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Friday, September 9, 2011

Want Your PC to be Abducted By Aliens?

"PCs begin the adventure waking up alone in an unfamiliar setting, stripped of all of their possessions".

Do you really want to play in the above session? A session that starts with the decision making process totally removed from you? Where you have lost everything you have gained, not through your own actions or failures, but through DM fiat?

Me? I will not play in the above adventure in campaign play. Sorry.

Would the above be a decent way to start a campaign? Sure. There is no prehistory being erased, no PC actions being invalidated. A one shot? No problem. Hey, it's perfect for a convention. It sucks when placed in the middle of an on going story.

There are Railroads and there are RAILROADS. Starting an adventure with the PCs abducted and stripped of belongings is a railroad of the worst sorts.

That, and it's just poor adventure design.

End of short rant...

Begin non-rant...

Great start to the Football season here in the States last nite. Wish I had caught the game. Not going to see much football this sunday, as I have a memorial dinner to attend that day for the 10th anniversary of 9-11.



6 comments:

  1. I'd be willing to try that route if (a) it was the start of a campaign, as you say or (b) I trusted the GM that it was going to turn out to be a kick-ass story - but not if it's just some random encounter.

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  2. Oddly enough, that's more or less how we started our current Pathfinder game. Not a bad way to start a campaign, as you say; but yeah, not ideal for an adventure.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh quit whining!

    All your stuff is in a room down the hall being guarded by four goblins. Sheesh!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It could be guarded by 2 old ladies and a hamster - it's wrong to remove the players' choice, or illusion of choice, from them.

    It's the worst form of railroad when it's dropped in the middle of a campaign.

    Besides, I hate anal probes... wait, you were just talking about the RR, not the abduction ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hamsters and Anal Probing.

    I do NOT need to know that much about your personal life...

    But congrats on the NC-17 blog rating!

    ReplyDelete
  6. One of the Talislanta intro adventures was like this but was made much more interesting due to the fact your memories of how you go there were bottled up. Part of the adventure was figuring out how you crashed an airship and were captured by slavers. So a bit more intrigue and mystery than your normal prisoner scenario.

    ReplyDelete

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