Step into the Gloom - Night Watch (3.5e Sourcebook)/Running a D20 Night Watch Campaign

= Balance and the D20 Night Watch System =

As a rule, when running a D20 Night Watch campaign, it's best not to allow players access to the Base and Advanced classes presented in the d20 modern system. This is for balancing reasons, as the classes contained in the Night Watch system are far more powerful than those normally found in the D20 Modern system. The primary reason for this is that Night Watch classes can enter the Twilight at will. Depending on how deep they go into the Twilight, a Night Watch character could be Invisible, Ethereal/Incorporeal, have an extra standard action every round, and gain a 30' boost to their movement speed. Using Magic (Or a select number of feats/class abilities), the Night Watch character could whittle down even a high level adventurer in short order.

Thus, it is best not to allow outside sources into the game. The exception to this rule, however, is the Night Watch Gestalt campaign settings. Please look to the Night Watch Gestalt Game section Below.

= Staring into the Abyss =

Presented here are the fundamentals required for running a Night Watch Campaign when your players have decided to play Light Others. This is similar to most traditional DnD games where you play the "Good Guys," and run around stabbing the "Bad Guys." However, all Night Watch games rely on a hint of mystery and subterfuge. So we'll be going over this in brief.

Plots embroiled in the Plot
The players are pawns for the majority of the campaign, being used strategically by Geser (Head of the Night Watch) in a never-ending game of chess with Zabulon (Head of the Day Watch). Every move that the players make has been calculated in advance by the two master strategists with the aid of Divination magic.

This may make it seem like the PC's will be constantly railroaded into an overbearing DM's storyline. This is to be avoided at ALL costs. To avoid this, A DM should utilize the "Choose your own adventure" approach to DMing. When designing an Adventure, a DM should have a primary encounter, then have two or three different endings that encounter could have. (Usually a Totally Successful, Somewhat Successful, and a Failure ending). Depending on which ending they get, it should determine what the next encounter will be. A DM should avoid mapping out the entire campaign all at once, because players are an unpredictable lot, and can monkey-wrench the hell outta your plans. So it's best to do it on an Adventure to Adventure basis.

Remember, just because Zabulon and Gesar know what the players are doing and planning, they will NOT inform their subordinates of every nuance. The reason for this is simple. If they push too hard on the players in either direction, then they will disrupt the fabric of events that they are attempting to influence. Zabulon might send a strikeforce against the PC's that he knows will fail to exterminate them, just because they'll slow them down enough to cause them to fail at some other task, or perhaps he wishes to implicate them in some other plot of his. Remember, Gesar and Zabulon only wish to nudge events in their favor, not tear them asunder.

Examples for Adventure Ideas
For Night Watch campaigns, remember that although the organization is fundamentally good, the players may be asked by their superiors to do questionable deeds for the "Greater Good." Keeping this in mind, here are a few adventure hooks that you can use to start off any campaign.

- A renegade Dark Other has been using his powers to subjugate normal people to set himself up as a King of the Mortal Realms. The PC's have been tasked with locating people who have been influenced and reverse the damages. As time goes on, they'll receive vital clues as to who is causing the problem. If they're strong enough, they might even be tasked with taking him or her down.

- The murder of a prominent Dark Other has left the Day Watch offices reeling. However, Zabulon has produced evidence that implicates the PC's in the murder. They're on the run from the Inquisition now, and have to find evidence to prove their innocence before Zabulon claims other Light Other's lives to be paid in lieu of the PC's.

- An ancient artifact of unmistakable power has fallen into the hands of the Dark Others. You've been charged with Recovering it before it gets back to Day Watch Headquarters. Barring that, you'll have to break into Zabulon's Private vaults in order to get it back.