Location, Location, Location!

[Semi-Retired Gamer]

I'm just curious where other people are locating their game sessions. I'm leaning heavily towards locating our DR game in the local area because people are familiar with the surrounding areas and it would make the game more personal. Any thoughts on why that is or is not a good idea?

[CarCrasher]

I think it's a great idea to start in the area you know.
Sentimental attachment to certain areas brings back memories from a happier time. It makes you forget your surroundings momentarily as you remember when you and a loved one did something. In that moment of reminiscing as the DM is when you should have the big scary zombie rears its ugly head striking out at the PCs.

[flatline]

I think using your local setting is pretty common. It's certainly easiest on the GM.

--flatline

[whassupman03]

Hello...

I think using your local setting is pretty common. It's certainly easiest on the GM.

--flatline

I agree wholeheartedly. Of course being a Colorado native for my first twenty years, I would still know a lot about Colorado even though I have been living in Florida for the past several years. So it's also good to have experience from past local settings as well. Please take care; thanks a bunch, and have a good night.

whassupman03

[filo_clarke]

I'm going to play Devil's Advocate for this topic, and suggest that you do not use your familiar area as the basis for your game. I have done this, with mixed results, and the tendency that I have seen is for the group to move towards somewhere familiar to them, but perhaps not to you. A player of mine convinced the group to travel to his family's cabin north of our city. Fine, it took several sessions and many interresting pitfalls before they arrived, but eventually they did make it. Unfortunately, as a GM, I then have to describe the cabin and its surroundings to the group, some of whom have visited there in the past, so my description was inaccurate.

Also, suddenly they were formulating plans that were outside the bounds of my knowledge. They were heading for specific locations and setting goals that I couldn't predict, but they could because of precise in-game knowledge. The game became more of a back-and-forth of:
GM: "The barren road stretches for miles ahead of you, with no signs of civilization to be seen..."
Player: "Um, no, actually there is a community with a gas-station and a hardware store, and a gun-shop, and a WalMart just across the street, so we head to the Gun-Shop..."

If you are using an area that you have created, or the players are unfamilar with, but the characters are suppose to be familiar with, then you still have full control over the environment. "You know, form growing up in the area, that there is a WalMart a few blocks away, and the train tracks runright through the middle of town..."

Of course, I have found that Google Maps Street View and an overhead projector can make the game run much, much more smoothly, whichever way you want to run the campaign.

[Semi-Retired Gamer]

I'm going to play Devil's Advocate for this topic, and suggest that you do not use your familiar area as the basis for your game. I have done this, with mixed results, and the tendency that I have seen is for the group to move towards somewhere familiar to them, but perhaps not to you. A player of mine convinced the group to travel to his family's cabin north of our city. Fine, it took several sessions and many interresting pitfalls before they arrived, but eventually they did make it. Unfortunately, as a GM, I then have to describe the cabin and its surroundings to the group, some of whom have visited there in the past, so my description was inaccurate.

Also, suddenly they were formulating plans that were outside the bounds of my knowledge. They were heading for specific locations and setting goals that I couldn't predict, but they could because of precise in-game knowledge. The game became more of a back-and-forth of:
GM: "The barren road stretches for miles ahead of you, with no signs of civilization to be seen..."
Player: "Um, no, actually there is a community with a gas-station and a hardware store, and a gun-shop, and a WalMart just across the street, so we head to the Gun-Shop..."

If you are using an area that you have created, or the players are unfamilar with, but the characters are suppose to be familiar with, then you still have full control over the environment. "You know, form growing up in the area, that there is a WalMart a few blocks away, and the train tracks runright through the middle of town..."

Of course, I have found that Google Maps Street View and an overhead projector can make the game run much, much more smoothly, whichever way you want to run the campaign.

Oh, that's good, man! I thought I was being "slick" by suggesting the use of the local area in a Dead Reign campaign. While I am sure it could work just fine what you mentioned about using a made up place OR an unfamiliar place for the game sessions could actually improve the play experience.

[flatline]

go online and find yourself a map of a mall. Malls are great for one-shot adventures...and if folks actually survive, then you've got the start of your campaign.

--flatline

[whassupman03]

Hello...

I'm going to play Devil's Advocate for this topic, and suggest that you do not use your familiar area as the basis for your game. I have done this, with mixed results, and the tendency that I have seen is for the group to move towards somewhere familiar to them, but perhaps not to you. A player of mine convinced the group to travel to his family's cabin north of our city. Fine, it took several sessions and many interresting pitfalls before they arrived, but eventually they did make it. Unfortunately, as a GM, I then have to describe the cabin and its surroundings to the group, some of whom have visited there in the past, so my description was inaccurate.

Also, suddenly they were formulating plans that were outside the bounds of my knowledge. They were heading for specific locations and setting goals that I couldn't predict, but they could because of precise in-game knowledge. The game became more of a back-and-forth of:
GM: "The barren road stretches for miles ahead of you, with no signs of civilization to be seen..."
Player: "Um, no, actually there is a community with a gas-station and a hardware store, and a gun-shop, and a WalMart just across the street, so we head to the Gun-Shop..."

If you are using an area that you have created, or the players are unfamilar with, but the characters are suppose to be familiar with, then you still have full control over the environment. "You know, form growing up in the area, that there is a WalMart a few blocks away, and the train tracks runright through the middle of town..."

Of course, I have found that Google Maps Street View and an overhead projector can make the game run much, much more smoothly, whichever way you want to run the campaign.

Well that really is the truth right? Like all things in life and existence, there are always two sides to a story, and everything has both advantages and disadvantages. GMs could use a local setting because it would be easiest for practicality, but if their players know the local town like the back of their hand, Whovian "spoilers" (Ala River Song...) may happen! But in many cases it would depend on the group you are playing with. Therefore, if the GM has real-life experience in another state, this may come in handy when you live in Florida and he spent twenty years of his life in Colorado. Still, I really like the Google Maps approach... very clever!

go online and find yourself a map of a mall. Malls are great for one-shot adventures...and if folks actually survive, then you've got the start of your campaign.

--flatline

Concepts like that are pretty cool as well. My previous experience with other post-apocalyptic RPGs (In this case The Morrow Project) included a lot of fan-made material. One of these pieces of material that you reminded me of was an encounter group known as the Mallers. You see, Mallers were people who live in shopping malls after the nuclear war that happened 150 years ago (Just work with me on this if you don't know the backstory...) and use surviving merchandise in the stockrooms to survive. It was often the case that a lot of this merchandise was great barter material, especially since there would be an abundance of certain items like clothing while there would be a much limited variety of other things like weapons, fuel or food. Even though nuclear war isn't the case in Dead Reign, it did remind me of a clever addition to TMP.[sup]1[/sup] Anyway, I have to go now, so please take care; thanks a bunch, and have a good night.

whassupman03

[1]: Source: http://www.thesupplybunker.net/Morrow/mpgroups.txt

[jedi078]

As I kick around the idea to run a play by post Dead Reign game, location does come to mind....

I would probably go for the west coast of the United States, because I have lived in California and Oregon all of my civilian life (spent 6.5 years in the USMC and was over seas for 4 years).

But I would give my players (who could be from all over the world) a chance to provide some input.

[whassupman03]

Hello...

As I kick around the idea to run a play by post Dead Reign game, location does come to mind....

I would probably go for the west coast of the United States, because I have lived in California and Oregon all of my civilian life (spent 6.5 years in the USMC and was over seas for 4 years).

But I would give my players (who could be from all over the world) a chance to provide some input.

Good thought. Having the input of the players may turn out to be good, because players should need to be represented to improve their interest in gameplay. If the setting appeals to the players without ruining the game, let the games begin! Of course things have to be civil, for both the GM and the players, so this is where compromise may be useful. Anyway, please take care; thanks a bunch, and have a good afternoon.

whassupman03

[ArmySGT.]

I use Google Earth with the .kmz overlay that makes the image into topographic maps. This way I can flip back and forth. I can see all the good stuff and players have only the knowledge that a person on the ground would have. A phone book, road maps, NPCs rumors, a direction to run in.

I set games in places none of us live. In this way players can't try to steer the game toward the good stuff.

A book or two of the "100 house plans" from the magazine rack at the supermarket and I have all the houses interiors I need.

A phone book from anywhere you like. You can call a chamber of commerce and tell them you are moving there. Then they will mail you one.

[whassupman03]

Hello...

I use Google Earth with the .kmz overlay that makes the image into topographic maps. This way I can flip back and forth. I can see all the good stuff and players have only the knowledge that a person on the ground would have. A phone book, road maps, NPCs rumors, a direction to run in.

I set games in places none of us live. In this way players can't try to steer the game toward the good stuff.

A book or two of the "100 house plans" from the magazine rack at the supermarket and I have all the houses interiors I need.

A phone book from anywhere you like. You can call a chamber of commerce and tell them you are moving there. Then they will mail you one.

We seem to think similarly you and I. Though I am clueless as to where you got a .kmz overlay to turn Google Earth images into topographic maps , I tend to think about useful gaming resources such as phone books, road maps, house plan magazines, and other such things. Some unlikely resources such as road maps and phone books are especially useful in Dead Reign, since they have been mentioned in the core book and are also available in every-day life for the table.[sup]1[/sup] I'd love to find out where the .kmz can be made available, since I have only a little bit of experience with Google Earth. Oh by the way: Another resource that can be useful is something that I also tend to acquire - various maps that people publish for any game describing hotels, military bases, high schools, campgrounds, houses, and other things. Documents such as these often come with grid overlays (Of both square and hexes), and if you get the right one, you can switch on and off various other features. You name it, I will eventually buy and/or download it (Especially if it's free!). Please take care; thanks a bunch, and have a good night.

whassupman03

[1]: Dead Reign Zombie Role-Playing Game, page 97

[whassupman03]

Hello...

First, thanks for the Google street view idea. I had printed out a few images from Google Maps and was working my way around with those but I'll definitely set up a laptop close by next time we play, it surely will make the game much more exciting. I've also decided to locate my game in the city I live in. It's actually one of the reasons my PCs love the game. I've had battle scenes in an apartment I used to live in with my ex-roomate as a Zombie. The main base for the players is a circus school my kid attended last winter. Their next adventure will probably involve a visit to Canadian Tire, a local hardware store. Using Québec City as a setting has actually been a great source of inspiration for me and I feel it provided depth to everyone's experience. I would certainly recommend it for other GMs.

Yes, using your current location of residence is a good idea, especially if your players are there in person to play. Of course, if you, for example, lived in one place for the first twenty years of your life and then moved somewhere else to where you live right now, it would depend on which one you know about more. So in the end, the one you know more about wins. But like many rules, there are loopholes. For example, if the place you live right now is within a good accessible range of your old place in-game, you could have your players mount an expedition there for some special reason. Resources, a zombie killing frenzy, whatever - there are other ways to use your original hometowns and the knowledge you have about them in your games. Anyway, please take care; thanks a bunch, and have a good day.

whassupman03

P.S.: Killing your zombified roommate... that's hardcore.

[Razzinold]

I'm going to play Devil's Advocate for this topic, and suggest that you do not use your familiar area as the basis for your game. I have done this, with mixed results, and the tendency that I have seen is for the group to move towards somewhere familiar to them, but perhaps not to you. A player of mine convinced the group to travel to his family's cabin north of our city. Fine, it took several sessions and many interesting pitfalls before they arrived, but eventually they did make it. Unfortunately, as a GM, I then have to describe the cabin and its surroundings to the group, some of whom have visited there in the past, so my description was inaccurate.

Also, suddenly they were formulating plans that were outside the bounds of my knowledge. They were heading for specific locations and setting goals that I couldn't predict, but they could because of precise in-game knowledge. The game became more of a back-and-forth of:
GM: "The barren road stretches for miles ahead of you, with no signs of civilization to be seen..."
Player: "Um, no, actually there is a community with a gas-station and a hardware store, and a gun-shop, and a WalMart just across the street, so we head to the Gun-Shop..."

If you are using an area that you have created, or the players are unfamilar with, but the characters are suppose to be familiar with, then you still have full control over the environment. "You know, form growing up in the area, that there is a WalMart a few blocks away, and the train tracks runright through the middle of town..."

Of course, I have found that Google Maps Street View and an overhead projector can make the game run much, much more smoothly, whichever way you want to run the campaign.

Visiting the family cabin, precise in game knowledge and inaccurate descriptions are the points I want to address in your post.

First thing I have to ask is, where your players playing themselves or playing characters but using their outside knowledge? If they were not playing themselves then the conversation would go something like this:

Steve: "Hey everyone, lets all head to my mom and dead's cabin north of here!"
GM: "Which cabin is this ?"
Steve: "The one we all went to last summer?"
GM: "What are you taking about, you are a police officer who just transferred in from Durham region two weeks ago"

Same thing applies to all their precise knowledge, if they aren't playing themselves then they have nothing to base their strategy on, other than general knowledge of one's home town and any fictional things you decide to allow (cabin, boat, etc.) and then you get to decide all the details.

I once had a player (HU game) that was playing the Hunter/Vigilante class and when their vehicle was damaged (hover vehicle) he attempted to repair said vehicle by asking me specific questions about the extent of the damage so he could determine how to fix it.

I think had to explain to him that you Serge are a fully certified electrical engineer, but Mason the assassin is not. You have no electrical or mechanical skills on your sheet.

If you did allow them to play themselves, well there are ways around that too.
You could be a total knob and say that the cabin is burned to the ground when they get there or if you don't want to be that extreme it could already be occupied or looted and empty.

As for the surroundings you make a deal with them, out of game, you simply tell them that the landscape is however you decide it to be since you have never been there. They could even offer to write up a brief description of the area should you feel like incorporating any of it into your vision. If they continue to insist on editing your version then like I said allow them to go to that gas station and have it overrun or destroyed.

I know I wouldn't let my players do something like that because I could just imagine what would happen.
"My parent's keep 6 months worth of food and water for 8 people and have tons of ammo, rifles, shotguns and illegal handguns stored there."
Same thing here, you could ask for a list of what is there and veto what you choose or just simply say that it's already been looted.

Breaking into a cabin they find is one thing but using an existing one is a lot harder to do.

[filo_clarke]

They were playing "themselves" in this scenario. While I understand your points, and certainly used some of those tricks to keep the game moving along smoothly, the lack of GM knowledge vs. Player knowledge manifested in other ways. The PCs were formulating plans based on their knowledge of the area, which became increasingly difficult for me to plan out. Random encounters are fine up to a point, but when they had become goal-oriented, I would like to challenge them with pre-made scenarios. This got harder and harder the further form my own knowledge they strayed.

Yes, I could have said that there was a "veto" in place for my version of the area, and it trumped their actual memories, but I felt as though that would have been unfair. They were subconsciously going to where they felt safe, and were enacting a zombie-plan of sorts. I, as the GM, was free to make that as difficult or easy on them as I felt the game required, but ultimately I didn't want to stand in the way of their goal more than was dramatically necessary.

Since then, I have used locations unfamiliar, or less familiar to them, and have moved away from having them play "themselves" (due mostly to a single player that claims to have real-life superpowers, and wants them in-game).

[say652]

I did the home court thing for my heroes unlimited game. Groton ct. Baby. Was fun but with a military base across town...... yea we basically just kept the bad guys busy long enough for the combat copters to blast the heck out of whatever.

[Razzinold]

They were playing "themselves" in this scenario. While I understand your points, and certainly used some of those tricks to keep the game moving along smoothly, the lack of GM knowledge vs. Player knowledge manifested in other ways. The PCs were formulating plans based on their knowledge of the area, which became increasingly difficult for me to plan out. Random encounters are fine up to a point, but when they had become goal-oriented, I would like to challenge them with pre-made scenarios. This got harder and harder the further form my own knowledge they strayed.

Yes, I could have said that there was a "veto" in place for my version of the area, and it trumped their actual memories, but I felt as though that would have been unfair. They were subconsciously going to where they felt safe, and were enacting a zombie-plan of sorts. I, as the GM, was free to make that as difficult or easy on them as I felt the game required, but ultimately I didn't want to stand in the way of their goal more than was dramatically necessary.

Well I did mention above that if they were playing themselves then knowing about the cabin is fair game, but they should still cut you a little slack with the surroundings. At the very least give you a few notes on key places so you can be prepared for next time.

Since then, I have used locations unfamiliar, or less familiar to them, and have moved away from having them play "themselves" (due mostly to a single player that claims to have real-life superpowers, and wants them in-game).

WTH ?

I would be ok with people playing themselves in a game like Dead Reign, although it would be kind of difficult to come up with fair stat numbers for the attributes. Luckily for me this has never come up because we've never played as our selves in the game.

[say652]

My super power is awesome sauce. Bwahahaha.
I use bus maps city maps old rpg maps. Its just a location.

[Chronicle]

Playing where you know is best. Most places are known to the players and it helps planning move along faster.

[Tirisilex]

I have lived most of my Life in New Hampshire and I know Mass.. and Maine a little.. I'm actually using New England as our area of play but I'm making up false cities and towns. Kind of like Metropolis or Gothim City.. PLaces that donty exist. I kind of look at it that it's in a Parallel universe that is similar to our own reality but different.

[whassupman03]

Hello...

I have lived most of my Life in New Hampshire and I know Mass.. and Maine a little.. I'm actually using New England as our area of play but I'm making up false cities and towns. Kind of like Metropolis or Gothim City.. PLaces that donty exist. I kind of look at it that it's in a Parallel universe that is similar to our own reality but different.

Interesting... what inspiration do you use for your fictional places? Do you based them off of real-life places and add the fictional places as modified versions elsewhere? Essentially, I'm just curious. After all, Metropolis in most of the Superman movies was partly based off of New York City, so that's why I ask. Please take care; thanks a bunch, and have a good day.

whassupman03

[Trent]

Hello...

I have lived most of my Life in New Hampshire and I know Mass.. and Maine a little.. I'm actually using New England as our area of play but I'm making up false cities and towns. Kind of like Metropolis or Gothim City.. PLaces that donty exist. I kind of look at it that it's in a Parallel universe that is similar to our own reality but different.

Interesting... what inspiration do you use for your fictional places? Do you based them off of real-life places and add the fictional places as modified versions elsewhere? Essentially, I'm just curious. After all, Metropolis in most of the Superman movies was partly based off of New York City, so that's why I ask. Please take care; thanks a bunch, and have a good day.

whassupman03

Actually Gotham City is also based on NYC . In fact Gotham was a very popular proposed choice for the renaming of New Amsterdam , now called New your city . We almost had a real life Gotham City .

[Trent]

Hello...

I have lived most of my Life in New Hampshire and I know Mass.. and Maine a little.. I'm actually using New England as our area of play but I'm making up false cities and towns. Kind of like Metropolis or Gothim City.. PLaces that donty exist. I kind of look at it that it's in a Parallel universe that is similar to our own reality but different.

Interesting... what inspiration do you use for your fictional places? Do you based them off of real-life places and add the fictional places as modified versions elsewhere? Essentially, I'm just curious. After all, Metropolis in most of the Superman movies was partly based off of New York City, so that's why I ask. Please take care; thanks a bunch, and have a good day.

whassupman03

Actually Gotham City is also based on NYC . In fact Gotham was a very popular proposed choice for the renaming of New Amsterdam , now called New your city . We almost had a real life Gotham City .

For fictional places i usually take a name from that county's history . or from an early explorer or event of that area . Or ill take a smaller town or city and just increase its size based on resources . Such as increasing Paducah Ky from 30 k to 3 mil . Its at the convergence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers with 4 other major rivers very close . Plus a national forest and hydro-electric dams and a very centered location in the country . I also enhanced the general Jackson Purchase area of Ky to support it . I end up with a very unique land for a zombie apocalypse . With plenty of spots for safe havens and great resources in the area for the creative and quick thinking . Farm lands to heavy forest to river industry . There is even a max security prison in the area right on a major river . Has its own docks and village/farm .

[whassupman03]

Hello...

Actually Gotham City is also based on NYC . In fact Gotham was a very popular proposed choice for the renaming of New Amsterdam , now called New your city . We almost had a real life Gotham City .

Cool!

For fictional places i usually take a name from that county's history . or from an early explorer or event of that area . Or ill take a smaller town or city and just increase its size based on resources . Such as increasing Paducah Ky from 30 k to 3 mil . Its at the convergence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers with 4 other major rivers very close . Plus a national forest and hydro-electric dams and a very centered location in the country . I also enhanced the general Jackson Purchase area of Ky to support it . I end up with a very unique land for a zombie apocalypse . With plenty of spots for safe havens and great resources in the area for the creative and quick thinking . Farm lands to heavy forest to river industry . There is even a max security prison in the area right on a major river . Has its own docks and village/farm .

That's a nifty way to do it. And it makes sense. I would definitely agree that Paducah, Kentucky in your limelight would be a great way to play out a zombie apocalypse. Such reminds me of cough, cough, Raccoon City (No crossovers intended people!). But anyway, please take care; thanks a bunch, and have a good day.

whassupman03