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Choose your own Adventure (New Campaign)

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Herrozerro
Aug 02, 2009 22:27:32 Hey all, just wanted to post my new concept for a campaign but first a little background.

My group is mostly made up of younger players (14-16) and almost all new to roleplaying games in particular. So my current campaign has been going well but lacking in the roleplaying department. Mostly I beleive to the lack of experiance rather then any other factor.

So in order to promote roleplaying I'm taking a sabbatical from my current campaign and taking a totally different approach to the presentation and mechanics of the plot. Taking it back to a concept most of us know and have participated in: Choose your own adventure stories.

The general concept is to give the players a very basic goal, in my new game its to lead an exodus Oregon Trail style. To Make it to a new homeland with as many survivors as possible. But the trick is, at the end of each night I am going to play the "And" game.

For example, the party at the end of the night ends a fight with bandits and they open the next door annnnnd... What do you see?

Asking the players as a group what happens next and sticking to it. No matter if I had anything planned on the other side of the door or not what they agree upon I will replan for the next night. It could be another bunch of bandits looking up from a meal or a dead end or even what seems to be a treasure room.

Now some might think that this would lead to alot of cheese such as "Its the sword of +100 of smiting!" or other things such as that, my first reaction was to think to shoot it down but on second thought sure it could be there. But I still reserve creative rights of what else could be in that room.

Another example would be maybe crossing a desert and at the end of the night they crest a dune annnnnd... What do you see?

What do you think of it?
#2
LordManshoon
Aug 02, 2009 22:34:13
Hey all, just wanted to post my new concept for a campaign but first a little background.

My group is mostly made up of younger players (14-16) and almost all new to roleplaying games in particular. So my current campaign has been going well but lacking in the roleplaying department. Mostly I beleive to the lack of experiance rather then any other factor.

So in order to promote roleplaying I'm taking a sabbatical from my current campaign and taking a totally different approach to the presentation and mechanics of the plot. Taking it back to a concept most of us know and have participated in: Choose your own adventure stories.

The general concept is to give the players a very basic goal, in my new game its to lead an exodus Oregon Trail style. To Make it to a new homeland with as many survivors as possible. But the trick is, at the end of each night I am going to play the "And" game.

For example, the party at the end of the night ends a fight with bandits and they open the next door annnnnd... What do you see?

Asking the players as a group what happens next and sticking to it. No matter if I had anything planned on the other side of the door or not what they agree upon I will replan for the next night. It could be another bunch of bandits looking up from a meal or a dead end or even what seems to be a treasure room.

Now some might think that this would lead to alot of cheese such as "Its the sword of +100 of smiting!" or other things such as that, my first reaction was to think to shoot it down but on second thought sure it could be there. But I still reserve creative rights of what else could be in that room.

Another example would be maybe crossing a desert and at the end of the night they crest a dune annnnnd... What do you see?

What do you think of it?

It's a rather fun idea, but are you prepared for your players to run wild? If there's a disagreement as to what exactly the players are facing/going to do, and it comes down to a group decision, what would happen if tempers began to flare or players felt they were being constantly overruled? Again, it sounds fun, but I'm concerned that it might get out of control.
#3
Herrozerro
Aug 02, 2009 22:47:33
It's a rather fun idea, but are you prepared for your players to run wild? If there's a disagreement as to what exactly the players are facing/going to do, and it comes down to a group decision, what would happen if tempers began to flare or players felt they were being constantly overruled? Again, it sounds fun, but I'm concerned that it might get out of control.

I would agree with you there, and there are players in our group (We have a fairly sized gaming group and me and the other 4e DM split up the players) that I would not try this with. But as I said most of my players are Newbies and Im trying to get them drawn into the joy of roleplaying.

This is also planed to be a Heroic and fairly short (unless the players love it and it might be a permanent game)
#4
garner_adam
Aug 06, 2009 8:00:38 I think I'm missing how this will improve their role playing. How does this help them act out a consistent character behavior?
#5
Herrozerro
Aug 06, 2009 8:55:27
I think I'm missing how this will improve their role playing. How does this help them act out a consistent character behavior?

Its a part of it. Another item I am using is that it will be a closed community and I will assign each PC (working with them) a family and I am naming all the members of the village. Little Timmy Going missing hopefully will be more dramatic when he is your little brother.

What I am Hoping with the choose your own adventure part is that it will draw them into the game a bit more and give them a stake in it. In my current campaign it seems to have been mostly "Where are we going today Mr. DM?" I want put the story more into their hands and encourage them to make it theirs.

So I guess its not to improve "Roleplaying" exactly, but to make it more then just the game we play on Wednesday nights from 5-9.
#6
garner_adam
Aug 06, 2009 9:06:13 I had a shadowrun GM who encouraged self motivation by starting out every other session real slow. He start by saying "You're eating breakfast with your team in a Diner and the waitress seems upset. What do you do?"

We'd call our Johnsons and what not to look for work and we'd get the answering machine. So after awhile we'd figure out things we'd want to do like take care of loose ends with contacts and what not.

Used sparingly this really helped out. Used excessively (yeah I tried) not a good idea. :P

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Herrozerro Aug 02, 2009 22:27:32	Hey all, just wanted to post my new concept for a campaign but first a little background. My group is mostly made up of younger players (14-16) and almost all new to roleplaying games in particular. So my current campaign has been going well but lacking in the roleplaying department. Mostly I beleive to the lack of experiance rather then any other factor. So in order to promote roleplaying I'm taking a sabbatical from my current campaign and taking a totally different approach to the presentation and mechanics of the plot. Taking it back to a concept most of us know and have participated in: Choose your own adventure stories. The general concept is to give the players a very basic goal, in my new game its to lead an exodus Oregon Trail style. To Make it to a new homeland with as many survivors as possible. But the trick is, at the end of each night I am going to play the "And" game. For example, the party at the end of the night ends a fight with bandits and they open the next door annnnnd... What do you see? Asking the players as a group what happens next and sticking to it. No matter if I had anything planned on the other side of the door or not what they agree upon I will replan for the next night. It could be another bunch of bandits looking up from a meal or a dead end or even what seems to be a treasure room. Now some might think that this would lead to alot of cheese such as "Its the sword of +100 of smiting!" or other things such as that, my first reaction was to think to shoot it down but on second thought sure it could be there. But I still reserve creative rights of what else could be in that room. Another example would be maybe crossing a desert and at the end of the night they crest a dune annnnnd... What do you see? What do you think of it?
#2 LordManshoon Aug 02, 2009 22:34:13	Hey all, just wanted to post my new concept for a campaign but first a little background. My group is mostly made up of younger players (14-16) and almost all new to roleplaying games in particular. So my current campaign has been going well but lacking in the roleplaying department. Mostly I beleive to the lack of experiance rather then any other factor. So in order to promote roleplaying I'm taking a sabbatical from my current campaign and taking a totally different approach to the presentation and mechanics of the plot. Taking it back to a concept most of us know and have participated in: Choose your own adventure stories. The general concept is to give the players a very basic goal, in my new game its to lead an exodus Oregon Trail style. To Make it to a new homeland with as many survivors as possible. But the trick is, at the end of each night I am going to play the "And" game. For example, the party at the end of the night ends a fight with bandits and they open the next door annnnnd... What do you see? Asking the players as a group what happens next and sticking to it. No matter if I had anything planned on the other side of the door or not what they agree upon I will replan for the next night. It could be another bunch of bandits looking up from a meal or a dead end or even what seems to be a treasure room. Now some might think that this would lead to alot of cheese such as "Its the sword of +100 of smiting!" or other things such as that, my first reaction was to think to shoot it down but on second thought sure it could be there. But I still reserve creative rights of what else could be in that room. Another example would be maybe crossing a desert and at the end of the night they crest a dune annnnnd... What do you see? What do you think of it? It's a rather fun idea, but are you prepared for your players to run wild? If there's a disagreement as to what exactly the players are facing/going to do, and it comes down to a group decision, what would happen if tempers began to flare or players felt they were being constantly overruled? Again, it sounds fun, but I'm concerned that it might get out of control.
#3 Herrozerro Aug 02, 2009 22:47:33	It's a rather fun idea, but are you prepared for your players to run wild? If there's a disagreement as to what exactly the players are facing/going to do, and it comes down to a group decision, what would happen if tempers began to flare or players felt they were being constantly overruled? Again, it sounds fun, but I'm concerned that it might get out of control. I would agree with you there, and there are players in our group (We have a fairly sized gaming group and me and the other 4e DM split up the players) that I would not try this with. But as I said most of my players are Newbies and Im trying to get them drawn into the joy of roleplaying. This is also planed to be a Heroic and fairly short (unless the players love it and it might be a permanent game)
#4 garner_adam Aug 06, 2009 8:00:38	I think I'm missing how this will improve their role playing. How does this help them act out a consistent character behavior?
#5 Herrozerro Aug 06, 2009 8:55:27	I think I'm missing how this will improve their role playing. How does this help them act out a consistent character behavior? Its a part of it. Another item I am using is that it will be a closed community and I will assign each PC (working with them) a family and I am naming all the members of the village. Little Timmy Going missing hopefully will be more dramatic when he is your little brother. What I am Hoping with the choose your own adventure part is that it will draw them into the game a bit more and give them a stake in it. In my current campaign it seems to have been mostly "Where are we going today Mr. DM?" I want put the story more into their hands and encourage them to make it theirs. So I guess its not to improve "Roleplaying" exactly, but to make it more then just the game we play on Wednesday nights from 5-9.
#6 garner_adam Aug 06, 2009 9:06:13	I had a shadowrun GM who encouraged self motivation by starting out every other session real slow. He start by saying "You're eating breakfast with your team in a Diner and the waitress seems upset. What do you do?" We'd call our Johnsons and what not to look for work and we'd get the answering machine. So after awhile we'd figure out things we'd want to do like take care of loose ends with contacts and what not. Used sparingly this really helped out. Used excessively (yeah I tried) not a good idea. :P