All this week I am tossing out one gaming idea brewing in the background to pitch to the gaming group this coming weekend. The lead off hitter? You might be surprised: Dungeons & Dragons!
Game: Forgotten Realms
System: d20 4th Edition
Quickie Bite: A return to classic adventuring in a familiar setting, but with new dangers — and new heroes — ready to shape the landscape.
In 2008, roughly a month after the release of 4th Edition, I ran a “one shot” of the D&D module, “Keep on the Shadowfell.” That one shot lasted five sessions, I believe, as it took quite a bit longer for the group to make its way through what became a pretty straightforward dungeon crawl. However, prior to that were several memorable battles, some fun role-playing, and a good analysis of the game system. Overall the group seemed to really like the system and I have to say that as the DM it was fairly easy to run. Many of my complaints over prior editions felt addressed and now that it’s been out for a longer period of time the game has held up to scrutiny by other gaming groups. Also, as I previously posted back in the day, D&D seems like a game that I ought to be running.
As for the campaign itself, the Forgotten Realms sounds like a natural fit: for many of us it is THE iconic D&D setting (as the oldest player in the group I only played a handful of Greyhawk) and feels appropriate for a grand reset of a new edition of D&D. One player did a very comprehensive review of the new edition as well as the Forgotten Relams Campaign Guide and I have to agree that there is quite a bit of potential. Couple that with the previews of Dungeons & Dragon Insider—Dragon and Dungeon—and there is really no limit to the amount of material out there. It’s easily the best supported game in print by a large margin.
What of the campaign itself? I have to say that some themes have arisen but no overarching plot or story as of yet. My desire would be to push more towards “old school” D&D, with iconic monsters and the classic adventuring party. That’s helped that only the core books are out at the moment; we’ve mostly avoided any rules bloat by being on the front end. (And, just to be clear, there’s quite a bit of D&D material already out and/or on the near horizon.) So the campaign would be driven primarily by what the group is looking for and the characters. It could be as easy as picking up on some of the elements of the “Shadowfell” module and running with them forward (or backwards; a D&D prelude?).
Another bonus is everyone is on equal footing when it comes to 4th Edition. No one player has any great insight to the game and that leads to equal contributions at the table. I really like this component. Undoubtedly as everyone picks up on their particular class we’ll have people who are the go-to resource on fighters, rituals, etc but out of the gate the group will be working—and learning—together. This speaks to some of the previous game issues where party cooperation was, frankly, lacking. It’ll be nice to have a cohesive group working together and 4th Edition really promotes that.
The 1-30 level paradigm that 4th Edition brings is also interesting from a storytelling perspective. Immediately I see the possiblity of dividing the campaign into three volumes, each one broken out by tier (heroic, paragon, and epic). How those volumes interact provide pausing points, allow for reframing the story, moving the timeline forward, etc. That provides some exciting opportunities, especially at the upper, world-shaking level. Ultimately what I see about this campaign is that it could be in part just as much about the journey rather than the destination.
Pros: Well-supported; decent group buy-in; fosters good player interaction; semi-familiar setting; players on equal footing; promotes a good storytelling structure; scratches the old school itch.
Cons: Just finished a D&D game (3.5); “Shadowfell” did leave some bad taste in mouths based on poor module design; having to learn the rules; front-loaded game prep (the ranger?).
Don’s Interest: 
How would this game interest you?
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