Introduction:
This is inspired a little by D&D Miniatures, which is a skirmish game based on 3rd edition (revised) D&D and it's why I have so many minis ;-)
I wanted build something similar but truer to the D&D 4e actual rules. D&D Minis uses a bastardisation of the D&D 3rd edition rules (and character stats) and to me feels like it is missing something. However, I haven't played since the first version of D&D Minis and believe those rules have been revised since then so couldn't comment on the latest version.
I also wondered how games that have a large number of players cope - I see it from time to time on the twitter #dnd tag and it got me thinking about if it would be possible to run concurrent games in which multiple parties of players might interact. So this could be a one off event, or a way to tie in to separate games for a bit of overlap.
Basic Premise:
Pitting your wits against monsters and NPCs is one thing - but how about pitting your wits against each other?
Two parties of adventurers compete to complete a randomly assigned objective before the other party.
Setup:
You'll need a DM and at least two players. The players are split in to two teams.
Each team builds a party of adventurers. Each character should be the same level - this will probably be determined before hand by the DM.
Each team then selects a random mission from the following:
- Wipe out the other party
- Slay a certain number of monsters
- Capture the artifact and exit the scenario
- Defend the artfact, do not allow it to exit the scenario
- Hold an area for a certain number for rounds
- etc ... I'm sure I can dream up more and am open to suggestions and variations / elaborations on the above ...
If either party is wiped out the other party could continue to play to see if they defeat the monsters in play and complete their objective.
Each mission is unique, so you can see how the objectives of the missions could be in opposition to each other. Not to mention the underlying objective that your party has to complete their mission before the other party.
The DM's role is that of referee and to play any monsters that might get in the way of adventurers.
Gut feeling says the ideal number of players would be seven - a DM and two teams of three players each taking a character each. A game would probably take 3 to 5 hours to play. I believe this could also work really well with two players taking three characters each.
Mechanics:
The mechanics would basically be the same as that of a single encounter in D&D 4e.
Each round everyone rolls for initiative and the DM indicates who can take their turn.
Things like listening and searching can be minor or standard actions depending on how hard you want the character to try. The DM should apply appropriate penalties. While moving a character might still need to make acrobatics/athletics checks, and so on - this is up to the DM.
While the whole map would be visible from the outset, monsters would remain hidden from play until they are detected through line of sight (or some other mechanism at the player's disposal). If monsters move out of line of sight, it is the DM's discretion as to whether the monsters are hidden again.
Conclusion:
So what do you think? Would it work?
Is there anything you'd add or remove?
Would it be possible to build a campaign around this?
Any other thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
