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@@jayteepodcast im sorta wondering what you meant by that... as in can a 1-shot be developed into a full on campaign? or as can a 1-shot be put into a campaign? because the point of a 1-shot is basicly taking a session for the entire thing... so it cant really develop into a full on campaign... but a 1-shot can easily be shoved into a campaign as a story of legends or whatever your approach to it is...
Jonathon Thompson My first time as a GM was impromptu and I thought it was going to be a one shot. I had 4 hours to create a game, build new PCs with the players (complete with backgrounds) and run the game to a conclusion. Plot/world creation and character building took about 30 minutes. Game play was about 3 1/2 hours. It turned into a full campaign with an over arcing antagonist that the PCs were not aware of in the beginning. All of the antagonists that the PCs met were pawns to the main antagonist. I developed the campaign as the game progressed from session to session. The campaign was a series of one shots with a running theme. Everywhere the PCs went they discovered “unusual” antagonists. The missions/locations were railroad, because all the PCs belonged to the same group, but once at the destination it was all sandbox and improvisation. This was done in the Trinity universe, but I see no reason that a creative GM couldn’t do this within any game setting. The most important thing I use as a GM is “what is the antagonist trying to accomplish and how are they doing it?.” Or, as I’ve recently heard it put, “someone wants something very badly by this time, but is having difficulty because of this.” Fill in that statement and get a general grasp on the setting/world. After that, turn the players loose in your world and make sure everyone is having fun.
I would advise changing the MistWalker to avoid the unlimited teleportation. It would be substantially better to change up a current class like Warlock to have a number of spell slots equal to warlock level, with the level of those spell slots equal to warlock level/4 rounded up.
@@an8strengthkobold360 then you are the first one and are just being to hard on yourself. did your players enjoy themselves? then you did a good job as a DM
I mean, I think he nailed it when he said the villains are actionary, and the player heroes are reactionary. So by definition, if you can’t improvise as a DM then you will indeed be perpetually frustrated when your characters react to you in ways you didn’t expect
@@thomasborders6882 Wouldn't the trick tp inprove is to have maps ready just in case? Yet I think with virtual tabletops I think the world map would need to be conplete so improve could be easier. After the map's complete is when characters can be fleshed out during improv.
Our DM was excellent at improv, to the point we would intentionally go off the beaten path to see what he would do. It was _awesome_ and felt like a real world because of it Once, completely on accident, we went to a different town than we were supposed to and this absolute LEGEND came up with a whole new campaign. It was a super cool campaign, too.
Some players did that to me once in a Star Wars RPG campaign. They wanted a Klingon Bird of Prey. So Luke taught them force skills, and the rebellion sent them on the mission. They got the BOP, then said screw the rebellion and ran off, fell to the dark side on purpose and became pirates. FINE. So the rebellion and empire put a bounty on them. So a Greedo showed up, they smoked him. Then IG88 showed up, they won. Then Dengar showed up, that was hard and they knew where this was going. Bobba Fett showed up. They won but it was hard fought. So as an impartial GM I decided plot twist: The ONE thing the rebllion and the empire could agree on was these two had to go. So plot twist, Luke and Vader teamed up to hunt them down. now THAT was fun!!
Also fun story. I have a player who played a mage who dabbled in Necromancy. He created these gems that he could command to glow very brightly if he was within 200 ft. But instead of using them to light up tunnels and dark rooms. He would implant them under the skin just above a victims heart. And then get his ranger buddy to heal up the wound and save the victim from death. Then once the victim was awake he would inform them that they were now his slave and unless they wanted their hearts to explode and kill them instantly "At wich time he would command the gem to glow very brightly and freak the shit out of the victim". And any attempts to remove the "bomb" would set off the bomb and instantly destroy the victims heart. There are ALLOT of NPC's running around scared shitless by this guy lol.
Isn't it easier to kill them and then raise them from the dead if you are a necromancer? If I were an npc the first thing I would do would be go to a high level mage/cleric to have the magic bomb defused. Neat idea to use once or twice, but it can get boring in the long run. Oh, unless you have them running along with the party. A bit dangerous since they would try to kill your guy while he's sleeping. I still think raised deads are more affordable.
I basically just did this in my last session (as a player.) First as a bit of backround, our group runs on a semi-drop in basis, where new people join, old people drop off, etc. so we have some players higher/lower level than others. So, we're in this nightmare dimension where we're confronted by the worst fears or twisted versions of the greatest desires of different party members, and in the last room of the dungeon, our strongest character (a level 12 fighter, where most of us are level 8-9) turns on the party and starts hacking away at us. As a player, I knew that this was an illusion and he'd be fine when our characters "woke up" but as a CHARACTER I took this as he was being mind-controlled and just needed to be snapped out of it, so the rest of the party knocked him out and our warlock was just about to deal the killing blow... until I knocked him off and used a healing word on this illusion version of our companion, who then immediately started to attack again. I knew it would happen, but roleplay-wise it was the right decision at the time.
@@KaiserSoze679 Fantastic Roleplay. I used to play a Barbarian, who was a wild Outlander and didn't understand anything about magic or demons. We had this big demon lord controlling our beloved NPC companion. He dropped on us and told the wizard through telepathy, that he was mind controlled and the party needed to kill him as he had no power at the moment but would be enslaved any minute by the BBEG. The party knew we just had to kill him and revive him after that but my dumbass barbarian didn't knew and didn't believe the "shady magic user". For him they wanted to give the fallen companion a killing blow. I roleplayed it and turned against the whole group and tried to run away with the NPC (had no chance). They beat me and killed the NPC, then revived him and explained the event to my barbarian who didn't really get it but was happy, that the NPC wasn't dead. He apologised and everyone thought it was a cool little conflict. My DM told me later that if he could've get away the BBEG would had a vessel to rule the universe. Close call.
doesn't look like too much drama, either have him join the party or write him off as a support character. also, see tv tropes for "redemption by self sacrifice"
Our DM’s prepared material: PCs band together to topple a theocracy What we actually did: overtake a small port town and spend the next three years establishing a bustling commerce center.
I learned a lot in this video ! For my first campain as a DM, I was planning the group to work for the king and defeat a criminal organization... And they decided to join them after a while to free themselves from the king's power and started ambushing royal guards and assassinate important warleaders to get closer and closer to the king, then killed him to end his reign. It was the best campain I ever had!
It would be cool to watch video of a session you GMed and then have a "director's commentary" recorded afterwards, where you show the moments where player input affects what happens next.
I tend to start the game off with the players in a location with a lot of things going on. The player can choose what leads they want to follow, but I keep track of what is going on with all the leads they don't follow. While some quests will sit there and wait, others are time sensitive. For instance, if the players want to explore the old ruins looking for treasure, the necromancer that escaped from the dungeon that they didn't track down makes his way to the Swamp of Ulith ad begins constructing a lair.
I love that, it can easily become far too much to keep track of however if too many hooks are introduced and not followed up on. I find myself having to force myself to stop introducing new side hooks, and instead reintroduce an old hook that has changed over time. It ends up being a tangled mess if I don't cull things down a bit.
This, in the past, has led to a lot of confusion over what needs to be focused on. They ended up being powerful enough to face the Necromancer (or whatever), but didn't care who he was because they didn't spend time getting to know him as a villain.
I love the idea of this, and i was actually planning on using something like this to determine alignments for new players. I simulate a week in a village with each non adventuring pc lives their lives how they choose, and then simulate a siege. Who saves the old man, who picks up their sword to fight the demon, who abandons his friend to save his own life, and who helped the demons, etc
@@maxwhitworth9178 this kind of stuff needs some extra attention from the dm to work as intended for the players. not that it's that difficult, but if the players completely forgot there was a necromancer in the first place either find ways to remind them or postpone his storyline to a time when the party can afford to start his quest, not to railroad them into doing so but only to make sure that the choice to ignore him is a concious decision rather than the result of distraction. in my experience players will always feel like you're bullshitting them when they're hit by the consequences of their inactions if they don't feel responsible of the outcome, so I make sure to turn all the opportunities of inaction that might lead to interesting consequences into active decisions and always give one (soft) second chance to prevent them, all the advantages of good worldbuilding plus extra pc investment by guilt.
Quick question : my players caught me off-guard when they decided to make the campaign about one of the players, basically they want to save the warlock from his patron. They didn't discuss it with me before, trying me best to make it work but I'm struggling w/ it. Don't wanna force something upon them since they're happy w/ their choice.
Why not do both? If you have a player hook ofthe warlock patron, and your large campaign theme, then I would do both. Think of the warlock like a mini theme during your larger season. If your players spend 6 sessions tracking down this warlock patron and dealing with them, that doesn't mean your main villain isn't active or that you have to give up you main campaign hook. Try to let them explore their characters a bit and keep you villain active.
Nicolas Jacquet on a different note I'd also make it so that the character can't gain any more levels as a warlock since their powers come from their patron. My two cents.
I'm not very experienced at all, but is there a way to have the patron be somehow connected to the big bad? That could be useful for after they eventually succeed or fail to bring them back to the main story or make the patron quest part of the main story. Finally in my opinion you should probably talk with the warlock player one on one of you're thinking about not letting them get any more warlock levels after taking down their patron, and see how they feel about that first before deciding anything.
I guess I’ve just been lucky with my group of friends, but this sort of thing is never an issue. My players can make choices that effect the campaign, for sure, but there is a line. I don’t run an infinite sandbox. If I think something is going to derail the campaign too much, I simply subliminally dissuade them from a particular choice, make another more appealing, or just tell them to fuck off with that noise. I spend too much time on prep to just have the players derail everything with dumb ideas they spent 3 seconds thinking about. We have all been friends for a long time though, so your mileage may very.
or tie into it an alternate, more favorable patron and they can switch their focus to that. perhaps the new patron is an old enemy of the current one. since they are trying to get rid of the patron i assume it is an evil one such as a fiend. and there are more options in the phb as well as those in mordekainens. could always go celestial pact.
I’m running a slow boil right now and I had a really fun boss fight for first level. For some context the game was meant to be a solo with a Druid but I decided to give him a greedy rogue sidekick just in case the plot needed a quick pick me up “We need to run! No time to explain!” (he’s a new player he doesn’t always have an idea what he can or should do). Well starting off the campaign he began in a major desert city where he met his rogue and he ended up spending about 1 in game week as a level 1 adventurer where he used his Druidic powers to complete various odd jobs and talk to a variety of colorful npcs to help him figure out where exactly he was, during one of these odd jobs his sidekick noticed one of the street performers and over the course of the week started spending less time with the player so when the rogue decided not to help him find missing pets one afternoon he wasn’t too surprised. After completing another low XP sidequest the player decided to look for his sidekick, a search check (dc 1) later and he sees the rogue with the street performer from before and a man (her husband) arguing about something. As he approaches the man hits the performer knocking her to the ground and in an instant the rogue draws his dagger and lunges at him. “As your friend attacks this stranger the world slows to a stop, what do you do?” As a new player he seemed afraid of combat so I put him in a situation where he’d be forced to either learn how to fight or watch his favorite npc die. It wasn’t subtle in the least bit but it made a statement and it opened the doors for a lot of role playing in the aftermath of that bombshell he still defaults to talking to villains to see if they can be reasoned with but now he freely engages in combat when it’s appropriate rather than being dragged into it so I’d say I did my job.
I've been running my first campaign since January and aside from a basic outline of what to do each week and a few premade maps, I have improvised the entire campaign, . I make a page of key things I want to happen, then wing it. I've been using the taldorei campaign setting as my guide, having one of the critical role characters send the party off to recover ancient, powerful weapons, they've recovered 2 so far and just encountered one of the main villains who wields one of the weapons ( he may have killed half the party) so the remaining members and a few new faces have decided to try for another one instead. It really works well for me as the journey to, and obtaining of each item works as it's own individual season averaging at 4/5sessions per weapon. I have a list of items and their rough locations, they simply decide what they want to get next and when, then I get to focus on making a series of things that I may throw at them on the way. It helps to have a sandbox style world already made for you, to do this. But if you're up to the challenge, you can make one yourself
yeah thats how i do it, except the page ... i think about my campaign while commuting and think about some good/bad encounters ... good encounters happen if players are careful and see through traps and so on and bad encounters happens when they just do stuff ... or if there needs to be more action. I mean its a bit mean that they will meet the important old man that tells them of how he is depressed because he couldnt win back his fathers heirlooms, no matter if they stay around and maybe help end a fight in a tavern, or if they stop to help a traveler in need in the forest ... but in the end the story progresses, and the rest ... one gets a hang of it, as long as the factions and the npcs know what they want and you as a gm are there to mediate between the game world and the players
This writing style is saving my hide. I had the concept to bring forth the eventuality of war for profit, and along the way, a few masks of the 8 Demon Lords were picked up, and I'm slowly tying that core theme back in. I love this writing style.
I ran my first game this past weekend, and boy, you aren't lying about not knowing what your own game is gonna be like. One of my players is about to STEAL A NOBLE TITLE. My rogue is literally about accidentally steal a duchy 😂😂😂
I play AD&D 2nd edition and we don't have combat ratings for any of the monsters because even a monster such as kobolds can be deadly . One group of kobolds almost killed an entire party of 12th level characters . dungeons.fandom.com/wiki/DnDWiki:Tucker%27s_kobolds?useskin=oasis
This is my exact DMing style. I love how my players creat the story themselves. It makes my job very easy and I get to play off what they did last game session. It's a win win for everyone!
One of the things I like to do to get an off the cuff campaign started is to use the Rumors at the Inn or tavern, Adventurer's Guild job board, Town crier, Info at the Thieves Guild or Temple or Wizard's Guild, etc, etc. I generate about half a dozen things to engage the party. As the campaign goes on I try to add one or more each session where it makes sense to do so. Adding and subtracting plot hooks keeps the campaign alive. For example, there have been some graves disturbed in a cemetery or cemeteries and the guards haven't been able to stop it. Rats are eating more of the city's food stocks than normal. The temple of XXX needs guards for the annual transport of the holy item for the reconsecration of a local church. I'm sure that any DM who is used to improvisation can come up with a bunch of these quickly. If not, think about various plot hooks and write them down. Don't worry about the party being able to handle all of these; you are building a campaign world. A first level party will not be able to kill the ancient red dragon that is terrorizing the western dukedom. That is okay because that might be available for them to take on when they have grown in power; for now it is background. Likewise, there will eventually be plot hooks that appear to be beneath them, and may in fact be. More history, although some of them could grow to become threats that could challenge the party. Some plot hooks will be one shots, if the party doesn't select that plot hook to check out, it will resolve itself and disappear - someone else handled it. Some of these will grow in importance if they don't do anything about them and at least provide a background story to the world they live in. Some of these could lead to a campaign that I have some ideas about how I want them to go. Depending on what the party does will determine the direction the campaign takes. In every case, they choose the direction and there are some "might have beens" in the background, things that may engage them after they have been allowed to fester when not properly handled; once they have grown into something that the party can take up after the first arc is finished, with their more capable characters. This can allow preparatory magic items and information to be given if I want them to take this arc on as their next quest, but it will still be their choice.
I still come back to this video every time before starting a new campaign. And this is the video I recommend for every new DM when they ask me for tips. Fantastic tips.
Supernatural is a good show on average. This is because its quality is often close to evenly split between amazing and abysmal...even in the same episodes, sometimes.
I hope you had a great time! Things that I have found invaluable: a list of random names, prewritten initiative list (a paper numbered 0 to 30 that I can quickly jot names next to. Quick initiative is critical for maintaining tension), prewritten generic stat blocks that you can paste onto various bad guys and flavor as needed (it's a vampire? Now the attack heals for a bit. Spider? Save against poison, etc.). It has saved me an immense amount of time not having to look up specific stats. NOTE: you do need a handle on the basic game mechanics for this to be "safe". You could kill your party, if you're not careful... anyway. I hope your dm'ing days are just starting :)
Great advice, especially the one about starting by focusing on the villain! The way you explained it made so much sense, it felt like a bit of an epiphany. I think this would be great advice as well for anybody trying to write a novel or any other type of story. Thank you for sharing that priceless tip!
One thing I have always done is create a list of 50 or so special NPC encounters, where each entry is either a solo NPC or a group of npcs (e.g. a noble and her retinue). Effectively, these are recurring characters in the campaign. I roll to pick an entry from this list at random when, for example, the PCs are traveling along a main road or they enter a tavern. Some of these npcs may be directly related to the campaign, but most are just side characters. They tend to stand out from the crowd so that when I tell the players they see someone ahead it is obvious why I singled out this particular person. Since they are meant to be recurring most of these npcs will not fight the PCs, at least not to the death, and many of them are higher level anyway. I tend to use these npcs when the players seem a bit unsure about what to do, or they need a break from their current activity. I know the PCs are at the center of the story, but I find they like the recurring npcs and the randomness of it makes the world seem more real. Plus it usually takes the campaign in a unexpected direction. The other thing I do with campaigns is actually have random encounter lists and lists of random antagonist actions. In general, everything that happens is semi-random. This keeps the campaign feeling fresh even to me - since I don’t know what is going to happen next. My players also appreciate that not everything is stage directed and the world does not revolve around them (until higher levels at least).
I am coming back to D&D for the first time in 15 years. I have been spending heaps of time fleshing out the new campaign and something has been niggling at the back of my mind recently. This was an amazing reminder of what I used to do that made me an effective DM and what I had forgotten. Thank you! I, and my players needed this reminder!
This video is absolutely a GOLD MINE! I am a somewhat experienced player who is looking at trying to DM, and I find this video to be so exciting and informative! Thank you Cody for sharing with us!
You've pretty much described how I go about my planning. I have these villains running around, causing havoc. One of them had his cultists swarm the starting town and fill it with summoned demons in order to take it over. That was the introductory session. It started out as a huge slap to the face (for the PCs, that is) and the goal ever since is to retake the region by reclaiming one territory after another. That gives me all the latitude I need to get them involved in all sorts of conflicts. When I plan out a dungeon, I draw the map if needed (need the visual aid for traps to make sense). Then, I fish out the cool monsters out of the Monster Manual and note the features I will most likely use. That's it, just a database of the different creatures inhabitating the current dungeon. I can then do anything I want with it. Depending on what makes sense, I ask myself, among the creatures I selected, who would guard the entrace? Who would be guarding the valuables? Is there a conflict within the enemy ranks? (The dragonborn barbarians thought they could control their CE Green Dragon. Grave mistake.) I'm often amazed at how my sessions turn out. Ideas pop up as the game unfolds and my players surprise me quite often. (When they vanquished the young dragon, they wanted to tame it instead of killing it. Had I written a linear storyline I wouldn't have been able to accept that.) My first encounters will have the enemies being pretty stupid and often quarelling among themselves. Then, as my group of players gain fame and reputation, Ima send more organized and more deadly threats at them.
When i was a young DM I used to do WAY to many notes, that campaign failed. I had no ability to go away from my notes and improvise. SO, for my next campaign, I quite notes all together. The only things I wrote down were monster stats saves and stuff for them to fight. Campaign notes were all in my head. And, according to my group, I've become one of the best improvers in the group.
I don't sub to many channels. After watching several videos, I'm subbing to you. I'm DMing my first game starting this month. These tips are absolutely invaluable. I have one experienced player, the rest are new to d&d. I guarantee I'll be returing for other videos. Keep up the great work, man! Cheers! My first arc is coming together REALLY well because of one of your KYPW videos. I won't say which one, because I had my players watch your 'welcome to D&D' video, and they might see this comment. 😅
I'm surprised how close this is to my own style. I started my campaign with intimate knowledge of my villain and a general idea of where his plot was going. I had a large supporting cast of characters I've built up over the years ready to go with issues and problems. In session 1, I introduced the party to the theme of the campaign, which has started to really echo as of late. For my planning, I normally jot down a few important details that I need to communicate with the players, laid a out the specifics of a few encounters, but little more. I never make details for more than 2 sessions in advance, since most of the time it is wasted. Overall, it works great. I highly recommend this to any DM out there.
Dungeons and villains drive the campaign. They have to be detailed. Towns, friendly NPCs, and just about everything else can be mostly improv. Especially if you have a book that's got premade NPCs. I have, like 4. Then, during the time between sessions you can add events and places (like holidays or interesting shops or landmarks or whatever) that you want to foreshadow and include. Think about random encounters if they are right for your story. If so, make some tables. Then, during the session, take good notes and build on whatever your players do. It's the only way I run a game. I can't run a module.
I wrote a an encounter outside the city, and invited players to shop on the way. 30 minute bargaining session with an ad-hoc credit/reputation system. Zombies attacked some villagers. Short combat followed by 30 minute debate on how bad a wound has to be to need amputation (via Eldritch Blast)
I always feel like I don't know what I'm doing when I DM. I know that I am doing alright, because they all seem to love my campaign. This video has helped me realize that I actually already have decent improvisation skills. I will prepare locations only when I know where the group is going. I only really flesh out important npc's and locations, but I never really make concrete plans except for the where locations are in the world. Thanks for helping me feel better about my abilities!
I take a very similar approach actually. I used the analogy of "I want my players to go from LA to NYC and any stops along the way are totally fine by me" and I set up vague encounters and hints along the way, intriguing them into doing what I want them to, while allowing the freedom to go about it in their own way. Even if that means they want to back track a little. I also create factions that they are members of that will start sending them in said direction (however vague) so that they feel they are chasing leads in an investigation across the realm.
Love it, that's how I run my campaigns! The only suggestion I could make is that player action have consequences in the game world. When I sketch out the BigBad's plan or plot, it includes a list of things the BigBad will do to win. Let's say the BigBad wants to invade the player's kingdom, and first wants to destabilize the kingdom and get them off guard before the main strike. As the BigBad's plans launch and the players get involved, the players should start build a picture that something is happening. Each episode will continue on the main story arc, but if the players decide to go in a different direction -- the BigBad's plans still go forward. Here's a for instance. The players encounter Orc Scouts someplace unexpected, maybe near a "safe" village, some of the scouts escape. The players decide not to follow-up on where the scouts came from because they get distracted by another plot or self directed idea. That doesn't mean the BigBad stops, they go ahead with the plan and the players hear the village was attacked and burned by Orcs. Consequences.
The start of my next campaign is the exact same setup and dungeon as my last campaign that i was a player in. Only difference is they arent there for this reason, theyre here for this other reason, with these other monsters
Now that was a good informative video! Thanks, You seem to run the same lines as me. I am also a fan of The Lazy Dungeon Master and here's how I do it. I call mine the Cattle Drive Framework (named after a Swords and Wizardry campaign where the PCs were advanced scouts and troubleshooters for...a cattle drive). I figured out the villain's plan, and looked at my world and where (roughly) the PCs would be in each session. I then plugged in mini-adventures, some modules and some things of my own. I keep in mind what the villain's endgame is and weave some threads into each mini-encounter. I love this format because I can plug in anything, change them around, delete stuff all to may heart's content (and easy to switch/delete stuff depending what the PCs do).
this is huge for me! Ive been trying to figure out how to do this because Ive got some seriously lacking DM skills. I found myself digging way too deep into the details just last night, Not gonna lie the though of all of this information has given me anxiety but also relief in the fact that now I know what to do. There is a process I can easily follow from now on. Thanks for the insanely helpful advice!
Wow! Just found this in a youtube hole. I needed this with the 5e N3 conversion I am running. I was trying to put them on the straight path to success. You gave me great ideas to have them meet NPCs that move the story forward without them having to follow the railroad that the module gives. Thanks so much from a Newbie DM.
I used to try and plan out each session or quest a lot but eventually found it was easier, more fun, and just better in general when most was improvised. I definitely do an episode kinda thing. Practically each session in my current campaign has its own objective, while the overarching plot is going on. And especially recently each session has been related to the overarching plot while still being its own objective. Currently my pcs are trying to get together all their friend npcs to help them go on an excursion that will help them get a powerful artifact
This video gives me so much more confidence to run a campaign! Nice to know that most of my ideas for setting up a great campaign are actually on point already. All I need to do is polish my understanding of the preferred rules - my friends are pretty adamant on 3.5 still. Excellent coverage of a great topic!
I love the emphasis on themes in the first session. A lot of my games involved some level of organized crime, and I 110% support letting players know that before the end of the session. The only caveat is being open to discussion. Games are a collaborative effort between players AND DMs. It's important to remember that.
I also only prepare one session at a time, tied to an overall campaign. One key technique that I've found very useful is to end (not start!) each session by having the players discuss with each other what they want to accomplish next. To use your example, that way I know if they plan to hit the thieve's guild or if they plan to run in advance of my session prep. Armed with that knowledge, I can prepare a focused session without restricting player choice.
Thank you so much! I'm still a new GM, and this fits my style so much! I'm sure your videos I've seen so far are really going to help my game! My players just broke out of the jail cells they woke up in (the first session started with them waking up in jail). They don't know where they are, who anybody is, or how they got there. After beating up a couple goblins, my players are having a blast! :)
in the campaign, I'm currently running, I wrote out a brief outline looked up some CR 5 monsters in the monster manual that I thought looked cool found some CR 6-8 and skimmed through for things I might want to use later. I then wrote out three different options the players could take, each involving the main quest I gave the players to start with, go through portal roll for diplomacy. the three paths basically were, they figure out how to use the fast travel I hid in the game, get there in three days in-game. and the other two options were for them walking there. then I wrote out possible encounters I might want to use while they're side questing along the way. I basically took my favourite monsters and sprinkled them about between the players and their current end goal. the plot of the story is that there's a travelling store owned and operated by a wizards guild that's been travelling around and using the store for components they'll be using for experimentation. the current quest is to go through a portal, discovered in a different campaign, and look for intelligent life to trade with. instead of writing for the next session I wrote the arc and made some notes of what I want to put in along the way... unfortunately when I went to stream it there was no audio and now the streams are going to have to start from episode two to make sense.
Doing my daily stretches, was between this video and continuing rewatching Supernatural season 1. Was shocked and delighted by this video hahaha. This is basically how I have been running my games since I started DMing. It has always worked so so so well. Thanks for reaffirming my methods and adding to it. I use a lot of character backstory and ideas they give to help with improving -thankfully I have players that are very willing to contribute and create with the freedom I have learned to afford them. Also just influence from various media - animes, fantasy, novels, shows (like Supernatural haha) once in awhile it just feels right to mix and match a character from something and drop it into a DND game as an NPC. Or take a power or ability from something and try to adapt it for your game. Thanks Cody!
This is a great video! I am running Starfinder and this video has given me a breather to help me gauge the rest of the campaign. Thank you and keep making your awesome videos.
I love your approach, it's pretty much how I prepare my games, except for one thing: Encounters. I'm sure that you, as a Roll20 user, can identify, but there's a lot of map prepping going on o roll20 that isn't required for presencial games. I've already improvised maps with the drawing tool, but I prefer to use some more elaborate maps and dynamic light them, and in order to do this, I need to plan encounters to specific places. At least I think so. Also, I like to plan my encounters through. Monster tactics, terrain, twists in the combat, making every combat more interesting. Do you not plan your encounters for your online games as well?
I like building a "diamond" shaped story path, where I have key plot/story moments that I want to visit but allow the players the freedom to do whatever they want. I view it like the story of an open world RPG video game: you start at one point, but from there you can go/do whatever you want. No matter what you do eventually you have to cross paths with a plot element, and from that single point you can go off in any direction again. This allows me to write loose encounters that I can sprinkle wherever seems appropriate while improvising, which eventually leads back to a plot point.
I generally write and outline of the full story, engage my PC's in their backstory, try and hook it in somewhere, then writs sessions one at a time with the overarching story in mind. Super flexible. I always tell my players, I am telling YOUR story through my lens.
Hey! I don't feel like such a weirdo DM anymore! Nice! All the DM's I know are big game preppers, but I do nearly nothing each week and my players love it. My campaign is a homebrew, the Prophecy of Returning, in which all the possible BBEG's in the setting are vying to be the one who fulfills the Prophecy and Returns to conquer the land All I prep is the overall layout of the countries, cities, deities, geography, cultures, and the BBEG's. And the conflict between those entities. Oh, and a list of fantasy names in case I need to make it sound like I already prepared Duedard Fulgrove, Okki Topbottom, or Vendeli Jarnash (random NPCs) Then it's a sandbox, where my players get to do whatever they want. They know that things are happening in the world, so whenever they mess around, they are missing things they could have changed. Thus they tend to stay on track pretty well, and keep themselves in position to be impactful.
When I prepare a campaign from scratch I do the following: * Create the Big Bad and their ambition. * A list of names of places, cities, taverns etc that I just randomly come up with during the day. * A list of names. * A list of organisation's and the roles therein. (All the lists can be used in other campaigns if I don't get the opportunity to use them in this one.) * A rough idea of events/conflicts going on in the players area and which of those are connected to the Big Bad and which aren't. * I start the campaign with introducing the current conflicts in the area, but also a hook in my players face which is hard to ignore to get them started but at the same time opening up options for them to pursue other conflicts if they should choose. * After that I mainly focus on the next session, but I as the campaign progresses I always keep in mind of the wheels the players has set in motion which aren't stopping just because the players aren't focusing on them at the moment. 😉
I’ve been running games for about 6 years now and then only game I have ever done that wasn’t improv was my first one. Every game I have done since then has been an improv game because I don’t like putting in all the effort of planning things out just to have the players go the other way. Plus I love the availability to change and morph the campaign and world around the players to give them a more fulfilling experience. My method is a touch different, but characteristically the same as the one you described. I come up with the big challenge, or bad guy, or event that the players need to overcome/defeat/stop then create a world around it. Then I create lots of different things for the players to do, and then just let them explore the world and throw minor events at them that keep reminding them that “doom is on the horizon” until the group decides it’s time to go solve the issue. Or don’t. If my players are having a good time exploring all the caves and strongholds then that’s fine with me. That big bad ending is still waiting for them when they are ready. I do have to say that it can be annoying sometimes when a group falls apart or decides they are done and don’t want to show up anymore, but that’s on me and I keep working to make my games more enthralling so the players knew coming back.
This is so obvious and I always start planning like this. But it is SO good to be reminded, because I always have this desire to revert to linear plot design - in which there is an awesome story where everything goes my way. Of course that never works out, and it turns into improvisation rather early on anyway. This is a nice reminder
Great video, very similar to how I run my games. You asked for technique ideas- One thing that's very important to me is to keep the world feeling like it's living and breathing. To do this, it has to keep revolving whether the players are doing anything or not. As such, I like to keep a list of events that could occur in the general area the players are. This could include unimportant NPCs passing by, weather events, ripples from the actions of the main villain. Generally this is just a bullet list of ideas. If it matters, I might stick a date on. (E.G. Equinox festivals in all cities, end of month. Fleeing villagers arrive on x date.) The other thing is to keep a list of the important NPCs - where they are and what they might be doing, when they might reach their destinations, etc. This is also helpful so you don't forget about important NPCs. (E.G. Merchant that the PCs pissed off heading to capital city to retrieve mercenaries, will arrive back on Y date. Codgy old wizard is hiding in forest making scrolls of grease and enlarge object. Thieves guild striking basket warehouse in 3 days.) Losing track of time for how long it takes NPCs to do things can hurt versimilitude.. But as always, the above are just toolboxes you reach into to grab something when the game calls for it. Just go in and update it from time to time, use as required.
Good advice. The one thing I would add (for GMs less-experienced in improv) is to pre-create memorable NPCs that you keep in your back pocket for when the players talk to someone you don't expect. These NPCs don't need to be detailed or statted out, but should have some interesting personality quirks (e.g., shrewish; boisterous; stutters). This can lead to interesting role playing opportunities.
I know this is an old stream can I find the best thing to keep people on track is to do what you said about listening to what they're saying. If they're losing their way and they suddenly come up with an idea like" I think this guy knows something or we should go here to investigate cuz I think it's connected" oh, well guess what, it wasn't originally in my mind but it is now. Suddenly that innocent family were actually agents of the people I want them to finally meet. I also think it's funny that it makes the players think they solved it and it keeps the frustration down from when they get sidetracked.
I have a kinda pet project campaign i'm working on long term. It follows your ideas surprisingly closely. If you compare it to a TV series, it would be a prolonged pilot episode, followed by 3-4 seasons of surprisingly shifting tone & content as the intrigue leads far and wide to some pretty unexpected places & shocking revelations. But the "pilot episode" if you will, subtly foreshadows everything, even if the main hook isn't until after a few sessions. The structure has LOTS of room for distractions "monster of the week episodes" improv-sandboxing, etc. There are 4 "checkpoints" where the story climaxes and leads to the next level of the arc, but any route that eventually crosses those 4 key story turning points is totally fine.
Oh to answer your question about how to improvise... I like to have some background generalities about the area in mind. But um, I kinda like slightly silly things, presented as serious. Like what is Farmer Joe like? well he talks to his chickens an awful lot, almost like he thinks they're talking back. But if the players laugh (ooc even), he might get pissed and chase you off his farm. I like to pull fantasy tropes inside out a lot. Warior maiden saving her gentle man from danger, Bigfoot complaining about the paparazzi, a squeamish necromancer, "reward" cursed items which are super easy to just use backwards to attack enemies, aliens who are deathly terrified of cows, stuff like that. Not to the point that everything is "backwards", but so things are backwards at least half as often as they're frontwards, so expect anything! You can use random tables to create some AMAZING encounters too. One time I took the usual random encounter table, but I added an additional roll for "animal, mineral, or vegetable", and a table for "stupid, sad, dangerous, fun, spooky, erotic, etc". So you could roll say "goblin ambush", but then roll "vegetable", and then roll "erotic"... and then as DM you have to create a vegetable themed erotic goblin ambush. Perhaps they assault the party from range using slings firing a strange local fruit which they believe will charm the players, but really works more like viagra, effectively debuffing the party somewhat, but not fully charming them. Obviously with a handful of sexytime love fruit as an encounter reward with many potential uses. (and you all thought i'd take that somewhere out of Goblin Slayer, so dark, tsk tsk... Well your right! you're just lucky i rolled "lighthearted" instead of "serious"... muahaha). Or just pull it inside out, so that the "goblin ambush" you come across is a small group of goblins huddled together, half dead & bloody and crying out for help, surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. And then the players would have to decide between saving helpless creatures in mortal danger, or letting the wolves have have their way and lick the marrow from some goblin bones tonight (it IS good for their teeth you know).
I think a smart thing to do when you plan on running a long term campaign is that when the players create their characters you ask them where their characters are from. Then you write down general "rumors" of things the characters would have known about from chatter in taverns or people met along the road as the character worked its way to the point you are now ready to gather everyone together and form a party. If the players come from the same region you can still give 2 players or more the same "rumors" but 1 or 2 players might have a couple differing versions of the same story/rumor. Or maybe they have similar rumors but some have a new piece of information. Then hand out these rumors to the players and inform them they are not to share their information unless its related to their characters back story or the party comes across information related to the rumors. At that time the party can sit down if they like and compare stories they have heard. This can lead to interesting ways of watching the group deciding what they want to do. Where they want to go and then you just adjust fire and create the campaigns narrative based on where the party decides to go. Some of the rumors may actually be completely false. But you still want there to be a reason for the party to be there even if the information that brought them to this location might have been completely false. Or even mis-interpreted MUHAHAHAHAHAHA......errr sorry about that.
I ran my first ever session two weeks ago. It was a pre-made one shot campaign to help ease me into the role of a DM. At certain points of the campaign the characters can make their own decisions about where to go and what to do. But the campaign book warned about certain parts that players may be oblivious to certain details or fail to go to a designated area to continue the story. It was especially important as the campaign takes place over four days and they can only progress with particular items or knowledge. The book didn’t give me ways of getting things back on track so I had to improvise. I had some experience from drama lessons at school but not like this. During the second day I realised that if I had one of these points comes up I make sure to be aware of NPCs in the area or even NPCs that will be in the next area to use them to draw attention to something in a vague way. Or become a little bit lenient with check rolls. It helps the players to progress without getting caught up or following dead ends, but at the same time I’m not spoon feeding them either. It means they progress and a good pace and still gain something from the campaign and earn it. And I feel proud that I can actually offer a decent campaign for them. It wasn’t perfect but even the veteran players of the group were incredibly proud of me. I was so nervous but I just got caught up in it all. It meant a lot for me to have that chance and has significantly improved my understanding of D&D and how the other players work. I loved it.
Great video, Cody, and great advice... I might suggest as an addendum, though... A flow-chart. It's as cheap as you can get for the planning to work functionally... AND it avoids a LOT of overplanning just sending perfectly good work into a circular file (trash-can)... Good ideas stay good, even when you reskin them, so I very rarely throw cool stuff away. Building a "Flow Chart Campaign" isn't hard. It's a basic block diagram of your story... You can start just as you suggested in the video with a starting place and a theme, and a few cool spots to get to if and as applicable... and an end spot... In the blocks, you write your basic tenets and any references for material that might be needed... Say a city-scape, or a certain tavern with a write-up... or just page references from the Monster Manual... whatever is needed for that block. Lines between the blocks can do (basically) two things... AND I'd highly recommend color coding the lines... One set (say... blue) can even use arrows to show the "flow" relationships from one block to another...This tells YOU (GM) how everything "fits" in the world setting and works to build your narrative sense of it... The other set (say... red) can also use arrows, showing where the party has been, is now, and where they go next... want to go... and so forth. This set helps YOU (GM) keep up with what's gone on and can help you set reminders for your Players (in case they forget about that big mean guy in the tavern in the Port City... cause he wants to kill the rogue)... little stuff like that. There's still PLENTY of room for flexibility, improv', and note taking (yes, I take notes as a GM, on my own campaigns... ESPECIALLY as we play) AND just because you've got a reasonably fleshed out flow-chart, that doesn't mean everything's etched in proverbial stone. As long as you remember to update the chart where necessary and useful, you can even flesh most of it along the way as you play it out... BUT it gives a wonderfully graphic and visual depiction of everything around the current "block" of the game the Players are dealing with. It doesn't have to be enormous, either. Smaller and simpler diagrams and charts are generally best, so keep the flow-chart information simple, even symbolic, just enough reference to know which book, notebook, or PC-file to use and approximately where to look inside it for a write-up of what monster, items, weapons, enemies, friends, or anything important might be while you're improv'ing everything else around it... If there IS a map, you might want to know that BEFORE you start using everyone's snacks to improv' one on the fly... AND remember, don't EAT the volcanic mountain before we get to the dwarven stronghold! ;o)
Very good advice, thanks! In fact, I just saved a link to this video in my "Links"-document, I'm going to have to come back a few times. I think this is going to re-align my current campaign prep-work. Awesome! Much of what you said here is echoed in Johnn Four's advice on "Loopy" Session Planning, as well as Shannon Applecline's old musings on Storytelling in RPGs over on RPG.net - sometimes you need to have a thing presented to you in multiple ways before you 'get' it. I think it's starting to gel for me ;)
I'll be running a campaign in the near future. Watching videos and watching other friends DM (some learning to DM as they did it) I feel/hope I've picked up on a few what to do's/not to do's. So far I have: - An endgame idea, but it's not really fleshed out at all other than "this is where I want to end up". Felt it would be easier to do the rest if I at least knew what I wanted them to be working towards. Basically just 'bad guy wants things, players keep finding the things, fight at the end when villain finally tries to get all the things'. There's many 'things' and how many they get will depend on how well they do with each 'episode' (I guess) but I'll essentially be giving them one for free so that the villain can't just do his evil plan at the end, he'll always be 1 short. Don't know what the 'things' are or how many there are, it would probably take a while for the characters to actually learn the specifics of the plan, and I would like to 'eyeball' how many there are so I don't do too many and make the campaign drag out too long, too little and it be too short. - Starting after the linear introduction (thought I would start on a trade ship already heading to their destination. Attacked by pirates on the way maybe) I have a few possible quests lined up, but mostly just the general 'meat' of the quest objective, not really anything specific in who they get it from/how it starts or were it starts/finishes. I don't necessarily know where they'll be at the end of a session, and I don't want to be telling them "oh, you should probably travel all the way back across the map because that's where I planned the next bit". - I have a bunch of other 'future' quest ideas, but they're no more than "oh, this would be cool, I'll write that down". The whos, hows, whens and wheres aren't even thought about yet since I don't know any of those. As for encounters, I just have a rough idea of what sort of enemies they may face, nothing concrete since I have no idea what their levels/equipment will be. Basically everything I've done I've at most got an end in mind for the quest chain and what is essentially the first quest in the 'chain', hoping to write the next bit of each chain after each session. - Started working on NPC's and enemy NPC's. To a degree I just like doing this, it's fun making unique enemies with unique movesets, but other than vague personality/purpose, I don't know where any of these NPC's would appear or when, kinda just there if I need them. The overall boss Orc of the first 'chain' I already made, but left him at the equivalent of level 1 so I can just 'level him up' when they get to him and I know what level they are so he isn't too easy/hard. Hopefully it all goes well since as it gets closer to the time I more and more wish I never offered due to nerves. I'm fully prepared for them not to do what I thought they were going to do, hence why I've got a lot of "I don't know" in my planning. Hoping that if they miss or ignore an NPC, boss or quest I was really looking forward to/put work into, I can just change their name and/or location so they'll encounter them elsewhere without really knowing I did that. Radiant quests, if you will.
Techniques: I use small notes (usually 4 or 5 specific notes) about the NPC that I'm introducing. ( 1. Description - physical/stats/magic/items 2. Purpose/motivation of NPC (his own goals) 3. Strength/weakness (can I accentuate these in role play) 4. Desired Outcome with PC interaction. 5. Reaction/expectation to the PC interaction). Then, I actually do some role-play sequencing based on what I project the party may do. I try to create the voice/tone and unique mannerism (in a mirror sometimes) but usually on recorded device (my laptop) and playback when I have ample time. I rarely "wing it" for important NPCs and the notes keep me focused for those opportunities. I'm fairly tedius, but this is all "out of game" prep. In game I rely on my memorization (of notes) and try to provide consistent presentation. Improv is fun but not always easily achieved. I enjoy it when players take the lead in role-play contextually and my NPC becomes a participant rather than the driving force in the conversation. Hard to achieve, but sometimes you get a solid player that understands story mechanics involved and jumps into their PC and drives the narrative for you. But when I improve (w/o prep) I always follow up my sessions with "DM notes" to guide me for the next phase of the game. Sometimes I write even while the game is ongoing about anything that is "very specific" or important to the PCs or narrative. This keeps me focused as well and consistent. My memory isn't the best....so review of notes pre/post game are vital.
I am not a DM but have been playing for a couple of years as a player, looking into DMing my first ever homebrew off the bat. I personally like improvisation coming from Both the players and DM, it makes the campaign so much more fulfilling for Both ends.
I do this! You can still build a really good story, too. 5e especially, is set up with the adventuring tiers from 1-20th level, divided into about 5-level "chapters". They already give you themes for each chapter, too; 1-5 Local Heroes 6-10 - Regional Heroes 11-15 - Heroes of the Realm 16-20 - Heroes of the World So that's how I plan my campaigns. I have an idea for each "chapter," so that I know how to foreshadow each upcoming chapter as part of the current one. For example, in the Arthurian campaign I'm running, level 1-5 the players were mostly just working for one minor lord, with a feud on the horizon with a rival fiefdom. In the second chapter, they're getting roped into some of the larger politics for the campaign during this feud, culminating in them largely choosing sides between supporting the established king or a group of rebels. In the third chapter, the party and their chosen allies face down Mordred, a threat to the entire kingdom, who's arrival has been foreshadowed throughout the entire game. It is unlikely that we will reach 20th level play, so I haven't considered much in terms of a "chapter 4." So I've created a living, breathing world with tons of NPCs who are sort of going along their own stories whether the party is there or not. And the party can choose how they weave in and out of it and steer the course of events. But there are big, 99% unavoidable events, which open and close each chapter; usually something "kingdom wide" which the party will definitely see no matter where their adventures have taken them. This is how I keep them "on track" - they're not on track at all, but they can't keep ignoring these grim tidings of Mordred's return, and if they still do, when he does show up and suddenly start wrecking the place, they can't say that it was out of nowhere or without warning.
One thing I've had a lot of success with is setting up 20 different encounters per CR. I keep them in a file, and if I need an encounter, I pull out an appropriate one (or even better, I roll a D20 and use whatever encounter it indicates. It's a lot of work initially, but the long term pay-off is great.
Dude, I love the stuff you do for this channel, and it's really helped me become a better DM for my players, but I gotta level with you Cody, you look like you need sleep my dude. You have the look of a college student on their fifth day of final exams for the year who accidentally got his fix of caffeine from downing 3 red bulls in the morning, forgot he put a pot of coffee on, decided not to waste the coffee, downed the whole pot then and there, and is now walking around with that crazed caffeine high look in his eyes, even while his heart is palpitating. Stay safe man, and keep up the good work. Care about you bro.
I think for some Dm's it's good to have notes, I am like that, I have notes about every little thing and yes, I plan ahead ALOT. The trick is being able to throw those notes out the window if necessary. Sure, it's a lot of work that goes into the bin there, but through all that work you most likely got a way better understanding of your own Npc's, the world you're in, etc. Planning out can help just as much with improvisation, as long as you stay flexible.
10:35 example in video games for open world. side quests. the main questline on evil dude causing chaos with stealing the amulet which is only thing to stop him is there but while on it do side quests to see whats going on in the world involving the ppl also affected by this, viewpoints and such while getting rewards that can help against the next upcoming major challege or the final conflict against the evil man.
I'm running my first campaing as DM, even tho i'm relatively new to D&D. I've been taking a similar approach to this technique but hearing a more grounded idea has really cleared up a lot for me. Great video!
on a side not you can set up a variety of plot point ideas on the side but keep it fluid as to where they take place, never set anything in stone but nothing wrong with getting those basic ideas prepared. an assault on a village can happen to any village, delving can be done in any dungeon like area. the players will always want to go where they want, just be flexible and prepare to change the set dressing on the fly. npc's can be set anywhere, just make sure you take note of these locations so you do not have to retconn somewhere down the line. i generally come up with names for towns and npc's before hand and have a list ready, then toss them in where needed and notate it in my world legend. mobs both specific and general can for the most part get placed wherever they make sense.
When you create a couple major conflicts and a bunch of minor conflicts for the group to run into in session 1 while they are coming together and forming their party (I really thought it would be a fun challenge to have this group come together for the first time and work together to do crazy things)... but the first player you introduce to the city insists on paying for their ride to the city with a random ring they found on the ground before embarking. Then the second player you introduce decides to wander around the market for no apparent reason and you decide to throw the ring from the first player into the magic items section, then the player gets super interested in it and really wants to pursue it so you decide to have the NPC they were supposed to meet buy the ring in order to hook them into following her. Then to make things consistent you have that NPC call in a guy to examine the ring and talk to the player to hopefully get them ready for meeting the rest of the party. Then the third player meets up with the first and goes to ring place to meet the second player and they all get really excited to learn what ring guy has to say. I try to encourage them to go out and meet fourth player by dropping hints of where they could get even more details about the ring or their personal stories while they wait for the guy to examine it but they want to stay pretty much right with him for the 4 hours it’s going to take for him, one character literally standing right beside him while the other two go next door because they are all obsessed with the ring. And then the final player has to be led through more improvisation to meet up with the rest of the party and bake a pizza with the barkeeper and now are all obsessed with some cursed ring that I guess has become the main plot hook for my campaign now.
I've been running a new group for my local gaming/comic book store for about 3 weeks now and started the party off escorting a caravan of goods to Luskan. On arrival at the city the caravan was mobbed and looted by a group of Halflings and they spend the session tracking down and fighting with halflings and wererats, but ultimately failed (this was always going to happen) at the task. This put them at direct odds with one of my villains who they are now in debt to and working for. I'm going to use this opportunity to see how far they will go when asked to do certain tasks and give them opportunities to do the right thing. I haven't really planned that much, and generally think up stuff on a week by week basis usually starting with a 1 or 2 line idea and go from there. I've already had them on a ship by session 3 (albeit docked) and will see how they react to the tasks ahead, the idea is to let them either become pirates or pirate hunters and give them agency to do what they feel is best for them!
so, just wanted to throw my two cents out there too! i make an MMO style game, where i design the entirety of the world. (core NPCs, and story quests, and place them in different towns. when the players show up to certain towns, it triggers certain stages of my campaign. (when they arrive at Drogton, the big bad begins his summoning of undead, and unded encounters become more prominent. then when they arrive in trexliss, he unleashes a dragon on the world. and so on, and so on) This allows you to put a more hardened story line into the game, while allowing the group to still follow their own paths.
I'm by no means an improvisation expert, but my technique is to follow the first rule of improv acting: "yes, and...". Basically you take what someone says, acknowledge it, and add onto it. For example, in acting if someone says "why did you steal my cheeseburger" instead of saying "I didn't steal your cheeseburger" you could say something like "because it was haunted and I was trying to protect you." The other person would then inquire about ways to make a profit off of a haunted cheeseburger. Point being, everything you do cements and builds on the last thing said which keeps the story going and maintains its momentum. Here's an example of how I used this in a campaign of mine: during one of the player's down times I had a hobo walk up to the party asking for spare change, intending the npc to be a powerful diety in disguise who would later show up and either curse or bless them, depending on what they did. However, upon engaging the party one of the players immediately, and somewhat jokingly, accused the hobo of being an agent of the game's bbeg sent to spy on them. Without missing a beat the hobo jumped back and yelled "They're on to me!" and disappeared into the street. What followed was one of the best chase scenes any of us had experienced, which landed the party headfirst into an unplanned ambush, resulting in important information being divulged to the PC's on the bbeg's whereabouts. All from one offhand quip that I allowed to derail my entire plan. So my sentiments mostly echoe the underlying theme of this video - get a few ideas together to start things off, and then let your players write the plot points from there.
@@CronyneWARE It went really well! We were all some what new to the game and I am the most experienced with not much opportunity to practice so there was a bit of confusion. But all in all we had a lot of fun and we get together almost every weekend! The group ended up making the strangest gay family. Bob who is a precious cinnamon roll and he's kind of the mom in the group (in the game and in real life), Garfield the emo drunk kenku who drunkenly took down a TURTLE DRAGON! Then we have Fay. She's a little girl who lived in the orphanage and stole Bob's sword on the first day and Bob didn't even notice until after he adopted her. The actual adventure I have for them is they need to hunt down this portal that took Garfield's friend (witch is why he has a drinking problem in the game) and it keeps opening and closing all over the place. Right now they are going to the swamp where they'll find the portal potty!!
Leaving one's stories "open" as an outline or somewhat linked encounters can be intimidating to starting DM's. This is where the temptation to use DMPC's or heavy-handed tools like teleportation creeps in.
I'm planning for my first game as a DM, and I'm not even outlining the story that much. I mostly make disconnected items places NPCs and subplots, and trust that I can stitch them together as we go.
I like the "heres a world, here's some rumors you've heard, go do your thing" approach. The key is to place all the adventure far enough away that they can't reach it in a single session.
I have a very different style of DMing. I write everything out meticulously and I introduce a lot of choices. You don't have to go to location A or ally with a particular NPC in order to encounter the villain. You could go to Location B and make an enemy of the NPC instead. It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure story where the goal is always the same, but the route you take to get there is different every time.
The primary villian for the campaign I'm currently designing is a sentient magic item. So it can't be active outside the players area whilst in bthe possession of the players. What I'm doing instead is creating a bunch of secondary antagonistic (or possibly freindly) forces that can be active instead. In reference to the main plot, I have a location to find the magic item (which can be moved based on player movements) an npc which has all the relevant information, and is well known enough that the players can find them with a small amount of research, and a very basic setup for destroying the magic item, which I may discard in the future. For the most part I'm working on making a fleshed out world with several locations the players could go to find (or cause) trouble.
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Taking20 question can you have a one shot session that builds into a campaign?
+Taking20
Meme game is weak bro ain't even deep fried or E related.
Yeet
@@jayteepodcast im sorta wondering what you meant by that... as in can a 1-shot be developed into a full on campaign? or as can a 1-shot be put into a campaign? because the point of a 1-shot is basicly taking a session for the entire thing... so it cant really develop into a full on campaign... but a 1-shot can easily be shoved into a campaign as a story of legends or whatever your approach to it is...
Jonathon Thompson
My first time as a GM was impromptu and I thought it was going to be a one shot. I had 4 hours to create a game, build new PCs with the players (complete with backgrounds) and run the game to a conclusion. Plot/world creation and character building took about 30 minutes. Game play was about 3 1/2 hours.
It turned into a full campaign with an over arcing antagonist that the PCs were not aware of in the beginning. All of the antagonists that the PCs met were pawns to the main antagonist. I developed the campaign as the game progressed from session to session.
The campaign was a series of one shots with a running theme. Everywhere the PCs went they discovered “unusual” antagonists. The missions/locations were railroad, because all the PCs belonged to the same group, but once at the destination it was all sandbox and improvisation.
This was done in the Trinity universe, but I see no reason that a creative GM couldn’t do this within any game setting.
The most important thing I use as a GM is “what is the antagonist trying to accomplish and how are they doing it?.” Or, as I’ve recently heard it put, “someone wants something very badly by this time, but is having difficulty because of this.” Fill in that statement and get a general grasp on the setting/world. After that, turn the players loose in your world and make sure everyone is having fun.
I would advise changing the MistWalker to avoid the unlimited teleportation.
It would be substantially better to change up a current class like Warlock to have a number of spell slots equal to warlock level, with the level of those spell slots equal to warlock level/4 rounded up.
I once read that there are two kinds of DMs: ones who can improvise, and ones who are perpetually frustrated.
3rd type me. Im trying to improvise and just barely shambling through it so its only slightly obvious I'm barely making it through.
@@an8strengthkobold360 then you are the first one and are just being to hard on yourself. did your players enjoy themselves? then you did a good job as a DM
Sounds like there are two types of DMs: DMs who can improvise, and players. :P
I mean, I think he nailed it when he said the villains are actionary, and the player heroes are reactionary. So by definition, if you can’t improvise as a DM then you will indeed be perpetually frustrated when your characters react to you in ways you didn’t expect
I'm actually pretty good at improvising but I'm still always frustrated. Lol
You need to be prepared for "so, what will it be, door one or door two?"
Players "Cantaloupe"
#Truth
DM: Cantaloupe? Ok, roll initiative.
Combat is great for buying time to think.
Definitely easier to improv an unexpected combat than to go someplace that you really weren't ready for characters to go!
This combat is last a suspiciously long time.
@@thomasborders6882 Wouldn't the trick tp inprove is to have maps ready just in case? Yet I think with virtual tabletops I think the world map would need to be conplete so improve could be easier. After the map's complete is when characters can be fleshed out during improv.
Our DM was excellent at improv, to the point we would intentionally go off the beaten path to see what he would do. It was _awesome_ and felt like a real world because of it
Once, completely on accident, we went to a different town than we were supposed to and this absolute LEGEND came up with a whole new campaign. It was a super cool campaign, too.
Some players did that to me once in a Star Wars RPG campaign. They wanted a Klingon Bird of Prey. So Luke taught them force skills, and the rebellion sent them on the mission. They got the BOP, then said screw the rebellion and ran off, fell to the dark side on purpose and became pirates. FINE. So the rebellion and empire put a bounty on them. So a Greedo showed up, they smoked him. Then IG88 showed up, they won. Then Dengar showed up, that was hard and they knew where this was going. Bobba Fett showed up. They won but it was hard fought. So as an impartial GM I decided plot twist: The ONE thing the rebllion and the empire could agree on was these two had to go. So plot twist, Luke and Vader teamed up to hunt them down. now THAT was fun!!
Also fun story. I have a player who played a mage who dabbled in Necromancy. He created these gems that he could command to glow very brightly if he was within 200 ft. But instead of using them to light up tunnels and dark rooms. He would implant them under the skin just above a victims heart. And then get his ranger buddy to heal up the wound and save the victim from death. Then once the victim was awake he would inform them that they were now his slave and unless they wanted their hearts to explode and kill them instantly "At wich time he would command the gem to glow very brightly and freak the shit out of the victim". And any attempts to remove the "bomb" would set off the bomb and instantly destroy the victims heart. There are ALLOT of NPC's running around scared shitless by this guy lol.
This is fantastic hahahaha XD
Want to trade PCs? Your necromage is a boss!
Isn't it easier to kill them and then raise them from the dead if you are a necromancer? If I were an npc the first thing I would do would be go to a high level mage/cleric to have the magic bomb defused. Neat idea to use once or twice, but it can get boring in the long run.
Oh, unless you have them running along with the party. A bit dangerous since they would try to kill your guy while he's sleeping. I still think raised deads are more affordable.
That mage is the bloody courier from fallout new vegas
@@mrknarf4438 you cant control a large army on undead, but fear is a powerful tool to cohesion
"The best laid plans never survive first contact with the player." Murphy's Law of Dming
No kidding! None of my plans go how I think they will.
It reminds me of the Mike Tyson Quote: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
I've had a player, bring a mid ranked villain back from the dead after the party killed him because he was an honorable person.
that just sounds like that player like to roleplay, i wish i had a player like that in the game i'm running
Thrall or resurrection?
I basically just did this in my last session (as a player.) First as a bit of backround, our group runs on a semi-drop in basis, where new people join, old people drop off, etc. so we have some players higher/lower level than others.
So, we're in this nightmare dimension where we're confronted by the worst fears or twisted versions of the greatest desires of different party members, and in the last room of the dungeon, our strongest character (a level 12 fighter, where most of us are level 8-9) turns on the party and starts hacking away at us. As a player, I knew that this was an illusion and he'd be fine when our characters "woke up" but as a CHARACTER I took this as he was being mind-controlled and just needed to be snapped out of it, so the rest of the party knocked him out and our warlock was just about to deal the killing blow... until I knocked him off and used a healing word on this illusion version of our companion, who then immediately started to attack again.
I knew it would happen, but roleplay-wise it was the right decision at the time.
@@KaiserSoze679 Fantastic Roleplay. I used to play a Barbarian, who was a wild Outlander and didn't understand anything about magic or demons. We had this big demon lord controlling our beloved NPC companion. He dropped on us and told the wizard through telepathy, that he was mind controlled and the party needed to kill him as he had no power at the moment but would be enslaved any minute by the BBEG. The party knew we just had to kill him and revive him after that but my dumbass barbarian didn't knew and didn't believe the "shady magic user". For him they wanted to give the fallen companion a killing blow. I roleplayed it and turned against the whole group and tried to run away with the NPC (had no chance). They beat me and killed the NPC, then revived him and explained the event to my barbarian who didn't really get it but was happy, that the NPC wasn't dead. He apologised and everyone thought it was a cool little conflict.
My DM told me later that if he could've get away the BBEG would had a vessel to rule the universe. Close call.
doesn't look like too much drama, either have him join the party or write him off as a support character.
also, see tv tropes for "redemption by self sacrifice"
Our DM’s prepared material: PCs band together to topple a theocracy
What we actually did: overtake a small port town and spend the next three years establishing a bustling commerce center.
Business will triumph over religion!
I learned a lot in this video !
For my first campain as a DM, I was planning the group to work for the king and defeat a criminal organization... And they decided to join them after a while to free themselves from the king's power and started ambushing royal guards and assassinate important warleaders to get closer and closer to the king, then killed him to end his reign.
It was the best campain I ever had!
That sounds like an Evil campaign. Trust me, I've been DMing for over a decade and Evil campaigns are ALWAYS fun.
It would be cool to watch video of a session you GMed and then have a "director's commentary" recorded afterwards, where you show the moments where player input affects what happens next.
I definitely agree!
Seconded!
I tend to start the game off with the players in a location with a lot of things going on. The player can choose what leads they want to follow, but I keep track of what is going on with all the leads they don't follow. While some quests will sit there and wait, others are time sensitive. For instance, if the players want to explore the old ruins looking for treasure, the necromancer that escaped from the dungeon that they didn't track down makes his way to the Swamp of Ulith ad begins constructing a lair.
I love that, it can easily become far too much to keep track of however if too many hooks are introduced and not followed up on. I find myself having to force myself to stop introducing new side hooks, and instead reintroduce an old hook that has changed over time. It ends up being a tangled mess if I don't cull things down a bit.
This, in the past, has led to a lot of confusion over what needs to be focused on. They ended up being powerful enough to face the Necromancer (or whatever), but didn't care who he was because they didn't spend time getting to know him as a villain.
I love the idea of this, and i was actually planning on using something like this to determine alignments for new players. I simulate a week in a village with each non adventuring pc lives their lives how they choose, and then simulate a siege. Who saves the old man, who picks up their sword to fight the demon, who abandons his friend to save his own life, and who helped the demons, etc
@@maxwhitworth9178 this kind of stuff needs some extra attention from the dm to work as intended for the players. not that it's that difficult, but if the players completely forgot there was a necromancer in the first place either find ways to remind them or postpone his storyline to a time when the party can afford to start his quest, not to railroad them into doing so but only to make sure that the choice to ignore him is a concious decision rather than the result of distraction.
in my experience players will always feel like you're bullshitting them when they're hit by the consequences of their inactions if they don't feel responsible of the outcome, so I make sure to turn all the opportunities of inaction that might lead to interesting consequences into active decisions and always give one (soft) second chance to prevent them, all the advantages of good worldbuilding plus extra pc investment by guilt.
Quick question : my players caught me off-guard when they decided to make the campaign about one of the players, basically they want to save the warlock from his patron.
They didn't discuss it with me before, trying me best to make it work but I'm struggling w/ it. Don't wanna force something upon them since they're happy w/ their choice.
Why not do both? If you have a player hook ofthe warlock patron, and your large campaign theme, then I would do both. Think of the warlock like a mini theme during your larger season. If your players spend 6 sessions tracking down this warlock patron and dealing with them, that doesn't mean your main villain isn't active or that you have to give up you main campaign hook. Try to let them explore their characters a bit and keep you villain active.
Nicolas Jacquet on a different note I'd also make it so that the character can't gain any more levels as a warlock since their powers come from their patron. My two cents.
I'm not very experienced at all, but is there a way to have the patron be somehow connected to the big bad? That could be useful for after they eventually succeed or fail to bring them back to the main story or make the patron quest part of the main story.
Finally in my opinion you should probably talk with the warlock player one on one of you're thinking about not letting them get any more warlock levels after taking down their patron, and see how they feel about that first before deciding anything.
I guess I’ve just been lucky with my group of friends, but this sort of thing is never an issue. My players can make choices that effect the campaign, for sure, but there is a line. I don’t run an infinite sandbox. If I think something is going to derail the campaign too much, I simply subliminally dissuade them from a particular choice, make another more appealing, or just tell them to fuck off with that noise. I spend too much time on prep to just have the players derail everything with dumb ideas they spent 3 seconds thinking about. We have all been friends for a long time though, so your mileage may very.
or tie into it an alternate, more favorable patron and they can switch their focus to that. perhaps the new patron is an old enemy of the current one. since they are trying to get rid of the patron i assume it is an evil one such as a fiend. and there are more options in the phb as well as those in mordekainens. could always go celestial pact.
I’m running a slow boil right now and I had a really fun boss fight for first level. For some context the game was meant to be a solo with a Druid but I decided to give him a greedy rogue sidekick just in case the plot needed a quick pick me up “We need to run! No time to explain!” (he’s a new player he doesn’t always have an idea what he can or should do). Well starting off the campaign he began in a major desert city where he met his rogue and he ended up spending about 1 in game week as a level 1 adventurer where he used his Druidic powers to complete various odd jobs and talk to a variety of colorful npcs to help him figure out where exactly he was, during one of these odd jobs his sidekick noticed one of the street performers and over the course of the week started spending less time with the player so when the rogue decided not to help him find missing pets one afternoon he wasn’t too surprised. After completing another low XP sidequest the player decided to look for his sidekick, a search check (dc 1) later and he sees the rogue with the street performer from before and a man (her husband) arguing about something. As he approaches the man hits the performer knocking her to the ground and in an instant the rogue draws his dagger and lunges at him. “As your friend attacks this stranger the world slows to a stop, what do you do?” As a new player he seemed afraid of combat so I put him in a situation where he’d be forced to either learn how to fight or watch his favorite npc die. It wasn’t subtle in the least bit but it made a statement and it opened the doors for a lot of role playing in the aftermath of that bombshell he still defaults to talking to villains to see if they can be reasoned with but now he freely engages in combat when it’s appropriate rather than being dragged into it so I’d say I did my job.
I've been running my first campaign since January and aside from a basic outline of what to do each week and a few premade maps, I have improvised the entire campaign, . I make a page of key things I want to happen, then wing it. I've been using the taldorei campaign setting as my guide, having one of the critical role characters send the party off to recover ancient, powerful weapons, they've recovered 2 so far and just encountered one of the main villains who wields one of the weapons ( he may have killed half the party) so the remaining members and a few new faces have decided to try for another one instead. It really works well for me as the journey to, and obtaining of each item works as it's own individual season averaging at 4/5sessions per weapon. I have a list of items and their rough locations, they simply decide what they want to get next and when, then I get to focus on making a series of things that I may throw at them on the way. It helps to have a sandbox style world already made for you, to do this. But if you're up to the challenge, you can make one yourself
Understanding your setting is a big advantage. +1 sir
yeah thats how i do it, except the page ... i think about my campaign while commuting and think about some good/bad encounters ... good encounters happen if players are careful and see through traps and so on and bad encounters happens when they just do stuff ... or if there needs to be more action.
I mean its a bit mean that they will meet the important old man that tells them of how he is depressed because he couldnt win back his fathers heirlooms, no matter if they stay around and maybe help end a fight in a tavern, or if they stop to help a traveler in need in the forest ... but in the end the story progresses, and the rest ... one gets a hang of it, as long as the factions and the npcs know what they want and you as a gm are there to mediate between the game world and the players
Prepare for improvisation. Sounds contradictory, I know, but it's the best advice available.
This thumbnail grabbed me as soon as I came on UA-cam.
This is a great video and completely true. Great topic especially for newer DMs.
This writing style is saving my hide. I had the concept to bring forth the eventuality of war for profit, and along the way, a few masks of the 8 Demon Lords were picked up, and I'm slowly tying that core theme back in. I love this writing style.
I ran my first game this past weekend, and boy, you aren't lying about not knowing what your own game is gonna be like. One of my players is about to STEAL A NOBLE TITLE. My rogue is literally about accidentally steal a duchy 😂😂😂
Good stuff, just started my first campaign so this is good timing for me lol thanks for the info!
New DM in the HOUSE!
"I sometimes throw CR's out the window because let's face it, it's 5th edition." Lol.
I was looking for who was gonna comment on this, lol
I play AD&D 2nd edition and we don't have combat ratings for any of the monsters because even a monster such as kobolds can be deadly .
One group of kobolds almost killed an entire party of 12th level characters .
dungeons.fandom.com/wiki/DnDWiki:Tucker%27s_kobolds?useskin=oasis
@@williamlee7482 can still do that in 5e. Better than 3.5 definitely
This is my exact DMing style. I love how my players creat the story themselves. It makes my job very easy and I get to play off what they did last game session. It's a win win for everyone!
One of the things I like to do to get an off the cuff campaign started is to use the Rumors at the Inn or tavern, Adventurer's Guild job board, Town crier, Info at the Thieves Guild or Temple or Wizard's Guild, etc, etc. I generate about half a dozen things to engage the party. As the campaign goes on I try to add one or more each session where it makes sense to do so. Adding and subtracting plot hooks keeps the campaign alive.
For example, there have been some graves disturbed in a cemetery or cemeteries and the guards haven't been able to stop it. Rats are eating more of the city's food stocks than normal. The temple of XXX needs guards for the annual transport of the holy item for the reconsecration of a local church. I'm sure that any DM who is used to improvisation can come up with a bunch of these quickly. If not, think about various plot hooks and write them down.
Don't worry about the party being able to handle all of these; you are building a campaign world. A first level party will not be able to kill the ancient red dragon that is terrorizing the western dukedom. That is okay because that might be available for them to take on when they have grown in power; for now it is background. Likewise, there will eventually be plot hooks that appear to be beneath them, and may in fact be. More history, although some of them could grow to become threats that could challenge the party.
Some plot hooks will be one shots, if the party doesn't select that plot hook to check out, it will resolve itself and disappear - someone else handled it. Some of these will grow in importance if they don't do anything about them and at least provide a background story to the world they live in. Some of these could lead to a campaign that I have some ideas about how I want them to go.
Depending on what the party does will determine the direction the campaign takes. In every case, they choose the direction and there are some "might have beens" in the background, things that may engage them after they have been allowed to fester when not properly handled; once they have grown into something that the party can take up after the first arc is finished, with their more capable characters. This can allow preparatory magic items and information to be given if I want them to take this arc on as their next quest, but it will still be their choice.
I still come back to this video every time before starting a new campaign. And this is the video I recommend for every new DM when they ask me for tips. Fantastic tips.
Supernatural is my favorite show too. Yeah the leviathan season sucked 😂
Side note, have you seen Hilly wood's Supernatural parody song? It's been out awhile but it is amazing.
Supernatural is a good show on average. This is because its quality is often close to evenly split between amazing and abysmal...even in the same episodes, sometimes.
shouldve ended after season 5. then itd be a great whole package
This helped a lot! About to DM for the first time and this gave me a lot of insight
I hope you had a great time! Things that I have found invaluable: a list of random names, prewritten initiative list (a paper numbered 0 to 30 that I can quickly jot names next to. Quick initiative is critical for maintaining tension), prewritten generic stat blocks that you can paste onto various bad guys and flavor as needed (it's a vampire? Now the attack heals for a bit. Spider? Save against poison, etc.). It has saved me an immense amount of time not having to look up specific stats. NOTE: you do need a handle on the basic game mechanics for this to be "safe". You could kill your party, if you're not careful... anyway. I hope your dm'ing days are just starting :)
Great advice, especially the one about starting by focusing on the villain! The way you explained it made so much sense, it felt like a bit of an epiphany. I think this would be great advice as well for anybody trying to write a novel or any other type of story. Thank you for sharing that priceless tip!
Cody I have to say you have really improved as a content creator.
Thank you for not wasting time with an intro and then talking about jumping right into the content. You actually discuss the topic!
One thing I have always done is create a list of 50 or so special NPC encounters, where each entry is either a solo NPC or a group of npcs (e.g. a noble and her retinue). Effectively, these are recurring characters in the campaign. I roll to pick an entry from this list at random when, for example, the PCs are traveling along a main road or they enter a tavern. Some of these npcs may be directly related to the campaign, but most are just side characters. They tend to stand out from the crowd so that when I tell the players they see someone ahead it is obvious why I singled out this particular person. Since they are meant to be recurring most of these npcs will not fight the PCs, at least not to the death, and many of them are higher level anyway. I tend to use these npcs when the players seem a bit unsure about what to do, or they need a break from their current activity. I know the PCs are at the center of the story, but I find they like the recurring npcs and the randomness of it makes the world seem more real. Plus it usually takes the campaign in a unexpected direction.
The other thing I do with campaigns is actually have random encounter lists and lists of random antagonist actions. In general, everything that happens is semi-random. This keeps the campaign feeling fresh even to me - since I don’t know what is going to happen next. My players also appreciate that not everything is stage directed and the world does not revolve around them (until higher levels at least).
I am coming back to D&D for the first time in 15 years. I have been spending heaps of time fleshing out the new campaign and something has been niggling at the back of my mind recently. This was an amazing reminder of what I used to do that made me an effective DM and what I had forgotten. Thank you! I, and my players needed this reminder!
This video is absolutely a GOLD MINE! I am a somewhat experienced player who is looking at trying to DM, and I find this video to be so exciting and informative! Thank you Cody for sharing with us!
You've pretty much described how I go about my planning. I have these villains running around, causing havoc. One of them had his cultists swarm the starting town and fill it with summoned demons in order to take it over. That was the introductory session. It started out as a huge slap to the face (for the PCs, that is) and the goal ever since is to retake the region by reclaiming one territory after another. That gives me all the latitude I need to get them involved in all sorts of conflicts.
When I plan out a dungeon, I draw the map if needed (need the visual aid for traps to make sense). Then, I fish out the cool monsters out of the Monster Manual and note the features I will most likely use. That's it, just a database of the different creatures inhabitating the current dungeon. I can then do anything I want with it. Depending on what makes sense, I ask myself, among the creatures I selected, who would guard the entrace? Who would be guarding the valuables? Is there a conflict within the enemy ranks? (The dragonborn barbarians thought they could control their CE Green Dragon. Grave mistake.)
I'm often amazed at how my sessions turn out. Ideas pop up as the game unfolds and my players surprise me quite often. (When they vanquished the young dragon, they wanted to tame it instead of killing it. Had I written a linear storyline I wouldn't have been able to accept that.)
My first encounters will have the enemies being pretty stupid and often quarelling among themselves. Then, as my group of players gain fame and reputation, Ima send more organized and more deadly threats at them.
When i was a young DM I used to do WAY to many notes, that campaign failed. I had no ability to go away from my notes and improvise. SO, for my next campaign, I quite notes all together. The only things I wrote down were monster stats saves and stuff for them to fight. Campaign notes were all in my head. And, according to my group, I've become one of the best improvers in the group.
I don't sub to many channels. After watching several videos, I'm subbing to you. I'm DMing my first game starting this month. These tips are absolutely invaluable. I have one experienced player, the rest are new to d&d. I guarantee I'll be returing for other videos. Keep up the great work, man! Cheers!
My first arc is coming together REALLY well because of one of your KYPW videos. I won't say which one, because I had my players watch your 'welcome to D&D' video, and they might see this comment. 😅
First time GM who was kind of hyperventilating about story prep. This was really really helpful. Thank you.
I'm surprised how close this is to my own style. I started my campaign with intimate knowledge of my villain and a general idea of where his plot was going. I had a large supporting cast of characters I've built up over the years ready to go with issues and problems. In session 1, I introduced the party to the theme of the campaign, which has started to really echo as of late.
For my planning, I normally jot down a few important details that I need to communicate with the players, laid a out the specifics of a few encounters, but little more. I never make details for more than 2 sessions in advance, since most of the time it is wasted.
Overall, it works great. I highly recommend this to any DM out there.
Dungeons and villains drive the campaign. They have to be detailed. Towns, friendly NPCs, and just about everything else can be mostly improv. Especially if you have a book that's got premade NPCs. I have, like 4. Then, during the time between sessions you can add events and places (like holidays or interesting shops or landmarks or whatever) that you want to foreshadow and include. Think about random encounters if they are right for your story. If so, make some tables. Then, during the session, take good notes and build on whatever your players do. It's the only way I run a game. I can't run a module.
I love your content Cody. Keep the videos coming. Thanks for what you do!
I wrote a an encounter outside the city, and invited players to shop on the way. 30 minute bargaining session with an ad-hoc credit/reputation system. Zombies attacked some villagers. Short combat followed by 30 minute debate on how bad a wound has to be to need amputation (via Eldritch Blast)
I always feel like I don't know what I'm doing when I DM. I know that I am doing alright, because they all seem to love my campaign. This video has helped me realize that I actually already have decent improvisation skills. I will prepare locations only when I know where the group is going. I only really flesh out important npc's and locations, but I never really make concrete plans except for the where locations are in the world. Thanks for helping me feel better about my abilities!
I take a very similar approach actually. I used the analogy of "I want my players to go from LA to NYC and any stops along the way are totally fine by me" and I set up vague encounters and hints along the way, intriguing them into doing what I want them to, while allowing the freedom to go about it in their own way. Even if that means they want to back track a little. I also create factions that they are members of that will start sending them in said direction (however vague) so that they feel they are chasing leads in an investigation across the realm.
Love it, that's how I run my campaigns! The only suggestion I could make is that player action have consequences in the game world. When I sketch out the BigBad's plan or plot, it includes a list of things the BigBad will do to win. Let's say the BigBad wants to invade the player's kingdom, and first wants to destabilize the kingdom and get them off guard before the main strike. As the BigBad's plans launch and the players get involved, the players should start build a picture that something is happening. Each episode will continue on the main story arc, but if the players decide to go in a different direction -- the BigBad's plans still go forward. Here's a for instance. The players encounter Orc Scouts someplace unexpected, maybe near a "safe" village, some of the scouts escape. The players decide not to follow-up on where the scouts came from because they get distracted by another plot or self directed idea. That doesn't mean the BigBad stops, they go ahead with the plan and the players hear the village was attacked and burned by Orcs. Consequences.
I love how clear and to the point your videos are. As a new DM, thank you!!
I steal cool moments and encounters from other DMs. The rest is improvised.
Same.
It’s not stealing... it’s just borrowing without permission!
That's exactly what I do too. And chances are, while the stolen moment is happening, the players do something different and now its unique
The start of my next campaign is the exact same setup and dungeon as my last campaign that i was a player in. Only difference is they arent there for this reason, theyre here for this other reason, with these other monsters
The really cool momenst is made bye players tbh
Now that was a good informative video! Thanks,
You seem to run the same lines as me. I am also a fan of The Lazy Dungeon Master and here's how I do it. I call mine the Cattle Drive Framework (named after a Swords and Wizardry campaign where the PCs were advanced scouts and troubleshooters for...a cattle drive). I figured out the villain's plan, and looked at my world and where (roughly) the PCs would be in each session. I then plugged in mini-adventures, some modules and some things of my own. I keep in mind what the villain's endgame is and weave some threads into each mini-encounter. I love this format because I can plug in anything, change them around, delete stuff all to may heart's content (and easy to switch/delete stuff depending what the PCs do).
This is exactly how I run my games. Like, terrifyingly accurate lol. Great content as always!
this is huge for me! Ive been trying to figure out how to do this because Ive got some seriously lacking DM skills. I found myself digging way too deep into the details just last night, Not gonna lie the though of all of this information has given me anxiety but also relief in the fact that now I know what to do. There is a process I can easily follow from now on. Thanks for the insanely helpful advice!
Wow! Just found this in a youtube hole. I needed this with the 5e N3 conversion I am running. I was trying to put them on the straight path to success. You gave me great ideas to have them meet NPCs that move the story forward without them having to follow the railroad that the module gives. Thanks so much from a Newbie DM.
I used to try and plan out each session or quest a lot but eventually found it was easier, more fun, and just better in general when most was improvised. I definitely do an episode kinda thing. Practically each session in my current campaign has its own objective, while the overarching plot is going on. And especially recently each session has been related to the overarching plot while still being its own objective. Currently my pcs are trying to get together all their friend npcs to help them go on an excursion that will help them get a powerful artifact
Thank you so much, mate, honestly. Those words take a TON of pressure of me shoulders.
This video gives me so much more confidence to run a campaign! Nice to know that most of my ideas for setting up a great campaign are actually on point already. All I need to do is polish my understanding of the preferred rules - my friends are pretty adamant on 3.5 still. Excellent coverage of a great topic!
I love the emphasis on themes in the first session. A lot of my games involved some level of organized crime, and I 110% support letting players know that before the end of the session. The only caveat is being open to discussion. Games are a collaborative effort between players AND DMs. It's important to remember that.
I also only prepare one session at a time, tied to an overall campaign. One key technique that I've found very useful is to end (not start!) each session by having the players discuss with each other what they want to accomplish next. To use your example, that way I know if they plan to hit the thieve's guild or if they plan to run in advance of my session prep. Armed with that knowledge, I can prepare a focused session without restricting player choice.
Just setting out to start my group on a campaign this weekend. This was very helpful, and will probably save me a lot of grief!
Thank you so much! I'm still a new GM, and this fits my style so much! I'm sure your videos I've seen so far are really going to help my game! My players just broke out of the jail cells they woke up in (the first session started with them waking up in jail). They don't know where they are, who anybody is, or how they got there. After beating up a couple goblins, my players are having a blast! :)
in the campaign, I'm currently running, I wrote out a brief outline looked up some CR 5 monsters in the monster manual that I thought looked cool found some CR 6-8 and skimmed through for things I might want to use later. I then wrote out three different options the players could take, each involving the main quest I gave the players to start with, go through portal roll for diplomacy. the three paths basically were, they figure out how to use the fast travel I hid in the game, get there in three days in-game. and the other two options were for them walking there. then I wrote out possible encounters I might want to use while they're side questing along the way. I basically took my favourite monsters and sprinkled them about between the players and their current end goal. the plot of the story is that there's a travelling store owned and operated by a wizards guild that's been travelling around and using the store for components they'll be using for experimentation. the current quest is to go through a portal, discovered in a different campaign, and look for intelligent life to trade with. instead of writing for the next session I wrote the arc and made some notes of what I want to put in along the way... unfortunately when I went to stream it there was no audio and now the streams are going to have to start from episode two to make sense.
Doing my daily stretches, was between this video and continuing rewatching Supernatural season 1. Was shocked and delighted by this video hahaha. This is basically how I have been running my games since I started DMing. It has always worked so so so well. Thanks for reaffirming my methods and adding to it. I use a lot of character backstory and ideas they give to help with improving -thankfully I have players that are very willing to contribute and create with the freedom I have learned to afford them. Also just influence from various media - animes, fantasy, novels, shows (like Supernatural haha) once in awhile it just feels right to mix and match a character from something and drop it into a DND game as an NPC. Or take a power or ability from something and try to adapt it for your game. Thanks Cody!
This is a great video! I am running Starfinder and this video has given me a breather to help me gauge the rest of the campaign. Thank you and keep making your awesome videos.
I love your approach, it's pretty much how I prepare my games, except for one thing: Encounters. I'm sure that you, as a Roll20 user, can identify, but there's a lot of map prepping going on o roll20 that isn't required for presencial games.
I've already improvised maps with the drawing tool, but I prefer to use some more elaborate maps and dynamic light them, and in order to do this, I need to plan encounters to specific places. At least I think so.
Also, I like to plan my encounters through. Monster tactics, terrain, twists in the combat, making every combat more interesting. Do you not plan your encounters for your online games as well?
I like building a "diamond" shaped story path, where I have key plot/story moments that I want to visit but allow the players the freedom to do whatever they want.
I view it like the story of an open world RPG video game: you start at one point, but from there you can go/do whatever you want. No matter what you do eventually you have to cross paths with a plot element, and from that single point you can go off in any direction again.
This allows me to write loose encounters that I can sprinkle wherever seems appropriate while improvising, which eventually leads back to a plot point.
When he starts talking about choice and freedom at the end of the video, my mind starts thinking of BRAVE HART. “FREEDOM”!
I generally write and outline of the full story, engage my PC's in their backstory, try and hook it in somewhere, then writs sessions one at a time with the overarching story in mind. Super flexible. I always tell my players, I am telling YOUR story through my lens.
Hey! I don't feel like such a weirdo DM anymore! Nice!
All the DM's I know are big game preppers, but I do nearly nothing each week and my players love it.
My campaign is a homebrew, the Prophecy of Returning, in which all the possible BBEG's in the setting are vying to be the one who fulfills the Prophecy and Returns to conquer the land
All I prep is the overall layout of the countries, cities, deities, geography, cultures, and the BBEG's. And the conflict between those entities. Oh, and a list of fantasy names in case I need to make it sound like I already prepared Duedard Fulgrove, Okki Topbottom, or Vendeli Jarnash (random NPCs)
Then it's a sandbox, where my players get to do whatever they want. They know that things are happening in the world, so whenever they mess around, they are missing things they could have changed. Thus they tend to stay on track pretty well, and keep themselves in position to be impactful.
When I prepare a campaign from scratch I do the following:
* Create the Big Bad and their ambition.
* A list of names of places, cities, taverns etc that I just randomly come up with during the day.
* A list of names.
* A list of organisation's and the roles therein. (All the lists can be used in other campaigns if I don't get the opportunity to use them in this one.)
* A rough idea of events/conflicts going on in the players area and which of those are connected to the Big Bad and which aren't.
* I start the campaign with introducing the current conflicts in the area, but also a hook in my players face which is hard to ignore to get them started but at the same time opening up options for them to pursue other conflicts if they should choose.
* After that I mainly focus on the next session, but I as the campaign progresses I always keep in mind of the wheels the players has set in motion which aren't stopping just because the players aren't focusing on them at the moment. 😉
I’ve been running games for about 6 years now and then only game I have ever done that wasn’t improv was my first one. Every game I have done since then has been an improv game because I don’t like putting in all the effort of planning things out just to have the players go the other way. Plus I love the availability to change and morph the campaign and world around the players to give them a more fulfilling experience. My method is a touch different, but characteristically the same as the one you described. I come up with the big challenge, or bad guy, or event that the players need to overcome/defeat/stop then create a world around it. Then I create lots of different things for the players to do, and then just let them explore the world and throw minor events at them that keep reminding them that “doom is on the horizon” until the group decides it’s time to go solve the issue. Or don’t. If my players are having a good time exploring all the caves and strongholds then that’s fine with me. That big bad ending is still waiting for them when they are ready. I do have to say that it can be annoying sometimes when a group falls apart or decides they are done and don’t want to show up anymore, but that’s on me and I keep working to make my games more enthralling so the players knew coming back.
This is so obvious and I always start planning like this. But it is SO good to be reminded, because I always have this desire to revert to linear plot design - in which there is an awesome story where everything goes my way. Of course that never works out, and it turns into improvisation rather early on anyway. This is a nice reminder
Great video, very similar to how I run my games. You asked for technique ideas-
One thing that's very important to me is to keep the world feeling like it's living and breathing. To do this, it has to keep revolving whether the players are doing anything or not. As such, I like to keep a list of events that could occur in the general area the players are. This could include unimportant NPCs passing by, weather events, ripples from the actions of the main villain. Generally this is just a bullet list of ideas. If it matters, I might stick a date on. (E.G. Equinox festivals in all cities, end of month. Fleeing villagers arrive on x date.)
The other thing is to keep a list of the important NPCs - where they are and what they might be doing, when they might reach their destinations, etc. This is also helpful so you don't forget about important NPCs. (E.G. Merchant that the PCs pissed off heading to capital city to retrieve mercenaries, will arrive back on Y date. Codgy old wizard is hiding in forest making scrolls of grease and enlarge object. Thieves guild striking basket warehouse in 3 days.)
Losing track of time for how long it takes NPCs to do things can hurt versimilitude..
But as always, the above are just toolboxes you reach into to grab something when the game calls for it. Just go in and update it from time to time, use as required.
Just love starting my days with d&d talk. Thanks for all the good content.
Am really glad you make these videos! They really help me get an idea on what to do.
Will play my very first time as a dm this week
Good advice. The one thing I would add (for GMs less-experienced in improv) is to pre-create memorable NPCs that you keep in your back pocket for when the players talk to someone you don't expect. These NPCs don't need to be detailed or statted out, but should have some interesting personality quirks (e.g., shrewish; boisterous; stutters). This can lead to interesting role playing opportunities.
I know this is an old stream can I find the best thing to keep people on track is to do what you said about listening to what they're saying. If they're losing their way and they suddenly come up with an idea like" I think this guy knows something or we should go here to investigate cuz I think it's connected" oh, well guess what, it wasn't originally in my mind but it is now. Suddenly that innocent family were actually agents of the people I want them to finally meet. I also think it's funny that it makes the players think they solved it and it keeps the frustration down from when they get sidetracked.
I've been running an episodic campaign for the last 2 years, you are bang on the money foe the best/easiest way to run a good game
I have a kinda pet project campaign i'm working on long term. It follows your ideas surprisingly closely. If you compare it to a TV series, it would be a prolonged pilot episode, followed by 3-4 seasons of surprisingly shifting tone & content as the intrigue leads far and wide to some pretty unexpected places & shocking revelations. But the "pilot episode" if you will, subtly foreshadows everything, even if the main hook isn't until after a few sessions. The structure has LOTS of room for distractions "monster of the week episodes" improv-sandboxing, etc. There are 4 "checkpoints" where the story climaxes and leads to the next level of the arc, but any route that eventually crosses those 4 key story turning points is totally fine.
Oh to answer your question about how to improvise... I like to have some background generalities about the area in mind. But um, I kinda like slightly silly things, presented as serious. Like what is Farmer Joe like? well he talks to his chickens an awful lot, almost like he thinks they're talking back. But if the players laugh (ooc even), he might get pissed and chase you off his farm. I like to pull fantasy tropes inside out a lot. Warior maiden saving her gentle man from danger, Bigfoot complaining about the paparazzi, a squeamish necromancer, "reward" cursed items which are super easy to just use backwards to attack enemies, aliens who are deathly terrified of cows, stuff like that. Not to the point that everything is "backwards", but so things are backwards at least half as often as they're frontwards, so expect anything!
You can use random tables to create some AMAZING encounters too. One time I took the usual random encounter table, but I added an additional roll for "animal, mineral, or vegetable", and a table for "stupid, sad, dangerous, fun, spooky, erotic, etc". So you could roll say "goblin ambush", but then roll "vegetable", and then roll "erotic"... and then as DM you have to create a vegetable themed erotic goblin ambush. Perhaps they assault the party from range using slings firing a strange local fruit which they believe will charm the players, but really works more like viagra, effectively debuffing the party somewhat, but not fully charming them. Obviously with a handful of sexytime love fruit as an encounter reward with many potential uses.
(and you all thought i'd take that somewhere out of Goblin Slayer, so dark, tsk tsk... Well your right! you're just lucky i rolled "lighthearted" instead of "serious"... muahaha).
Or just pull it inside out, so that the "goblin ambush" you come across is a small group of goblins huddled together, half dead & bloody and crying out for help, surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. And then the players would have to decide between saving helpless creatures in mortal danger, or letting the wolves have have their way and lick the marrow from some goblin bones tonight (it IS good for their teeth you know).
I think a smart thing to do when you plan on running a long term campaign is that when the players create their characters you ask them where their characters are from. Then you write down general "rumors" of things the characters would have known about from chatter in taverns or people met along the road as the character worked its way to the point you are now ready to gather everyone together and form a party. If the players come from the same region you can still give 2 players or more the same "rumors" but 1 or 2 players might have a couple differing versions of the same story/rumor. Or maybe they have similar rumors but some have a new piece of information. Then hand out these rumors to the players and inform them they are not to share their information unless its related to their characters back story or the party comes across information related to the rumors. At that time the party can sit down if they like and compare stories they have heard. This can lead to interesting ways of watching the group deciding what they want to do. Where they want to go and then you just adjust fire and create the campaigns narrative based on where the party decides to go. Some of the rumors may actually be completely false. But you still want there to be a reason for the party to be there even if the information that brought them to this location might have been completely false. Or even mis-interpreted MUHAHAHAHAHAHA......errr sorry about that.
I ran my first ever session two weeks ago. It was a pre-made one shot campaign to help ease me into the role of a DM. At certain points of the campaign the characters can make their own decisions about where to go and what to do. But the campaign book warned about certain parts that players may be oblivious to certain details or fail to go to a designated area to continue the story. It was especially important as the campaign takes place over four days and they can only progress with particular items or knowledge. The book didn’t give me ways of getting things back on track so I had to improvise. I had some experience from drama lessons at school but not like this. During the second day I realised that if I had one of these points comes up I make sure to be aware of NPCs in the area or even NPCs that will be in the next area to use them to draw attention to something in a vague way. Or become a little bit lenient with check rolls. It helps the players to progress without getting caught up or following dead ends, but at the same time I’m not spoon feeding them either. It means they progress and a good pace and still gain something from the campaign and earn it. And I feel proud that I can actually offer a decent campaign for them. It wasn’t perfect but even the veteran players of the group were incredibly proud of me. I was so nervous but I just got caught up in it all. It meant a lot for me to have that chance and has significantly improved my understanding of D&D and how the other players work. I loved it.
Great video, Cody, and great advice...
I might suggest as an addendum, though... A flow-chart.
It's as cheap as you can get for the planning to work functionally... AND it avoids a LOT of overplanning just sending perfectly good work into a circular file (trash-can)... Good ideas stay good, even when you reskin them, so I very rarely throw cool stuff away.
Building a "Flow Chart Campaign" isn't hard. It's a basic block diagram of your story... You can start just as you suggested in the video with a starting place and a theme, and a few cool spots to get to if and as applicable... and an end spot...
In the blocks, you write your basic tenets and any references for material that might be needed... Say a city-scape, or a certain tavern with a write-up... or just page references from the Monster Manual... whatever is needed for that block.
Lines between the blocks can do (basically) two things... AND I'd highly recommend color coding the lines... One set (say... blue) can even use arrows to show the "flow" relationships from one block to another...This tells YOU (GM) how everything "fits" in the world setting and works to build your narrative sense of it...
The other set (say... red) can also use arrows, showing where the party has been, is now, and where they go next... want to go... and so forth. This set helps YOU (GM) keep up with what's gone on and can help you set reminders for your Players (in case they forget about that big mean guy in the tavern in the Port City... cause he wants to kill the rogue)... little stuff like that.
There's still PLENTY of room for flexibility, improv', and note taking (yes, I take notes as a GM, on my own campaigns... ESPECIALLY as we play) AND just because you've got a reasonably fleshed out flow-chart, that doesn't mean everything's etched in proverbial stone. As long as you remember to update the chart where necessary and useful, you can even flesh most of it along the way as you play it out... BUT it gives a wonderfully graphic and visual depiction of everything around the current "block" of the game the Players are dealing with. It doesn't have to be enormous, either. Smaller and simpler diagrams and charts are generally best, so keep the flow-chart information simple, even symbolic, just enough reference to know which book, notebook, or PC-file to use and approximately where to look inside it for a write-up of what monster, items, weapons, enemies, friends, or anything important might be while you're improv'ing everything else around it... If there IS a map, you might want to know that BEFORE you start using everyone's snacks to improv' one on the fly... AND remember, don't EAT the volcanic mountain before we get to the dwarven stronghold! ;o)
Very good advice, thanks!
In fact, I just saved a link to this video in my "Links"-document, I'm going to have to come back a few times. I think this is going to re-align my current campaign prep-work. Awesome!
Much of what you said here is echoed in Johnn Four's advice on "Loopy" Session Planning, as well as Shannon Applecline's old musings on Storytelling in RPGs over on RPG.net - sometimes you need to have a thing presented to you in multiple ways before you 'get' it. I think it's starting to gel for me ;)
I'm going to be running a D&D campaign for my uni friends in the coming months and I'm so excited to learn how to be a DM!
ONLY focus on next session... Speckling in the over all campaign arc... thats exactly what i needed to hear, and exactly what i was looking for.
I'll be running a campaign in the near future. Watching videos and watching other friends DM (some learning to DM as they did it) I feel/hope I've picked up on a few what to do's/not to do's.
So far I have:
- An endgame idea, but it's not really fleshed out at all other than "this is where I want to end up". Felt it would be easier to do the rest if I at least knew what I wanted them to be working towards. Basically just 'bad guy wants things, players keep finding the things, fight at the end when villain finally tries to get all the things'. There's many 'things' and how many they get will depend on how well they do with each 'episode' (I guess) but I'll essentially be giving them one for free so that the villain can't just do his evil plan at the end, he'll always be 1 short. Don't know what the 'things' are or how many there are, it would probably take a while for the characters to actually learn the specifics of the plan, and I would like to 'eyeball' how many there are so I don't do too many and make the campaign drag out too long, too little and it be too short.
- Starting after the linear introduction (thought I would start on a trade ship already heading to their destination. Attacked by pirates on the way maybe) I have a few possible quests lined up, but mostly just the general 'meat' of the quest objective, not really anything specific in who they get it from/how it starts or were it starts/finishes. I don't necessarily know where they'll be at the end of a session, and I don't want to be telling them "oh, you should probably travel all the way back across the map because that's where I planned the next bit".
- I have a bunch of other 'future' quest ideas, but they're no more than "oh, this would be cool, I'll write that down". The whos, hows, whens and wheres aren't even thought about yet since I don't know any of those. As for encounters, I just have a rough idea of what sort of enemies they may face, nothing concrete since I have no idea what their levels/equipment will be. Basically everything I've done I've at most got an end in mind for the quest chain and what is essentially the first quest in the 'chain', hoping to write the next bit of each chain after each session.
- Started working on NPC's and enemy NPC's. To a degree I just like doing this, it's fun making unique enemies with unique movesets, but other than vague personality/purpose, I don't know where any of these NPC's would appear or when, kinda just there if I need them. The overall boss Orc of the first 'chain' I already made, but left him at the equivalent of level 1 so I can just 'level him up' when they get to him and I know what level they are so he isn't too easy/hard.
Hopefully it all goes well since as it gets closer to the time I more and more wish I never offered due to nerves. I'm fully prepared for them not to do what I thought they were going to do, hence why I've got a lot of "I don't know" in my planning. Hoping that if they miss or ignore an NPC, boss or quest I was really looking forward to/put work into, I can just change their name and/or location so they'll encounter them elsewhere without really knowing I did that. Radiant quests, if you will.
Techniques: I use small notes (usually 4 or 5 specific notes) about the NPC that I'm introducing. ( 1. Description - physical/stats/magic/items 2. Purpose/motivation of NPC (his own goals) 3. Strength/weakness (can I accentuate these in role play) 4. Desired Outcome with PC interaction. 5. Reaction/expectation to the PC interaction). Then, I actually do some role-play sequencing based on what I project the party may do. I try to create the voice/tone and unique mannerism (in a mirror sometimes) but usually on recorded device (my laptop) and playback when I have ample time. I rarely "wing it" for important NPCs and the notes keep me focused for those opportunities. I'm fairly tedius, but this is all "out of game" prep. In game I rely on my memorization (of notes) and try to provide consistent presentation. Improv is fun but not always easily achieved. I enjoy it when players take the lead in role-play contextually and my NPC becomes a participant rather than the driving force in the conversation. Hard to achieve, but sometimes you get a solid player that understands story mechanics involved and jumps into their PC and drives the narrative for you. But when I improve (w/o prep) I always follow up my sessions with "DM notes" to guide me for the next phase of the game. Sometimes I write even while the game is ongoing about anything that is "very specific" or important to the PCs or narrative. This keeps me focused as well and consistent. My memory isn't the best....so review of notes pre/post game are vital.
I am not a DM but have been playing for a couple of years as a player, looking into DMing my first ever homebrew off the bat.
I personally like improvisation coming from Both the players and DM, it makes the campaign so much more fulfilling for Both ends.
I do this! You can still build a really good story, too. 5e especially, is set up with the adventuring tiers from 1-20th level, divided into about 5-level "chapters". They already give you themes for each chapter, too;
1-5 Local Heroes
6-10 - Regional Heroes
11-15 - Heroes of the Realm
16-20 - Heroes of the World
So that's how I plan my campaigns. I have an idea for each "chapter," so that I know how to foreshadow each upcoming chapter as part of the current one. For example, in the Arthurian campaign I'm running, level 1-5 the players were mostly just working for one minor lord, with a feud on the horizon with a rival fiefdom. In the second chapter, they're getting roped into some of the larger politics for the campaign during this feud, culminating in them largely choosing sides between supporting the established king or a group of rebels. In the third chapter, the party and their chosen allies face down Mordred, a threat to the entire kingdom, who's arrival has been foreshadowed throughout the entire game. It is unlikely that we will reach 20th level play, so I haven't considered much in terms of a "chapter 4."
So I've created a living, breathing world with tons of NPCs who are sort of going along their own stories whether the party is there or not. And the party can choose how they weave in and out of it and steer the course of events. But there are big, 99% unavoidable events, which open and close each chapter; usually something "kingdom wide" which the party will definitely see no matter where their adventures have taken them. This is how I keep them "on track" - they're not on track at all, but they can't keep ignoring these grim tidings of Mordred's return, and if they still do, when he does show up and suddenly start wrecking the place, they can't say that it was out of nowhere or without warning.
One thing I've had a lot of success with is setting up 20 different encounters per CR. I keep them in a file, and if I need an encounter, I pull out an appropriate one (or even better, I roll a D20 and use whatever encounter it indicates. It's a lot of work initially, but the long term pay-off is great.
Dude, I love the stuff you do for this channel, and it's really helped me become a better DM for my players, but I gotta level with you Cody, you look like you need sleep my dude. You have the look of a college student on their fifth day of final exams for the year who accidentally got his fix of caffeine from downing 3 red bulls in the morning, forgot he put a pot of coffee on, decided not to waste the coffee, downed the whole pot then and there, and is now walking around with that crazed caffeine high look in his eyes, even while his heart is palpitating.
Stay safe man, and keep up the good work. Care about you bro.
I think for some Dm's it's good to have notes, I am like that, I have notes about every little thing and yes, I plan ahead ALOT. The trick is being able to throw those notes out the window if necessary. Sure, it's a lot of work that goes into the bin there, but through all that work you most likely got a way better understanding of your own Npc's, the world you're in, etc. Planning out can help just as much with improvisation, as long as you stay flexible.
10:35 example in video games for open world. side quests. the main questline on evil dude causing chaos with stealing the amulet which is only thing to stop him is there but while on it do side quests to see whats going on in the world involving the ppl also affected by this, viewpoints and such while getting rewards that can help against the next upcoming major challege or the final conflict against the evil man.
I'm running my first campaing as DM, even tho i'm relatively new to D&D. I've been taking a similar approach to this technique but hearing a more grounded idea has really cleared up a lot for me. Great video!
on a side not you can set up a variety of plot point ideas on the side but keep it fluid as to where they take place, never set anything in stone but nothing wrong with getting those basic ideas prepared. an assault on a village can happen to any village, delving can be done in any dungeon like area.
the players will always want to go where they want, just be flexible and prepare to change the set dressing on the fly. npc's can be set anywhere, just make sure you take note of these locations so you do not have to retconn somewhere down the line.
i generally come up with names for towns and npc's before hand and have a list ready, then toss them in where needed and notate it in my world legend. mobs both specific and general can for the most part get placed wherever they make sense.
When you create a couple major conflicts and a bunch of minor conflicts for the group to run into in session 1 while they are coming together and forming their party (I really thought it would be a fun challenge to have this group come together for the first time and work together to do crazy things)... but the first player you introduce to the city insists on paying for their ride to the city with a random ring they found on the ground before embarking. Then the second player you introduce decides to wander around the market for no apparent reason and you decide to throw the ring from the first player into the magic items section, then the player gets super interested in it and really wants to pursue it so you decide to have the NPC they were supposed to meet buy the ring in order to hook them into following her. Then to make things consistent you have that NPC call in a guy to examine the ring and talk to the player to hopefully get them ready for meeting the rest of the party. Then the third player meets up with the first and goes to ring place to meet the second player and they all get really excited to learn what ring guy has to say. I try to encourage them to go out and meet fourth player by dropping hints of where they could get even more details about the ring or their personal stories while they wait for the guy to examine it but they want to stay pretty much right with him for the 4 hours it’s going to take for him, one character literally standing right beside him while the other two go next door because they are all obsessed with the ring. And then the final player has to be led through more improvisation to meet up with the rest of the party and bake a pizza with the barkeeper and now are all obsessed with some cursed ring that I guess has become the main plot hook for my campaign now.
I've been running a new group for my local gaming/comic book store for about 3 weeks now and started the party off escorting a caravan of goods to Luskan. On arrival at the city the caravan was mobbed and looted by a group of Halflings and they spend the session tracking down and fighting with halflings and wererats, but ultimately failed (this was always going to happen) at the task. This put them at direct odds with one of my villains who they are now in debt to and working for. I'm going to use this opportunity to see how far they will go when asked to do certain tasks and give them opportunities to do the right thing. I haven't really planned that much, and generally think up stuff on a week by week basis usually starting with a 1 or 2 line idea and go from there. I've already had them on a ship by session 3 (albeit docked) and will see how they react to the tasks ahead, the idea is to let them either become pirates or pirate hunters and give them agency to do what they feel is best for them!
so, just wanted to throw my two cents out there too! i make an MMO style game, where i design the entirety of the world. (core NPCs, and story quests, and place them in different towns. when the players show up to certain towns, it triggers certain stages of my campaign. (when they arrive at Drogton, the big bad begins his summoning of undead, and unded encounters become more prominent. then when they arrive in trexliss, he unleashes a dragon on the world. and so on, and so on) This allows you to put a more hardened story line into the game, while allowing the group to still follow their own paths.
Sending this to my DM. I think he'll find this both useful and enjoyable. Thanks for sharing!
I'm by no means an improvisation expert, but my technique is to follow the first rule of improv acting: "yes, and...". Basically you take what someone says, acknowledge it, and add onto it. For example, in acting if someone says "why did you steal my cheeseburger" instead of saying "I didn't steal your cheeseburger" you could say something like "because it was haunted and I was trying to protect you." The other person would then inquire about ways to make a profit off of a haunted cheeseburger. Point being, everything you do cements and builds on the last thing said which keeps the story going and maintains its momentum.
Here's an example of how I used this in a campaign of mine: during one of the player's down times I had a hobo walk up to the party asking for spare change, intending the npc to be a powerful diety in disguise who would later show up and either curse or bless them, depending on what they did. However, upon engaging the party one of the players immediately, and somewhat jokingly, accused the hobo of being an agent of the game's bbeg sent to spy on them. Without missing a beat the hobo jumped back and yelled "They're on to me!" and disappeared into the street. What followed was one of the best chase scenes any of us had experienced, which landed the party headfirst into an unplanned ambush, resulting in important information being divulged to the PC's on the bbeg's whereabouts. All from one offhand quip that I allowed to derail my entire plan.
So my sentiments mostly echoe the underlying theme of this video - get a few ideas together to start things off, and then let your players write the plot points from there.
Today is going to be my first time really DMing. I'm so excited and nervus! Thanks for the pointers, and wish me luck!!
How'd it go?
@@CronyneWARE It went really well! We were all some what new to the game and I am the most experienced with not much opportunity to practice so there was a bit of confusion. But all in all we had a lot of fun and we get together almost every weekend! The group ended up making the strangest gay family. Bob who is a precious cinnamon roll and he's kind of the mom in the group (in the game and in real life), Garfield the emo drunk kenku who drunkenly took down a TURTLE DRAGON! Then we have Fay. She's a little girl who lived in the orphanage and stole Bob's sword on the first day and Bob didn't even notice until after he adopted her. The actual adventure I have for them is they need to hunt down this portal that took Garfield's friend (witch is why he has a drinking problem in the game) and it keeps opening and closing all over the place. Right now they are going to the swamp where they'll find the portal potty!!
@@galadrielfalciani6748 "Portal potty" oh for fuck sake.
I like it.
Leaving one's stories "open" as an outline or somewhat linked encounters can be intimidating to starting DM's. This is where the temptation to use DMPC's or heavy-handed tools like teleportation creeps in.
I'm planning for my first game as a DM, and I'm not even outlining the story that much. I mostly make disconnected items places NPCs and subplots, and trust that I can stitch them together as we go.
I like the "heres a world, here's some rumors you've heard, go do your thing" approach. The key is to place all the adventure far enough away that they can't reach it in a single session.
I have a very different style of DMing. I write everything out meticulously and I introduce a lot of choices. You don't have to go to location A or ally with a particular NPC in order to encounter the villain. You could go to Location B and make an enemy of the NPC instead. It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure story where the goal is always the same, but the route you take to get there is different every time.
The primary villian for the campaign I'm currently designing is a sentient magic item.
So it can't be active outside the players area whilst in bthe possession of the players. What I'm doing instead is creating a bunch of secondary antagonistic (or possibly freindly) forces that can be active instead.
In reference to the main plot, I have a location to find the magic item (which can be moved based on player movements) an npc which has all the relevant information, and is well known enough that the players can find them with a small amount of research, and a very basic setup for destroying the magic item, which I may discard in the future.
For the most part I'm working on making a fleshed out world with several locations the players could go to find (or cause) trouble.