Running A Dogfight

(Image from Tachyon Squadron by Evil Hat Productions)

One of the campaign ideas I've wanted to run for years and years now is a 'fighter squadron' campaign. The most common version of this want is set in the Star Wars universe with the PCs being a squadron of fighter jocks working for the Rebellion or New Republic with the idea for the campaign being along the lines of the Rogue Squadron & Wraith Squadron series of books.

Ensuring Consent Is Not Just For Problematic People

Monte Cook Games recently released a free 13 page PDF handout called "Consent In Gaming." The handout explains consent, explains how to handle breaches of consent, and gives a number of ideas on how to make sure everyone at the gaming table is having a good time and ok with the topic and subject matter of what is going on in game.

Planning a Campaign

When it comes to planning a campaign it can be hard to find a balance between leaving yourself room to grow and have the game change as the players do things, and being prepared to run the game and actually deliver on what you are offering.

There are several ways to do this, but in general you want this to be short and sweet but still cover the things you need.

Mini-Campaign Idea: Shipwreck Island

I've had this idea in my head for a while. It's not particularly special or unique, but I figured it'd be worth sharing - and the map was worth spending some practice time on it. This would work for any western fantasy game. I suppose you could use other settings, but it was meant for that kind of game. In specific it was meant for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, though I imagine it'd work fine with Pathfinder, FATE, or about anything else.

Campaign Proposal: The Golden Age of Sail

With the 7th Sea kickstarter still going on, and going so strong, I find it hard to not think about a game set in the age of sail. Grand adventures on the high seas. Canny duelists. Clever pirates. Sharp wits, and even sharper steel. A sense of high adventure and daring do. Most importantly, the call to defend the last vestiges of true freedom that humanity has known, and will know, until we find a new frontier and set sail into the stars. I'm talking about the age of sail, and here's what I'd propose for a campaign.

Campaign Proposal: Goblin Island

Some people at work have expressed interest in having an after work game. All of them, the ones who have gamed before anyhow, are more comfortable with D&D type settings and rules so we figured maybe Pathfinder would be the best game to do. Works out for me as it will give me a chance to work on some basics for GMing. My mind is already going for the game, and I thought I might share some of my ideas right here. Who knows, maybe it will inspire someone or one of you will have something to add.

Campaign Proposal: The Last of the Jedi

I haven't done a campaign proposal in a while, and with the upcoming July release of Fantasy Flight Games's Edge of the Empire, well, Star Wars has been on my mind. Now, unfortunately, the "last of the jedi" source book that FFG is planning to release won't come out for another two years, but I still think it would make for a very interesting campaign if done right, and it's not like it is a plot idea that needs a specific system to work, right? Any Star Wars system should do. Heck, even FATE should work.

Campaign Proposal: Demo Derby

In talking with my players last night we decided to set Marvel aside and move on to a game with a more party oriented approach. The game we settled on after some debate was Shadowrun (yay, and no, I didn't force it) but that led to some decisions about what people wanted to play. During the conversation I told people I could tailor the game around whatever they wanted so not to worry if they had multiples of each role. I'd be just as comfortable running for 5-6 deckers as I would 5-6 riggers as I would 5-6 street sammies as I would a healthy mixed group. However, the idea I had for 5-6 riggers got me intrigued. I figured I'd write up the proposal, even if I'm not going to be running it.

Campaign Proposal: The Ninja Village

At any given point in time, I have as few as three, and generally more than five, different campaign ideas running through my head. To try and stop this from interfering with my normal games that I run, I've started this series on the blog. In it, I put down the basic ideas for a campaign and release it into the wild. From there, if you see something you like, just grab it and use it. Otherwise, I may reference the post for the next game I run.

Campaign Proposal: Mutant Dawn

My apologies again for last week's herk-da-jerk and even the late post on the fact that Monday would be a day off for the blog. Not sure what happened aside from life got away from me, and I'm hoping to get things back on track. As such, for the foreseeable future the goal is to have posts done, ready, and up by 12:00pm EST as opposed to the normal 8:00am. Maybe this will grab more readers, maybe not. We'll find out.

Anyhow, today is another entry into the 'Campaign Proposal' series. This series is one where I make a proposal for a game that I would like to run, but for various reasons I can't right now. It goes over the basics of the Who, What, When, Where, and How (the Why will be different depending on PCs) and you can feel free to grab any ideas you want from here for your own games. Many of these won't be super unique, as I tend to find that a simple premise that the PCs make complex naturally works a lot better.

Campaign Proposal: The D Listers

At any given point in time, I have as few as three, and generally more than five, different campaign ideas running through my head. To try and stop this from interfering with my normal games that I run, I've started this series on the blog. In it, I put down the basic ideas for a campaign and release it into the wild. From there, if you see something you like, just grab it and use it. Otherwise, I may reference the post for the next game I run.

Campaign Proposal: Invasion: Earth

It feels like it's been a while since I've done one of these, and some of you may start to doubt my word that I've generally got several campaigns just itching to go. So, for today, I'm going back to Campaign Proposals and am going to touch on one of the more recent ones to be niggling at the back of my head. Namely, Invasion: Earth.

Campaign Proposal: The League of Heroes

As I have mentioned before, at any given time there is usually about 5-6 ideas for long term games floating around in my head. Rather than have them bouncing around in my head and causing distraction, I've decided to write them down here. That way, if I need them, they're right here; and if you need them, you can always take them for your own game as well. Today's Campaign Proposal is for super heroes.

Campaign Proposal: Star Wars - Shadows of War

At any given point in time, there is generally at least 3-5 games that I want to run. Now, these are not always the most original plots, they're not always the most developed stories, but they are ideas that tickle and wiggle in the back of my mind and can generally be a distraction. Even with using the Flux in my Friday game, I still have the issue. Hell, one session into fluxing away from L5R and into my system, and I find myself desperately wanting to run an L5R game. So, to have a place to write these down, and to maybe give you guys some ideas yourself, I decided to write down the ideas that really stick with me. The series is called Campaign Proposals, and if you want to grab an idea from here, just post a comment and let me know how it goes. That being said, let's begin.