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tardisvalkyrie
2013-04-18, 02:49 PM
so, my group finished a long standing campaign a while ago, we hit level nineteen, killed a few tarasques, drove the orcs extinct, and became the dragon-kings. then we decided that we were done with our current campaign, and our DM (my roommate) promised us an original campaign setting. unfortunately, he has not yet delivered, and this was in November. we have been playing descent on game nights, but we all want to get back to D&D. our youngest member was on April break, so we had game night on Tuesday, just for a change, and we all confronted him, in a very game nightish way, (I.E. we all put on our best 50's Chicago gangster accent and asked him what the holdup was) he said he had hit writers block, and that he was spawning two skeleton patrols and a pair of hell-hounds.

so, for all the DM's in the playground, how can I give my DM inspiration.

thanking you all in advance for your help:smallbiggrin:

valadil
2013-04-18, 03:02 PM
Take the pressure off. It's hard to write anything when you're feeling pressured. No wonder he has writer's block. Let someone else step in for 6 months while he has time to take a break.

Killer Angel
2013-04-18, 03:12 PM
so, my group finished a long standing campaign a while ago, we hit level nineteen, killed a few tarasques,

Ah! That's why now we have only one of them! :smalltongue:

Jokes apart, Valadil is right. Give him time, let someone else to bear the DM's burden.

Prince_Ornstein
2013-04-18, 03:37 PM
agree with whats been said. as the DM for my current group after i finish a long campaign sometimes i feel like being a PC again so maybe someone could step in and run a quick 4-6 month campaign while he regroups.

after i am a PC for 3-4 sessions that inspires me to write again and then i get the urge to DM again (badly) and i end up writing a great story and my gaming group loves it.

JusticeZero
2013-04-18, 04:38 PM
As usual, the solution is for you to grab a book and tell everyone they meet in a bar.

tardisvalkyrie
2013-04-18, 05:17 PM
As usual, the solution is for you to grab a book and tell everyone they meet in a bar.

actualy i may step in as temp-DM, any advice for a first time DM?

Mr Beer
2013-04-18, 05:30 PM
Modules are what you use when you don't want to or are not able to write up a whole campaign yourself...not sure why your DM can't just string a few together.

If you're going to DM, my tips are:

1. Keep the game moving, especially do not allow any sort of lengthy rules-lawyering. It's better to bend some rules in favour of narrative.

2. Know your **** - you need to understand the rules, the adventure, the NPCs and so on. Try to understand flavour, motivations and settings more than all the minutiae though, since your players will always do something unexpected (this is in fact the whole idea of RPGs).

3. Give every player a chance to do something useful. It's best if everyone contributes in the first session...going forward different people will shine at different times, but get everyone involved on day 1.

4. Know your players, this should probably be #1 but I'm not doing this in order of importance. Anyways, what do they like?

5. Corrollary to #4 - don't simply kowtow to player demands, there's a big difference between doing something so the campaign is liked and doing it so that you are liked. No-one really wants a pushover GM.

Rhynn
2013-04-18, 07:21 PM
This marvelous series of articles (http://batintheattic.blogspot.fi/2009/08/how-to-make-fantasy-sandbox.html) details how to create a setting. It's not just for sandboxes, either.

Anyway, the big thing is to not make too big of a job of it. Start broad. Very sketchy world map, maybe. Then zoom in on an area, step by step, getting less sketchy. Big list of gods - just their names and spheres of influence first. And so on. You want to start out with breadth, you get depth during actual play of the campaign setting.

There's tons of other blogs out there with good world- and campaign-creation stuff (or just ones describing campaigns/settings!). Reading them always inspires me.

Jeff Rients' Gameblog (http://jrients.blogspot.fi/)
Grognardia (http://grognardia.blogspot.fi/)
Planet Algol (http://planetalgol.blogspot.fi/)
The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms (http://9and30kingdoms.blogspot.ca/)
Dreams in the Lich House (http://dreamsinthelichhouse.blogspot.fi/)
Monsters and Manuals (http://monstersandmanuals.blogspot.fi/)

Averis Vol
2013-04-18, 08:22 PM
1. Keep the game moving, especially do not allow any sort of lengthy rules-lawyering. It's better to bend some rules in favour of narrative.



just a note; rules are there for a reason, and the story should work within the pre described system.

now to some help. If he is having trouble creating an entire game, well, this is the internet. There are sites that will generate and populate your world, there are sites to design dungeons, and sites that create NPC's, which really only leaves story left to do. So if he's having trouble with one part or another, just remind him that there's always the internet.

Mr Beer
2013-04-18, 08:38 PM
just a note; rules are there for a reason, and the story should work within the pre described system.

This looks like the kind of non-disagreement that can descend into endless nitpickery, so I'm going to amend my comment to "do not allow rules lawyering to get in the way of narrative" and leave it at that.

tardisvalkyrie
2013-04-18, 09:16 PM
So, relatively recently (by which I mean a few hours ago, but i had to get to a class, then i had to re-watch the new doctor who because I heard about an Easter egg-plot hint-thing) i discovered that my DM started a thread in world-building specifically to create a new world (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=280717), so maybe i can stand a bit more descent, assuming the thread takes off.:smallbiggrin:

Matticussama
2013-04-19, 12:29 AM
There are 3 of us that GM in my group, so that helps to take a lot of the pressure off. It sucks if you're the one who always runs games; it can be creatively draining, especially if you want to be a player. Usually, we'll do one of two things; (1) have multiple games on alternating weekends; 1st and 3rd Sunday we'll play D&D, 2nd & 4th we'll play nWoD. This helps a lot because it gives more time to plan, while also allowing both GMs to have fun. (2) After one game is complete, run another campaign where the person who just GM'd can sit back and enjoy a few months (or longer) as a player without having to plan anything out.

Both of these can help stave off burnout.

Calmar
2013-04-20, 02:57 PM
This marvelous series of articles (http://batintheattic.blogspot.fi/2009/08/how-to-make-fantasy-sandbox.html) details how to create a setting. It's not just for sandboxes, either.

Anyway, the big thing is to not make too big of a job of it. Start broad. Very sketchy world map, maybe. Then zoom in on an area, step by step, getting less sketchy. Big list of gods - just their names and spheres of influence first. And so on. You want to start out with breadth, you get depth during actual play of the campaign setting.

There's tons of other blogs out there with good world- and campaign-creation stuff (or just ones describing campaigns/settings!). Reading them always inspires me.

Jeff Rients' Gameblog (http://jrients.blogspot.fi/)
Grognardia (http://grognardia.blogspot.fi/)
Planet Algol (http://planetalgol.blogspot.fi/)
The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms (http://9and30kingdoms.blogspot.ca/)
Dreams in the Lich House (http://dreamsinthelichhouse.blogspot.fi/)
Monsters and Manuals (http://monstersandmanuals.blogspot.fi/)

Thank you for the useful links, Rhynn!

TheThan
2013-04-22, 01:14 AM
Yeah, I say back off and give the poor Dm some air.

Baring that, figure out what sort of game you (feel free to include your group as well :smallbiggrin: ) want to play next, find some Youtube links that are related, and spam him with those. Maybe get to talking about them. I find people tend to be influenced by the media the experience, especially when they’re trying to write something like a RPG campaign.

Felhammer
2013-04-22, 01:30 AM
Writers block occurs when you have a bunch of ideas but zero faith in any of them.

So, it is time to relieve the pressure you have placed on your DM and just tell him what you want!

Every player lists three things they desire in this campaign setting more than anything else. These can be anything from "I want Samurai" to "I want floating castles" to "I want it set in a desert". The DM takes the list of wants and uses it to craft something that is not only unique and fun but allows the players to feel as if they had a hand in creating the world.

CarpeGuitarrem
2013-04-22, 08:39 AM
Also, if people aren't up to temp DMing, switch it up by finding a few boardgames to play on your gaming night, just so you can hang out but not have pressure.

tommhans
2013-05-02, 02:40 AM
Well seeing as i am a new dm for my group i ask the group every time after a session what stuff they would like to see in the game, and i usually put them in, not necessarily in the place they would most likely go to next but like further in the game, they always smile when they get their bloodthirsty manatees or the flying bears.

I still keep them in the same setting, and these are usually not major characters so i still control what is happening allthough, its hard, as they usually use 2-3 hours RPGing in a bar, or last night, they had a magic show(was amazing, the wizard did some insane rolls performing tricks ^^) and then one hour with encounter :P

I reward good RPs, so they even talked some giants out of a fight!

But ye as many mention, might be a good idea to make someone else the DM, maybe in another version or another game :)

Oh and btw, do not make a magical floating island where everyone in that city is magic, they do want to buy alot of weird stuff and some of them i just couldnt say no too, so a dude bought magical beans and another a flying carpet(i sold that way to cheap 500 GP, for a 2000GP worth item) Then again,i have put restrictions on them so they arent to OP ^^

Frozen_Feet
2013-05-02, 02:52 AM
Make him watch Puella Magi Madoka Magika, then Neon Genesis Evangelion and Clockwork Orange, then make him read Gantz, Elfen Lied, V for Vendetta, Watchmen and Lolita. :smallbiggrin:

Trinoya
2013-05-02, 03:49 AM
so, my group finished a long standing campaign a while ago, we hit level nineteen, killed a few tarasques, drove the orcs extinct, and became the dragon-kings. then we decided that we were done with our current campaign, and our DM (my roommate) promised us an original campaign setting. unfortunately, he has not yet delivered, and this was in November. we have been playing descent on game nights, but we all want to get back to D&D. our youngest member was on April break, so we had game night on Tuesday, just for a change, and we all confronted him, in a very game nightish way, (I.E. we all put on our best 50's Chicago gangster accent and asked him what the holdup was) he said he had hit writers block, and that he was spawning two skeleton patrols and a pair of hell-hounds.

so, for all the DM's in the playground, how can I give my DM inspiration.

thanking you all in advance for your help:smallbiggrin:


Give him the space he needs to write. Encourage him about how much you like him as a friend AND a DM and not how much you just like his one campaign. If he feels good about himself as both a friend and writer you'll find he opens up and writes more freely.

If you pressure him, you'll litterally kill all the fun of the game for him. He won't write well (when he even bothers to write at all) and what often look like small issues will become large ones (retiring characters, players dropping out, etc). Essentially you can compound these issues by pressuring him, which will make it that much more difficult to start up a campaign.

I recommend asking him to run something simple... just a one shot or two... maybe even try a different system. I've found that when I just can't be bothered to give a **** about my campaign world that attempting to run things in other settings often helps my creativity, and ultimately makes me want to go back to writing up new and interesting locations and settings.

So yeah: Express your like of him as a friend and a game master/writer
Don't pressure him
Try other things out.

Writing up even a small campaign setting can be a chore, so don't make it harder on him because then he may very well come to view it as such. ^_^