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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
 Posted - 16 May 2006 : 11:24:41
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Growing up with the good old "You open the door, 15 foot by 15 foot room, three orcs-roll for ini"-style and changing, over the years to a more role-playing approach, I would like to open this scroll to talk about how people run games in general.
For me DMing has always been a spontaneous thing. I prepared a few ideas in the past, and I usually still do, but since I never know what my players do come up with, no matter what game/setting they play in, I have to leave my options open.
In my current (and first) ongoing Realms campaign, it has been 5 years so far, I mainly utilized adventures back from 1st and 2nd edition days. I strung them together by mainly putting them on a 'string' that had the characters get jobs, or sometimes do things on their own. Of course with players being players they had their own ideas about specific events and I had to wing it.
Having a plotted and logical campaign laid out and trashed by one player so that, aside from a roll-back, it could not be saved, I resent plotting the entire course.
I'm a fiddler for detail so things have to make sense, so having a flow-chart before me only to be busted by one or more players is kinda sad. That's why I know the beginning and the possible end, and that's about it.
How about you?
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Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 12:14:28
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The current Daleland Campaign Im running has been a "You do 1 then 2 then 3" deal not alot of choices for the party in what they want to do. There currently nearing the end of City of the Spider Queen which will conclude the campaign
My next campaign will be set in the Sword Coast region during the Year of Rogue Dragons and it will be far more open in what the players can do. For example there will be a number of story lines running at the same time for example the players may get to choose between dealing with Adventures X Y and Z
If they choose to do X then when they return they may find that another group adventurers has dealt with Y and that the threat from Z is now much worse than it was due to no one dealing with it |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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Eremite
Learned Scribe
Singapore
182 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 12:34:14
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I tend to write out the campaign in advance as an extended outline. The idea behind this is so that, as the DM, I know roughly what events are happening in the background while the PCs do what the PCs do. It also helps me focus on what things can be discovered with the use of divination magic, skills such as Gather Information, Knowledge:r or two, logically consistent with the campaign outline, may buy me enough time to think about what to do next.
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Wandering_mage
Senior Scribe
688 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 14:11:28
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I think the balance between an open option and railroad track campaign is hard to juggle. If you have a great storyline then you want the players to activate the next event that you have planned out. However, if you really did write up a great campaign, leaving many clues for the players to pick up on, or even implanting an NPC who thinks there might be something to these disappearances in Mistledale you should have no problems really. I tend to plan my games out with great detail. My only problem is that every new thing I find out about I want to put it into my game. Also, I am just now understanding how the realms truly is run and about personalities and locations in the realms. So with that said I am excited to play this next wednesday. Even though I am just a silly bard player. (I am taking a rest from DM'ing) |
Illum
The Wandering Mage |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 14:33:08
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I'm a very controlling DM.
My campaign is structured as much as the game can allow.
Everyone MUST use the same DM-selected character sheet.
All spellcasters must give me the list of spells they memorize each day.
I enforce the FR Home Region system, starting packages, and Regional feats like a dictator.
I will only make changes to a Prestige Class prerequisites if an FR author thinks the changes are balanced in terms of game mechanics, or if it has been errated or changed by an author on these boards (or WotC's boards)
In gameplay, I let the characters make decisions for everything in terms of the storyline. It is character-driven. If they choose to ignore the clues, they miss out on an adventure and end up doing boring stuff instead (i.e. DM starts rolling on Encounter tables; no skin off my nose really...)
When the players all look around at each other and do nothing, I come up with a sweeping statement such as "three weeks have passed, and you still do not have received word from X; what do you do, and are there any major things you've done in those last three weeks, taking into account that you were on a high level of alertness and constantly at the ready to leave (all packed and such)" --> that usually gets them moving.
In terms of storyline, I come up with a major campaign arc right off the bat, when the characters are starting off at 1st level. From there, I try borrowing as much stuff from the Dungeon Magazine as I can, provided it fits: a) the campaign; and b) the Realms.
I award XP and gold exactly as laid out in the DMG, plus a per session roleplaying award that goes like this: Bad roleplay = 0; Average roleplay = 25 x effective character level; Good roleplay = 50 x effective character level; Amazing roleplay = 75 x effective character level.
I allow characters to start as many businesses as they like. I found this actually reduces the amount of magic items in the campaign, and provide something to the player to do behind the scenes (great DM plot hook also). I greatly encourage them to join guilds, temples and all kinds of organizations, and give them in-game incentives to do so (i.e. raise dead is 5 times more expensive if you don't have a temple membership... and such...)
I have a few houserules on: familiars, awaken spell, toughness, endurance, diehard, gather information, and I have also developed a comprehensive alignment system (I grant alignment points after each session: non-debatable, and only reversible if PC accomplishes acts opposite in alignment to the points received... great DM feedback tool, and allows for non-personal detachment and careful observation of one's character behaviour...)
The party MUST put all treasure and discarded (sold) magical items in a "party pool", and the order of spending goes from the PC with the least total gold value to the one with the most. A PC can elect to be "skipped" in the spending order, which some melee types have done quite a few times especially when they feel the wizard need more spells, wands, staves, etc.
That's all I can think of at the moment. |
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Jindael
Senior Scribe
USA
357 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 20:25:01
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I tend to run my games on the cuff. The FR material provides enough back drop that I hardly even have to think about the stuff inbetween. I just need to come up with the plot, and events usually take care of themselves.
I also run high powered games. I give the characters 84 points to spend on their stats (not point buy, just 84 points and every stat starts at 0 and buy on a 1-1 point basis). Max money at 1st level and max HP at every level. I keep the challenge by offering lots of monsters and higher CRs. The characters don’t struggle against a few orcs, but instead crush their way through goblin hordes. Even still, I use strong tactics (if the monster is smart enough) and a full array of tricks and traps. The challenge is still there, but the players really feel like Heros, with a capital H.
I also tend to give a few hints at the start of the game. “This will mostly be an in-city game, with a few trips into the wild. Rangers and Druids are always useful, but they won’t have as much spotlight time.” Or “There will be down time available, if you want to take it.” Just so casters can decide if they want to invest in creation feats and the like.
I also have a (sorely in need of an update) list of minor houserules. (Nothing really game changing, mostly just character creation, except my rules on multiclassing, which are much different) that everyone gets a copy off. I usually have the players vote on them anyway, just to see if everyone is happy.
Purple Dragon Knight:
You started your post with “I am a very controlling DM” and then proceeded to give a list of rules that I don’t find all that controlling or even close to unreasonable. Then, suddenly, you do :p
quote:
Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight
The party MUST put all treasure and discarded (sold) magical items in a "party pool", and the order of spending goes from the PC with the least total gold value to the one with the most. A PC can elect to be "skipped" in the spending order, which some melee types have done quite a few times especially when they feel the wizard need more spells, wands, staves, etc.
Yea…that is very controlling. I never tell the players what to do with their loot. It’s up to them. I do reinforce the idea that it’s a team game, but I let them spend how they want. And I haven’t really ever had a problem with that. They normally just give items to who can make the best use out of them, and split coins and currency evenly. (Often into one share per party member, plus 1 share for the party pool, which is used for regenerations spells, group magic items, etc.)
Like you said, it is very controlling. I’m curious how you came about for the need for that rule. The rest of your rules are very reasonable, just this one seems weird, forcing the party to abide by treasure rules that, in character, might seem a little bit odd.
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"You don't have a Soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."
-- C.S. Lewis |
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Mkhaiwati
Learned Scribe
USA
252 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2006 : 04:35:15
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hmmm... I prefer the players to have at least a few loose ends in their story concept (family, friends, foes, where they came from, etc). I will try to have a few pre-set adventures planned, usually involving major story arcs that could just as easily play in the background with the PCs just hearing of other groups doing XYZ or something else happening (similar to what Purple Dragon Knight said about the storyline). If the PCs want to do something (like explore a dungeon, follw up a loose end from a previous time, or explore a new land) I want them to give me a few weeks notice so I can start prepping something. That way they are still in control of the story but I am not caught completely by surprise. I kinda suck at just going off the top of my head, but players swear I do a good job. I hate it because I can't keep track of new NPCs or new plot developments as I make things up, or worse, screw up a storyline or campaign continuity.
Mkhaiwati |
"Behold the work of the old... let your heritage not be lost but bequeath it as a memory, treasure and blessing... Gather the lost and the hidden and preserve it for thy children."
"not nale. not-nale. thog help nail not-nale, not nale. and thog knot not-nale while nale nail not-nale. nale, not not-nale, now nail not-nale by leaving not-nale, not nale, in jail." OotS #367 |
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Snotlord
Senior Scribe
Norway
476 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2006 : 13:50:54
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I use FR for games it don't necesseraly have to prepare everything. That's what premade settings are made for, and I try to embrace that. I set up and run FR campaigns in three steps.
1) I start out with a region I want to play in, and I review my collection Dungeon magazines and other modules for things I want to play and think might fit.
If I can see rough outline, or "adventure path", that looks fun, I'm ready to go.
2) We create characters based on wether we have agreed on "heroes", "villains" or "mercenaries". I encourage the players to develop backstories, which I try to incorperate into the campaign.
3) We start off, and a process of constant revision of the outline. I try to build a story, and make sure that loose ends and improvised stuff are incorperated into the story. The real fun for me as a DM is when the story takes a new direction and becomes something else than my for outline. Suddenly the story has become a colletive effort.
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2006 : 14:17:19
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quote:
Originally posted by Jindael
Purple Dragon Knight:
You started your post with “I am a very controlling DM” and then proceeded to give a list of rules that I don’t find all that controlling or even close to unreasonable. Then, suddenly, you do :p
quote:
Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight
The party MUST put all treasure and discarded (sold) magical items in a "party pool", and the order of spending goes from the PC with the least total gold value to the one with the most. A PC can elect to be "skipped" in the spending order, which some melee types have done quite a few times especially when they feel the wizard need more spells, wands, staves, etc.
Like you said, it is very controlling. I’m curious how you came about for the need for that rule. The rest of your rules are very reasonable, just this one seems weird, forcing the party to abide by treasure rules that, in character, might seem a little bit odd.
Maybe I came about that rule as a result of the 'nice Canadian syndrome'... sometimes Canadians are overly polite and courteous, and when came time to spend the loot, everyone would look at each other saying 'you first; no you first... I insist, pick your gear first then I will see what I can get with the remainders; no seriously, go first!'
In the end, in four out of six campaigns I've DMed so far, this always meant that one grubby player would end up ALWAYS selecting his gear first (i.e. once he had become comfortable with the group, and no longer felt guilt after saying 'well, if no one else wants these gems, I'll carry them for you guys...')
And so it is: my two most recent campaigns enforce equal loot repartition. Every time they level, I ask them to 'audit' their character and calculate the total gold value. The one with the least amount gets to choose how to spend the loot first. This means that once every two or three levels or so, each PC get to choose a real shiny item... something really nice and expensive (last session, the first in line bought a Belt of Giant Strength +4, spending a third of the loot). This also streamlines the characters a little, reducing the amount of extraneous lesser magical items, thus preventing magic item overflow (remember 2nd edition when you could NOT remember all you had on you? 'oh, I forgot I had that chime of opening!')
The last two campaigns I've run, I have seen the players really liking this system (except one player who quit the game because of this, but he wanted to play the game like a video game and didn't care about the plot... so I don't mourn the loss!  )
It takes a 'little' work for the players to 'count' their gold value once in a while, but they get used to it and come to enjoy the knowledge of what they have come the higher levels... |
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Jindael
Senior Scribe
USA
357 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2006 : 15:22:15
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I knew it had to be something weird like that. :p That is really an interesting solution to your problem. Doesn’t seem all that bad in that light. Especially when you consider that I am that player…sort of. I tend to offer up suggestions for the other party members as to what they need and usually give up my share in order to make sure that they get it. “The wizard needs more firepower so she can have a wider variety of utility spells on hand. If we all chip in, we can get a really nice wand of fireballs, and then she can fly and stay out of danger, saving cleric spells for the cleric to buff with, but we all have to give up about half our loot.” I go for party cohesion and teamwork rather than amassing personal wealth and power.
Taking one of your comments and running with it, hopefully on topic:
quote:
Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight
This also streamlines the characters a little, reducing the amount of extraneous lesser magical items, thus preventing magic item overflow (remember 2nd edition when you could NOT remember all you had on you? 'oh, I forgot I had that chime of opening!')
Oh, I heartily remember that in 2nd edition. I had a friend who would only play Paladins just so he was forced to keep track of only a low number of magic items. I kept a separate magic item sheet for quick reference. At one point, I was playing a fighter specialized with twin longswords. Once I had climbed the meager tree to be the best I could with longswords, I couldn’t think of where to put my other proficiencies. At the time I leveled up, I was in Kara-Tur.
I attempted to impress a local swordmaster with a display of skill, by chopping the hell out of a practice dummy. The swordmaster pulled a Mr. Miyagi and caught a fly with chopsticks.
So I put my next weapon proficiency into chopsticks. And the one after that as well. Then I had some chopsticks enchanted.
Much later, we had to hand over our weapons while we had an audience with some high ranking noble. The bad guys attacked, and I got shoved through a gate that led into the darkest, deepest part of Chult, where the DM ended the game for the week, with me separate. The DM calls me during the week to run a solo bit for me (To make up for a session I had missed, very clever I thought). So, there I am, in Chult, without weapons but armored. The DM has set up this little side trek where I have to recover an artifact for a group of lizardmen to re-open the portal. Being as all I can get is a stone tipped spear, I take a few and set out to recover the artifact. And, during the combats, I break every spear.
Well, the reason the artifact had gone missing is that the tribal shaman who kept it had gone missing. Turns out he was eaten by a T-rex. Well, there is no way in hades I’m fighting a T-rex barehanded. So I sneak when it’s out hunting. Awww, lookit the cute wittle T-rex babies. They make such a racket though…uh-oh.
Momma Rex charges through the bushes and tries to nibble me. In desperation, I reach for my chopsticks…and fought the momma Rex.
And won. O_o
So I get to go back to Kara-Tur, track down the Swordmaster who caught a fly, and show him the perforated skull of a T-Rex. “It’s a little bigger than a fly.”, I casually mention.
:D
Anyway, the point of this (remember I said I was going to be on topic?) is that when I run a game, I try and keep the magic both useful to the players and relevant to their location, but at the same time, throw in a fair amount of the weird stuff that people would come up with. Apprentice mages just learning how to construct items don’t make a Staff of Power, they make a backscratcher +2 (or maybe it throws the various Bigsby’s hands ;)) or they make a pair of glasses that lets them look through the female apprentices robes. Stuff like that. Very minor little things populate my world, like enchanted chopsticks. I like throwing in that minor bit of trivial stuff just so the players are aware that FR is a dynamic world with other people in it, not one that centers totally around the PCs.
EDIT: Fixed one of my grammar mistakes. I'm sure there are more. |
"You don't have a Soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."
-- C.S. Lewis |
Edited by - Jindael on 17 May 2006 15:52:17 |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2006 : 15:48:19
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In terms of dividing magic items... thankfully my group thinks as a group. They have a group-cash-pool of a few k gold and divide the useful magic items among them, there is no hoarding I can see. Mage scrolls go to the wizard, cleric scrolls to the cleric. Weapons go to the one who can improve his attack the best etc. If a character needs an item that improves the general poweroutput or safety of the entire group people chip in.
Maybe I am spoiled with my players, but they always work as a team and think as a team. |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Bluenose
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
134 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2006 : 18:04:19
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My personal style is to plan out a campaign roughly along the lines of a TV series.
Since I've got a well-developed campaign world of my own, or I use the Realms, I've usually got an area in mind for the adventure. That means I already know something of the major NPCs, power groups and so on for the area. Now I need to shake it up.
I take an idea for the main villain whose plans the players will probably end up opposing, detailing who they are, what their major and minor goals are, what resources they have, and how they intend to achieve their major goals. Then I work out a small number of critical adventures where major parts of the villains plans occur, and a sense of when they will appear - early, middle, or late on - and a final climactic adventure where the PCs face the main villain. Often these adventures aren't ones the PCs go looking for, but situations where the villain is doing something which affects the PCs.
Also, I cheat.  If I have an adventure where the villain tries to seize control of an important city, and if the PCs don't stop him he succeeds, I generally don't mind which city they happen to be in when the adventure kicks off. At some point they're likely to be in one, and no matter why they went, that adventure happens when they arrive or soon afterwards.
For the rest of the campaign I add in one off adventures, which I can take off the web, from Dungeon magazine, from old modules, or simply create myself, identify NPCs who might give the idea to the players, and let things happen. Often it's possible to make one or two NPCs members of the main villains faction without much change to the basic structure of the adventure, and that makes most PCs want to deal with their enemy. I don't do that in every adventure because there are things going on which the protagnist isn't involved with and there always will be.
What I find is that there's almost always some adventure which the players want to go on, and there's almost always some way to fit the main campaign villain in if I want to. And if the players really want nothing to do with fighting the chartreuse mage and his minions, eventually the chartreuse mage will be able to complete his plans, and these will be something the players don't like - even if I have to change some of what he's aiming for during the campaign based on what the PCs are doing. |
These, in the day when heaven was falling,
The hour when earth's foundations fled,
Followed their mercenary calling
And took their wages and are dead.
Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned, these defended,
And saved the sum of things for pay. |
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Rhone Ethenkhar
Acolyte
Canada
31 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jun 2006 : 01:40:23
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| Well, hey there. My usual style to starting/running a campaign is pretty player friendly in most respects. I like to have the player's first create their PC's, work out individual backgrounds and how everyone relates to everyone else, so as to avoid anything too contrived or cliched, but sometimes you have to compromise :) It is then, after that has been taken care of, I use they're ideas and backgrounds to generate the initial story for the campaign, and I just keep rolling from their, reacting to my players. I tend to do a lot of prep work, and try to stay at least one adventure/scenario/whatever ahead. |
" Unlike me, many of you have accepted the situation of your imprisonment, and will die here like rotten cabbages...I intend to discover who are the prisoners and who are the warders." -the Prisoner |
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msatran
Learned Scribe
USA
210 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jun 2006 : 05:38:49
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My Chargen System is complicated. I make people roll 4d6, drop the low, reroll ones IN ORDER. Do this three times, pick the one you like. If they all stink, you can nuke those and try again. If this fails, the DM rolls for you. You keep what you get.
After that, I have two styles of game. One where I'm trying to tell a story about an event (You can see one of these games in my Impiltur Campaign Thread), and one where I tell people to play whatever they want and let their motivations dictate the story.
Everything takes place in the same world. I have a pile of house rules so long that freight trains in Minnesota would be jealous. I've been running the same Realms world since 1988. That's a long time. The world is big. There's plenty of room for heroes in it.
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msatran
Learned Scribe
USA
210 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jun 2006 : 07:56:25
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On the subject of treasure division, my groups (I have a lot of different ones in the same realms, have developed three major methods of treasure keeping.)
1) Equal shares based on total treasure value. In this method, each PC takes what they need out of the pot. Everything is based on Party fund until something is taken out of the pot. The party gets a separate share for emergencies and troubles. If one share is excessive, careful track is kept of who owns what and how much they have in or out.
2) Equal shares of GPV. This is the most balanced, but also the most bookkeeping heavy. No one cries foul, but sometimes an item which oould save the life of a PC gets sold.
3) This is the craziest thing I've ever seen, but the truth speaks for itself. The numbers bear it out as having the LEAST number of character deaths per 3.5 session run. Are you ready? Here it is.
Pile everything onto the cleric, everyone else gets second choice.
Hey, wait. Did he say "Give the cleric the best of everything?" Yes. Yes he did. This strategy never fails to keep the group alive, because as long as the cleric has the ability to stay alive and heal people, cast his support spells, and have easy access to the battlefield, the wizard can concentrate on battlefield control, and the fighters can still hit.
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Chyron
Learned Scribe
Hong Kong
279 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jun 2006 : 08:41:58
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In terms of campaign, I like to keep things simple to start. It makes life as a DM easier. So I really like the PCs to do more work in terms of backstory and subplots.
Then as the campaign progesses I like to subtley pull their subplots into the campaign in various places. This combined with 'rumors' tends to create a somewhat open ended style of play. So at the end of one adventure, the PCs will in a way dictate where the 'next' adventure may be and I can start working on things. Of course I will have an overall campaign idea in mind, but the PCs may not always stay on track. So if really big event X is supposed to occur at timeframe Y, i will try to give hints and minor directional nudges to get the PCs there to exert some influence. However if they have gone off to do something else....well event X still occurs, but without PC involvement, then (similar to Bluenose's ideas) the end result may turn out badly and with negative ramifications for the PCs later in the campaign. (The best official example I have seen of this is the timeline listed in the City of the Spider Queen.) I don't mind if PCs go astray...after all that is what Random Encounter tables are for :)
As for treasure, I leave it to the players to decide (in character) how they will divide it up. Since we run a campaign where 'purchasing' magic items is not as easily done as listed in most FR books, items are generally assigned to the memeber who will find it 'most useful'. If none want the item, they may try and sell it and divide the money, and count an extra 'ghost' member reserve for group spending (potions of healing or other needed church services). |
Just My Thoughts
Chyron :)
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Fletcher
Learned Scribe
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jun 2006 : 18:13:16
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I usually start off with a couple of ideas for a plot, and make outlines for each. I then set the players in an area that could be a jump off point for all or most of the plots. Through some introductory adventures, and ‘getting to know your local NPC’ sequences the PC’s start to hear more and more news and rumors of interest.
I like starting a game in the early ‘60s and work my way to current era, as this allows me to have plenty of news from near and far, as well as throwing in a few red herrings and real plot hooks. All of this information comes from a variety of sources, the merchants tell of how this war or that war has interfered with goods and driven the price of wine through the roof, and comment on local lords and politics. Local lords speak of national news, local politics and problems. The bards and taverns discuss the great adventurous tales of heroes and monsters, as well as some of the more trifling news.
Through these rumors and news bites, the players make choices of things to check out. And about 1 in 10 is a complete dead end, or a misleading story. The rest lead them though a plot line of their choosing, but still something I have prepared for.
The internet is a great place to discuss these things out of game, so that when the game begins, everybody is on the same page and going in the same direction, and the GM is prepared for the day.
As for Treasure, every party does it differently. I have had players who decided to determine the cash value of each adventure, and then the players “buy” the items from the pot. A player can go into debt for a piece of equipment beyond his current means that the party agrees he should have.
Or there is the rolling the dice to see who gets first pick.
There is the party vote on each item.
There is the rotation method where each person chooses in order and when the choosing is done, the next person gets the first pick of the next treasure.
As long as the players aren’t grouching too loudly, I let them figure it out themselves.
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Run faster! The Kobolds are catching up! |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jun 2006 : 20:26:16
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Well, I have a tendency to plan in minute detail if I can and then, because of a legendery bad memory, ending up using only the rough outline. As I have a preferance for one-player games with myself handling several npc´s it usually becomes very free-form in a short while.
In most cases we will reach the objective (if there realy is one) but usualy its in a compleatly different fashion than I had foreseen. In many cases whole sessions ends up as dialogues between characters and the story changed then and there as a result of these.
It has in many ways ended up as two hobbies, with freeform in the gaming sessions and lorewriting for my own whimsy and player enjoyment in between. If I try using even half of my notes it becomes either railroading or a form of lecture/ lore-discussion and the flow of the game breakes down.
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Thrasymachus
Learned Scribe
195 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2006 : 20:12:28
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For a campaign. I work off of an outline. and a flow chart. Since I let the players run open ended, I keep two "one session adventures" up my sleeve. Think of a "save Jimmy from the well scenerio", while on the way to defeat whatever greater evil demon Lord is the actual focus.
Usually this "one session adventure" has nothing to do with the main objective so that the players can clear the minds. It also allows me to catchup with whatever off the wall insanity the players have enacted.
Other miniquests I'll take the oportunitty to introduce other clues. One of my favorites is the "adventuring party that failed before you". Sometimes they are all dead, or have suffered losses that they can't continue, but had some information, or item that is helpful.
I have also become acustomed to accepting that sometimes the campaign objective won't be realized either by the players deciding it isn't their character objectives, or choices they have made that make reaching the objective impossible.
IMHO, knowing your setting is the main key. A Billion Years ago there was a DM Adventure Kit. It had flow charts, and diffrent forms to fill out. Even if you aren't inclined to fill out all those forms, I would suggest that it would behoove you to be prepared enough to be able to fill them out in a single sitting without tapping your chin with a pencil pondering.
Also, I (and my players) love a fair ammount of mind games. Pass a note to a player in front of the group, with a slight frown, and then flick my eyes to another player. The note might be anything IC or OOC, but the point is more to make the other guy wonder "what the heck"?
Similar device is to ask a player to roll a die, confirm a skill level/feat /attribute, nod knowingly, and then continue as if nothing hapened.
One suggestion is that it's a lot like dancing. Some like the cha-cha, and others like the fox-trot. It's whatever you and you dance partners enjoy. |
Former Forgotten Realms brand manager Jim Butler: "Everything that bears the Forgotten Realms logo is considered canon". |
Edited by - Thrasymachus on 14 Jun 2006 22:06:29 |
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Fisk
Acolyte
13 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2009 : 05:17:22
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Well, I'll revive this old topic. Hope that's alright.
When I DM, I tend to have most everything planned out. I only get the opportunity to DM once or twice a month. So I go on an adventure-writing spree for a couple of days, and then think about it for a while. I generally think of the stupid things my players will do, and have something ready to counteract it.
Nothing could have prepared me, though, for when the LG Wizard wanted to take a kobold kip back to town, and put it in prison... He got the entire horde (40 or so, with some higher level ones) on the party. The party was level three at the time, and was nearly overwhelmed... Players do stupid things. But hey, I gave him RP experience.
I usually let everybody take their pick of their treasure, or find some other way to do it, through initiative. The rogue in the party came up with a nifty con to get all the money, by substituting magic items for shares of gold. Eventually, he got all the gold, and used it to by items that were much more powerful than anybody at his level should have... But it works.
My players try to worm their way past alignment, claiming about intent. If their choices have something to do with their in-game knowledge, I tell them everything they ought to know, and leave them with that. Although, I'm looking for other ways to deal with alignment.
My players tend to handle everything intellectually, so I think that I must be doing something right. They're very creative with items, and that saves them most of the time. I swear, I never thought that a displacer beast's tentacle could be used in so many ways!
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kysus
Learned Scribe
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2009 : 08:31:32
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| hmm. I have the same problem with my players and alignment. |
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Grumpyoldmage
Acolyte
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 20 May 2009 : 15:15:30
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I think of alignment for my players as a fairly strict role-playing guideline. I give good role-playing xp, and if they are close to violating there alignment, then that xp is at jeopardy for them.
I tend to have a story arc well thought out, and I'll have information on monsters in mind that they might encounter. Otherwise, I let the story tell itself through the actions of the players rather than try and funnel them along a given course.
Epic stories tell themselves. :) |
Quote of Karsus - "The Elves started this when they tried to steal the Nether Scrolls. They are a culture of the past, who's idea's are as antiquated as their magic." |
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Rune wolf
Acolyte
United Kingdom
5 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2009 : 23:43:10
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As cheesy as it's going to sound, I subscribe to the planescape matra for DM'ing "What can change the nature of a man" - I've found the more chances you give them to be cinematic, for good or bad the more chances they have of staying to those train tracks without ever realising it! The best way to have control is to give them oppotunity for character progression.
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Zealot
Seeker
USA
59 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 16:45:56
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| I prefer a rough outline to a totally planned out campaign. When I was in Canada, I had a player who was notorious for throwing monkey wrenches into the system. He always had to do something contrary so as a DM I had to learn to roll with the punches rather than let a player ruin my whole campaign. I usually roughly plan what adventures I would like the party to go on and to what ends those adventures are leading. I had to put rules in place for party treasure cause in the same Canadian gaming group, I had a player who thought it was fun to steal every magic item he could find, without letting the party know about their existence. One problem I run into is player vs character knowledge. When the previous mentioned player was in the process of stealing a small magic hoard that I had seeded with cursed items, he would use all the magic items except for the cursed items. When asked, he couldnt give a reasonable answer as to why he wouldnt use them. Anywhoo, I am rambling. |
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. |
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Grumpyoldmage
Acolyte
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 21:03:23
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I have no shortage of players interested in my games, so sometimes my DM positions come across a bit hard line. I have banned players for using player knowledge blatantly, and will continue to do so. Players that demonstrate that kind of lack of good will and or judgment don't deserve the time and energy of either myself or the players who do make the proper effort!
Nuff said. :P |
Quote of Karsus - "The Elves started this when they tried to steal the Nether Scrolls. They are a culture of the past, who's idea's are as antiquated as their magic." |
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Zealot
Seeker
USA
59 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2009 : 22:51:52
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| I was cursed with a very limited number of players and I had to put up with the crap in order to have a game. You know I think I am going to start another scroll on Dm Disciplinary actions. |
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. |
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storyweaver
Acolyte
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2009 : 20:37:42
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| The rough outline is as far as I go. I enjoy the challenge that my players give me and I'm always up for whatever they want to 'throw at me'no matter their choices, actions etc (that's what makes a good DM seperate from a great DM) being able to rolland flow with the adventure. I use the rules of the game as a background but nothing is ever carved in stone if it was then we wouldn't have so many different editions of the game coming out(find what works for everyone). That being said, I find that if the group knows what kind of DM you are and still want you to be their story-teller than awesome if not then they'll find the group that works for them. I find the note passing back and forth works wonders..I love that. If a player wants to pass notes to me and or someone in their party then hell yes. Open communication is very relative, and so is confindential info. As far as treasure it depends on the party at the time. If I feel that the party can work out sharing the treasure with everyone which isn't usually a problem then good, if it becomes a situation where DM involment is needed then it's handled fairly. If I feel that a certain item needs to go into a characters hands then I make that happen in my own fashion as DM. The characters for the most part work together as a team and if characters-players keep team work as part of their integrity then it will flow towards a positively fun adventure. There are times when players-characters will have conflict with one another that's also part of game play, and DM diplomatic skills will be needed. I personally love the challenge of certain character classes and or races and or creeds whatever that may create initial conflict, but it's amazing to see how the players end up working things out through the adventure. When it comes to character death, I have a few opions about it. For one, the player(s)can make some bad decisions we've all been there maybe a halfling fighter deciding to take on a horde of trolls with a broken club or whatever. A death trap room with a clear warning 'Don't go in!!' and the character takes the challenge. Some situations based off of player decisions can get the character killed, but for the most part the DM MAY HAVE some influence over whether or not the character dies. Second, DM's who make the game a little too dificult for their players. I'm the kind of DM who does everything in my power to keep characters alive to fight another day. And my group understands that while I do challenge their characters, I get more satisfaction watching them advance in levels and power and treasure. Not that character death never happens, but I've seen to many games were the DM of the campaign has a death sentence for his or her players (not a good idea if you want to keep players coming back). I've been playing since 1986 and I've seen a lot of awesome campaigns and some really bad ones. I say keep the players happy as much as possible, be a creative story teller and roll with the flow. |
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DMing styles
