There may be one overarching story in a module or campaign, but the journey, or path, you take along the way is what makes the adventure unique to you. Designing a campaign that can be approached in a number of different ways was one of my main objectives, and the second module of the series, Predestinated Days, continues with the same approach. So, whether you decide to play it with a bunch of fighters, a small band of thieves, or even a holy or unholy brotherhood of clerics, that is just the beginning of your choice of adventure. Let's take a closer look at some of the latest progress for the next step along the path of the Althéa Campaign.
The Alignment Path
A PC's alignment plays a big part while exploring the World of Althéa, and so playing a holy warrior, like a paladin, may not necessarily be an easy path to tread. The same can be said of good or evil aligned clerics, of course, but also includes other classes that rely on following a specific alignment, like that of a druid or a bard. The point is, when selecting a class that relies on an alignment to stay true to the class specifics, the player should realise that they will have already bound themselves to consider their actions they take in the campaign moving forward. Shift too far from the class alignment reliance, and they may quickly find themselves a fallen paladin, or too far removed from their class requirement to continue in the chosen class. Through their actions, a PC could find they are drifting too far from their class alignment requirement and so need to take steps to redress it before they lose their class status.
The Althéa Campaign does its best to accommodate such PC actions, and while not perfect, I believe it still provides a workable framework for any class to be able to progress, if the player observes this while playing. For instance, it should soon become obvious that killing creatures can shift alignments (in either direction), and actions such as stealing, and chaotic behaviour, such as destroying property belonging to someone else, will also cause alignment shifts, as just a few examples.
But what happens if a PC has a bad day, and events appear to have conspired against them and they find themselves feeling a little off course to their intended behaviour? What happens if a druid is forced to kill an evil creature in self-defence, which ends up being recognised as a good act that has now shifted their alignment to such an extent that they are now considered a hero for the people? "He's such a good chap", the villagers start to cry! Not what the neutral-bent druid needs at all! Well, in the Althéa Campaign, there are a number of ways a PC can repair any life altering alignment swings, deliberate or otherwise, by reconsidering their PC's actions and actively doing things that may redress this balance (if possible) ... or by making an offering at an altar.
To do this, a PC must locate one of three types of altars that can be found dedicated to the various gods throughout the world, dedicated to either: good, evil or neutral. They perform in a similar fashion, but to avoid spoilers, I will only speak about the impact on the alignment, the subject of this topic. Making a valid offering on a good or evil altar will help shift a PCs alignment according to the altar's persuasion. A neutral altar, because of its very nature, does not apply any alignment shifting. The PC should experiment with the offerings they make, but if they do it correctly, then the PC's alignment (and all party members currently associated with them) will be shifted in the direction that the altar represents. I hope I need not say how care should be taken if there are those in the party who would not appreciate such alterations to their own alignments. It should also be pointed out that destroying one of these altars affects alignment as well ... in an obvious way, I hope.
Alignment play in action: If you would like to see a player called Travus playing a paladin (with a related good aligned party) in the campaign, take a look at his videos of playing The First Day (the first module of the campaign) ... and be sure to leave a "like" for him.
The Quests Path
In the Althéa Campaign, just as important as alignment choices, are the quests you choose to play, and in which order ... as each choice can affect the story for you, elsewhere. For this reason, I do not think some of the terms used to describe cRPGs in general suit my campaign design. For while it has some elements of those types of labels such as "story" or "sandbox", I don't think either of those two labels describe its design sufficiently. If I was to be so bold, I would like to add my own design label to suggest a gaming style called "Story Maker", where the player is creating the story around their PC, dependant upon what they choose to do. That is, it is designed like a D&D PnP campaign, with options that a player can, in many cases, choose to follow up upon or ignore completely, which can then impact the overall game experience. Or, to put it another way, the design is a "story" made up of different "sandbox" type elements. That is to say, the campaign is following a main story, but also allows the player to explore the world freely (similar to a sandbox design) in the hope to find other adventure. I guess the distinction is subtle, but I hope anyone who plays my campaign will be able to appreciate this difference I am trying to express.
So how does this play out in the game? Well, as an example, the campaign is designed with some scenarios (to borrow a D&D term), which some players may completely miss if they choose to ignore certain leads in the game. By the term "scenario", I am using it in the sense of a full adventure in its own right, and not just a basic side-quest. Building a campaign, is effectively a world full of different adventures, waiting for a player to discover and then to decide whether to pursue them or not ... and if they do so, in which order? The point being, one player may approach the story from one angle (or adventure), while another player does so another way. The full story is made according to their PC actions.
As an example from my first module, the hero can explore the village of New Edgeton, discover a sewer entrance and immediately choose to explore it. Alternatively, they could just ignore it. Later, they find a notice that leads them to consider asking about work in the sewers. The hero could pursue this, or ignore it. Later, the hero may hear of people going missing in the sewers, or that there is a reward for carrying out a task in the sewers. The hero could pursue any or none of these leads. After all, the main story (for the first module) is about removing the barrier from the village! Whether the player decides to follow up on any of these other worldly events is left entirely up to the player. These are "story elements" unique to this player's PC's experience. NB: The campaign has its own main story arc.
Finding Your Path
Why does this matter? Because, as my design ethos dictates, what you do in my first module affects what happens in the second, which is what I really want to talk about now. While it is possible to start afresh from my second module Predestinated Days, I am hoping there will be players who have managed to play my first module, and have access to a PC they played in that module, or even still have a saved game that can be continued from.
The point is, the second module, being a part of the campaign as a whole (of course), is set to continue on the same design style of giving the player the choice to pursue as many of the other world events they may discover as they would like to. Just like the first module, (and all modules with a main story), some quests must be completed to reach the end game. However, there will also be areas designed for the player to explore just because they are there. Importantly, these will come with their own adventures, and not just be infill areas on the way to complete the main quest. Outside the main quest line, I leave it to the player to decide what gaming elements they wish to pursue, but try to encourage the player to explore and build their own story from the world I have created for them to explore and adventure within.
So, as a final point for now, here is a screen shot from an area I have been working on of late, which only the most ardent or curious adventurer might find. It is full of mystery, quite dangerous, and possibly one such adventure that they wish they had never stumbled upon ... but, hey, isn't that what adventures do all the time?
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| Through The Trees, You See A House In The Distance! |
