West Marches: Season 2 Inspiration and Planning

Season 2: 5 Years Later


I want to create a legacy.

A little dramatic, but I want to create a shared history of this world with the players in my West Marches campaign. Over time they have grown attached to their characters, as have I. I want their choices to have impact, and see the effort that they put into the game be put to use. Therefore, following the conclusion of season 1, which took place over the course of 15 four hour sessions over the course of 5 months, the next season will start 5 years in the future. In addition, following the final session, the players will be given a chance to create their own epilogue for their character, briefly describing what they would like to accomplish over the 5 year time skip. This time skip will allow the players and I to write in the history that takes place between the seasons. What new locations will arise in that time, what old ones will fall into ruins, what characters will pass on and which will grow into prominence, what consequences will be felt along with the triumphs, what stories will pass on into legend? Only time will tell.



A change of scenery

Much of season 1 took place in the forests, swamps and marshes of the region. Maybe its my Canadian blood, but I have been craving a snowy / arctic themed adventure locale for some time now. I have been dropping hints that "The Everfrost is approaching." something cold comes from the north. With hope, the next settlement hub will be one created by one of the players. One certain Cazzo. The settlement will be situated on the southern tip of the next region, which will expand north into the Frost March. Many of the initial adventures will take place nearby and some in the past Tempered Vale region in order to showcase what has changed and to familiarise new players to what has happened in season 1. After that, progressing north over time in the frozen sandbox of the north. In doing this, I hope to emphasise the exploration and survival aspect of D&D 5th edition and utilise more of the hex crawl style of play.

Inspiration

In John Harper's Blades in the Dark, which I admire dearly, he notes touchstones, which can be used to pitch the game for potential players to relate to media they are already familiar with. In a similar fashion, I will do the same.

TV: Vikings by Michael Hirst et al. Game of Thrones (particularly The North) by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss et al. 

Books: The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams, Priest by Matt Colville, 

Video Games: The Banner Saga by Stoic Studio, Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim by Bethesda, For Honor by Ubisoft





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Music in RPG Sessions

Image
Music is powerful, as I'm sure you are well aware. Music can invoke an immense range of emotions, the chaos of a fight, the thrill of a chase scene, the dread of the monster around the corner. I personally draw on inspiration from film and video games when creating my RPG playlists for sessions. Playing music can really set the mood and ever since I have started DMing, I have always had some form of audio to support my verbal descriptions of scenes. I attest my education and personal experiences for providing me with the point of view that everyone learns new information in different ways. As a result, when running the game, I will try and touch on a multitude of styles throughout a session. Incorporating music to set the mood and tone, providing evocative visuals when my words falter,  and writing out "boxed text" to verbally describe when players encounter new areas, are just some of the ways I can spark player imagination during a session. In the heat of t
Read more

A recent reflective epiphany. From the heart.

Image
A s a player, I like Pathfinder more than I like 5th edition. There, I said it. I am a rules lawyer, I am going to admit it now and not look back. As a DM, for a few years now, I’ve come to know the rules through and through in order to be a fair adjudicator of the rules, and provider of fun. This has been especially true in a game store setting, where I provided an even playing field for all walks of life and RPG experience. The rules are the rules are the rules. At first, I provided unequal opportunity, not thinking about the consequences, and this caused a dispute resulting in 2 players leaving the game which really hit home for me. From then on out, I really wanted to make things equal. I developed an entire magic item buying system with tokens using the rules from Xanathar's Guide to Everything and provided gold based on level similar to Adventurer's League play. It led me to understand why Wizard's of the Coast designed the rules for Adventurer's League
Read more

GM Tips: The Meta Game

Image
GM Tips: The Meta Game After listening to Cannon Fodder episode 51 on the Glass Cannon Podcast and having a discussion with my GM after our semimonthly Pathfinder game it dawned on me to speak about the "meta" game of tabletop rpgs. Hopefully I will be able to write blog posts on a semimonthly schedule from here on out. To be consistent and still have time leftover. Below I'll discuss what meta-gaming is practically in tabletop roleplaying games, and the "meta" of the meta game is for me personally. What is "Meta"? Meta  is defined as  referring to itself or to the conventions of its genre; self-referential. The " meta game " in general refers to the mechanics and systems that lie outside of the game, but influence it nonetheless . For example, the meta game of hockey speaks to how the game is currently being played. In the past, the game was a lot slower-paced and players with different skill sets were more valued. The meta
Read more