This is my first post in the "make it your own" series. These posts will feature advice and personal anecdotes on using published modules and scenarios while still making it "your game".
Let me preface this post with this, dear reader. I like dinosaurs, a lot. This is not the place, nor the time to describe my love of dinosaurs and ancient animals, but it does influence my game design and I will share an anecdote about my success with running an old school, non-railroad style game using a non-osr system and still managing to get the same "retro" flavor.
How much research you do into your game matters and has impact on your game. My two favorite settings from the TSR era are Mystara's "Hollow Earth" and the peninsula of Chult, found in the Forgotten Realms, All but forgotten in 3rd and 4th edition, Chult is experiencing a bit of renaissance right now in 5th. (More on that later.) Something about that classic pulp adventure aesthetic, where giant animals can kill you just as easily as the terrain can gets my creative juices pumping.
A few years ago, I adapted the 2e campaign/adventure Jungles of Chult for my Pathfinder group. I paid close attention to setting details and pretty much ran the city of Mezro directly from the page, my players loved it. I made it open and let them drive boat. We all had a lot of fun and excitement at the table.
But, you know what really made the setting come to life? I did a lot of research on real world equivalents. A lot, possibly way more than necessary. I read about climate in the topics south of the equator, the style of dress native chultans wear (city and jungle) and compared it to historical tribes and cultures found across the southern part of the African continent, of these I had color pictures available to show them. The restaurant prepared food that people in these climates enjoyed (lots of fruits, meats, and few grains (and still do).
When they got to the jungle, I made my own rules for dehydration and heat exhaustion. But none of that compared to the best part of the experience, Creatures!
I used information I read about current biology and theory regarding the "natural" animals featured in the region. I recently had read: Big Cats and their Fossil Relatives by Alan Turner and with excellent illustrations by Mauricio Anton. I learned that Jaguars drop from trees and imbed their canines into the skulls of peccaries and other prey animals. I then applied that to the giant cats encountered.
I used the Dinosauria by Weishample to learn about current theory on various dinosaur species to surprise my players. (Warning, this book is not for the faint of heart, or the those with low tolerance for verbose scientific discussions.) I surprised my players and kept them on their toes.
I also had interactive hand outs for the puzzles found in the pyramid they discovered deep in the jungle, This saved time during the game and they seemed to enjoy having something the visual aid.
I guess in closing, you really get what you put into this hobby, and your resulting mileage will vary, but trust me, if you harness your passion, and use it to shape your game within certain limits, you will have a great adventure on your hands.
