Any Sugestions? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Any Sugestions? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Lord_Cerventes
05-06-07, 06:16 PM Hello. I am a fairly new DM (about 4 months) and the campaign i was running has just finished. All of the PCs really enjoyed it and want me to start a new campaign. My idea was to create a large island on witch the whole story will happen and the PCs will be free to roam. It will have all maners of quests in all maners of places and depending on what the PCs do, the land and people will change. As you can see, i am not planning any dominant story because i want it to be completely PC driven. I'm just worried that they might not take the initiative to move the story along. IMO I "Rail Roaded" to much last time but i'm not sure how to antisipate the PCs actions. Does anyone have ANY suggestions on how to run such a campaign or how to let the PCs run the story without it falling apart?

Thanks
KillerGM
05-06-07, 06:32 PM There is a delicate balance between not railroading and not running a game.

My suggestion is to populate the island with groups with their own agendas.

The world shouldn't just sit and wait for the PCs to interact with it.

Always have stories in the wings, for those games that the players don't feel like initiating anything, or are overwhelmed with choices.

Also, you should start with small, episodic adventures so that the players can get a feel for the world and get ideas on how to initiate stories themselves. It can be really hard for players to want to do anything when they don't really know anything about the world - it becomes very "meta", because the PCs wants become independent of the world they're in.

It's best to have little stories, not long over-arching epic tales, if you want a PC-driven game. Little, episodic games allow players to have a set goal (or mcguffin) to feel good about accomplishing, but also give them the freedom to move where they want about the story.

Hope it helps! :D
trapspringer
05-06-07, 07:41 PM Agree. There is nothing wrong with a healthy (cattle) prod in the right direction when the party slacks off in the initiative department.

After all, in a legitimately dynamic world, the villians aren't going to sit around in their castles waiting for the PCs to come kill them. They wouldn't need killing if that was their M.O.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lord_Cerventes 05-06-07, 06:16 PM	Hello. I am a fairly new DM (about 4 months) and the campaign i was running has just finished. All of the PCs really enjoyed it and want me to start a new campaign. My idea was to create a large island on witch the whole story will happen and the PCs will be free to roam. It will have all maners of quests in all maners of places and depending on what the PCs do, the land and people will change. As you can see, i am not planning any dominant story because i want it to be completely PC driven. I'm just worried that they might not take the initiative to move the story along. IMO I "Rail Roaded" to much last time but i'm not sure how to antisipate the PCs actions. Does anyone have ANY suggestions on how to run such a campaign or how to let the PCs run the story without it falling apart? Thanks
KillerGM 05-06-07, 06:32 PM	There is a delicate balance between not railroading and not running a game. My suggestion is to populate the island with groups with their own agendas. The world shouldn't just sit and wait for the PCs to interact with it. Always have stories in the wings, for those games that the players don't feel like initiating anything, or are overwhelmed with choices. Also, you should start with small, episodic adventures so that the players can get a feel for the world and get ideas on how to initiate stories themselves. It can be really hard for players to want to do anything when they don't really know anything about the world - it becomes very "meta", because the PCs wants become independent of the world they're in. It's best to have little stories, not long over-arching epic tales, if you want a PC-driven game. Little, episodic games allow players to have a set goal (or mcguffin) to feel good about accomplishing, but also give them the freedom to move where they want about the story. Hope it helps! :D
trapspringer 05-06-07, 07:41 PM	Agree. There is nothing wrong with a healthy (cattle) prod in the right direction when the party slacks off in the initiative department. After all, in a legitimately dynamic world, the villians aren't going to sit around in their castles waiting for the PCs to come kill them. They wouldn't need killing if that was their M.O.