After some consideration, I've decided to put the Guide to Illusionary Characters on hiatus until later this year. Things just weren't clicking for my self-imposed deadline of next week. The whole concept needs a little more stewing in the brain to bear real fruit. Oh, I still want to write it, just not yet.
What this means is that I have ample time to devote to my group's campaign "series premiere!" I've been running games in the Forgotten Realms since 1992 and now we're veering slightly off course of that. I say "slightly" because, while the characters are working for an adventuring group with a base in Sigil, the group itself is actually based in the Realms. That group, the Protectorate, has been around since 2nd edition and I'm happy to introduce some new players into it. The Protectorate has a heavy Lathanderite and Hoarite influence--one of the previous players actually becoming the Hoarite "Pope."
In its years of existence, the Protectorate has saved the Realms from a psionic threat from a Shou Lung organization (albeit in an alternate timeline so no one knows it), saved Waterdeep from certain doom, and gained use of several spelljamming ships. Now, the group has come into possession of a Stargate-like device which takes travelers to other planes and dimensions. It seemed only natural to house such a device, as well as those who will journey through and man it, in the City of Doors itself. The PCs begin as novice members of the Protectorate and have literally the entire multiverse to explore.
Beginning as members of an organization, especially a quasi-military one like the Protectorate, allows a DM some leeway in creating adventures. Instead of concocting plausible reasons to help others or explore ruined dungeons, the DM can simply assign the PCs to do so by their superiors. The orginzational startup also grants the PCs access to equipment and to allies. The flip side of this, of course, is that they inherit the Protectorate's enemies as well. In response to this odd starting location, my players have come up with some out of the box planar choices like a nephilim (sp?), a tiefling, a hound archon, and my githzerai NPC, among others. I can't wait!
3 comments:
Hi, Alex. Nothing "went wrong" really. Like I said, the concept just needs more time to solidify. I won't throw something together that's half-assed just because I want to get it done sooner, especially when there wasn't a real deadline to begin with. ;) I'm looking forward to spending alot of prep time on the planar campaign and recharging my creative battery before diving back into more freelancing in October. A flexible schedule *should* be one perk as a hobby-lancer.
I personally can't wait to start the new campaign. You know it's going to be an interesting group when at least half of the party members have tails.
Hmmmm...can we call the campaign "Tales of the Tails"? No, probably not. ;)
For smaller projects, like my Substandard Magic Items pdf, I also feel a need to finish it before the inspiration vanishes. But that pdf took but a few days to write and then a week to refine. The illusions book is greater in scope (25k to 35k words) and what I really need to do is sit down and make an outline. I find an outline helps immensely with larger projects.
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