Looking for comments and advice on a new campaign concept I am working on.

There is a campaign concept I have been considering for a while but I have yet to fully refine. So before I go recruiting on the looking for group, I wish to get some advice about how to make this concept better. I will break the concept down in sections: Plot: The campaign will follow the adventures of a team of arena fighters as they attempt to rise through the ranks and attempt to become rich and famous. I aim to keep the session divided between in arena battles/challenges and out of arena roleplaying. That’s not to say there can be no battle outside the arena but it needs to be in the context. A good example is them getting into a bar fight, or a local crime syndicate trying to knock them out of the running in order to rig the tournament. All of those would work. A bad example is them going on a quest to save village from a beast, since that would not work with game main focus. DM style: Rotating DMs. This is reason I picked the arena as the focus of the game, since it would make it easier for different people to DM since it will be a little more episodic in nature. I will be the primary DM who will set the rules of the campaign I want to try a game where I am not the only one DMing. Generally the aim is to change DM every session, unless current DM and the rest of the party want him to keep going to finish a great story arch he made. System: Pathfinder Gestalt. I want the campaign to be gestalt in order to give both the players more options and the DMs more options when creating completion. Everyone knows what to expect from a paladin, but not from a sorcerer/paladin/Dragon disciple. I will of course be setting some limits, I don’t mind optimization but I don’t want extreme power gaming. Also summoners will be banned and limits placed on gunslingers. All archetypes will have to be run past me to keep things balanced. I am open to any comments and suggestion on how to make this campaign more interesting or more effective. Side note: I know many people will not either post here or PM me that they wish to join this game (happens every time I post a concept). I will let you know now that if this game is held it will be most likely be on Sundays at 10:00pm EST. Also I will only be looking for players who are willing to take turns DMing. If you are not available at that time and do not wish to DM please do not ask to join.

Niall R. said: There is a campaign concept I have been considering for a while but I have yet to fully refine. So before I go recruiting on the looking for group, I wish to get some advice about how to make this concept better. I will break the concept down in sections: Plot: The campaign will follow the adventures of a team of arena fighters as they attempt to rise through the ranks and attempt to become rich and famous. I aim to keep the session divided between in arena battles/challenges and out of arena roleplaying. That’s not to say there can be no battle outside the arena but it needs to be in the context. A good example is them getting into a bar fight, or a local crime syndicate trying to knock them out of the running in order to rig the tournament. All of those would work. A bad example is them going on a quest to save village from a beast, since that would not work with game main focus. That is a good solid plot. Sounds like the life and times of a Roman Gladiator like Spartacus. Niall R. said: DM style: Rotating DMs. This is reason I picked the arena as the focus of the game, since it would make it easier for different people to DM since it will be a little more episodic in nature. I will be the primary DM who will set the rules of the campaign I want to try a game where I am not the only one DMing. Generally the aim is to change DM every session, unless current DM and the rest of the party want him to keep going to finish a great story arch he made. Dm rotating can work. You could set it up where each Gm has their own arena so that the Gladiators travel from arena to arena and you can string those together to form a tournament. Niall R. said: System: Pathfinder Gestalt. I want the campaign to be gestalt in order to give both the players more options and the DMs more options when creating completion. Everyone knows what to expect from a paladin, but not from a sorcerer/paladin/Dragon disciple. I will of course be setting some limits, I don’t mind optimization but I don’t want extreme power gaming. Also summoners will be banned and limits placed on gunslingers. All archetypes will have to be run past me to keep things balanced. I have no opinion on this choice as I do not know pathfinder nor do I Gestalt. I do hope you are familiar with Gestalting as I heard there can be problems with overpowering mixes. Niall R. said: Side note: I know many people will not either post here or PM me that they wish to join this game (happens every time I post a concept). I will let you know now that if this game is held it will be most likely be on Sundays at 10:00pm EST. Also I will only be looking for players who are willing to take turns DMing. If you are not available at that time and do not wish to DM please do not ask to join. I guess I'm not like most people. :D Good luck on the game.

I said many people not most. Any way thank you for the advice. I am aware of the over power issue but it worth noting the PC will be facing gestalt NPC opponents of the same lvl or higher. This does a lot to counter PCs. If a PC does something cheap I plan to throw back at them. I have GMed gestalt before, I know how to give them a challenge :)

As a GM, just advising you...I see this as The Battletech I did in the 80s yet you are doing it as a fantasy setting via pathfinder. Game I was in ran three years, every friday night. Set on Solaris. I loved it, we had three GMs, I got to play, and run. It was great. I know what gestalt is, Yeah all you really need to present is everything you have presented. One thing have gladiatorial businesses or houses or whatever, and long standing rivalries, and favorite star gladiators. play up the life and death horror element that when you face guy X he has killed more people than plague. Play up cheating and stolen magic / secrets and pre-drank healing potions, match fixing, and for non lethal, throwing matches, rigged betting. you need to maybe think up yeah the life outside the fight. so that it is not fight fight fight. and have a great npc or two good friends, they get killed. and have the bad guys do it it a nasty nasty way so that the players can get revenge. Good to go, Bravo. cleanest most well laid out concept I have seen in a while. Good luck with it. I'm running two games a week, and have no time. But this concept is full of win.

You advice about competing businesses is a solid idea I will aim to apply it. I was already planning to make an issue of legal fighting (no killing, magic used to prevent death) v.s. illegal fighting (death matches) as part of the campaign. Legal is safer and has better long term potential, but it's difficult to climb the ranks and low level rewards are awful. Illegal matches pay out a lot, but are very dangerous and if the PCs are caught competing in them it can hurt their legitimate careers.

:) Merry Christmas.

My advice is aimed at bringing things into focus a bit so you'll know where to spend your prep time. First, your "plot" is actually what's called a "premise," since what you have there does not necessarily presume player choice in any particular order. You'll want players to buy into that premise prior to preparing the game. Luckily, your premise is quite a common one and lots of people like it. There are many touchstones people can reach for inspiration-wise. If you want a game with a plot, it's a lot more work . If you want a game without a plot, it's less work but often more improvisation (limited sandbox or the like). You should decide on which approach you'll be taking since they are largely incompatible and get player buy-in on this as well. Next, "roleplaying" includes combat , if the choices being made during combat are also things the player's character would choose to do given the context. Thus you don't actually have to make considerations for "combat" or "not combat." Just present interesting situations simmering with potential conflict and the players' goals will naturally come into conflict with NPC goals (aka "metaplots"). This will spiral into action on its own and become combat (or not) organically. Since you plan to use multiple DMs, I'd recommend Dungeon World's rules for setting up Fronts and Dangers so that the various metaplots are spelled out and can be easily used by any DM who happens to be running the current adventure. This is a good and simple method for describing and using the goals of the movers and shakers in the setting in a way that creates action and tension. I can't comment on the game system as I've not played Pathfinder. I have played non-gestalt D&D 3.X, however. All I can say on this point is to be clear on the simulationist leanings of these systems and what sort of game experience is seeks to produce, then run/play to that rather than try to fit a square peg in a round hole. (For example, I prefer No Myth Roleplaying for my DM style, but I don't think PF/3.Xe is very compatible with it.)