PDA

View Full Version : How to Make Your Campaign Appealing



Pyromancer999
2014-08-24, 10:12 PM
It's a new semester at my university. It means classes start again, but also means the start of new year-long campaigns at my university's geek club. However, this year has a problem that previous years haven't. In previous years, people had trouble getting into games, as there were so few games of anything going on. However, this year brings along a lot of new people eager to run games of their own. And as opposed to previous years, in this case it looks like there will not be enough players for each game, meaning some will be cut.

This year, I was hoping to run a 3.P(a D&D 3.5 game with Pathfinder material allowed and some Pathfinder mechanics transferred) campaign, with the overall world being based on Grimm Fairy Tales. I think this is a pretty cool campaign premise myself, and has a lot more behind it than a lot of my other games. However, just as important as the campaign setting is the GM/DM.

I will not be the sole person trying to run a Pathfinder or D&D type game. There is one person who regularly runs at least two Pathfinder games per year, and is quite beloved by all in the club as both a person and even more so as GM. A second is newer to the club, but has run games this past year to resounding applause and is likely to fill up his two games that he's running.

And then you have me. Not quite beloved by the club(I've been informed by friends(who have all let me know they will not be playing in my games this year) that it would seem the club has had quite a few members that don't like me, for various reasons, and the rest being neutral towards me). As a DM, apparently my games have been enjoyable enough, but nothing to rave about unlike literally all other campaigns run in the club, regardless of systems used for those.

That said, I'd really like to run this game, and for that, I need players, which can only be found in said club. So how do I attract players for my game? Is there anything people have done themselves that seems to have worked to lure players into a game?

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give.

DontEatRawHagis
2014-08-24, 10:43 PM
Get feedback from your players. I usually end each session asking them what hooks interested them and other stuff.

Get a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Also look at your player group. Who likes your games? Are they the types of players who like free form RP sessions or more combat min/maxers?

I find that sometimes I need to step away from the DM screen from time to time. Also I will run one shot games to recharge my imagination.

I tend to use Paranoia as a way of playing around with crazy ideas. For instance, a triple reverse objective. 2 players given an incomplete objective written down. One believes it means one thing the other another. All clues point to both interpretations to being true. What the players don't know is that there is another group with the other interpretation of said mission. In the end, after much he's scratching and dead bodies, it is revealed the players did the wrong mission objective.

HammeredWharf
2014-08-25, 12:53 AM
You could start by differentiating your game from the others. Take a look at the systems they use, the level ranges they have and other features and make something different. Character creation is a pretty big thing for many D&D players, so using different rules for it ("everything allowed" vs. "only some books allowed", for example) can attract some players. It's a bit harder to pull off with so many games going on, though. The downside is that you can end up with an epic-level game in the Gothic Earth setting with everything allowed. In other words, the game can turn into a mess. Speaking of Gothic Earth, I'd recommend Masque of the Red Death for a Grimm-themed D&D game.

Other than that, I think having good social skills/connections is the most important part of being a good DM, so you could work on that. For example, you could play in one of the popular games and show them how awesome you are. Additionally, players who have played in your campaigns and liked the other guys' campaigns more are more likely to play in those other campaigns. So, you could try focusing on the new guys who don't know you yet.

ElenionAncalima
2014-08-25, 08:03 AM
Definitley get feedback.

However, sometimes it can be tough to get honest criticisms from your players, so perhaps in addition to asking what they didn't like in your game, ask what they liked about the other games. Not only can this give you general ideas on how to improve, it might also allow players to imply problems they have with your game without them holding back out of fear of offending you.

In addition to that, I would suggest trying to play with one of these popular DMs...then take note of how the players at the table are responding. When do they get excited? What was the DM doing to achieve that?

Pyromancer999
2014-08-25, 02:01 PM
You could start by differentiating your game from the others. Take a look at the systems they use, the level ranges they have and other features and make something different. Character creation is a pretty big thing for many D&D players, so using different rules for it ("everything allowed" vs. "only some books allowed", for example) can attract some players. It's a bit harder to pull off with so many games going on, though. The downside is that you can end up with an epic-level game in the Gothic Earth setting with everything allowed. In other words, the game can turn into a mess. Speaking of Gothic Earth, I'd recommend Masque of the Red Death for a Grimm-themed D&D game.


My personal policy is if it isn't Dragon material from 3.5, it's a go, although Dragon Compendium is allowed. Also, Masque of the Red Death looks like an excellent source of inspiration. Thank you for the recommendation!


Definitley get feedback.

However, sometimes it can be tough to get honest criticisms from your players, so perhaps in addition to asking what they didn't like in your game, ask what they liked about the other games. Not only can this give you general ideas on how to improve, it might also allow players to imply problems they have with your game without them holding back out of fear of offending you.


I have gotten feedback from my players. The general consensus is this:

-I do not offer enough fighting encounters, and focus too much on having a plot(on the other hand, when I increase the number of encounters, I get complaints of not focusing on the story enough).

-Best part is the chance to shine I give each and every player over the course of the campaign. One of my friends in the group I ran last year liked it when his character got killed by a vampire then resurrected as one of the undead and came after the party(I let him remain in control for that session, and he loved it).

-My storylines are just not interesting at all(they prefer more traditional fantasy plots of the more popular DMs).

-The other games are just better and more fun(???)(Will not go into further detail).

Also, it may be worth noting that except for running a game for my friends last year after a little begging on some parts, all of my other games have been made up of newbies to the club(including my freshman year).





In addition to that, I would suggest trying to play with one of these popular DMs...then take note of how the players at the table are responding. When do they get excited? What was the DM doing to achieve that?



Other than that, I think having good social skills/connections is the most important part of being a good DM, so you could work on that. For example, you could play in one of the popular games and show them how awesome you are. Additionally, players who have played in your campaigns and liked the other guys' campaigns more are more likely to play in those other campaigns. So, you could try focusing on the new guys who don't know you yet.

I have not played with the Pathfinder GM, but I have not had the privilege to play with him, as he does only select players he likes. However, all of my other friends save a couple have played with him, and it would appear he simply runs Pathfinder modules and reads the text verbatim as described(although will explain things as needed to new players, which is something I do as well).

I have played with the popular D&D DM, and while I can see that the other people in the group enjoyed themselves, I was unfortunately distracted by my having a miserable time.


When the popular GM announced a new campaign that sounded cool(where the party roamed through an apocalyptic wasteland, each being an aspect of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse). I was literally the first person to pounce on this, and asked him if I could play. He said he expected to have to chose from a list of players, but would guarantee my admittance to his game since I asked first, as he does all his games. He also let me pick my horseman(DEATH).

He set 3 important rules for character creation:

-You will roll 3d6 and take the sum. Do this six times, and assign values to your scores.

-Spells will have a high chance to not work properly, but if you want to play a magic character, fine.

-Optimize minimally, just enough to be competent. We're here to have fun, not to overshadow all the other members of the party.

I decided to go for a swordsage, despite my deep-seated love of casters(only played a few times before, but always played sorcerer) and declared my intention as such.

A few days before the game began, it turned out that he gave the horseman title I claimed to one of his fellow freshman.

Game begins. Freshman who got the title I'd originally claimed shows up with a Fighter 1/Swordsage 1(we started at level 2) that was as optimized as can be at that level. Another player shows up with a wizard. We get through the intro, and start the game. I begin by crit failing to climb a tree. This is followed by combat with dinosaurs that weren't dinosaurs but also were dinosaurs(he didn't bother to explain further). I fail many of my attack rolls(crit-failing twice in a row even, although manage to hit for my only successful roll on a 15 while other swordsage proceeds to continually hit on rolls of as low as 9, despite my having the higher Strength score), while wizard proceeds to
blast and otherwise sling spells with no consequence, with the DM not even rolling a chance of anything going wrong whenever a spell was cast.

While my rolls being terrible was an extremely unfortunate thing, I hated how he handled them. When I DM, if a player crit-fails anything, I simply say they swing and miss, with some small embellishment. When I played with this DM, he described each of my failures in detail, to the point where I accepted the shaming would occur and just wished he would get on with the game, as he extended his description each time I crit-failed or even simply failed, possibly in hopes of drawing even more laughter from the rest of the group. I did think this was simply his way of describing things, but this notion was given a short life by two other players failing a couple attack rolls and saves, with him simply saying a sentence or two describing the failure then getting on with the game.

Needless to say, I did not enjoy it. I discussed my displeasure with it after the game, saying that while the intricate description may be funny for the other players, it really was not fun at all for me. He simply brushed it off, saying that was just how he ran things. Perhaps foolishly, I pointed out that he did not do the same for the other players' failures, just mine. He then just went and berated me for not being a team player and trying to win the game, going on to explain that gaming was for fun, and not about winning. I said that while I did dislike failing all my rolls, my issue was with how he handled it, so could he please stop. He then repeated, albeit with some different wording, what he had just said. Finally, I just asked if, seriously, could he just lay off me when I crit-fail, as it was fine to describe the failure, just not as long and detailed as he did it, as I also don't like to be laughed at all the time. He said in no uncertain terms he would not, and I decided to quit the game, and told him so, after which he proceeded to alternatively beg me to stay because the campaign would have to restart otherwise and berate me the same as before whenever I mentioned I would stay if he just kept his descriptions briefer for failures and not milk them for laughs. Eventually, he let go, and thankfully, no lasting bad feelings came out of it.



For anyone who did not read the above, let it suffice to say I feel I have nothing to take from that particular DM, despite his popularity.

Anxe
2014-08-25, 02:32 PM
Everything you've said makes me think the club members don't like you for some reason besides your DMing ability. You said people don't like you for a variety of reasons, you have trouble getting into games, and that the DM made fun of you specifically.

If we could get more information on why people there don't like you in the first place that would be helpful. Without it... I'm not sure how much we can help. This seems way more like a personal problem to me than a gaming problem.

Pyromancer999
2014-08-25, 03:15 PM
Everything you've said makes me think the club members don't like you for some reason besides your DMing ability. You said people don't like you for a variety of reasons, you have trouble getting into games, and that the DM made fun of you specifically.

If we could get more information on why people there don't like you in the first place that would be helpful. Without it... I'm not sure how much we can help. This seems way more like a personal problem to me than a gaming problem.

Well, a lot of the club is more outgoing geeks. Also, they tend to not be fond of awkward shy people(like me), which does seem odd for geeks(it is worth noting that awkward but more extroverted people make up a good portion of the upper echelons of the club), but is the case nevertheless, near from the moment I joined. Nevertheless, the more neutral people that aren't on top of the social hierarchy are fine, and also are more my target in this case, and it's also them I have the best chance of recruiting. I'd probably have better chances recruiting outside of the club to be honest, if this club wasn't sort of the watering hole for non-Anime club geeks(who I have also tried to DM for and failed due to them deciding they wanted to do the campaign with someone they knew better after putting me through 4 hours of character creation).

It may also be worth noting that I have been more shy to try to get into games since my freshman year, where I was ditched in the cold for a half hour after a more senior member said it was fine he could join my game, because he gave me the wrong directions as to where to be picked up, then proceeded to do the game anyway after giving me an excuse(found out after texting a friend in the game asking if he wanted to hang out since the guy told me the game was canceled). That stellar man became the club president the following year. After that and also being ditched for another game(asked the time and place of the game, both in text and in person, but received no responses), haven't been as proactive in joining other games.

EccentricCircle
2014-08-25, 03:53 PM
I my experience of such clubs the "networking" can be just as important as a compelling pitch.
Frequently the games that run when there is limited space are the ones who had assured players from the start. Often when a GM pitches a game they have already planed some it it with at least one or two players and so have a built in audience. Often people who have been in the same group for a few previous games and want to stick together regardless of what the game is actually about.

My advice would be to discuss it with your friends before hand and try to get a couple of people on board and then really go all out talking to the new people just joining the club. If you can have an elevator pitch, a couple of sentences about what your game is and why they should care about it ready, then as you are getting to know them you can chat about past present and future games. Find out what they've been playing, what characters they'd like to try out and say Yes as much as possible if they ask whether their idea would fit in your game.

They will be trying to make friends in a strange new society, so if you are one of the people who they've just been chatting to they may feel more comfortable playing in your game than if you're the person who's just stepped forward from a corner and pitched something. What's ideal is if you can volunteer to run a trial game to introduce new people to the club. that way when the longer games are pitched you are already a familiar face and a known quantity.

Finally write a good pitch. You can have the best idea in the world but you have to sell it. Ideally commit the details of what you want to say to memory before you stand up, so that you're not reading from a piece of paper, then make a clear, concise presentation stressing what's good about your game and why you think they should care. The most players i've ever gotten for a game was when I stood up and told them that "half of you will be agents of the inquisition, using your two main weapons of fear, surprise and ruthless efficiency to track down rogue mages, the rest of you will be the rogue mages they're meant to be arresting."
It's an unusual and intriguing premise, summed up simply and with a monty python reference in there for good measure. Good presentation skill takes a lot of practice, but luckly GMing games is great practice for your presentation skills.

Segev
2014-08-26, 03:06 PM
Do you mind if we ask which school you go to?

I was prominent in the anime club and active in the gaming club at UMR/MST for years, before I finally graduated for the last time and moved on. I only really know those cultures, though, and every school's and every club's cultures are a little different.

That you still want to try working with and playing with these groups speaks well for your intentions. You might want to find your most trusted friend who is in this group and ask him, privately, for a brutally honest appraisal of what he thinks others' opinions are of you and why. It won't be pleasant, if he is able to give an accurate picture, but it could help you identify if there are any particular behaviors you have (not interests or beliefs; but behaviors) which you could work to curb. Or if there's something you DO NOT do that would help you fit in (provided, of course, again, it's not against some personal ethic or moral).

It wasn't until my Sophomore year in college that I stopped being The Unpopular Kid, and while some of it was the other kids growing up around me, I did drop a lot of my more off-putting defense mechanism behaviors.


I know there's at least one person who still is gaming with the RGA (Rolla Gaming Association) who is...off-putting...to many. I could list why, but it wouldn't be kind to do so here. However, it's not that he's shy; it's that he doesn't have a good feel for the room, and doesn't know how to take a hint.

I know "can't take a hint" is often used in fiction as code for the mean in-crowd being cruel and "subtle" and still not managing to drive off the poor innocent geek. But in this context, I mean this person doesn't know when what he's doing is making people increasingly uncomfortable, and sometimes won't stop even when he's blatantly informed that his behavior is awkward for everybody else.

I don't know that you're like that. But that is the kind of thing that gets people ostracized at the geek clubs at UMR. ...or "MS&T," as it's sadly now called. Note that only one to three people I can think of have ever managed to become "that guy" in these clubs, to my knowledge, during my 11 years there.


I say all of this not to criticize nor tell you that I know what you're doing wrong, but because I suspect something like that might be going on. It may behoove you to play in a game or two this semester, and concentrate hard on making friends and being pleasant to be around. It won't be easy if you're shy, but watch carefully for how others are reacting to your behavior. It may be awkward, but if you're aware that people don't like you, you might ask one of those who doesn't why. Preferably one who gets along with somebody you get along with, so you know you're not asking somebody who's just a jerk to everybody.

Modifying your behavior, and particularly learning what behavior(s) of yours do cause people to become uncomfortable and wish to avoid you, will likely be a useful life skill. I don't know if you're insensitive to these kinds of signs; I haven't met you in person (or, if I have, I don't know it by your screen name). But you likely aren't aware you are, either, IF you are. So get a friend or two who do like you and ask them if they'll help you by pulling you aside and TELLING you if/when you're doing something that makes others uncomfortable. Get them to point out to you what the signs are. And LISTEN to them. That's going to be hard. Nobody likes to be criticized. I know I don't. This is going to take trust, and it's going to hurt, so make sure you get a good friend who does care for you and will honestly try to help.


I hope this helps. I'm sorry if it doesn't.