Campaign themes in play

[Magus76]

Hey everyone,

I read this thread...
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?721 ... our-Gaming
...and thought about ways to encourage themes in my TOR campaign.

If the theme for a campaign could be summed up in three words, say "Intrigue", "Revenge" and "Resistance", then each hero could invoke one of these words once per session to either gain a bonus die, a re-roll or 1 XP.
The situation of course would have to relate to and enhance the theme in some way, so as to encourage the heroes to live out the story.

What do you all think? Is it playable, balanced and worth the effort?

Any ideas?

/Magus76

[Sprigg]

I feel like an xp might be too much, but I am biased towards low level play and slow progression. Generally if what a player is attempting is heavily thematic with either the campaign or Tolkien's works, I'll grant a bonus to the roll, an AP or simply allow an auto success. Simple, and players can't really abuse it.

[Angelalex242]

As a fan of fast progression and getting PCs doing Peter Jackson style stunts, I think it's a great idea. Anything that gives more XP is good.

[Magus76]

The more I think about it the more I like the idea, but I would really try to emphasize the point of the rule, which in my case would be to enhance the themes and to involve the players in really telling the story.
Perhaps the players could take part in choosing one of the key words in the theme? If the Loremaster, who knows the campaign, chooses two theme words and the company a third one to put their own unique mark on the stories within the campaign, then the Loremaster gets another aspect of the story that might not have come up before, leading to unexpected possibillities.

Choosing a theme might perhaps also strengthen the feeling of fellowship within the company?

As far as xp goes, I though that the possibillity of one more xp per session wouldn't increase the speed of development too much, but perhaps it would... I don't like it when the gaming becomes too "high level" and munchkin oriented...

/Magus76

[Glorelendil]

Could be fun. Reading the thread, the idea was introduced because players didn't seem to want to go along with the type of story the GM wanted to tell.

I had that problem a few days ago: I just started trying to LM TOR with old gaming friends and they...weren't into the spirit of it. "Chaotic Neutral" is too ingrained in their role-playing beings at this point. They wanted information from an NPC who was still terrified from an encounter with a Nazgul, so they tried to "slap him out of it." Meanwhile the hobbit is trying to pickpocket his companions. They finally decided to just drag the NPC along, against his will, because he might be useful. Sigh.... I think a different game might work better with that group.

[Magus76]

I think a different game might work better with that group.

...It would certainly seem so...

I like the idea of using a rule concerning themes to both create a great story from the LMs perspective as well as getting the company to take an active part in setting the frame for that very story. The main storytelling power still lies with the LM but the company can interact with and change smaller aspects of it.

[Stormcrow]

they tried to "slap him out of it." Meanwhile the hobbit is trying to pickpocket his companions. They finally decided to just drag the NPC along, against his will, because he might be useful. Sigh.... I think a different game might work better with that group.

I dunno... It might be fun to watch them quickly fall into Shadow. You'd get to exercise the shadow-rules in any event.

[Woodclaw]

I had that problem a few days ago: I just started trying to LM TOR with old gaming friends and they...weren't into the spirit of it. "Chaotic Neutral" is too ingrained in their role-playing beings at this point. They wanted information from an NPC who was still terrified from an encounter with a Nazgul, so they tried to "slap him out of it." Meanwhile the hobbit is trying to pickpocket his companions. They finally decided to just drag the NPC along, against his will, because he might be useful. Sigh.... I think a different game might work better with that group.

I feel your pain. This is what I get 9 times out of 10 when I demo TOR at conventions. From dwarves that let their axes do the thinking, to people who pout about not being about to play the wizard. The most common situation however are those who try to go the Peter Jackson way. I'm not against having some cinematic action into the games, but thing tend to go overboard more often than not. I lost count of how many times I ended up angry to a player who roled his Elf like a self-centered dick or his Beorning like a brainless killing machine.

[Angelalex242]

Alignment has little to do with how the character is rolled, or stats. It's attitude.

I don't 'play my 0s' very much...my elves are generally as courteous as I know how to be, despite having 0 points put in courtesy. And my 'riddle' is up to my own IQ. If I haven't got the points, my mind will have to do.

I joke that anyone with 0 courtesy should never say please and thank you, but that's not how my characters have been acting.

[Glorelendil]

Alignment has little to do with how the character is rolled, or stats. It's attitude.

I don't 'play my 0s' very much...my elves are generally as courteous as I know how to be, despite having 0 points put in courtesy. And my 'riddle' is up to my own IQ. If I haven't got the points, my mind will have to do.

I joke that anyone with 0 courtesy should never say please and thank you, but that's not how my characters have been acting.

I interpret "courtesy" to mean "understanding of the customs and social graces of other cultures", not whether or not you are a polite person. It's a skill not a personality trait. That's why Elves have low courtesy...they just don't pay attention to non-elves enough to know (or care) what their rules are.

The most polite, well-intentioned Hobbit could be an utter boor if he didn't know the correct way to address a Dwarven king.