Rivers Run Red

I was flipping through Kingmaker 2 (Rivers Run Red) last night and thought I'd share some of the things that jumped out at me as Paizo continues their experiment in sandbox adventures and kingdom-building.

• 2 is very much a continuation of 1 in that it mostly expands the sandbox. And adds kingdom building. Aw yeah. Kingdom building.
  
• Kingdom building looks awesome.
  
• Rome was not build in a day. It will take time for your fledgling kingdom to mature. Once you get settled in years will pass and you will have to think of what you want to do long-term with your character (as well as the kingdom). This is not an Archie comic. Dewey's character will grow up. Larry's character will get old. Be prepared.
  
• We may have sessions down the road that mostly or entirely consist of kingdom management. While bean-counting and infrastructure management don't sound like fun in real life, I foresee it being a hootenanny when your capital city (and its residents) are at stake! Be forewarned, it will not all be dungeons and dragons. That's... that other game.
• "That other stuff that so-called adventurers do" is, of course, always available in sandbox form if you guys just wanna smash some face and get some loot. Cuz who doesn't once in a while?
  

Interesting times ahead...

Expectations for Kingmaker Kick-off

As we approach our first real session, I thought I'd clarify what's expected for the May 2 prologues - I've been getting a few questions so chances are others have them.

• You should have an introductory scene prepared (at least in mind) that will introduce your character to the party. It need not be action-packed (not all characters are so), but it should be evocative of who you're playing in the story.
  
• Since I will likely be the primary person helping you run your scene, please fill me in on how you would like it to play out so that I can help you get to where you want to go. If I have to guess, you could get disappointed, and that's no fun.
• If you want to include others in your scene (for example you want to introduce your relationship with another party member), best get that character's player involved too for similar reasons.
• By the end of your scene(s?) you should have a charter (in hand or by association) from the Lord Mayor of Restov (sanctioned by Lord Regent Noleski Surtova himself!) to strike out and tame the Stolen Lands. To the south!

This session will be pretty free-form - the main goal is to set the tone for some good narrative. Once the ball gets rolling we'll be dialing down the role-play and dialing up the roll-play. :)