When I played in high school, I always had to be the DM. No one else wanted to do it. I learned what I could from other DMs wherever I met them and from Dragon Magazine, but there was no internet and I didn't get to any cons. My experience among all the DMs I met, and all the articles I read was that a campaign was about a consistent world. You placed your adventures in that framework, and the story that evolved was mostly episodic in nature. You started at the base of designing the world and worked out from there. The map came first, and that allowed you to place adventures and cities in between them so you could link everything. Once you had the map, the rest took care of itself.
What I'm seeing a lot of now is a very different approach to designing a campaign. A predetermined story or theme is the central element. The DMs out there are starting with ideas, and designing adventures around them to allow that players to discover the plot or wrestle with the theme. The map comes last, if it comes at all. It's all about ideas now. Personally, I think this is great.
I always wondered why I couldn't really get my campaigns to feel like a fantasy novel for more than a few adventures at a time, but now it's obvious. If you don't start with a story with villains and a predetermined plot progression, you don't get a fantasy novel experience out of your game. Being a few years older helps make this way more clear too :).
I'm glad I'm taking this perspective with me as I ramp up my gaming. I still want to stick with playing for a while, especially if I can find a group to play with on a regular basis, but I'm starting to lay the framework for a campaign I'd like to run. Yes, I have a story I'd like to tell, and I'm going to tell it at some point. Hopefully whoever plays it out will be as interested in it as I am.
For those making your own campaigns, I'd like to submit the following list of resources to really help you out. These individuals and the material they produce have had a profound impact on my thinking, and provided a wealth of ideas and materials. Agree or disagree with them, they'll get you thinking and that's always a good thing.
Twitter:
- @DreadGazeebo
- @SaveVersusDeath
- @ThadeousC
- @Jelmore
- @DeadOrcs
- @TheAngryDM
- @d20monkey
- @SlyFlourish
- @CriticalHits
- @MikeMearls
- @Christulach
- @aquelajames
- @BruceCordell
- @direflail
- @DMSamuel
- @chattydm
- @Gamefiend
- @LoganBonner
- @Matt_James_RPG
- @Trollitc
- @newbiedm
- @Davethegame
- @Bartoneous
- @SarahDarkmagic
- @Gregbilsland
- @ChrisSSims
Web Resources
- http://www.obsidianportal.com/ - Awesome campaign design site
Blogs....There are really too many to list. Many of those I've mentioned on twitter have their own blog. Read them (just do it! :) ).
Those folks are great twitter resources and my old campaign loved obsidian portal, not all of the players were involved on it, but it was still nice for those of us who used it.
ReplyDelete