My current campaign: Dungeons: High, assuming by “dungeon” you mean “area where adventure takes place. If you mean “dangerous underground are with monsters”, technically there was a minecart. “Location that’s traditionally considered a dungeon for the purposes of dnd”, two temples, five sessions, so medium. Dragons; one dragon, Estus. Helped someone get over a bench. Low. Other: High.
I am definitely that 'I just want to play D&D' player. If I'm sitting at a table, looking at a character sheet, looking at a map, rolling dice, and roleplaying, then it's all good.
Another good 'slider' might be Exploration: How much travel do players want to do? Do they want to seek out new areas and draw maps? Are they okay exploring around one town and mapping one big dungeon, or do they want to see lots of different towns and span the globe / go to different planes?
One of the sliders most important to me is; "Stakes". How high do you want the stakes of the campaign to be? So many times, my enjoyment of a game was ruined because the stakes were too high at the start. I like the characters to do work that is important, without failure instantly spelling doom. For example, killing a coffin mimic because it ate the corpse of a widdower's wife is something low stakes. Being one of three parties trying to break into a besieged castle's dungeon is low stakes. Traveling back in time to kill a god that will destroy the universe. High stakes. Medium stakes; one of the characters is trying to attend a twice-a-century ritual that will make them a druid.
I agree. Stakes that impact the local level - or even the individual level - are good for most games, I think. High stakes - ones on the "National or World" level - should be reserved for special occasions, like the climax of an entire campaign. It's one of the reasons I get annoyed by Hollywood blockbusters, and their constant stream of "save the world" plots. It burns me out, and skews the sense of proportion. A game, then, should keep stakes low to mid for much of its length, so it actually means something when the stakes get high. Sometimes, all you need to do is save a blacksmith's daughter from some goblins. That's not a bad story.
I normally don't comment on videos before watching them, but the ONLY reason that I know this video is up was because of the notification I got on UA-cam. It is not in my subscription box at all. For anybody that hasn't already, I know it's annoying when UA-camr's constantly remind to "ring that bell", but if you don't want to miss an upload from creators that you love, like Matt, it's VERY important to do so.
When you say sub box, is that the place on the menu on the left below Home and Trending, or a different box? I'm never 100% sure what people mean when they say "sub box"
Matt Colville, I found your channel maybe two weeks ago and I've watched your entire Running the Game playlist. Just wanna throw out there that I find your content inspirational and the ideas you've presented have put my encounter creativity into overdrive
As I've just started watching this series, I find it comforting to watch the gradual decomposition of the "Run D&D" shirt. Here, we see it in it's most comfortable form.
I play pretty much exclusively on Roll20 with strangers and Roll20 Looking For Group posts are all about proper pitching. This video was very useful in that regard.
Side note about Kindle: It even has a desktop version which is what I'm using. Chances are that whatever device you use to watch this video on is capable of handling kindle books.
This is true from both the posted topic and player submissions. You do yourself a lot of favors by learning how to craft a a good character pitch and being succinct.
Thank you Matthew! My group voluntold me to be the DM after someone got the starter kit for 5e. I was so not ready at all. I’ve since watched this whole playlist and am running a home brewed world for my friends and they love it. Wanted to thank you for all the hard work you do and can’t wait to see more videos. “Until then, peace, out.”
I think the idea of player buy-in being presented to the players is fantastic. It could be the most important factor in whether or not a player becomes engaged in the game, I know that it is for me. Thank you for making manifest something I knew but didn't consider using in this way.
My three rules for campaigns: 1. No evil characters (I'm 20 with players that are the same age, I do not trust their ability to play evil without being too disruptive) 2. No sexual assault or sexual violence, this means both at the table and in backstories, this goes both ways, no plot points will be about sexual violence. 3. No graphic descriptions of torture, you can torture in my games if you need to (remember no evil characters) but the most description needed is a name for the act. You dont describe waterboarding a goblin, you just say, I waterboard him.
Many years later and I love coming and watching these videos It always helps no matter how experienced you are hearing what someone says and thinking of your current campaign and what your currently missing
I've used the "which one of these (3 or 4)?" pitch process for almost two decades now, but I really like the idea of the sliders, and the explicit player buy-in statement. I find it's a great way to get a conversation started about expectations,character ideas, tone, and theme right off the bat. I send out the doc, but hold off on discussion until session zero. That way everyone gets to witness each others' expectations and ideas.
Thank you Matt, this is one of the most useful pieces of advise I never knew I needed. It is a perfect way to both captivate players and inform them of what the game will be about and what it will expect from them. Thank you!
Well, here we are. I've now seen every one of your "running the game" videos in the last week and a half or so. I've thoroughly enjoyed your opinions and history, and I've gotten more than a handful of ideas for my campaign. I've been a DM for years, but there are always new things to learn and new opportunities to really effectively make your game much better. Thanks a ton for these, and I'd love to see more.
Yay!!! New video! Matt, I've been wanting to run a game for a long time now. I always thought it would be overwhelming, and I would find myself lost in the sauce. Watching your videos has given me a lot to think about. They've also inspired me to try different things, and I'm itching to run a campaign. Thank you Matt!
Really appreciated this video. I've heard advice about setting expectations and surveying our players about what they most enjoy, but this approach is a great negotiation tool - "here's what games I'm interesting in running, what do you people feel like playing?" Awesome!
Hey Matt, I just caught up on your Running the Game series and just wanted to say thank you. All your tips are immensely helpful, even for someone who doesn't plan on running Dungeons and Dragons. This coming Tuesday, I'm doing the session zero for a FATE campaign, and your tips have helped me to have some confidence that I'll get my players to have fun. So, thank you a million times, and keep up the awesomeness.
Just wanted to say that i found your videos back in October while looking up how to play D&D and I started to watch your videos from number 1 running a campaign from like 2 years ago and have continue watching I number of your videos to kind of get the understanding of DnD as I have never played it and know nothing about it I will say I am very intrigued to play one day however I live in Hawaii and not many people play out here. Just hearing you talk about different campaigns you have ran and the thought process you go through to develop them I have a deep appreciation for you as a DM thank you for your videos as they have been very helpful and understanding
I asked my players what they wanted to play a couple months ago. They decided on a Homebrew world that they helped to create. It has been a huge success. They didn't create the NPCs but they have general knowledge of the continent they are on, they know the current political climate that their players would know. And they chose the theme of the game and the story. I like involving the players. Another great video brother, keep inspiring!
I was going to have a campaign where it was a vampire hunt with Gothic ruins and destroyed cities very much inspired by castlevania but i failed to describe exactly what i meant so i had a player bring an xp to level 3 artificer to the table in a time with little medication and definitely no gun powder or other gun stuff. he thought this would be a tactical fast paced chase while stealing carts and finding clues capturing vamires and werewolves as crazy powerful hunters. it was really a political, doing quests to get friends and help in preparations for demons escaping from hell. this video will really helped me explain what i mean for next time. thank you
Two points. One for the video, one for Kickstarter. On this video: Find it odd others don't do this naturally, but I guess nothing is natural until done for the second time. Our general DM usually tells us about games he's is prepared to run when a campaign dies or goes on hold. Or he tells us ahead of time if we are coming to the end of a campaign run within a few week what he is ready to prepare. We've all played together for a long time now so we know what to expect from each other. Our DM's pitches include: 1. The game system (for us it is Pathfinder, GURPS, or Godbound (RIP Exalted)) 2. The setting (cyberpunk, steampunk, high fantasy, modern day) 3. The general starting plot and maybe a planned out after early levels (you start as mercenaries working for Cityville, Military experiment goes awry opening portals to alien worlds, a new king needs help cleaning up his kingdom from baddies) 4. The important highlights (info on the kingdom, what happened to cause the city to be a disaster, do the portals lead to alien exploration or alien warfare) He then gets our input and we work to come up with the type of characters we want and what we want to do. If it looks like a go, then we are good. If it isn't working, we move on to something else. On Kickstarter: Read up a lot on it and the common thread through them all is be VERY careful with physical perks. Something as small as the cost of mousepads add up very quickly when you have to pay to have it made, pay to have it shipped to you (or to a warehouse type place that you've paid for), pay to pack it up or at the very least for the packaging, and pay to ship it out to 100's or 1000's of people. People may scoff at pricing, but shipping & handling is a very real concern for businesses.
I plan on running an all-Bard one-shot set in the 1980’s and this is exactly the video I needed to watch. Thank you for being a river to your peoples, Matthew!
I couldn't agree more with this concept. I do this with all new groups when I from time to time need to organize a new one. It's a great way to get everyone on the same page quickly.
This video is so helpful! I'm the default DM for ttrpg club at college (I started the club last semester), and I'm about to begin my 2nd campaign in the club. Because this is different from playing just with friends, and there's a certain structure to club operations, having a pitch document is such a genius idea! I would anyways pitch campaigns to my PCs and ask players what they most were looking forward to in a game so I could tailor aspects of play to them, but just having a document makes that so much easier! It's also another way for me to be hyper-organized, which I always love. Will definitely be using this system with the next campaign so I can give my players, some of which are always going to be novices, some agency and set expectations. This is basically an organized way of doing things that I've before just done through conversation lol. Love it
You're a busy man, so I'm going to keep this short. After finishing one of your videos I immediately decide I'm going to try whatever you are suggesting. I don't think I can give higher praise. Thanks man, keep it up.
Super useful Matt. Especially the player buy in. I've always had a problem with people making characters that just don't mesh with what I was intending and really sink narrative ship. I've let this fly in the spirit of "the sandbox" principle of just letting people be whatever they want but having a defined "buy in" really helps. And hey, if no one likes your buy in that's a good indication that no one wants to play the game you were intending to run, which is better to know before you get 6 sessions in.
I do the same thing (started doing this sometime mid to late 90's iirc). What I did differently was put the "description" in "story style". I didn't say "This has a lot of woodland travel", I would say "The city of Eshan sits at the meeting of three large forests; the dark and brooding Forest of Mists, the elf and faerry guarded Feywood, and the Olde Woods, where ancient redwoods house unusual creatures and peoples who live high above the forest floor". ...basically, really heavy on the purple prose and even character soliloquies. (memorable one was a Star Wars campaign [WEG d6 version, obviously], involved a description of Luke flying down the trench of the Death Star, listening to Obi Wan, shooting...and missing...ergo, nothing after that, movie wise, actually occurs; puts the PC's FULLY in the drivers seat for saving the universe). I HIGHLY suggest every DM at least give this a try. Suggestion Tip: Keep your pitch to no more than one page of 1.5-line spaced page. Short and sweet, baby, short and sweet (kinda like me... :) ).
Thinking through what you're saying I think one of the most important ideas you've mentioned (that you kinda skimmed over) was the "player buy-in". I've made the mistake in the past of believing my own enthusiasm will make the players engage with whatever I throw at them. But that is obviously not the case! Specifically telling your players what THE STORY expects from them is brilliant and I'm not sure why I've never considered it! Especially your example from the The Chain of Minauros puts this through perfectly. "The game doesn't work if you don't truly follow this".
This is such great advice, not just for the players but for the DM too. If you SAY "This campaign will eventually get epic," you will remind yourself to add some scale to adventures. The heroes' exploits need to get the attention of the local earl; he sends them on a mission to the coast, where they find his enemies are massing; they go back to adventuring, but now 1) the earl knows and trusts them and 2) they know tensions have risen to the point of war.
I've been a D&D player for 25 years, never really DM'd (maybe 3-4 sessions total that whole time). I don't even normally *watch* youtube, because hell, who has the time? But I've watched a majority of your videos, and they've inspired me to start my own homebrew campaign. So if you're wondering if it's working, it is! :) Just watched the episode where you said most people only watch the first 8 minutes of a video, and I find that baffling... there's so much good stuff in the videos, even for people super familiar with the game from the player side (like me)... I watch all the way to the end, just to make sure I don't miss a great nugget. Probably my favorite piece of advice was the one on slicing time as a DM, and how powerful that can be.
The pitch, combined with session zero, are IMO the most important part of the first 10 sessions of a new game. I'm actually surprised that this is the first time you've given your players a campaign pitch! I've been doing it for years. Indeed, just this month, I've had *three* session zeroes for a single campaign: talking about the setting pitch with players, and then making characters together. It's been great!
As always you help to get my ideas in order.. Thank your Matt for all the Running the game series it realy helped me to get me started as a DM and it keeps helping months after that!!
Huh. Then I create my campaigns almost polar-oppositly (is that a valid phrasing) to yours, Matt. I throw a setting at my players, e.g. The Bronze Age collapse, and build a bunch of factions inside that world (the egyptians, assyrians, etc). Then I have my players create their characters while they ask me about any details of the world they might want to imagine for their backstory. Usually, I give them a pass because it makes the world feel more alive. And only then, usually when we played one or two sessions, I develop some form of idea for story beats. Mostly created out of the characters' backstory, with the central tension of the world in mind (mostly factions wanting to get more power, it's the easiest central tension).
Just did this for 2 one shots I pitched to a new group I’m going to DM for. I only used 2 sliders, combat and roleplaying. Wanted to keep it manageable, and I think I did the pitch reasonably well. This is great advice as always Matt 🙏
Every time I hear Matt talk about the games he runs and what he likes to do in the game I wish I could be one of his players. His games sound right up my alley. I love DMing, but damn I would love to be a player, especially for someone like Matt.
I really enjoyed this video Matt, I like the idea of picking out three things that "define" your campaign and pitching that to your players so they know what they are in for.
This video was a godsend, I'm actually about to run my first homebrew system set in a non standard setting and I was having a hard time outlining my pitch and session 0 to my players, one of which is relatively new but a natural. This got my gears turning!
Matt, this video was exactly what I needed right now. I am trying hard to make this game my Magna Opus and I want to make sure that I have players that are comfortable with what I will be giving them... a campaign pitch will be immensely helpful. Thanks a lot! :)
Hmmmm looking through the doc the chain of minauros is the one i would choose to play in if this was pitched to me. I think it has great oppurtunities for some really interesting characters with slightly murky morals and motivations, which are always my favourites. The big sprawling political melting pot of a metropolis is also something i havent had a chance to play in yet but have always wanted to. Overall a fantastic video as always and looking forward to the next one!
Thanks for the video, Matt! This is a great idea. I've been planning on running a campaign for some of my friends coming up soon. Since it's Rolemaster, though, I'm doing a one-shot to gauge interest in the first place and will presenting a similar pitch document to my players to make sure we're playing a game they will enjoy. Thanks again for the tip!
By the way: Critical Role inspired me to try DMing and D&D in general, but your videos really help me get a feeling for what kind of things to look out for! I’m binge watching these, thank you!
This is a great video, and the document gives a good spread of campaigns. I do try to get an idea what kind of game people want to play before starting a new campaign, but usually do it verbally with people. This sort of document with sliders and a mix of campaign styles/suggestions is a damn good tool to use. I will definitely try this before the next campaign I run.
In the Dresden Files rpg I ran my group and I built the world and campaign together. It made everything a lot easier on me, and I still managed to surprise them with plot twists they made themselves! It was super fun, made everyone more invested and I highly recommend it.
This is a great idea. Having a preview and options for campaign makes it easier to build a character for the world and increases investment from the player.
Hmm, a very interesting method. I've had a few ideas for D&D myself and find it hard to get opinions on what my players want out of a game. Thanks for the format, its actually short simple and informative, id be more than grateful for any more things like this.
The first time you shared that pitch doc on twitter was a serious "ah ha!" moment for me. I don't think I'll ever NOT use one now. Glad you made a video too now!
One axis that's important to me as a DM that I didn't really see you mention is Exploration. This is similar to player determination, but isn't identical. I define it as the idea that there are "things" out there for the players to "find" which, once found, provide multiple options for future advancement. And it doesn't matter if those things actually exist, just that the players *think* they exist. And, of course, the players have to *think* that those things are optional; that if they went left instead of right, they would have found a different lost city, or looted a different ruin. Looking at published adventures, Horde of the Dragon Queen is very low-exploration: there's very little optional content, and when hooks are found there's usually only one way to use them. Tomb of Annihilation is very high-exploration: The PCs are thrown into a jungle with no sense of where anything is that they can wander at their leisure (and peril). Out of the Abyss is somewhere in-between: unlike HotDQ the players are incentivized to explore the world, but it doesn't have a hexmap like ToA; PCs are only really meant to go somewhere they have a guide to take them to, and optional dungeons are intended to be thrown at the PCs like random encounters, not sought after.
I've been watching loads of your videos for so long. I love them, but this one is one I skipped over. I'm going to start a new game soon, so quite topical. I've taken inspiration from you, so much!
I am starting up a new campaign this week with a group I've run a short campaign for over the last couple months. Good timing for this video. Very helpful. I don't think I'll use the same kind of thing you did, but for my session zero, it definitely helped me figure out topics to bring up.
Wow. I am totally loving the idea (which yes, might be my own misunderstanding of your point (in regards to L5R)) of session-zero DM-fiat'ing something that the PCs have to be interested in, or care about, or have as a goal. Assuming that the players are cool with it just establishing something simple before the game starts could really propel your plot forward in the direction you want. Thanks Matt.
I've heard this idea called a "campaign prospectus" by some GMs. (I think I first saw Bill Stoddard use the term on the Steve Jackson Game forums, when talking about his GURPS campaigns, but he credited someone else whose name I've forgotten.) It was very helpful in determining how to start my current "Time of the Tarrasque" Pathfinder campaign. As the title suggests, the players know (out of character) what part of the finale will be, but it will take them quite some time to get there (we started at 1st level, they're at 3rd now). The setting is one that I've puttered around with for ages, but never ran a campaign in before, so I had a lot of possible starting locations, each with its own focus for early adventures. I eventually narrowed it down to three, and let the group choose. (One of the other two pitches will likely become the focus at the mid-levels, as one player gave his PC a back story tied into that part of the world.)
I always start by asking the players I want to involve what kind of game they would like to play. Essentially letting them tune their own channels. Then I generally come back with the type of game I want to run, and find a middle ground with them that's interesting to both of us, or just pass on if our ideas are too different. Once I have everyone's temperature, I tune the game to make sure to hit everyone's #1s and ideas for what they want. You always want to rotate the spotlight on each player, so I try to give players their moments in a way that coinsides with the sort of activity they wanted in the game. Roleplayers get dramatic scenes with NPCs, combat players get encounters that let them stretch their prowess, etc. I've generally been pretty successful at letting everyone walk away happy. That said, I think I take game time a little more seriously than perhaps you do (Matt). Not that you are wrong or I am more virtuous of course, just different approaches. I generally just don't play with people who are not invested in the idea of sitting down and playing the game and taking it seriously. That probably lets my approach work a little better. I wouldn't know what to do with a spectating sort of player who's just happy to be there and doesn't care what's going on.
Tonight i ran a session for my friends, we had a blast. Tired but happy i came home, and saw your video posted. Yay! Good thing i'm having a night snack! Btw, looking forward to the kickstarter! Cheers :)
Dungeons: HighLow
Dragons: HighLow
Other: HighLow
GM: "How many dungeons and dragons do you want in your Dungeons and Dragons game?"
Player: "Wait we can have that?!"
My current campaign:
Dungeons: High, assuming by “dungeon” you mean “area where adventure takes place. If you mean “dangerous underground are with monsters”, technically there was a minecart. “Location that’s traditionally considered a dungeon for the purposes of dnd”, two temples, five sessions, so medium.
Dragons; one dragon, Estus. Helped someone get over a bench. Low.
Other: High.
I am definitely that 'I just want to play D&D' player. If I'm sitting at a table, looking at a character sheet, looking at a map, rolling dice, and roleplaying, then it's all good.
Another good 'slider' might be Exploration: How much travel do players want to do? Do they want to seek out new areas and draw maps? Are they okay exploring around one town and mapping one big dungeon, or do they want to see lots of different towns and span the globe / go to different planes?
Thanks Matt, always great advice.
One of the sliders most important to me is; "Stakes". How high do you want the stakes of the campaign to be? So many times, my enjoyment of a game was ruined because the stakes were too high at the start.
I like the characters to do work that is important, without failure instantly spelling doom. For example, killing a coffin mimic because it ate the corpse of a widdower's wife is something low stakes. Being one of three parties trying to break into a besieged castle's dungeon is low stakes.
Traveling back in time to kill a god that will destroy the universe. High stakes.
Medium stakes; one of the characters is trying to attend a twice-a-century ritual that will make them a druid.
I agree. Stakes that impact the local level - or even the individual level - are good for most games, I think. High stakes - ones on the "National or World" level - should be reserved for special occasions, like the climax of an entire campaign. It's one of the reasons I get annoyed by Hollywood blockbusters, and their constant stream of "save the world" plots. It burns me out, and skews the sense of proportion. A game, then, should keep stakes low to mid for much of its length, so it actually means something when the stakes get high.
Sometimes, all you need to do is save a blacksmith's daughter from some goblins. That's not a bad story.
I normally don't comment on videos before watching them, but the ONLY reason that I know this video is up was because of the notification I got on UA-cam. It is not in my subscription box at all. For anybody that hasn't already, I know it's annoying when UA-camr's constantly remind to "ring that bell", but if you don't want to miss an upload from creators that you love, like Matt, it's VERY important to do so.
When you say sub box, is that the place on the menu on the left below Home and Trending, or a different box? I'm never 100% sure what people mean when they say "sub box"
I have literally never clicked that button before. Thanks for the tip.
Jaller235 it's the link labeled subscriptions on computer
The only reason I knew this video was up was because of the subreddit. How fucking weird...
I only knew it was up because I check this channel daily
:")
*proceeds to steal all of the campaign ideas*
Matt Colville, I found your channel maybe two weeks ago and I've watched your entire Running the Game playlist. Just wanna throw out there that I find your content inspirational and the ideas you've presented have put my encounter creativity into overdrive
Thanks! As long as you keep watching, I'll keep making videos!
As I've just started watching this series, I find it comforting to watch the gradual decomposition of the "Run D&D" shirt. Here, we see it in it's most comfortable form.
I just ran my first game of D&D in 30 years tonight. Finding your channel a few weeks ago helped to inspire me. I love your channel. Thank you.
Lance Crossan how did it go? Will you be running more?
My players had fun, so I think it went well. And yes, I'm actually going to be continuing the adventure today.
Welcome back to the game.
Come for the video, Stay for the Doobly-Doo.
I play pretty much exclusively on Roll20 with strangers and Roll20 Looking For Group posts are all about proper pitching. This video was very useful in that regard.
Side note about Kindle: It even has a desktop version which is what I'm using. Chances are that whatever device you use to watch this video on is capable of handling kindle books.
This is true from both the posted topic and player submissions. You do yourself a lot of favors by learning how to craft a a good character pitch and being succinct.
Thank you Matthew! My group voluntold me to be the DM after someone got the starter kit for 5e. I was so not ready at all. I’ve since watched this whole playlist and am running a home brewed world for my friends and they love it. Wanted to thank you for all the hard work you do and can’t wait to see more videos.
“Until then, peace, out.”
I think the idea of player buy-in being presented to the players is fantastic. It could be the most important factor in whether or not a player becomes engaged in the game, I know that it is for me. Thank you for making manifest something I knew but didn't consider using in this way.
This concept of writing up a pitch for a campaign is such a simple/obvious thing to do, yet I've never thought of doing it. Mathew, you are a genius!
This was incredibly useful, I think the best 'session 0' set-up I've ever heard of. Thanks Matt!
I loved that "rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead" reference. That was totally awesome and made me smile.
Oh, you've read it?
Your pitch should be like a sexy white t-shirt. Long enough to cover the important parts, but short enough to keep their attention.
Inezuku Tasteful... but very apt lol
I've heard this before, it was called the 'skirt' rule. Same principle
oh yes.
My three rules for campaigns:
1. No evil characters (I'm 20 with players that are the same age, I do not trust their ability to play evil without being too disruptive)
2. No sexual assault or sexual violence, this means both at the table and in backstories, this goes both ways, no plot points will be about sexual violence.
3. No graphic descriptions of torture, you can torture in my games if you need to (remember no evil characters) but the most description needed is a name for the act. You dont describe waterboarding a goblin, you just say, I waterboard him.
Many years later and I love coming and watching these videos It always helps no matter how experienced you are hearing what someone says and thinking of your current campaign and what your currently missing
Matt Coleville video
It happens!
On rare occasions.
He's trying to "keep it short."
Yeah, but he's not supposed to succeed.
>20* dinkus
15.67>20? I think not.
Dude! I’m working on a new campaign and this video just made me so exited to continue preparing, I definitely using this “format” to pitching
Same here, and not even planning on running D&D
"Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole!"
Sup Dean
Hanging out, watching Matt Colville, eating pie. Best way to spend a Saturday night.
Mr Colville can choose the music in my car any time!
I thought about that when he talked about the music in the car
I've used the "which one of these (3 or 4)?" pitch process for almost two decades now, but I really like the idea of the sliders, and the explicit player buy-in statement. I find it's a great way to get a conversation started about expectations,character ideas, tone, and theme right off the bat. I send out the doc, but hold off on discussion until session zero. That way everyone gets to witness each others' expectations and ideas.
Adult situations. That's a question I always brooch once everyone is comfortable at the table. And any No is a no for all
Thank you Matt, this is one of the most useful pieces of advise I never knew I needed. It is a perfect way to both captivate players and inform them of what the game will be about and what it will expect from them. Thank you!
Well, here we are. I've now seen every one of your "running the game" videos in the last week and a half or so. I've thoroughly enjoyed your opinions and history, and I've gotten more than a handful of ideas for my campaign. I've been a DM for years, but there are always new things to learn and new opportunities to really effectively make your game much better. Thanks a ton for these, and I'd love to see more.
Yay!!! New video! Matt, I've been wanting to run a game for a long time now. I always thought it would be overwhelming, and I would find myself lost in the sauce. Watching your videos has given me a lot to think about. They've also inspired me to try different things, and I'm itching to run a campaign.
Thank you Matt!
Really appreciated this video. I've heard advice about setting expectations and surveying our players about what they most enjoy, but this approach is a great negotiation tool - "here's what games I'm interesting in running, what do you people feel like playing?" Awesome!
I like skyships
So screw it we're gonna play in a setting where you need a skyship too get anywhere and going beneath the clouds is for adventurers.
Treasure planet
Xenoblade chronicles 2
Curse of the black pearl
Hey Matt, I just caught up on your Running the Game series and just wanted to say thank you. All your tips are immensely helpful, even for someone who doesn't plan on running Dungeons and Dragons. This coming Tuesday, I'm doing the session zero for a FATE campaign, and your tips have helped me to have some confidence that I'll get my players to have fun. So, thank you a million times, and keep up the awesomeness.
This kind of stuff is exactly why I love this channel more than the other channels I'm subscribed to.
Just wanted to say that i found your videos back in October while looking up how to play D&D and I started to watch your videos from number 1 running a campaign from like 2 years ago and have continue watching I number of your videos to kind of get the understanding of DnD as I have never played it and know nothing about it I will say I am very intrigued to play one day however I live in Hawaii and not many people play out here. Just hearing you talk about different campaigns you have ran and the thought process you go through to develop them I have a deep appreciation for you as a DM thank you for your videos as they have been very helpful and understanding
I asked my players what they wanted to play a couple months ago. They decided on a Homebrew world that they helped to create. It has been a huge success. They didn't create the NPCs but they have general knowledge of the continent they are on, they know the current political climate that their players would know.
And they chose the theme of the game and the story. I like involving the players.
Another great video brother, keep inspiring!
I was going to have a campaign where it was a vampire hunt with Gothic ruins and destroyed cities very much inspired by castlevania but i failed to describe exactly what i meant so i had a player bring an xp to level 3 artificer to the table in a time with little medication and definitely no gun powder or other gun stuff.
he thought this would be a tactical fast paced chase while stealing carts and finding clues capturing vamires and werewolves as crazy powerful hunters. it was really a political, doing quests to get friends and help in preparations for demons escaping from hell.
this video will really helped me explain what i mean for next time. thank you
Two points. One for the video, one for Kickstarter.
On this video:
Find it odd others don't do this naturally, but I guess nothing is natural until done for the second time. Our general DM usually tells us about games he's is prepared to run when a campaign dies or goes on hold. Or he tells us ahead of time if we are coming to the end of a campaign run within a few week what he is ready to prepare. We've all played together for a long time now so we know what to expect from each other. Our DM's pitches include:
1. The game system (for us it is Pathfinder, GURPS, or Godbound (RIP Exalted))
2. The setting (cyberpunk, steampunk, high fantasy, modern day)
3. The general starting plot and maybe a planned out after early levels (you start as mercenaries working for Cityville, Military experiment goes awry opening portals to alien worlds, a new king needs help cleaning up his kingdom from baddies)
4. The important highlights (info on the kingdom, what happened to cause the city to be a disaster, do the portals lead to alien exploration or alien warfare)
He then gets our input and we work to come up with the type of characters we want and what we want to do. If it looks like a go, then we are good. If it isn't working, we move on to something else.
On Kickstarter:
Read up a lot on it and the common thread through them all is be VERY careful with physical perks. Something as small as the cost of mousepads add up very quickly when you have to pay to have it made, pay to have it shipped to you (or to a warehouse type place that you've paid for), pay to pack it up or at the very least for the packaging, and pay to ship it out to 100's or 1000's of people. People may scoff at pricing, but shipping & handling is a very real concern for businesses.
I plan on running an all-Bard one-shot set in the 1980’s and this is exactly the video I needed to watch. Thank you for being a river to your peoples, Matthew!
I couldn't agree more with this concept. I do this with all new groups when I from time to time need to organize a new one. It's a great way to get everyone on the same page quickly.
The one thing I love most about your videos is stumbling upon an older video which is exactly what I need in that given moment!
I really like the idea of the Campaign Pitch Document. It's a nice way to get the players aligned with the themes and playstyles of your campaign.
This video is so helpful! I'm the default DM for ttrpg club at college (I started the club last semester), and I'm about to begin my 2nd campaign in the club. Because this is different from playing just with friends, and there's a certain structure to club operations, having a pitch document is such a genius idea! I would anyways pitch campaigns to my PCs and ask players what they most were looking forward to in a game so I could tailor aspects of play to them, but just having a document makes that so much easier! It's also another way for me to be hyper-organized, which I always love.
Will definitely be using this system with the next campaign so I can give my players, some of which are always going to be novices, some agency and set expectations. This is basically an organized way of doing things that I've before just done through conversation lol. Love it
You're a busy man, so I'm going to keep this short.
After finishing one of your videos I immediately decide I'm going to try whatever you are suggesting.
I don't think I can give higher praise.
Thanks man, keep it up.
The first minute of this is already something I needed to hear after stressing about my game for months.
applejackjk18 Why so? What about your campaign creates stress?
Super useful Matt. Especially the player buy in. I've always had a problem with people making characters that just don't mesh with what I was intending and really sink narrative ship. I've let this fly in the spirit of "the sandbox" principle of just letting people be whatever they want but having a defined "buy in" really helps. And hey, if no one likes your buy in that's a good indication that no one wants to play the game you were intending to run, which is better to know before you get 6 sessions in.
I do the same thing (started doing this sometime mid to late 90's iirc). What I did differently was put the "description" in "story style". I didn't say "This has a lot of woodland travel", I would say "The city of Eshan sits at the meeting of three large forests; the dark and brooding Forest of Mists, the elf and faerry guarded Feywood, and the Olde Woods, where ancient redwoods house unusual creatures and peoples who live high above the forest floor". ...basically, really heavy on the purple prose and even character soliloquies. (memorable one was a Star Wars campaign [WEG d6 version, obviously], involved a description of Luke flying down the trench of the Death Star, listening to Obi Wan, shooting...and missing...ergo, nothing after that, movie wise, actually occurs; puts the PC's FULLY in the drivers seat for saving the universe).
I HIGHLY suggest every DM at least give this a try. Suggestion Tip: Keep your pitch to no more than one page of 1.5-line spaced page. Short and sweet, baby, short and sweet (kinda like me... :) ).
Thinking through what you're saying I think one of the most important ideas you've mentioned (that you kinda skimmed over) was the "player buy-in". I've made the mistake in the past of believing my own enthusiasm will make the players engage with whatever I throw at them. But that is obviously not the case! Specifically telling your players what THE STORY expects from them is brilliant and I'm not sure why I've never considered it! Especially your example from the The Chain of Minauros puts this through perfectly. "The game doesn't work if you don't truly follow this".
This is such great advice, not just for the players but for the DM too. If you SAY "This campaign will eventually get epic," you will remind yourself to add some scale to adventures. The heroes' exploits need to get the attention of the local earl; he sends them on a mission to the coast, where they find his enemies are massing; they go back to adventuring, but now 1) the earl knows and trusts them and 2) they know tensions have risen to the point of war.
I've been a D&D player for 25 years, never really DM'd (maybe 3-4 sessions total that whole time). I don't even normally *watch* youtube, because hell, who has the time? But I've watched a majority of your videos, and they've inspired me to start my own homebrew campaign. So if you're wondering if it's working, it is! :)
Just watched the episode where you said most people only watch the first 8 minutes of a video, and I find that baffling... there's so much good stuff in the videos, even for people super familiar with the game from the player side (like me)... I watch all the way to the end, just to make sure I don't miss a great nugget.
Probably my favorite piece of advice was the one on slicing time as a DM, and how powerful that can be.
12:24 Heard "...I'm an orc..." at first, had to listen again
Lol me too!
I think we can all agree that is exactly what he said.
Nice Rosencrantz and Guildenstern reference. I find the depth of your knowledge refreshing.
The pitch, combined with session zero, are IMO the most important part of the first 10 sessions of a new game. I'm actually surprised that this is the first time you've given your players a campaign pitch! I've been doing it for years. Indeed, just this month, I've had *three* session zeroes for a single campaign: talking about the setting pitch with players, and then making characters together. It's been great!
As always you help to get my ideas in order.. Thank your Matt for all the Running the game series it realy helped me to get me started as a DM and it keeps helping months after that!!
Huh. Then I create my campaigns almost polar-oppositly (is that a valid phrasing) to yours, Matt. I throw a setting at my players, e.g. The Bronze Age collapse, and build a bunch of factions inside that world (the egyptians, assyrians, etc). Then I have my players create their characters while they ask me about any details of the world they might want to imagine for their backstory. Usually, I give them a pass because it makes the world feel more alive.
And only then, usually when we played one or two sessions, I develop some form of idea for story beats. Mostly created out of the characters' backstory, with the central tension of the world in mind (mostly factions wanting to get more power, it's the easiest central tension).
Literally just today I was saying that I should see if I can get my old high school friends together through D&D and needed to find how to pitch it.
Thanks for another video. I binge watched your prior videos and can't get enough of them.
Just did this for 2 one shots I pitched to a new group I’m going to DM for. I only used 2 sliders, combat and roleplaying. Wanted to keep it manageable, and I think I did the pitch reasonably well. This is great advice as always Matt 🙏
My friend asked me for tips on running his first game last night, I'm just going to link this video to him :-) great work Matt
Every time I hear Matt talk about the games he runs and what he likes to do in the game I wish I could be one of his players. His games sound right up my alley. I love DMing, but damn I would love to be a player, especially for someone like Matt.
I really enjoyed this video Matt, I like the idea of picking out three things that "define" your campaign and pitching that to your players so they know what they are in for.
This video was a godsend, I'm actually about to run my first homebrew system set in a non standard setting and I was having a hard time outlining my pitch and session 0 to my players, one of which is relatively new but a natural. This got my gears turning!
I’ve been making my way through these videos over the past 2 days and the Rosencrantz reference made my day👌
Great advice as usual sir. Best to cover these things before a game rather than during.
Matt, this video was exactly what I needed right now. I am trying hard to make this game my Magna Opus and I want to make sure that I have players that are comfortable with what I will be giving them... a campaign pitch will be immensely helpful. Thanks a lot! :)
It is a beautiful thing to get to watch a Matt Colville video
"your players will get into the spirit of things if they know what the spirit of the things is" - Amen!
Hmmmm looking through the doc the chain of minauros is the one i would choose to play in if this was pitched to me. I think it has great oppurtunities for some really interesting characters with slightly murky morals and motivations, which are always my favourites. The big sprawling political melting pot of a metropolis is also something i havent had a chance to play in yet but have always wanted to. Overall a fantastic video as always and looking forward to the next one!
Thanks for the video, Matt! This is a great idea. I've been planning on running a campaign for some of my friends coming up soon. Since it's Rolemaster, though, I'm doing a one-shot to gauge interest in the first place and will presenting a similar pitch document to my players to make sure we're playing a game they will enjoy. Thanks again for the tip!
By the way: Critical Role inspired me to try DMing and D&D in general, but your videos really help me get a feeling for what kind of things to look out for! I’m binge watching these, thank you!
Right as I'm about to start two new campaigns with my groups. Thank you for that timing :D
This is a great video, and the document gives a good spread of campaigns.
I do try to get an idea what kind of game people want to play before starting a new campaign, but usually do it verbally with people. This sort of document with sliders and a mix of campaign styles/suggestions is a damn good tool to use. I will definitely try this before the next campaign I run.
In the Dresden Files rpg I ran my group and I built the world and campaign together. It made everything a lot easier on me, and I still managed to surprise them with plot twists they made themselves! It was super fun, made everyone more invested and I highly recommend it.
This is a great idea. Having a preview and options for campaign makes it easier to build a character for the world and increases investment from the player.
Hmm, a very interesting method. I've had a few ideas for D&D myself and find it hard to get opinions on what my players want out of a game. Thanks for the format, its actually short simple and informative, id be more than grateful for any more things like this.
The R&G Are Dead quote alone would earn this one a like, but I also appreciate this kind of info from a DM before a campaign starts.
This is literally what I needed. Was doing this when the notification popped up.
The first time you shared that pitch doc on twitter was a serious "ah ha!" moment for me. I don't think I'll ever NOT use one now. Glad you made a video too now!
One of your best, which is saying a lot. And this is super well timed for me, I'll be using these ideas very soon. Thanks!
Glad to have another running the game video. I thought this was a very cool idea and timely for my game. Thanks!
One axis that's important to me as a DM that I didn't really see you mention is Exploration.
This is similar to player determination, but isn't identical. I define it as the idea that there are "things" out there for the players to "find" which, once found, provide multiple options for future advancement. And it doesn't matter if those things actually exist, just that the players *think* they exist. And, of course, the players have to *think* that those things are optional; that if they went left instead of right, they would have found a different lost city, or looted a different ruin.
Looking at published adventures, Horde of the Dragon Queen is very low-exploration: there's very little optional content, and when hooks are found there's usually only one way to use them. Tomb of Annihilation is very high-exploration: The PCs are thrown into a jungle with no sense of where anything is that they can wander at their leisure (and peril). Out of the Abyss is somewhere in-between: unlike HotDQ the players are incentivized to explore the world, but it doesn't have a hexmap like ToA; PCs are only really meant to go somewhere they have a guide to take them to, and optional dungeons are intended to be thrown at the PCs like random encounters, not sought after.
The Rosencrants and Guildenstern quote caught me off guard. I nearly choked on my drink!
This is an EXCEPTIONALLY USEFUL VIDEO for experienced DMs.
I've been watching loads of your videos for so long. I love them, but this one is one I skipped over. I'm going to start a new game soon, so quite topical. I've taken inspiration from you, so much!
I am starting up a new campaign this week with a group I've run a short campaign for over the last couple months. Good timing for this video. Very helpful. I don't think I'll use the same kind of thing you did, but for my session zero, it definitely helped me figure out topics to bring up.
These videos always give me something to think about, and thats why i love them. Pls, keep it up.
Rush reference....I love you man.
Ready Player One approves.
I love Running the Game. Thanks Matt. Can't wait for the kickstarter. I've got my pledge ready.
Phils campaign sounds kick ass, i want to try a low magic setting.
You should check out webDM on UA-cam. They made a video on low magic settings.
Yay welcome back Running the game. WE MISSED YOU.
Wow. I am totally loving the idea (which yes, might be my own misunderstanding of your point (in regards to L5R)) of session-zero DM-fiat'ing something that the PCs have to be interested in, or care about, or have as a goal. Assuming that the players are cool with it just establishing something simple before the game starts could really propel your plot forward in the direction you want. Thanks Matt.
I've heard this idea called a "campaign prospectus" by some GMs. (I think I first saw Bill Stoddard use the term on the Steve Jackson Game forums, when talking about his GURPS campaigns, but he credited someone else whose name I've forgotten.) It was very helpful in determining how to start my current "Time of the Tarrasque" Pathfinder campaign. As the title suggests, the players know (out of character) what part of the finale will be, but it will take them quite some time to get there (we started at 1st level, they're at 3rd now). The setting is one that I've puttered around with for ages, but never ran a campaign in before, so I had a lot of possible starting locations, each with its own focus for early adventures. I eventually narrowed it down to three, and let the group choose. (One of the other two pitches will likely become the focus at the mid-levels, as one player gave his PC a back story tied into that part of the world.)
This video was a blessing; I'll be pitching my campaign using these tips later this month.
I always start by asking the players I want to involve what kind of game they would like to play. Essentially letting them tune their own channels. Then I generally come back with the type of game I want to run, and find a middle ground with them that's interesting to both of us, or just pass on if our ideas are too different. Once I have everyone's temperature, I tune the game to make sure to hit everyone's #1s and ideas for what they want. You always want to rotate the spotlight on each player, so I try to give players their moments in a way that coinsides with the sort of activity they wanted in the game. Roleplayers get dramatic scenes with NPCs, combat players get encounters that let them stretch their prowess, etc. I've generally been pretty successful at letting everyone walk away happy.
That said, I think I take game time a little more seriously than perhaps you do (Matt). Not that you are wrong or I am more virtuous of course, just different approaches. I generally just don't play with people who are not invested in the idea of sitting down and playing the game and taking it seriously. That probably lets my approach work a little better. I wouldn't know what to do with a spectating sort of player who's just happy to be there and doesn't care what's going on.
(10:05)My brain stopped hurting every time the Player King stepped onto the page. Marvelous example of why plays should be seen, not read.
Hey Matt! Awesome turn around. This is a topic that is really timely relevant for me :) Hope the shoulder isn't getting you down. Stay awesome!
How did I go so long without seeing this video with the golden "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead" reference. Cheers, Matt!
"It's all blood, you see." -Matt Colville
After taking a look through your Campaign Pitch Doc, I gotta say that Wards of the Last Emperor sounds absolutely awesome! I'd love to play that!
Tonight i ran a session for my friends, we had a blast. Tired but happy i came home, and saw your video posted. Yay! Good thing i'm having a night snack! Btw, looking forward to the kickstarter! Cheers :)
I am absolutely going to do a pitch-poll for the next campaign. Great vid as always!
That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead quote at 10:04 -- fantastic pull.