Hi all,
I’ve begun running my first DW campaign. The first session went great, but now I’m having trouble creating fronts. What I have is posted below, and I was wondering if I could get some feedback, thanks in advance!
Hi all
Hi all,
I’ve begun running my first DW campaign. The first session went great, but now I’m having trouble creating fronts. What I have is posted below, and I was wondering if I could get some feedback, thanks in advance!
Comments are closed.
Cult of Nar’ghul
– Cult begins publicly promising the return of lost loved ones.
– What was once a despised shadowy underground coven becomes a political and social powerhouse, their members boldly walking the streets and defended by common folks.
– Everyone has lost someone important to them. As time goes on, more and more throw in with the cult.
– Sendu and the other good dieties lose power as their flocks turn away.
– Governments align with the cult. Anyone who has stood against them are now hunted criminals.
Not a long time DW player, but here goes. As I understand it, the Grim Portents should indicate the effects noticeable to the PCs.
For example, Thanos is Chained: anyone dying of natural causes, for example the elderly, return to life after one hour.
I think this is a good start, but as Michael stated the most important thing to outline is the player facing stuff. This is the stuff that you’ll be able to draw on when your players want to know what happens next.
You want them to be things that the players could possibly hope to combat too, in some small way. Either through physical combat or perhaps negotiation, or espionage or something.
The point of the fronts, as far as I can see, is to fuel the excitement in your players’ lives.
Also, stakes questions for the front would be good to have too. Just a few open ended questions about these fronts that you are curious to learn the answer to.
I had a question though. For the cast, you’ve listed 2 god-like beings and one arch villain. Can the players interact with these characters at all? It might help to outline some more relatable characters too. Local ones that can help and hinder the players directly.
The old saying in writing circles is “show, don’t tell”. Give the details by painting the scene: they’ll get the underlying message.
Telling:
These cultists are getting nastier and more crazy every week.
Showing:
A man is pressing a raw steak to a horribly bruised eye and nursing a sprained, bleeding wrist. He smells as if someone has urinated on him.
‘Damn cultists,’ he says, ‘they used to just shake us down for donations, but now they’re asking the weirdest stuff. They want my cat, so I bring it. They shave the cat in a barrel of cold water using a blunt razor, so it’s attacking them, going totally nuts, and they’re discussing the claw marks on their arms and faces, reading them like some kind of holy book…I ask what they’re doing, and suddenly they all start screaming and beating the stuffing out of me! And then…”
He looks down at his urine soaked clothes, choked up; then, silently, he begins to cry. After a few minutes, he wipes his nose on his sleeve.
“Gods-damned cult of Shub-Niggurath,” he croaks, “they’ll kill someone soon.”
Thanks for all the feedback guys. I definitely have a better understanding of Grim Portents now.
This is the Campaign Front, so the players won’t be immediately meeting these characters, down the line they will.
I’ll work on stakes as well!
Awesome!