I've had much better expierences running games where the PC's "start" with ties - e.g., a werewolf clan, a spy team, a family, DFRPG-style story tying, etc.

Has anyone kicked off a Desolation game like that? e.g., the players are an Imperial "spy" team, whats left of an Imperial legion, a travelling band of performers, a mercenary company, etc.

Hullo, Gary,



While I like gamers in a group who create their characters with a tie or connection of some sort, I tend to find that the player characters in my two gaming groups like to create characters with disparate backgrounds, as it seems to add some flavour and spice to their games. And I suspect they like to put the pressure on me that way, too!

That said, Desolation has been a pleasant surprise in that regard, at least with the players in the Friday night group. One of the characters is Kiarra Foxten, the owner of an inn in the village/community where they started the game just before the Night of Fire struck. Then there is Devron Sharpis, a Legionnaire based in the village, who had fallen in love with Kiarra. There is Barm Vaks, a Mongrel hunter who came to the village about a year before the NoF, and was one of the hunters for the village. Torvu Peng is a Rover who was stationed in a nearby Legion encampment and served as their Supplies Officer, who is now a merchant of sorts operating out of the community. There's also Teela Goran, an human Animist working at the inn at the time of the NoF. Finally, there is the newest player, who joined us just after the end of the last scenario that I ran for the game. When I start running Desolation again in the new year, she will be creating a character for the game that she says she wants to have "know" several of the other characters in advance. Should be interesting.

That said, the Sunday gamers, consisting of two players, were an interesting mix. The first character is Phedrin Mor, a hunter from Verelanar, who ended up somewhere in the south after the Night of Fire. He died at the end of the last scenario, saving the life of one of the village children when she plunged into the river. There is also Krenai "Blueeyes" Denshawni, a Warlander Primalist who was a slave in the Warlands of a nasty spellcaster who took her on as an apprentice, and then died during an expedition to the Empire during the Night of Fire. I had a couple of other players in the game as well for a short period, but they left the group for various reasons. Sunday's gaming group are not as cohesive, let alone cooperative, as the Friday nighters, but the campaign was entertaining to the point where I finished up the last scenario.