Welcome to the DMGaming Wiki!
This is the main page for DMGaming, a group of friends gaming in the Des Moines area. The main voice of it will be me, Jon, the GM for the group. I started this wiki with the hope that the players would continue it for the Cormyr campaign. However, I loved its flexibility and ease of use so much that I decided to use it to chronicle the games I have run since we moved to Des Moines in 2002. That the group can use it for the current campaign is a great extra.
The group has played many games since it was first created in late summer of 2002. DND brought the group together. After that, I tried Exalted, Alternity, and the New World of Darkness RPGs. Currently, the group is using Alternity as the rules set for a Fantasy campaign set in the Forgotten Realms. I have been very lucky in that my players have graciously agreed to come for the ride as I try out other systems and see what they have to offer. Currently, I still like Alternity the best as a game system and so that's what we are playing.
To the left are the campaigns that have been run through the years. Around January of 2003, I bought a laptop to help with my gaming, which mostly included notes. Therefore, with the exception of the first DND campaign, which is only half recorded in some electronic format, most of the campaigns have at least some notes which will allow me to post them here.
My Style
{The DM made the mistake of allowing players to add things...like this picture...hehe}
My style has changed radically in the past six months (years). Inspired by Babylon 5, I created campaigns that were long term. I needed every player there, almost every time, as things might come up for their character that week. Further, where ever we were when it was time to quit, we stopped. The only exception was the middle of a battle, although I have done that as well. I wanted the whole campaign to be a story, with each session a part of the larger whole.
However, I have realized that I was not playing to my medium (RPGs) nor my audience (the players). Further, that was not what Babylon 5 did. Babylon 5 had individual episodes that were self contained. Certainly, by later seasons, someone couldn't enter and understand what was happening, but they were still self contained. They might be mini arcs, done over a few episodes in a row, but they still had a beginning and an end.
To that end, I decided to re-create my style. I decided to have sessions be individual adventures, connected to a larger adventure. Now, if a player misses, it is easy to explain where they were and what they were doing, because each session is self contained. Further, they get definite answers in a particular session, while still allowing me to allude to something larger happening.
It is still a work in progress. I struggle with trying to fill the whole time. Sometimes I rush to get through some things but for the most part it has worked. I know I need to work on many things, including bringing it all together in a satisfying way, but overall this has been a good idea. Given the current state of my gaming, I think it handles things in the best way.
New thoughts and ideas - 1/31/2007
I just figured out why a lot of RPGs did what they did in the past. The one I most remember this with is the d6 Star Wars game. After having the very concrete game of DND, and being more literal, I didn't understand why they didn't list how many shots a blaster has. The game literally said to have the character's gun run out of ammo "at a dramatic point." I read it but I don't think I understand it until now.
The new style I have is that in general, the players talk about their character in third person POV. They can still interact with NPCs and talk like their character. However, in describing actions their character does, I like talking in third person. It really puts a distance there and allows others to give input without it being harsh.
This also allows for that drama. We can talk about what would be most dramatic or fun and then let the player redo their character actions. It is working out quite well. I like how we can all be involved, even if there the character, or NPC, isn't there. It has been quite fun!
What a Player wants - 2/20/2007
I am really slow.
I have been GMing for two decades. During this time, I have always tried to keep it quite open ended. If the player's want their characters to go left instead of right, not only was it fine with me but different things happen. I didn't railroad them. I tried to have a living world.
Apparently, that's not what players want. At all.
They apparently want a linear adventure with two or three choices here or there. They only need the illusion of being able to go any direction. They really want something that is predefined and done for them. I am still shocked at this. Even after all of this time, I can't believe it.
I am going to try and start using this knowledge as best as I can.
To create Drama - 2/20/2007
I did something new. I shared my ideas of the metaplot with the players. I have told them my campaign idea. They know nearly as much as I do now. I did this so that they can help move the plot toward the ending. The idea is that there are still five or six ways it can end but now the players can make better decisions about what happens and move the plot in the way they want it to move.
I will see how this works but I am excited for it and I think it will work well. I think it will even work better for the next campaign!
More Style Changes - 9/2007
My style has changed again. As much as I love Alternity, to play the type of fantasy game that I want to play would be too much work. I don't have the inclination to write all of what I would like the system to do. I still like Alternity and think it does modern and SciFi very well. However, for fantasy, I have gone back to DND.
I have been okay with DND and what it does, this time around. I understand better what DND does well and what it doesn't do well and that is helping.
For example, DND really doesn't handle insanity. It's about heroic fantasy, not realism. So, trying to play someone that's insane won't work extremely well. It's not that it can't be done, or that d20 can't do it, but it won't be done well by DND.
And that's where I was always trying to push DND, in areas it didn't do well. No wonder I wasn't satisfied! So, we are using whatever rules of the 3.x DND set that make it fun.
And I am waiting for 4E.
4E is here! - 6/2008
And I am very happy about that!
I have lots of thoughts on it that I will post here eventually. I hope.
5/2009 - I am happy with 4E. We aren't currently playing it, though, but that has no bearing on how much I like it. In fact, I am using it as a basis for comparison and I haven't done that in a long time. I do want to get back to 4E at some point.
Back to d20 - 5/2009
We have decided to go back to a d20 game after using White Wolf's World of Darkness for the past eight months. (Apparently that's my pattern and I think I would like to break it.) We are going to do the d20 version of Star*Drive instead of Alternity. I am happy and excited about this. I am sure we will use any rules, from any system, that makes sense. I can already think of a few alternate rules I will be using. But I am curious how well d20 holds up for me as I haven't been excited about a d20 game in a long time!
If anyone has any questions, email me!
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