I\'ve been thinking about this question a lot, over the last week or two, as I\'m
gearing up to start a new D&D campaign with my gaming group in the next few
weeks.
Before I get into this, though, I want to say that I am, I think, very lucky to have
a good, solid group of gamers that believe their characters are more than
simply numbers and words on a page. They like to bring them to life, if only for
a few hours each week. In other words... role play, not roll play.
Don\'t get me wrong. They like the action and the thrill of high adventure and finding
great treasures as much as anyone else that plays the game....
But I\'m wandering way off topic, already. Back to it, then.
Regardless of your game, there are certain key elements that make for a good
campaign. Or better yet, a memorable one. The kind of campaign that you can
remember and reminisce about years later. These are, to me, the best ones.
Game setting is always a start. The world in which your game is taking place. Is it
a rich and detailed place where there are events going on all around the characters,
with history and changes both great and small?
In my experience as a GM, creating a rich environment for the players to run their
characters in will encourage them to more fully flesh out their own character.
Each town/village/hamlet should have some kind of distinguishing characteristic,
or character. A history, as stated. But, by the same token, that it\'s there does not
mean that the characters have to know it right away. There\'s definitely a difference
between giving them a feeling of completeness and boring them to tears.
Similarly, I\'m sure the players don\'t need to know what colour of buttons the queen
of wherever is wearing, unless it\'s a key plot element (my wife is guilty of being
overly descriptive of apparently innocuous
things that will later prove to be important).
Next on my list is interactions. Whether they\'re between the PCs alone, or if they
are talking to NPCs, I find it best to encourage speaking \'In Character\' rather
than not. Not everyone is comfortable with this, granted, but it does tend to
make it easier for players to lose themselves in a world when the people
they are dealing with have at least a hint
of a different voice. Personally, I\'m more
than happy to do voices for different characters.
My most remembered character is a nearly deaf old man that only answers
questions posed to him with the approximate time of day, or what he\'d like
for dinner. Unless actually asked those things, in which case he would give the
players some useful information.
Now, these things, so far, are all things that fall squarely on the GM\'s shoulder.
Luckily for GMs, there are a fair number of well created worlds already prepared for
us to use, if we\'re so inclined.
Tone is next up in my thought process. Setting helps to set the tone, granted,
but so do the players. How they respond to their surroundings will almost inevitably
set the tone for the campaign. Whimsical, serious, haunting, downright scary... all
are certainly possible. So are combinations of all the possibilities.
Flexibility of the GM, I\'ve found, makes a game come far more to life. How many
times have you, as a player, found yourself being told that you just can\'t do
something? Doesn\'t that drive you crazy? Especially when there isn\'t really any real
reason why you can\'t, other than the GM simply hasn\'t prepared anything?
Improvise! Make it up as you go. If the PCs have wandered off course and have
missed a key plot element... move it. Or have them miss it completely. There are
consequences for success and failure in the real world, so why not in a game world?
Yes, I\'m still mostly brow-beating the GMs. I probably will continue to do so. It\'s
what you get for wanting to run the game in the first place. It\'s what you\'ll get from
your players if you aren\'t catering to their gaming needs to at least some degree.
For example: If Mary makes a fighter character whose father had arranged a
marriage for her and fully intends to see her go through with it, shouldn\'t he show
up from time to time, trying to make her go home?
How much battle do your players want? How much intrigue? Are they fond of
solving crazy puzzles and riddles, or would they rather gloss over such things
with a roll of the dice? The GM needs to
know these things, or figure them out very
quickly to ensure that the players will enjoy the game to the fullest possible
extent, and keep coming back for more.
Failing that, a good supply of junk food and alcohol will probably have the same
effect.
Now.. finally... players.
There are many kinds of players. I\'m not even going to try to address that, right
now. It\'s a whole different issue.
What can you do to help out your GM?
1: Always have your character sheet and information ready during a session.
2: Have your own set of dice.
3: Do your best to get into the world your GM is presenting you with. If you have
issues with it, save it for the end of the session rather than disrupting the game
in progress. You\'ll be listened to much more readily if you aren\'t delaying some-
thing that was probably carefully planned and thought out.
4: Remember that GMing is often a lot more work than being a player.
I haven\'t touched on everything, by any stretch of the imagination, but it\'s all I feel
like writing, right now.
Feel free to expand on this in any way you\'d like, or disagree with it.
gearing up to start a new D&D campaign with my gaming group in the next few
weeks.
Before I get into this, though, I want to say that I am, I think, very lucky to have
a good, solid group of gamers that believe their characters are more than
simply numbers and words on a page. They like to bring them to life, if only for
a few hours each week. In other words... role play, not roll play.
Don\'t get me wrong. They like the action and the thrill of high adventure and finding
great treasures as much as anyone else that plays the game....
But I\'m wandering way off topic, already. Back to it, then.
Regardless of your game, there are certain key elements that make for a good
campaign. Or better yet, a memorable one. The kind of campaign that you can
remember and reminisce about years later. These are, to me, the best ones.
Game setting is always a start. The world in which your game is taking place. Is it
a rich and detailed place where there are events going on all around the characters,
with history and changes both great and small?
In my experience as a GM, creating a rich environment for the players to run their
characters in will encourage them to more fully flesh out their own character.
Each town/village/hamlet should have some kind of distinguishing characteristic,
or character. A history, as stated. But, by the same token, that it\'s there does not
mean that the characters have to know it right away. There\'s definitely a difference
between giving them a feeling of completeness and boring them to tears.
Similarly, I\'m sure the players don\'t need to know what colour of buttons the queen
of wherever is wearing, unless it\'s a key plot element (my wife is guilty of being
overly descriptive of apparently innocuous
things that will later prove to be important).
Next on my list is interactions. Whether they\'re between the PCs alone, or if they
are talking to NPCs, I find it best to encourage speaking \'In Character\' rather
than not. Not everyone is comfortable with this, granted, but it does tend to
make it easier for players to lose themselves in a world when the people
they are dealing with have at least a hint
of a different voice. Personally, I\'m more
than happy to do voices for different characters.
My most remembered character is a nearly deaf old man that only answers
questions posed to him with the approximate time of day, or what he\'d like
for dinner. Unless actually asked those things, in which case he would give the
players some useful information.
Now, these things, so far, are all things that fall squarely on the GM\'s shoulder.
Luckily for GMs, there are a fair number of well created worlds already prepared for
us to use, if we\'re so inclined.
Tone is next up in my thought process. Setting helps to set the tone, granted,
but so do the players. How they respond to their surroundings will almost inevitably
set the tone for the campaign. Whimsical, serious, haunting, downright scary... all
are certainly possible. So are combinations of all the possibilities.
Flexibility of the GM, I\'ve found, makes a game come far more to life. How many
times have you, as a player, found yourself being told that you just can\'t do
something? Doesn\'t that drive you crazy? Especially when there isn\'t really any real
reason why you can\'t, other than the GM simply hasn\'t prepared anything?
Improvise! Make it up as you go. If the PCs have wandered off course and have
missed a key plot element... move it. Or have them miss it completely. There are
consequences for success and failure in the real world, so why not in a game world?
Yes, I\'m still mostly brow-beating the GMs. I probably will continue to do so. It\'s
what you get for wanting to run the game in the first place. It\'s what you\'ll get from
your players if you aren\'t catering to their gaming needs to at least some degree.
For example: If Mary makes a fighter character whose father had arranged a
marriage for her and fully intends to see her go through with it, shouldn\'t he show
up from time to time, trying to make her go home?
How much battle do your players want? How much intrigue? Are they fond of
solving crazy puzzles and riddles, or would they rather gloss over such things
with a roll of the dice? The GM needs to
know these things, or figure them out very
quickly to ensure that the players will enjoy the game to the fullest possible
extent, and keep coming back for more.
Failing that, a good supply of junk food and alcohol will probably have the same
effect.
Now.. finally... players.
There are many kinds of players. I\'m not even going to try to address that, right
now. It\'s a whole different issue.
What can you do to help out your GM?
1: Always have your character sheet and information ready during a session.
2: Have your own set of dice.
3: Do your best to get into the world your GM is presenting you with. If you have
issues with it, save it for the end of the session rather than disrupting the game
in progress. You\'ll be listened to much more readily if you aren\'t delaying some-
thing that was probably carefully planned and thought out.
4: Remember that GMing is often a lot more work than being a player.
I haven\'t touched on everything, by any stretch of the imagination, but it\'s all I feel
like writing, right now.
Feel free to expand on this in any way you\'d like, or disagree with it.
