I'm putting together a campaign for the teens at my library, and have a few ideas I'd like critiqued. Most of the kids have very little, if any, experience with pen and paper gaming. I'm planning on doing a one shot with pre-gen characters as an intro to mechanics, then have a more permanent character creation session.
I'd like to make room for the teens to try out different classes and builds, as well as make room for those who can't commit to consistent attendance. I was thinking about having a mercenary a guild of sorts, where the players in attendance could select from a list of bounties each week. I realize this would require me to do more writing and preparation, but I've got over a month to get ready.
The characters would be more or less static: level 3-5, no need for deep backstory or internal conflict, etc. This would allow for a player to change PC's from week to week without penalty, and would provide for kids that are absent due to sickness or band practice or whatever.
The Mercenary Guild is definitely the best option, and I'd suggest to throw in some "Monster Hunter" vibe, with huge monsters bounties that can then provide the guild access to better equip/magic items. Nothing crazy, but something to give a bit of cause-effect feeling aside from the monster lair looting.
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Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
I'll go with classic inn/tavern in the midle of nowhere. Small barn, few place to sleep. Add instances crawling(dungeon, forest, cave, tombs, grave yards etc). Focus on one-shoot adventures with some nice hooks. Add some roleplaying in the inn (brawls, helping owners, armwrestling) and here you are;)
Oh man this is an amazing idea for a teen program.
My only real thought or worry is(I work at a library too and these have been going through my head); how are you going to handle dice rolling, I know at my branch the second tiny items are available on the table it gets a little nuts (perler beads) are you going to go with a dice rolling app or just use straight up dice. For me I'd probably do a mixture of both.
Treasure tokens and cards, I've found that my groups have a hard time keeping items straight in their head. I've been creating cards and tokens for them to help with this.
That's honestly all I've got but we should totally bounce ideas and feedback off each other if you are comfortable with that, my program isn't till June for the Teens, the adults are the ones I've been working with and are the source of my current DM chuckles.
The one question that you should always ask a group, or come up with yourself: do your characters know each other, and-if so-how long have they known each other?
With the introduction to mechanics, I would also maybe put in some sort of mystery component to allow them to get used to rolepalying, as well as to use skills such as investigation and performance that sometimes do not get translated into gritty combat-oriented adventures.
As with the attendance issues, I would say that your best friend would be short yet meaningful adventures, ones that you can run in a short period so that a majority of the players can interact. If those players that consistently have to miss sessions are free on other games besides the primary game day, maybe run a 'makeup' session, or something of the like to level them with the rest of the party.
Love the concept so far. Please give me a shout-out on how the game goes!
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"For every moment of truth, there's confusion in life."
Tale From the Yawning Portal could be of good use, not just for the modules but the Tavern as your characters' meet place as well. Your adventurers can come and go as necessary and you'll be able to segway into any of the premade stuff you have as well as neat one-shots in the future.
@Naith_Ungol -- I've got a dozen or so dice sets for the group. I thought I might use them as an incentive for steady attendance. For instance, if a teen participates three or four weeks in a row, they can keep their dice. I get what you're saying about things getting out of hand with small items. I'm hoping to cap the group at six teens per campaign; hopefully that will be few enough to keep everyone engaged. If it goes well, I'll train up a few of them to be DM's so they can run their own "Monster Hunter Guilds" and have 4-6 PC's each.
I need to make up treasure tokens and spell cards. I just haven't gotten that far yet. Let's definitely collaborate on our projects. I've got a few resources that I've collected. If you don't mind, follow us on Twitter: @libraryRPG
Oh that's a cool idea! You should check out Dungeon Master Paul Weber's page DM Paul Weber he has a ton of free resources for tokens and cards I've found it helpful on my end. Just followed you on my personal Social Media can't wait to hear more about the program!
@Noman_Ashthorn : That's a pretty good idea, I might use that for my own game in June.
Once you get to multiple tables you can do timed events too. Sealed packets of information for your DMs, that they come get from you when they reach critical parts of the story. As they are all adding resources to the guild on any found items, it is just bragging rights on the ones that capture the escaped prisoner(s)/necromancer/etc.
The mercenary guild is a fantastic idea. My wife and I are considering what it would take to try to get something like the 826 creative group going in our town (if we are large enough) and being able to do something like this would be very beneficial. Even if they are different levels, you could have your experienced mercenaries working with a team of lower level members to accomplish events and show them the ropes even with additional DMs. Over time, status within the guild would be better than items owned... and the stories they got from acquiring their status.
Keep posting about how things go... we'd like to hear about it...
Over time, status within the guild would be better than items owned... and the stories they got from acquiring their status.
Keep posting about how things go... we'd like to hear about it...
This is an intriguing idea. Rather than increasing PC level, you might let them achieve ranks instead. Bragging rights will be a likely motivator, as well.
I'll definitely post as we get things going! Thanks for your help!
As soon as I read this I thought "mercenary guild" which you clearly do too. Like a G.I. Joe or Mission Impossible setup, the guild is what the story revolves around.
I'd suggest perhaps you consider rewards that benefit the expansion of the guild, such as "you have funds to recruit new adventurers" and the players can make a new PC for the guilds roster (this is how they can try out new characters). And think about vehicles and resources they can also be awarded, ships, forts, weapons ect.
I'd suggest perhaps you consider rewards that benefit the expansion of the guild, such as "you have funds to recruit new adventurers" and the players can make a new PC for the guilds roster (this is how they can try out new characters). And think about vehicles and resources they can also be awarded, ships, forts, weapons ect.
That is brilliant! Adding non-combat related rewards would be great.
I'm curious about how you got this setup to do. I'm looking for a similar thing locally as I will be taking a sabbatical soon and was thinking it would be a worthwhile thing to do.
Firstly, well done for undertaking this quest - It will be hard, it will be long, it will probably be dangerous, but I'm sure the rewards will be worth it. Secondly, there are a lot of great ideas above.
Here's an off the wall idea, in case anyone else wants to run with it...
As you are in a library, each player could have a librarian (or library support staff) PC and each week (in my mind I am seeing this like a Teen Series on TV) they could discover that a classic book (or not so classic) has been tampered with, allowing the BBEG to alter the plot and take over the world, Mwahaha!). The job of the librarians is to enter the world as one of the books protaganists and/or new helper in order to set the literary world straight again....This allows many characters to be utilised, while allowing continuity of the character. The fictional library doesn't even need to be set in the "real world", a ShadowRun style setting might be perfect for the main base.
Sure, this idea is ripped off multiple TV series and a few books/films, but the great thing about teenagers is that they have probably not been exposed to many of the original sources....what is cliche to us may be fresh to them. In Quantum Leap, Sam is always Sam, despite being in other people's bodies; now imagine the uncouth half-orc librarian watchman being hurled into the body of Cathy just as she discovers her Heathcliffe has been kidnapped by the BBEG. Perhaps the characters have to rescue Scrooge from an even more Dystopian future when the ghosts fail to melt his heart, and Timmy goes on to be a malevolent head of BAD Corp ltd.
Slightly sillier, what if the Hungry Caterpillar decided he didn't want to be a butterfly, and is now the world biggest Purple Caterpillar (purple worm)? The Red Queen decides to invade the parts of Wonderland inhabited by the Hatter and friends? Shrek decides against rescuing Fiona? Harry joins forces with Voldemort in order to rule the galaxy as father and son...?
So far, this is what I've thought up as an intro (gleaning from some pretty popular DnD lore):
You are all adventurers, more or less, that have come to the great city of Waterdeep, seeking fame, fortune, or freedom. You have noticed flyers posted all around the city advertising open auditions for membership in the Blackstaff Society, a mercenaries' guild bankrolled by the Masked Lords of Waterdeep. Accepted members in the Society are sorted into adventuring groups who are tasked with various missions, ranging from security detail to investigation, both overtly and covertly.
The flyer states:
The Lords of Waterdeep seek bold adventurers for membership in the esteemed Society of Blackstaff Compensation will include room and board, with potential for boundless riches, dependent upon performance Applicants will meet at The Yawning Portal this 19th of Ches at sundown, and will provide their own weapons and armor.
You should have physical flyers to hand out, there are a few templates floating around.
There was a good vlog from Matt Coville about incorporating that sort of thing into the game.
If your not into doing that sort of thing float me the info needed (Images that sort of thing) on the page I will make and link you a PDF for use, I'm also a graphic designer as well as a library worker and I have a few quick tricks up my sleeve to make things look like woodcut posters and engraved ink and the like.
After doing some playtesting, I'm starting to wonder if a West Marches-style campaign is a better idea for this group. Can someone point me in the right direction for some resources for this style of campaign? Any advice on how to get this started?
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I'm putting together a campaign for the teens at my library, and have a few ideas I'd like critiqued. Most of the kids have very little, if any, experience with pen and paper gaming. I'm planning on doing a one shot with pre-gen characters as an intro to mechanics, then have a more permanent character creation session.
I'd like to make room for the teens to try out different classes and builds, as well as make room for those who can't commit to consistent attendance. I was thinking about having a mercenary a guild of sorts, where the players in attendance could select from a list of bounties each week. I realize this would require me to do more writing and preparation, but I've got over a month to get ready.
The characters would be more or less static: level 3-5, no need for deep backstory or internal conflict, etc. This would allow for a player to change PC's from week to week without penalty, and would provide for kids that are absent due to sickness or band practice or whatever.
Please provide any thoughts or ideas you have!
Sounds like a very good idea, to be honest.
The Mercenary Guild is definitely the best option, and I'd suggest to throw in some "Monster Hunter" vibe, with huge monsters bounties that can then provide the guild access to better equip/magic items. Nothing crazy, but something to give a bit of cause-effect feeling aside from the monster lair looting.
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
I'll go with classic inn/tavern in the midle of nowhere. Small barn, few place to sleep. Add instances crawling(dungeon, forest, cave, tombs, grave yards etc). Focus on one-shoot adventures with some nice hooks. Add some roleplaying in the inn (brawls, helping owners, armwrestling) and here you are;)
Oh man this is an amazing idea for a teen program.
My only real thought or worry is(I work at a library too and these have been going through my head); how are you going to handle dice rolling, I know at my branch the second tiny items are available on the table it gets a little nuts (perler beads) are you going to go with a dice rolling app or just use straight up dice. For me I'd probably do a mixture of both.
Treasure tokens and cards, I've found that my groups have a hard time keeping items straight in their head. I've been creating cards and tokens for them to help with this.
That's honestly all I've got but we should totally bounce ideas and feedback off each other if you are comfortable with that, my program isn't till June for the Teens, the adults are the ones I've been working with and are the source of my current DM chuckles.
The one question that you should always ask a group, or come up with yourself: do your characters know each other, and-if so-how long have they known each other?
With the introduction to mechanics, I would also maybe put in some sort of mystery component to allow them to get used to rolepalying, as well as to use skills such as investigation and performance that sometimes do not get translated into gritty combat-oriented adventures.
As with the attendance issues, I would say that your best friend would be short yet meaningful adventures, ones that you can run in a short period so that a majority of the players can interact. If those players that consistently have to miss sessions are free on other games besides the primary game day, maybe run a 'makeup' session, or something of the like to level them with the rest of the party.
Love the concept so far. Please give me a shout-out on how the game goes!
Tale From the Yawning Portal could be of good use, not just for the modules but the Tavern as your characters' meet place as well. Your adventurers can come and go as necessary and you'll be able to segway into any of the premade stuff you have as well as neat one-shots in the future.
#OpenDnD. #DnDBegone
@Naith_Ungol -- I've got a dozen or so dice sets for the group. I thought I might use them as an incentive for steady attendance. For instance, if a teen participates three or four weeks in a row, they can keep their dice. I get what you're saying about things getting out of hand with small items. I'm hoping to cap the group at six teens per campaign; hopefully that will be few enough to keep everyone engaged. If it goes well, I'll train up a few of them to be DM's so they can run their own "Monster Hunter Guilds" and have 4-6 PC's each.
I need to make up treasure tokens and spell cards. I just haven't gotten that far yet. Let's definitely collaborate on our projects. I've got a few resources that I've collected. If you don't mind, follow us on Twitter: @libraryRPG
Oh that's a cool idea! You should check out Dungeon Master Paul Weber's page DM Paul Weber he has a ton of free resources for tokens and cards I've found it helpful on my end. Just followed you on my personal Social Media can't wait to hear more about the program!
@Noman_Ashthorn : That's a pretty good idea, I might use that for my own game in June.
Once you get to multiple tables you can do timed events too. Sealed packets of information for your DMs, that they come get from you when they reach critical parts of the story. As they are all adding resources to the guild on any found items, it is just bragging rights on the ones that capture the escaped prisoner(s)/necromancer/etc.
The mercenary guild is a fantastic idea. My wife and I are considering what it would take to try to get something like the 826 creative group going in our town (if we are large enough) and being able to do something like this would be very beneficial. Even if they are different levels, you could have your experienced mercenaries working with a team of lower level members to accomplish events and show them the ropes even with additional DMs. Over time, status within the guild would be better than items owned... and the stories they got from acquiring their status.
Keep posting about how things go... we'd like to hear about it...
@theothergabriel I would not mind a collaboration of sorts. Unfortunately, I am not on Twitter. I'll send you a PM with my email, however.
As soon as I read this I thought "mercenary guild" which you clearly do too. Like a G.I. Joe or Mission Impossible setup, the guild is what the story revolves around.
I'd suggest perhaps you consider rewards that benefit the expansion of the guild, such as "you have funds to recruit new adventurers" and the players can make a new PC for the guilds roster (this is how they can try out new characters). And think about vehicles and resources they can also be awarded, ships, forts, weapons ect.
Good luck.
I'm curious about how you got this setup to do. I'm looking for a similar thing locally as I will be taking a sabbatical soon and was thinking it would be a worthwhile thing to do.
Firstly, well done for undertaking this quest - It will be hard, it will be long, it will probably be dangerous, but I'm sure the rewards will be worth it.
Secondly, there are a lot of great ideas above.
Here's an off the wall idea, in case anyone else wants to run with it...
As you are in a library, each player could have a librarian (or library support staff) PC and each week (in my mind I am seeing this like a Teen Series on TV) they could discover that a classic book (or not so classic) has been tampered with, allowing the BBEG to alter the plot and take over the world, Mwahaha!). The job of the librarians is to enter the world as one of the books protaganists and/or new helper in order to set the literary world straight again....This allows many characters to be utilised, while allowing continuity of the character. The fictional library doesn't even need to be set in the "real world", a ShadowRun style setting might be perfect for the main base.
Sure, this idea is ripped off multiple TV series and a few books/films, but the great thing about teenagers is that they have probably not been exposed to many of the original sources....what is cliche to us may be fresh to them. In Quantum Leap, Sam is always Sam, despite being in other people's bodies; now imagine the uncouth half-orc librarian watchman being hurled into the body of Cathy just as she discovers her Heathcliffe has been kidnapped by the BBEG. Perhaps the characters have to rescue Scrooge from an even more Dystopian future when the ghosts fail to melt his heart, and Timmy goes on to be a malevolent head of BAD Corp ltd.
Slightly sillier, what if the Hungry Caterpillar decided he didn't want to be a butterfly, and is now the world biggest Purple Caterpillar (purple worm)? The Red Queen decides to invade the parts of Wonderland inhabited by the Hatter and friends? Shrek decides against rescuing Fiona? Harry joins forces with Voldemort in order to rule the galaxy as father and son...?
Yeah, I'd go with the mercenary guild too! :)
Good Luck.
Roleplaying since Runequest.
So far, this is what I've thought up as an intro (gleaning from some pretty popular DnD lore):
You are all adventurers, more or less, that have come to the great city of Waterdeep, seeking fame, fortune, or freedom. You have noticed flyers posted all around the city advertising open auditions for membership in the Blackstaff Society, a mercenaries' guild bankrolled by the Masked Lords of Waterdeep. Accepted members in the Society are sorted into adventuring groups who are tasked with various missions, ranging from security detail to investigation, both overtly and covertly.
The flyer states:
The Lords of Waterdeep seek bold adventurers for membership in the esteemed Society of Blackstaff
Compensation will include room and board, with potential for boundless riches, dependent upon performance
Applicants will meet at The Yawning Portal this 19th of Ches at sundown, and will provide their own weapons and armor.
You should have physical flyers to hand out, there are a few templates floating around.
There was a good vlog from Matt Coville about incorporating that sort of thing into the game.
If your not into doing that sort of thing float me the info needed (Images that sort of thing) on the page I will make and link you a PDF for use, I'm also a graphic designer as well as a library worker and I have a few quick tricks up my sleeve to make things look like woodcut posters and engraved ink and the like.
If you need any free resources, just send me a PM on here or twitter I can give you some links.
After doing some playtesting, I'm starting to wonder if a West Marches-style campaign is a better idea for this group. Can someone point me in the right direction for some resources for this style of campaign? Any advice on how to get this started?