Locales

Needless to say I like desert spots, hot, arid, and no need for that annoying platemail. Heat Stroke will kill you first long before the stroke of the sword. Anywho, I try to get the PC's into the region, on one pretext our another, usually their idea not mine, and I get the "fish out of water" beverly hillbillies' experience of the mostly EURO laden PC's trying to fit into a different culture. The more they do not know, the more they worry of death, and anticipate wonders they have only read about in books. It gives me a chance to throw out new concepts of monsters and such, but stay within the frame of the "rules we all live by".

Sometimes there is even a language barrier. Sometimes there are monkeys. Sometimes, but not often, but sometimes, there are dancing girls, harems, sultans, long wickedly curved swords, masked assasins, dark sorcery, and creatures from the very depths of hell.

I have some ideas to use hopefully once I get back on track and the group can sort out schedules, wives, etc. But I set the south up as City States, each a kingdom unto itself, surrounded by a sea of sand. Some magically calamity has caused the sands to act as the sea... some duel of wizards, or war between gods perhaps. Underneath this sand that swirls and blows, and has swells that cause rough travel for the dune runners that sail between ports, are the remnants of a lost era, its spires clawing through the sand, welcoming explorers brave enough for a quick search before they are lost again.

Lost races, buried treasure, dune runner pirates for some ship to ship action, spells adventure on any level. I am partial to the Jackalmen type of race akin to Egyptians, but nastier, I guess I am still a fan of the Wolfen from Paladium, and or, I use reptilian villians that are not bothered by the heat. They control lands near the center where the ground is stable, and worship eld gods, and are an enigma to the world of man. Rackham provides some imagery...

Anywho... you get the idea. I like the change of venue, and it keeps players guessing even after years of playing, and allows me to set enviroments that they interact with, and help drive the plot.

I dig the Bazaars, where everything is for sale, the thieves, the loot, etc.

More on Rackham

If this doesnt look cool to you, then you are the Potsie to my Fonzie.

I think its from their confrontation line, and they are pretty cool even if they are European.

But look for them at a retailer near you.

More is More

On one occasion, Mike did the unthinkable. Long before 3e, and long before epic level gear, he would say" ok, campaign starts at 8th level, and you can bring any three magic items, no artifacts please." One might think he was Monty Hall. Or Wink Martindale. But to those scoffers I would say, you were not there, you would not know the levels of horrors real or imagined we faced.

It also gave us a chance to play characters, races, classes, and use magicks that we would not normally have tried, or do not play due to lack of survivability, and or party needs and make-up.
The party itself cooperated more in creation stages hoping to have an answer for the demons and or Big Nasties we might face, from level draining, to vorpal lopping, you name it.

It really didnt help much, in the long run, some of us did perish, regardless of how we thought we covered every base, but we did enjoy the game for as long as it lasted. The sphere of annihilation, and the staff of the magi not withstanding, our players tried to tackle the the ups and downs of all the magical goodness, charges, anti-magic, spell turning and spell storing.

We fought monsters mostly unheard of and or rarely seen. Soon all of GM-FU masters were calling down the thunder for high level adventures, yours truly included. I am more of a mid level guy, were PCs are still vulnerable, but can do many things, and you can dip into monsters above or below level that do not kill in one blow. I like 4-8, and usually start play at two, much in the face of traditionalists.

Our game became more war gaming at that point, a party of five against one in terms of trying to outsmart the other, come up with new applications like polymorphing into a bat so we could see in magical darkness with the use of sonar. Outside the box thinking here, and nothing is as it seems.

Sometimes we are just the smash and grab, hack and slash players, who love their piles of dice like everyone else, killing monsters looting their treasures, going there and back again, with nary a campaign, just non connected adventure arcs that take glory in the killing of the wicked, and reward the righteous.

But this way and every way, I think it puts the players centerstage. Its a simple analogy really. The director (GM) has cues for what bounds on stage, the coming of acts, the climax, and so on. He remains offstage as it should be, and the needs of his players (actors) challenge him with improvisation, and "going off script", but he is only playing with himself if he has no cast.
He has a loose idea of where he is going, a couple of scenes that move his plot, but like Altman, he lets them fabricate the story as much as he does. The story writes itself.

I do the same, a couple of set encounters, some subplots here and there, and I build on what happens in gameplay, and more often than not, a player does or says something I can spin into something cool, or he whispers his greatest fear about a villian, monster or plot complication, and I incorporate it on the fly, and hopefully with some success.

I like the Rackham concept art for their minis. I also love their minis, and always have. I have used these pics to describe monsters like goblins, and what have you. It gives the PC's something to think about when battling little things, cause sometimes they do more than just nip at your heels. Creepy. A shout out to Rackham minis here at http://www.rackham-store.com