Before we get started, I wanted to share with you my thinking on the type of game I am looking to run. Just to make sure it jives with what you all are wanting!
Style: I’m thinking about (us) creating a vibe somewhere between the worlds of Howard’s Conan and Leiber’s Fafhrd/Grey Mouser. No demi-humans, dragons, or goblins/kobolds. (Hopefully) tons of swords and sorcery, jewels and cultists, etc.
Me as a GM: I have GM’d many PbPs and Pbems over the years, but this will be my first Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells (4S from now on) game. I have always used Basic D&D / Lab. Lord in the past and am a firm believer in letting the dice show the way; no fudging. I play the game for the emergent story that comes from you guys making your way around my sandbox with the dice as the guide. Character death is a possibility - hope everyone is OK with that!
Posting Frequency: I’m not sure how many of you have played in PbP/Pbems before or not, but in my opinion the number one key to building a good and lasting game is frequency of posts. I hope to be able to move the game along on a daily basis, depending on the situation and how much input is needed from you guys. Are most of you able to post on a daily basis? Any issues with weekends?
Rules: 4S is a new rules set for me, so I am not 100% sure what to expect in play. I will make a note of some house rules / interpretations of the rules that I already have, but I also see us making decisions as we go when certain situations come up. The aim will always be fairness and playability…
Random tables: I plan on using lots of them! That keeps me on my toes and helps provide the element of randomness that I think makes this game fun! I will do my best not to railroad!
Rolling dice: The Forum has a dice roller (top right corner) which we could use for making rolls, if you guys like. I am no expert with it (in my previous games I made the rolls), but I think it is pretty easy once you get used to it. When you log into the Roller, look in the lower left corner and there should be a link to a Users Guide. FYI: the Campaign ID is 661. This is needed when making rolls.
Character creation: I don't think we can use the character templates in the roller since they use the traditional DnD format. I will create another thread for characters with a sample format.
I was thinking of starting the game off ‘at the doorstep’ of the first dungeon/adventure just to get things off with a bang. Would this be ok with you guys or would you rather start at the tavern with some traditional role play between the characters? I can do either!
So what do you think? Any concerns with the above, or does it sound OK?
Though I guess there may be some downtime until there's a sensible opportunity to introduce them. I'm sure we'll figure something out.
