BW PDF - Midnight Campaign

Preparation & MaterialsSetup: This chapter will help you get started with the Mayhem game, explaining the necessary tools and walkingthrough character creation. This process will reference many rules and content discussed later in the book.If something is unclear, it will likely be covered in greater detail later.Role-playing and tactical combat games can be complex, but don’t let that ruin your fun. The game itself ismeant to be flexible, and was created to fit a variety of tastes. Once you get a feel for the system, there’s noreason why your group can’t apply your own house rules or system edits. Additional information and goodconversation can be found at: www.midnightcampaign.com.Gathering a Group & MaterialsThis is a social game, so you will need between twoand six players. The game plays best with about fourplayers, but that can vary based on the group’s dynamics.MaterialsGaming dice: These dice come in sets, from four-sided diceto twenty-sided dice, and are commonly referred to by thenumber of sides they have. A ‘d4’ then is a four-sided die.Frequently, a number will be placed in front of that torepresent how many of these dice are rolled together,such as 2d4, to represent rolling two four sided dice andadding them together.Outside of the standard sets, a d14 and a d16 may becomeuseful for some advanced abilities. If unavailable, these canbe simulated by rolling the d20 and re-rolling results higherthan 14 or 16, respectively.A hex-grid playing map: If one is not available, it is alsofine to photocopy the hex-map pages at the back of thisbook and to draw relevant environments there, or to lookonline for printable grids and maps.A character sheet: This is a multi-page sheet that canbe found in the back of this book. Photocopy the firstsheet and any of the second sheets that are needed foreach character.At least two small, physical tokens: You need one torepresent their location on the map and the other torepresent their turn on the combat clock. Many playersprefer to use pewter or plastic figurines, but any fairlyunique object will work, such as scrabble tiles or sparedice. Some have even gone so far as to paint coins orother small items, but the material really doesn’t matter,as long as it is unique and can designate a forward direction.Characters using flight mechanics will want a third todesignate their height.Cards: Cards are also available for quick-referenceof abilities and spells, and will be available throughour website, midnightcampaign.comPreparing A CampaignOne of the players will have a unique and particularlychallenging role in the game. Designated a Storyteller,this player will forgo playing a character of their own,and instead plan the adventure for the other playercharacters,commonly called PC’s.Planning a campaign requires a little bit of advancepreparation and a healthy amount of creativity.Essentially, they will be creating the environments,opponents, challenges, and the over-arching storyfor the players, and verbally portraying them.There are many styles of doing this, and this bookcontains some materials for a storyteller to use, but thebest storytelling will come from creative drive and thedesire to entertain. So long as everyone is having funand rolling dice, it’s hard to fail at this job.Further advice can be found in myriad books and othergames with similar mechanics, or just by asking otherStorytellers. It’s also a good idea to just play the gamea few times with a few different groups, to see whatstyles of gaming you like, and build yourown campaign based on personal taste.7