The Fearless DM

I’m working on setting up a Labyrinth Lord campaign for 2012. My original plan was AD&D (which is also somewhat driven by laziness- I know AD&D very well), but there are certain elements I wanted to not include.. eventually it became clear that if I started more stripped down I could form things up from scratch a bit easier.

Two things that I really like from 4th Edition are the wide range of races (everything from Deva to Minotaur) and the wide range of classes. The Invoker and the Runepriest classes from 4th Edition, for example, are both favorites of mine, because of how they differ from just a cleric. BUT I don’t like how some other players treat races and classes in 4e. I don’t think they do it maliciously- but I think there’s a very “stat first” mentality that some people have. Here I am trying to build cultures and world details, using those classes and races to support details. I know, right.

So I want something that allows me to bring in details like that- in practical terms- kits. I am less interested in mechanical complexity (although a token is nice)  than I am in detail.

I also know that there’s a human element, a psychology to this. You can’t just put out 90 options and say “pick one” because players will either just pick the perceived best, or the weirdest, or the most familiar, in accordance with that players personality and whims, and they will all be played the same regardless, at least at first, because there’s a learning stage that happens at the beginning of every campaign. In any case, how can I include an option that says , say “Runepriest”, without really introducing what runepriests (for example) do in this setting?

And issue #2, old standbys like elves and dwarves, everyone always knows (or think they know) exactly how those work, so I end up stuck with world details I didn’t intend. I’m not talking radical changes, but for example, I want my elves to have tribes. i want my dwarves to know a bit about dwarven lore. 

So here’s my idea:

All players start out with Humans only, and only the following classes available: fighter, thief.

No, not even clerics. Because clerics are the first way to form a campaign- the cleric has a god, and the god becomes an ingrained detail of the history of your campaign. However, clerics (of ordained gods of the campaign pantheon) will be available right away, at the first session. 

To explain: I will create a deck of index cards- or perhaps just a written ledger— that is going to unlock certain details of the campaign as player options. Every player starts with a card, (even at the beginning of their first character creation) so they will have one additional option. And I think I may make special cards available as rewards or ‘after game specials’.Each player thus maintains a collection of personal unlocked details, and these can be used as character options.

Labyrinth Lord is going to have player and character turnover, plus it should not be too unusual to maintain 2 or 3 PCs at once, even in the same game, plus round out a party with henchmen.So the unlocks will be something I expect people to use. Also, I want the unlocks to each come with a sort of mini-history-lesson for that thing.

So what I think will make this fun (maybe I’m horribly wrong..) is that each player will have a personal collection of unlocks, some of which may be unique. And in certain cases, the players can even choose to pursue quests because they know what the unlock is.

The first game unlocks (every player gets 1 of the following, and can choose to use it immediately or just keep it in his collection) will include:

• Barbarian of the Wandering Fens: +4 AC when not wearing any armor, +1 with spears
• Knight of the Western Reaches: Honorable title, Free platemail at level 1
• Harrowpath Bandit: +1 to hit with shortbows or scimitars
• Lightbringer of Helia, Queen of the Sun- good aligned clerics of light, warmth, and purity
• Blackcoat of Aeon, the Universe- lawful clerics dedicated to order, the stars, lightning
• Confessor of the Nine- neutral clerics dedicated to preserving the traditions of the Original Nine Lords of Aedorea
• Kithkin (the reclusive halfling race of my campaign- Kithkin have tails)
• Student of Bilario, Wizard of the Western Reaches
• Student of Miim, Wizardess of Harrowpath
• Student of Dame Yaga, Witch of the Wandering Fens

So as you can see, you can’t learn magic unless you learn from someone who knows it. Now- the list will grow over time. Eventually there will be other wizard mentors, other races, other gods and goddesses and mysteries introduced, but the point is they come in a bit at a time, and the players get to understand them first before they get to take them over. Bilario, Miim, and Dame yaga will also be established NPCs before the campaign even starts- they will be amongst the most important NPcs in the campaign.