My group is completely random

[javijuji]

Ive been playing with a group of friends for a couple of years now (We switch DM every couple of months or so) and I've noticed they tend to go wherever they please as a party. Im fine with this because as a player I also do not like getting forced into quests and plots that don't suit my character. But as a DM this creates a problem since I cant really prepare anything beforehand. The party started in a desert where I had planned a very nice backstory regarding dry liches and the spreading of the sands. 7 days later they decided the desert was not for them and moved onto another city in the woods. So now everything I had planned for them up to lvl 7 is thrown away. I wont force them into it cause it because I myself would not like to be forced into a quest I dont like. But I like planning stuff ahead. I'm fine improvising every now and then but with this group it seems like everything has to be improvised. And all the hard work I put into creating this big plot and the dungeons I drew (by hand) for them wont be used. Makes me feel like I wasted my time to be honest. Pisses me off a little bit but I will never penalize my players for this behaviour because I myself understand where it is coming from. How can I deal with this and still be able to prepare stuff ahead of time without having it go to waste?

[Eonir]

As a DM of a group like this, you have to temper their free will with consequences.

For example, one of the PCs could have a family member or loved on in the desert who is threatened by the Lich incursion.

Something like that still gives them their free will. They can still leave, but the character will most likely choose to save their loved one.

[Yora]

Start the campaign by getting everyone to agree on a goal or purpose for the game. If the game is about wandering about and see what you run into, then players will be wandering about at random. Come up with a reason why the party got together that all the players agree on.

[Gahaith]

My group also tends to go wherever they want, and in my experience, the best advice I can give you is to use the dungeons and monster stats you made and just refluff them to fit in to whatever is happening. For example, when I had to switch from a desert campaign to a winter one, one of my monsters used a cone of heat attack, so I just used the same stats, but said that his cone attack was a cone of ice. Good luck :smallsmile:

[Hiro Protagonest]

Ive been playing with a group of friends for a couple of years now (We switch DM every couple of months or so) and I've noticed they tend to go wherever they please as a party. Im fine with this because as a player I also do not like getting forced into quests and plots that don't suit my character. But as a DM this creates a problem since I cant really prepare anything beforehand. The party started in a desert where I had planned a very nice backstory regarding dry liches and the spreading of the sands. 7 days later they decided the desert was not for them and moved onto another city in the woods. So now everything I had planned for them up to lvl 7 is thrown away. I wont force them into it cause it because I myself would not like to be forced into a quest I dont like. But I like planning stuff ahead. I'm fine improvising every now and then but with this group it seems like everything has to be improvised. And all the hard work I put into creating this big plot and the dungeons I drew (by hand) for them wont be used. Makes me feel like I wasted my time to be honest. Pisses me off a little bit but I will never penalize my players for this behaviour because I myself understand where it is coming from. How can I deal with this and still be able to prepare stuff ahead of time without having it go to waste?

Plans only last as long as it takes you to reach the battle line.

[Certified]

If you were able to establish plot points in the campaign it would seem like referring back to them would be a good way to focus the players. That is to say, the desert is now spreading, this is killing the forest. Temperatures may be rising in the region changing the larger ecology and setting the players up for strange encounters. Maybe the town they are in is overrun by refuges and then later desert creatures.

Of course, ignoring the problem only makes things worse, right? So when the PCs do address those pesky Litchs feel free to bump their levels and strengthen their hordes.

[Winter_Wolf]

Bring the desert to them? Not immediately, but in the sense of, there's this event that's happening in the world and no one is dealing with it. Given enough time it can grow into a huge problem that spreads beyond the initial area, especially if no one thinks to nip it while it's still small. No point in completely tossing something. Could you rework some of the stuff and make it into a more local problem, or is it impossible to change desert to "nearby forested hills" or something like that?

Maybe you could tie it in with something happening in the forested area? Some smallish time thing that leads to a portal or communication with some of the middlemen or higher-ups in the desert villain camp or something. It could run the risk of monolithic evil (we're all working together against you!), but if you handle it right things should work out fine.

Or you could work on your winging-it skills and become the Master of Improv. But it's probably less work than to set aside some time and have the players tell you what they ultimately want to do, and then gently remind them that it's taking up YOUR time to create these adventures so please be good sports and meet you halfway.

In a way, bad guy campaigns are easier, because heroes are mostly reactive, but the bad guys have initiative, ambition, and are proactive. Come to think of it, I'd kind of like to play or run a game where the PCs are all evil/villains-to-be in a more or less utopian world and they have to think of ways to screw it up for everyone else.

[Chilingsworth]

In a way, bad guy campaigns are easier, because heroes are mostly reactive, but the bad guys have initiative, ambition, and are proactive. Come to think of it, I'd kind of like to play or run a game where the PCs are all evil/villains-to-be in a more or less utopian world and they have to think of ways to screw it up for everyone else.

If you ever want to start such a game on these boards, let me know. I'd love to play in one! :smallbiggrin:

But, back to the OP, basically what others have said: Let your players run wild for alittle while, then let the consequences of their innaction affect them.

[javijuji]

So basically I should right down the stuff they "skipped" and let it grow stronger with time? The only problem I see with this is the eventual ending of the story with evil simply overrunning the whole world because it was left unattended.

[Arbane]

So basically I should right down the stuff they "skipped" and let it grow stronger with time? The only problem I see with this is the eventual ending of the story with evil simply overrunning the whole world because it was left unattended.

And the downside would be....?

(So they destroy one world. You can always make another.)

[javijuji]

And the downside would be....?

(So they destroy one world. You can always make another.)

Downside being that they were doomed ever since they starting wandering around. As a player its not nice knowing your character was gonna die no matter what.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Downside being that they were doomed ever since they starting wandering around. As a player its not nice knowing your character was gonna die no matter what.

Er, there seems to have been a miscommunication. The liches should never get VASTLY more powerful than the players. That's just bad punishment. It's that they shouldn't be weaksauce by the time the players reach level 13.

[Dissonance]

If you want to put in the effort. Advance the plans of the villains separately to the party. Make up happenstance and stuff that could happen that might delay them or something. The goal of this would be setting up a much more dangerous area for the players to explore/conquer when they return to it. It would also show the players that the world doesn't revolve around them. That time is important and urgency is there.

An example. The dry liches met with an unexpected problem and brought a great amount of[generic evil god of undead]'s influence to the world. As a result that little desert they skipped out on and started in? It is now known as the bonewaste and Big, nasty undead infest the once vibrant sands.

[wonderfulspam]

I have had the exact same problem, with my adventure however, the characters wish to run off into the woods and build a castle. If I let them do this, the imminent danger to the west will eventually chop down all of the trees and kill them all in a hopeless bloodbath, in fact they will probably get bored of the forrest very quickly and give up on the adventure. For your adventure they may simply be lacking in motivation. I have been thinking for a while now, that if I were to add an incentive to where I want them to go (such as an opportunity to aquire some strange material which is highly explosive) they may be more receptive to the journey. I would suggest you find what your characters might really want out of the adventure and put that right in the path of your plot line.

PS: do tell if this works I might like to try it.:smallbiggrin:

[ThatGuyOvaThere]

My group is similar. I have found that if you keep a couple monster manuals and the DMG, if you have it, near by you can easily set up some encounters ,and if it is a monster that has a hoard, you can give the correct amount of gold and some sweet magical and/or wondrous items.

[Hawkings]

Downside being that they were doomed ever since they starting wandering around. As a player its not nice knowing your character was gonna die no matter what.

Can we say Elder Evils? :smallamused:

Seriously though I have a similar group, but I did incorporate that their actions or lack there of will have consequences. One game they told a Vampire Lady where to find the remains of some ancient vampires in order to distract her from the shinnies they stole. Many game sessions later they're in a town where strange box's are being delivered all around the place seemingly as part of the cities celebration, they find out that hidden inside are vampires, dozens of them and they are faced with a resurrected vampire lord template BBEG who cast the epic spell eclipse.

They ran out of town as fast as possible while the entire place was destroyed and it's inhabitants turned into vampires and their spawn.
Needless to say undead are all over the place now.

Oddly enough everyone loved it, I think they actually relished in the idea that their responsible for ruining things.

Aside from that I feel your pain, many of my pregame hours have been wasted by random players who jump around like idiots, worst part is it's impossible to string together a story this way.

Which leads me back to my original comment: Can we say Elder Evils?