Furbitor
04-20-2009, 09:48 AM
I seek today to perhaps give our game devolpers a little boost, a helping hand sort of thing.
Perhaps I am being overly cynical when I see our new content of late following a set pattern. So I went out into the internent to seek tomes of wisdom greater than my own, from sage Dungeonmasters who been at it for decades.
I was looking for help in what makes a good or great campaign.... or quest.
I believe are my long search I found such a tome, scribed into exsistence by a DungeonMaster Yax into a arcane .pdf document. Spending many cold nights under a Yeti's hide while running water drips on me I was able to decypher this crusty Tome.
Seeking Further Knowledge, I contact this sage being and obtained permmission to post some to all his years of effort in the forum, as Long as I gave credit where due and a link to his website. This tome is free... to all that wish to study it, brief, for all such things are better when less is more...
and available here:
http://www.dungeonmastering.com/campaigns-adventures/instant-campaign-builder-official-release
I have spoken about the bane of the linear-map quest design. Please look upon this wisdom:
Improvisation
The tools and tips described in the Instant Campaign Builder Project can only
be used successfully by a dungeon master willing to improvise... A lot!
Your D&D game will become more unpredictable, entertaining
Going with the flow and making stuff up on the fly is a good thing. I believe
that it is beneficial to a D&D campaign. If you can keep the quality of
improvised scenes high it should make your players feel like their characters
can do anything and go anywhere. The gaming experience is definitely
enhanced.
The DM’s paradox: prepare for improvisation
As paradoxal as it may seem improvisation can be prepared! I personally
improvise anywhere from 0% to 100% of any given D&D game depending
on what my unpredictable players decide to do. I must admit that sometimes
they will notice that I improvise but only when I don’t follow my own advice
(nobody’s perfect!).
So here are some handy tips to keep your campaign railroad free and your
players impressed.
How to make improvization seem planned in 14 easy steps
1. Extra maps
• Print random maps and floorplans. If the PCs veer off-course you
can use your spare maps as a foundation for the unexpected
direction the players chose. Here is a link to 387 free D&D maps.
You can also use a random dungeon generator. I like Jamis Buck’s
dungeon generator.
{Furb sez :Random maps... Inside quests that give us multiple paths to move explore and adventure. Any quest can be fitted with a several paths that branch off the "main" path, but return to the final goal, and they can be outfitted with varying monstertypes and obstacles.. }
2. Name list
• Print a long list of random names for NPCs that you have to create
and introduce during the game. You can come up with names
yourself but if you don’t feel like spending the mental energy you
have other options. For a ridiculously long list of names you can
check out a baby names website. You can also use WotC’s name
generator for more fantasy targeted names.
{Furb sez: Random npcs? Sure! why not? anything that means sameoldsameold is doomed... and really, why cant we hunt down those pesky npcs once in a while instead of them being nailed to one location?}
3. Geographic locations list
• Print a list of geographic location names. To come up with such
names, look up a world map - yes, the real world - or use any
random name. I often use professional athletes names for places.
It’s a trick I picked up from one of my first DMs who had our
characters explore the Bagwell Tower (Check out Jeff Bagwell’s
statistics). In my current game, some of the action took place on
the shores of the Ovechkin Sea (Alexander Ovechkin’s career
stats). This works better if your players don’t like sports!
{Furb sez: I must admit my head hurts thinking about this wisdom. it for now must be of limited use or for those with greater powers than myself. Skip!}
Business list
• Print a list of random fantasy business names from Hack Slash. A
good name makes every random inn or shop the PCs visit seem
more important.
{Furb sez: A name of a shop doesnt seem to bother me much, but what I see is random inns and shops! Perhaps the concept of a shop that come and goes.. teleporting itself to different locals... making us hunt the wares of the elusive shopkeeper)
Think in scenes
• You can divide your games in scenes. An encounter is usually a
scene. For each scene you should have a beginning that hooks the
characters into the scene, a middle where information and clues
are gathered, or monsters fought, a climax, and then an ending. If
your players opt for unexpected destinations you can still use a
hook or scene resolution idea from scenes that haven’t been
played out yet. You can then redesign the scenes from which you
borrowed material later.
• More on scenes on page 23.
{Furb sez: What a boon! Our current quests are already scenes. Now if only we can have unexpected destinations to go to.. or something that really makes us run it again and again!}
Extra encounters
• Read about 1 or 2 monsters in the Monster Manual and bookmark
the page(s). If an unexpected scene calls for an encounter you can
easily throw a creature at the party. If the creature you had chosen
doesn’t quite fit the situation, just change the appearance of the
creature and keep the stats. That way you don’t have to research a
new monster during the game.
{Furb sez: Holy cow my pally friend!! Random mobs or even random rares! and even Level adjusted for the quest!}
7. Outline
• Having a clear outline of your whole campaign will help you
improvise because you can base your decisions on the big picture.
A good campaign outline will allow you to improvise better
between the major events in the campaign - even if the characters
are not acting as expected.
8. Side quests
• Having a side quest ready will give your players the feeling that
they can follow any lead and find a well prepared DM. I often
used pre-made adventures for side-quests. Here is a list of 83 free
D&D adventures.
{Furb sez: having a deep pool of prefabricated maps used for sidequests or pathing of a main quest, to be randomly selected will give the playerbase a new gaming experience each and every time they enter a dungeon. Use free maps available online or anywhere! it would take no time to code it in for the extensive pre-fab quest sectons to piece them together. just simply add the random spawnpoints and or loot -quest items.}
9. Give players loot
• My players are suckers for loot. It will take their minds off the
details of the adventure for a few minutes. I personally roll
treasure at random after encounters - and that takes very little
preparation!
{Furb Sez: LOOT!!! Loot appropiate to level would be a huge hit.}
10. Quirky NPCs
• Quirky, well-roleplayed, and unique NPCs hint at goodpreparation by the DM. Keep a list of NPC quirks handy.
Anything will do: Excessive good humor, always mumbling,
annoying vocal habit. The point is not to win an oscar. Johnn Four
from RP Tips wrote this great article on NPC quirks that lists 40
NPC quirks. You should print that list.
11. Take notes so you don’t forget
• It’s easy to forget stuff you haven’t really planned. Being a note
fiend is a good thing.
12. Extra traps
• This is not my area of expertise. I keep a sourcebook called Book
of challenges handy for improvized traps but I rarely use it. Pitting
the characters against an elaborate trap can keep them busy
though.
13. Plant info on the fly
• If you have a good idea of where your campaign is heading you
should be able to plant clues that will help the characters achieve
their main objective. You can plant information that you know will
be useful only at the very end of the campaign if the opportunity
arises. If your players have a good memory and take good notes,
they could use that planted clue 5 or 6 games later and be very
impressed by your DMing skills. More on planting on page 28.
{Furb sez: Quest that need info? I cant just smash and grab?
How about quest need to have items collected, and use them too? Like the runes in tempest spine, they arent just options, they have become nesscessities. putting in more thing to do collect and hunt, with obscure or obvious help to the party, so they can be spawned into the random locals of the multi-path dungeon, will enhance gameplay.}
14. Take a break
• Something utterly unpredictable happened? Take a break and
organize your thoughts. It’s not ideal for the gameflow but it sure
beats looking unprepared.
Reader Suggestions – Jill Seal says:
One further step I’ve found useful. As soon as possible after the end of the
game session I go through my notes and work out whether the improvised
people, places, and objects could have a deeper relevance. Can I weave them
more tightly into the story? Did the players come up with ideas about them
that I can decide are true? Is there anything that needs to be elaborated or
decided on?
{Furb sez: break? you don't need no stinking break back to work!!!}
and this is just some of the bits and pieces of wisdom I found in this tome... I can only pray that any Dev working in DDO will take the 5 to ten minutes out of his day to read this free document. It can only mean the betterment of us all.
http://www.dungeonmastering.com/campaigns-adventures/instant-campaign-builder-official-release
Perhaps I am being overly cynical when I see our new content of late following a set pattern. So I went out into the internent to seek tomes of wisdom greater than my own, from sage Dungeonmasters who been at it for decades.
I was looking for help in what makes a good or great campaign.... or quest.
I believe are my long search I found such a tome, scribed into exsistence by a DungeonMaster Yax into a arcane .pdf document. Spending many cold nights under a Yeti's hide while running water drips on me I was able to decypher this crusty Tome.
Seeking Further Knowledge, I contact this sage being and obtained permmission to post some to all his years of effort in the forum, as Long as I gave credit where due and a link to his website. This tome is free... to all that wish to study it, brief, for all such things are better when less is more...
and available here:
http://www.dungeonmastering.com/campaigns-adventures/instant-campaign-builder-official-release
I have spoken about the bane of the linear-map quest design. Please look upon this wisdom:
Improvisation
The tools and tips described in the Instant Campaign Builder Project can only
be used successfully by a dungeon master willing to improvise... A lot!
Your D&D game will become more unpredictable, entertaining
Going with the flow and making stuff up on the fly is a good thing. I believe
that it is beneficial to a D&D campaign. If you can keep the quality of
improvised scenes high it should make your players feel like their characters
can do anything and go anywhere. The gaming experience is definitely
enhanced.
The DM’s paradox: prepare for improvisation
As paradoxal as it may seem improvisation can be prepared! I personally
improvise anywhere from 0% to 100% of any given D&D game depending
on what my unpredictable players decide to do. I must admit that sometimes
they will notice that I improvise but only when I don’t follow my own advice
(nobody’s perfect!).
So here are some handy tips to keep your campaign railroad free and your
players impressed.
How to make improvization seem planned in 14 easy steps
1. Extra maps
• Print random maps and floorplans. If the PCs veer off-course you
can use your spare maps as a foundation for the unexpected
direction the players chose. Here is a link to 387 free D&D maps.
You can also use a random dungeon generator. I like Jamis Buck’s
dungeon generator.
{Furb sez :Random maps... Inside quests that give us multiple paths to move explore and adventure. Any quest can be fitted with a several paths that branch off the "main" path, but return to the final goal, and they can be outfitted with varying monstertypes and obstacles.. }
2. Name list
• Print a long list of random names for NPCs that you have to create
and introduce during the game. You can come up with names
yourself but if you don’t feel like spending the mental energy you
have other options. For a ridiculously long list of names you can
check out a baby names website. You can also use WotC’s name
generator for more fantasy targeted names.
{Furb sez: Random npcs? Sure! why not? anything that means sameoldsameold is doomed... and really, why cant we hunt down those pesky npcs once in a while instead of them being nailed to one location?}
3. Geographic locations list
• Print a list of geographic location names. To come up with such
names, look up a world map - yes, the real world - or use any
random name. I often use professional athletes names for places.
It’s a trick I picked up from one of my first DMs who had our
characters explore the Bagwell Tower (Check out Jeff Bagwell’s
statistics). In my current game, some of the action took place on
the shores of the Ovechkin Sea (Alexander Ovechkin’s career
stats). This works better if your players don’t like sports!
{Furb sez: I must admit my head hurts thinking about this wisdom. it for now must be of limited use or for those with greater powers than myself. Skip!}
Business list
• Print a list of random fantasy business names from Hack Slash. A
good name makes every random inn or shop the PCs visit seem
more important.
{Furb sez: A name of a shop doesnt seem to bother me much, but what I see is random inns and shops! Perhaps the concept of a shop that come and goes.. teleporting itself to different locals... making us hunt the wares of the elusive shopkeeper)
Think in scenes
• You can divide your games in scenes. An encounter is usually a
scene. For each scene you should have a beginning that hooks the
characters into the scene, a middle where information and clues
are gathered, or monsters fought, a climax, and then an ending. If
your players opt for unexpected destinations you can still use a
hook or scene resolution idea from scenes that haven’t been
played out yet. You can then redesign the scenes from which you
borrowed material later.
• More on scenes on page 23.
{Furb sez: What a boon! Our current quests are already scenes. Now if only we can have unexpected destinations to go to.. or something that really makes us run it again and again!}
Extra encounters
• Read about 1 or 2 monsters in the Monster Manual and bookmark
the page(s). If an unexpected scene calls for an encounter you can
easily throw a creature at the party. If the creature you had chosen
doesn’t quite fit the situation, just change the appearance of the
creature and keep the stats. That way you don’t have to research a
new monster during the game.
{Furb sez: Holy cow my pally friend!! Random mobs or even random rares! and even Level adjusted for the quest!}
7. Outline
• Having a clear outline of your whole campaign will help you
improvise because you can base your decisions on the big picture.
A good campaign outline will allow you to improvise better
between the major events in the campaign - even if the characters
are not acting as expected.
8. Side quests
• Having a side quest ready will give your players the feeling that
they can follow any lead and find a well prepared DM. I often
used pre-made adventures for side-quests. Here is a list of 83 free
D&D adventures.
{Furb sez: having a deep pool of prefabricated maps used for sidequests or pathing of a main quest, to be randomly selected will give the playerbase a new gaming experience each and every time they enter a dungeon. Use free maps available online or anywhere! it would take no time to code it in for the extensive pre-fab quest sectons to piece them together. just simply add the random spawnpoints and or loot -quest items.}
9. Give players loot
• My players are suckers for loot. It will take their minds off the
details of the adventure for a few minutes. I personally roll
treasure at random after encounters - and that takes very little
preparation!
{Furb Sez: LOOT!!! Loot appropiate to level would be a huge hit.}
10. Quirky NPCs
• Quirky, well-roleplayed, and unique NPCs hint at goodpreparation by the DM. Keep a list of NPC quirks handy.
Anything will do: Excessive good humor, always mumbling,
annoying vocal habit. The point is not to win an oscar. Johnn Four
from RP Tips wrote this great article on NPC quirks that lists 40
NPC quirks. You should print that list.
11. Take notes so you don’t forget
• It’s easy to forget stuff you haven’t really planned. Being a note
fiend is a good thing.
12. Extra traps
• This is not my area of expertise. I keep a sourcebook called Book
of challenges handy for improvized traps but I rarely use it. Pitting
the characters against an elaborate trap can keep them busy
though.
13. Plant info on the fly
• If you have a good idea of where your campaign is heading you
should be able to plant clues that will help the characters achieve
their main objective. You can plant information that you know will
be useful only at the very end of the campaign if the opportunity
arises. If your players have a good memory and take good notes,
they could use that planted clue 5 or 6 games later and be very
impressed by your DMing skills. More on planting on page 28.
{Furb sez: Quest that need info? I cant just smash and grab?
How about quest need to have items collected, and use them too? Like the runes in tempest spine, they arent just options, they have become nesscessities. putting in more thing to do collect and hunt, with obscure or obvious help to the party, so they can be spawned into the random locals of the multi-path dungeon, will enhance gameplay.}
14. Take a break
• Something utterly unpredictable happened? Take a break and
organize your thoughts. It’s not ideal for the gameflow but it sure
beats looking unprepared.
Reader Suggestions – Jill Seal says:
One further step I’ve found useful. As soon as possible after the end of the
game session I go through my notes and work out whether the improvised
people, places, and objects could have a deeper relevance. Can I weave them
more tightly into the story? Did the players come up with ideas about them
that I can decide are true? Is there anything that needs to be elaborated or
decided on?
{Furb sez: break? you don't need no stinking break back to work!!!}
and this is just some of the bits and pieces of wisdom I found in this tome... I can only pray that any Dev working in DDO will take the 5 to ten minutes out of his day to read this free document. It can only mean the betterment of us all.
http://www.dungeonmastering.com/campaigns-adventures/instant-campaign-builder-official-release