Almost There

The week flew by just like I knew it would. Work has taken on an almost comedic value. The cool thing this time around, is that this project is just so huge, that when the shits hits the fan, there won't be any one person or reason. Just the obvious facts that management tried to cram too much work into too short a time.

Tomorrow night is the kick off session for the new 4th Edition D&D campaign. I've got high hopes even though I'm slightly under prepared. From past experiences, I doubt this will be much of an issue because odds are they won't even get through half of what I have planned. I've also started rethinking some aspects of how I've run games in the past, and the parts that always seemed "flawed". One main aspect that has always bothered me in my adventures? "Quest Givers"

In typical adventure video game, a "Quest Giver" is the guy you talk to in order to start the adventure. He'll have some lengthy dialog, lament on how he can't take care of the problem himself, and ask you to go rescue the princess, save the town, find the missing children, etc, etc. It's all very straight forward and actually quite lame. In a realistic fantasy world, Heroes don't get handed quests. Heroes aren't created by checking the "Adventure Want Ads". So how do heroes come about? The best place to look is your favorite fantasy novel.

Heroes are made by being put in circumstances way beyond their control. That's my approach to this new campaign. No fancy person asking for help (Help me Obi-Wan, you're my only hope). No town leader looking for adventurers to help with a local monster problem. This time... the adventure itself will make the heroes. And the players will be put in situations where they have to be heroic just to survive.

To quote William Shakespeare:

"Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them."