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Andrzej

More Than an Urban Adventure – Campaign in Ravnica, pt. 1

I wanted to run RPG campaign in Ravnica almost from the moment I unpacked my first MTG booster. But these things held me back, until now…
I wanted to run RPG campaign in Ravnica almost from the moment I unpacked my first MTG booster. But these things held me back, until now… | Photo by Keszthelyi Timi on Unsplash

I really did love the original Ravnica set for Magic: the Gathering. I wasn’t really connected to any fandom beyond my friends back then but it seems like the setting was a huge fans’ favorite all over the world. When I think about it, the urban fantasy theme is rarely explored in fantasy. Which might add to the setting’s success. At the same time, Ravnica’s notion of rivaling factions emphasizes the urban (i.e., civilized) aspect of the world. It helps to picture the plane as an actual, inhabited place. Yet, I had a problem with this evocative setting. I wanted to run an RPG campaign in Ravnica almost from the moment I unpacked my first MTG booster. But how to include all that brilliant flavor in the game while retaining the urban nature of the game? This post (and its continuation, as it grew while I wrote it) will cover mostly the various issues that I found keeping me from running the Ravnica campaign. I’ll leave them without an answer… for now. But they eventually sparked my imagination so maybe they will spark yours too?

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Advice on Homebrewing RPG Adventure: From a Seed To a Scenario

How to proceed from an initial seed-like theme or scene to a core of a scenario?

| Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

This week’s post is different. I’m writing just a few lines and then pass the floor to three RPG writers, authors of my some favourite modules. I’ve asked them for advice on homebrewing an RPG adventure or scenario.

What are the key points in homebrewing a good RPG adventure? How to proceed from an initial seed-like theme or scene to a core of a scenario?

So, let’s go straight to the point and see what they think on the matter!

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RPG Party Splitting Up Over Anduin AgainThrough the Fogs,

Splitting up the party in RPG creates a very tricky plot to run. You'll see that when the tension could be lost just before the campaign's climax. | Photo by Joshua Brown on Unsplash
Splitting up the party in RPG creates a very tricky plot to run. You’ll see that when the tension could be lost just before the campaign’s climax. | Photo by Joshua Brown on Unsplash

When the party left Medusled with the promise of Eastfold’s help, they were lifted up. They thought that they were all alone in a forgotten corner of the Middle-earth for a long time. And, in fact, they were. But after a long journey and an uncertain council at the hall of the Riddermark king, they found, at last, a powerful ally. But at the same time, they knew that a lot was going to happen in a very short time from now on. While they were on their way to the Brown Lands, they agreed on splitting up the party – an idea that often seems like a perfect solution at many RPG tables but is nevertheless somewhat problematic to handle.

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A Company of Characters in Sub-Roman Britain RPG

I wrote some time ago about why I love randomly generating player characters in RPG - it worked even better in the case of Sub-Roman Britain.
I wrote some time ago about why I love randomly generating player characters in RPG – it worked even better in the case of Sub-Roman Britain.

This new campaign really got my creativity running. I pulled off prepping the tables for this setting in two days, and we were ready to play. Since we’re far from the experts in Britain’s history, the players warmly greeted the possibility of randomly generating their characters. In our session zero, they decided only broadly what their characters’ professions would be, and that was all. Next week, we’ve met to generate characters and establish some basic lore. I introduced them to the rules (Forbidden Lands hack), and the fun began. I wrote some time ago about why I love random generation of player characters in RPG, and it worked even better in the case of Sub-Roman Britain. We had a lot of fun this time. Today, I’m going to only briefly introduce you to the ones who will brave the precarious ex-province of Britannia.

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Challenges of Journey through the Forbidden Lands

In Forbidden Lands, a journey may not only be a completed task, getting from A to B, but also an accomplishment on its own - if you add an element of challenge to it. And accomplishment feels great!. | Photo by Natalie Pedigo on Unsplash
In Forbidden Lands, a journey may not only be a completed task, getting from A to B, but also an accomplishment on its own – if you add an element of challenge to it. And accomplishment feels fantastic! | Photo by Natalie Pedigo on Unsplash

I know I’ve written here and there about how the environment could be dangerous and why it is vital for me in a sandbox game. It puts pressure on the PCs to think and manage their resources. Today, I’d like to show you a few types of challenges that the players can encounter while on a journey in the Forbidden Lands. And I think that some may not be that obvious.

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Role-playing in Sub-Roman Britain – Dealings with Historical Accuracy

I dare say that Sub-Roman Britain is a perfect setting for a sandbox RPG. Standing stones, sacred groves, and deserted hillforts of the ancestral Britons wait to be re-discovered. Desolate cities and empty lavish Roman villas dot the landscape. And within them - artifacts of the past wait to be claimed. | Hadrian's Wall by Sweetaholic on pixabay.com
I dare say that Sub-Roman Britain is a perfect setting for a sandbox RPG. Standing stones, sacred groves, and deserted hillforts of the ancestral Britons wait to be re-discovered. Desolate cities and empty lavish Roman villas dot the landscape. And within them – artifacts of the past wait to be claimed. | Hadrian’s Wall by Sweetaholic on pixabay.com

OK, that’s a bit of a daunting task, but I’ll face it. I’ve delivered a coup de grâce to my Year 1900 Warsaw Call of Cthulhu campaign. It won’t disappear without me sharing notes, scenarios’ overhauls, and setting material (which I will do at a good time), but a space appeared in my RPG calendar. Some of you who follow my newsletter know that I’ve started putting together a homebrew setting, but my group of ex-19th-century-Investigators decided to try something else. Namely, we’ll be role-playing in Sub-Roman Britain, i.e., somewhere after 410 A.D.

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