The Campaign Builder's Guild

Hi, I'm new  :D
Here is my introductory stuff--  :blah:

I'm a bit of a geek, really, so my appreciation of RPGs, computer things, and whatnot, is probably not all that unusual. I also read a good deal, and I have an interest in history, linguistics, studying different cultures, and all sorts of general weirdness.

I've played and run D&D, as well as V:tM. I've also played in a short-lived GURPS game (the GM had to quit unfortunately), and it was pretty fun too. I've also done a good deal of freeform RP, which, as long as everyone keeps a level head about it, can be a lot of fun.

I really like unique, immersive background material, and a well-thought out setting, and so in my own attempts at world creation, I try to emulate this. It doesn't always go as planned, though, and I have some difficulty in organizing my ideas.

My influences are, in no particular order: H.R. Giger, H.P. Lovecraft, H.G. Wells, and probably some other people with an H and some other initial; Jules Verne, Dune, Stargate (the movie); Warhammer 40000 (though the only game in that universe that I've actually played is Space Hulk), as well as all kinds of miscellaneous random fantasy and sci-fi that I've read.

Hey All

I got this profile verified a couple of days ago after some initial trouble with verification emails and such, and now i have finally managed to convince myself that it is time to make a more formal introduction.

Me
I'm a boy/man/male human (16 years old, judge for yourself), who currently lives in the Kingdom of Denmark (or just Denmark for short). And for those who aren't very geographically inclined (which i hope is a very small fraction of us, considering this is a worldbuilding community) i can tell you that it's a small semi-island semi-kingdom/democracy just to the north of Germany.
 Background
But enough about about Denmark, which is, frankly, not a very interesting country, especially considering what fantasy worlds can offer us. I have been playing roleplaying games for a couple of years now, though i regret to say that the exact number of years escapes my memory. It all started when my parents got me one of those starting boxes (a red one i believe) for D&D v. 3. Me, my brother and some of my friends got together and tried playing it and thought it was quite fun (which, as we all know, it is). Then i unfortunately put my gaming career on hold for a prolonged period (which isn't all that long in teenage terms). But as all good things it returned from the dark dungeon that is my memory, and i started playing with some old and new friends. This was now the age of v.3.5, and i managed to get myself even more hooked on the game then i had been before, buying all the books i could and going to a game at least once a week.
 Games  
As you might have figured out from my background story, i'm most familiar with D&D 3.5, but i'm currently DM'ing a d20 modern campaign where my PC's are trying to invade Burundi to gain a foothold on the african continent before commencing their plans for world dominion. I'm also trying to start up an Iron Heroes Campaign, which is the game i'm currently trying to create a setting for. In addition, i know how WFRP works and i have a basic understanding of GURPS.
As far as current games go, i'm GM'ing that D20 Modern game, and then i have a character in a couple of other campaigns, including a dwarven warblade and a warforged artificer. I'm also signed up for a number of other campaigns that might or might not see the light of day. My gaming group includes some of my closest friends, and we tend to be ambitious and quite incompetent (We're working on it though). But we're having fun, which is, if i recall, the most important part of it all.
 Setting
My setting has been in the works for quite some time now, and has seen several very different incarnations. My work procedure seems to be something along the lines of: Create, scrap, create, and i never get really content with what i've created. I also have a tendency to either come up with an idea and then never flesh it out, or to make half of something and then stop. Bad habit. Anyway, my current setting currently goes by the name of Marrowsea, and has something to do with clans, pirates, islands, mysterious continents, demons, and warfare. All the standard stuff though with a little (or big) twist i hope. Time will tell i guess.
 Inspiration and style
I have at this young age already managed to become bored with standard "knights & dragons" fantasy, and therefore i'm not too fond about standard races/standard classes/standard campaigns. I tend to like my campaigns, books, creatures, and characters a bit more imaginative, but still coherent and credible. My main sources of inspiration are China Mieville (for his imagination) and Robert Jordan (for his coherence and credibility) and Eberron (well, it's a different take on something classic). But i also draw inspiration from the real world and video games and other books and everything else i can get my hands on, but i'm not too fond of copying stuff directly. I prefer that most of my material is original in one way or another.
 Mechanics
I have also made a couple of different mechanics, including a skill/class-based magic system that is almost done, except for the spells... Lately, i have begun to grow quite disillusioned with how many of the mechanics in D&D and many other systems work, and i'm working a bit on some general changes to the system. Chances are that's going to take a good deal of time for me to get that done though.
 Other stuff
I don't really know what else to tell, but if you have any questions about me then feel free to ask them. Otherwise, i just hope that i can help inspire others here, and that i can draw on the experience of all you guys, and hopefully also be inspired myself.
anyway, good luck with the worldbuilding to all of you.
(Og hvis der er nogle danskere, sÃ¥ sig lige til.)      

Hey Elderitch, welcome to the guild. :)

If I may suggest something, you talk about improving upon d20 mechanics, which is all well and good in my book. I would advise you, however, to look into other rules systems before you do. Not only will this give you the opportunity to switch to a better system before you do a lot of homwbrew work on d20, but it will also give you a lot of experience on different ways to handle various rules.

My personal favorite is The Riddle of Steel. ;)

Just my two shark's teeth,
 - Raelifin

Hey Folks!

I'm 19, Canadian, and I've been GMing for 6 years or so. I play mostly D&D 3.X, but I've also played and GMed the Hero system and various White Wolf System (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage) games. I'm in the process of blogging my current campaign, which I think might get posted up here, but the first session is today and I don't plan too far ahead, so there's a lot of development to do before that happens.

Check the Blog! Please leave comments!

Now, onto the meat of the entry:

Background
I got into gaming when I was about 12 or so, my mom's friend and Neighbour DMed a D&D 2nd Edition game for us. We were young, and stupid, and I try to forget most of what happened.

Strengths/Weaknesses in Game Design
I'm usually pretty good for creating fluff, plot, and ideas.
I'm pretty horrible with mechanics, as I have a rather laissez-faire attitude in the games that I run. I very very much wish WotC had put a little more effort into the "here's the underlying basis of our system, so it's easier to make it do what you want", especially surrounding game balance issues.

Published Settings
Oddly enough, I have never used a published setting. I'm a writer-type, so I like creating my unique (or not so unique) settings.

Major Influences
Science Fiction, Fantasy, and other works of fiction. Whether in movie or book form, if there's something I like, I will probably find a way to make the main themes a part of my campaign. I have a tendency to prefer campaigns with relatively equal amounts of combat and intrigue. My homebrewing is widely influenced by other systems, as I like to read whatever I can to get ideas.

I think this site looks like a pretty awesome place, and I'm glad to see something like it, and now I'm glad to join the forums!

Welcome psychoticbarber to the Guild! Another player of Hero System! Yeah! I look forward to reading your gaming blog, mine also has some posts regarding my current gaming group.

Jump into the pool and get your feat (get it!) wet. We have a Crunch Crew (as I call them) that will usually take a look at any crunchy stuff you have to make sure it works.

This is, in my opinion, one of the best, if not the best, site on the web for gaming and world creation.

if you wanna get to know more about me a Pm will suffice man English is hard to grasp. [note]English is my main language and I hate it[/note]
 
-Gaming systems you use
DnD 3.5, some of the 3.0 stuff that needs to be updated for 3.5 and Beyond[/i]

-General gaming history
Back when I was a tyke came across my parents D&D 1st edition and shortly after I picked up the 3rd edition starter set and after that I have been absorbing as much D&D knowledge as I can get my grubby fingers on.

-Personal likes and dislikes
Likes: Music(mostly electronica, techno and stuff like that), Tuesday, Random encounters, new stuff, shiny stuff, Random
Dislikes: the English language its too alive

-Strengths and weaknesses in game design
Strengths: Hmmm.... I don't know if you would call this a strength but when playing with video games character creators I crash the game 22 out the 7 times I use them and I bring that pushing the limit to most endeavors I go to.  

-What published settings have you used/do you like?
I have played FR, Eberron, some Fallout, and Greyhawk I wish to play some Iron Kingdoms but I would need a new group to try it with my group is stale

-Major influences on your world-building
Ants the tiny Creature, Tv, Movies, Video games(that aren't mainstream and Popular {Like the FF series})) Days of the week, Apathy, Tuesday the food, the word idea, everything and anything. But I have had too many ideas and need to actually build the world and stop trying to make it perfect.
[fortune]

Love the avatar, Krog.

hey guys hows it going?

im 17, Male, 5'7", blah blah blah.
im in love with a girl who doesnt love me.
Ive been playing d&d for about 2 years now.
(^my life story lol)
Im a rocker, i love hardcore music and i just went to wraped tour 07 in St. Helens, Or. anyone else here go there?

Gaming systems you use
I am currently running a 3.5 d20 D&D campaign.  This campaign has been ongoing for the past 3 years.  I also run Hero System- specifically Champions, CoC/Delta Green, and Serenity.

General gaming history
I started gaming in 1980, the red and blue basic and expert sets, and it has gone downhill from there.  I got out of gaming in 1995 when life got complicated, but now it's all good and I started up again 3 years ago.  I was shocked to see how much had changed, and didn't change, in that time.

Strengths and weaknesses in game design
I am pretty good at adlib, but have a difficult time actually figuring out how the world should look for geography.

What published settings have you used/do you like?
I like the Champions Universe, the Serenity/Firefly 'Verse, and the Cthulhu mythos universe.  World of Darkness has some interesting ideas that I use.  I also borrow a lot from the D&D official settings but do not use them as is.
 
Major influences on your world-building
Mostly our own ancient history, mythology, cultures, Tolkien, Geore RR Martin, and Brooks for my fantasy campaigns.  For Champions I use their universe with influences of DC and a little bit of Marvel.  For CoC and Serenity I stay within the created universe.

I was wandering around the treasure Tables forum when I saw a post about the current issue of CBG out.  It caught my interest so I popped over and found that this was something that could aid me greatly in creating my homebrew worlds and campaigns.  I originally wanted to start running a Champions campaign, but my players talked me into running a 3.5 campaign instead. Unfortunately I didn't know any of the new rules set and just jumped in.  Now I know better.  When we get tired of D&D we break out one of the other RPGs I run, or play Munchkin, or a board game.  I've got 8 players and we all have fun doing whatever.  We meet once every other Friday, 9 months of the year, for about 4 hours or so.  We're all pretty old, 30+, but a couple of the guys playing have brought their kids to the game and they play also.

I don't always get a lot of time to prep for a game between my job- fusion research, the wife, the local haunted house we bought and are trying to fix up, and other busy life events.  Hopefully I can find some needed help here.  So far I like what I see.  

Quote from: Andronthe Serenity/Firefly 'Verse, and the Cthulhu mythos universe.

Excellent!  We need more of that around here.

Firefly rocks, and Cthulhu has its moments.

Or did you mean they should be merged into one single cowboys in space hell-verse, Ishy?

You know what I'm talkin about ;)

Quote from: AndronGaming systems you use

What published settings have you used/do you like?
I like the Champions Universe,  

Welcome and yeah Champions! One of my two favorite games!

Gaming systems that you use
Currently? Mutants and Masterminds, and I think that's what I'm going to be sticking to. I've used D&D 3.5 in the past, but I hate the restrictive nature of the class/level system. I plan on looking into True20. Also, I'm fond of Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun. (I'm a huge cyberpunk fan, in case you couldn't tell.) My final system loves are twofold: New World of Darkness, and White Wolf's new Scion line.

General gaming history
I started pen and paper gaming about 5 years ago after being introduced to roleplay about 7 years ago through the internet. My main challenge is actually finding a group - the only people I roleplay with are either older than me and thus have real jobs or out of town during the school year - and my college seems to have a gamer shortage.

Strengths and weaknesses in game design
I've been told I have very unique ideas and I'm pretty good at game design on the whole. My major flaw is fine detail - I have a nasty habit of creating a world with broad strokes and then leaving it. Also, with my superhero settings, I tend to get wrapped up in individual characters, which is interesting, but is often lost on/not useful to the PCs.

What published settings do you use/do you like
For settings designed for gaming: First, with Mutants and Masterminds, I love their new Paragon setting (setting toolkit, really). Not a huge fan of Freedom City, however. White Wolf has some interesting settings - I love World of Darkness, I'm really digging Scion, and, though I'm not as big a fan as the system, the setting of Exalted is pretty sweet. Of DnD settings, it's Eberron all the way - give me my fantasy with magical robots, post WWII overtones, and elemental powered airships. Of course, I love Shadowrun and Cyberpunk 2020 - and really, most cyberpunk in general.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, so I'll be popping in here to update as I think of them. ;)

Major influences on your world-building
Everything. Books/comic books/graphic novels I read, games I play in, video games I see the previews for, websites I poke into, movies/TV shows I watch...if it's a media and I absorb it, I am inspired by it. Since my primary work involves adaptations of the modern world, another huge source of inspiration is the news.

I found this place because I was looking for an outlet for settings that is more active than the Atomic Think Tank. Some google searches for "Gaming Setting Building" and "Campaign Worldbuilding" and such turned up here. I found it, lurked for awhile, decided I like what I see, and here I am. I'm going to be browsing, reviewing, and contributing for awhile before I start posting my own material.

This looks like a really vibrant, close knit, creative community. I'm going to be having fun here, methinks.

[spoiler]I think I know what spoilers do...

[note]but how do these work?[/note]
[ic]So I guess you put stuff from people in the worlds perspective here?[/ic]
[ooc]And other people's perspective here?[/ooc]
 [dice]1d100[/dice]?
[class=Koala][levels=36][bab=cleric][fort=good][ref=poor][will=good][special=Special][1]Iron Will[/1][2]+1 caster level[/2][4]+1 caster level[/4][/special][special=Armor Bonus][repeat][1]1[/1][5]2[/5][/special][/class]  

[table=Testing]
[tr][th]x[/th][th]Weak[/th][th]Mild[/th][th]Strong[/th][th]Overpowering[/th][/tr]
[tr][th]Color[/th][td]red[/td][td]blue[/td][td]green[/td][td]maroon[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]Texture[/th][td]Silky[/td][td]Rough[/td][td]Abrasive[/td][td]Rugburn[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]Scent[/th][td]Rank[/td][td]Rancid[/td][td]Bearable[/td][td]Tastey[/td][/tr]
[/table] [/spoiler]

Always glad to see more Shadowrun fans.