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4 months ago ::
Jan 17, 2013 - 8:43PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Jun 15, 2012
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I have an idea for campaign I'd like to run.... I don't want to get too into the details, (because one of my players likes google a bit too much) but it basically revolves around a huge fantasy metropolis. In theory, I'd like the players to have an open world within the city and very rarely leave at lower levels.
Can anyone point me toward interesting reading for this type of campaign design? Or even on making cool cities?
A few guidelines for using the internet:
1. Mentally add "In my opinion" to the end of basically anything someone else says. Of course it's their opinion, they don't need to let you know. You're pretty smart.
2. Assume everyone means everything in the best manner they could mean it. Save yourself some stress and give people the benefit of the doubt. We'll all be happier if we type less emoticons.
3. Don't try to read people's minds. Sometimes people mean exactly what they say. You probably don't know them any better than they know themselves.
4. Let grammar slide. If you understood what they meant, you're good. It's better for your health.
5. Breath. It's just a dumb game.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 17, 2013 - 8:56PM
#2
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If you can get your mitts on Sharn: City of Towers (a 3.5 Eberron supplement), I can guarantee you that it will be the location you run. That's a great book.
To organize the dangers and threats, I recommend using Dungeon World's campaign/adventure front guidelines.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 17, 2013 - 9:54PM
#3
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Date Joined:
Nov 28, 2012
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I did a campaign like that a long time ago. It was actually pretty cool.
Best advice I can give is from the get go tell all the PC that everything they will need is in the city and they have no reason to leave. It worked fine of me. Did a couple murder mystery type things, the PC cleaned the criminal element out of the city arena, a dungeon crawl through the sewers, and a couple crawls through large trap filled mansions.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 17, 2013 - 10:01PM
#4
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You know, I always wanted to run such campaign as well for a long time for its possibility of limitless depth, color & charactor of interaction with meaningful npc's & sense of continuity, identity & a place players can feel rooted to. I tried to look for such already made diverse and sprawling metropolis, but I couldn't find one that meets my expectation, large enough to provide a sense of a world in itself. I realized that for me to make this happen, i had to design the metropolis from ground up, the immense layouts, key locations & key npc's. I never got around it. One day I hope to though. I feel it can really be awesome. Let me know, when you find or create such map...I want to copy. 
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4 months ago ::
Jan 17, 2013 - 10:12PM
#5
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If I were to do it, I'd do it set in Sharn with players who knew Eberron.
Or I'd create the city from scratch, with my players involved in every step through shared storytelling. The former's only because I really like Eberron (and Sharn specifically) otherwise the latter would be my preference.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 17, 2013 - 11:47PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Jun 15, 2012
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My general idea currently, is to have a city that is sort of the last bastion of civilization in it's area. The world outside is dying and inhospitable, so the city is being swarmed with refugees. Occasional raids by armies of monsters are less motivated by evil, but rather a will to survive. I'm thinking that the city is a theocracy ruled by a church of civilization, sworn to keep life ordered but with different factions within the city fighting for favor and room. Food is getting harder to supply. Most of the magic is being siphoned directly to keeping the city hospitable. I'm envisioning the game starting with the players, fresh off a boat, immigrants whose reasons are their own, registering with the officials giving their name and relevant info. I just feel like it's hard to find info for the actual DESIGN part of this sort of campaign.... but people here are pointing me in the right direction.
I feel like, even if I don't directly use stuff like Sharn, I'd be smart to read the books.
A few guidelines for using the internet:
1. Mentally add "In my opinion" to the end of basically anything someone else says. Of course it's their opinion, they don't need to let you know. You're pretty smart.
2. Assume everyone means everything in the best manner they could mean it. Save yourself some stress and give people the benefit of the doubt. We'll all be happier if we type less emoticons.
3. Don't try to read people's minds. Sometimes people mean exactly what they say. You probably don't know them any better than they know themselves.
4. Let grammar slide. If you understood what they meant, you're good. It's better for your health.
5. Breath. It's just a dumb game.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 18, 2013 - 1:36AM
#7
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Eh.. This is f-ing awesome idea. I am gonna have to copy it! Beauty of it is that the metropolis can be in ever changing and expanding process as more refugees, races floods in and settles. Which means i don't have to have a complete metropolis drawn out from the beginning to start the campaign but build it as I go. Freaking awesome idea! Why didn't I think of this lol. You rock.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 18, 2013 - 5:19AM
#8
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If you can get your hands on them, the Cadwallon RPG books by Rakham fit the bill. It is the last and largest city not yet drawn into the Ragnarok. It has a very Planescape feel. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadwallon_%28role-...I absolutely adore the artwork, the story elements. I will warn you that the books are translated from French, so there are times where you might read a sentence a couple of times before you go "Oh, that's what they mean!" Even so, it is totally worth it.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 18, 2013 - 5:57AM
#9
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I don't want to get too into the details, (because one of my players likes google a bit too much)
If I may offer a counter-point (not just because I need to know MOAR), one of the main schools of thought on these forums is that characters chould be surprised instead of players: that players should be in on the secret so that they can role-play their characters as not being in on it.
And I need to know MOAR! 
A character sheet is a player's love letter to the DM. If someone wants to do something and they want to do it well, let them. Encourage them. Have fun with it. -Unknown
An adventure is a DM's love letter to the players. If the DM wants something to happen in the game, let it. Encourage the DM. Have fun with it. -Centauri I'd love for input as to what it should be rather than arguments against why I shouldn't have it at all. -lialwyn Best defense that I've read in favor of having alignment systems as an option
Spoiler:
Show
However, if some people are heavily benefiting from the inclusion of alignment, then it would behoove those that AREN'T to listen up and pay attention to how those benefits are being created and enjoyed, no? -YagamiFire
But equally important would be for those who do enjoy those benefits to entertain the possibility that other people do not value those benefits equally or, possibly, do not see them as benefits in the first place. -wrecan
That makes sense. However, it is not fair to continually attack those that benefit for being, somehow, deviant for deriving enjoyment from something that you cannot. Instead, alignment is continually attacked...it is demonized...and those that use it are lumped in with it.
I think there is more merit in a situation where someone says "This doesn't work! It's broken!" and the reply is "Actually it works fine for me. Have you considered your approach might be causing it?" than a situation where someone says "I use this system and the way I use it works really well!" and the back and forth is "No! It is a broken bad system!" because the former posits that improvement could be made...the latter only undermines the enjoyment of the person who is using alignment. -YagamiFire
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4 months ago ::
Jan 18, 2013 - 7:08AM
#10
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Date Joined:
Nov 30, 2006
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Another good sources book is Cityscape. Its a 3.5 book for this exact situation. It gives advie and tips on how to build such a large city and adventure ideas for it. You can find a pdf version online
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