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View Full Version : Thanks to a bad assitant DM my campaign and backup campaigns are blown. What do I do?



Pika...
2010-10-21, 10:31 AM
So I have been working on these campaigns for a good long while in my imagination, heck things have been turning in my head for the first one since nearly two years ago. Now thanks to a poorly chosen assistant DM and a second bad assistant DM I have a few days to direct the characters/campaign in a complete unrelated direction.

I can not scrap the campaign, as the players were already in the verge of mutiny over the latest TPK, so I have to basically think of an entirely new campaign for them to focus on. I run sandbox style, but the whole planet is basically focused on this one issue at the moment which threatens everyone, yet it is all spoiled so I will NOT run that plot story for anything else than background fluff/scenery...

So, from the more experienced DMs out there, what should I do? I am in a bad position right now. Heck, thanks tot he other assistant DM both my backup campaigns are blown as well. :smallconfused:

Quietus
2010-10-21, 10:33 AM
Find a hackneyed reason to push'em into a dungeon, that's somehow related to/caused by what's just happened. Buy yourself a week to rebuild your notes.

TurtleKing
2010-10-21, 10:33 AM
Try a Sandbox game.

Sipex
2010-10-21, 10:34 AM
Some detailed information would be nice, your situation might be salvagable depending on what your campaign is, what got spoiled, whatever else happened, etc.

Pika...
2010-10-21, 10:39 AM
Try a Sandbox game.

Haha Mr. D.

This be the assistant DM by the way folks.


Anyway, I WOULD do that, but as it says in my OP these things basically have the potential to eat the entire planet to it's core. Literally. No nation, kingdom, tribe, or power will be ignoring the Stargate Replicator like threat when the stubborn city state which kinda unleashed them finally calls for help. So sadly, I am not sure how to run sandbox except for hitting spelljammer again.

TurtleKing
2010-10-21, 10:42 AM
{Scrubbed}

Pika...
2010-10-21, 10:43 AM
Find a hackneyed reason to push'em into a dungeon, that's somehow related to/caused by what's just happened. Buy yourself a week to rebuild your notes.

Good idea. Maybe I can add something to the outpost they are currently in. :/



Some detailed information would be nice, your situation might be salvagable depending on what your campaign is, what got spoiled, whatever else happened, etc.

Thanks, a bit more info above Sipex. :)

Basically, the world thought the new "big threat" was a city states of humans returning to existence.

If the player's perused the matter (which they intended to) they would have found out along with the rest of the planet that the city state is basically struggling to survive against that MMII construct race that is uncannily similar to the replicators from SG1.

Basically, the planet is near doom, and I might just let it go even after a few years work since there are no heroes to save it. Again, this has been building up since my very first group two years back.

TurtleKing
2010-10-21, 10:48 AM
What happened to those other characters? The Hydra, Owlbear, Unicorn, and Flaming Drow?

Why did you write yourself into a corner?

Sipex
2010-10-21, 10:48 AM
So what happened, your assistants spoiled the whole thing? Said "The planet is getting eaten from the inside out, don't bother to follow the sub plot."??

edit: Or a TPK? That's salvagable.

Pika...
2010-10-21, 10:52 AM
So what happened, your assistants spoiled the whole thing? Said "The planet is getting eaten from the inside out, don't bother to follow the sub plot."??

edit: Or a TPK? That's salvagable.

TPK, and apparently they got upset so started spoiling the sensitive information. Not nice, especially considering how long I had had that city state, the NPC who let loose the constructs, and the whole conflict between them building up.

Also, my players know (I made it very clear multiple times. Even in my houserules) not to read the DM's threads. So basically this thread was meant to help me salvage the campaign somehow, but now it might end it all together. Or at the very least a player may be gone. :smallconfused:

TurtleKing
2010-10-21, 10:53 AM
I Assistant DM is a little loose with info. The other one is to smart for the DM. He is one that has been with him the longest continously. So he knows the DM quite well. Plus the DM's plots has gotten a little to predictable. If he varies it up more he could throw the (now) Assistant DM for a loop maybe. Basically put the DM needs a Muse. Can be the same world, but with new twists.

Sipex
2010-10-21, 10:56 AM
Well, they're dead but realistically, would they be the world's only hope?


Start them up with new characters 10 years later. The nations, learning of the terror which befalls them had acted too late to stop it completely but did manage to put a task force together who sealed these things in the center of the planet.

There is extensive damage though, some continents are littered with craters as the landmass collapses to the abyss below, others experience regular earthquakes. There are now colonies of people living underground as the surface has become unstable.

Go from there.

Tyndmyr
2010-10-21, 10:58 AM
He has a point. A campaign that leads to a single world destroying/saving event is not generally considered sandboxy.

How fast does this world destroying thing happen, and is it possible for other encounters to exist? Did the assistant DM create this out of whole cloth, or was this an existing plot point?

PopcornMage
2010-10-21, 10:59 AM
TPK, and apparently they got upset so started spoiling the sensitive information. Not nice, especially considering how long I had had that city state, the NPC who let loose the constructs, and the whole conflict between them building up.

Also, my players know (I made it very clear multiple times. Even in my houserules) not to read the DM's threads. So basically this thread was meant to help me salvage the campaign somehow, but now it might end it all together. Or at the very least a player may be gone. :smallconfused:

Well, at the least, I hope you've learned something from this. Play your cards close to your chest, even with the assistant DMs you've apparently got. Or give them very clear instructions about what not to do if you must let them in on some secrets.

Here's an idea though, play a group of people in total isolation, it can be set in the same world, but think of some reason for people to be totally ignorant.

Like some folks who just woke up from some sort of hibernation or stasis spell, perhaps one that just coincidentally ended because of the same other events.

That's if you want to run a one-shot with new characters to give you breathing room anyway.

Oracle_Hunter
2010-10-21, 11:00 AM
So... the real problem is that your co-DMs spoiled campaign information to your Players?

I'd say Reboot. Just say "OK guys, sorry about those co-DMs. We're going to start over - how's that sound?"

If they like the campaign otherwise, they'll bite. You can fiddle around with the spoiled details to freshen things up, or trust that your Players are interested enough in the story to not use OOC info.

If they don't bite, then there's no reason trying to run it after you've had a near-mutuny. Shelve the plot for later use (with a different group of players) and start out with something new.

Um, I've never used co-DMs before but if you decided to because the campaign seemed too grand to handle on your own... maybe your next game should be of a smaller scope? :smallsmile:

Kylarra
2010-10-21, 11:00 AM
I'd just run a campaign in the aftermath of the someone else saving the world from the destroyerbots and then disappearing into the sunset.

TurtleKing
2010-10-21, 11:01 AM
That is a new twist by using the aftermath. The only question is what will happen to the now pcs? One of the big goals is to bring back a deity who is now a vestige. So basically they want to start a church. The deity was of War, Progress, and Engineering (I think).

If was to do that then what would happen over the 10 years with the pcs. This assuming they survived. Most of the players are attached to their pcs.
The CO-DMs make up half of the players....yea.

Also I am responsible for this campaign plus the two before it. My first character with this group as had an effect on three if not more campaigns.
The Prinny is to blame. That same Prinny is the leader on one side of thr Prinny War. The other side's general is the Prinny God

Kylarra
2010-10-21, 11:03 AM
They have to cope with their failures and knowing that they both failed to summon their deity, but also someone else saved the world and got all the glory. As adventurers, they're a bunch of has-beens now.

TurtleKing
2010-10-21, 11:07 AM
A hydra, unicorn, owlbear, and flaming drow are has-beens. Interesting.

Telonius
2010-10-21, 11:09 AM
Well, you have a couple of options.

- Immediate rez. The kingdoms realize something really bad has happened, and take steps to resurrect the heroes as they are.
- Reboot. The kingdoms realize something really bad has happened, but for some reason (lack of resurrection capabilities, fluff reasons etc) can't rez the characters. However, another group of people chosen by fate (i.e. the new PCs) find out exactly what happened. After going on some quests they'll gradually reawaken the abilities of the heroes that went before them.

Possible reasons for the planet-eating to continue...

- Motivation of the planet-eaters. They actually want the planet destroyed for some reason. Maybe they need a destroyed planet to power their multiverse-enslaving machine. Maybe they've offered up the planet as a sacrifice to their dark god. Whatever the reason, they want it to continue.
- Inability to stop it. Only super-powerful PCs could possibly stop the process now. For that, we need the MacGuffin of Power. Go get it, PCs!

Comet
2010-10-21, 11:10 AM
A hydra, unicorn, owlbear, and flaming drow are has-beens. Interesting.

I dunno how high-fantasy the setting is, but in some settings a group like that would be quite normal.

Anyway, I vote for a restart. You can use some of the ideas you had in a new story and there's no need to make awkward correction maneuvres.

Also, you should maybe consider running with just one GM. Sure, it's a bit more work but you'll be able to have a clearer direction for the story and the players will have a better focus into the world.

akma
2010-10-21, 11:10 AM
What exectly was the assitant DMs "job"? And why did you need two assitants?

Also, how the TPK heppened?

Pika...
2010-10-21, 11:10 AM
So... the real problem is that your co-DMs spoiled campaign information to your Players?

I'd say Reboot. Just say "OK guys, sorry about those co-DMs. We're going to start over - how's that sound?"

If they like the campaign otherwise, they'll bite. You can fiddle around with the spoiled details to freshen things up, or trust that your Players are interested enough in the story to not use OOC info.

If they don't bite, then there's no reason trying to run it after you've had a near-mutuny. Shelve the plot for later use (with a different group of players) and start out with something new.

Um, I've never used co-DMs before but if you decided to because the campaign seemed too grand to handle on your own... maybe your next game should be of a smaller scope? :smallsmile:


While I loved the core of the planet idea, the player who should not be reading this thread saw it, so I can't use it.

I believe you are right Oracle Hunter. Sadly I refuse to every reboot my canon, especially on a grand scale, so I am simply going to shelve it.

The near mutiny was due to losing all their characters in a TPK. However, having to do new characters again won't be on my head this time. Leave if they wish, it is not my fault this time.

This thread was meant to salvage my campaign and those PCs they enjoyed. But thanks to some trust issues it has to be put to rest now until a future group.

Pika...
2010-10-21, 11:15 AM
Also, you should maybe consider running with just one GM. Sure, it's a bit more work but you'll be able to have a clearer direction for the story and the players will have a better focus into the world.

The thing is I run a small business now, and I have two-three kids on the way. One of which I will be co-parenting, while the others I will play a part in the lives of. :smallwink:

Basically, now I need the help more than ever.


edit:

What exectly was the assitant DMs "job"? And why did you need two assitants?

Also, how the TPK heppened?

I only needed one.

I originally have had one that has helped me for a while.

I decided to give this one a shot because he plans to DM in the near future, and I wanted to give him a chance to practice.

Tyndmyr
2010-10-21, 11:19 AM
Ah. Clearly, he needs more practice, then.

I would say that if anyone justifiably knows of their importance to this event, they spring for a set of rezzes for the party. In return, they have expectations from the party, probably involving saving their butts. This is a fairly reasonable reaction to a threat that they can't quickly fix themselves.

Kylarra
2010-10-21, 11:31 AM
A hydra, unicorn, owlbear, and flaming drow are has-beens. Interesting.They failed in everything they tried to do and are now the stars of a new sit-com airing on AftermathTV this sunday. Can these disparately aligned creatures overcome their alignment issues to make their comeback and find the glory they have longed for ever since an unfortunate roll on custom reincarnation tables forced them into these bodies? Tune in and find out.

Sipex
2010-10-21, 11:37 AM
Hey PC! STOP READING THIS THREAD.

Geez, some people have no manners.

edit: The planet core thing would be known from the start though, I didn't really make any story spoilers.

Pechvarry
2010-10-21, 11:48 AM
While I loved the core of the planet idea, the player who should not be reading this thread saw it, so I can't use it.

I believe you are right Oracle Hunter. Sadly I refuse to every reboot my canon, especially on a grand scale, so I am simply going to shelve it.

The near mutiny was due to losing all their characters in a TPK. However, having to do new characters again won't be on my head this time. Leave if they wish, it is not my fault this time.

This thread was meant to salvage my campaign and those PCs they enjoyed. But thanks to some trust issues it has to be put to rest now until a future group.

Now that they know you're not going to use the "core of the planet" idea, you can use it and surprise him!

My suggestion: PCs go on an afterlife quest to rez themselves >> Co-DM accidentally handed out too much info becomes insights from the other side of the veil. Nothing says "good use of divination" like having to die for the information.

Your player probably just opened the thread and read the OP, anyway. I wouldn't worry about your trust issues too much. Games are for fun.

mucat
2010-10-21, 01:11 PM
Pika, your writing in this thread is not very clear. You keep going off on tangents about how long this whole thing has been planned, but you haven't really explained what the co-GM told the players, and why you now consider the game ruined. Often it sounds like you're assuming your readers already know a lot about the situation, which we don't.

If someone gave away secret information, you don't have to scrap the whole campaign: just inform the players that whatever they learned is no longer true. Retroactively change the world, so that everything the PCs have actually experienced is still true, but the things they heard OOC from the co-DM are not. (Or maybe a few of the less surprising ones still are true, but the players have no idea which.)

If I'm missing the point entirely, then try to explain more clearly what is going on and why it's a problem.

Delwugor
2010-10-21, 03:18 PM
There are many ways to salvage what happened, and at the most the players have more information than you intended.


My suggestion: PCs go on an afterlife quest to rez themselves >> Co-DM accidentally handed out too much info becomes insights from the other side of the veil. Nothing says "good use of divination" like having to die for the information.
That works.
Another take is another group takes on the quest to bring back the heroes. Either they do and the heroes continue on with some extra information. Or they fail but this new group still finds out the information.

I was running a Oerth ending horror campaign and one of the possiblilities I allowed was that the horror would win and destroy/convert all life. That didn't mean the end of the campaign, instead a change to the heroes searching for a large portal to another planet. After finding it they could then start tracking down refugees from the horrors and send them through. Still not the end because after that the heroes could help the refugees get started, survive and prosper in a new and possibly hostile planet. It never got that far but the option was there in my head just in case.

Magesmiley
2010-10-21, 03:29 PM
Stall for time.

Introduce something that stalls the inevitable doom for a time - maybe an NPC finds an artifact that allows him/her to control and limit the nasties... for now. Lots of interesting directions could come from something like that:

Does he use the nasties for conquest? What about other entities trying to gain control of the artifact? Maybe a side-effect is that the artifact is driving him/her insane and he/she will try to destroy the world anyways. The artifact could have a limited power supply too and will eventually die (or might be rechargable with certain hard to find items). Another nasty thought is that maybe there are multiple of these artifacts and he/she with the most gets control.

All of these are just a few ways to take the core idea you had and spin it off in a different direction. Leave your options open and keep the players guessing at where things are headed. Sometimes the players will concoct better ideas than you've got for where things are headed too (and if they do, toss it into your stewpot of ideas).

Initially though, if there's something staving off the ultimate doom, throw a few unrelated side treks to the players. Not every adventure has to be centered around the main story. This will buy you some time to figure out where things are headed.

Kaje
2010-10-21, 03:56 PM
These PCs were so important that the destiny brings them back as Ghostwalk-style spirits.

Crossblade
2010-10-21, 04:15 PM
This is the hydra, unicorn group? The same group that suffered TPK and was Ressed into those creatures instead of their starting race, one of which was a centaur? If they survived TPK once, why can't they twice?
How did the inability to walk into town or hold a fork not stop them but a repeat occurance completely ruin plans for the game?
Again, information on how what leaked info ruined the game is needed.


{Scrubbed}

Pika...
2010-10-21, 05:59 PM
This is the hydra, unicorn group? The same group that suffered TPK and was Ressed into those creatures instead of their starting race, one of which was a centaur? If they survived TPK once, why can't they twice?
How did the inability to walk into town or hold a fork not stop them but a repeat occurance completely ruin plans for the game?
Again, information on how what leaked info ruined the game is needed.

It was the same TPK. Hence why I gave them all a free Reincarnation to avoid the mutiny. >.>

And the player spilled the beans before the Reincarnation, without my knowledge.

As for what was spilled? The entire plot basically. The clockwork horrors/replicators, and so forth.



{Scrub the original, scrub the quote.}


I personally find this paragraph offensive.

Yes, there are more than one mother. There are good people on this planet who can not have have children on their own. :smallconfused:


ps.

Yes, English is my first language!

Turalisj
2010-10-21, 07:20 PM
So I have been working on these campaigns for a good long while in my imagination, heck things have been turning in my head for the first one since nearly two years ago. Now thanks to a poorly chosen assistant DM and a second bad assistant DM I have a few days to direct the characters/campaign in a complete unrelated direction.

I can not scrap the campaign, as the players were already in the verge of mutiny over the latest TPK, so I have to basically think of an entirely new campaign for them to focus on. I run sandbox style, but the whole planet is basically focused on this one issue at the moment which threatens everyone, yet it is all spoiled so I will NOT run that plot story for anything else than background fluff/scenery...

So, from the more experienced DMs out there, what should I do? I am in a bad position right now. Heck, thanks tot he other assistant DM both my backup campaigns are blown as well. :smallconfused:

First off, never let those two near your game with a 20ft pole wielded by a Storm Giant.

Fhaolan
2010-10-22, 01:00 AM
My advise is: Don't immediately abandon the plot. Yes, your plan was spilled prematurely. Oh well. Unless you were going to put the players on rails and choo-choo them to the end, then that was going to happen sooner or later.

Now is the oportunity to get *really* creative. The players think they know what's about to happen, they can plan ahead. Sure, that's cool.

The thing is, the info they have isn't necessarily correct. Or more importantly... *complete*.

Since there are party members reading this thread when they're not supposed to be, I will PM you a possible solution. It's not the only solution, and it's even a bit hackneyed, but it should get you thinking in other directions.