Comments on: There’s No Place Like Home…Until It Changes

By: Swordgleam

Swordgleam — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:28:02 +0000

When I do game prep, most of the time I'm focused on immediate stuff - which baddies are where and what their stats are, etc. I forget about this sort of thing. I think it would be great to have an article that's something like an "extra prep checklist." Things like this, that you should think about if you have spare time after finishing all of the essentials for next session.

By: Martin Ralya

Martin Ralya — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:22:03 +0000

My current Mage game is set in Las Vegas, with the PCs headquartered in the Venetian hotel, and while I never sat down and thought, "I need to make changes to the setting to bring it to life," it's happened in the course of the game. The PCs have shaped the city with their actions, and that combined with all the crazy shit that's happened (including a major incident in their hotel) has led to changes. Like a lot of things about GMing, though, I can see a lot of value in being explicit about it during game prep. Thinking about changes that can be made to the PCs' home base -- especially minor ones -- in addition to letting them come about organically sounds useful.

By: bakermannc

bakermannc — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:58:02 +0000

I also use a site based system but mine is a bit broader. I have built my own world and have started campaigns in different areas of the world in order to use the players to help me flesh it out. We have done a lot of wilderness campaigns due to group preference as well as mine. I "game" on my own in the sense that things are always happening in the world that does not involve the players directly or immediately. An immediate example came when the group went to investigate rumors of trouble in a remote village. Let me say first that I run a D20 type of game, AD&D influenced.. The group was low mid level and would not take sublte and then not so subtle hints that they should gather info and report back to the local powers that be. Note my use of past tense for this party,(evil grin) this area has now incorporated their magic items and a greater influx of npc power has built up. What could have been handled by a smart 7th lvl party would now need a 9th to 11th level group to dislodge due to the passage of time.

By: Grogtard

Grogtard — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:47:26 +0000

I've had a couple of campaigns last that long and sometimes with the same players. The players always enjoyed seeing the changes to places that occurred due to the actions of their previous characters.

By: Scott Martin

Scott Martin — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:24:43 +0000

I haven't had many campaigns with long periods spent in one place-- and I know that once I get out of historical planning, I also tend to treat things as static until affected by plot. I like the idea-- it's a simple way of reinforcing the realistic feel of the world without being dramatic.

By: Rob Lang

Rob Lang — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:02:08 +0000

This happened to me in my current campaign. The team are based in a city and most of the plotlines have started there. I thought of a couple of other places in the city, which would have been there all along - perhaps even making past missions much easier. I explained this to the players and they seemed content to treat it as if it had always been there. On mentioned that it was like playing Grand Theft Auto - as you go on in the game, more areas of the city open up. I've also swapped NPCs in local businesses. It's a bit jarring for the characters but I think it worked nicely. As a player, it's nice to have a rappor with an NPC, for that NPC to change for someone else is part of life.