As another brand-new DM (I just finished my third-ever session!), the only additional advice I have for people thinking about running a campaign is to START. You; yes, you, can create a great time for you and your players.
Yesss! It’s so important to just try it at a certain point - you can only plan for so long before it just seems overwhelming and scary instead of fun like it should be!
I CANNOT BELIEVE I've never thought to do the schedule question on a survey. We've always talked it out, but still managed to not get it locked in. I think the psychology of putting on the page will get people into Look At My Schedule mode in a more sincere way.
Thanks! This content fits the needs of a new GM so well. I'm glad you're making this content as you go on your journey to mastering GMing, by the time we're years into mastering a skill we usually forget the hardest parts at the beginning of that learning curve. Also, superficially, I love your voice. You've got a really relatable and "listenable" sound.
Thanks for the kind words! 😊 Haha I know my voice is definitely ‘divisive’ but I’m always glad there’s also people out there that like it because it’s the only one I’ve got! 😂
@@StephaniePlaysGames complaining about someone else's voice is just their desperate cry for attention. Just keep making great content and all us adults will keep the conversation alive.
Thank you, I’ve been playing for at least a couple years, but I’ve never DMed before, And now in less than a week I’m going to be running Strixhaven, so thank you!
I host really small groups and one-shots as well as play a lot solo games but still: having a clear expectation is such a boon. Even more so for solo and sandbox; it helps inform the prompts you'll be generating to keep the action going. Technical Notes: Really like how you walked through the steps and elements with examples. Your conversational style is also refreshing.
Thanks for this video. I kinda wish I had seen it 6 months ago, when I started my latest game. As it happened, I did discuss expectations ahead of time with the players, but a clear survey would have really helped me narrow things down for the new-to-RPGs folks. And, now, 6 sessions behind us, we're starting to hit our stride. In-lieu of the fact that I didn't run a session 0 for anyone, I'm planning session 7 as a "campfire stories" episode to give the players a chance to tell what they want of their backstories for the whole group (after the NPC goblin they're with gets his own story off his chest as an introduction).
Yeah, it’s a lot easier to just talk things out with more experienced players who can really vocalize that they want in a game! Questionnaires are also my sneaky way of getting people too shy to go against the grain when we have in-person talks to tell me what they actually want 😂😂😂 And I think campfire stories are an awesome way to give everyone a chance to share parts of their backstories! I think something like that can feel very immersive! 😊
Stephanie, your channel popped up in my news feed... fantastic advice! Two ideas or thoughts... first, I'm considering a small basket for players to put their cell phones into during the session, still within earshot and players can get up and answer phone if needed. Two, I'd like to adapt the pre-campaign survey for one shots... because like you, I think knowing your players and their likes/dislikes, is one of the most important things a GM can do. Keep up the fantastic videos!
You immediately honed in on discussing with your players what kind of game they wanted to play. For me, I have played DnD as a player for nearly 10 years and what kind of game we wanted to play had never been asked of the table. It was groundbreaking when I discovered it after about 3 months of running my first homebrew campaign, so I'm super glad you mentioned it right away cause it does SO much for everyone's enjoyment. I'm looking forward to the rest of your advice, you're already ahead of me lol
I've actually never had a GM ask me a lot of things outside character questions either! Honestly since I'm much newer to all of this compared to most people I've played with - that's probably the only reason I started with that kind of stuff 😂 I went straight to homebrew and wanted to make sure my players were actually interested and it really does make a difference!
It really is! The best part is it stops players who are quieter or need more time to think from feeling strong armed into saying yes to things that aren’t up their alley.
I did this with my first long form campaign. I gave them a choice of three scenerios: shipwrecked on a tropical island, little village on the edge of a dark forest, or crossing a vast desert. All three scenarios would have the possibility of establishing a home base, start local, and work up to more dangerous quests. They chose shipwrecked, so I adapted an old AD&D module called the Isle of Dread. In the original adventure, the party has to navigate a tropical island that has DINOSAURS, Lizardfolk, Catpeople, and other tribes to get to the top of a mesa in the middle of the map. Some of the creatures were original to the older edition, so I swapped out modern versions (tabaxi for catpeople, ettercap for spiderpeople) and added more areas to explore. The Dinosaurs and the green dragon stayed in their original locales, but I moved other tribes and encounters to better fit my map. I didn't change the land features (swamps, volcanoes, mountains, etc), just the locations of the planned encounters. I added some dwarven miners (looking for a hidden gold mine), the ruins of an ancient civilization (so I could have an underground crypt with a mummy), a wizard's tower (to give them some magical items as loot and later access to a potion maker), and an alhoon BBG (magic-using mind flayer) who was trying to create his own Elder Brain 🧠 to increase his own personal power. Such a thing would be unnatural to his people, and such ideas would have led to his banishment. Once he had his own Elder Brain, he could create more mind flayers and use the Brain to keep them under HIS control. Of course, the party will get there before his plan is completed. But giving him extended mind control was a great way to keep the party from going to that mesa before they were ready. I even used an adult green dragon to scare them into avoiding that area. How? The dragon was afraid of the area and hired the party to kill whatever was controlling everyone on that mesa. Man, that was fun. Along the way, I threw classic D&D monsters at them as random and planned encounters. Displacer beast, manticore, cockatrices, gelatinous cube, owlbear, wyverns, mimic, umber hulk, peryton, sylph, pixies, an elven ghost, and an army of hobgoblins planned an invasion. Now they didn't complete everything, they chose not to help the pixies against the ettercaps and giant spiders. But they did help the tabaxi against their ancient enemy, the lizardfolk and ended up at a temple with a giant statue with huge ruby eyes. Yes, that's right, I used the cover of the first edition PHB and had them rescue a tabaxi maiden from lizardfolk in that temple. I was very proud of that encounter. All in all, I wanted to give them a wide range of roleplaying experiences, which I feel I did. We went from level 1 to level 8 before defeating the mindflayer and turning off the storm machine. (I stole from Shakespeare and his Tempest and made it so they couldn't leave until they destroyed or turned off an ancient device that creates a ring of magical storms around the islands and was the reason for their initial shipwreck).
a player survey is a great idea! I just started running a new online campaign and asked similar questions as those that you suggested. it helped immensely because all the players are on the same page about what they want and what to expect. In fact, if I had to do it all over again, I would take it a step further and actually conduct video calls with each prospective player who seems like they were a good fit on paper because what could be missing is a good fit personality-wise with the rest of the party
It definitely helps to know what people actually want in their games! I play in more combat oriented ones AND more RP intensive ones and I know people in each group that would be miserable if they were in the other game 😂 I think video calls are a great idea honestly- some things just don’t really come across until you’re really interacting with someone!
For those that want to take the step to start gming and are worried you won't make the cut, just remember that you if have other GMs or really experienced player at the table you can ask for something like taking care of initiative and thus lessen your mental overload. If another one is a note taker, ask for a copy and thus you won't also be doing the note taking. Those little tricks can help a lot for your first session. And remember, all GMs went through their first session, so we know what it felt like, all great at first and then you find yourself trying to stop it from derailing. And here's another tip, let it derail, learn to use the prepared material to improvise new things and later on rail it again.
The Algorithm god (lesser g) brought me to you, nice place you have here. and nice advice. 💜💜 Me as an Evil DM I juste cast Summons players and in the spell components I put the Game genre, styles etc. then ensnared them in my dungeons or space ship for 1-5 years. But you let them choses, that is new to me 🤔🤔 I just program them, seem easier 🧙♂
I played in a long term game years ago when I was in college that ran for about 2 years before our GM's wife graduated from Grad School and they then moved from the US to New Zealand.... and this was back in the D&D 3.0-3.5 days, online wasn't a thing then. So I picked up the reigns, bowed my characters (yes plural) out of the game, and started to GM. A few years later, everyone else is out of school and the game died out. Now I find myself 17+ years out from that game picking up Roleplaying again for my wife and a group of other new players. Session Zero? Didn't do one, it wasn't a thing when I played before and the idea never occurred to me. Thankfully several things that happen in one did happen in conversations prior to the first game night. I wish I had seen the videos on them though and done a more formalized process, it would have helped. Pre-game player survey? Didn't do one.... yeah... this tool of yours is one I really wish I'd thought of or heard of prior to starting the new game. I could really have used it to help take the players expectations into mind. Instead I've spent time throwing different adventure types at them and letting them tell me what they liked after the fact and then adjusting from there. Admittedly, none of them thought they'd like the dungeon crawl but they loved that one. So in that case their expected likes/dislikes may have been wrong, but as I said... new players. Safety tools was another big one I missed. I've introduced them since, and happily all the players are familiar with safe words and negotiation so those were easy. I'm always wondering what new things I'm going to pick up that would have helped my old school self in the modern TTRPG landscape. A lot of these new (to me at least) ideas on how to do things I see get push back from other "old school" folk (read jerks, often bigots, and usually sexist too), and I look at those pushing back and say "You're stupid, you were already doing this shit informally. People have just put out tools and formalized the processes to make things more clearly communicated and set expectations". So if you get any push back BS from old codgers like me, just remember that your input is appreciated and I for one am listening.
I love your mindset! And I really appreciate your kind words. You’re exactly right - it’s definitely interesting to see people push back on something just because it’s newer or because they haven’t (historically) needed it. Some people act like the D&D police are going to show up and repossess all their minis or something if they don’t do these things 😂 Some people have groups that informal works for and I’m happy for them - but I know I’m a tinkerer and I love to have a process haha. Different strokes for different folks, but I have to admit my favorite folks are the ones who aren’t afraid to try doing something new! 😊
I'm enjoying your tips...but advice for you...I've been dming for a long time(the 90's, but a lot of space between...because 90's dnd was way less fun IMO)....if you planned things for players, and they are not able to make it, and you still want to make a game happen, than do a tangent...a monster of the week, or something that occupies the play time of the other characters until the player in mind is there...or just postpone and don't play at all...or make a fiasco night...or a kids on bikes night...etc.
3:48 "and your players fun is definitely one of the key ingredients that will make your campaign get past session 0." Fallacious! Players may not have fun!
In my experience, for a longer campaign, it's absolutely critical that the DM/GM is running the sort of campaign that they want to run. If they aren't that campaign is going to fold as preparing the material and running the game is just going to become a chore for them relatively quickly. Don't be a slave to player preferences.
Agreed, DMs opinions totally count! Everyone needs to enjoy the game they're playing, otherwise that group might not be a particularly great fit (and that's okay!)
Too much echo. I'm not a sound guy so I can only present the problem ( sorry ). Maybe a better pop filter or turn down the Gain a bit. The good news is that you have a clear path to level up as a UA-camr.
RPG 's aren't acting. That should never have been brought into the hobby. It's not theater, it's not television, it's not cinematography. It's less than all those and not meant to be any of those. It's a completely different animal.
You’re right in that RPGs aren’t acting, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have elements of it. Different groups and players like different things and different systems and different styles of play. That’s why it’s great to figure out what everyone is interested in and is looking for from a game and is why I always do a pre-campaign questionnaire 😊
The algorithm brought me here, been a long time GM now and I'm always looking for new RPG ideas and perspectives. This was a good vid!
Thank you for the kind words! 😊
Same here
As another brand-new DM (I just finished my third-ever session!), the only additional advice I have for people thinking about running a campaign is to START. You; yes, you, can create a great time for you and your players.
Yesss! It’s so important to just try it at a certain point - you can only plan for so long before it just seems overwhelming and scary instead of fun like it should be!
Been watching your videos and subscribed for a few months. I like the content and your voice is super easy to listen to!
I CANNOT BELIEVE I've never thought to do the schedule question on a survey. We've always talked it out, but still managed to not get it locked in. I think the psychology of putting on the page will get people into Look At My Schedule mode in a more sincere way.
It helps SO MUCH! It’s definitely not a cure all but it saves a lot of heartache after putting in tons of work! 😂
Thanks! This content fits the needs of a new GM so well. I'm glad you're making this content as you go on your journey to mastering GMing, by the time we're years into mastering a skill we usually forget the hardest parts at the beginning of that learning curve.
Also, superficially, I love your voice. You've got a really relatable and "listenable" sound.
Thanks for the kind words! 😊 Haha I know my voice is definitely ‘divisive’ but I’m always glad there’s also people out there that like it because it’s the only one I’ve got! 😂
@@StephaniePlaysGames complaining about someone else's voice is just their desperate cry for attention. Just keep making great content and all us adults will keep the conversation alive.
The algorithm has spoken
It's been SO LONG since my recommendations have linked me to a new creator that I like to watch.
Thanks! That’s very kind of you to say! 😊
Thank you, I’ve been playing for at least a couple years, but I’ve never DMed before,
And now in less than a week I’m going to be running Strixhaven, so thank you!
No problem! I'm sure you're going to do great, Strixhaven is such a fun setting to explore! 😊
Good luck! I hope you have fun and make enough mistakes that also learn a lot😊. Mistakes really were helpful for me in getting better.
I host really small groups and one-shots as well as play a lot solo games but still: having a clear expectation is such a boon. Even more so for solo and sandbox; it helps inform the prompts you'll be generating to keep the action going.
Technical Notes: Really like how you walked through the steps and elements with examples. Your conversational style is also refreshing.
Thanks for this video. I kinda wish I had seen it 6 months ago, when I started my latest game. As it happened, I did discuss expectations ahead of time with the players, but a clear survey would have really helped me narrow things down for the new-to-RPGs folks. And, now, 6 sessions behind us, we're starting to hit our stride.
In-lieu of the fact that I didn't run a session 0 for anyone, I'm planning session 7 as a "campfire stories" episode to give the players a chance to tell what they want of their backstories for the whole group (after the NPC goblin they're with gets his own story off his chest as an introduction).
Yeah, it’s a lot easier to just talk things out with more experienced players who can really vocalize that they want in a game! Questionnaires are also my sneaky way of getting people too shy to go against the grain when we have in-person talks to tell me what they actually want 😂😂😂
And I think campfire stories are an awesome way to give everyone a chance to share parts of their backstories! I think something like that can feel very immersive! 😊
@@StephaniePlaysGames Thanks! Yeah, we have an ironically shy bard in the group 😆
Stephanie, your channel popped up in my news feed... fantastic advice! Two ideas or thoughts... first, I'm considering a small basket for players to put their cell phones into during the session, still within earshot and players can get up and answer phone if needed. Two, I'd like to adapt the pre-campaign survey for one shots... because like you, I think knowing your players and their likes/dislikes, is one of the most important things a GM can do.
Keep up the fantastic videos!
Thanks for the kind words! 😊
You immediately honed in on discussing with your players what kind of game they wanted to play. For me, I have played DnD as a player for nearly 10 years and what kind of game we wanted to play had never been asked of the table. It was groundbreaking when I discovered it after about 3 months of running my first homebrew campaign, so I'm super glad you mentioned it right away cause it does SO much for everyone's enjoyment. I'm looking forward to the rest of your advice, you're already ahead of me lol
I've actually never had a GM ask me a lot of things outside character questions either! Honestly since I'm much newer to all of this compared to most people I've played with - that's probably the only reason I started with that kind of stuff 😂 I went straight to homebrew and wanted to make sure my players were actually interested and it really does make a difference!
I love the pre-campaign questionnaires, so helpful to keep from running in the wrong direction.
It really is! The best part is it stops players who are quieter or need more time to think from feeling strong armed into saying yes to things that aren’t up their alley.
I did this with my first long form campaign. I gave them a choice of three scenerios: shipwrecked on a tropical island, little village on the edge of a dark forest, or crossing a vast desert. All three scenarios would have the possibility of establishing a home base, start local, and work up to more dangerous quests. They chose shipwrecked, so I adapted an old AD&D module called the Isle of Dread. In the original adventure, the party has to navigate a tropical island that has DINOSAURS, Lizardfolk, Catpeople, and other tribes to get to the top of a mesa in the middle of the map. Some of the creatures were original to the older edition, so I swapped out modern versions (tabaxi for catpeople, ettercap for spiderpeople) and added more areas to explore. The Dinosaurs and the green dragon stayed in their original locales, but I moved other tribes and encounters to better fit my map. I didn't change the land features (swamps, volcanoes, mountains, etc), just the locations of the planned encounters. I added some dwarven miners (looking for a hidden gold mine), the ruins of an ancient civilization (so I could have an underground crypt with a mummy), a wizard's tower (to give them some magical items as loot and later access to a potion maker), and an alhoon BBG (magic-using mind flayer) who was trying to create his own Elder Brain 🧠 to increase his own personal power. Such a thing would be unnatural to his people, and such ideas would have led to his banishment. Once he had his own Elder Brain, he could create more mind flayers and use the Brain to keep them under HIS control. Of course, the party will get there before his plan is completed. But giving him extended mind control was a great way to keep the party from going to that mesa before they were ready. I even used an adult green dragon to scare them into avoiding that area. How? The dragon was afraid of the area and hired the party to kill whatever was controlling everyone on that mesa. Man, that was fun. Along the way, I threw classic D&D monsters at them as random and planned encounters. Displacer beast, manticore, cockatrices, gelatinous cube, owlbear, wyverns, mimic, umber hulk, peryton, sylph, pixies, an elven ghost, and an army of hobgoblins planned an invasion. Now they didn't complete everything, they chose not to help the pixies against the ettercaps and giant spiders. But they did help the tabaxi against their ancient enemy, the lizardfolk and ended up at a temple with a giant statue with huge ruby eyes. Yes, that's right, I used the cover of the first edition PHB and had them rescue a tabaxi maiden from lizardfolk in that temple. I was very proud of that encounter. All in all, I wanted to give them a wide range of roleplaying experiences, which I feel I did. We went from level 1 to level 8 before defeating the mindflayer and turning off the storm machine. (I stole from Shakespeare and his Tempest and made it so they couldn't leave until they destroyed or turned off an ancient device that creates a ring of magical storms around the islands and was the reason for their initial shipwreck).
That sounds like a blast! Also I really love The Tempest inspiration, that’s one of my favorite Shakespeare plays!
a player survey is a great idea! I just started running a new online campaign and asked similar questions as those that you suggested. it helped immensely because all the players are on the same page about what they want and what to expect. In fact, if I had to do it all over again, I would take it a step further and actually conduct video calls with each prospective player who seems like they were a good fit on paper because what could be missing is a good fit personality-wise with the rest of the party
It definitely helps to know what people actually want in their games! I play in more combat oriented ones AND more RP intensive ones and I know people in each group that would be miserable if they were in the other game 😂 I think video calls are a great idea honestly- some things just don’t really come across until you’re really interacting with someone!
For those that want to take the step to start gming and are worried you won't make the cut, just remember that you if have other GMs or really experienced player at the table you can ask for something like taking care of initiative and thus lessen your mental overload. If another one is a note taker, ask for a copy and thus you won't also be doing the note taking. Those little tricks can help a lot for your first session. And remember, all GMs went through their first session, so we know what it felt like, all great at first and then you find yourself trying to stop it from derailing. And here's another tip, let it derail, learn to use the prepared material to improvise new things and later on rail it again.
The Algorithm god (lesser g) brought me to you, nice place you have here. and nice advice. 💜💜 Me as an Evil DM I juste cast Summons players and in the spell components I put the Game genre, styles etc. then ensnared them in my dungeons or space ship for 1-5 years. But you let them choses, that is new to me 🤔🤔 I just program them, seem easier 🧙♂
I played in a long term game years ago when I was in college that ran for about 2 years before our GM's wife graduated from Grad School and they then moved from the US to New Zealand.... and this was back in the D&D 3.0-3.5 days, online wasn't a thing then. So I picked up the reigns, bowed my characters (yes plural) out of the game, and started to GM. A few years later, everyone else is out of school and the game died out. Now I find myself 17+ years out from that game picking up Roleplaying again for my wife and a group of other new players.
Session Zero? Didn't do one, it wasn't a thing when I played before and the idea never occurred to me. Thankfully several things that happen in one did happen in conversations prior to the first game night. I wish I had seen the videos on them though and done a more formalized process, it would have helped.
Pre-game player survey? Didn't do one.... yeah... this tool of yours is one I really wish I'd thought of or heard of prior to starting the new game. I could really have used it to help take the players expectations into mind. Instead I've spent time throwing different adventure types at them and letting them tell me what they liked after the fact and then adjusting from there. Admittedly, none of them thought they'd like the dungeon crawl but they loved that one. So in that case their expected likes/dislikes may have been wrong, but as I said... new players.
Safety tools was another big one I missed. I've introduced them since, and happily all the players are familiar with safe words and negotiation so those were easy.
I'm always wondering what new things I'm going to pick up that would have helped my old school self in the modern TTRPG landscape. A lot of these new (to me at least) ideas on how to do things I see get push back from other "old school" folk (read jerks, often bigots, and usually sexist too), and I look at those pushing back and say "You're stupid, you were already doing this shit informally. People have just put out tools and formalized the processes to make things more clearly communicated and set expectations". So if you get any push back BS from old codgers like me, just remember that your input is appreciated and I for one am listening.
I love your mindset! And I really appreciate your kind words. You’re exactly right - it’s definitely interesting to see people push back on something just because it’s newer or because they haven’t (historically) needed it. Some people act like the D&D police are going to show up and repossess all their minis or something if they don’t do these things 😂 Some people have groups that informal works for and I’m happy for them - but I know I’m a tinkerer and I love to have a process haha.
Different strokes for different folks, but I have to admit my favorite folks are the ones who aren’t afraid to try doing something new! 😊
6:15 "types of players"
See also: Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) Framework. Ref:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDA_framework
Yeah! There’s definitely a ton of overlap with the MDA’s types of fun!
I'm enjoying your tips...but advice for you...I've been dming for a long time(the 90's, but a lot of space between...because 90's dnd was way less fun IMO)....if you planned things for players, and they are not able to make it, and you still want to make a game happen, than do a tangent...a monster of the week, or something that occupies the play time of the other characters until the player in mind is there...or just postpone and don't play at all...or make a fiasco night...or a kids on bikes night...etc.
Yeah, that’s definitely the type of stuff I do. My groups are partial to Grant Howitt games like Goblin Quest 😊
Thank you ! I found this helpful, even if I do rpgs for more than 20 years
That’s great to hear! I’m definitely always trying to always learn new things too! 😊
3:48 "and your players fun is definitely one of the key ingredients that will make your campaign get past session 0."
Fallacious! Players may not have fun!
cool video !
In my experience, for a longer campaign, it's absolutely critical that the DM/GM is running the sort of campaign that they want to run. If they aren't that campaign is going to fold as preparing the material and running the game is just going to become a chore for them relatively quickly. Don't be a slave to player preferences.
Agreed, DMs opinions totally count! Everyone needs to enjoy the game they're playing, otherwise that group might not be a particularly great fit (and that's okay!)
Tactical games I save for pc gaming....being with people I want to roleplay....
☮
Neat vid
Thanks Luke! 😊
Such a small account, with such big words :D
Your Player Pre-Campaign Questionnaire Example is not accessible
Looks like Google changed it - it should be fixed now!
I still can't open it.
Hmm 🧐 What error is it giving you? I just tried it across several different browsers and it worked for me?
@@StephaniePlaysGames Worked for me.
Too much echo. I'm not a sound guy so I can only present the problem ( sorry ). Maybe a better pop filter or turn down the Gain a bit. The good news is that you have a clear path to level up as a UA-camr.
RPG 's aren't acting. That should never have been brought into the hobby. It's not theater, it's not television, it's not cinematography. It's less than all those and not meant to be any of those. It's a completely different animal.
You’re right in that RPGs aren’t acting, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have elements of it. Different groups and players like different things and different systems and different styles of play. That’s why it’s great to figure out what everyone is interested in and is looking for from a game and is why I always do a pre-campaign questionnaire 😊
Love the @slyflourish shout outs. His stuff is TRANSFORMATIVE and EASY!
His stuff is really the best, I think I actually read his stuff before I even read the DMG! 😬