Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Feb 04, 2005 18:26:13	There are a few people whom I was trying to get a Hunter: the Reckoning game started with. These dungeons and dragons players, however, didn't seem to get it, they kept asking what kinds of guns they could get, or if they were able to have a sword collection. Even after I explained that they didn't need to play as combatmongers, they still thought the concept of a non-combatant was silly. So, rather than have their characters slaughtered in the first session, and having them hate the world of darkness, I'm considering giving them a bit of what I like and a bit of what they like. The solution is Ravenloft...I think. I've never run a campaign in the demi-plane of Gothic Adventure, but the concept of a dark, low magic setting for Dungeons and Dragons does intrigue me. If I toned down the third edition rules for character creation, I think it could be a nice lead in to storytelling. Can I get some suggestions on how to begin? or are there any other suggestions for a game to use as a lead-in?
#2 zemobiel Feb 04, 2005 20:26:15	a the dungeons crawler players, i can say to you thats not all players of DnD are like thats they have some adventure downladable on the site who are free it's a good start
#3 zombiegleemax Feb 04, 2005 22:13:28	Yes, I am aware of those. However, I'm not sure how applicable these are with 3rd edition. Of course, what am I thinking, I'll be skipping over most of the minor combat...
#4 The_Jester Feb 05, 2005 1:19:31	I agree that it is not D&D but the type of player that you are conflicted with. You see H:tR as tortured few souls against superior odds who have to pick their battles carefully. They see it as Buffy with multiple slayers. If you want Hunter play Hunter. Just focus on some combat, make it more action oriented and go for a less player-killing campaign. Play fast and loose with the World of Darkness. Over time maybe you can wean them off the combat and go with more story. Especially if, after a few stories, they get slaughtered and roughed up by a weak vampire or something.
#5 Mortepierre Feb 05, 2005 8:40:41	Maybe you should take a look at the Darkness & Dread accessory (from FFG). It describes an Horror setting that is at the same time closer to D&D than RL, and more apocalyptic than RL. Imagine a world whose end draws near. The best humanity (and the other races) had to offer has either died (trying to "save the world") or left for greener pastures. Those left huddle together in those few places still relatively unharmed. It gives you a Fear/Horror/Madness system slightly different from RL (I actually prefer the way they handle Madness here), with every monster receiving a Fear Rating. The usual D&D Core Classes are gone (remember that bit about the "best" being gone?) and are instead replaced by new classes (10 lvl max. each) that struggle survive where others would have waded through danger. The basic feel of the place is that the "stars have aligned" and the "Old Ones" are about ready to devour the world. In the meantime, their servants are having a field day all over the place. Grim & gritty, yet using the d20 system. Despair is much more common (and shown) than in RL. The players can try hacking their way through problems but then if they die, they'll have only themselves to blame. Of course, if your players insist on using the full Core Rules and on getting the juiciest PrC, then it won't be the kind of setting they'll like. Alternatively, I would recommend the Midnight setting which is, basically, d20 too albeit with a twist: Evil has won, now Good is in hiding and its goal is just to survive in the hope of fighting another day.
#6 zombiegleemax Feb 05, 2005 9:40:52	Reads to me like you recruited the wrong people, or, style of roleplayers. That's like casting Schwarzenegger in a horror movie. Bend, but don't break...
#7 zombiegleemax Feb 17, 2005 1:08:46	Hunter/Ravenloft, they're just "engines" to convey mood and resolve conflict. RL deals with a lot of the same themes as the world of darkness, usually though not always with a little less interparty conflict. In RL most of the villians can pass for human walking down the street so finding the thing that need to be battled is the hardest part of the adventure. Begin in the Core. Get either the Campaign Seeting (my preference) or the revised RL Players Handbook (the CS with some bad additional rules, that though originating from interesting kernels really weren't baked long enough). If you can find the old 2E Van Richten's Guide to Ghosts (or Werebeasts or at higher levels Vampires) then that would also be invaluable. The VR Guide to the Walking Dead is also spectacular though alas its 3.0 not 3.5. You can run a more traditional D&D type game in RL but generally the typical adventure runs a bit more like an old episode of the X-files. Something bad happens followed by an investigation to figure out what the heck really happened (and hopefully how to defeat the bad guy) followed by one big showdown. Sometimes the bad guy has minions who hinder (or help) the PCs. In RL sometimes its hard to keep straight who is the bad guys since one bad guy might aid them (ie use them as pawns) against another some other rival. PCs who rush to the showdown are sometimes screwed. This doesn't bode well for your players. As a random example from the top of my head, your party doesn't have any magic weapons and the bad guy at the end of the road is the incorporeal ghost of the village priest (who probably lost his faith and did bad things). Now if you had done some research you might have had a chance to figure out that the ghost fled once when the tower bells were ringing...because the ghost looses its protection (due to incorporeality) when the bells remind everyone in the village of their faith... Hope you find a comprimise with your players that works for everyone. -Eric Gorman
#8 zombiegleemax Feb 19, 2005 16:55:15	I don't care if its 3.0 or 3.5, there is only minimal difference between them (seemingly less than the difference between old and new worlds of darkness). I'm probably going to homebrew my own system, throwing in a new social stat and using only the four NPC classes from the DMG, and putting more emphasis on skills... And thanks for the info HvF!