I’ve been building my Dangers this week and there’s a couple of them that don’t really fit into the Types as outlined in the book.
For instance I have a scheming socialite that’s been causing the PCs some grief. She’s going to end up being a key villain, even though she’ll likely never act on her own; she’s the woman behind the curtain.
Right now I’ve got her listed as a “Corrupt Government”, but that seems like all sorts of wrong. Has anyone had any experience with designing their own?
So, she wants something. Imagine all her plots came to fruition in the way she wants. What key events would happen and what would be the bad thing that happens when she wins?
The key events are the Grim Portents and the bad thing is the Impending doom.
Understood. Though my issue is more with the Types of Dangers.
“Corrupt Government” doesn’t seem to fit very well. I’ve been toying with just making one up:
Puppet Master
Impulse: to pull strings and affect others’ actions
Gotcha. so none of the impulses really seem to match? It seems like her main impulse is Control.
could maybe be made with the Cabal impulse? But if they don’t fit then just create another one.
Thanks! I figured they wouldn’t be too hard to make up, but when I couldn’t find any homebrew Types here in the Tavern, I thought I might be missing something.
yours is fine. just use the front moves from the organisations list.
Totally make your own Dangers. We created the ones we use to establish a baseline, not to act as the be-all and end-all of badness.
The ones we created are also a Greatest Hit list from classic D&D adventures. As in, Adam went through his entire collection and boiled them down to these.
They’re as they are to steer people towards classic D&D-style adventures. Doing something different can totally work.
If you can’t make out the “right” kind of danger fot thr “person”, try to put she in the cast and make a danger of a “scene” or prop.
In one of my campaigns, I have a front in which an old Fomori endlessly stirs a magic pot, filling the land with obscene creations. The danger is the pot (a curse), and the Fomori is just listed in the cast.
Maybe this lateral approach fits you better; hope it helps!!
Although I’ve used a lot of the Dangers in the book most are of my own design. I even use the format for one-shots and single adventure Dangers.
In fact I’ve taken to using a similar format for things that aren’t really dangers, such as allied or neutral organizations. Instead of Impulse I use Structure (i.e. Religious Hierarchy), instead of Grim Portents I have Methods (Spread Divine Influence, Smite followers of Darkness), and in lieu of Impending Doom I use Objectives (Rid the realm of the Black Hand). This gives me a familiar format and template and also helps me keep non-enemy organizations from becoming static.
I’ve always felt the key to a great campaign is to portray a dynamic world with lots of elements in motion.
John Lewis I really like that approach!
I’ve also been thinking about how to tackle Grim Portents in a situation where two Dangers are opposing one another (and the PCs are caught in the middle).
I think you have to look at Grim Portents (and Dangers in general) as fluid and evolving. Many of my Grim Portents chance every couple of sessions in response to the heroes’ actions and exploits.