Subject: I could use some advice on running a D&D campaign.
Author:
Posted on: 2016-01-19 01:10:00 UTC
I've been running a homebrew for a few months (my group just reached level 2), but I plunged into it rather unprepared, and it's been more of a string of unconnected events than an actual story. I have an end goal, but I'm not sure how to get there: any advice on campaign management from ye oldbies of RPGing?
-Alleb
Take it from someone who has been doing this for over 16 years, and has worked with some of the greats and even got a Shadowrun mission published: GMing is hard. Like, I've run six campaigns in the last four years, and three fell apart due to a lack of ideas. (Two are currently running, and the first ran for two whole years before everyone finally decided we wanted to do something else.) That said, here are some tips:
*Draw from your setting's established lore. If your setting is homebrew you've got a bit of work cut out for you, but don't ever be afraid to borrow from other settings. I once ran a Dragonlance game that involved an evil wizard who fled into space using a magical airship called a Spelljammer that I stole from another D&D setting.
*Get your players to give you ideas, but be subtle about it. Ask what some of their favorite fantasy tropes are, or what they'd be interested in the future. Have them come up with npcs their characters know, who you can then use to draw them into the story.
*Don't be afraid to make up utter nonsense on the fly, especially if the players are going in an unexpected direction. If it was good enough for Gygax it's good enough for you.
*Never involve flumphs, your players will hate you.
It's very hard. Thankfully, I'm the first DM my players have ever had, so hopefully they don't know how bad I am.
Yeah, it's a homebrew: I actually planned on running published adventures until I felt prepared (ha, what a funny conception of DMing I had) enough to start my own campaign, but Stuff Happened. I ran a little test scenario at the table after we finished creating our characters, to take 'em for a spin-- nothing much, just a tiny bit of RP and some goblins attacking the town they were in. Then I went overboard at the end, and the village elder hired the party to clear out a nearby island to stop the attacks, and the homebrew just... happened. Now I'm semi-retrofitting the world according to what my players have done and also creating the story. Not exactly ideal, but it could be worse. Are there any settings you recommend? I'm ridiculously new to all of this, so I know nothing. Literally nothing. I should really get a D&D magazine subscription or something...
I'll bring up the second tip next session: the PCs don't seem very well connected with the story. I think that'll help.
Unexpected nonsense is my specialty. =]
Er, what's a flumph?
Thank you very much for all the advice! I certainly need it.
-Alleb
The worst idea Gary Gygax ever had. At least, I think Gygax made them. They're terrible monsters that look somewhere between a mushroom and a jellyfish and they're difficult as hell to kill, despite being one of the most rediculous things to ever come out of D&D lore.
You could have a plot prompt, like "A dragon soars overhead, burning a village" or "You randomly get frozen by an ice wizard and thaw out five years later, in a different world" sort of thing. I've done many RPs before, and they usually happen like that. Odd jobs, then *Bam!* Big Bad plot gets shoved in your face! Try your own thing. You get the hang of things quite quickly.
I remember hearing about a DM who sent one of his players into the Abyss for months, then brought him back to the rest of the party only a little while later-- brutal. That would also be an interesting way to explain why a player has to leave for a few sessions. Thank you!
-Alleb
If the string of unconnected events needs to be connected, you could always say the Big Bad of the unconnected events are working for the Big Bad of the campaign.
If not, then chalk it up to the adventurers just having a rough start and finding their feet doing low-key adventurer stuff.
And for future events, find ways to tie them in to the ultimate Big Bad. :)
Easy as that!
I think I can do that. The Big Bad of the first event was a Young White Dragon, and I'm going to pull an OotS and involve the vengeful parent later on; after that it's all a warlock who's ultimately serving the campaign's Big Bad.
Thanks!
-Alleb