Tip for being a DM

[Baby Gary]

I have never DMed a game before, but I want to try it.

I want any tips for how to run regular/social encounters, how to make enemies and how to equip low level thugs (aka cannon fodder). Any other ideas or helpful things to being good at DMing would be nice. I have pretty good system mastery and I know how to make pretty good characters that I could have be bosses or harder encounters.

I don't have any real campaign plans. I have a lot of cool ideas floating around in my head but no set ideas.

Thanks!
- Baby Gary

[Venger]

I have never DMed a game before, but I want to try it.

I want any tips for how to run regular/social encounters, how to make enemies and how to equip low level thugs (aka cannon fodder). Any other ideas or helpful things to being good at DMing would be nice. I have pretty good system mastery and I know how to make pretty good characters that I could have be bosses or harder encounters.

I don't have any real campaign plans. I have a lot of cool ideas floating around in my head but no set ideas.

Thanks!
- Baby Gary

Have you thought about using a module? This can be helpful in it does a lot of the grunt work (maps, npc stats) for you, and you can always change things you don't like or that don't fit your party well.

What level is your group? Eyes of a lich queen or ravenloft are very fun modules for their respective levels.

[ksbsnowowl]

Eyes of a lich queen or ravenloft are very fun modules for their respective levels.

I have no experience with Eyes of the Lich Queen, but I've run Expedition to Castle Ravenloft twice, and I can say that I would not recommend it for a novice DM. Not that it isn't a great module, it absolutely is, but it is so sand-boxy that it is very hard to prep for. Take something relatively linear, like the Sunless Citadel; you can start running it even if you've only read through and prepped the first 20 rooms or so (out of nearly 60). The whole time with EtCR, I never felt like I was prepared, until I had read and understood EVERY part of the module, and after that I still had to spend my "prep time" each week reviewing everything to keep it fresh in my mind, because the PC's could go anywhere in the upcoming session.

Conversely, with something like the Sunless Citadel, you prep the first 20 rooms, have your first session, with is mostly in town, and the PC's end up only actually getting through room 5 of the dungeon. Then you can just start prepping further and further ahead of them, knowing pretty confidently that you are ready to go for whatever the PC's will get into the next session. For a first-time DM I would strongly suggest something like that, if they are going to go the route of a published module.


I don't have any real campaign plans. I have a lot of cool ideas floating around in my head but no set ideas.One thing you can do with this is to use a published module or two as a backbone, and then flesh out your extra ideas and drop them in at appropriate times. By the time you get through one or two modules (~4th - 6th level?) you'll probably have daydreamed and played around with your cool ideas enough that some of them will have solidified into a more cohesive story. And if not, have a third module waiting in the wings to fall back on.

On the topic of "social encounters," I've found the first module of the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path to be a great model in that regard. Political intrigue has never been my forté, and my players told me they wanted a political intrigue style game for our next campaign. I've read through the first module of CotCT, and it has been eye-opening as to how one should set up social encounters, so that talking and diplomacy are a much better route than fighting (though fighting is certainly still an option). That might not be exactly what you were getting at with your question, but I found it immensely helpful to myself on how to run diplomatic encounters.

[Venger]

I have no experience with Eyes of the Lich Queen, but I've run Expedition to Castle Ravenloft twice, and I can say that I would not recommend it for a novice DM. Not that it isn't a great module, it absolutely is, but it is so sand-boxy that it is very hard to prep for. Take something relatively linear, like the Sunless Citadel; you can start running it even if you've only read through and prepped the first 20 rooms or so (out of nearly 60). The whole time with EtCR, I never felt like I was prepared, until I had read and understood EVERY part of the module, and after that I still had to spend my "prep time" each week reviewing everything to keep it fresh in my mind, because the PC's could go anywhere in the upcoming session.
That's actually a very good point. I had a great time playing and running ravenloft, but it was a lot of work. I mention it because it's famous, a lot of fun, and is a very well designed module.

Eyes of the lich queen actually is fairly linear, so as far as cutting down on bookkeeping for the reasons you outline, it's a good idea assuming it's relevant to the party level.


One thing you can do with this is to use a published module or two as a backbone, and then flesh out your extra ideas and drop them in at appropriate times. By the time you get through one or two modules (~4th - 6th level?) you'll probably have daydreamed and played around with your cool ideas enough that some of them will have solidified into a more cohesive story. And if not, have a third module waiting in the wings to fall back on.
Yeah this is what I advise as well. Plus you can read the module all the way through first and cut stuff you don't think is a good fit for your party or you don't think is interesting, or change or add stuff accordingly.


On the topic of "social encounters," I've found the first module of the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path to be a great model in that regard. Political intrigue has never been my forté, and my players told me they wanted a political intrigue style game for our next campaign. I've read through the first module of CotCT, and it has been eye-opening as to how one should set up social encounters, so that talking and diplomacy are a much better route than fighting (though fighting is certainly still an option). That might not be exactly what you were getting at with your question, but I found it immensely helpful to myself on how to run diplomatic encounters.

I haven't heard of this. is it pathfinder?

also before you start doing any work on a campaign, during session zero where you talk to your players and agree on a starting level, what tier their class selection will be clustered around, you lay out any house rules, etc, it's a good idea to ask them what kind of campaign they would like to play in. it can save you a huge amount of guesswork in the long run.

go around the table and have people take turns naming stuff that they like in D&D campaigns and definitely want in, write it down, and then ask if there's anything people hate and definitely don't want in. these can be as broad or as specific as you like e.g. "I want to play an arena style game where it is just straight combat" or "I like humorous fantasy settings, so I'd like something not too grimdark" see if your lists match up, discuss any contradictions before you start, and see if you can find something all your players agree on (and also that you're interested in running). this will also prevent you from spending a lot of time on something no one is interested in

remember, there's no such thing as a perfect game for everyone, only a perfect game for your party

[King of Nowhere]

I have never DMed a game before, but I want to try it.

I want any tips for how to run regular/social encounters, how to make enemies and how to equip low level thugs (aka cannon fodder). Any other ideas or helpful things to being good at DMing would be nice. I have pretty good system mastery and I know how to make pretty good characters that I could have be bosses or harder encounters.

I don't have any real campaign plans. I have a lot of cool ideas floating around in my head but no set ideas.

Thanks!
- Baby Gary

Regarding the making and equipping of humanoid enemies, you can do them like you would do a PC. Of course you don't need to flesh them out. Most of the time I don't assign them skills because I assume they won't be relevant to the fight. As for equipment, consider that it will end up in the hands of the party, so be careful with the whealt you assign; feel free to break WBL guidelines if you want to run a high money game, but do it consciously. If your mooks can't stand up to the pcs and need buffs, give them potions.

As for the rest, tips are hardly a substitute for years of experience. The DM handbook already has some useful beginner tips. But one I can give is this: do not frustrate your players without payoff. You can occasionally subject your players to annoying experiences, but only if you give them a way to overcome them that will make the victory all the sweeter.

[ksbsnowowl]

I haven't heard of this. is it pathfinder? Yes and no. The first four adventure paths that Paizo published after WotC had axed them from Dragon magazine were for 3.5, as Pathfinder hadn't been published yet. They were set in what became the standard setting for Pathfinder (Galorion), but the first three of the four were fully 3.5 (I think the 4th one was when they were beta testing Pathfinder, so it had both system's stat blocks, or something like that). Curse of the Crimson Throne was so good, that they actually republished it a year or two ago, under Pathfinder rules. I'm really excited to start the campaign (my group just started Bastion of Broken Souls, which will be the end of our current campaign).


... also before you start doing any work on a campaign, during session zero where you talk to your players and agree on a starting level, what tier their class selection will be clustered around, you lay out any house rules, etc, it's a good idea to ask them what kind of campaign they would like to play in. it can save you a huge amount of guesswork in the long run.

go around the table and have people take turns naming stuff that they like in D&D campaigns and definitely want in, write it down, and then ask if there's anything people hate and definitely don't want in. these can be as broad or as specific as you like e.g. "I want to play an arena style game where it is just straight combat" or "I like humorous fantasy settings, so I'd like something not too grimdark" see if your lists match up, discuss any contradictions before you start, and see if you can find something all your players agree on (and also that you're interested in running). this will also prevent you from spending a lot of time on something no one is interested in

remember, there's no such thing as a perfect game for everyone, only a perfect game for your party

This is all good advice. As we finished the second-to-last module in our current game, I actually wrote up a 25-question survey, and asked my players to fill it out. Some gave short answers, and some long, but it really helped me see what their favorite parts of our last campaign were, what parts they hated, and what kind of campaigns were their favorites. One of the questions that I asked was for them to pick their top two favorite "campaign styles." I had several examples (Dungeon Crashing, Political Intrigue, War Campaign [think Red Hand of Doom], Survival [Dark Sun], Exploration). The answer to that question is what let me learn that three of my four players listed a Political Intrigue campaign as their top choice.

I would have never strived to run such a thing without asking that question and learning most of them wanted that. Since it isn't my strong-suit, I asked for suggestions of good modules to build upon, and was pointed toward CotCT. I plan to have a "session zero" when we start the new game, and they'll all make their characters that same night.

[Venger]

Yes and no. The first four adventure paths that Paizo published after WotC had axed them from Dragon magazine were for 3.5, as Pathfinder hadn't been published yet. They were set in what became the standard setting for Pathfinder (Galorion), but the first three of the four were fully 3.5 (I think the 4th one was when they were beta testing Pathfinder, so it had both system's stat blocks, or something like that). Curse of the Crimson Throne was so good, that they actually republished it a year or two ago, under Pathfinder rules. I'm really excited to start the campaign (my group just started Bastion of Broken Souls, which will be the end of our current campaign).



This is all good advice. As we finished the second-to-last module in our current game, I actually wrote up a 25-question survey, and asked my players to fill it out. Some gave short answers, and some long, but it really helped me see what their favorite parts of our last campaign were, what parts they hated, and what kind of campaigns were their favorites. One of the questions that I asked was for them to pick their top two favorite "campaign styles." I had several examples (Dungeon Crashing, Political Intrigue, War Campaign [think Red Hand of Doom], Survival [Dark Sun], Exploration). The answer to that question is what let me learn that three of my four players listed a Political Intrigue campaign as their top choice.

I would have never strived to run such a thing without asking that question and learning most of them wanted that. Since it isn't my strong-suit, I asked for suggestions of good modules to build upon, and was pointed toward CotCT. I plan to have a "session zero" when we start the new game, and they'll all make their characters that same night.

i'd love to see this survey

[Baby Gary]

-snip-

-snip-

-snip-

Thanks you three for the great ideas. I still have some question that are not answered.

First what/where is the best place to get modules? also is there a good site with a ton of them that I could browse through

Second I would also like to see that survey that ksbsnowowl talked about. It could be useful to have and slightly tweak if needed.

Third how do I keep a group from disbanding? I used to be in two (well one with two games) IRL groups but both of them disbanded, any ways to prevent this from happening?

And Fourth houserules/homebrew/giving into player requests. TL;DR tweaking the actual game. Should i do this at all, after all I have relatively good system mastery and I can tell when something is not balanced, usually. Also how should I handle players who make requests and what to do if they become annoyed at me/the other players (btw I don't think this will happen, the people I am thinking of playing with are all good friends and all pretty reasonable

[Venger]

Thanks you three for the great ideas. I still have some question that are not answered.

First what/where is the best place to get modules? also is there a good site with a ton of them that I could browse through

Second I would also like to see that survey that ksbsnowowl talked about. It could be useful to have and slightly tweak if needed.

Third how do I keep a group from disbanding? I used to be in two (well one with two games) IRL groups but both of them disbanded, any ways to prevent this from happening?

And Fourth houserules/homebrew/giving into player requests. TL;DR tweaking the actual game. Should i do this at all, after all I have relatively good system mastery and I can tell when something is not balanced, usually. Also how should I handle players who make requests and what to do if they become annoyed at me/the other players (btw I don't think this will happen, the people I am thinking of playing with are all good friends and all pretty reasonable

Thurbane made an extremely detailed list of modules. I'll go digging and see if I can find you a link.

you can't control everything that causes groups to disband (it's mostly schedule related) but if you have a regular schedule and stick to it, it'll cut out a lot of problems.

for example my table meets every saturday at 5. I maintain a slack channel and ask that if anyone has a conflict that they let me know and we can do something else, that way people don't show up ready to game and I have to disappoint them. basically if you can avoid getting in the habit of not running, then you're putting forth your due diligence.

a certain amount of houserules are simply necessary for running a game as sloppily written, badly edited, and with as many rules as D&D, such as removing multiclass xp penalty, so don't feel like you have to adhere to RAW for its own sake.

don't change stuff just for the sake of changing it, but if there's a rule you and your party agree on and like, go ahead and try it out. if it doesn't work, you can always change it later.

what do you want to houserule? as long as you're not one of those geniuses with a fumble table, you're probably fine.

whatever you end up deciding, if you choose to implement house rules, you MUST tell all your players during session zero, so they can implement those choices at chargen.

to keep people on-task during game, I ask for players to save all suggestions for rules changes etc until we have stopped play. I'll usually run really long sessions, so we'll have a meal together halfway through, so they can bring it up then and say "hey I want such and such rule to work like this instead is that cool?" and we can discuss the merits without interrupting the actual game. if you can't do this because you run short sessions, then either do it after, or again, have your players just bring stuff like this up in between sessions in a group chat or email chain. this also lets you have all your rules stuff written down so you can copy it into your notes later.

[kuhaica]

Third how do I keep a group from disbanding? I used to be in two (well one with two games) IRL groups but both of them disbanded, any ways to prevent this from happening?

And Fourth houserules/homebrew/giving into player requests. TL;DR tweaking the actual game. Should i do this at all, after all I have relatively good system mastery and I can tell when something is not balanced, usually. Also how should I handle players who make requests and what to do if they become annoyed at me/the other players (btw I don't think this will happen, the people I am thinking of playing with are all good friends and all pretty reasonable

For three, the best method I find is to be upfront, honest and insure everyone is having fun. Including you. If a player isn't having a good time, speak to them and see whats happening, ask for feedback from your players and keep them engaged. As for yourself, if the DM is having a bad time that'll rub off on the party. Just as much if you are having a good time. Basically, just be a good friend.

For four. Thats kind of a loaded question. If you change major mechanics be sure players know about them at the start. A session zero is good for this as it lets everyone have a say with what they want. However if your comfortable with home brewing go for it. Just make sure everything you can do, players should be able to do. Hence being upfront with changes, as suddenly banning or changing something midway in a game makes people upset.

Regarding players who become annoyed. It happens, if there request was unreasonable they should understand if you explain your reasoning. However if its something minor, try to come to an agreement.


Besides that, I think the others have covered everything else.

[ksbsnowowl]

you can't control everything that causes groups to disband (it's mostly schedule related) but if you have a regular schedule and stick to it, it'll cut out a lot of problems. ... basically if you can avoid getting in the habit of not running, then you're putting forth your due diligence.

...

don't change stuff just for the sake of changing it, but if there's a rule you and your party agree on and like, go ahead and try it out. if it doesn't work, you can always change it later.

...

whatever you end up deciding, if you choose to implement house rules, you MUST tell all your players during session zero, so they can implement those choices at chargen.

to keep people on-task during game, I ask for players to save all suggestions for rules changes etc until we have stopped play.

I agree with all of this. Let people know the expectation is that you are coming every week. Sure, Summer vacations, Thanksgiving & Christmas, etc, will always intrude, every year, but outside those times, 95% of the time they should be there (everyone faces unexpected business trips, mandatory over-time, etc, from time to time; it happens to everyone.) That's one reason I run on weeknights. Sure, each session may only be 3.5 hours, but we're there every week. It's just a regular part of their schedules, like a weekly Boy Scout meeting, or their middle school kid's Friday night basketball game. It helps avoid the randomness that are weekends.

House rules are fine, so long as you know why you are changing them. Understand what the real rule is, and then change it if you don't like it.

Rules arguments: If you've got the rule pulled up to show me I'm wrong, cool. Otherwise, save it for later, and we'll take it into account going forward.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Alright, since everyone wants to see my survey, I'll post it here. Keep in mind that this was given out to players that have all played with me for over a year (some of them 3 or 4 years, and one of them over 6 years). It was also given to them last May, with the knowledge that we would play very little during June and July, and the request to get around to it sometime in the next few months. After I gave it to them, I didn't mention it again until August (when I'd only received one filled-out survey), and let them know the kind of campaign I was dreaming up based upon the single response I'd gotten (he was the only guy to not list a political intrigue campaign as one of his preferences...)

Yes, it's kind of awkward to give your players "homework," but I gave them a long time to fill it out, and I think they're really going to appreciate the pay off during the next campaign.

I didn't really use many house rules in the Sunless Citadel campaign. I suppose I could have added questions about that, specifically, but I just plan to cover that in the Session Zero for the next campaign.

Anyway, here's the survey. I gave them printed out copies, but also emailed it to them, so they could just reply to the email, inserting answers just below the question they were responding to.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++



Before long we will begin the final module in the Sunless Citadel adventure path, which should take us all the way to
20th level. I’m planning to end this campaign with the conclusion of that story line. As such, we will have to decide
what we want to do once this campaign concludes.

Running a campaign takes a fair bit of prep work, even when running modules. Thus, I’d like to get some input from
you guys now, so I can start to focus my prep time on our group’s future. To that end, I ask that you guys please fill
out this survey, so I can improve my DM skills, and provide a game that everyone enjoys.

Probably the easiest way to do this would be to reply individually via email; that way I can compile the answers easily,
question by question, in a single word document.

Without further preamble…


1. What was your favorite single part of this campaign (Sunless Citadel through Lord of the Iron Fortress) I’ve been
running the last three years? Why was this your favorite part?
This could be anything; a particular adventure location, a specific type of plot, specific types of monsters you
fought, etc. Feel free to list two or three answers, if you can’t decide on one.


2. What was your favorite complete module? Why was that your favorite? Here they are, roughly in the order I ran them:
A. The Sunless Citadel
B. The Forge of Fury
C. 6th-level adventure I created (the invisible poison dusk lizardfolk that murdered
another adventuring party; you took over their quest, and recovered an
heirloom breastplate from their village in a swamp).
D. The Standing Stone (Ghost knight, starving villagers; half the party died)
E. Steading of the Ogre Chief (adaptation of G1 - Steading of the Hill Giant Chief)
F. Expedition to the Demonweb Pits
G. The Speaker in Dreams (Brindinford, “Davben’s” home town, where you landed
after being banished out of the Abyss; you fought a cult of Hextor that had
opened a portal to Hell, before returning to the Abyss to continue against
Lolth).
H. Beyond the Veil (Storamere the ghost dragon & his ethereal acid palace)
I. Heart of Nightfang Spire (tower of the undead cult of Ashardalon, on the
Plane of Shadow)
J. Lord of the Iron Fortress (forgemasters being murdered; trying to stop the
reforging of the Blade of Fiery Might)


3. What was your least favorite part of this campaign, and why didn’t you like it?


4. What was your least favorite complete module in this campaign, and why?


5. If you have played in other campaigns run by me, what were your favorite parts of those campaigns, and why?


6. If you have played in other campaigns run by me, what were your least favorite parts of those campaigns, and why?


7. What were your favorite parts of campaigns run by other DM’s you’ve played under, and why?
Try to flesh out the details, as I didn’t experience these campaigns with you.


8. What were your least favorite parts of campaigns run by other DM’s you’ve played under, and why?
Try to flesh out the details, as I didn’t experience these campaigns with you.


9. I know I tend to be a rather “Rules as Written” type of DM. But I also try to keep it from
slowing things down too much in the middle of the game. Does the way I handle
this aspect of the game bother you? Is there some way I could handle this part better?


10. What aspects of my DM’ing style do you like?


11. What aspects of my DM’ing style do you not like?


12. Is there some aspect of a previous DM you’ve had that could help me be a better DM?
If so, what is it?


13. What is your favorite level range of third edition D&D to play at, and why?


14. Is there a specific type of foe that you hated facing in this campaign? If so, what?


15. Is there a specific type of foe that you loved facing in this campaign? If so, what?


16. For this past campaign, since the modules were published very early on in Third Edition,
I purposefully restricted you guys to races in the Player’s Handbook (or subraces
thereof). Are you interested in playing with “monsters” in your party (and using the
Level Adjustment rules)? If yes, how high of an Equivalent Character Level (ECL)
are you comfortable with? For a quick frame of reference, here are a few examples
of common monsters with Level Adjustments:
- a Lizardfok is ECL 3, and equal to a 3rd level character
- a Bugbear is ECL 4, and equal to a 4th level character
- an Ogre is ECL 6, and equal to a 6th level character
- a Troll is ECL 11, and equal to an 11th level character
- a Hound Archon is ECL 11, and equal to an 11th level character
- a Succubus is ECL 12, and equal to a 12th level character
- a Trumpet Archon is ECL 20, and equal to a 20th level character


17. On a somewhat similar note to question 16, would you have interest in playing in a game
where you are basic player races, but “heroes” are set apart in some mechanical
and role play way from “mundane” peasants and commoners? Perhaps there are
those with a touch of god-blood running through their veins, which makes them
special somehow (gaining the effects of the Vow of Poverty feat [Book of Exalted
Deeds] inherently, without having to be Exalted, or poor; or being Gestalt characters;
or some other mechanical advantage over “commoners”). This type of game would
probably have a role-play reason for this (ie - god-blooded), but wouldn’t necessarily
require it.
One possible advantage to something like having the Vow of Poverty bonuses
built into your character is that it addresses the d20 system’s expectation of characters
gaining these types of bonuses, while removing the need for such massive wealth
that Third Edition characters have (in comparison to every other edition of D&D, ever).
We could still run a fairly high-magic-treasure game, but with the expectation of you
being able to use some of the more unusual items that often get eschewed because
you feel the need to boost your stats, saves, AC, and attack rolls, etc. It would also
allow for a lower-magic/lower-wealth game (think along the lines of The Lord of the
Rings, or Game of Thrones, though probably not to that extreme), if you were
interested in that, while still providing you with the bonuses that the game system
expects you to be able to have to defeat monsters of appropriate challenge ratings.
Would something like that be of interest to you?


18. This Sunless Citadel campaign series was ostensibly set in Greyhawk and the Great Wheel
cosmology, and as such was rather “generic D&D” with a little Planescape thrown in.
What is your favorite setting type of D&D to play in?
Here is a list of campaign/setting types, with examples from previous D&D
products:
A. “Generic” sword & sorcery - Example: Greyhawk
“Generic D&D” would describe most games that run only using the
Core rules, whether playing through most published modules, or a
completely homebrew World and plot.
B. High Fantasy sword & sorcery - Example: Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms is just at a higher power level than Greyhawk;
Gods walk the earth and have a direct hand in events, for example.
C. Steam Punk/Magi-tech - Example: Eberron
D. Gothic Horror - Example: Ravenloft (adventure, or campaign setting)
E. Dying World - Example: Dark Sun
F. Ethnic Dominant (something other than based on Medieval Western Europe) -
Examples: Oriental Adventures, Al-Qadim (Arabian), my homebrew
Mythic Sagas (Viking) setting
G. Plane-hopping - Example: Planescape
If you can think of another setting type that you would be interested in, please list it, along
with a game or literary example that I can research to get a better idea of what you
are talking about, in case it is unfamiliar to me.


19. Of the above setting types (A thru G), which two would be your top preferences for the next
campaign? If you want to include a setting type you mentioned beyond the 7 types
I listed, feel free to list three (again, two from A thru G), ranked in your preference
order. (Rank them first and second, and possibly third.)


20. This Sunless Citadel campaign was largely of the typical “dungeon crashing” variety.
The adventures were largely based in dungeons or fortress locations, and you would
go defeat monsters in those places to rescue missing people or desired treasure, or
shut down a bad guy’s goals. Though this aspect of the game will usually show up in
one form or another in other campaign types, the overall style of the campaign can
differ a lot from this “dungeon crashing” stereotype. What campaign style is your
favorite? Feel free to mention one beyond those I’ve listed here.
Other campaign styles include:
A. Political intrigue - This type of campaign will typically be city-based, and
involves a lot more role-play, and less battling of foes. Ferreting out
political plans (assassination plots, ruses to influence the king, etc) and
stopping them, via either the Sword or The Law.
B. War campaign - An army is coming to attack your kingdom; the party will be at
the front lines, special forces types, scouting out the army and striking
critical blows as the army advances.
C. Survival - The world is a harsh and inhospitable place (desert environment,
frozen northlands, zombie plague), and mere survival is a challenge for
low-level characters. Adventures would focus on securing resources,
and eliminating threats to the scant resources that your village
survives on.
D. Exploration - Your party scouts out new lands that your civilization knows little
about. The driving force could be Imperial expansion, the need to seek
out new resources, or simple curiosity or conquest.


21. Of the above campaign style types (including any additional type you may have listed), which
two would be your top preferences for the next campaign? (Rank them first and second)


22. Since Greyhawk is fairly generic sword & sorcery D&D, it doesn’t have a specific “schtick”
that separates it from other settings or campaign types. But many campaign settings
do have a unique aspect that sets them apart. What are some unique campaign
aspects that you might be interested in having in the next campaign? Feel free to
list a “schtick” I’ve not listed.
Some examples from other D&D products include:
A. Action Points - Eberron is a setting emphasizing pulp action, so they get
Action Points to help them heroically succeed in dire situations.
Action Points give bonuses to d20 rolls, or allow additional uses
of class abilities per day, or with feat investment can even allow extra
actions in a round.
B. Taint - Oriental Adventures and many horror campaigns utilize Taint, the
corruption of one’s mind and soul by exposure to evil. This can have
a variety of effects in the game, but it creates a darker campaign,
where your PC’s will likely eventually fall victim (death/insanity) to
their proximity to evil, even if they succeed. (Much like in the
Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft.)
C. Corrupted Magic - Magic, or some portion of it, has been corrupted, and
damages either the user, the world, or both, when learned and
employed. Examples of this include The Wheel of Time series by
Robert Jordan (there is a 3.0 d20 RPG of it, too), where male
magic-users go insane, and the Dark Sun D&D setting, where
magic use drains life force from the environment (plants, etc), which
over time has resulted in the world being an inhospitable wasteland,
and psionics being the primary non-taboo “magic” used in the world.
Even Dragonlance had arcane magic use inflict a severe physical
toll on the user, though it wasn’t actually corrupted.
D. Dead Magic - Some aspect of magic is dead. It doesn’t work in some areas
of the world, or spells of a certain type or level do not work. In
Dragonlance, divine magic did not work at the start of the classic
campaign series, as the gods had recently left the world behind. Later
on, some discovered Mysticism (basically the NPC Adept class),
deriving a divine sort of power from the life energy of all living things
on the world of Krynn.



23. Of the above campaign “schticks” (including any additional ones you may have listed), which
two would be your top preferences for the next campaign? (Rank them first and second;
if you are not interested in having an aspect like this in the campaign, list “none” as your
first choice)


24. Is there some other aspect you would really be interested in having as part of the campaign?
Examples off the top of my head:
- Pirates on the high seas!
- Kill undead!
- We are the merfolk living in the lost & sunken Atlantis!
- Let’s fight off an inter-planar invasion!
- We’re gnomes in an Underdark city!
If there’s anything like that which you would like to influence the next campaign, please tell me.


25. Campaign pacing.
Other campaigns I’ve run in the past tend to move at the pace of about 5 levels per year.
After a year of regular gaming, your character will have reached 6th level, and after
about three years, your character will have reached 16th level. This Sunless Citadel
campaign leveled quite a bit faster early on, but then slowed quite a bit in the
mid-levels. In the first year (of about 45 sessions) they adventured from 1st level to
9th level. Comparatively, since the summer of 2015 you have only gained a party
average of 7 levels, in nearly two years. Part of this is due to increasing dangers of
character deaths, negative levels, and just a general slow-down of XP awarded to
XP needed to level, which tends to happen above 10th level. Battles also take longer
to conduct and adjudicate when both sides have multiple attacks, and magical
interactions get more complex.
The pace of this Sunless Citadel campaign tends to allow for sufficient world
exploration, “shopping trips,” and various other things aside from combat, while placing
the bulk of your XP earnings upon combat encounters, with role play XP and story
awards bolstering the combat XP from time to time. At the same time, it gives you
time as a player to become familiar with newly gained powers and abilities before
inundating you with even more options to choose and learn.
The first few levels PC’s tend to level up rather quickly, but after about third
level, the rate of leveling tends to slow down a bit. It slows to a PC leveling up about
once every three or four months in the teens levels. Are you happy with the game
moving at the pace you experienced in this Sunless Citadel campaign? If not, would
you prefer to level faster or slower? How much faster or slower?


26. Character Alignment.
I’ve generally asked players to make non-evil characters. In large part it is because I’ve
never had a good experience with evil characters in a party. It always devolves
into “the evil party rogue pick-pockets his fellow party member, which the other
player can see plain as day, but his character can’t get mad at the evil PC, because
the character doesn’t know why his gold keeps going missing,” or something
ridiculous along the lines of “murdering psycho.” D&D’s roots also tended toward
“Good Heroes Vanquishing Evil,” though that certainly hasn’t always been the case.
Do you have any interest in allowing Evil PC’s in the adventuring group? Please provide
your preference, using the following options:
- No! Heroes are meant to be good… or at least not evil.
- I’d be okay with an evil PC in the party, as long as he doesn’t come off as a jerk
to everyone, and he isn’t a depraved murdering psycho.
- An evil PC? Heck no! Let’s all be evil!


27. Your next character.
Granted, we haven’t yet decided what type of campaign to run next, but please try to
list two or three types of characters you would potentially like to play in the next
campaign. Listing two or three should account for differing setting/style types
of the next campaign, as well as help fill party roles depending upon what other
players choose to play. You are not going to be locked into these choices; they
are merely information to help guide me.
Try to give me a basic sketch of each character type. Personality/Outlook,
as well as basic class type. It doesn’t have to be super detailed. Here are two
examples:
- I want to play a noble Paladin that hates evil and seeks it out to vanquish it!
- I want to play a troubled orphan that doesn’t understand the unnatural powers
that have been manifesting from his soul [basically a CN Warlock].