tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post3887249963554123303..comments2023-05-12T05:10:20.941-04:00Comments on Raven Crowking's Nest: G is for Godsravencrowkinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-35821231514309466132013-03-30T08:51:19.092-04:002013-03-30T08:51:19.092-04:00That sounds both flavourful and fun.
Welcome to...That sounds both flavourful and fun. <br /><br />Welcome to the blog, by the way.ravencrowkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-82940629740858898472013-03-16T15:12:26.945-04:002013-03-16T15:12:26.945-04:00In my own evolving Dark Ages campaign, I draw on t...In my own evolving Dark Ages campaign, I draw on the real-world religion of 8th-century Christianity. There are saints, and pagan gods who are treated as saints, and mixtures of pagan and Christian traditions. The nature of the divine is not clear to players--but the specificity of saints and the underground survival of some pagan traditions allows me to create the pantheon-feel of a polytheistic culture.DM McMazzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07512433600250438882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-18960790806342463062012-06-03T09:15:02.497-04:002012-06-03T09:15:02.497-04:00Some more Godly Goodness can be found here:
http:...Some more Godly Goodness can be found here:<br /><br />http://goodman-games.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=38936ravencrowkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-44880362704277402022012-02-21T15:57:59.657-05:002012-02-21T15:57:59.657-05:00If a paladin called for a warhorse in a 1e sandbox...If a paladin called for a warhorse in a 1e sandbox, the quest would be both player-driven and tailored, would it not?<br /><br />If a PC behaves in such a way that an NPC seeks him out, either to hire, further a scheme, or stop the PC, is that not tailored? Doesn't it make sense that, in the case of a deity, this should be more so?<br /><br />The difference between a sandbox and a linear model game is that, in the linear model, the player is not free to have the PC react however he likes. I.e., "If a guy offers a quest, you'd better take it, 'cause that's all we've got on the plate for tonight" vs. "Just because a guy offers you a quest, it doesn't mean that it is wise to accept."<br /><br />The sandbox GM absolutely MUST have the world respond to what the players choose to do, or the players will lack both the context and consequences that make those choices meaningful.<br /><br />So, for example, anyone who enters the labyrinth at Rookhaven will have experiences that are personally tailored to them. Also, when a PC is introduced, I consider what any (approved) backstory implies about the world, and then I weave those strands into the tapestry. <br /><br />If the PC dies prematurely, though, they are still there. For instance, Locke learned that he was the reflection of the escaped wizard Keye, but Hrum never found the letters his grandmother wrote to her lover before orcs sacked their town.<br /><br />The difference between a sandbox and a linear model adventure, again, is not the existence or the lack of existence of these elements, but rather whether or not the GM has projected a storyline for how they will play out.ravencrowkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-45442435033379178122012-02-21T14:09:27.079-05:002012-02-21T14:09:27.079-05:00Interesting. As a proponent of the sandbox style ...Interesting. As a proponent of the sandbox style of game, how much do you tailor these kind of quests to individual PCs?<br /><br />Also, I posted three gods with a different sort of symmetry driving their interaction here:<br /><br />http://houndofculain.blogspot.com/2012/02/deities-mithras-cybele-isis.htmlMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02819052558657138683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-33353233754677847712012-02-21T09:07:13.589-05:002012-02-21T09:07:13.589-05:00Glad you are enjoying these posts.
IME and IMHO, ...Glad you are enjoying these posts.<br /><br />IME and IMHO, the key to making players interested in anything in a campaign milieu is making it relevant to their characters. <br /><br />Rather than working out all of the details, and hoping that the players will be interested, I try to include details that will affect how their characters can interact with the clergy, that affect the shape and structure of temples, and so on...and I try to work rewards into remembering these details.<br /><br />For example, the players quickly learn that the temple of Mellador will lend them aid, but may wish them to perform services to aid others. Example: When a plague came to the town of Long Archer, the Mellarites requested that the skull of St. Brendan be retrieved from the Ravenlady of Rookhaven, as it was effective against cholera.<br /><br />The Ravenlady allowed the group's paladin to walk the labyrinth beneath her keep -- this was a traditional labyrinth, all one long twisting path with no side passages -- which also allowed that PC to play out a spiritual journey related to his backstory.<br /><br />Likewise, when PCs died, I actually went so far as to place them in the afterlife. They knew what had happened to them, where they were slotted in the grand scheme of things, whether they were viewed as virtuous or venal by the gods. <br /><br />Each player was allowed a chance to justify his life and actions, and how the character went about this was taken into account. In at least one case, the PC was able to choose which afterlife his character belonged to -- the paradise of humans, or the (horrific) "paradise" of the orcs.ravencrowkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-35761861822054405042012-02-21T00:53:48.893-05:002012-02-21T00:53:48.893-05:00I'm going back through and reading over your b...I'm going back through and reading over your blog more carefully, because I find your detailed posts to be an excellent source of gaming theory and inspiration. I don't know if you still check old posts, but here it goes.<br /><br />I have a difficult time with pantheons, because I generally either (a) use real life ones whole cloth, or (b) make one up, and players can't be bothered to learn. I've noticed that you use some mythological beings whole-cloth, while some are allusions to saints or lesser known figures. How are these received at the table, in your experience?<br /><br />My other struggle is with using real world religions, such as Christianity, since western history is so entangled with the church. It also evokes as whole range of feeling in players.<br /><br />I did develop one interesting set of deities that I'd like to share, but I think I'll save it for a post rather than a comment.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02819052558657138683noreply@blogger.com