTG after a decade long hiatus, and some of the recent expansions have some great imagery. I thought it might be cool to write up some campaign background based on Zendikar or Scars of Mirrodin, and was wondering if anyone else had attempted this before. I'm thinking Zendikar, with the Rise of the Eldrazi.  Have the characters as relic hunters going after relics in the long lost Eldrazi ruins everywhere.  Introduce them into the fight as the smaller Eldrazi hosts begin to awaken, and eventually rise into open warfare between the natives of Zendikar and the re-awakening Eldrazi. I'm pretty sure theres already a movement going around somewhere on the site to have Zendikar turned into an official setting. Searching, searchin... Yeap, here it goes: community.wizards.com/zendikardnd
#3 ski2060 Jun 18, 2011 11:58:47	Thanks! I didn't have the time to search through the umpteen thousand posts on the Wizards boards with Zendikar in them ;) Appreciate it. So, any thoughts anyone?
#4 forneyfreak3708 Jun 20, 2011 0:10:46	I have done this and it was probably one of the best campaigns I have ever DM'd.  Even the non-magic players loved it.  I based mine off the Ravnica series.  I made it unique from the get go by having them each join a guild.  Each guild had its own benefits (example: the Golgari guild members received a +1 natural armor bonus due to their bodies being embedded with plants).  I also created races, such as the loxodons.  The main characters were already fleshed out for me since the legendary creatures were the top of the guilds normally. This was back in 3.5 though. I always thought Zendikar would be a good one to, due the fact that it was based on adventure and there were so many open areas to explore.  The Ravnica series was good for political RP scenarios and so many different inner city environments.  I generated alot of ideas simply looking at cards and trying to add DnD rules to replace what the cards already did.  Zeppelins were fun as well lol. If you have a certain set in mind I would be glad to help brainstorm some ideas with you.
#5 Diffan Jun 20, 2011 12:00:38	I have done this and it was probably one of the best campaigns I have ever DM'd.  Even the non-magic players loved it.  I based mine off the Ravnica series.  I made it unique from the get go by having them each join a guild.  Each guild had its own benefits (example: the Golgari guild members received a +1 natural armor bonus due to their bodies being embedded with plants).  I also created races, such as the loxodons.  The main characters were already fleshed out for me since the legendary creatures were the top of the guilds normally. This was back in 3.5 though. I'm actually thinking about doing a campaign set in Ravnica as well. While I'm using 4E rules, some ideas for story or plot and how the Guilds really come into play is much appreciated. I was going to require the PCs to be apart of a guild as well. This should help fuel some interesting Role-Play elements as well stir the pot when it comes to the guilds coming at odds (if that happens). Couple of things I need to square away first are: What time to place the story? At first, I was thinking of doing it during the novel series but there's so much stuff going on that I think the PC significance might be underminded. And there's a LOT of inter-guild fighting so we really wouldn't want the PCs fighting eachother to the death. So I'm leaning more towards 50 to 100 years after the Dissention novel. Your thoughts? Merging the Power Sources of 4E with the Guilds of Ravnica? For those that are unfamiliar with 4E, classes have Roles and are based on Power Sources. Wizard, for example, are Arcane while Fighters are Martial. Clerics and Paladins are Divine and Druids/Barbarians are Primal. So I was thinking of the PC's choice of class determining which Guild is most acceptable to them. A Necromancer-based Mage would fit well in the Golgari, Dimir, and Orzhov guilds but no so much in the Gruul or Selesnya guilds. Obviously Arcane is a broad enough power source to be in almost 8 out of 10 guilds while the Divine power source might only see usefulness in Azorius, Orzhov, and Selesnya.   What level should I start at? I'm thinking in terms of 4E here, so at 1st level / early Heroic or should I start late Heroic (lvl 7-10) and go into Paragon tier? Overall theme. Should it be high fantasy or gritty and cold? High fantasy is what Magic: The Gathering is all about as ther are Dragons, Planewalkers, and magical weapons/items/power abound. But there are elements of the game that make it seem like your plowing through a field of Dross and zombies and the oppressive nature of Black magic, Mechanical monsters, and instant death at the wrong step. Should I play up one more than the other, an equal balance of the two depending on location, or another idea all together?   The BBEG, 1 guy to rule them all or a council of Evil to contend with? Based on the novels, there were quite a few evil players doing their own thing, which culminates into one epic showdown. Should it be smaller, separate plots to the overall plot or are they all working towards the same goal for one Master?
#6 forneyfreak3708 Jun 20, 2011 12:47:28	Well this is gonna be a long post, but hopefully I gave you a little insight on the questions you asked. What time to place the story? At first, I was thinking of doing it during the novel series but there's so much stuff going on that I think the PC significance might be underminded. And there's a LOT of inter-guild fighting so we really wouldn't want the PCs fighting eachother to the death. So I'm leaning more towards 50 to 100 years after the Dissention novel. Your thoughts?  I avoided doing a time line like this just because I knew I had people in the group who had not read the books.  If you want to place it in events, I would try a few hundred years after the novels, that way the players can actually go read the novels to get a good grasp on the current history of the plane.  Be sure to add in refrences form the book though so they feel rewarded for recognizing places. Merging the Power Sources of 4E with the Guilds of Ravnica? For those that are unfamiliar with 4E, classes have Roles and are based on Power Sources. Wizard, for example, are Arcane while Fighters are Martial. Clerics and Paladins are Divine and Druids/Barbarians are Primal. So I was thinking of the PC's choice of class determining which Guild is most acceptable to them. A Necromancer-based Mage would fit well in the Golgari, Dimir, and Orzhov guilds but no so much in the Gruul or Selesnya guilds. Obviously Arcane is a broad enough power source to be in almost 8 out of 10 guilds while the Divine power source might only see usefulness in Azorius, Orzhov, and Selesnya.   I would list 3-5 guilds per class, and when they choose their class give them the smaller more appropriate list instead of the full 10.  I do think you should make an encounter power or something similiar for each guild though.  This will give them some incentive to lean into certain guilds and feel like there choice can be useful for something outside of roleplaying.  Try to use staple cards or effects from each guild, if your players are magic players, they will recognize it and appreciate it.  A quick example. Lightning Helix     Boros Guild Attack 3 Encounter   Arcane, Divine Standard Action      Ranged 10 Target:  One creature Attack:  Intellegence vs Fortitude Hit:  1d8 + Intellegence modifier lightning damge, and you may spend a healing surge.  Add the damage done with Lightning Helix to the hit points regained. What level should I start at? I'm thinking in terms of 4E here, so at 1st level / early Heroic or should I start late Heroic (lvl 7-10) and go into Paragon tier? I started my campign in the early levels.  Due to all of the customization I was doing, I wanted to allow them an easy option of trying out new things before they were set into their characters.  This also allowed me as a DM to see how they would interact as members of different guilds, and if it was going to be too strong of an issue.   We had a Rakdos and a Boros at one point, they didnt like each other, but they made it work lol. Overall theme. Should it be high fantasy or gritty and cold? High fantasy is what Magic: The Gathering is all about as ther are Dragons, Planewalkers, and magical weapons/items/power abound. But there are elements of the game that make it seem like your plowing through a field of Dross and zombies and the oppressive nature of Black magic, Mechanical monsters, and instant death at the wrong step. Should I play up one more than the other, an equal balance of the two depending on location, or another idea all together?   I think it totally depends on what part of Ravnica your party is in.  Some of the guilds, such as the Boros Legion or the Simic, have the high fantasy feel and they is what makes them so captivating.  Others, like the Rakdos, need you to feel like you could die at any moment.  Depending on what route you take as a story, you can easily add in both to make for a very complete game with the best of both worlds. The BBEG, 1 guy to rule them all or a council of Evil to contend with? Based on the novels, there were quite a few evil players doing their own thing, which culminates into one epic showdown. Should it be smaller, separate plots to the overall plot or are they all working towards the same goal for one Master? I had 3 or 4 guild leaders involved in one massive plot to extirminate the population of Ravnica and repopulate it with Simic clone creations for perfect harmony and peace.  We did not get to finish this campaign but I had planned on taking the champions of each guild involved, and making a party of them to fight the party the players controlled.  I think if you put some thought into each guild and what there motives would be towards whatever scenario you come up with, you can find some very interesting plot twists and character twists that will leave your players stunned.