Designing Campaigns

OR Messing with your players

Here we go again with one of my lessons. I know it has been a long time; but yours truly has been having a busy and altogether good life. Almost two years ago I proposed to the woman who will become Mrs. NightLife on June 9 2001. As I learned, there is a whole lot of planning to do for this to occur, and it is more complex than I imagined. Now you know what Prof. NightLife has been concentrating on. But, that’s neither here nor there. With this article, I have decided to share a method for designing your campaign. However, for those not familiar with the Palladium alignments, I’ll offer a brief description.

Principled: A principled individual is a paragon of trustworthiness. An example of this would be: Superman; Truth; Freedom and Mom’s Apple Pie.

Scrupulous: A scrupulous character tries to stay within the letter of the law but believes more in the spirit of it. He is willing to bend a few laws to see that justice is served. Spiderman and Batman are two good examples as is “Dirty Harry”.

Anarchist: This character looks out for number one and not much else. Deadpool acts this way 90% of the time except when he gets “pangs of conscience”.

Miscreant: This character takes the above to the extreme. Not only does he or she watch out for number one, but will step on anyone who gets in his or her way. Damien Knight is a prime example of this type.

Diabolic: This kind of character is beyond both previous examples. He/she is a megalomaniac of epic proportions willing to lie, cheat, steal or put babies on spikes for fun. Norman Osborn and The Joker are two great examples.

Aberrant: This PC is a negative version of scrupulous. Order and law hold a place of high regard with this character, but the end always justifies. A trio of good examples would be Doctor Doom and Ras al Ghul. Both characters are a different spin on aberrant.

Now what does this bit of borrowed alignments get me? Well this is the heart of any borrowed campaign; this overall tells your players from day one what you expect from them and exactly what behavior will or will not be accommodated. While a principal campaign is unlikely in any true sense of the cyberpunk genre and the world of Shadowrun, it is possible. Say a team of Paramedics. However, most will fall between Scrupulous and Aberrant. With Anarchist and everything in between. Anything else tends to resemble the “Black Hands Gaming Society” from KODT fame. All this will give you a moral compass or level to your campaign. So, unless you want a “Black Hand” style group (at which point you have my pity or any contempt, each depending on if that’s all you can find or if you enjoy it). What does this compass do for me, you might ask? Well, it will help you design your world and its mechanics and just where this project is going.

Next comes theme, meaning exactly what is your plan to run. This is a complex idea. A classic SR game is an anything goes campaign. It can be a B & E stealth approach or a splatterpunk festival with everyone cutting loose. A G vs. E campaign implies that the characters are supposed to be heroes; sometimes forced to do bad to do good. A mercenary campaign is all about pros doing what they do best - all morals aside. This gives the GM an idea of where he wants to take his campaign and an idea just where on the moral compass he can wander. Back to the compass the theme will aid you in deciding how much sway you can expect. Just how the group can rock the boat without it tipping. An anything goes campaign can hold just about all the neutral alignments without fear. The problem comes in at the extremes, no matter what, it’s not likely the Principled and Scrupulous will work with the Diabolic and Miscreant. But, that’s just common sense.

A G & E campaign can hold 3 neutral players out of a group of eight players without anything getting hokey, with, at best, one of the evils. The anarchists will go with the flow and what keeps them entertained. They also will want a steady supply of cash. If you can’t keep them entertained they may switch sides. If they switch and start siding with aberrant, then, guess what? They’re onto the way to being miscreant and need either a “whop” on the head as a gentle reminder. If they still side with the evil PC, give them two choices: 1.) The party line, or, 2.) The front door.

Now what about the evil little guy. Well evil being evil comes in two types. The “hoarder” (give me, give me, mine, mine, mine) he/she will want everything not nailed down. The other is the “schemer” (the world exists therefore it must be mine). He/she will likely end up plotting against the group because it’s a power trip they can take inside their own little head. So, if the evil guy keeps plotting against the group, they have three choices; 1.) The party line, or, 2.) .45 ear cleanings for their characters, and lastly again 3.) The front door.

Another thing to consider is the “Omega Point”; the point at which the goals of the campaign have been met. At this point the campaign can end or find another direction to go. Now, it’s fairly easy to find other enemies; often it just happens as the game goes on. Right now, I’m running my “Trouble in Big Easy,” in which game time started in 2055 in a pre “Bug City”, Chicago, my home town (which still had a Bob’s Pizza until the whole infestation problem) - and eventually moved south to my second favorite city New Orleans, where it has stayed. Some players have come and gone; some PCs have been there since the beginning or nearly so while others are relatively new (with one character Reincarnated). But, it remains a vital game and one that still goes on evolving.

So where does that bring us full circle? No, not even close as things develop and change, ideas will come up, and time permitting, I’ll relay them and my solutions. But, right now, I can’t promise any new articles without your assistance. Send me your ideas and I’ll put the thinking cap on and see if a solution presents itself with the famous NightLife subtlety :) Right now, I’ll try to produce two to four articles a year, but with my impending graduation and marriage, I can’t promise 100%. So, I’ll try to catch you later in the Shadows.

Nightlife

P.S. If anyone in the Cincinnati, Ohio area runs a Call of Cthulhu campaign and can squeeze in one more, drop me a line at NightLif@one.net. Thanks.

Extra Bonus

Decorating your figures or… Painting those #?!@^#@!!! Miniatures

This is simply a how-to guide for those of us who like to paint miniatures but aren’t as good as those fellows who paint professionally.

Step #1: Cleaning the Figure:

The first thing to do here is to examine the figure in detail. Identify any extra flash (excess lead) and remove it either with a hobby knife or file. Next, wash the figure with dishwashing soap - preferably one that is a grease remover - and allow them to dry. Nightlife’s Tip: if you are about to run a load of dishes in the dishwasher, place them in one of the silverware holders.

Step #2: Priming the Figure:

Next comes the priming phase. Select the primer you want for an undercoat and spray the figure. Preferably, I would recommend you do this outside in a well ventilated area - i.e. - in the backyard, placing the figures on a couple of concrete blocks. Nightlife’s Tip: Use a sandable primer from your local hardware store. This is the same quality as a miniature company would produce, but is cheaper and comes in a larger quantity. I would not recommend using the Armory stuff.

Step #3: Painting the Figure:

Alright, this is where “it’s all you.” I can’t tell you what color scheme to use, except when in doubt of a suit color, charcoal gray never fails. Use dry brushing for highlights and stains for crevices. Oh, and BTW, when painting a black character, use a black primer - it just looks bad when you try a white primer.

Step #4: Touch up:

Every figure sooner or later will need a touch up. So, when using spaghetti mixtures, jot down the “recipe” so that you can duplicate it. To keep them looking good, use a sealer.

I hope you find these tips and steps helpful in your painting endeavors. E-mail me if you have any questions or ideas.