The party flees some Cryx, gets some much-needed plot exposition, runs away some more, then finally gets a stop in a civilized City. One running fight with a lot of models on the table, but not too much direct combat. Lots of skill rolls, lots of talking and plot stuff, and plenty of Chickens in town. All in all, a solid session that pushed the story forward and gives the party their first round of upgrades.
DB05: Escape Sharde Islands
The party has fled the ruined town and are seeking escape from the Cryx. The small road should lead to a harbor, and possibly a ship that can be sailed away. Two regular Players are absent, and two new temporary Players are sitting in. They appear a few minutes into the episode, and are playing a pair of mercenaries who tend to be caught in bad situations.
DBGM04: Ghost Town
The second adventure takes them further inland to escape the Cryx. They find a ruined village to hide in, but it is only a brief respite. The Cryx are searching the island, and the party contacts one of the Cryxian groups. Some plot stuff is mixed into this episode, along with a nasty fight at the edge of town. The Cryx have ways of creating more undead during the battle, and this was the first real spellcaster/’jack controller that they faced.
DB04: Ghost Town
Now that the party has escaped the slave ship and started the campaign properly, they are fleeing the harbor inland and looking for a place of refuge. They are still not sure exactly where in the world they are, but are assuming they are somewhere either in the Broken Coast area, or the northern Sharde Islands of Cryx near the Cygnar coast. This episode is a bit more regrouping and finding out where they are and what’s going on.
DBGM03: Slave Ship
This first adventure was to set the tone for the campaign, as well as began a number of plot hooks and details for the future. A number of small personal details were added, and we’ve let the Players see how nasty the heavy units can be. I also wanted part of the challenge to come from having no equipment to start with, and discovering what the new creatures and models are.
DB03: Slave Ship
The first adventure went well, with the Players pulling themselves together and escaping the clutches of the Bad Guys. Most of the Players were there, and everyone got to participate. There were momentary disgruntlements when they realized I had taken away all of their starting equipment, but the setting and scenario made sense, and they did all end up having fun. This entry discusses the opening episode, and how things went down for the party.
GM: Do’s and Dont’s
Here aer some general ideas about what to do, and what not to do as a Game Master for a Role-Playing Game.
Do prepare a general sketch of NPCs. Work out what kind of NPC’s they’ll likely meet in the given situation. Put together general ideas of how they’d react to things. Local town guards are different than big city guards, or royal bodyguards.
Don’t overprepare. Each NPC doesn’t need a script, just basic opinions. Each NPC doesn’t need full stats, unless its a specific direct encounter.
DBGM02: Final Prep
Dragonsbane is a campaign that takes place in Privateer Press’ Iron Kingdoms role-playing game rules and setting. This series is specifically from the perspective of the Game Master, the person running the game. It is running concurrently with the Player Series for this campaign inthe RPG section. We have one week to ShowTime, so its time to make sure we have stuff plotted and planned. Characters are falling into place, and I’m weaving their stories together, so they (hopefully) have some reason to continue to work together. This is always a tough trick to pull off with a group this size. More than ten Players is a lot to juggle.
DB02: Final Prep
The first Game is set for next Saturday, Feb 22, so we’re making sure all the pieces are in place. Some names are yet to be finalized, and we’ll be filling in some backstory and plot seeds for the future. The two groups will be started with their own Prologues, and we have an animation to begin, sort of the Opening Credits. Once the opening has run, the Game Proper begins. We’ve already spoiled that we are starting in the hold of a slave ship, which is a tried-and-true opening for many RPGs.
DBGM01: Dragonsbane
This is a new campaign that will be starting shortly. It takes place in Privateer Press’ role-playing game rules and setting. This is a specific style of magical steampunk in a setting known as the Iron Kingdoms. The campaign is called Dragonsbane for only the vaguest of reasons. I hope this provides some insight on running a large campaign, or into the odd minds of Gamers, or maybe some light entertainment. This series is specifically from the perspective of the Game Master, the person running the game. It is running concurrently with the Player Series for this campaign inthe RPG section.