Post originally by Hektor Bim at 2005-04-15 09:38:57
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Since I happen to think Keep on the Borderlands is terrible, for all the reasons Mike Mearls laid out in his review here on rpg.net, I would like more information.
How exactly is it like Keep on the Borderlands? Do the NPCs have names, for example? Are the monsters in some weird monster co-op where the tougher you are the better the view?
Post originally by Yamo at 2005-04-15 13:35:52
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A typical old-school mini-campaign setup has no set plot. It's just a description of various persons, places and things that the PCs can choose to interact with, largely on their own terms. The plot then develops organically through play.
Damn refreshing these days, IMHO.
That being said, I haven't read or played AoBR. I'm just referring to other works that it sounds similar to.
Post originally by Akrasia (ben) at 2005-04-16 03:08:20
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The similarity with KOTB has to do with the format of the module: viz. the module presents you with a setting and encounters, and leaves it to the DM/GM/CK to decide how to use those encounters in her/his game.
There is no 'monster co-op', and all the NPCs have names.
I have ripped 2 encounters out of the module (including the main dungeon) for my own use, and ignored the rest. This is a virtue of the product, IMO.
Post originally by Melan at 2005-04-16 03:36:15
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Right. The plot comes after your PCs have gone through the module and interacted with its various places, peoples and monsters. Refreshing, indeed - and very modular.
Post originally by Mythmere at 2005-04-16 07:22:26
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It doesn't really have an "about," other than a village in trouble. I mentioned a couple of the subplots - incompetent baron's son; nearby baron with land designs. But these aren't at all central. It's about helping the village by going adventuring.
There is no real plotline, other than what the CK develops.
Still, I think perhaps I should actually have specified that it's not plot-driven.
Post originally by Gothmog6 at 2005-04-19 13:30:36
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Our group's DM is Davis of the Troll Lords and author of the module. Steve and Mac have characters, as do Todd Troll, Mark Sandy and two women gamers.
It really is a player-driven module; even though I helped edit the module and therefore theorectically knew some details about the setting that my player would not, the lion's share of the plot has evolved from what our players did and said, from the DM setting things in motion outside our observation, and the interactions between the two.
In Davis' game, it's never "this is what happens to you," it's "this is what you see happen," and you can decide to react or not, and then something else happens.
It is a DMing style, the C&C style, that can keep the DM interested and attentive because one has to keep up with all of the plot threads that are going on behind the scenes and how they should be described / presented to the players, and also fun for the characters because you get a really sense of forging your own destiny. And, you have to pay attention and ask the right questions. It's also kind of similar to a MMORPG, in that you can "choose your own adventure" and how to get there.
We have ambushed Red Cap warbands, hunted a River Troll, poisoned the water supply of the keep on the Blacktooth ridge, befriended a feeble-minded fisherman who now ferries us across the river for free, been arrested for traspassing on the "baron's forest" across the river (and talked our way out of the gaol), snuck into the city under cover of darkness to trade with hobbits, and formed a secret alliance with a mysterious gent whom we think is the baron's bastard cousin.
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