Monday, August 31, 2015

A Living Campaign

As hard as it is to get an adventure put together, sometimes it's great to go the extra mile.  Sometimes, as you are putting that adventure together, you and your players forget that the characters are part of a bigger world.  So here are a few ideas I have to make your players feel part of a bigger world.

1) Rumors.  Have the bards in the near by tavern your characters frequent talk about the goings on in the nearby, and not so nearby, areas of the world.  This is a good way to sneak in an adventure hook, but also a good way to get your players knowledge of the world.

2) Town criers and newspaper.  Printing presses are rare, but in bigger cities they will be available.  Some of these cities will have local news in small papers.  They won't be like normal papers you see today, (certainly no comics or piles of advertisements), but they will definitely let you get some information out.  Same with the town criers sitting on a corner and shouting the newest news of the day.

3) A primer before you start.  Sometimes you can just give a list of major events that have happened since the last adventure in the world.  A king was crowned here, a kingdom taken down there.  This may give the players a wish to go somewhere new and give you more adventure ideas.

Happy Gaming!

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