Hello.

Hello. Right now I am designing an open table campaign for possible running at a local game shop. Every session is a new adventurer that ends where it began. It’s supposed to be based around a single area where the PCs live and is meant to be flexible as to the cast of characters, yet players who come back can see the world unfold and have more control on how it goes. Here’s what I have so far, please critique and tell me what you think.

This place is a collection of buildings, tents and constructions.  It is a place of sights and sounds unmarred by the touches of civilization.  It is a place for digging and selling and living. You can see the people who will pass through, and the people who will stay, and soon you’ll see the difference.  One group is characteristically hurried, watching the position of the blue sun Azira and her 9 orbiting sisters. While the others take their time to haggle with the traders, the time to appreciate not just the time of day, but the way the shadows lengthen in one part of the camp. This place is many things to many people. To some, it is simply an outpost with clean water on the edges of the desert. To some, it is a place to sell their wares and find a worthy purchase among the hundreds of travelers from all across the 6 realms. But to all, it is called The Market. And to you, it is a home. What you all have in common, is that you come, seeking riches and adventure.  And here, in this place, you are sure to find it.

The Market is a bustling community of thieves, merchants, adventurers and mercenaries. It has anything a hero could ever need or want:  A half-dozen inns, a tent of mystics, a forge, a mill, a tanner, a Fletcher, a cartographer, and of course, the grand Bazaar.  The Market is located on many crossroads:  it sits on the border of, Umara, the Great Red Desert to the west and is split by the great Sajar River, running north to south.  To the east, the great Sea of Albahar stretches for miles and miles.

This campaign is an open-table campaign. Each week is a new adventure that ends in the players returning to The Market region of the world. Adventures may bring you past the borders of this region, but you always return. Whoever they were, whatever happened, these heroes live and make their homes in The Market and surrounding areas. For all intents and purposes:  it is the world. Players may come and go from the table, but when not adventuring, their characters are there in the background, many heroes making a living in their preferred occupation.  As a result, characters can also eventually come to own holdings and businesses as they accrue influence and notoriety among the various factions of The Market. 

   

Other Ideas:

• Adventure hooks can come from anywhere. Make it something tied to a character’s occupation or daily activity. 

• Mercenary-esque. Adventurers for hire, usually. 

• Rewards for being there. ‘Preparation points’(bolster move(?))? What can you craft, what deals can you barter in between adventures? What did your character do before the session, what will your character do after the session?  

• Occupations: http://hkcarms.tripod.com/occ.html 

• How did your latest adventures change the world. How do people react to your actions, your reputation?

• How is everything interconnected?

• The idea is to have stepping stones to every type of magic realm or fantasy setting. Arabian nights feel in the desert, pirates in the ocean, river bandits, elves in the forest,  orcs in the mountains, Dwarves in the tunnels, subterfuge with the thieves guild, etc. Have the players add to the world. 

• Players can have multiple heroes in the setting. It is easy to introduce more heroes, more citizens to The Market. There will always be another room for an adventurers.

• New economy system? Followers?