Dusklight
2019-11-05, 12:08 AM
I would consider myself to be a veteran DM. I've ran dozens of campaigns since 3rd Edition, some of which spanned from level 1 to 20. I've recently taken on the most challenging game I've ever ran.
The challenge comes from this campaign being entirely DESIGNED for my uncle, who is starting to have early signs of memory loss (we have a family history of Alzheimer's). To make this an enjoyable experience for him, many conceits had to be made which create challenges:
1. The campaign must take place in a single location and be seen on a single map. I've chosen a forest with a newly formed town in the middle to act as a base camp for the party.
2. There cannot be more than 8 named NPCs in the world (including the villains). This means each NPC must be highly detailed and deep with a memorable backstory and role.
3. He insists on 4th Edition. I've got nothing against 4e, I've had fun with it but I'm more comfortable in 5e. I believe he favors it because of the power cards, it makes the decision tree on what he can do in a turn and what his abilities are more manageable.
4. He insists on leveling up every session. He wants to experience as much of the game as possible and always get new and exciting abilities. I've eliminated XP and instead have all players level up to the "party" level each session.
5. We are all adults with busy schedules, our party size varies between 3 to 8 players depending who can make it that day. Sometimes players show up late or leave early. I'm never sure how many players will be in an encounter. When players aren't there, their characters make an excuse and go back to town.
6. He's an instigator (per the D&D player types). He likes picking something cool I drew on the map and going their this session to see what he can find, disregarding any plot hooks I threw. Yet, almost half the party are Storytellers who want rich lore and backstory behind everything they encounter to preserve their immersion.
As a result of all this, I regularly don't know where the party is headed, who will be in the party when they leave, what level they will be, and if the whole party will have changed by the time they get there. Despite this, everything in the world needs to be grounded with a logical reason for being there and lore behind it. The few NPCs I have must be deep and complex but also easily memorable.
My map must be diverse and interesting, able to support a campaign from level 1 to 30, but be small enough for characters to walk to and from town within a day. My campaign can only ever have up to 30 sessions and must provide closure for the storytellers while being an open sandbox for the instigators (there are multiple).
But, hardest of all, I have to deal with 4th Edition treasure packets... for an ever changing party that levels every session. Ask anyone who's DM'ed 4th Edition what that is like...
Yet, I seem to be succeeding. Currently at Level 6 (6 sessions played) and everyone is loving it. He forgets a lot of the plot points but doesn't feel lost because they don't actually matter. The lore is optional and it works for everyone. It might actually be one of the most interesting games I've ever run. Anyone else run a game like this?
---
As a side-note, here's some of the party. I tend to picture this campaign in my head with an art-style akin to a late 90s-early 2000s Saturday morning cartoon:
- Tiefling Sorcerer - Craving wealth and power, wants to name everything the party finds (my uncle).
- Revenant (Elf) Swarm Druid - Giant mass of insects that devoured the corpse of this long dead elf who now animates them with his will in an effort to take vengeance on the one who killed him.
- Dwarf Artificer - Massively overweight and is continually eating, even in combat. (1st time D&D player).
- Pixie Paladin wearing a teapot as armor riding a Corgy as a mount - Psychotic fey prankster who has decided that he is engaged in a war against the squirrels. Squirrels represent the spread of civilization and the fall of nature, they must be killed.
- Drow Rogue named "Death Shadow" - Edgelord stone cold killer who loves to loot more than anything else. The player often arrives late so the character often stealths away from the party.
- Halfling Bard - Part of a travelling musical troupe who has the Tiefling Sorcerer as their manager. He's in jail waiting for his manager to make bail but the manager keeps forgetting about it and spends all the cash. The player has been absent a lot.
- Human Monk - Quickly left the party when he realized he was surrounded by crazy people.
The challenge comes from this campaign being entirely DESIGNED for my uncle, who is starting to have early signs of memory loss (we have a family history of Alzheimer's). To make this an enjoyable experience for him, many conceits had to be made which create challenges:
1. The campaign must take place in a single location and be seen on a single map. I've chosen a forest with a newly formed town in the middle to act as a base camp for the party.
2. There cannot be more than 8 named NPCs in the world (including the villains). This means each NPC must be highly detailed and deep with a memorable backstory and role.
3. He insists on 4th Edition. I've got nothing against 4e, I've had fun with it but I'm more comfortable in 5e. I believe he favors it because of the power cards, it makes the decision tree on what he can do in a turn and what his abilities are more manageable.
4. He insists on leveling up every session. He wants to experience as much of the game as possible and always get new and exciting abilities. I've eliminated XP and instead have all players level up to the "party" level each session.
5. We are all adults with busy schedules, our party size varies between 3 to 8 players depending who can make it that day. Sometimes players show up late or leave early. I'm never sure how many players will be in an encounter. When players aren't there, their characters make an excuse and go back to town.
6. He's an instigator (per the D&D player types). He likes picking something cool I drew on the map and going their this session to see what he can find, disregarding any plot hooks I threw. Yet, almost half the party are Storytellers who want rich lore and backstory behind everything they encounter to preserve their immersion.
As a result of all this, I regularly don't know where the party is headed, who will be in the party when they leave, what level they will be, and if the whole party will have changed by the time they get there. Despite this, everything in the world needs to be grounded with a logical reason for being there and lore behind it. The few NPCs I have must be deep and complex but also easily memorable.
My map must be diverse and interesting, able to support a campaign from level 1 to 30, but be small enough for characters to walk to and from town within a day. My campaign can only ever have up to 30 sessions and must provide closure for the storytellers while being an open sandbox for the instigators (there are multiple).
But, hardest of all, I have to deal with 4th Edition treasure packets... for an ever changing party that levels every session. Ask anyone who's DM'ed 4th Edition what that is like...
Yet, I seem to be succeeding. Currently at Level 6 (6 sessions played) and everyone is loving it. He forgets a lot of the plot points but doesn't feel lost because they don't actually matter. The lore is optional and it works for everyone. It might actually be one of the most interesting games I've ever run. Anyone else run a game like this?
---
As a side-note, here's some of the party. I tend to picture this campaign in my head with an art-style akin to a late 90s-early 2000s Saturday morning cartoon:
- Tiefling Sorcerer - Craving wealth and power, wants to name everything the party finds (my uncle).
- Revenant (Elf) Swarm Druid - Giant mass of insects that devoured the corpse of this long dead elf who now animates them with his will in an effort to take vengeance on the one who killed him.
- Dwarf Artificer - Massively overweight and is continually eating, even in combat. (1st time D&D player).
- Pixie Paladin wearing a teapot as armor riding a Corgy as a mount - Psychotic fey prankster who has decided that he is engaged in a war against the squirrels. Squirrels represent the spread of civilization and the fall of nature, they must be killed.
- Drow Rogue named "Death Shadow" - Edgelord stone cold killer who loves to loot more than anything else. The player often arrives late so the character often stealths away from the party.
- Halfling Bard - Part of a travelling musical troupe who has the Tiefling Sorcerer as their manager. He's in jail waiting for his manager to make bail but the manager keeps forgetting about it and spends all the cash. The player has been absent a lot.
- Human Monk - Quickly left the party when he realized he was surrounded by crazy people.