Dominions DnD
 

Dominions as a flowing DnD campaign map
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Generate a huge map, put all of the nations on it, run it for 50 turns or so. Sit yourself in a corner and rush-research the Eyes of God spell. Try to keep many scouts active in the area that your DnD party is wandering in. Every "month" of play time, generate a new turn in order to keep the map fluid. You could do screenshots of the area, the units, the individuals, the actions that are going on so that you can show them as "this is what you see".

Some Dungeon Master text examples of play:

"This province is under no flag. Its mostly swamp. There is a Shaman here with a bunch of lizard man followers who are armed with pikes"

"You have now entered a rocky province at the base of some mountains which is self ruling. There is a commander who seems to have good but common equipment. Iron cap, scale mail cuirass, shield. He is armed with a broad sword. There is also a low-level priest. Their troops are mostly militia with some light and heavy infantry thrown in."

"The province you have walked into is having a war. The undead nation of Ermor is trying to take this rich farmland from the hoburgs who have always lived here. This is what you see..." (screenshot of battle? movie of battle? Or even bring up the game and let them watch it)

"This province is strongly under the dominion of Ulm. Everywhere you see order and productivity. But your mage comments that magic feels somehow heavier here as though it would be difficult and possibly not work as well."

"The bird-men nation of Caelum that you were seeking is at war with the giants nation of Jotunheim. The province you have entered, and expected to find Caelum to trade with for that Staff of Storms, is now under the Jotunheim flag and their lich king. However, it will give you a chance to try and pick up some of those death spells you heard they have. You also note that the Jotuns are spread rather thin. The force left here is only one giant commander and a couple of troops. The war must be going hard. The giant commander has lost an arm and seems diseased. You also see that the giant commander has somewhere picked up a VERY interesting sword which glows a sickly green. Possibly you could do yourselfs a favor AND get in good with Caelum at the same time."

Gandalf Parker

Re: Dominions DnD
 

I like the idea. One thing that would be slightly difficult is if they (for example) kill the giant commander, how to make him vanish from the game when you hit "Next turn." Otherwise D&D will get out of synch with your model (the game).

-Max

Re: Dominions DnD
 

Yeah there might have to be some note taking and actions by "my" nation to clear up some things. But still less than trying to keep a fluid domain campaign without the help of the game.

If they killed off the giants then I could probably air-attack it to deplete them, then suicde the left over units against a neighboring province to let Caelum move in easily.

Re: Dominions DnD
 

Interesting idea, a GM could use dominions as a tool, rather than a game to easily keep track of the gaming world.

However, you would need a in game editor to that, rather than fudging it.

There are many generic roleplaying systems, that can be set in any world.

Re: Dominions DnD
 

Yeah, but most generic roleplaying systems don't have an AI attached to a huge world simulator. I really like this idea.

On reflection, I think you'd probably want to have a "DM" nation that starts with a province with no connections to anybody else, all spells pre-researched, maybe a couple of miscellaneous nation-specific spell (Soul Slay on Steroids) to e.g. kill off the giant commander when necessary, etc. If there were a way to mod Eyes of God to show units that would be good, otherwise you'll have to have cheap summonable, stealthy units that can Teleport or Cloud Trapeze to all the provinces on the map, in case you need to know what is where.

-Max

Re: Dominions DnD
 

The DM could also just have control of whatever nations the players would be facing allowing him to deal with them as he wished(maybe add a spell that kills the owners units/commander? or simply hope a disband command is added)

Re: Dominions DnD
 

Well yes, but then you don't get the benefit of the AI(s) to do the decision-making. You'd have to run all 5 or 50 nations yourself every turn. Ideally, you'd be able to set a nation to AI temporarily and take it back over when necessary for a turn.

-Max

Re: Dominions DnD
 

Here's an idea: maybe the Devs would be interested in taking this concept by both horns and creating a seperate version of Dominions, specifically attached to a role-playing system. Basically, remake Dominions 3 as a user-friendly roleplaying tool, which comes with it's own custom set of roleplaying rules, and maybe a couple of big glossy books.

A product like that might sell well, and at the same time, attract more attention to Dom3. And I'm sure that developing a set of roleplaying rules, and fleshing various things out, would only help improve Dom4 when it comes out, so everyone benefits http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Dominions DnD
 

When I was a GM I would have loved to have my entire world (Greyhawk) as a working computer model.

You end up with A4 binders full of notes as the PC's effect the world. However any kind of AI element would need to be carfully edited by the GM, as the AI would do stuff you did not want or like in your campaign.

The AI would have been useful simulating the breakdown of the shield lands in Greyhawk for example, as various factions fought over the lands. My PC's joined 2 armies fighting pitched battles over the shield lands and managed to turn the tide of war. Dominions would have been useful in such a scenario.

Re: Dominions DnD
 

Hmmmm PC's joining the army.
You could use the mini-map simulator to build the armies, run the battle, and show the results. You could add commanders that would represent the PCs, followers, equipment.

In fact, you could MOD them into the game with unique graphics. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Dominions DnD
 

The stats wouldnt translate perfectly but there probably wouldnt be too big of a problem(and modded equipment would help too). It would be fun to do a very large battle with PCs involved and cutting/blasting through the ranks of the enemies. The ai could almost act as a separate GM, preforming random acts and setting up challenges for the players on its own.

Re: Dominions DnD
 

"Well the battle was going well but SURPRISE the mage has just turned into a dragon"

"You hear news of nearby provinces being ravaged by something called "the Eater of the Dead". Apparently a sorceror summoned it to do battle in a province far away but it got away from him. Now it roams free attacking everything."

"Yes you took the province but the following month there was some sort of attack. One large bird led a flock of many smaller birds. They seem to have taken the province in the name of ...."

"Have you ever heard of an adventurer named Bogus?"

Re: Dominions DnD
 

This fits in with the scenario model floating around as well.

Along with the big nation map, when you want a specific part of a campaign or scenario you pull a cutout game. The 50 person map would have the big picture, the small game/map would have the scenario. Much easier map mod, but might be a bit difficult to synch up.

For instance, the bit map would show the situation above such as Jot recently taking a caelum province. The small map would have just 10 provinces or so, with the 2 relevent nations and any specific quest rewards/objectives/challenges modded in. Wouldn't affect the big map, and really don't want it to unless your PCs are at the level where they do world changing events. After the scenario the large map still stays relatively the same, still providing flavor and direction.

For the small map you could even mod the players directly into the game.. 4 or 5 commanders, whatever followers starting in one barren corner with relevent EQ...and see what happens http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Dominions DnD
 

If I were running this as GM, I would run the battle in advance and use it--as a color illustration--only if it turned out favorably for the PCs. Or in other words, if the tactical AI didn't mess things up for them. In a tricky battle where the outcome is close, the players are going to want to be making their own decisions.

-Max

Re: Dominions DnD
 

Im thinking that in actual use this would probably work. After all, a MONTH of PC time between running the host? Each province representing a small country unto itself? It shouldnt get too far out of whack with the DnD game if you are a creative DM. And it would be fun to work in the game messages and world info.

I admit that I prefer the original Faerun maps, and "the City State of the Invincible Overlord". But for whipping up a quick campaign world this might be fun for someone. In a way it brings the game full circle since Illwinters games include things that came from their tabletop playing sessions.