Hardcover Army Books Are A Good Thing

Last night, Soundgarden kicked off a two day mini-tour in Grand Prairie.  Since I can't hear anything at all today, I thought I'd take a moment to talk about something that's dear to my heart - the new trend in wargaming to publish more material in hardcover format.

We've been getting our rulebooks in hardcover as standard ever since Games Workshop published Warhammer 40,000 4th Edition (or somewhere there about) but in general, supplements were always done in softcover.  Over years of actual use, these books can become truly warped and damaged because of the rough treatment they endure day in and day out.

Roleplaying books have long been available in hardcover.  Not just the basic rules manuals, but strong supplemental material has been published in this format since the days of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st Edition.  In fact, a lot of the books from thirty years ago see active duty today, by virtue of their hardcover design.

Why has it taken wargamers this long to figure out that hardcover is the way to go?  Is it because army books / codeci come and go so often?  I don't buy that as the answer, since frequently it's eight or more years between editions and thus, army books.

In the last few years, Privateer Press has made Forces of Warmachine books available in hardcover, and Battlefront have really turned up the quality on the recent hardcover theater books.  I'm happy someone finally took the step to make quality books for us wargamers.  Not only does it add to the lifespan of the book, but they look absolutely fantastic on the shelf.  Way better than comic book sized softcovers.

Kudos to hardcover army supplements!

Now that GW has picked up the ball on Warhammer Armies books, I for one am eager to see the first specimen of the logical conclusion to this little experiment:  hardcover Warhammer 40,000 codeci.

The Rough Edge of Night Campaign Log

 Ft. Grant and Smokefall Ridge

Adventures in the Indian Territory, ca. 1875

(Note:  Please look at the bottom for campaign updates!)

A Western Setting for World of Darkness

Presented herein are the brief setting notes we'll be using for the upcoming campaign and it's possible sequels / derivatives.  The World of Darkness is a little bit more, well...dark than our world.  Some anachronisms may exist between the worlds, though it has been kept as close to historic as possible.  Due to the nature of the adventure setting, and in keeping with the general tone of the game itself - the scenario and information presented here will have to be considered entirely fictional.  No real places or names will be used - excepting broad setting material such as Texas, the Indian Territory, etc.

Indian Tribes

Long ago, several of the nomadic Indian Tribes of North America settled upon the area that would come to be known as the Great Plains.  They hunted the vast herds of buffalo that roamed the plains, and forged an enduring and mystical culture tied closely to nature.  As white settlers arrived, herds of wild horses sprang up on the Great Plains and a curious transformation began.  Many of the tribes would abandon their ways and change into what became known as "nomadic horse-warrior cultures".

Many of the nomadic tribes would find their way to the land that would become the Indian Territory on their own, as part of migrations that had nothing to do with white men. Others would be forced to move there by the United States Government in the late 1830's and 1840's when Andrew Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act.

Horse Warriors of the Plains Tribes.

At this point in the Indian Territory, the most commonly encountered tribes will be the Apache, Creek, Comanche, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Kiowa, Osage and Seminole - in varying numbers and at various locations.  Certainly around Fort Grant, Apache and Comanche raiders are whipped into a new fervor and their warpath blazes red with blood and flame.  There have been increased raids by these tribes into new territory, both belonging to the Civilized Tribes and the United States.

However, civilized tribes do maintain an amount of trade with Texans and Missourians who bother to do so, even though in some cases it is very illegal (according to white man's law).  Peaceful trading with the tribes is encouraged, but liquor or firearms are not to be brought into the territory - conducting such trade with the tribes is a hangin' offense.

Many of the Indian settlements are in fact villages more akin to the towns of the Whites.  Indeed, even before the coming of the white man, these Natives already had thriving agriculture.  Among these Civilized Tribes are the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole.  Contrary to what a great many folk believe, not every indian lives in a tipi or wigwam.

Portraits of the Five Civilized Tribes, ca. 1175-1850.

The tribes have been establishing their own new settlements in the Territory, and the Civilized Tribes have done everything humanly possible to avoid more protracted wars with the White Man.  However, due to the recent encroachment upon those lands given to them by the United States, the natives no longer trust the authority of the government to uphold it's promises.  Even if the President has stated these territories are their sovereign domain, it is evident that the U.S. either had no intention of honoring that agreement or simply does not have the influence or power to compel it's citizens to honor it's treaties.


Fort Grant
Built near the end of the Civil War, Ft. Grant wasn't as nearly as pivotal during those battles as the Confederacy might have hoped.  Soon after the war, the fort became an cavalry post and the town next to it began to flourish with trade from every direction:  the Eastern United States, the rest of Texas, even Mexico and the Indian Territory.

Judge Seth Barclay is the Federal Judge appointed to the new northern settlements, and has only a handful of U.S. Marshals available to police the area.  Marshals Oliver Bourne and Samuel Thomas have a lot of land to cover between them - not just the Ft. Grant area, but the new settlements and even a few of the settlements and areas south of their stations.  As it is, their influence is stretched, but backed up by the presence of Captain Tendale's cavalry and the peace officers in Ft. Grant.

Ft. Grant musters troops after the Civil War, ca. 1868.

The townsfolk that live in Ft. Grant are about as civilized as anyone can get.  There are plenty of traders, both transient and established.  One can find a few saloons, such as the Right & Tall or the Betty, and drown in the comforts they provide.  Other, more professional services can be had in the town - Max Kleitos' runs a successful Gunsmith's shop, there is a General Store, a Hostler, an established furrier and of course, the town doctor Perry Almond.

There is also a seedy underbelly to the settlement - the Right & Tall saloon (it is rumored) is involved in all sorts of degenerate criminal activity, including smuggling and opium trafficking.  Anyone that finds themselves on the wrong side of town after dark had better keep their guns unstrapped - murder is all too common in the frontier burg.

Smokefall Ridge & Other Settlements
There are currently three "new" settlements cropping up around Ft. Grant in the land that has been known as the Indian Territory.  These towns are very small and very focused around the few advantages that give them existence - but the natives are growing restless and do not appreciate these violations of their treaties with the United States.

Primrose is the closest settlement to Ft. Grant across the Red River, about fifteen miles away.  It has been fairly well established in the last decade, and was founded by families displaced by the Civil War in Missouri, Kansas and even Texas.  Several cattle families are raising their livestock here, and even a few plantation owners have planted new crops nearby.

Round Bend is further away and less developed, though the population is burgeoning.  It consists mainly of trappers and fishermen focusing on fishing the forests and creeks that run through the territory.  Round Bend is approximately twelve miles north of Primrose, and went largely unnoticed for the eight years it has been there..

Smokefall Ridge is the newest of the settlements.  A huge crossroads was built about six years ago, about twenty miles east of Primrose.  However, a great many setbacks have stunted the growth of this community, and it is currently limited to only a few settlers who have braved the harsh conditions and hunt and trap in the hilly forests nearby.  However, certain powerful men have taken an interest in the dusty facades of Smokefall, and would see the community come to thrive.

The townsfolk of these three settlements are quite different from the more "urbane" folk of Ft. Grant.  They are  uniformly backwoods, however each settlement has it's own quirks and appeal.  In Smokefall, there are quite few traders - many built their shops in the small square of the town and were forced to move on.  The result is a nearly intact and complete town, though most of the shops are vacant.  Of the ten or so large buildings in the settlement, only about half those are lit with the presence of people.

Smokefall Ridge, ca 1875.  Get a drink at the Yellow Rose!

Nearby to Smokefall is a place called Indian Meadow.  This large tract of land is used by the Civilized Tribes to conduct pow-wows and ceremonies, though they call the place something entirely different - Snake Valley. The sides of the meadow / valley are covered with natives twice a year.  Who knows what awful, pagan gods they pray to - or for what reason?  If the stories are to be believed, the more recent pow-wows have been anointing warriors in unprecedented numbers...

If that wasn't enough to send most white men screaming back to Boston or Philadelphia, there are even worse stories about the forests to the south of Smokefall.  The Screaming Woods are called such because of the hideous screams that emanate from the dark bowers of the forest late at night.  Trappers and hunters avoid the area at all costs, and a great many strange tale can be heard over a drink at the saloons around the settlements.

Railroads come into Ft. Grant on a regular schedule, and leave for El Paso, Austin and even further west.  The locomotives carry transients looking for the next train, merchants looking to sell their wares, people looking to start new lives in the Territory.  What will you do when the train pulls into Ft. Grant?

---

Adventures (Updated: 8/24/2011)!

This section is a log of stories that have been completed throughout the campaign, and the breakdown of those into their chapters.

1. Hanging at Fort Grant (Commenced: 6/16/2011) - The player characters arrive in Ft. Grant, and quickly learn of a crime that has shocked the community.  A wealthy cattle baron's daughter had been raped, and the man accused was locked up in the Sheriff's office awaiting his sentence in the morning.  It would have been a quiet night for the characters, but they were quickly involved in a scuffle where a U.S. Marshal was being beaten in an alleyway.  Soon thereafter, there was a gunfight with the men from Dagby's ranch who were bent on killing the rapist themselves. Vernon Clench, the raped girl's suitor, was shot and killed with a few others from Dagby's ranch.  In the morning, the Stutten brothers were hung by the neck, until they were dead.
2. Mr. Hartley (Commenced: 6/30/2011) - The player characters are approached by a small man named Hartley, who wishes to secure their services in a small settlement named Smokefall Ridge, a few miles out from Ft. Grant.  After a few encounters with natives and bandits, the players reach the small settlement - only to find that Mr. Hartley has been dead for three days.
3. The Wrath of Sanchez (Commenced: 7/7/2011) - The player characters have their first day in Smokefall, and right away things seem...strange.  After a few strange stories and encounters with the locals, the players are right in the street when a band of outlaws attempt to rob the bank's armoured stage coach!  Guns go blazing in the streets of Smokefall, but things get stranger when one of the dead bandits stands up and guns down one of the players!
4. Medicine Chant (Commenced: 7/14/2011)
• Bullet Braids  - The players have a few strange days in Smokefall, and meet several more of the townsfolk and even a few travelers, including an agent for the Simmons Lumber Co.  Things take a strange turn when Rex Crawford, and Indian Agent, comes stumbling out of the woods, bloody and bedraggled.  The natives at Indian Meadow threw him down and placed a curse upon him, but he is confident that his friend Red Hawk, a Chickasaw, can help him get some information he feels is vital.  At Lizard Rock, where Red Hawk is supposed to be encamped, something strange occurs - a bear appeared from an empty cave and claimed Crawford's life with a single swipe of it's paw.  The cave was inspected, but it wasn't deep, and contained no bear.  The players would later return to Lizard Rock and camp there, spending the night with terrible dreams and seeing twisted phantoms.  It would get worse a few days later, when 200 armed Red Band warriors march into town, armed to the teeth.  The natives executed the sheriff, the reverend and several deputies.  They also left a cavalry wagon full of the corpses of U.S. soldiers they had slain.  They retrieve an unknown native from the town jail before torching it, and the warrior known as Bullet Braids warns the town that it would soon be obliterated.  This chapter was the first appearance of the shaman Konnawichi at Caleb Tinker's Gun Shop.
• Bad Medicine - After the warning from the Red Ban, the players travel a dangerous circuit around the settlements to warn the neighboring towns, but their warnings aren't as effective as they had hoped.  Konnawichi returns, and befriends the players by explaining the spiritual peril - The Great Spirit has become enraged.  It is the unity of the tribes, and through it's influence, and that of the spirits in it's court, will bring a bloody war to the white man using their own weapons.  It has consumed many blood and battle spirits, and has taken on their aspects...and brings in essence of hate and battle that the other spirits in the land will consume and eventually become one with.  Konnawichi says there are spirits they can ask for help, and the party travels with him to Lizard Rock...where they partake in a ritual using some sort of leafy green substance and a pipe.  Soon after, they see the Great Old Bear among them.
• Night of the Wisps - This chapter has taken the longest number of sessions to play so far.  The players speak to the spirit called Great Old Bear, and learn much from him concerning the First Tribe - the spirit warriors that roam the Shadow of the Territory.  They have absorbed much hate and war since the white man came, and are turning into dark spirits of war and revenge.  The players cross fully into the spirit realm through Great Old Bear's cave, which is a powerful verge.  They are gone for many days into the Spirit World, searching for spirits which Great Old Bear says may help.  However, when they encounter Dust-Eyed Coyote, things take a turn for the worse, and the characters learn that not every spirit is benevolent or helpful.  Unable to find the other spirit, Makossoni-Huta, the characters cross back into the real world with the help of another native guide who is on a spirit quest.  Upon arriving back in Smokefall fresh from their harrowing spiritual experience, a few of the characters (the Doc, the Irishman and the Native) see some strange things out by their lots - a ghost, wisplike spirits of greed who attack their minds with thoughts of avarice and pummel their brains with their eerie ghostlight - and a box full of silver buried beneath one of the houses, which they believe to be haunted and turn over to the bank as soon as possible.
5. Omens (Commenced: 8/21/2011)
• Ol' Phil's Tale - A strange visitor to the saloon prompts a visit by the characters to an old homestead by the river.  Visions of women and children abound, and even Pete the One-Legged Ghost shows up by the river.  The players attempted to crack the mystery, and resolved that the home had been the scene of some terrible murder, leading to the ghosts infesting the area.  The investigations were cut short by members of the Red Band, and the players hightailed it back into town.
• Killdevil Hill - On a dark and stormy night, a stranger wanders into the Rose.  Soon thereafter, strange things start to happen, and a ghostly sighting occurs in front of everyone in the saloon.  The characters hear the stranger's grim and terrible story of murders committed long ago - and accompany him to his destiny at a place called Killdevil Hill.
6. The Terrible Tale of Tailypo - A strange death on the outskirts of town and sightings of a strange creature emerging from the woods prompts the player characters to stake out a portion of the town, and they succeed in running the varmint off.  It hasn't been seen for days...
7. Harold - Strange happenings involving a small cornfield and the men who live there culminate in a bizarre mystery.  Two nights after natives attacked the cornfield, two human skins show up on the roof of the small farm shack...and they bear startling resemblance to Sam Greene and Eddie Neward, the corn farmers.  Following all omens, the players obtain the corn farm and burn the unsettling scarecrow in the middle of the corn patch.
8. Me Tie Doughty Walker (Commenced 10/9/2011) - At Round Bend, something terrible has happened.  A man from Smokefall died, and the players traveled to get his body.  When they found it linked to a haunted house, they did the sensible thing - went back home immediately.

---

Campaign Update (10/24/2011)

Smokefall Ridge is prosperous!  Twin Pines Fine Horse Mall will be completed in a few months, and the road ahead for the townsfolk is promising.  Each of our player characters has a strong sense of belonging to the town, and the next year (1876!) promises to be quite exciting!

The town has it's Attorney, Horse Traders, Shamans, Doctor, Gunsmith and Goat Farmer!  The players have started to make an impact on the countryside where the settlements are located, and Smokefall can only grow from here on out.  It's the era of the boomers!

However, the conflict that has come to be known as the Red Band War has escalated once more and may threaten the town's safety.  The Red Band scattered a few weeks ago to evade army patrols from Ft. Grant, but in the months following our campaign's events they become much more prevalent.

Later in 2012 we'll return to Smokefall for the next part of the story - Warrior Spirit!

Infinity Watch Commanders!

We have a few more minis from Captain Video to spotlight today.  These Adeptus Astartes are members of the Infinity Watch, a chapter based in our own Mardannon Sector!

Here we see the top level commanders of the chapter, poised and ready for battle.  Captain Video has painted up several HQ units, each tailored to a specific battlefield role.  Above are three of the Commanders he commonly fields, each one armed with a power sword and bolter or boltgun for close combat!

These four HQ units are a little more specialized.  Librarian and Chaplain for special missions, but the Terminator Captain and the Commander with power fist (special edition!) are for taking on tough opposition in larger games.  With this selection of HQ units, the Infinity Watch hopes to bring an unmatched versatility to battles in and around Mardannon!

These minis were painted with the same techniques as the other Infinity Watch models - painted gold and shaded, and then Army Painter Quickshade applied liberally to the armor's surface to give it that "lived in" look.

Captain Video will be bringing us new projects soon, so muster your forces and get ready to do battle when we return to Warhammer 40,000 season next Summer!

Building RPG Campaigns

Out of all the people in the world, precious few are gamers.  Of those, only a small portion have it in them to actually coordinate an RPG game as the "Game Master".  A Game Master needs to be very prepared before he steps into the ring at the Wargate.  Having a strong campaign theme is critical, as well as having a good idea of how the individual game world will react to the players.  Today's diatribe contains bits of my methodology when creating new adventure stories.

For those that don't know me, I've been RPG gaming solid since 1992.  I've done lots of different genres, games and even been lucky enough to have a few players who've been with me for more than a decade.  Aside from that, I've run countless games for more folk than I can remember.  I've had hits and misses, and in this methodology article I'll elaborate on what I've found works best for me to constantly crank out adventure stories for our club!



A Million Systems
The first choice you will have to make is what system you are going to use for the campaign.  Sometimes this will be an obvious choice, as sometimes the system itself is what spurs you along.  Other times, there is an overwhelming number of options as to what you can do with the same system.  Do you run your D&D game in Dark Sun or in Ravenloft?

This seems like a "gimme", but choice of system is quite critical to the delivery of your game.  Certain schools of thought tend towards the "any game system can handle any genre", and to an extent that's true.  Online you'll find tons and tons of "house rules" that modify systems to more accurately reflect another genre.  D20 is a great commercial example of this, but remember - if significant conversion to the basic system seems necessary, you might want to rethink the choice of system.  There's not any reason to spend a lot of time changing minutiae of the systems to reflect some tiny thing that seems out of place - unless you want to make that the point of your project.

In particular, at the Wargate, we have TONS of games that are on constant rotation.  Dungeons & Dragons, World of Darkness, Warhammer Roleplay - all these games are pretty much known quantities to our players.  The rules are in firm grasp by everyone, and even new games take very little time for the group to learn.  Don't be afraid to introduce new systems, as they will be devoured by the members of the club quite swiftly and without any warning.

Personally I like to change systems every few months, but in practice few GM's will run more than one system or setting for a myriad of reasons.  For just as many reasons, this is actually a desirable effect within a large gaming club like ours - it allows each GM to "own" a different portion the world(s) / settings and specialize in that system!

There's lots of options even within a single setting to keep gamers coming back for years, and the amount of material available for each line is staggering.  Fantasy settings tend to have "Oriental" or "Arabian" type settings in addition to the standard sword & sorcery routine.  When beginning your trek to Game Mastery, think about the sorts of campaigns you'd like to run and decide which systems would be best for those campaigns.


A Million Adventures
Now that you've got your system in hand and your books all studied up, you can begin structuring your campaign.  For the moment, we're going to assume you aren't using any published adventures but will have the basic rules collection on hand - whatever you consider the 'basic' rules to be.  That is - I generally include all the 3e player's books (Sword & Fist, Defenders of the Faith, etc..) in my games of D&D 3e.  Not all GM's will include the same books in the same system.  The Smith includes Palladium FRPG books in his Megaverse games, but I stay far away from that planet - even though we both use Ninjas & Superspies as a basic rulebook!

So armed, where do you begin?  What sort of campaign are you going to run, within the system you have chosen?  Do you already have an idea, or just sort of a vague notion of something cool?  Do you have a theme you want to present?

I like to brainstorm campaign ideas long before I ever actually get around to fully fleshing them out, much less actually running them.  I keep a list of campaign ideas I've written down during brainstorming sessions where I sit and try to organize my disparate thoughts of destruction and adventure into tangible stories that make sense, and fit well with the system I want to use.  Try it out and see what sort of results you get - you'll frequently surprise yourself by coming up with new ideas, or new ways to use your old ideas.

Try this brainstorming excercise - begin with an idea list.  To start with you'll need, lets say, 10 ideas for different campaigns.  If you want to use different systems, divide it up however you like, but the idea is to get "slots" that you want to "fill" with an idea.  Blank slots are meant to be on the list in order to drive your creativity!  If you want to focus on particular supplements for your range, be assured you can get a whole campaign out of adding one book!

For example, take D&D 4th Edition.  No one at the Wargate has really put this one on the table, though the idea has been broached before.  Let's say I wanted to introduce it into our club's rotation.  Eventually, it will happen...so I'm going to brainstorm a few ideas for it.

I know that I want it to fit neatly in with our other D&D adventures that I'll be running...from AD&D 1e, through 2e and 3e.  I won't be exploring old school D&D (BECMI) or the white box.  At this time.  So, the "basic" rules for the campaign will be Player's Handbooks 1-3, the Dungeon Master Guide and Monster Manual I-II.  This is for no other reason that I think those books include enough material not to infuriate my players.

I also know that our club's campaigns tend to last about 15 weeks/sessions, almost 4 months of actual time.  I also know how the 4e games are organized into tiers.  So armed with this knowledge, I proceed to my list of 10 ideas for 4e campaigns, along with potential products I would be interested in obtaining as an RPG consumer.

1. Points of Light (Dungeon Delve + other published adventures for 4e)
2. Rise of the Spider-Kind (Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide)
3. Into the Northlands (Neverwinter Campaign Setting)
4. Beneath the Icewind Dale (Underdark + Caverns of Icewind Dale)
5. Sands of the Serpent (Persian Flavor Homebrew + The Shadowfell)
6. The Orbs of Dragonkind (Draconomicon 1 + 2)
7. The Magical Mirror of Five Suns (Manual of the Planes)
8. Into the Abyss (The Plane Below + Demonomicon)
9. Dark Sun (published adventures for Dark Sun 4e)
10. Dark Sun: The Edge of the World

It took me about 40 minutes to come up with this list.  Most of that time was spent looking at the 4e product catalog for ideas, which I haven't really explored much yet.  Pretty nifty, there's a lot of campaign sets available.  I don't actually have any of this material, but it sure looks cool on the outside.  This is a totally top down experiment, as I've not done a 4e brainstorm, ever.  Well, I really wanted to run Dark Sun when it came out.

Colored sets represent ideas that can "ramp" into one another - that is, use the same characters when we reconvene for that game.  Other products I saw that I could totally brainstorm on include Hammerfast and The Plane Above.

If you have the idea for your campaign, then you're ready to proceed to the adventure building stage.  


What Stories? Keep it focused!
Well, you've had your system and campaign idea in mind all along, so how do you begin plotting adventures?

There are two broad schools of thought on how campaigns should be run:  Linear or Sandbox.  Linear adventure progressions occur much as video games do - sure you can change things around a little, but in the end the final boss is the final boss and he's on level 8.  Sandbox games sort of plop you into a realm and let you run into things.

I take a middle stance.  I usually use a linear progression for adventures (events) but allow the players lots of free reign to do what they like, within the context of the current campaign.  This is done with a set of Plot Threads, which I'll discuss later on.  There's all sorts of ways the linear progression will change due to player action, since I don't actually write the adventure until the week before the session.

The biggest problem is laying out a coherent arc that will resolve enough of itself within the allotted campaign time, which is 3-4 months at the Wargate.  It's difficult to present a coherent story without first taking the time to think about how the story will progress.  If you want your players to perform occult investigations and unravel the secret of the Witch-House, that's a great campaign idea and has a story arc - but you'll have to work carefully to present the arc.  You know roughly how long the campaign will last and have final say on how many sessions you run - so plot for between 12 and 18 sessions' worth of material.  Hmm...sounds like another outline...



Story Outlines for Campaigns
Who said nothing we learned in school wouldn't help us in the future?  Since RPG's are run mostly on the fly, with a little help from some reference materials, it makes sense that an outline can help hobbyists in almost every circumstance that could possibly call for one.  This is one of the reasons I like them so much.

This time, however, we're outlining the campaign itself!  Let's see...to continue with our current club model as an example, we know we need to plot for about 15 weeks worth of game.  Our sessions typically last 3-5 hours, so short scenarios are best for 1 night games, but longer adventures simply stretch over week to week. We are frequently resuming play where we last ended the session, like face down in the Electric Lizard Pool.

The chief goal of any RPG campaign (usually) is to present a coherent adventure story.  It has to make sense.  If your players can't reconcile in their minds that the strange scenario could be likely (given that people have superpowers or what have you) then you won't achieve verisimilitude.  If your players can't make logical leaps because the story is out of place in the genre, it will stop making sense to them.  This can happen when the "feel" of the game changes, such as setting or genre swaps, if it's not handled well.

To illustrate, I'll use an outline for a Dark Heresy campaign I ran last year - Under a Vast Grey Sky.  This outline comes from my adventure notebook, and is the first thing I wrote for it.  It was modified a few times as the game went on and PC actions altered events, so here's the final result.

1. Distress at Lucruzu - how the PC's come to Lucruzu
2. The Mission - base of operations
3. Death at Tithesgiving - Attempt on the Governor's life
4. Band of Basterds - Mercenary group is fingered, PC's go hunting
5. The Windswept Steppe - Chasing after Andrei, the PC's must cross a huge wilderness
6. Band of Basterds, Part II - Second portions of original adventure #4
7. The Pogrom - Moving back into the city, the PC's encounter the rough end of a pogrom
8. The Outlaw Torn - Meeting up with Andrei, the players expose traitors in his men
9. The Murderous Truth - The PC's confront the corrupt High Priest
10. The Steeple - PC's confront Liev at the Cathedral

In this campaign, agents of the Inquisition arrive on a world that doesn't welcome them at all.  An attempt is made on the governor's life, and the players begin a hunt for the perpetrators.  All is not as it seems, however, and the players must hunt one of the governor's own sons.  However, it is eventually seen that the other brother wishes to seize power by any means necessary, even by exterminating his own people.  The players confront the masterminds of the governor's overthrow while eluding the ruling houses' military elite as they work to restore the governor to his seat.

Neat campaign.


Outlining Sandboxes
Sandboxes present a little more of a challenge.  You still have to put the adventure thread in there, but it requires a little more lateral thinking, and focusing instead on what I call Player Character Plot Threads.

To begin with, you need your milieu...any sort will do.  Let's say, Smokefall Ridge - a western town in 1875 Indian Territory.  You want to do a sandbox your players can play with, but how do you design one that seems believable?

Start with the basics...a plot progression that is independent of the players.  They can interact with this segment of the campaign progression as much or little as they like, but you need a constant "timer" that clicks out time in manageable segments.  For example, the War of the Red Band (as it will come to be called) is going on around Smokefall...but the players have only encountered the Red Band in small groups.  Several campaign events hinge on battles between the U.S. Cavalry and the Red Band not far from the town, but the players don't have to seek out the war.  It still happens, though - and that gives you plenty of opportunities to throw new things at players and use the context of the changing world around them to create a sense of verisimilitude.

I'd start with five points you definitely want to use as adventures during the campaign.  If they have to occur in a specific order, be sure and put them in the correct order.  I'll use Smokefall as an example, so my players can consider this as the jumping off point to the next western campaign.  This game is run with World of Darkness and I'll still be using The Book of Spirits as my main supplement for this next campaign.

1. Red Band Warriors only go where the spirits tell them.  Eventually occult players will have to deal with them.
2. Simmons Lumber will be moving into Smokefall.  Disputes over land are likely to arise.
3. The town may soon have a new Locus in the Lodge, if those two hooligans keep at it.
4. Twin Pines Fine Horse Mall will need plenty of top-quality horses, and lots of hands!
5. An alarming number of outlaws pursue outlawry right to Smokefall Ridge.  That's where the PC's live.

Ok, so I can get a good night's game out of each of those items.  There are other things to mention though...Player Character Plot Threads.

I run them in non-sandbox games also, but find that they work best to direct the action in sandboxes very well.  Basically, a Plot Thread is a subplot involving that character, and tailored to that character.  These can vary wildly from character to character, and when they are resolved you replace them with another Plot Thread.  For instance, take my players in the above western game.

• Samuel Brady - Interested in bringing land reform to the Indian Territory to help the "Red Man" enter civilized society.
• Ignacio & Seamus - Founders of Twin Pines Fine Horse Mall!  It's sort of like the Ponderosa, but in the Twilight Zone.
• Juan Ortega - The Goat Herd of Juan has many strange properties...
• Doc & Injun Hoy - Following ancient Indian rites, these two mystics are about to cross the line between normal and paranormal.
• Caleb Tinker - The best gunsmith in town will invariably be placed for unique intrigues, especially as the town grows.
• John Skinner - A large number of tales involving this enigmatic and seldom seen mountain man have begun to surface.  There's no telling how many are true, or how many folk believe them...

These are all Plot Threads the players have given me.  Not like, filled out on a paper - but by designing their characters and playing in the first few sandbox sessions.  I can see where they want to go, and can imagine the path.  Keeping track of them this way helps when writing the night's adventure, as I can weave them into the games throughout the course of the campaign.  In this way, you have to design your sandbox sort of ... lateral instead of linear.

Need a few more things to make a full circuit of 12-15 weeks, but these two short lists can be developed into at least 10 weeks of gaming scenarios.

Using Published Adventures
Published adventures are fun for a number of reasons.  For one thing it sort of both sets a standard and brings something new to the table almost every time.  If you're going to be using published adventures during your campaign there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Keep in mind, it's hard to judge how long published single adventures will last. A good rule of thumb is 2 full sessions.  Only very rarely will we be able to finish one in one night, but we might get close enough to finish too early in the next session.  That's why if you make your "game plan" and stick to it, you'll never be out of material!

Depending on the module, it will vary wildly how long it takes us to finish one of them.  The best thing to do then, is to be ready to run the whole adventure.  If we have to break too soon, be ready with a small side quest for the next session to pass the time if you aren't ready to start the next adventure in the middle of the session.

Make sure to reconcile the locales of all your published adventures, or be ready with the explanation of travel in the downtime.  That is, if you run your old school Greyhawk adventures, you should probably focus on one area of the Oerth at a time.  Continent hopping adventures are cool, but sometimes it's hard to suspend disbelief if your players are overly familiar with the map of the campaign setting and too much time and space have passed.  Another option is to alter the presentation of the locations in the adventure, which is another great idea.  When doing this, be very familiar with the material in the module - remember to change all relevant setting references during presentation.

Most importantly - research all the published material you want to use and make sure to present it in the correct order!  Most of the time this is self evident, but when you mix module lines it bears mentioning.  You might run two Wizards D&D adventures and one by Mongoose, so make sure that when you present them to your players is appropriate.  If the Mongoose adventure is L5, but so is one of the Wizards modules...some changes to the plan are in order.  Either find a different campaign for that module, or change the difficulty somehow to better match where your players are in the experience progression.


Closing A Campaign
Almost as important as running a campaign is closing it down.  When the campaign winds down, you'll want to have your main plotline for that campaign resolved.  That is, if the Hobgoblin King in your sandbox is the bitter enemy of the players and has been sending them stews of boiled cabbage, if you want this to be the focus of the campaign you should set events in motion to resolve the conflict.

Closing the campaign here at the Wargate doesn't necessarily represent retirement for the characters involved. Indeed the opposite - depending on how far you want your players to advance, you can vary the amount of experience gained per session (in the 15 or so weeks), or you can simply continue the PC's adventures when you reconvene your game.

For instance, in What Lies Below, Bignutt the DM brought our characters up to around level 3 or 4.  His last campaign ended earlier this year, but he's up for a new game as DM in a few months.  We'll be returning to our last characters, to continue with the adventure path and up the experience progression.  I can't say as to how high of a level he will eventually take us, but I'm pretty sure it will be at least L20.  And that's just the one set of adventures - we've already spoken of the Oriental Adventures and other setting details they'll be releasing for Golarion.

That said, you can also finish a campaign up for good.  Some World of Darkness games might be suited to one campaign, and some Call of Cthulhu scenarios pretty much make sure it will only be one campaign.  Decide how you want your campaign to wrap up, as we usually make some sort of deal about these things.  Consider contributing to the Wargate, as we like to post items from the DM before, during and after the campaign.

Well that's enough for now.  It's a bit long, I apologize if you read the whole thing.  Leave us a comment on your own methodologies for building campaigns below!

Tactics of the Terrible: A Tyranids Holiday (or There and Nokk Again)

Jerry Wargate is back today with a short word about everyone's favorite voracious alien monsters, the Tyranids.  An expert on Tyranid biology and methodology, our contributor today holds the record for Most Dubious Tyranid Infiltration.

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To be short in my introduction of myself, I have been fielding Tyranids avidly since 1997. I have enjoyed the storyline concepts as well as the models more so as the 40K rules and miniature line has moved on and matured. Obviously the new stuff on market is much easier to look at than the older series but you must also take into account in the 90s all models on market were really low detail to say the least. The transitions to mostly plastic kits have provided easy customization and a much more solid state of play due to the use of plastic adhesives over superglue. The new mini's have great detail and can on average take a few small falls before they show wear and tear.


Tyranids are a blast to paint! Millions of awesome color mixes and patterns to use on the feral soldiers of mindless hunger!  They are easily customized as well, the codex offers many of these options, leaving much open to the imagination to mold into life. The Tervigon is one of these, but others are available as well.

Army building with tyranids is simple. Keeping in mind only 1/4th of the list has a decent save, first you must build your meat shield to cover the more vital troops. Termagaunts are a great way to start. These can be used to provide a fireline or to lock up mobs that would regularly be used for shooting.

Gunfire is THE DEFEATER (sic) of the tyranids. Cover is nice but not always an option, hormagaunts can also serve as a meatwall but I find them usually a little too much for what they are. The Hormagaunts can be awesome in H2H but getting them there is often an issue. That's why I say go termagaunts.

Next is the mean machine that is GENESTEALERS!!! These bad boys bring a nasty reputation to the field. H2H Masters!!!  They also carry the rending ability, any to wound roll of 6 is an automatic wound.
INFILTRATE is what makes them gold. Always INFILTRATE if possible. INFILTRATE!!! INFILTRATE!!! INFILTRATE!!!  The brood lord upgrade is awesome but sometimes not worth the cost depending on how you run an army.  I often spend 50% of my total list points on these evil bringers of clicky death!

Tyranid Warriors arent held as a main force to me but I will field them depending on who Im playing. If you need shooty action to grind down poorly armored troops you need deathspitters, which are made for that! They are decent in H2H, have multiple wounds and a good save!  Low cost mob to have as well.

Zoanthropes and Carnefexes are a hard choice to field.  I prefer Zoanthropes.  Awesome save and awesome powers, they are the only real tank crackers the Tyranids have that dont have to charge the tank to crack it. Carnifexes are awesome as well, tough armor and H2H maulers.  I call them bullet magnets because they seem to be the main focus of fire all too often.


Hive Tyrant is the KING in my thoughts when it comes to WH40K H2H. It can be upgraded in a million combos, shooty or fighty or both!  Awesome Saves and Psy Powers to boot.  Preferred Enemy is Great!   Multiple Wounds!!  Scything claws are one of the coolest upgrades on the Tyranid listings.  One set re-rolls all 1s to hit in combat, Two Sets will re-roll all misses in combat.

Ive enjoyed sharing this and hope its helpful.

                               - Jerry Wargate