Campaigning style? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Campaigning style? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Wazdakka
05-29-07, 11:12 PM Sorry for the confusing thread title, but I have a rather perplexing issue that I've been considering. they say there is no one right way to play D&D. This is not about style of the campaign (hacknslash, mystery, etc). rather, this is how a campaign is played.

Now, there seem to be two kinds of "Campaigning". The first kind is, if anything, a series of linked adventures with the same characters over different sessions. For example, in one session they are in the town of silverton fighting the Rat king's Minions in the mines. At the end of the adventure, they are told where they go next, or, if foreshadowed in some way, are given an option of which adventure "thread" to follow. ("now that you have defeated the rat king and his minions, you could go to the next large town of beville, of which those coins in his treasure chest were stamped, or you could follow the treasure map that you found, which was hidden in the chest as well "). Both of these options leads down its own path that progresses the story in the form of "Dungeon of the week", yet continues to build a story arc of some kind. The DM advice in the book "DMing for dummies" Suggest that this is how campaigns are played out.

The Second type of trans-session campaigning will be called, for our sakes, the "Open-ended world campaign" also known as the "Sandbox", or "Pen and Paper Elder Scrolls" campaign. In this form, the world doesn't expand as the adventures play out. Rather, the entire world is completely and intricately detailed, based on the knowledge that the PCs can go wherever they want. every NPC, forest inhabatints, monster, dungeon/underground area, City, kingdom, road network itsy bitsy little thorpe/hamlet/village not seen in a campaign gazeteer, is completely fleshed out. there are different story arcs they can take, "Sidequests" and odd jobs they can pick up, and kingdoms, if high enough level, they can plan to take over without instructing the DM at the end of the adventure that their next stop is the kingdom's capital, where they can kill the leader and become Il Duci of faerun/greyhawk/homebrewed campaign setting. when DM advice is given out in the DMG, they seem to refer to this style of campaigning

Now, don't get me wrong, im a very lenient DM, and realize the game is about the player's story in the world, not the one I set out. otherwise, you might as well make a computer RPG of it. choice is what makes Table-top RPGs so special, and why they have yet to be completely phased out by consoles and computers. you don't try to play "Baldur's gate", limitations and all, on a table. that is what the computer game is for! also, I fail miserably at world building. I can't plan out the countries and kingdoms, let alone the terrain of the land or even a single continent. Thus, the "Series of adventures with choices of which thread to follow at the end", is far more manageble for me, as I fail at improvanisation, and it gives me time to slowly flesh out the campaign setting. my player's play a lot of Computer RPGs, and expect the limitations I bring them, knowing full well it's humanly impossible for me to give them "Grand Theft Auto: homebrewed campaign setting". everything changed when They found and began playing the elder scrolls series, starting with morrowind and moving on to oblivion:

Me starting the campaign, narrating where they are and how they got here:
Okay, so you've come to town x, hearing rumors of y, and z plot hook comes up to you (expecting they'll choose it, as there are no other threads to follow).

Player A: hmm, well, let's explore the world!

Player B: yeah, we can come back to this later if we need the xp, let's go leave the town. there are other towns right?

DM (Me): uhh, yeah, but right now you-

Player C: Sweet, let's go discover all the towns and countries, every dungeon hidden off the beaten track, every quest-giving NPC, every nook and cranny of your fully developed, exciting world, waiting for us to explore!

Player D: yeah, we can go kill the king/whateverincharge and become rulers of the land, and wage war and upgrade towns and launch wars on other kingdoms.

Player B: yeah, all on that gorgeous 1 hex= 8 miles world map you probably have tucked away behind there!

Player A: alright, we've agreed to leave the town south. travelling through the first hex, till we get to the third hex, a full 24 mile day of travel, where are we, and what do we see? are there any random encounters?

DM::eek: ... :confused: ... :weep:

I had to explain to them that I was not a tabletop version of elder scrolls, and would post on the wizards board to see what others thought.

anyways, I was wondering which of the two styles of campaigning the denizens of the board consider the proper style, and any advice you guys could give me on the conundrum I'm in.

Thank you.
weasel0
05-29-07, 11:28 PM I boil down to the dungeon of the week(or in the current case, Dungeon floor of the month: World's Largest Dungeon module). But to help them get the idea, run them over a few times with powerful enemies that could be defeated if they ran your already fleshed out dungeon. The trick is to getting them to think they thought of it. ;)
Salla
05-29-07, 11:34 PM The only wrong way of gaming is the way of no fun.
Crimson_Concerto
05-29-07, 11:42 PM MY players and I personally prefer the first style you talked about, linking many encounters and adventures together into a single whole. We usually play WoW for the second type, but so long as you're all having fun, that's what's most important.
Kaldric
05-30-07, 03:00 AM I ask the players to tell me a week in advance if they plan to explore a new area of my campaign world. Gives me time to drop in some hooks and whatnot.

If your adventure ends early in the session, and the players want to randomly strike out in a search for adventure, then there are many ways to stall for time. Downtime is something that adds a dimension to D&D that is sometimes overlooked. Players can eat up session time creating spells, training mounts, visiting the relatives, making magic items, equipping themselves for an extended journey, all sorts of stuff.

If they just want to set out without warning you, in a random direction, start rolling on the random encounter tables for the terrain they're crossing. A couple random encounters will likely finish out the session, and give you time to prepare something for next week.

If you like to use prepared adventures, your own or published modules, then set up multiple hooks and establish multiple settings for them. Maybe the Tomb of Horrors they've never heard of is in the Vast Swamp. But then again, maybe it's in Hex G4, which they just happened to randomly walk into.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Wazdakka 05-29-07, 11:12 PM	Sorry for the confusing thread title, but I have a rather perplexing issue that I've been considering. they say there is no one right way to play D&D. This is not about style of the campaign (hacknslash, mystery, etc). rather, this is how a campaign is played. Now, there seem to be two kinds of "Campaigning". The first kind is, if anything, a series of linked adventures with the same characters over different sessions. For example, in one session they are in the town of silverton fighting the Rat king's Minions in the mines. At the end of the adventure, they are told where they go next, or, if foreshadowed in some way, are given an option of which adventure "thread" to follow. ("now that you have defeated the rat king and his minions, you could go to the next large town of beville, of which those coins in his treasure chest were stamped, or you could follow the treasure map that you found, which was hidden in the chest as well "). Both of these options leads down its own path that progresses the story in the form of "Dungeon of the week", yet continues to build a story arc of some kind. The DM advice in the book "DMing for dummies" Suggest that this is how campaigns are played out. The Second type of trans-session campaigning will be called, for our sakes, the "Open-ended world campaign" also known as the "Sandbox", or "Pen and Paper Elder Scrolls" campaign. In this form, the world doesn't expand as the adventures play out. Rather, the entire world is completely and intricately detailed, based on the knowledge that the PCs can go wherever they want. every NPC, forest inhabatints, monster, dungeon/underground area, City, kingdom, road network itsy bitsy little thorpe/hamlet/village not seen in a campaign gazeteer, is completely fleshed out. there are different story arcs they can take, "Sidequests" and odd jobs they can pick up, and kingdoms, if high enough level, they can plan to take over without instructing the DM at the end of the adventure that their next stop is the kingdom's capital, where they can kill the leader and become Il Duci of faerun/greyhawk/homebrewed campaign setting. when DM advice is given out in the DMG, they seem to refer to this style of campaigning Now, don't get me wrong, im a very lenient DM, and realize the game is about the player's story in the world, not the one I set out. otherwise, you might as well make a computer RPG of it. choice is what makes Table-top RPGs so special, and why they have yet to be completely phased out by consoles and computers. you don't try to play "Baldur's gate", limitations and all, on a table. that is what the computer game is for! also, I fail miserably at world building. I can't plan out the countries and kingdoms, let alone the terrain of the land or even a single continent. Thus, the "Series of adventures with choices of which thread to follow at the end", is far more manageble for me, as I fail at improvanisation, and it gives me time to slowly flesh out the campaign setting. my player's play a lot of Computer RPGs, and expect the limitations I bring them, knowing full well it's humanly impossible for me to give them "Grand Theft Auto: homebrewed campaign setting". everything changed when They found and began playing the elder scrolls series, starting with morrowind and moving on to oblivion: Me starting the campaign, narrating where they are and how they got here: Okay, so you've come to town x, hearing rumors of y, and z plot hook comes up to you (expecting they'll choose it, as there are no other threads to follow). Player A: hmm, well, let's explore the world! Player B: yeah, we can come back to this later if we need the xp, let's go leave the town. there are other towns right? DM (Me): uhh, yeah, but right now you- Player C: Sweet, let's go discover all the towns and countries, every dungeon hidden off the beaten track, every quest-giving NPC, every nook and cranny of your fully developed, exciting world, waiting for us to explore! Player D: yeah, we can go kill the king/whateverincharge and become rulers of the land, and wage war and upgrade towns and launch wars on other kingdoms. Player B: yeah, all on that gorgeous 1 hex= 8 miles world map you probably have tucked away behind there! Player A: alright, we've agreed to leave the town south. travelling through the first hex, till we get to the third hex, a full 24 mile day of travel, where are we, and what do we see? are there any random encounters? DM::eek: ... :confused: ... :weep: I had to explain to them that I was not a tabletop version of elder scrolls, and would post on the wizards board to see what others thought. anyways, I was wondering which of the two styles of campaigning the denizens of the board consider the proper style, and any advice you guys could give me on the conundrum I'm in. Thank you.
weasel0 05-29-07, 11:28 PM	I boil down to the dungeon of the week(or in the current case, Dungeon floor of the month: World's Largest Dungeon module). But to help them get the idea, run them over a few times with powerful enemies that could be defeated if they ran your already fleshed out dungeon. The trick is to getting them to think they thought of it. ;)
Salla 05-29-07, 11:34 PM	The only wrong way of gaming is the way of no fun.
Crimson_Concerto 05-29-07, 11:42 PM	MY players and I personally prefer the first style you talked about, linking many encounters and adventures together into a single whole. We usually play WoW for the second type, but so long as you're all having fun, that's what's most important.
Kaldric 05-30-07, 03:00 AM	I ask the players to tell me a week in advance if they plan to explore a new area of my campaign world. Gives me time to drop in some hooks and whatnot. If your adventure ends early in the session, and the players want to randomly strike out in a search for adventure, then there are many ways to stall for time. Downtime is something that adds a dimension to D&D that is sometimes overlooked. Players can eat up session time creating spells, training mounts, visiting the relatives, making magic items, equipping themselves for an extended journey, all sorts of stuff. If they just want to set out without warning you, in a random direction, start rolling on the random encounter tables for the terrain they're crossing. A couple random encounters will likely finish out the session, and give you time to prepare something for next week. If you like to use prepared adventures, your own or published modules, then set up multiple hooks and establish multiple settings for them. Maybe the Tomb of Horrors they've never heard of is in the Vast Swamp. But then again, maybe it's in Hex G4, which they just happened to randomly walk into.