The Greylands Campaign - Part 3

 Well this is fun. I had half this post written out before Blogger decided to yeet it into the yawning Void. 

Most of this will be just me sharing some player maps, some artwork related to the game and any final thoughts I may or may not have. 

First off though - why even make a post about this? Because I personally love artifacts like these that a game generates. Note sheets, maps, artwork, portraits, sketches and scribbles. This to me is what makes the game last after you actually stop playing. It's what shows that it even happened. 

So, let's start with the player-facing overland map that I gave them at session 1 and that they slowly added to over time:

Player-facing map of the region

Note that there are no labels or notes anywhere on it - I did not put any to begin with, and the players generally seemed uninterested or unwilling to add stuff to the map.  While there's a few extra locations added, mostly in the forest to the southeast, that happened quite a few sessions in.

Player-made map of region and tower.

Compare to this player-made map that the usual mapper in the group drew at some point. While more abstract than the one I made (and the one I made is plenty abstract already!), it does feature notes, labels and annotations for the locations listed. 

Next up we come to player maps made of the various dungeons. While I did not insist on any specific player necessarily taking on a mapping role, I also would not draw a map for any location in a dungeon for the players.

Part of it is because I feel that mapping adds an important step to slow the action down and make it (hopefully) a bit more thoughtful, but part of it is also simply me, as a GM, having to juggle plenty of other elements already. I don't want to also have to do the mapping for the players. 

So, onto the maps!

Player map with extensive notes and annotations.

Here's an example of a rare occurrence in the campaign - a player actually taking notes as we play. I am not sure why there was not that much note taking throughout the campaign. It might be simply people enjoying the game enough to not want to stop and scribble down this or that, or it might be most of my players coming from a more Trad play culture and thus just not used to writing down information, as one of the GM's duties is to keep all that information accessible to the players upon request. After all, can't have a plot-driven game progress if literally nobody has any idea what the plot actually is, can you?

That map, by the way, was impressive enough that another player copied it for a different trek into the same dungeon:

Copy and expansion of the above map by a different player.

Here is an example of a much rougher type of mapping:

Map of the Boyar's Manor, a central dungeon in the campaign.

What happened is that the usual mapper was not playing in that particular session, and the party was venturing into a yet unexplored part of the dungeon, so they could not rely on simply redrawing a copy of an existing map and using that to navigate.

The mapper for that session was quite reluctant in their role. The player didn't really feel comfortable with trying to follow directions (and, in fact, managed to draw the map completely opposite in the first go and had to be corrected by another player. Hilariously the mapper's character is the only one that owns a compass in the entire group.), and it shows in their mapping. This is a cave system, but drawn using squares and lacking in most forms of annotations or navigational aids. 

The party still did okay, but the player declared that they are absolutely not doing that again. This is a player who enjoyed the game immensely and was one of the most enthusiastic for the campaign itself, but even that could not overcome the struggles of mapping it seems.

Player map of a tomb in The Barrows.

Player map of level 1 of the Boyar's Manor dungeon.

Player map of level 2 of the Boyar's Manor dungeon.

A variety of other player maps from different dungeons in the campaign.

In my campaign I also made it a point to reward mapping and session reports, as those required additional effort on the part of players, and also saved me the trouble of having to do either of them. The reward was a standing 100 exp per session spent mapping or report written. However I think in the future I would likely bump up that experience to 100 exp per PC level, thus making still be a relatively meaningful activity even for PCs of level 3or or higher.

Tishomir the War Bear, a hireling.
Portrait by a player.

Landalf the Fragile, MVP of the game and a staunch survivor.
Portrait by me. 

So then, in my first post about this game I laid out my goals - Have a weekly in-person game, introduce people to the OSR style of play, have fun. 

On the first goal I would say I succeeded, even if some weeks were missed for this or that reason. The game became a steady element in my week to week life, and I enjoyed having it. My plan is to return to running such a game once I can.

On the second goal, I think I also mostly succeeded. Different players had different experience levels and expectations of this style of gaming, and some had more difficulty than others wrapping their heads around how to play in this manner, but I think I got at least a few people introduced to this way of play and I hope that it will stick (Only time will tell). 

On the last and probably most important goal - was the game fun? Yeah I think so. It was fun for me to GM, which has been a struggle for me over the years. The players generally seemed to enjoy it, and judging by how many of them ended up joining at least a second session I would say that is a good barometer of enjoyment from the activity. After all, nobody was ever under any obligation to come play. So if they did, it meant they wanted to. Any further notes on this would have to come from the players themselves, not me though. 

What's the future of the Greylands?

Uncertain. I am currently unable to run it as I am out of the country and thus don't really have access to my players or my notes and documentation, and I have zero interest in trying to run the game online. 

Some number of players have expressed interest in continuing the campaign after I return, and I would agree it might be nice to continue it as there is already established connections and story lines have emerged organically from the sessions. 

On the other hand I feel drawn to different things, different campaigns and systems to try and refine my idea of what the OSR is and what it means to play in that play style. The Greylands were very much a testing ground for me, and so while I am attached enough to this little campaign to have written 3 blog posts about it, I also feel no problem moving onto something else.