tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post2335679160850522759..comments2024-03-27T22:32:17.055-05:00Comments on Jeffs Gameblog: The West Marches of Cinder?Jeff Rientshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17493878980535235896noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-50639329537169011482008-08-25T12:20:00.000-05:002008-08-25T12:20:00.000-05:00Actually I'm from Flanagan. I live in Urbana nowa...Actually I'm from Flanagan. I live in Urbana nowadays, so its a bit longer a drive from Chi-town.Jeff Rientshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17493878980535235896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-48240352106425644162008-08-25T09:33:00.000-05:002008-08-25T09:33:00.000-05:00Interesting -- I'm in Chicago, and I may just take...Interesting -- I'm in Chicago, and I may just take you up on the chance to drive down and play for a few hours. You're in Flanagan, right?Patrick W. Rollenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12832604648690667589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-56370467563797390582008-08-24T20:10:00.000-05:002008-08-24T20:10:00.000-05:00I am honored that you riffed off my lil' ol...I am honored that you riffed off my lil' ol' comment for this. Excellent stuff.<BR/><BR/>My own Greyhawk campaign is a sandbox (with a single party, alas; I had wanted to do a full-blown West Marches-type game, but couldn't find enough folks interested in playing 1E AD&D in New Jersey).<BR/><BR/>I don't completely eschew story arcs, however. There are many of them out there, and the PCs can stumble into them. Twice now, they've followed them through, more times than that, they've ignored them.<BR/><BR/>I think that's one of the keys of a sandbox; there doesn't have to be _no_ story arcs, but the choice to enter them or not (or, once in, to abandon them and deal with the consequences) rests squarely with the players. <BR/><BR/>For that to work, though, you either have to be insanely well-prepared, or able to really think on your feet as a DM 100% of the time. I opt for the latter, but that's only personal preference. The death of a sandbox is to say "let's pick this up next Friday, so I can have a chance to map out that dungeon."Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01355324231111953098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-67398113168788894962008-08-24T09:00:00.000-05:002008-08-24T09:00:00.000-05:00Now I just need an excuse to travel to Illinois. -...Now I just need an excuse to travel to Illinois. <BR/><BR/>--Mike D.Mike D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13199531732115178349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-76915207962017140422008-08-24T08:28:00.000-05:002008-08-24T08:28:00.000-05:00Thanks for the great advice, everyone. Dave, I ma...Thanks for the great advice, everyone. Dave, I may take you up on that.Jeff Rientshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17493878980535235896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-20703791178823467602008-08-24T08:17:00.000-05:002008-08-24T08:17:00.000-05:00Hey Jeff...I do believe that Wednesday evenings ar...Hey Jeff...<BR/><BR/>I do believe that Wednesday evenings are free at the 'Gopher if you wanted to run there.<BR/><BR/>...Davethe Red-Haired Maniachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16824933276649607370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-51065017244626490872008-08-24T07:34:00.000-05:002008-08-24T07:34:00.000-05:00"One thing that worries me about the West Mar..."One thing that worries me about the West Marches set-up is Robbins' insistence that town adventures are anathema." This is an example, I think, of generalizing too far from personal experience. I am therefore going to respond by generalizing too far from personal experience. :)<BR/><BR/>When I started with D&D, in 1977, exotic wildernesses and cool towns were both very much part of the mix. The older guys down at the Caltech gaming group had some fascinating world designs - technomagical Ringworld-like entities and such along with less defined "here's some wilderness" settings. We high schoolers didn't get quite so baroque, but lots of us had read our Leiber and were busily making cities that combined bits from Newhon along with swipes from history and this and that.<BR/><BR/>City State of the Invincible Overlord came along the next year, but it was more a matter of "oh, look, urban adventure amped up and up" than "gosh, I never thought of urban adventure until now".<BR/><BR/>If dungeon maps are flowcaharts - and one of the useful insights that came my way in recent years is that they are - then the same spirit can apply to things that aren't dungeons. You can easily enough structure a city the same way, with the equivalent of a room being maybe a small neighborhood or district. The map shows you where you can go from there, and encounters pull or push you along.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-3879269388647099482008-08-24T07:21:00.000-05:002008-08-24T07:21:00.000-05:00I'm not sure this would work for me, but I can see...I'm not sure this would work for me, but I can see the allure. At one point the Maniac was doing something KIND of like this- he had "extra" players in case some didn't show up. It usually worked for him because he is an "on the fly" man. <BR/><BR/>Me, I haven't RUN anything since... um... gah. I think since before the TallBoy was born. I am so out of practice I don't know if 1) I could or would do it again, 2) remember HOW, 3)be willing/able to try something new. <BR/><BR/>It's an interesting thought. Sort of like a serial TV show where the action is driven by where they are and who they interact with. You've got me thinking...Loquacioushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01667591498679385934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-12516127703400751732008-08-24T02:54:00.000-05:002008-08-24T02:54:00.000-05:00Yeah, in my games the show must go on, too. A DM f...Yeah, in my games the show must go on, too. A DM friend is starting an open campaign right now. We're using <A HREF="http://www.doodle.ch/" REL="nofollow">Doodle</A> to find dates and do the rest of the stuff on the <A HREF="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/Grenzmarken/HomePage" REL="nofollow">Wiki</A>:<BR/><BR/>Check out the <A HREF="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kensanata/2791266667/" REL="nofollow">Doodle screenshot</A>.Alex Schroederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17104864340940538702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-34672209955509129122008-08-23T21:39:00.000-05:002008-08-23T21:39:00.000-05:00enjoy the 'open' conceptin my glory days of DMingi...enjoy the 'open' concept<BR/><BR/>in my glory days of DMing<BR/>if a player couldnt make it <BR/>the game must go on . . . <BR/>i would make a lame excuse such as <BR/><BR/>missing PC X is looking for his lost horse<BR/><BR/>missing PC Y had to take a break to recover from unexpected complications from last game session's injuries <BR/><BR/>missing PC Z is learning that a <BR/>haste potion + a love potion = slipped disc<BR/><BR/>etc, etc . .clovishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03647936958773934755noreply@blogger.com