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View Full Version : What do you want from a campaign?



FabulousFizban
2018-01-05, 09:43 PM
When you turn up to play d&d, what are you hoping for the game to be like? Do you want puzzles and role play events, do you just want to test the mechanics of the cool character you built in a fight or whatever it is built for, are you looking for an even mix of elements? Do you mind if a whole session, or maybe even two whole sessions, go by without any combat?

Do you want story depth; should each npc have a history and mortivations? Do you want minis and 3D environments to place them in? Do you want large scale events? to raise armies and fight wars - to navigate the economy of a kingdom you build at the edge of a sword - or through diplomacy.

I get that what you want is your own ideal gaming experience, but what I am asking is: What is your ideal gaming experience?

Koo Rehtorb
2018-01-05, 10:07 PM
I guess I want a fairly large degree of control over the direction of the story. Which I suppose is why I tend towards characters that are heavy on game controlling powers.

Cluedrew
2018-01-05, 10:27 PM
The best campaigns I have been short, dynamic and character driven. They have had combats, but often only one per session in systems where that can take 5-10 minutes, social interactions and trying not to get lost playing as bit of a role.

I think the dynamic part, people doing things to change the flow of the adventure, is the most fun part. The character driven part helps spread that around to everyone at the table. The short actually means that we can try a lot more, because things can just fall apart at any time, in which case we just role up the campaign and move on.

Vitruviansquid
2018-01-05, 11:48 PM
First and foremost, I want to gather with my friends around an activity where we can focus our attention and have a common experience. I think that's basically what RPGs are - a pretense under which a group of friends can get together and socialize.

Besides that, it's hard for me to say.

If I were going to play D&D, I expect there to be a decent amount of combat, to the order of 1 to 3 battles per session. But that's because I think of D&D as the combat RPG out of all the RPGs that my group plays. There are still times when I'd prefer a different system for other reasons. Sometimes I want a combat-centric game, sometimes an investigation game, sometimes social, and so on. Sometimes what I'm reading or watching on TV makes me want to do fantasy, sometimes Lovecraftian, sometimes sci-fi, sometimes something wholly different.

BWR
2018-01-06, 03:37 AM
I want fun, I want setting and characters I can get involved in and a feeling that I matter, even if it's not world-class importance. Things like friends who are decent players/GMs to play with should go without saying, but hearing the horror stories around here, I feel I have to specify.

Honest Tiefling
2018-01-06, 08:01 PM
Clear communication.

I like to think I'm a flexible sort of guy. If a DM is really super set on a particular game type I'm not always into, I think it's polite to give it a try at the very least. And people have their own strengths and weaknesses, and some people are good at things not always within my taste. So I guess my vote is a campaign that plays to a DM's strengths and interests without being too much damn work for them.

One thing I won't compromise on is the issue that Vitruviansquid pointed out. I don't mind meeting new people, but I want to be around people that are fun to be around and I want to be invested in the game. Don't go on your phone, don't play other games, and don't start napping, please. I want to be dedicated to it, I want to get into the game and plaaaaaaay and that doesn't work if others aren't.

Faily
2018-01-06, 10:13 PM
I want to have fun and engage with the other players, IC and OOC. I am one of those people who have a need to get along well with my fellow players on an OOC-level as well, and all the groups I play with have some of the time during sessions dedicated to chatting about RL and other hobbies (sometimes too much).

I like a mix of story-drama (from GM and players alike), puzzles and challenges, dice-rolling, and the occassional pay-off of a certain build. All of these are not nescessary for an entire session, but I like for them to feature in a campaign on the whole.

No-Kill Cleric
2018-01-07, 10:27 AM
I really respond to RP and having influence on the story. If I'm not just a player at the table, but a player in the goings-on in the world, I feel like I make a difference in the campaign. I can deal with dungeon crawls and meat-grinders, but I get bored easily with them since its just dice v. dice.

I REALLY respond to being a Chosen One. Not in every story, but its a huge weakness of mine. My main DM is going to set that up so I'm a Chosen One to be sacrificed to a volcano or something, since we both know I'll fall for it.

Quertus
2018-01-07, 11:18 AM
When you turn up to play d&d, what are you hoping for the game to be like?

What is your ideal gaming experience?

What would my ideal D&D campaign look like? Hmmm...

I suppose I'd be sitting down at a table with 4-14 friends. I'd know the DM(s), know what their style is and what works with it, and trust them to be fair and honest.

The gaming environment would be spacious, and free from excessive distractions. Good lighting, ample table space, and comfortable seating are a must.

Minis would be nice. But speed of setup trumps cool aesthetics here, most of the time.

Ideally, food would be involved - most likely as a meal before and snacks during, although a long session with a meal in the middle can also work.

We would meet regularly, at least once a week, at a time which is convenient for all participants. No-one would be coming off a 16-hour shift and falling asleep at the table, or desperately rushing the end of the session.

We would have established, working rules for what happens when someone can't make it to a session.

The game would not be structured such that any one person is indispensable.

The game would not be a railroad. The players can take the individual plot elements in whatever direction they choose - or even ignore them altogether.

The players and the GM (or at least me and the GM?) would be on similar pages / in sync enough that most if not all plot elements are picked up organically, because they're things that the players would have fun with.

The players and their characters (or at least me and my character?) / the characters and the campaign would be in sync enough to facilitate the above utilization of plot elements. For example, I wouldn't be running Cendur in a campaign that included a 4-hour strategy session as part of the climax of the campaign.

I would be playing a character who fit like a glove. One who I enjoy playing, both mechanics and personality. And/or playing multiple characters simultaneously.

Everyone else at the table would have decent characters that they enjoy, that add to the overall experience of the game.

All rules are allowed, and probably some homebrew is added into the mix.

For the optimal experience, there would be no highly annoying players or characters. No players who are incapable of learning the system. And no PvP.

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As to the content of my ideal campaign?

Memorable recurring NPCs that I care about, consequences of actions.

A cool world to Explore, with well-though-through new elements.

5+ fights per session most days, but the group can enjoy just role-playing sitting around the campfire chatting for an entire session.

Occasional (but Infrequent) Player skill puzzles.

Occasional challenging fights that require tactics or cause player deaths.

Occasional puzzle monsters (which, if the party is having an off day, should be flee-able).

Related to the above, no hard stop single paths, where if the party can't do X, it's game over.

Occasionally encounter an old challenge (combat or otherwise), to demonstrate how we've outgrown it.

Definitive milestones and accomplishments. Including, potentially, failures. Where we can say, not that the story did this, but we did this.

Numerous cool custom items, like a staff that is actually a bean of sunlight frozen in time, a sentient everburning torch, or a sword made of solid ice that is warm to the touch.

I want a game where the PCs come by their influence honest, not one where the gods come down to recruit first level characters for a quest well beyond their capabilities.

I want to form good memories, of the group, the characters, the world, and of the actual campaign itself.