Campaign Style

Troimoira’s Fane is being planned as a non-persistent server for Neverwinter Nights. Adventuring parties will meet on the server at pre-arranged times in order to play a tailored scenario, as part of an on-going campaign. Although there will be considerable freedom of movement for the PC party they will be moving along a particular story-line devised by the GM.

It will also, at least initially, be a closed world system. That is, only PCs created specifically for Troimoira’s Fane will be allowed onto the server.

Players will be encouraged to explore all aspects of the world, and to develop their characters beyond game-time, by taking part in down-time activities and contributing to the development of the world itself.

There are several reasons for these decisions, and they all have to do with my GMing style and strengths.

Firstly, I believe that RPG PCs are special – they are meant to be the heroes in a story, and in many senses the world revolves around them. This precludes a persistent server, which can leave the player feeling insignificant.

I also tend to run story-heavy campaigns, in which the party is following up, and helping to develop, a particular chain of events. This means that I need to concentrate on fairly small groups of characters, particularly if I want to do justice to their effect on the world around them.

Finally, I am an absolute slave to consistency – anything that “doesn’t feel right” irritates me. Hence the closed world.

In short, I would like Troimoira’s Fane to be as close to a Pen & Paper RPG as possible.

I think Neverwinter Nights has the potential to be the next evolutionary step on the RPG ladder. Far from detracting from the role-playing experience, the system should help immerse the players in the world and the story, since they can only see what is on the screen. There is no distraction from the dice or character-sheet, or the physical presence of the people behind the characters (or, indeed the GM). The world, the characters and the story hold centre stage.