FFH lore

[Chandrasekhar]

I find that one of the many paths to a successful game is to give the characters monsterously high stats (18,17,16,16,15,14), and then throw them into battles that would kill any other party of their level. There is a certain special feeling you get when you can say: "Well, your level 4 party just killed a Beholder... want to fight another one?"

 

[Grillick]

We did that, too, in another campaign. Tres amusant!

 

[TheBoatman]

We had a DM who prefered realistic stories. So the beginning was not like a group of mixed-race townsmen/townswomen go to kill few spiders/rats/goblins to a nearby dungeon.

Each of us started separated in homeland of their race at the beginning of full-scale war. Some players began as true refugees not following quests but mere survival. I really enjoyed that kind of playing.

 

[Chandrasekhar]

I find that the most satisfying aspect of DM'ing is making that transition between the world controlling the actions of the character, and the character controlling the events of the world. At low level, you can just say, "The Bannor put a blockade on the road, so you're stuck where you are until you can find a way out," and have that lead to an adventure. At the later levels, though, you might say "Alright, the one-way portal takes you to the infernal battlefields of Acheron, what do you do?" and the players respond "Cast plane shift to get back home."

It can be fun to run a campaign based on the set storyline that you have designed, but it can also be fun to design a world and let the players choose their own path. It's a fairly simple matter to funnel their choices so that you're on a seemingly inevitable path toward the final confrontation of a campaign, but when the players find a way around what you've designed, there's some fun in going off the beaten path, too.

 

[Kael]

Yeah, I always thought that my job as a DM was to make the toy box full of toys then let the players do whatever they want with them. The Armageddon spell campaign was a good example of this. At times the players were really involved int he high level activities that were going on. At times they went off and did their own thing.

Ive never been one for makign the players the "chosen ones" who are the only people that can deal with the situation. Let them do as they want.

My first game of a campaign for a group of friends cast them as monsters in a small tribe of misfit humanoids. A hobgoblin hunter, an ogre, a troll and a goblin apprentice to a necromancer. The game began with the hunter seeing Acheron swooping down and killing a group of those pesky human adventurers.

So the hunter went back and told the rest of the party what he saw and they made ready to go investigate whatever was left (and in true monster fashion they didn't tell the rest of their tribe). That same night the necromancer was planning to attempt to summon an imp to tell him the location of an old workshop in the area called the devils bow. The goblin player decided he would stay an help the necromancer with the summoning so he could also hear what the imp had to say while the rest of the party went to check out the remains.

In the end the players found a few handy magical items that survived the dragons breath. These became the items that allowed them to become more than just regular monsters and start doing things beyond just the simple raiding and basic survival tasks they were used to.

But the necromancer failed to summon the imp. He tried, cast, prayed, burnt reagents, went through the entire process but nothing happened. It was in effect a wasted night.

After the game the player asked me why I had scheduled that summoning on the first night. He wasn't upset at all, just curious as he felt he was meant to perform that task and nothing really came of it.

My answer was just that the world does its thing, I dont plan the players actions, just the events outside of the players. So the band of adventurers may have had nothing and the summoning could have been a big opportunity. Or neither could have been a big deal but something was set to occur elsewhere. Do what your character would do and we will see where we end up.

Roleplaying is collaborative, storytelling is not. I try to keep the two seperate.

 

[TheCowSaysMoooo]

Roleplaying is collaborative, storytelling is not. I try to keep the two seperate.

Kael, I couldn't agree more. I recently left a gaming group because they (especially the DM) were used to, and enjoyed, "scripted" adventures, and I just wasn't willing to go back to that sort of gameplay. Unfortunately, I've yet to find another group... oh well, one will pop up eventually.

 

[QES]

Yeah, I always thought that my job as a DM was to make the toy box full of toys then let the players do whatever they want with them. The Armageddon spell campaign was a good example of this. At times the players were really involved int he high level activities that were going on. At times they went off and did their own thing.

Ive never been one for makign the players the "chosen ones" who are the only people that can deal with the situation. Let them do as they want.

My first game of a campaign for a group of friends cast them as monsters in a small tribe of misfit humanoids. A hobgoblin hunter, an ogre, a troll and a goblin apprentice to a necromancer. The game began with the hunter seeing Acheron swooping down and killing a group of those pesky human adventurers.

So the hunter went back and told the rest of the party what he saw and they made ready to go investigate whatever was left (and in true monster fashion they didn't tell the rest of their tribe). That same night the necromancer was planning to attempt to summon an imp to tell him the location of an old workshop in the area called the devils bow. The goblin player decided he would stay an help the necromancer with the summoning so he could also hear what the imp had to say while the rest of the party went to check out the remains.

In the end the players found a few handy magical items that survived the dragons breath. These became the items that allowed them to become more than just regular monsters and start doing things beyond just the simple raiding and basic survival tasks they were used to.

But the necromancer failed to summon the imp. He tried, cast, prayed, burnt reagents, went through the entire process but nothing happened. It was in effect a wasted night.

After the game the player asked me why I had scheduled that summoning on the first night. He wasn't upset at all, just curious as he felt he was meant to perform that task and nothing really came of it.

My answer was just that the world does its thing, I dont plan the players actions, just the events outside of the players. So the band of adventurers may have had nothing and the summoning could have been a big opportunity. Or neither could have been a big deal but something was set to occur elsewhere. Do what your character would do and we will see where we end up.

Roleplaying is collaborative, storytelling is not. I try to keep the two seperate.

Here here, Also, being the "world" instead of the active narator at all times, really cuts back on DMing work. As a lazy person, I really like this. Also it means I'm just as new to the potential story as the players. While I may be the "rest of the universe" as the DM, when players do things i dont expect, and have to come up with new ideas, it creates a great deal of excitment for me too.
-Qes

 

[Nikis-Knight]

Sadly my roleplaying experiences were limited to half a dozen great con games and running a few for my wife and a friend. Then the friend drifted off, and running for just my wife didn't last too long.

 

[Kael]

Sadly my roleplaying experiences were limited to half a dozen great con games and running a few for my wife and a friend. Then the friend drifted off, and running for just my wife didn't last too long.

Congrats on post 666 you heathen.

 

[Nikis-Knight]

A rite of passage for any Fall from Heaven fanatic!

 

[Chandrasekhar]

Yeah, the friends that I DM'd for sort of drifted away, too. There are online communities for that sort of thing, though, aren't there? It might be an interesting annex to FfH if some of the D&D players got together for an online session.

 

[QES]

Yeah, the friends that I DM'd for sort of drifted away, too. There are online communities for that sort of thing, though, aren't there? It might be an interesting annex to FfH if some of the D&D players got together for an online session.

I cant imagine doing it online. Half of DMing is seeing the expressions on players faces when you introduce them to different moments, be them epic, humorous, scary, weird, awkward, or simply awe inspiring.

Thats my reward for good story telling, the facination visually available.
-Qes

 

[Silverkiss]

I think that roleplaying live, in a table, with paper and dices is like 5000 times better, but I can´t do that due to no one near where I live playing RPGs, so I have to do it online.... Its still fun

 

[Lord Vermillion]

It can be fun to run a campaign based on the set storyline that you have designed, but it can also be fun to design a world and let the players choose their own path. It's a fairly simple matter to funnel their choices so that you're on a seemingly inevitable path toward the final confrontation of a campaign, but when the players find a way around what you've designed, there's some fun in going off the beaten path, too.

I must say that the closest to the PNP experience online (IMHO) is Neverwinter Nights. Building a world, then DMing huge serverwide quests is simply awesome. We have a lan setup where we would (and will agian in oct. when NWN2 comes out ) run quests and what not, it was awesome. Incorperating a real living world/economy where players detemine the outcome of wars directly, mass guild wars, buying real estate etc.... is an awesome aspect of an online RPG.

 

[Nikis-Knight]

I cant imagine doing it online. Half of DMing is seeing the expressions on players faces when you introduce them to different moments, be them epic, humorous, scary, weird, awkward, or simply awe inspiring.

Thats my reward for good story telling, the facination visually available.
-Qes

No problem!


(I'm saying look how expressive I can be on-line!)

 

[QES]

No problem!

Hm? You say somethin?
-Qes

EDIT: I do have to admit that the emoticons used were the primary expressions I get from players, with perhaps the majority being either and

 

[wilboman]

So noone went postal, suicidal:suicide:, or delirious with joy, or got horribly drunk , did something stupid to a piece of furniture, door, bathroom or fellow player, promptly fell asleepand refused to believe the storiestold the next day, until presented with evidence? Must just be something that happens when I play games with my friends.

 

[QES]

So noone went postal, suicidal:suicide:, or delirious with joy, or got horribly drunk , did something stupid to a piece of furniture, door, bathroom or fellow player, promptly fell asleepand refused to believe the storiestold the next day, until presented with evidence? Must just be something that happens when I play games with my friends.

No no, thats all perfectly normal. So much so, that I didnt feel the need to mention it.
-Qes

 

[Chandrasekhar]

Just a question here regarding Dagda, Arawn, and Sucellus. It states in the religion thread that Dagda had control over the domains of life and death before Sucellus was reborn and took control of the life domain. Is there some additional backstory regarding Arawn's current control of the death domain?

 

[Kael]

Just a question here regarding Dagda, Arawn, and Sucellus. It states in the religion thread that Dagda had control over the domains of life and death before Sucellus was reborn and took control of the life domain. Is there some additional backstory regarding Arawn's current control of the death domain?

Life and Death were originally the same power. In the Age of Dragons Arawn was responsible to tending to souls, those entering creation and those leaving. Is was a relativly low number.

In the Age of Magic man gained the ability to use magic. Their mastery over Life magic allowed them to create life. These were the mages that made Chimeras, Manticores, Trolls, Griffons, Minotaurs, etc. The gods were upset that mortals were doing things that they thought only they should do. So Arawn stepped in and withdrew Life magic from men. Ressurection and the creation of new species became impossible.

The gods dont have enough control over their spheres to be able to turn stuff like this on and off. They are the conduits. To make this change Arawn had to withdrawal completly from creation, his power in its entierty wouldn't effect it. Their were gates created to allow souls to travel between Arawn's realm (the netherworld) and creation but outside of that Arawn doesn't have any effect on Creation.

At the end of the Age of Magic millions were killed. The soul gates were flooded and the netherworld became full of dead spirits. After Sucellus was killed he found himself in the Netherworld as well, where he helped Arawn deal with the influx of new spirits.

When Mulcarn was killed and Sucellus's body was brought back together. Sucellus appealed to Arawn to be able to be ressurected. He needed the power of life back into creation to do it. Sucellus also argued that the world would need the power of life to recover from Mulcarn's reign. Arawn (always the most dour of gods) refused to enter Creation, so instead of doing that he granted dominion of the life sphere to Sucellus.

Sucellus was reborn and the ability use life magic was returned to mankind.

Other incidentals in the story:

During the signing of the compact one of Arawns top angels rebeled and kept fighting the war. He was angered to see his former master withdrawal completly from creation and even more angry to see him hand over half of his dominion to the former god of dandelions ("Whose only major military achievement was failing at a task that a flesh puppet later accomplished"). That angel is Basium.

The ability to use death magic was also taken from men when Arawn withdrew. The things mankind with doing with necromancy were more preverse than the experiements of the life mages. But the power of death magic returned to the world when the brothers stole the gems of air, water and death and took them back into creation. Tuoni (the brother that kept the Gem of Death, the "Opalus Mortis") has the gem embeded in his right hand and it is the source of all necromancy in creation.