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Post by Scott on Mar 6, 2015 21:58:45 GMT -5
I've been reading a lot of old Blackmoor stories recently. So much of the campaign was shaped and developed by the players in the campaign. The control of Blackmoor castle changed hands several times. King Funk's Grand Orc Army taking over the castle, and then being pushed back by Svenny, with Svenny killing Funk. The players losing control of the castle, and then having it taken over by elves. Svenny built, and then re-built his stronghold. New Fiefs being granted, etc. I was trying to think what area on the Flanaess would make a good setting for this type of campaign. The Wild Coast seems like a good location. Elves, orcs, men. PCs taking sides and battling it out. Little bit of everything. I can see a lot of potential.
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Post by maximus on Mar 7, 2015 8:26:30 GMT -5
Are the Blackmoor stories available online? I'd be interesting in reading them as well.
The Wild Coast certainly sticks out as a great place for adventurers to take advantage of. On the flip side, I've also considered the frontier land between the Principality of Ulek and the Pomarj. My PC's are still clearing out the Caves but I've started developing a more long term story for them to follow, which will bring them further East toward Greyhawk City. A tie in with the Slavers might work for capturing some territory and holding it in fief for the Prince. The downside to that is they'll end up beholden to someone and have to kick up taxes. Looks like the Wild Coast area is wide open for the taking with plenty of variety for encounters and opportunities for profit, without having to worry about greater powers necessarily being involved.
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Post by Scott on Mar 7, 2015 12:37:52 GMT -5
Yeah, they're available. I don't have specific sites I visit. I just search for certain topics. Blackmoor king funk, blackmoor svenny the great, control of blackmoor castle, etc.
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Post by GRWelsh on Mar 7, 2015 14:54:51 GMT -5
I also like the idea of a dynamic setting largely shaped by the choices and actions of players. I agree that the Wild Coast is a good choice for such a setting, because it has no single powerful sovereign. It is just a bunch of guild-held towns and petty lords ruling the countryside from little fiefs. Anyone could carve out their own little fiefdom there ("By this axe I rule!"). The Bandit Kingdoms are another region where this would work well, since it's just a patchwork of squabbling bandit and brigand chiefs.
To me, this is one of the defining traits of "old school": the game is mainly shaped by player decisions and actions. This is in contrast to the DM telling a story, or staging most of what happens. Most people nowadays are used to the latter sort of game, which has really been prevalent since the mid-1980's (I guess around the time DRAGONLANCE came out and got popular, although it probably doesn't deserve all the blame).
When I first started playing in Eric's game, over 30 years ago, there was always this tension and struggle between us a player and DM. Eric ran the first game I was ever in where the DM staged most of what was going to happen, where the game was "scripted" so to speak. His games were great, and very well done, for that sort of style. But I was "old school" and kept trying to do things like hire henchmen and hirelings, and take time to do spell research -- and he kept thwarting me or obstructing me from doing these things. I guess he felt like they interfered with his plans or agenda, or something. I was very frustrated. But Eric's games were very well done, almost like works of art in and of themselves, so eventually I accepted them for what they were, and stopped trying to do all of my "old school" activities. But to this day, the way I think D&D "ought" to be played is as a player-driven game, not a DM-driven game.
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