Christopher Ashe
1st February 2007, 02:51 PM
So I'm going to succumb to the ADD and tangent from my work on summarizing the current Broken Doll campaign to ask about the past. I thought I'd share a few of the most memorable moments in campaign history from my world to see if you guys would like to share some of yours. These are, in no specified order:
Where Did You Get That Sword?
_________________________________________________
Dungeon Fantasy Roleplay, Prototype, circa 1993
Background: Waaaay back in the early days of my tenure as a game designer my main game was a fantasy rig with no real suystem behind it other than a level-based advancement percentile mechanic. This thing was pretty much DnD and Warhammer Fantasy melded to be a percentile dungeon hack. Now, campaigns were cheesy back then, but there was a certain something about it that shouldn't be denied so I present this memory:
The Scene: Now, goblins are the fodder of new adventurers as many of you well know, there is nothing like ambushing a bunch of goblins for slaughter to crank out those XP. Talk about racial profiling. Anyways, at one point I decided to inflict revenge upon the party by creating Goblin, the Mighty, an ultimate-badass critter with a sword that dubiously resembled the one wielded by Oderus Urungus, the frontman of GWAR. During this fateful night, my good friend Jude had decided he would give roleplaying a shot and, sure enough, charged headlong at Goblin the Mighty. Now obviously, Jude's character, Milo Auckerman (a namesake I later found out was stolen from the lead singer of the Descendants), was totally in for it. He was dead. So rather than have the newfound PC killed I as the GM made the decision to have the goblin hero trip over a passing squirrel or something equally stupid. Milo then cut the creatures head off before I knew what was what and stole the sword, carrying it for the duration of the campaign. As the goblin and the sword had legen status, every time he came into a bar or a kingdom hall, someone would shout "Where did you get that sword?!" This became a running gag for the duration of a 5-month campaign.
Why it makes the list: It's just one of those shining examples that stick in my mind of goofy things that run in gaming campaigns, particularly those of teenagers.
"The Dark"
_________________________________________________
Last Days, 1st Campaign, circa 1997
Background: What would eventually become the seven13 generic game engine began with a completely new system i designed in a night, a game system designed to run quick and-dirty for a campaign called Last Days. This game was influenced heavily while I was reading The Stand (Stephen King, the unabridged version) and then watching the TV miniseries of the same story. I set out to run an apocalyptic campaign in which all of the players would become the PCs; they would be translated into the game system. While in this campaign the world did end via plague there was a lot more after than just a Randall Flagg and a Mother Abigail. There were demons, creatures from worlds beyond and a reality-rending quirky antagonist who called himself "Steve." The PCs/Players had picked up a young girl by the name of Carrie who was obviously traumatized and spoke little and all had been on the run of some terrible force for weeks. Any sleep they got was wrought with terrible reality-like visions. Indeed, as the GM I had the players having nightmares about this game.
The Scene: While attempting to secure a small plane (a Cessna, if I remember) to get them the hell out of wherever they were at the time, something went terribly wrong. All light went away, all of the PCs were left in a chaotic turmoil and in the center of all this they found Carrie, amidst the splattered viscera of most of the other survivors they were toting with them, rocking back and forth, her eyes seemingly burned around the irises and swirling bright green. As she rocks back and forth Brad asks her what happened and she whispers over and over again "The Dark....the Dark..."
Why it makes the List: Looking back over the history that eventually became Cycle of Existence, I think this was the first time I actually used the simple title The Dark to describe an overwhelming force so evil it could be understood as evil no matter your personal beliefs. This scene was powerful in the campaign and left the players shuddering for quite some time over its events. While not seeming now as overwhelmingly special, it definitely got the point across. I didn't have to explain one bit the weight she carried when she said "The Dark"...everyone seemed to understand it and I knew I had something.
"His name is Narsheakh. Narsheakh Mal-Khannan."
_________________________________________________
Last Days "Special Edition", 1999.
Background: Last Days as a campaign became somewhat of a phenomenon. By the time this scene came around, I had run the game probably 10-15 times for different crews and I wanted to do something different. For this version, every one of the NPCs was rewritten in some fashion. One of the primary reasons for this was that everyone coming into the game knew what it was about and therefore knew what they were up against antagonist-wise. The previous prime antagonist, alias "Steve" was a dream and vision manipulator, but was a very grey-area villain who was not particularly evil by all rites. One of the primary things that the players had learned was that Steve could not touch you or physically affect you, he could only drive you mad. That's pretty nasty in itself, but it didn't promote the fear in the players that it once did. For the "special edition" of Last Days, I made Steve's translation something purely evil, a man with no name, and one who could physically destroy someone's mind with a touch. In the scene where the antagonist first attacked the PCs, touching a werewolf companion and the strongest of their number and turning him into a shaking wreck, the impact on the players was palpable. This antagonist became the thing to run from, the bane of their existence and all of their efforts (the way it should be). Throughout all of this he never had a name, and I think that made him more ominous.
The Scene: On the eve of the final battle, the incarnation of the original Last Days antagonist "Steve" appeared before the group and stated plainly "His name is Narsheakh. Narsheakh Mal-Khannan." I could almost feel the shudders on that one, from everyone except Felix, who couldn't remember the name and so dubbed the almighty villain Marshmallow Con-Carne (:shudder: 'Nasty Stuff').
Why it Makes the List: It's not so much the scene where the name was given as what it represented. This was a villain that has never met equal in my campaigns as to the fear that he could inspire in both player and character alike. The name hit it right on the nail: guttural, direct and vicious-sounding phonetically. Eventually, Narsheakh became less of a thing to be feared and more of a running gag (no help from Felix) ;). In his current status as god of Dark Vision in CoE however, he is represented in his original glory.
These are just 3 of the classic moments from my own campaigns. I would love to hear some of yours. I fully realize that I probably won't get all of the impact such scenes may have had, just as looking at these the descriptions don't seem to do full justice, but nonetheless I'm definitely interested. I'll post more of mine as I remember them.
- Ashe
Where Did You Get That Sword?
_________________________________________________
Dungeon Fantasy Roleplay, Prototype, circa 1993
Background: Waaaay back in the early days of my tenure as a game designer my main game was a fantasy rig with no real suystem behind it other than a level-based advancement percentile mechanic. This thing was pretty much DnD and Warhammer Fantasy melded to be a percentile dungeon hack. Now, campaigns were cheesy back then, but there was a certain something about it that shouldn't be denied so I present this memory:
The Scene: Now, goblins are the fodder of new adventurers as many of you well know, there is nothing like ambushing a bunch of goblins for slaughter to crank out those XP. Talk about racial profiling. Anyways, at one point I decided to inflict revenge upon the party by creating Goblin, the Mighty, an ultimate-badass critter with a sword that dubiously resembled the one wielded by Oderus Urungus, the frontman of GWAR. During this fateful night, my good friend Jude had decided he would give roleplaying a shot and, sure enough, charged headlong at Goblin the Mighty. Now obviously, Jude's character, Milo Auckerman (a namesake I later found out was stolen from the lead singer of the Descendants), was totally in for it. He was dead. So rather than have the newfound PC killed I as the GM made the decision to have the goblin hero trip over a passing squirrel or something equally stupid. Milo then cut the creatures head off before I knew what was what and stole the sword, carrying it for the duration of the campaign. As the goblin and the sword had legen status, every time he came into a bar or a kingdom hall, someone would shout "Where did you get that sword?!" This became a running gag for the duration of a 5-month campaign.
Why it makes the list: It's just one of those shining examples that stick in my mind of goofy things that run in gaming campaigns, particularly those of teenagers.
"The Dark"
_________________________________________________
Last Days, 1st Campaign, circa 1997
Background: What would eventually become the seven13 generic game engine began with a completely new system i designed in a night, a game system designed to run quick and-dirty for a campaign called Last Days. This game was influenced heavily while I was reading The Stand (Stephen King, the unabridged version) and then watching the TV miniseries of the same story. I set out to run an apocalyptic campaign in which all of the players would become the PCs; they would be translated into the game system. While in this campaign the world did end via plague there was a lot more after than just a Randall Flagg and a Mother Abigail. There were demons, creatures from worlds beyond and a reality-rending quirky antagonist who called himself "Steve." The PCs/Players had picked up a young girl by the name of Carrie who was obviously traumatized and spoke little and all had been on the run of some terrible force for weeks. Any sleep they got was wrought with terrible reality-like visions. Indeed, as the GM I had the players having nightmares about this game.
The Scene: While attempting to secure a small plane (a Cessna, if I remember) to get them the hell out of wherever they were at the time, something went terribly wrong. All light went away, all of the PCs were left in a chaotic turmoil and in the center of all this they found Carrie, amidst the splattered viscera of most of the other survivors they were toting with them, rocking back and forth, her eyes seemingly burned around the irises and swirling bright green. As she rocks back and forth Brad asks her what happened and she whispers over and over again "The Dark....the Dark..."
Why it makes the List: Looking back over the history that eventually became Cycle of Existence, I think this was the first time I actually used the simple title The Dark to describe an overwhelming force so evil it could be understood as evil no matter your personal beliefs. This scene was powerful in the campaign and left the players shuddering for quite some time over its events. While not seeming now as overwhelmingly special, it definitely got the point across. I didn't have to explain one bit the weight she carried when she said "The Dark"...everyone seemed to understand it and I knew I had something.
"His name is Narsheakh. Narsheakh Mal-Khannan."
_________________________________________________
Last Days "Special Edition", 1999.
Background: Last Days as a campaign became somewhat of a phenomenon. By the time this scene came around, I had run the game probably 10-15 times for different crews and I wanted to do something different. For this version, every one of the NPCs was rewritten in some fashion. One of the primary reasons for this was that everyone coming into the game knew what it was about and therefore knew what they were up against antagonist-wise. The previous prime antagonist, alias "Steve" was a dream and vision manipulator, but was a very grey-area villain who was not particularly evil by all rites. One of the primary things that the players had learned was that Steve could not touch you or physically affect you, he could only drive you mad. That's pretty nasty in itself, but it didn't promote the fear in the players that it once did. For the "special edition" of Last Days, I made Steve's translation something purely evil, a man with no name, and one who could physically destroy someone's mind with a touch. In the scene where the antagonist first attacked the PCs, touching a werewolf companion and the strongest of their number and turning him into a shaking wreck, the impact on the players was palpable. This antagonist became the thing to run from, the bane of their existence and all of their efforts (the way it should be). Throughout all of this he never had a name, and I think that made him more ominous.
The Scene: On the eve of the final battle, the incarnation of the original Last Days antagonist "Steve" appeared before the group and stated plainly "His name is Narsheakh. Narsheakh Mal-Khannan." I could almost feel the shudders on that one, from everyone except Felix, who couldn't remember the name and so dubbed the almighty villain Marshmallow Con-Carne (:shudder: 'Nasty Stuff').
Why it Makes the List: It's not so much the scene where the name was given as what it represented. This was a villain that has never met equal in my campaigns as to the fear that he could inspire in both player and character alike. The name hit it right on the nail: guttural, direct and vicious-sounding phonetically. Eventually, Narsheakh became less of a thing to be feared and more of a running gag (no help from Felix) ;). In his current status as god of Dark Vision in CoE however, he is represented in his original glory.
These are just 3 of the classic moments from my own campaigns. I would love to hear some of yours. I fully realize that I probably won't get all of the impact such scenes may have had, just as looking at these the descriptions don't seem to do full justice, but nonetheless I'm definitely interested. I'll post more of mine as I remember them.
- Ashe