Yeah, I’m with Kublai. Don’t scrap all that thought. Make it immediate. Make it personal. Make it village / home and hearth. Pitch the situation for 3 or even 2 lifepath village characters. Throw it out there with the orc raids and lycanthropy and work with the players to develop their stake in the drama (and they MUST have a stake). If they bite and they want to riff of that initial situation then you’ve got game. Go hell for leather and create NPCs / locations / relationships together as a group. Otherwise you may just have to pare it back a little till you hook the players interest. If the group isn’t psyched to play out a situation then the game will peter out more often than not.
So if you go completely fresh, with the burgeoning excitement of creating a new setting with the players, hang on to your ideas, or the things you really liked about your old campaign world, just don’t set them in stone. Introduce them as what ifs or maybes, play off the ideas the other players bring to the table, keep those NPCs and plot hooks up your sleeve as failed roll complications or consequences or situational antagonism.
Good luck, and let us know if there are other game pitches you might like as springboards? The forum collective has a lot of really cool suggestions, just check out the AP threads!
We haven’t burned the characters yet, but I think this is the current state of our situation.
The players like the idea of having a month’s long festival, but they’re not too keen on the near ice-age winter. I think I can still make this work though. My idea is that the kingdom in which the festival takes place is one of the warmer areas of the world, and the ice and snow receding allows travelers from across the globe to come and participate.
They may actually try to start a guild/organization of some sort. One idea that they seem to like is to run a brewery/tavern and try and it get it recognized as the official ale of the festival. I like this idea a lot as I can threaten their supply line as their crops could be at stake, which would tie into the original adventure I had in mind. Of course, they’re also competing against other brewers, which means they need to have lots of social interaction with various members of the community getting them to carry their goods, which is a better starting point.
I also know this is just a way of gaining resources and power. If they go the tavern route, they may very well be running a thieves guild by the end of all this, which sounds like a lot of fun.
If the other players aren’t interested in the ice age, why are you insisting on this exception? That, in my experience, is indicative of “doing it wrong.” It’s fair for individuals to compromise in order to have a situation everyone’s bought into, but this seems like you’re blatantly ignoring their desires.
It’s only one player who’s specifically objected. I think it makes more sense to have 100 days of festivities and celebrations around the harvest with this kind of climate. Otherwise, why would the celebration last an entire summer? I suppose I could have my players answer this question, but that’s a pretty hard thing to explain without changing the scope of the game.
Also, I don’t think the game is going to last beyond the scope of the festival, so why is this “doing it wrong” when it’s most likely not going to impact the game in ways it would if my players were say, trekking across miles of tundra with little food or protection against the elements?
You said “they’re not too keen,” but if only one player objected, this is probably a fine compromise. Also, from the amount of information you posted on the first couple pages of this discussion, it seemed like you all were settling in for the long haul. If it’s only a short campaign centered on the festival, it’s likely that the bigger picture won’t heavily influence what happens during the sessions. My mistake.
Just pitch the idea to the players rather than deciding. Let them into this decision. They like the month long festival? Cool, say “hey. How about if you’re in a village that’s in a warming trend. The ice and snow have receded and trade is resuming…” I bet they grab onto that and run with it, suggesting details from their own imaginations, which should also be considered as a group.
Have you watched the TV show from 2000 called 'Lock Stock and…"? It sounds a lot like the ideas your player’s were throwing back at you, plus it lets you keep your ideas for antogonism up your sleeve. All it needs is an initial situation to kick the action off with. something the players have to act about RIGHT NOW.
A group of friends run The Lock, a pub. Each episode focuses on them attempting a different business venture and the comedy of errors that ensues The local gangland boss is normally caught up in the trouble the lads cause. All episode titles begin with “Lock, Stock… and”, followed by a title phrase to describe the content of the episode. This is a play on the title of the movie Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels - But you could easily adapt that premise to your game, with each PC belief resolution being an episode (or session).
Make sure their beleifs are plugged into this initial situation, and encourage them to take an enemy relationship and in chargen as instant antagonists, and write a belief around these relationships! Ooooh, I do like the idea of a Fantasy Pub meets Guy Ritchie vibe. So cool.
That’s what i just discoverded a few weeks ago after reeding a lot’s of thread (and this one) and i’m prety exited of GM’ing my first game of BW.
It is sometimes complexe to explain when new players are around the table, but when you get it, as you’ve said: it is very illuminating.