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The Premise. There
is a dearth of 4e games. If you narrow in on good 4e games (whatever that may
mean to you in particular, but I generally take it to mean the sort of game you
yourself would like to play in) then their number becomes minuscule. With that
being the case, the DM’s running these good games are never going to get an
opportunity to play in one themselves.
The Solution.
The DM game. A game of rotating DM’s. Sure it’ll mean
taking your turn behind the metaphysical screen once every six months or so,
but isn’t DMing 2 months for the opportunity to play 10 months a year a good
return on investment for your time, effort and creativity?
Who this is
for. People who honestly enjoy DMing but who would also
like to be part of the sort of game that they themselves run. You don’t have to
actually be running another game to apply, but you do have to know how to run a
game and be willing and happy to take your turn and put in the thought, effort
and time required to make it a good game, which is to say the sort of game
you’d like to play in.
Who this is
not for. Beginners of any sort; those new to 4e or DMing.
People who don’t actually like to DM, but are willing to suffer through it just
to get to play in a (hopefully and presumably) good game. Also those smart-asses
who think they can skate by on putting in virtually no effort to enrich the
game or running their sessions in an utterly lackadaisical effortless manner.
The Pitch
I would like to gather a group of 5-8 like-minded
creative and communicative individuals to participate in a game where they will
all run their characters for 1-1/x of the time but also run the game 1/x of the
time. If my math is right that should add up to one whole game. I am hoping for
this to be a weekly occurrence on a European weekday Evening/ East Coast
Afternoon/West Coast Brunch or crazy early Australian time the next day. It’s
really that simple (and also that complicated as evidenced by the lengthy FAQ
section).
F.A.Q.
Do you really
think this can work? Yes, I absolutely do. Am I brimming
with confidence? No, I am not. Would I bet on it? A sporting wager, sure. Would
I bet the proverbial farm? Nope. It’s going to live or die (like most games to
be honest) on the quality of people that put themselves forward to take part.
If it’s a bunch of lackwit twats then I am not confident of being able to
successfully organize a walk around the block with them. If it’s capable,
creative and communicative folks then we can steal The Golden Fleece. I will be
holding interviews with interested people and hoping I will be able to separate
the two.
How do you
see this working in a virtual space? I mean, it is
something that does need solving, but I am not opposed to everyone running
their own version of the game when it’s their turn on whatever their VTT of
choice is. If someone has a subscription to Roll20 of some sort and wants to
host it, I am not opposed to that either. It’s mostly a technical issue that,
at worst, will require maintaining character sheets across different games and
various VTT’s. Not ideal, but hardly an impediment to a good game.
How are you
going to maintain a semblance of a balanced party with the party roster
changing as DM’s and players rotate in and out? Ok, this one is
mine, what I would ask! I do like to throw really tough and challenging fights
against the party and I dislike having to parse numbers to do so. Having at
least a few characters capable of throwing out a heal if necessary gives me the
latitude to misjudge what they can handle without it becoming overly
deadly. When we’re building the party we
can either judiciously create a few hybrids, or we can have the same character
play different roles depending on who else is in the group. I see no reason why the same character
couldn’t be a 2 handed weapon wielding paladin then become a 2 handed weapon
wielding cleric or even a 2 handed weapon wielding avenger. If we’re already
maintaining multiple copies of the sheets then it’s relatively simple to decide
what he’ll play as when that DM is running things based on who else is in the
group and who’s missing.
Different
DM’s have different house rules, how are you going to get those to align
without changing them every time a new DM takes over? That seems like it would
get really old really fast and could influence how characters work from DM to
DM in fundamental ways. Once we have a group set we’ll
discuss things like reasonable adults who want to have fun. Everyone will be
invited and encouraged to put forward their own house rules and I am quite
honestly looking forward to hearing them; we can discuss them and if they are
not universally acclaimed we’ll have a vote and see how things stand. I am
quite certain that the sort of people I would like to attract for this project
will have their own preferences but I am also certain that those people will be
able to graciously let go of them if the majority isn’t fond of their
innovations as well as accept and adapt to those that most people do want to
play with. I, personally, have some that change the way the game flows, and
they’ve worked pretty well in the past, but if people don’t want them then I’ll
have to work with that.
Is there
going to be a continuing story or is every DM going to run his own thing? My
preference would definitely be that there be an overarching story of some sort,
but if most people want something else then that’s the way the group will veer.
I think it’s more than likely that the narrative will be driven by the players
more than the DM’s, since every character is going to be present x-1 times more
than any single DM.
How are so
many DM’s going to run a coherent continuing story? Simply
by being good at communicating, how else? The DMs running in succession will
likely have to discuss things at least a little to make certain that things go
as smoothly as possible when the reigns get handed over. And even if you’re not
the one next in line and you have an idea for something, you can always message
whoever is running or due to run next and ask them if they wouldn’t mind
introducing or foreshadowing whatever it is that you’ve dreamed up. Every step
of this process is going to require a willingness to collaborate and
communicate; this one is no different.
Is there a
campaign world you envision this taking place in? Not really. Once
the group is assembled we’ll decide on what world we’d all like to play in. It
could be a published setting everyone has at least a passing knowledge of (so
FR or maybe Greyhawk), a more obscure one if people are willing to read up a
little on them (I am a huge Planescape fan) or we’ll make up something of our
own. If everyone puts down 2 or 3 points of interest on a generic map of some
sort we will have more than enough to start with and expand from as we need.
Alternately, since I think it’s likely to be a character driven campaign, we
could use the backgrounds of the various characters to inform the worldbuilding
– I’ve never done that before and it could be fun. Additionally, if we find
ourselves needing something more
coherent and cohesive especially regarding the history of the world, we can
always play a session of Microscope to establish it.
Finally
I hope I have answered most of the questions that
might come up while making it clear what sort of project this is and what sort
of people are required for it to take off and thrive. I am, however, more than
fallible and if there is anything that is still unclear please don’t hesitate
to ask and I will do my best answer. Other than that, if you’ve read through
this and feel that you would like to take part then please send me a message so
we can work out a convenient time for a short (10-15 mins.) interview. Thank
you all for your attention. My Discord is DarkGreen (no numbers) and is likely the best place to contact me for a timely response.
