Volos
2013-10-20, 10:56 AM
Depth, it is what makes the difference between a game of D&D/Pathfinder and a campaign your players will never forget. It makes or breaks the scene you've been waiting to use since your players first met the BBEG. Without it, your campaign might as well be a series of fights with some sad excuse to walk from one to the next.
As a Dungeon Master I find it difficult to come up with depth on the fly. If I set aside adequate time to prepare for my campaign session, the little details are easier to come up with. But when I have less time to get ready or when my players leave the beaten path, the depth falls to the wayside. Sometimes I'm rushing to get to the next scene and I completely forget to consider the little things like weather, small roleplaying encounters, and scenery.
Playground, this is where you come in. I would like to create a helpful little guide or pdf that helps an unprepared or rushed DM with creating depth for their campaign on the fly. I was thinking it could be a series of steps that remind one to consider certain things when the PCs travel or enter a new location, but I need help coming up with ideas. If you know of a something similar to what I'm trying to make then please feel free to direct me to it. Any help would be appreciated.
An example of what I was thinking of could be as follows.
Step 1) Travel (or Point A to B)
Whether your PCs are walking from the Inn to the Market or riding horseback from the City to the Dungeon, they are traveling. The first thing you should do is determine the distance they are traveling and the rate at which they are traveling. (Insert table of distance, base speed, and time traveled) Help your players to imagine the scene by describing what is going on around them as they travel. If passing through a busy town square, describe the noise of the crowd. While traveling down the road describe the picturesque farmlands or sea of plain grasses. (Insert list of general details for traveling through different regions; city, village, forest, desert, wastelands, plains, mountains, sea, river, ect.) Don't forget the weather, even describing a calm sunny day can allow the players to 'feel' the scene. Remembering to tell them of the nice sunny days can make the sudden thunderstorms all the more dramatic.
Step 2) Encounters
Based on how far your PCs travel and how populated the area is, either with people or monsters, there should be a minimum number of encounters they should have as well as maximum. In a small village there may not be many people, but the presence of strangers would draw much attention. Traveling off the beaten path in the depths of an uncharted wood may run the PCs afoul of a pack of beasts or the remains of a monster's meal. Take the following table as a guideline, adjust as necessary for your campaign. (insert table or tables of distance traveled with minimum and maximum encounters based on region and population) If your PCs are famous or infamous adjust as needed, a well known hero may be plagued by adoring fans and an infamous adventurer may run afoul a mob or be avoided altogether.
As a Dungeon Master I find it difficult to come up with depth on the fly. If I set aside adequate time to prepare for my campaign session, the little details are easier to come up with. But when I have less time to get ready or when my players leave the beaten path, the depth falls to the wayside. Sometimes I'm rushing to get to the next scene and I completely forget to consider the little things like weather, small roleplaying encounters, and scenery.
Playground, this is where you come in. I would like to create a helpful little guide or pdf that helps an unprepared or rushed DM with creating depth for their campaign on the fly. I was thinking it could be a series of steps that remind one to consider certain things when the PCs travel or enter a new location, but I need help coming up with ideas. If you know of a something similar to what I'm trying to make then please feel free to direct me to it. Any help would be appreciated.
An example of what I was thinking of could be as follows.
Step 1) Travel (or Point A to B)
Whether your PCs are walking from the Inn to the Market or riding horseback from the City to the Dungeon, they are traveling. The first thing you should do is determine the distance they are traveling and the rate at which they are traveling. (Insert table of distance, base speed, and time traveled) Help your players to imagine the scene by describing what is going on around them as they travel. If passing through a busy town square, describe the noise of the crowd. While traveling down the road describe the picturesque farmlands or sea of plain grasses. (Insert list of general details for traveling through different regions; city, village, forest, desert, wastelands, plains, mountains, sea, river, ect.) Don't forget the weather, even describing a calm sunny day can allow the players to 'feel' the scene. Remembering to tell them of the nice sunny days can make the sudden thunderstorms all the more dramatic.
Step 2) Encounters
Based on how far your PCs travel and how populated the area is, either with people or monsters, there should be a minimum number of encounters they should have as well as maximum. In a small village there may not be many people, but the presence of strangers would draw much attention. Traveling off the beaten path in the depths of an uncharted wood may run the PCs afoul of a pack of beasts or the remains of a monster's meal. Take the following table as a guideline, adjust as necessary for your campaign. (insert table or tables of distance traveled with minimum and maximum encounters based on region and population) If your PCs are famous or infamous adjust as needed, a well known hero may be plagued by adoring fans and an infamous adventurer may run afoul a mob or be avoided altogether.