The Campaign Builder's Guild

Hi! I jut joined the guild n_n. well...

I won't give my name...

Hmmm... I've been playing DnD for 4 years now, recently becoming a DM and now wanting to create a complex and really varied campaign setting (I already have one, but it's not quite detailed) I like classical music... anime, manga, movies, specially thrillers, hmmm... I'm not a native English speaker, I'm actually Mexican, but I'm French/Spanish Blooded.

What else... hmm... Sexuality and religion are big issues in my campaigns, since I'm bisexual and atheist myself (Hope nobody minds)  hmm... what else... Well, I came here for a couple days to see how this place was and really liked it, so I joined just a moment ago, pleased to meet you all n_n.

-Gaming systems I use

D&D, Rifts, Werewolf, Vampire, Mage


-General gaming history

I grew up playing the Ultima series on the computer. I loved their flexibility, and how I could run around and steal objects, take over a building and make my own house from the pilfered objects and a lot of other things linear RPGS never allowed you to do. In short, I was immersed in the world itself, and never paid any attention to the plotline.

But they were limited, of course. No one can program a completly flexible world, and I always found myself running into the limitations. Sadly, RPGs that came afterward were for the most part linear, scripted and, to put it into D&D terms, built on railroading. How happy I was when I discovered the Vampire: The Masqurade computer game. It had a storyteller mode online, where you could script adventures and populate maps and play as a DM. I had a ton of fun creating storylines, but you suffered from a lack of control generally and I couldn't prevent players from abusing and triggering events before they were appropriate.

Some years later I discovered D&D. My mother had ran a game for me and my brother when I was nine, so I had some fond memories of it. It picked up the newly minted D&D 3rd edition books and sat in the bookstore and read through them. In the next few  months I scrounged up enough money to buy the players handbook, DMG and monster manual.

I didn't know anyone who knew what the game was or knew how to play. So at 15 I started my first D&D game DMing for my family. D&D for me was the escape from the restrictive worlds that computer RPGs always put you in, so I ran my game how I would have liked to play in one: totally free, unrestricted, and plotless. Here's a world. Now go out and do whatever your character wants to do. Every game I've ran since then has been in the same style.

I started developing a world then too. It wasn't very comprehensive, original, or even all that interesting, but it was my own. I ran campaigns in it for four years, and generally whenever a player did something that permanently affected the world, (i.e killed a king) that change would remain for the next group I ran the game with. So over the four years I ran games, I almost never prepared games in advance. The players would explore, and I would improvise if they went somewhere I didn't develop yet. What I improvised became canon, so the world grew and expanded mostly at the behest of and through the actions of my players, and each group lived in and built on the legacy of the previous group.

I liked this system, but the world wasn't growing fast enough to keep me immersed in it. After taking a hiatus from the game, I got back into it recently. My old campaign world seemed stereotypical, and horribly naive in light of all that I've learned recently of history and economics. So with the itch to run a game again, I started to develop a new world, the one I've posted here.

-Strengths and weaknesses in game design

Improvisation is probably a strength. Weakness would be the seriously lacking knowledge of the rules or the crunchy aspects. I've always ran my games as close to freeform as convenient, which makes it easy to function without even a slight grasp on the rules. I've freeformed a lot of combat encounters as well. The rules were generally brought into play for spells, skills and combat that was too complicated to keep track of in my head.

I also write too much.


-What published settings have you used/do you like?

I love the rifts universe. I've never ran a rifts game, but I buy their books just because they're good reading.

Planescape is my favorite, bu it's difficult to run a open world when you have to deal with a bajjilion miles in each plane.

QuoteWhat else... hmm... Sexuality and religion are big issues in my campaigns, since I'm bisexual and atheist myself (Hope nobody minds) hmm... what else... Well, I came here for a couple days to see how this place was and really liked it, so I joined just a moment ago, pleased to meet you all n_n.

Glad to see you here. Nobody should mind (and if they do, they're the ones who are inappropriate). Welcome.

Mina - happy to see someone else with an interest in WW and the WoD world. We're fairly few in number here. Welcome to you as well.

Hello all, new member here. Stumbled across this site completely by accident, but since I'm attempting my own campaign world, I profusely thanked my idiot-savant search engine and its habit of tossing out results with only the most marginal relevance to my search term (which was Free D&D Resources).

 Gaming Systems I Use/Play
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition/d20
BattleTech
MechWarrior (the clicky version from WizKids, not the PC games)

 Gaming History
Limited - Played in an AD&D 2nd Edition homebrew campaign for a few months, but then moved and haven't found a new group. Though my employer in my new state played BattleTech and introduced me to MechWarrior, so it wasn't all bad. Then I moved again and don't have anything, heh.

 Strength and Weaknesses in Game Design
Strength - Ideas. Lots of ideas.
Weakness - Getting those ideas down in a coherent, useable form.
Weakness - Too much reliance on other people's work (particularly settings) when my own ideas won't flow. I see my self as being just short of a plagarist, with my extensive "borrowing" only mitigated in part by my acknowledgemnt of that problem and my attempts to do something original.

 What Published Settings Do I Like/Use
Anything that holds my interest really. Eberron for the gritty feel, Forgotten Realms for the soaring fantasy, and Greyhawk for the "universalness". I also like settings with a furry influence, such as Furry Pirates (next on my shopping list, as soon as I can find a copy!) and Rym (which hasn't actually been published and hasn't been updated in years, but it's a wonderfully done, beautifully drawn setting. Heck, they even have a animated mpeg intro movie for the setting).

 Major Influences On My World-Building
Rym. If these folks can take their ideas and turn them into such an incredible setting, why can't I?


What lead me into gaming were the twin sirens of David Eddings and anime.

From Eddings, I picked up an intense, and enduring love of fantasy literature (I have all his books except 3 lying around my house; 20+ novels, and I love 'em all). That lead me into D&D novels, specifically Dragonlance (fun to read, not so much to play), which lead to a vague interest in AD&D.

But when I saw the mound of (expensive) books I'd need to play even the most basic AD&D game, I quickly killed that idea and stayed with the books.

Anime showed me the fun that could be had with giant fighting robots and powered armor (forget Voltron, I'm talking Patlabor and Appleseed). And when a little cartoon called BattleTech came along, detailing the adventures of the 1st Somerset Strikers and featuring some cool CGI combat scenes, I was enthralled. Upon finding out this cartoon was based on a miniatures game, I eagerly headed headed to my bookstore and dove in, magically finding the cash that hadn't been available for AD&D.

I messed around with BattleTech for quite some time, until a neighbor mentioned having some D&D stuff. Knowing my interest with that sort of thing in general, he wanted to know if I could build a game to play around his materials. Taking charge of his B1 Boxed Set, AD&D 2nd Edition PHB, DMG, and assorted monster pages (mostly basic, but a few Greyhawk mixed in), I went websurfing for stuff to fill out the rules......

And stumbled right into the launch of D&D's 3rd edition. Up to that point, my distaste for for the game was rooted mainly in the fact that I'd need a pile of books, and there were just too many settings, the majority of which were mutually exclusive. But the 3rd edition let me get in on the ground floor, as it were, and I eagerly jumped right in, buying as much as I could get from the core materials, and occasionally dropping some cash on d20 materials.

And here I am. I've got roughly 50 lbs. of paper with 3rd edition stuff on in (not counting all the little incidentals and freebies I've printed out over the years) and a strong itch to throw it all into a pot, season with my own ideas, stir, and see what comes bubbling out.

What? we are a free D&D resource? Im shocked, does that mean i shouldnt be waiting for a cheque? :P

I just realized something, i dont think i ever introduced myself properly here. I should get around to doing that soon.

Yes.. .Yes, you should.

And Aerwyn, many a hearty welcome thrown your way.  I think you'll find this is a great place to help you get those ideas into campaign form.

I am Voran Illezou, I am a young gamer (how original O_O), but have a list of titles so vfast i havent put any thought intp remembering it yet. If you are wondering "How the hell did he come up with that name?", then here is the story (and a very short one): At school, my friend was always talking about D&D, so i decided to play w/ him to check it out. After three sessions of it, I had really gotten into it. So , anywho, i had a fighter with a vorpal sword of somesort or another, and along comes a tribe of goblins. He wanted to have a little fun with them (He was an illusionist). Anyways, after a few misplaced spells and bad rolls, he ends up in an underground cage and i am surrounded by 6 bugbears, all with pointy sticks of death pointed at me. Somehow, through an amazing series of rolls, I manage to pick up my sword, dodge all their sticks, and cut almost all their heads off thru combinations of greatcleave and vorpalness. From then on, my char was known as Sir Vorpal Kickasso. Somehow out of that i pulled Voran Illezou (I wanted a more roleplayey-ness sound to it). And no, there was really no point to that story, so go ahead and do something (too lazy to come up with what exactly right now).

Well, I've been here for a little while, but I suppose it's never too late oto introduce yourself.

Gaming Systems I Use/Play
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0/3.5
Some online games (not WoW)
Videogames (GameCube, PS2, GBA, some other Nintendo systems)

Gaming History
I got into D&D a few years before 3.5 was released (I think, I don't really have a head for dates) and have been playing since then.  My Mom and Dad both played in college, their DM had one paper booklet, some dice, and lots of graph paper.  

Strength and Weaknesses in Game Design
Strength - Plenty of ideas
Strength - Lots of time to put towards gaming
Strength - Creating magical items/weapons
Weakness - Actual world-building
Weakness - Lack of follow-through/perseverance

What Published Settings Do I Like/Use
I don't really use published settings, although I guess technically most of my campaigns take place in Greyhawk.  Eberron looks appealling, but I don't really want to shell out for 2 or 3 more books.

Major Influences On My World-Building
LotR
Robert Asprin's M.Y.T.H. Inc series
Piers Anthony's Xanth series

I haven't really built any worlds.  My Archipelago flopped when I discovered a number of continuity and logical errors that I couldn't get around or go back and fix without taking apart the entire setting.  I tend to run games either straight out of the DMG or with a slight twist of some sort, usually involving divine wars or magic tinkering.

Gaming systems you use
 D&D 3.5
 Videogames (mainly Nintendo systems)

General gaming history
 Little to none, I wanted to play and later DM but since so few people near me play I gonna start DM'ing in about a week

Strengths and weaknesses in game design
I'm good at looking at the big things but am bad at the details

What published settings have you used/do you like?
I've played Baldur's Gate (both the original and Shadows of Amn) which takes place in the Forgotten Realms, and I think I'd probably like Eberron but I don't know much about either

Major influences on your world-building
Any Random Idea that pops into my head

I am khyron1144.  If you met a khyron1144 on another message board, like Wizards of the Coast or Palladium books, I am probably him.

-Gaming systems you use
At one time or another, just about every version of D&D (Basic, 1e, 2e, 3.0, 3.5), Call of Cthulhu, TSR's MArvel Superheroes RPG, Heroes Unlimited, and most of the old World of Darkness line (Vampire: the Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Mage: the Ascension, Wraith: the Oblivion, Changeling: the Dreaming).

-General gaming history
When I visited my cousins back when I was five, we played a very free-form LARP based on the old Texas Instruments computer game Tunnels of Doom.  When I was old enough to read, we read my uncle's old AD&D 1st edition rulebooks. The first gaming product I picked up was the Ravenloft Realm of Terror boxed set.  It perplexed me to say the least because I didn't have a PHB or DMG.  It took me a few years to catch on to the idea that the main rules were in the hardcover books and the boxes were extra stuff.

Since I was the first one to actually learn the rules I have DMed for various friends and relatives.

-Personal likes and dislikes
Likes: cheese, lemurs, orangutans, dice, AD&D 2nd edition

Dislikes: being out of cheese, point-buy in D&D, D&D 3.5

-Strengths and weaknesses in game design
Strengths: a willingness to let PCs attain great power

Weaknesses: I don't often sit down and work on something from start to finish

-What published settings have you used/do you like?
I have run one adventure set in the World of Greyhawk.

I like Greyhawk, Ravenloft, Spelljammer, and the Scarred Lands

-Major influences on your world-building
Terry Pratchett's Ankh-Morpork has influenced my Tera Prima.
Some major elements of my campaign were drawn from little things in either basic D&D rules or those old AD&D 1e hardbacks.

Greetings all, I am Gremlin, refered to affectionately as Grem if preferred.  I haven't been DMing for very long, and have only played RPGs for about 4 years, consistently for only one.  I joined this site in hopes of being able to flesh out a campaign world of my design, and come up with a few more specific cultures, historical events, and other such bric-a-brac.

-Gaming systems you use
I play standard D&D 3.5, although I've also looked into Mutants and Masterminds from Green Ronin.  A friend who has been playing for years made his own homebrew system that I'd like to try, as well.

-General gaming history
In 7th grade I was introduced to GURPS by a friend.  My interest in RPGs was ignited.  After that, I played a Silver Age Sentinels campaign with some friends.  Later I found out some of my theatre friends played D&D, so I was introduced to that system.  I tried DMing for it initially, but failed because I didn't really grasp the mechanics.  Later I discovered the gaming group at my school and became an avid fan.  Now I play another campaign with those earlier theatre buddies, but now I know a great deal more about the system and have been able to maintain a campaign for a few months now.

-Personal likes and dislikes
I love food.  I'm a real gourmet and food historian.  The main reason I will be excited once I turn 21 is that I can finally entertain properly with the right dinner and desert wines.  I am very much a nerd; I enjoy superheroes, school and mathematics.  I do a great deal of community theatre, as well.  I love to argue, probably too much for my own good.  I despise fools and injustice, which usually go hand in hand.

-Strengths and weaknesses in game design
I'm probably not as creative as I'd like to think I am.  Many of the ideas I have which I think are just amazing will seem childish and foolish when viewed objectively, or just will be very familiar to people using other settings.

-What published settings have you used/do you like?
I like Forgotten Realms, but I'm not obsessed by it.  The divine intrigue in particular is fascinating; I love gods.  I've played Eberron a few times, and I like some of the ideas but not others, and some I both liked and hated, such as the daelkyr (I love fleshgrafters, but I didn't like the idea that illithids had anyone they called master)

-Major influences on your world-building
Probably a lot of things I don't realize.  Many of my ideas seems unoriginal when seen by others.  I probably pull a lot of things from Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, and Harry Potter without realizing it.  I need to broaden my horizons, I know.

Quote from: GremlinI joined this site in hopes of being able to flesh out a campaign world of my design, and come up with a few more specific cultures, historical events, and other such bric-a-brac.

Well, then you're in the right place!

You can call me Ignatius or Iggy and I am True Neutral.  I have far more ideas in my head than I could ever type r put onto paper, so if something seems to have holes in it ask and I'll try to explain but I also have the habit of making things less than coherent so I'll just ask you to bear with me!

Game system I Use and Gaming History:
I do not have a lot of experience actually, but I own the three core D&D 3.0 books, which are what I was originally introduced to, and use them as guidelines.  I find the combat rules especially useful.

Likes and Dislikes:
I love literature and can pretty much tolerate anyone except bigots.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
a lot of my strengths are also my weaknesses.  I have a great big picture, but of course a good campaign needs details, which I have a lot of...later on, once the heroes get to certian points, but I don't always have the roads to get them there fleshed out.  I love to draw maps, so I am quite good at it, but they are a) rather geometric and artificial in construct, even my cave systems, B) for my maps of cities, especially, they seem unrealistic in that they follow where I can put my buildings that i have already made and not the land.  In fact, topograhy is not my strong suit at all.

Major Influences Include, but are not limited to:
Robert Jordan definitely, especially the Aes Sedai; Greek mythology and some Roman perhaps;  and many others I can't think of right now, but those two stand out.

Hello all, Ravenpath here. I stumbled across this site the other day and completely love it. Especially since I am completely revamping a fantasy world that never really took off. I've been  gaming since I was 10 which makes it a total of 27 years. I have very eclectic tastes when it comes to gaming as will be shown later in this post. I have a bad habit of buying systems just because they are new and fascianting to read. I tend to read campaign settings like novels which drives my wife nuts. She doesnt' understand it.

Gaming systems used:
D&D 3.5, Hero, White Wolf

Personal likes and dislikes:
Likes-reading, DC comics, acapella music, good roleplaying, NCIS, science
Dislikes-power gamers,sports, 'idiot' comedies

Stregths/Weakness in game design:
Strength-focus on big picture, developing new magic systems, blending different ideas into one
Weakness- focus on big picture, need to know 'why' something is before can move on, get stuck on ideas

General gaming history
I've played in AD&D, D&D 3.0, 3.5, Champions, Fantasy Hero, Star Wars, Mage-Ascension and Awakening, Immortal, Vampire, Villians & Viglantes (a really old one). I have run games in all of these except Immortal, Star Wars and Vampire.

What published settings do you use/like?
Al-Qadim (the best setting ever), Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Mage (both settings)

Major influences on your world building?
Mercedes Lackey
Al-Qadim
David Eddings
Robin Hood stories

Hopes for campaign world?
I want to build a world that is not a cookie cutter of other fantasy worlds. It needs to be unique while incorporating the ideas and themes that we all love in fantasy worlds. I also want to design a world that I can write stories about and shar with others. This could be typical fantasy, urban fantasy or super hero genre.

Hello I'm DarkSamuraiKyo and I have a Magic addiction LOL okay I'll be serious I'd join due to my friends saying this might help me with my first Campaign....
-Gaming systems I use: alot of them really I have dabble with Iron Kingdoms Dragon Mech and many others
-General gaming history: I've haven't run a campaign of my own but have played alot
-Personal likes and dislikes: Likes Coloer green, Gundam, eberron, D&D, and Computer games Dislikes color Pink
-Strengths and weaknesses in game design: Strength generating ideas weakness working it into Campaign format
-What published settings have you used/do you like?: Eberron, Forgotten realms, Dragon Mech, and the Ironkingdoms
-Major influences on your world-building: Anything that I like
-Hopes for campaign world?: I want to build a world that is not a copy of other fantasy worlds. It needs to be unique while incorporating the ideas and themes that I like. I also want to design a world that I can write stories about and share with others.