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View Full Version : I've DM'd the same game for 1 year, any questions?



AmbientRaven
2015-10-22, 09:14 PM
Hi Folks,

I've been running a D&D 5e game for a year now (well, 1 year as of this coming Mondays session) with mostly the same player base.
One of my players had a bunch of questions for me from a GM's perspective. He gave me the idea to post here, see if any one had questions about a year of the same game (283 hours played in the one campaign (3.5-6 hour sessions every week). Not including time spent working on the game)

Thanks,
Nikki

shadow_archmagi
2015-10-23, 09:25 AM
How do you structure your games? Do you run modules? If not, have they been working on the same long-term goal for a year, or do they have little seasonal arcs that only somewhat tie together? How do you avoid burnout? Do you have an ending in mind for the campaign, or are you just going to keep going indefinitely? How much does your party get done each session? How many PC deaths have you had? How many of those PCs were revived versus players rerolling?

Are you using normal levelup structure? If so, how many times does the party level up in a year? (One of my gripes with RPGs is that the game always seems designed for a way, way longer playtime than I ever see. I've been in two games that lasted about a year now, and both of them started at low-mid and ended at high-mid. I think one went from 7 to 14 and the other from 5 to 10 or so. I have never seen an 8th level spell cast ingame.)



HOW DO YOU GENERATE NAMES FOR NPCS AND PLACES BECAUSE WOW I HAVE BEEN DMING FOR TEN YEARS AND IT IS A NIGHTMARE EVERY TIME. My last game I just gave up and did two-word combinations. "Welcome to Northdwarf! Did you have a safe trip from Tidewater? I hear there are a lot of pirates from Greywall around this time of year."

LudicSavant
2015-10-23, 09:38 AM
HOW DO YOU GENERATE NAMES FOR NPCS AND PLACES BECAUSE WOW I HAVE BEEN DMING FOR TEN YEARS AND IT IS A NIGHTMARE EVERY TIME. My last game I just gave up and did two-word combinations. "Welcome to Northdwarf! Did you have a safe trip from Tidewater? I hear there are a lot of pirates from Greywall around this time of year."

I write down names I think of on a list of names. It is now a 40 page google doc. Builds up over time I guess.

snowman87
2015-10-23, 11:50 AM
Have your players had fun playing the same characters for so long or did they get bored being just the one class/multiclass? Were they any that became particularly less impressive than the others as they scaled?

AmbientRaven
2015-10-24, 03:11 AM
How do you structure your games? Do you run modules? If not, have they been working on the same long-term goal for a year, or do they have little seasonal arcs that only somewhat tie together? How do you avoid burnout? Do you have an ending in mind for the campaign, or are you just going to keep going indefinitely? How much does your party get done each session? How many PC deaths have you had? How many of those PCs were revived versus players rerolling?

Are you using normal levelup structure? If so, how many times does the party level up in a year? (One of my gripes with RPGs is that the game always seems designed for a way, way longer playtime than I ever see. I've been in two games that lasted about a year now, and both of them started at low-mid and ended at high-mid. I think one went from 7 to 14 and the other from 5 to 10 or so. I have never seen an 8th level spell cast ingame.)



HOW DO YOU GENERATE NAMES FOR NPCS AND PLACES BECAUSE WOW I HAVE BEEN DMING FOR TEN YEARS AND IT IS A NIGHTMARE EVERY TIME. My last game I just gave up and did two-word combinations. "Welcome to Northdwarf! Did you have a safe trip from Tidewater? I hear there are a lot of pirates from Greywall around this time of year."

How do you structure your games?
I design a plot hook or quest initiative. The party then decides how they execute this. My structure is more guidelines, as I hate Railroading PC’s. Some quest arcs only take one session, some take 3-5, and others are long term things. All are interwoven though into the gran plot line.

Do you run modules?
100% my own stuff 

If not, have they been working on the same long-term goal for a year, or do they have little seasonal arcs that only somewhat tie together?
I have had one over-arching storyline happening. It started as small events, un-related quests, then they have slowly tied together, the party is only really half way to the objective. But they are beginning to see a lot of threads pull together.

How do you avoid burnout?
I have an amazing group of players. I also have several quest lines in mind and dot pointed weeks in advance. If I am feeling burnt out on writing, I fall bac to one of those.

Do you have an ending in mind for the campaign, or are you just going to keep going indefinitely?
I have a clear cut ending in mind. But deigned so it won’t come about until they are al around 17-18th level.

How much does your party get done each session?
Some sessions…..lots, some? Nothing at all. Every session is fun though! Some sessions are purely RP.
How many PC deaths have you had? How many of those PCs were revived versus players rerolling?
3 deaths, 0 revivals. I don’t have ressing in my games besides wish.
5 times a character has “retired” though. Players got bored of the character or they didn’t fit the setting.
Are you using normal levelup structure?
Custom level up structure. In 1 year Players have hit 12th level. This has slowed down as some sessions are just RP (which I reward XP with). The level ups haven’t seemed slow according to the payers, though sometimes they do story arcs with not as much xp as others, sometimes they gain huge amounts for skipping ahead.

HOW DO YOU GENERATE NAMES FOR NPCS AND PLACES BECAUSE WOW I HAVE BEEN DMING FOR TEN YEARS AND IT IS A NIGHTMARE EVERY TIME

NPC’s: baby name generators, “most popular name of X year” lists, dwarf name generators, elven/gnomish/ect. Genertors. I find two random words, then translate them into a random language on google translate (One NPC is called “Generic Person” in a Swahili (mtu kurefusha maisha). Town names i spin a world globe point to a place. Google maps it and look for town names there that sound right for a forgotten realms setting.

hope this helps!




Have your players had fun playing the same characters for so long or did they get bored being just the one class/multiclass? Were they any that became particularly less impressive than the others as they scaled?

Most players have been fine with their characters, as if they start to get bored (mostly pure martial classes) they took dips to add more utility. We have had 2 players change 5 times though, but i try to not have people re-roll often as it ruins consitency.

Warlocks. Warlocks don't scale very well. They basically are Elderitch blast monkeys

snowman87
2015-10-24, 07:46 AM
What is your campaign about? I like the great, big, epic stories. I haven't gotten to play one myself yet. I only started this whole thing earlier this year and so far my group has campaign ADHD, wanting to switch after about a month of playing.

Any recommendations for someone planning their own epic story campaign? I had a few ideas for Eberron but I've gotten burned out on that setting due to the afore-mentioned group.

Velaryon
2015-10-24, 05:16 PM
I write down names I think of on a list of names. It is now a 40 page google doc. Builds up over time I guess.

Would you be willing to make that viewable by others? I also sometimes have difficulty coming up with names.



Warlocks. Warlocks don't scale very well. They basically are Elderitch blast monkeys

I found that to be my own experience in 3.5, unless they took one of a limited pool of prestige classes to offset the problem. I've yet to see them in action in 5th edition, but I'm disappointed to hear that the problem persists.


Anyway, your DMing preferences run very similar to mine, though you seem to be able to plan and run games a lot more consistently than I. I know some players who probably wish they could join your game. :smallwink:

On that note, my own questions:

1. How much time do you spend preparing in advance of each gaming session? When do you do this preparation?

2. How do you handle schedule conflicts, such as players needing to miss because of work, family things, etc.? What if one player can't make it regularly for an extended period of time, like a month or two?

3. Have you had any issues with new players wanting to join the game or older players wanting or having to drop out?

I'm sure I'll have more questions later, and probably followups to these as well.