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HidesHisEyes
2017-08-04, 04:50 AM
I'm interested in hearing about HOW other people DM (or GM or storytell or direct or whatever word your system of choice uses). Both the designing scenarios side and the sitting at the table running the game side, both little tricks and tools and overall approach.

I generally start by making a mind map (or three) to figure out the background of an adventure, then another one that's more like a flow chart showing a progression of scenes that I expect the players to go through.

However, I'm becoming a bit dissatisfied with this slightly slapdash approach as I feel like I'm often railroading the players. I'm not a big fan of the total sandbox game where you just plonk them down and ask them what direction they walk in, but I do feel that what I design should be a scenario rather than a series of planned scenes. When designing an adventure I always seem to fall into the mindset of thinking about what the players will DO in a given scene and trying to plan for it. For the (single session) adventure I'm currently planning I'm trying to instead design and populate an environment as if the player characters don't exist. So I will make a mindmap showing different "areas" and the relationships between them, and then write notes on each area - the geography and features of the area but more importantly who resides there and most importantly what they WANT. This way when the players turn up in an area I can hopefully figure out what happens right there at the table based on what I know, rather than trying to predict in advance how it will go. I think I will also need to start keeping track of in-game time, something I've never bothered with, so I can have certain events that happen at certain times as long as the PCs don't interfere.

My inspiration comes from these excellent article on the Alexandrian: http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/7949/roleplaying-games/node-based-scenario-design-part-1-the-plotted-approach

The Cats
2017-08-04, 08:35 AM
I like sandboxish style. I'll create an location/area/region/whatever scale you're working on with a flow chart of events: These things happen in this place at this time, whether the PCs are there to stop/help it or not. Then I'll do a mind map of possible quests the area offers and NPCs, information, challenges, etc each quest would present.

So pretty similar.

Usually the first session, and any between-quests sessions take a lot of prep but once I see what the players are heading towards I can focus on that storyline.

At the table I like the to be descriptive with locations enough where the players don't assume every little thing I mention has relevance, dramatic enough with NPCs (voices, movement) that the players are entertained, and cinematic enough in combat that it doesn't just feel like rolling dice.

NOhara24
2017-08-04, 08:49 AM
I have a series of questions that I like to answer while I'm planning a session that i've turned into a template with sections that I fill out:

On Approach: (What players see when they're approaching their destination, be it a town or whatever else.)
Music: To set the mood.
The Problem: What players are trying to solve during the session
Objectives: steps to take to solve the problem
General Knowledge in Town: Things the tavernmaster would tell them if they asked about local gossip.
Set Pieces: Dramatic things, think a cutscene in an RPG
Props: Physical objects I need to make to hand to my players
Combat: if there is to be any

Enemy Name:

AC/DR:

HP:

Attack:

Full Attack:

Saves:

Movement:

XP:

Book and page number, if applicable:

Notable Events: Things I as the DM need to keep track of for sessions in the future.

Twizzly513
2017-08-04, 08:52 AM
As far as planning ahead goes, I never write down much. I will occasionally do short descriptions, but never more than a few sentences, lest the players lose interest in what I'm saying. I find that players often find their own way to do things that is not my way, and when I have a lot written down, one of two things happens: 1) I have to scrap it all because none of it applies anymore; 2) I have to railroad the PCs into my way to keep the story on track.

So in the end I just started making loose "main events" that went together in a storyline, with a lot of improvisation in between. I do have methods to my improvisation though. For instance, I always keep a note card of names around so that if the party talks to anyone I haven't named, I can give them a name that fits the setting instantly. Almost like I knew they'd talk to this guard. With this approach, the PCs can pursue whatever they'd like to, and I'd like to think I don't railroad them into anything. It's my job to compel their characters to my plot, after all.

Joe the Rat
2017-08-04, 10:50 AM
What works best for me is the Supervillain approach.

I have a plan for how things will play out in the world - loosely, which Baron/tribe/hobgoblin banner/immortal priest-king/dragon gets up to what, where, and when. My ultimate scheme, which uninterrupted will end in me taking over the world! Muahahahaha! everything going to hell. Or some other group of heroic champions saving the day, because nothing pissess off a team of heroes like having a different team of heroes get the cool artifacts.

The PCs are the monkeywrench (or spanner) in the works. We hear about rails, and plots, and how no matter what, players will find a way to break your plans. So make that a feature. Make "PCs fail" the default state, then figure out what happens if they succeed in different areas. Then as they gain notoriety, start having the various Agents try to include the party in their plans. preparations, precautions, backups, or even using them to achieve goals.

LaserFace
2017-08-04, 11:48 AM
My approach can be summed up like this:

Explain to the group they're in a place, and what their current situation is like: are they low on money, supplies, do people hate them, is it a nice day, etc.

Give the players some hooks, whether in the form of rumors floating around taverns, or royal decrees announced in the public square, or something else to draw their interest. I have introductory sessions ready for each hook available, where PCs can learn more about what to expect and even begin adventuring on a given path.

The group decides what aligns best with their goals, and pursue what interests them most. I use what intro material I have available; this might involve meeting important NPCs, investigating sparse bits of lore in a library, gearing up for a long and perilous journey, or even just start marching out into the wilderness.

Prep for the next session involves further detailing of what the PCs might encounter along the way, as well as what any confrontations might look like. Maybe set up a cool "scene" or two, with geography and terrain details. But, they're free to solve things however they please.

In this case, preparing between sessions with a clear goal in mind for each individual session allows a level of detailed refinement without having to guess whether or not it is likely to come up. Maybe not everything gets used, but if at the end of a session the party is set out along a path, it is unlikely that we begin the next one with them immediately turning around and doing something completely different.

An example:

While resting at the inn, one PC overhears a story about a Magic Turtle who sleeps in The Deep Lake at the heart of the Phantom Forest. The Turtle will offer a blessing of nature upon whoever answers his riddle. For some reason, the party thinks this is interesting.

That same session, they try to learn more about the history of the rumor, and any clues they might find about it or the threats that might pop up along the way. They hear tales of how, long ago, an ancient druid would awaken friendly animals to watch over the land, and that they help people in times of need. They also hear about monsters that now inhabit the forest, perils of the lake itself, and how the journey also requires navigating a dangerous valley, as well as traveling very close to lands that belong to a hostile lord. Maybe they have alternate paths, and they need to debate about which is best! They also know the forest is said to be very easy to get lost in.

They'll spend time planning things out. Maybe they'll start going toward the valley, and encounter monsters or something else I thought would be cool to bump into. I'll probably consult the DMG's random tables to spark inspiration.

Before next session, I will probably make some random encounter tables, prepare a scene about a significant enemy in the woods (or maybe I'll focus on that Hostile Lord, who may harass the party), things like that. I'll dream up ways to give the players some agency in how they approach things, like bring up how they see signs that an enemy is nearby, or there's a fork in the road, etc. I'll give them some NPCs whose fates I care nothing about, even if they have importance in the adventure. These NPCs can help facilitate what the players want, or oppose it, but the outcome is purely decided by how successful the players are. This material may fuel one session, or many more, based on what happens.

If more than one session follows, I continue to flesh out details I think would be vital for the current circumstances. Say for example the party is captured by the hostile lord; before next session I'll put a lot more work into the hostile lord, make a map of his castle, flesh things out. But before then, I'll have only very sparse details.

I find this is the best way to keep things interesting and focused on the adventure at hand without getting bogged down in prep-work. Additionally, not tying myself down seems to open up greater opportunity to insert new ideas as they come to mind between sessions.

souridealist
2017-08-04, 06:11 PM
I haven't DM'd a whole lot, but in my current campaign I've found a system that I think I'll probably keep using and refining from here out.

I have three big files of notes: the master doc, the Locations of Note file, and the NPCs file (and then some smaller files, including 'ideas to use at some point' and 'list of lore I'm just straight-up ignoring.')

The master document looks like this:

SESSION:

Day:
[events]

Day:
[events]

Originally this was just listed as Day One, Day Two, Day Three, but around Day Fifty-Eight this got unwieldy and stupid, so I shifted to actual dates. This was a HUGE PAIN, so in the future I'm probably going to start off by tracking the in-game date first thing. The events are usually rough sketches of things that aren't really in the PCs' control - for example, on this day they've traveled halfway to their goal and reach a bridge with a troll under it, or on this date a bunch of kobolds try to steal the McGuffin in the party's possession. This document is kind of half-plan and half-record, so I'll add to it a bunch during or just after the session, writing down how things resolve / how the party went off-script / etc.

When I want to do something less event-based, I mark down the intended day when that starts - usually when they reach a certain point - and then switch over to one of the other documents. The locations file has basic town information, descriptions of interesting stuff within it, and notes of what's going on at particular locations and what will be happening in them when the party arrives. (Such-and-such a bar, where someone will absolutely start a fight, for example.)

I haven't done a full-on dungeon crawl yet, just minidungeons, but when I do the dungeon will probably get its own document.

The NPCs listing doesn't have statblocks, just hyperlinks to them - usually either an exported PDF from HeroLab or a link to something on the SRD. Instead it's a description of the NPC, basic appearance and quirks, and their personality / goals / history / attitude - whatever I think I'm going to need to roleplay them. And then, whether I'm doing a more sandbox-y section or one of my planned events has gotten skewered, I'll generally just try to roleplay the NPCs to the best of my ability. Kobolds' cunning plan to lure some of the party away from the McGuffin fails completely? Okay, well, they're a lot more stubborn than smart, so I guess they'll cast vanish and go for the thing anyway, and the fighter is moving over to guard the McGuffin better, so - hey, you walk into an invisible kobold! Party refuses the Hellknight's invitation to a Dinner Full Of Foreshadowing and Intrigue? Okay, hm, he made a Sense Motive roll on one of their hasty excuses, so I guess he's going to have one of his underlings follow them - let me pull up the statblock, okay, they don't notice her and she observes a bunch of incriminating behavior, so he'll have them pursued and I guess we're having an early boss fight!

(Then they knocked him unconscious, cut off his ear, fed it to the magus's familiar, and let him go, so I, uh, I guess I have this recurring villain now? I haven't decided when he comes back yet, but after that he kind of has to.)

But yeah. I try to focus my plans on leading up to first contact with the PCs and take it from there in the moment; I try to be really ruthless about axing plans that the party doesn't go for; and if I'm frantically improvising, have the NPCs improvise frantically too and see what happens. (Sometimes this leads to protesting 'I DID NOT PLAN THIS, THIS WAS NOT MY IDEA, THIS IS NOT MY FAULT!' and a suddenly NSFW session. Oops.)

Sorry if this isn't helpful / more detailed than you wanted / the wrong kind of detailed!

Jama7301
2017-08-04, 06:19 PM
Panicked.

Before the game starts, I'll have an overarching skeleton plot affecting the world at large, and let it run in the back/foreground.

Once the sessions start though, after my prep gets tossed out, I end up flying by the seat of my pants to stay a step ahead of everyone. It helps that I have players who like to take their time and talk things out. It gives me time to get the next piece in place, and gives me ideas for future pieces.

Between sessions, I'll flesh out the world and use the pieces I've gathered so far to try to make something for the next one, or one down the line.

My sheets often look like

MAJOR PLOT NAME
*Factions
- a
- b
- c
- d
*Events
- 1
-*condition 1-3
-2
-*condition 1-5

And then just a list of names, places and small ideas that I throw together. It's an absolute mess.

Thrudd
2017-08-05, 01:19 AM
Depends on the game, obviously. But for D&D, I try to have a few different dungeons/adventures ready to go at any given time. I know who/what lives where, why things are where they are, and where stuff is hidden. I have wandering monster tables and wilderness encounter tables for all the areas I think it is likely the characters will end up. A map of a decent area, and some idea what might be off the edge of the map, for later. Some important NPCs and monsters detailed.

Rather than a plot, I try to create a self-sustaining environment where the sorts of activities and conflicts the game supports will naturally arise. So, for instance, if it's a dungeon crawling old-school D&D game, I design a world and a society where important resources as well as power and prestige come primarily from the treasure and magic recovered from ancient ruins. I think about the repercussions that this activity would logically have for an environment and a civilization, and decide what assumptions would need to be in place in order for this to hold up to a little scrutiny. I make sure there is a niche and an explanation for all the character classes in the society, so players know where their characters can fit into the world.

I don't plan for events to happen to the characters or for any intricate plot to be happening behind the scenes. I have the overall situation, the state of the world as it is at the moment the game begins, and the players begin pursuing their goals to find adventure and become rich and famous and powerful. The world reacts to them and if it makes sense for something to happen, like some ruler takes notice of them or they do something that shakes up the status quo, then I decide how things may start changing.

In an individual adventure or dungeon, there may be events that can be triggered by certain actions and pre-planned encounters or monster behaviors. This is always kept in the context of the passage of time. Leaving the dungeon doesn't pause everything. New monsters could move in, it could be abandoned and the treasure taken someplace else, another group could have made off with some of the loot. I'll use random tables to decide what happens depending on how much time has passed.

On the player side, I like to have the players decide what relationship their characters have to one another and begin the game as a party. I prefer to skip over the meeting of random strangers in a tavern, or the drawn out intro of each character's back story while the other player sit around doing nothing. Unless the players are already familiar with the particular setting, we begin at level 1 and the characters are brand new adventurers who have not yet ventured away from the civilized lands. I want everyone to be clear about what the game is about - making expeditions to explore dangerous places and collecting the treasures that are there - and to have reasons why the character wants to do that and what they hope to get out of it.

In play, I try to make it as easy as possible for the players to ignore the game mechanics and make decisions from an in-world perspective. I play the NPCs and monsters in ways that I feel are natural for the world, and I rely on dice rolls to make many decisions - such as what character some animal happens to attack if there is no obvious choice. I strive for eminent fairness and neutrality in terms of the outcomes - the dice roll both ways, no fudging attack rolls or damaqe rolls or saving throws (done in front of the players). Most other rolls are done in secret (although I don't fudge those, either).

Dragonexx
2017-08-05, 02:35 AM
Plots: Make up some vague stuff up off the top of my head. Just keep it in my head until the party starts to get close to interacting with it, and then start statting out enemies and adding detail to scenarios. Change them depending on PC and player actions.

Setting: Describe things in the broad sense, enough for players to come up with characters. Just make up smaller details on the fly when the players start to interact with them.

Rules: Allow most things official and homebrew provided they're run by me first.

HidesHisEyes
2017-08-05, 12:10 PM
This has been fascinating to read, as I hoped it would. Thanks everyone, keep em coming. I'm realising that running a decent sandbox might not be quite as much work as I had thought. Having a good timeline to plan player-independent events seems like the main thing. I might start to expand my horizons in the next proper campaign I run...

S@tanicoaldo
2017-08-05, 12:30 PM
I used to plan a lot, now I just go with the flow, my players like to improvise and do unexpectable things.

Darth Ultron
2017-08-05, 02:21 PM
An adventure starts with an idea, like : A Black Dragon Crime Lord.

The first important part is to make things interesting to me, as the DM. And I like the idea of a secret black dragon crime lord running a business: The Black Dragon Company. Right here I will often stop to make a couple npcs, and a location or two. The next important part is to make things interesting for the players. The adventure needs to be something they will want to do. The amount of combat, mystery, intrigue, role playing and such will depending a lot on the players wishes. And then finally to make the adventure interesting to the characters. So knowing my group of players are all good type characters, like to fight evil, and would like a bunch of role playing where their characters ''save a city'' and get ''hailed as heroes'', I start crafting that.

My first step is to toss The Black Dragon Company into the current adventure of the game immediately to establish it. So the characters will hear rumors and stories, all bad or find things like bottles of poison that say ''another fine product of The Black Dragon Company'' on the label. If it's the first game for a new group, then the game handout will have it in it.

Next, I'll make at least 6 to 12 hooks, that are events in the game that are made to lead the characters to the adventure. The most obvious hook is the characters finding bad guys with The Black Dragon Company equipment and magic, then getting the players interested in ''stopping the source''. And any of the classics work too: Lady Cleric GoodLight's daughter, Daisy, has gone from home and was last seen with a half orc guy(A Black Dragon Company thug). So the Lady fears she was kidnapped and outright hires the PC's to save her daughter.

So then I'll make the pre character plot: Daisy has not been kidnapped, of course, and ran away with her new boy friend half orc thug. Daisy is not as sweet as she seems, and is just using poor thug guy. She plans to attack and destroy the Temple of Light, kill the poor thug guy, take all the credit and become the whif and mate of the companies founder(the mysterious and elusive), Mr. Black. Daisy does know Mr. Black is a dragon, and wants to have half dragon babies, but most of the rest of the world thinks Mr. Black is human.

Act 1-Find Daisy: So the character need to find Daisy, and they quickly learn about the The Black Dragon Company's Trade Fortress, located a bit out of the city. As half orc thug is based there, and he is the only lead to Daisy, the characters must find him and get him to talk. So I'll make the Fortress and any thing else needed. I'd make a note of the target thugs and Daisy's day to day life and what, where, and when he does things...and even a vague calendar. The players are a bit free to do anything they want to try and find Daisy, the thug or related things.

It's open that anything might happen, though sooner or later the group should find Daisy. Daisy, being the evil that she is, will attempt to use the PC group to her advantage, any way she can. Daisy will kept up the persona of ''a poor helpless girl'' for as long as she can. As I love huge drama, I will make the reveal come at a big time to be a shock to the players and characters. I won't have the details, but I will look for a spot to make it happen. For example, as Daisy had been planning her escape (aka betrayal) she knows all the secret passages and weaknesses in the Fortress...enough to convince the players to stay and take out the whole company.

Act 2 is mostly pure combat of attacking the fort. The vague ending is Daisy reveals her true colors, uses whatever she can to get an audience with Mr. Black. She might outright betray the characters, but she might also just work with them(''we make a great team, we took down this trade fort, lets go after the whole company").

Act 3 (A) if the characters don't take Daisy's bait and escort her back to the temple and her mom, Daisy will stick to her original plan: destroy the temple. She will strike from the inside, and have her own forces attack. This has the potential for some combat, but also has the characters saving temple folk. If Daisy does destroy the temple, it will lead to B. Otherwise anything might happen, though if the players just ''drop'' the adventure at this point, The Black Dragon Company will come looking for revenge.

Act 3 (B) Attack on Black Swamp. Mr Black lives in a castle in Black Swamp. Daisy goes there with the Pc's or with the Pc's in hot pursuit. Meet Mr. Black, Daisy reveals her crazy...and Mr. Black reveals he is a dragon. Again, the chance for a lot of combat. The end is killing the dragon, of course. Maybe killing Daisy (or getting her help) and taking down the company. Though anything might happen again. And it's likely Mr Black Dragon will escape, unless the characters really pound on him all out or prevent him from doing so.

With all this I will go back and look for ''crazy player'' things to fill in. Anything that might lead the game astray by a crazy player idea. Then I either plug the hole or make it part of the plot. For example, as a player might get the clever idea to detect alignment on Daisy, she will have something to block that /and/or give a false reading. I will all ready design things to counter ''win buttons'', like some important doors will be held shut by rope counterweights (so knock won't work).

Then I just need to add custom creations and maps and descriptions and I'm ready to game.

Yora
2017-08-05, 02:39 PM
My approach is that the players are having their adventure. We're not playing so that I can show my story to an audience. My job as GM is to present the players with toys that they can play with and with incentives to get them started on their adventures.
When I can show of my creative work, it's in designing fascinating environments and creatures and NPCs with entertaining personalities.

Often gamemastering is described as describing situations and asking "what do you do?". I find it more ideal to have the players describe their actions and ask me "what happens?".

Sajiri
2017-08-06, 04:52 PM
I usually come up with a bunch of important plots and characters ahead of time, and leave it open for how the player is to actually get to it. Such as I'll have a character that I'll come up with basic details, but I will not tie them to a certain town or quest etc until the player reaches an appropriate time to slot it in. It doesnt work so well for me though I guess, because generally what I leave open and try not to plan out overly detailed ahead of time is what the player starts focusing on, and its always topics I know very little about (like detailed questions of the workings of a government for a city-state that hasnt even come up yet). Also, the really important stuff is always a struggle to get to, or I try to think up the likely things the player will do but he never does, so everything gets muddled. I also might have a habit of giving in too easily, I had an overarching plot planned that was meant to take several sessions, but the player wanted to bullrush towards it so I decided to just fastforward it to that point and add the other plot stuff in sessions after...ended up basically destroying the whole game because now nothing makes sense.

To be honest, my DM method is entirely learned from my DM. I guess I have my own quirks towards it, but without meaning to I've tried emulating the way he handles things, but we think very differently. I really need to come up with my own methods Im comfortable with.

Pugwampy
2017-08-07, 10:09 AM
I imagine a battle scene i can put on the table made from old toys / minis / what nots / doo dads.

I then construct a story to reach that point . Thats my main dish which i offer at the start . Then i have two or three lesser fight scenes to fill out the rest of the day .

For new campaigns or players I make use of one of my several basic game dungeon sets which i can tweak or build around . Its pretty.

Its a sandbox campaign , no super main quest because i dont know when everyone gets bored and just plain breaks my game .Sometimes i do something that totally breaks the game because i like to experiment and I am generous with rules and goodies .

I try to keep a strung along adventure going as long as possible .
If a player hooks on some idea i will go with the flow and adjust . I keep a diary which i fill in after every session. I have lots dice roll charts mental rolls to help out with anything and everything . In theory players can think up any and everything to toss at me or run which ever direction and i can adjust ............IN THEORY .

Its not rocket science but its a passion and some of my old toys get a second chance in the sunlight .