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View Full Version : DM Help Suggestions for running a Mythic Fantasy Campaign (i.e. gods and mortals)?



DiceDiceBaby
2018-05-27, 02:44 AM
Hello everyone!

At first I was making a solo campaign for my wife, but then after a series of humorous and unexpected events, now I am the DM for a 9 PC party with conflicting schedules, and everyone wants it to be a Mythic Campaign, but using D&D gods rather than the traditional mythological ones.

The map has been drawn up, characters have been made. Everyone is new so they all started at level 1. Had a few adventures already and the story is taking shape. Decided to make the world open so that individuals can have their own adventures as individuals and if they "team up" it would be more like a cool crossover episode. Everyone ends up on being at different parts of the map and generally leveling on their own, but it's the same general starting area, so that's okay.

I have a copy of the DMG, and want to be a more "by the book" DM, though I am not averse to Homebrew. I was thinking of using the Blessings/Charms rewards and having the gods take a more active role in the PCs lives once they hit level 4, but I don't want the campaign to be too overpowered or the gods too imposing. I need suggestions for balancing the story a little, and I have a lot of tools at my disposal for that, but don't know how to harmonize it.

We are using a mix of Homebrew monster gods and D&D gods from the Forgotten Realms. The world has little to no access to magic to the common folk. Spellcasters are incredibly rare, and legitimate monsters are terrors to villages and cities. Magic itself is considered a sign from the divine to select few, and these few are considered by the populace to be demigods. Martials can take part in contests of strength and skill to also get high social standing as a favorite of the gods by trial in combat. We have yet to have direct intervention from gods, but angels, demons and lesser deities are starting to make their presence felt in a battle of good versus evil.

My wife is also a fan of magic realism as a genre of fiction, and I've been trying to incorporate elements of that in the campaign, where the blur between magic and mundane are mixed through religious rites, rituals, etc., and since it blurs so well with mythic fantasy.

I'm not new to being a DM. I've hosted one adventure and two solo campaigns. As a PC, I've been under three different DMs already too. But this is my first real attempt to create a world and DM on my own, and it's getting big, so I need some good ideas to keep the campaign moving forward. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Unoriginal
2018-05-27, 04:26 AM
Seems to me like you have some contradicting points. If you have a mythic campaign composed of solo adventurers doing their own things with godly intervention, it kinda has to be in the ultra-powered, gods-are-very-present side of things.

Blessing, Charms and Boons are probably good for what you want to represent.


Words of advice, though, don't do a "Casters are ultra-rare and considered demigods while martials have to compete for the divine to get any recognition". A martial adventurer is *just as* powerful and incredible as a caster, in term of capacities, so it makes no sense that people would consider one a demigod and not the other.

If Joram the Forest Master goes in the forest and kills a giant boar all by himself, it doesn't matter if he did so by shooting fire from his hands or by using a sword. The accomplishment is the same.

Also magical realism is kind of antithetic to "those who can use magic are rare and considered demigods".

DiceDiceBaby
2018-05-27, 04:36 AM
Seems to me like you have some contradicting points.

Which is why I need help sorting it out. :smallsmile:

I appreciate the feedback, thank you! Will consider these points to ponder on...

I don't want my campaign to fall into the trap of doing too much or losing focus.

Unoriginal
2018-05-27, 05:14 AM
I don't want my campaign to fall into the trap of doing too much or losing focus.

Well you're going to have lots of separate people doing their own things in different places, so if you consider it a campaign as a whole, it won't have much focus.

Though I suppose each session will focus on a particular character.


Another advice: set up a calendar, and notes on it what each character does per day. Including the NPCs' important actions.

Doesn't make much sense if in with Player A a Demon does something which impact the whole region, and with Player B the impact is felt despite being three days before that in the chronology (due to Player A having gotten slightly ahead in the timeline due to spending days travelling during the session).

DiceDiceBaby
2018-05-27, 05:55 AM
Another advice: set up a calendar, and notes on it what each character does per day. Including the NPCs' important actions.

Doesn't make much sense if in with Player A a Demon does something which impact the whole region, and with Player B the impact is felt despite being three days before that in the chronology (due to Player A having gotten slightly ahead in the timeline due to spending days travelling during the session).

This part, at least I have covered. I monitor where in the timeline each character's activities happen, and how they affect other stories, so that they feel interconnected somehow. Using a modified Calendar of Harptos.

These are useful tips though. I am thankful for the feedback!