Your DMing Structure and Favorite Things to Use

[Puh Laden]

Are you a world-first DM, PC-first DM, or story-first DM? What settings do you usually use? What are your favorite things to do for adventures?

When I first DM'd I was world-first, I mean I wanted to create a world for the PCs to explore and be immersed in, so that secrets they found could feel genuine. However, when I switched to 5e and actually started using books instead of SRDs, I found I liked the vague lore of the monsters, and I loved the idea of building things off of the PCs backgrounds. So I started basing my hooks off of my PCs backgrounds I wanted to have fun with, and without worrying about what the shape of the country or region was. Though right now my campaign is actually story-first where the campaign has a clear end condition and I told the players to make characters to the assumed objective of the party.

Either way I would still only plan the details of adventures one or two sessions in advance. Often my goal for an adventure is for it to be two to three sessions, since I have a somewhat short attention span and have lots of adventure ideas.

As for kinds of settings, I've done magitek where elevators were powered by tiny octopi genetically modified to cast mage hand, Ravenloft, semi-silly fantasy where the world is made of various medievelish kingdoms but magic is common, and somewhat serious low-fantasy where magic is more extraordinary.

As for adventures, I like strong unified monster groups: the feywild, mind flayers, drow, goblins. I like adventures to highlight what makes a monster different and special.

[CaptainSarathai]

I run a Session Zero, so I present the players with a setting, and then they can fit their back story to that. If they want to do something that I didn't account for, I can add it in if it fits. We can discuss it together at the table, why it is or is not possible, and if there are any alternatives that we can agree on. I'm not in the business of saying "no," but that doesn't mean that I gave to accommodate every little whim.

So I typically have the setting, and a rough map, then fit the story around the PCs created within that setting.

I typically run homebrew campaign settings, but base them on either a real-life situation or an existing setting, so be that I can more easily explain things to the PCs. I don't need to explain a complex government feudal caste system with a religious figurehead and military dictator if I can just say,
"Hey, this is feudal Japan, but with XYZ changes, which make it like Eberron. So, Japanese arcana-punk."
That's what I'm doing right now with my "Adventures in Avalon" campaign - it's Arthur's Britain, but with a few changes to give it a unique spin. It was very easy to describe to the players.

For adventures, I also like unified "factions" of monsters. A lot of my enemies are usually other, playable races; much like reality. Our greatest heroes didn't fight bears and dinosaurs, they fought other humans. So my campaigns usually do this as well.
I'm also not much of a Dungeons DM (I like dragons, though). I prefer my battles to take place above ground, and more of a military, wartime vibe. Very much like 'The Lord of the Rings' - more sieges and skirmishes than dungeon delves, although we might occasionally venture below ground to plunder a tomb or sneak into city through the sewers.

My dream is to one day build a whole setting with my friends, from scratch, and then play in it for several years, so that our characters become woven into the history of the world and we all share this huge, mutual collection of lore. The way Gygax first imagined Greyhawk.

[MrStabby]

I am probably story first. I want a rough chain of events (in the past) and current situation that will draw the players in and provide them with an incentive to act. Next is the players - give them the freedom to play what they want - explore if it is the mechanical aspect or the fluff aspect that appeals to them. Finally bend the world to fit the first two - it must be a world where the character concepts exist and are balanced (so if there are casters in the party magic must be common enough that people know how to fight magic) and it must be a world where the plot is plausible.

For setting I have become a big fan of an overriding aesthetic. I think it ties things together nicely and helps people visualise the culture. I did too much of "a bit of everything" type worlds which felt watered down.

[Puh Laden]

I am probably story first. I want a rough chain of events (in the past) and current situation that will draw the players in and provide them with an incentive to act. Next is the players - give them the freedom to play what they want - explore if it is the mechanical aspect or the fluff aspect that appeals to them. Finally bend the world to fit the first two - it must be a world where the character concepts exist and are balanced (so if there are casters in the party magic must be common enough that people know how to fight magic) and it must be a world where the plot is plausible.

For setting I have become a big fan of an overriding aesthetic. I think it ties things together nicely and helps people visualise the culture. I did too much of "a bit of everything" type worlds which felt watered down.

Interesting. Can you give an example of what you mean by an "overiding aesthetic"? Do you mean like horror, steampunk, war, or intrigue? Or forest, city, underdark? Or medieval Europe, feudal Japan, or steampunk?

[Dudewithknives]

I very rarely use monsters in fights, I make tons of npcs as villains or encounters, the only time I use monsters is as grunts for npcs or if they are intelligent enough to be an npc.

I tend to be more city based or intrigue than dungeon crawl.

[Sigreid]

I'm a sandbox DM. I give them some information about what is going on in the world, maybe a few hooks aimed directly at them and then see where that takes us.

[MrStabby]

Interesting. Can you give an example of what you mean by an "overiding aesthetic"? Do you mean like horror, steampunk, war, or intrigue? Or forest, city, underdark? Or medieval Europe, feudal Japan, or steampunk?

Pretty much most of the options you describe would work for this.

At the moment I am going for ancient assyria style - lammasu, big beards, lots of desert, sand sorcery is a thing, magnificent stone monuments... That kind of thing.

[Waterdeep Merch]

I'm more focused on synergy, but I'd say tentatively 'player first'. I try to make a campaign world and a story that appeals to my players, interacts with them, can change according to their actions, and is ruthlessly designed at every level to murder them all.