Long Term

Despite my assertions that once I'm settled in at a new job and new apartment I will concentrate on integrating myself into social circles replete with young single women at the expense of geekier pursuits, I have started thinking about the long anticipated Ptolus campaign. To that end, I retrieved the Big Book of Geeky Awesomeness from my storage unit whilst in mid-Missouri this past weekend, and have begun reading it again. I'm thinking that the campaign should probably begin in late Spring or Summer 2010 (though this may be influenced by how far along Nate's campaign is at that time, whether Lummox has his game up and running, and other external factors like jobs and such). So, I'm preparing for that by studying the setting. I'm pretty sure that for the campaign to be entertaining the DM is going to have to pretty well know the city of Ptolus inside and out. So, I'll be doing that over the next few months when I have snippets of free time that I don't feel like using for more practical pursuits.

Long ago I created a dedicated site for the Ptolus campaign here (you should go and see the posts already up). I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to use it, but I expect it and the Cringing Wiki to be useful resources for when we play. And, if you haven't already, those of you that intend to play should download and read the Player's Guide to Ptolus available for free here. Even though the campaign proper won't be starting for some time I think it might still be a good idea to start thinking about characters and backstories. In fact I have an interesting idea with respect to that. I was thinking that in the months prior to actually beginning the in-person-rolling dice-battle maps-Mountain Dew and Cheetos game, we could play sort of a "pre-game" online via email and the blogs. Basically, as I envision it, this would be a chance for you guys to work out your character backstories in a way that made it feel like the characters were actually a part of the Ptolus world-- by having me collaborate with you and parcel out bits of information that a native of that world would have. It would also give us the opportunity, long before we ever sat down at the gaming table to figure out how the party comes together and allow us to hit the ground running when we actually get to the game. Plus, it will let us come up with individualized character hooks and connections to Ptolus and the NPC's there.

I don't see this as an exercise that would utilize the rules so much. Instead, I see it as a way to explain how your characters get to level 1, and begin their journey as adventurers. I'm not exactly sure how this will work-- that's a topic open for discussion. For instance, I'm not sure if the stories we work out would be posted for all the players to see, or kept strictly between the DM and the individual-- and then only later shared with the rest of the group. So, thoughts? ideas? discussion?

(And it should be said, I'm not trying to draw attention away from Nate's game or Lummox's plans-- I'm thinking long term here.)