My preferred method of quest making is the Bugthesda method, a simple 2-3 sentence outline of the problem at hand. Pretty much every quest in FO3/4/Skyrim can be completely summed up in 2-3 sentences and while that is terrible for a scripted video game it is honestly a solid plan for DnD's openness. It gives you an easy string of simple quest outlines that you can move around as needed and fill gaps on the fly while still being structured enough to be a coherent narrative and should have enough wiggle room for players to come up with creative solutions.
@@BobWorldBuilder I sat down and just thought up 20 or so different quests, most of which used characters I built for fun over the years (Many were from other systems). I always try to be as lazy as possible while still being the best DM possible and simple things like throwing away "Initiative" entirely and just doing a Hero/Enemy turn setup helps tremendously. I do have a question though, where would be a good place to find players/play-testers for a from-scratch homebrew system? I asked around the small batch of Discord servers I am on but none of them are DnD related so not a lot of interest there.
TODD HOWARD! Ha! Love this. I played DnD as a kiddo, and took a quarter century break and picked it back up 8-9 months ago, and it has been like a renaissance of the soul. Speaking of Bugthesda, I think “sandbox” design is better than “open world” design. Matt Colville has a good video about this. This may be true only for our group as 40 somethings looking for a richer game, but open world game mechanics (in my view) just do not work unless you make it up left and right, which inevitably becomes cheesy, and even stupid. My thinking is this: I don’t know if I have achieved this yet, but as DM, my game better be good enough to make it worth paying for… if you follow my meaning. So in contrast to open world design, a detailed sandbox space that has defined boundaries (such as one dungeon or dungeon like area) for one session or two or three, that the DM is really switched on by, fired up, excited about, that excites the group, and is lovingly put together - while maintaining lots of choice - is the optimal way to go… with the exception -I would think - being a group that just likes to riff like crazy and troop around like adventurer marauders. I could see those groups being fun too! I hope this spurs on discussion - love what you are doing here Bob! Also, FLUSH IT OUT is the WORST.
Except new vegas. New vegas goes a step further and requires you give players AT LEAST three different ways to complete a quest, which could include failing the quest.
Prep the adventure for the session and the town it's in. If they decide to go from town A to B, just change the name of the town and that's the adventure.
Nice video Bob! A little helpful tip for my fellow DM's. When I'm preparing a questline I only think of the big picture. My party really likes to think out loud: "ooh! Maybe this is going on?!" "Maybe that strange fellow with his stinky pseudodragon is tied in this story!" And like 8 out of 10 times they actually come up with a plausibel story that really fits the quest and I always love to see their faces when we reach the moment someone looks at me like: OMFG I was right!!!
I'm into this concept you're describing, but I'm not sure I'm following how I could execute it properly. Can you go into more detail for me about how you make this work? Thanks for sharing, I'm really intrigued!
@@matthewsmith3511 When I come up with a new questline I start with two things: 1. Who is the bad guy (or organisation) and what is he doing? 2. My players are (for example) in Neverwinter. What plot hooks can I put on their road to make them notice the vile plots of my new bad guy? This approach is very practical, because you only have to concern yourself with the actions of the bad guy and not his motives. This is where the players come into play. At least, my players :) When they are intrigued by a plot hook they almost immediately start 'sherlock holmesing' the shit out of the plot hook: What happend? Why did it happen?! How did it happen?! And the funniest part: They try to answer their own questions and I just make notes and use it for my preparations for the next time we continue the adventure. When I have enough time or want to deepen the backstory of the bad guy I start asking myself these questions. This is helpful with being prepared, but the danger of 'railroading' is also there. And very often the players surprise me with a really, Really, REALLY well fitting motive that I couldn't have thought of even if I put many hours in the preparation :)
Yeah I realized that this could have been truer to the premise I started with if I added a step at the end about linking these points together once the party has completed a few. Basically building the rails right under them as they move through the sandbox. Perhaps that's another video!
@@BobWorldBuilder In a past video you dismissed the idea of the sliding encounters. That's the real key to running both. Say you want the PCs to eventually go to big linear story location create a three part sliding encounter. Each part happens in sequence but they slide from location to location. Part one happens at what ever place they go to first. Part two place two part three place three. If we'll presented it will feel like they organically chose the right place for each part. Also it's not a sand box if you tell your players to not go someplace. That's literally what railroading means. That's also how sliding encounters can help. Say an interrupt that can happen approaching any location. That encounter acts as a time bridge delaying them reaching the location to give you more time to build it up.
I paused 44 seconds in just to write this comment. I'm very impressed that you take inspiration from the comments when planning your videos and doubly so that you called out the user by name and recognized that all those "likes" on his comment mean people share his concerns.
That thumbnail is BRILLIANT. I got the gist of what you were going to say just from that, and had never thought of dealing with the problem in those terms before. That said, the 5 points are also helpful!
I found that the middle ground between railroad and sandbox to be actually much closer to railroad than I anticipated. That is because when we imagine railroad we assume a straight line while in this case it is similar to the actual railroad map of a country: as a player, you get to go pretty much wherever you want to go provided you "bought the right ticket"; as a DM you need to build only the major points of interest and leave the smaller intersections on the shelf until needed. This way of playing allows to have a story that makes sense while not interfering with the party's agency. Another thing that I do when DMing is "building the railroad when I need to do it". - Before each session I plot, think and plan different things the party may want or need to do, the appropriate plot hooks and so on and so forth - During the session I keep this layout only as an inspiration in case I need to change things up or the players change their mind. - After the session I write everything that ACTUALLY happened during the game so I have a quick reference that I can use when planning the next session. I play everything like this. Do I need to add a festivity because the party spent the last 5 sessions fighting in a dungeon? Would you look at that, the very town that the player are into is celebrating the Night of the Spirits! This allows me to do what I want while not creating plot holes (at least not if you are careful) and it doesn't burden me with the responsibility of creating a whole world from scratch. Only giant plot points (like who's the bbeg, world events, wars and stuff like that) are predetermined a lot of sessions in advance.
What I think you are experiencing is that no matter how branching or open your style, the players still experience the adventure one moment at a time in a linear manner
@@davidmc8478 Yes, precisely. Linear is easier for the DM but in the grand scheme of things it is basically sandbox, so the players feel free to do whatever they want
I really like the idea about asking players what they think about a plot hook or place. It reminds me of an internal dialogue that the character might actually be going through
*List o' Names* : I recommend making bookmarks with random names printed on both sides. You ALWAYS need to mark pages (either in the Monster Manual/ DMG or in the adventure module) and a bookmark of names does that while also keeping a list of names handy. Just scratch out a name when used.
I had to dip out immediately after watching this video the other day. I'm returning to comment on just how excellent a video it is. Your channel continues to impress with high-quality content that is easily understood and put to use. Great work, Bob! 👍🏻🙂
Bob, another fantastic video. I find myself rewatching older videos just for the sheer enthusiasm. You make me WANT to play even more. Hump day is made great because of you. Thanks again.
I specifically made a campaign using some of these ideas! We've been playing since September, and it's been great! -Party starts off by graduating from a school of Monster Hunters. They all choose one creature type to "major" in. (Whenever they come across a monster, roll History, and see what they know) -They are given 2-3 options for bounties they can pick up, and go do that quest. Every few quests they level up. -Every so often they come across subtle plot hooks hinting at the two main quests that start to shape the world. So there's a story driving the campaign, but it's wide open as far as what quests they do. Been really fun having them help guide the story!
This video couldn’t come at a more perfect time! Rewriting/continuing an older campaign, didn’t want my player’s character’s stories be unfinished. Inspiring and helpful vid!
Good stuff! The "ask each player a question" tip is really good. I will definitely use that next session. I have 2 players out of 4 that don't involve themselves with that much roleplaying, they love playing though and give me a lot of praise for the story/plot. So I want to give them something more to chew on. Thanks!
There is definitely merit to this methodology, however this is distinctly world building rather than individual session prep. Seeding adventure sites and hooks, is great but "fleshing" out a dungeon delve session/s is radically different to a one session murder mystery in X town that PCs have chosen to visit because you have alluded to something being there is worth seeing.... Your five steps help populate a detailed and filled world but you barely scratch the surface on the areas of prep that might be considered hard.
Very true. What I usually do is steal locations from published adventures. I focus on the world-building and story and leave the nitty gritty of each adventure site to the pros.
I subconsciously did this for the campaign I am running now. In fact, I plan on them finding a part of a map that will end the quest they're currently in. When they find the whole map it will take them to a boss fight. This is going to be fun.
To add onto that, ask for feedback at the end of the session. Ask them what their favourite scene was, they'll outright tell you what npcs they liked and what plot points interest them most individually. Also ask what they didn't like so you can improve yourself. I also ask them what their character is thinking about the current situation. This gives you fears to use against them, so they can overcome their worries. Or when they're doing guesswork on what might be going on, lean into it, they'll feel so smart for figuring out where your very carefully planned plot *winkwink* went!
Thank you for addressing the 'flush out vs flesh out' issue! I catch this all the time in D&D videos, and it drives me crazy...lol. Hopefully you can be the catalyst that finally gets DMs to stop 'flushing' out their worlds🤞🏻
I love asking players to join into the world creation process by adding details. It's one of the things I love about _The Adventure Zone._ I also cannot stress the value of "grab bags" enough. It is so nice to have a 3x5 note card with a few random names, mundane item finds, place names, and book titles on hand so that if anything ever comes up, you have something ready. And you can keep the grab bag items for weeks at a time without having to worry about changing them, because each thing only gets used if a player discovers it!
One of the key ways I blend Sandbox and Railroad is inspired by video games. I have a single plot point, an overarching story, but when the adventurers get into town they encounter a couple of different types of sidequests. A cat goes missing, there is a dwarven brawling ring in town you can bet on (or be a part of if you are a Dwarf), etc. where they can explore other adventures and other ideas until, eventually, the main quest is what is left and that's where they organically go once there is nothing left in town that is interesting.
I agree with everything except the point on characters adding things to the scene. It depends on your players. As a player, I love the exploration and discovery aspect of RPGs. I don't like coming up with in-game objects/scenes on my own (when I GM it's a different story). I want my character to react to things, not invent them (speculation not inserting). I also know players who are going to put some world-breaking item in that gelatenous cube, barrel, etc. Some players love contributing to a scene, and that's great, not saying it's bad. But others find that it lessens the fun and others will abuse it. Knowing your players helps you understand how much or little of this works best in your game. Otherwise very sound advice that makes a good base to work up from.
I dont think he meant to make the player's addition cannon, no matter what. He seemed to just want the characters to talk about what they expect to happen/find in game. You can decide to change your details if you feel like it, but that's not a requirement.
@@___i3ambi126 Thanks for the reply! I understand, I was just trying to say that each gaming group is different and each person within that groups has their own likes and dislikes. Even the same gaming group can be different depending on the game or even just the setting (I know this channel is focused on D&D, but even different settings within D&D can shift how players feel about likes/dislikes). Some GMs may be fine with saying "no" but others feel bad or want to do a "Yes, but." And some players really dislike adding things into the game that are not directly linked to what their character could do in-game. I recently "added" robes and house slippers into a game where I was a player. I spent 10 minutes convincing myself to do it, because the game and setting encourage it. Everyone at the table loved it. And I still partly wish I didn't do it, because it was a silly addition made for nothing but laughs. I just don't feel good doing it and don't like it. Again, I am not in any way saying doing so is bad. Only that not everyone gets the same enjoyment from the same things. I've heard GMs say "Counting ammo is no fun! So, no need to count ammo!" but some of players like counting ammo, or GMs understand that by not counting ammo things can be thrown off, magic items (like a returning arrow or refilling quiver) become worthless, etc. As a Player I don't like and do not want to put something into that gelatinous cube because my character can't invent things out of thin air. Now if I had my character throw something down into a sewer and later the cube had it suspended inside - now that would be what I could consider cool/fun, because something my character did came back into the game. I'm just trying to say be aware of your players' likes and dislikes - they might be different than your own and each others'. One person's "Everyone loves" or "No one likes" is another person's "I dislike" or "I love doing that."
I’ve made a time-sensitive campaign that I think hits this middle ground between railroading and sandbox: the party has letters to deliver as a favour to the local noble, and the longer they take to deliver them the worse the situation will be when (and if) they finally return. So if they push through to literally fulfil the “main quest” they’ll probably end up underpowered by the time they get back, but they’ll be in a better position to help defuse the problem (with some hack and slash), or they can take their time getting back, do side quests that flesh out the world, gain levels, and return to find the kingdom absolutely overrun by the bad guys. I. Am. Stoked.
This is pretty much the last three campaigns I have run. The two notes I would add are: 1) Pre written bad guy squads are your friend. A pack of wolves, a group of bandits, a pair of giants, The BBEG's hench mob. also a herd of deer, some pilgrims etc.. 2) Warn players and add flavor to the Character's lives by having things happen in the back ground. The newly knighted prince is going to arrive in town - who cares. lol. Some times you can de-rail your idea of what the campaign was supposed to be with these tidbits. I nearly TPK'd because the party wanted to stop a public hanging. /smh By warning players I mean let them know straight up - there are bad guys in your world and left alone they *Will* accomplish some of their goals. One other comment I'll make is as DM you have to accept that it may be your cosmos, but the game is the Player Character's story to tell. Subbed, belled. Keep up the good work Bob.
I'm in both my first D&D game as a player (5 sessions in) and we're being railroaded (so I sent a link to this vidieo to our group) and just starting as a DM, had our session 0 which led into session 1. I'm doing more of what you described, I built the landmass, seeded it with populations, named cities and landmarks, unnamed towns and villages and ruins and overall politics. We'll see where the party goes. Thank you for the video.
Fantastic 4 - Great as always Bob-Been playing like this for years-gosh organic D&D-What fun it is-I have been lucky to have a gift for places and names-when you rock -your players do too!
Why did it take me so long before finding a good video about prepping a game? I've been looking for months for a video like this! You gave some wonderful advice, thanks a lot! And now I realize all the maps I've made for my soon-to-be first campaign are done wrong XD
recently I had a completely new player (his first time playing dnd ever) insist on burying the bodies of some bandits that the party had slain. rest of party jumped on it and thought it was a great idea, and they did an impromptu funeral simply because that player was like "no, I'm not leaving their bodies right by the road. they need to be buried". I've usually done quite railroady dming (playing mostly pre-written campaigns with not that much flexability), but I do feel like the idea of asking players where they are going at end of session so one can prep for next one (rather than forcing them along a path) seems really fun. would also reduce the amount of prep since you know where they are headed instead of just guessing and having to prep for all the alternatives and then some.
I just need to say "THANK YOU" on the side note about people saying "flush it out" instead of "flesh it out". Do people not think of the words they're using anymore?
I recently got burnt out from the campaign I was running, my lovely lovely players have been taking the reigns for a little bit while I figure it all out. This is what I've been trying to do, but I always get caught up and screw up. Thanks for the video, itll be good to re-listen to whenever I need to get back on track working out the next game!
I find it fine to throw a monster that isn't normal to an area, but there should always be a strong justification based on what is happening in the area.
Ah yes, the Phand Elves, the only subrace of elves all other elves refuse to speak about after taking them to an abandoned mine and saying "we'll be right back; don't move".
I have a GMing binder and in it I have 4 pages of random names that I once liked the sound of and jotted down. I highly recommend a "masculine," "feminine," "neutral," and "last name" category placement. And then maybe something like "Ridiculous" for your goblin/kobold/whatevers that the party might adopt out of nowhere.
Need some names? I mine the credits of movies, shows, video games etc. I make separate lists of first and last names. I rarely keep them together, instead combining them randomly. I make a point of taking down any nicknames that appear in quotes since they're usually more colorful.
My friends and I just started playing DnD for the first time a few weeks ago and I'm theDM. I love the world building aspects and getting my friends involved and interested in my stories has been incredible. I still have a lot to learn but these videos make that process fun and accessible. Thanks so much for making your videos, Bob. They help me and so many other people so much!
this is a good vid regarding the world building sandbox. the things I include after the first game session involves any local governments. this is GM info that can be added in small amounts during play. after the 2nd session, I formulate potential antagonists. again, details are added in slowly. characters may encounter henchmen or get rumors or complaints about these factions of the world. this gives you (the GM) time to start making the pieces of the larger puzzle. this doesn't mean you now railroad the characters into a linear story. leave the characters intentions upon them. they may choose to ally themselves with the antagonist or ignore them altogether. they could insult a member of the local leaders family - or get recognized for their bravery. very simple - create the world as your players explore... and take lots of notes!!
Informative, simple, and with personality. A rare trio for D&D advice videos, which are usually only one of the three. This was super helpful, thank you!
(6:52) - Where party goes next? : Alternatively, instead of asking where and then stop game (leaving possibility of changing minds at start of next game) have them start 'traveling' there and stop game mid travel. this way the next session starts by finishing the travel... arriving at the prepped location. Or, end at the beginning of a fight. this gives the players til next session to strategize and a focused start to the session. Also providing anticipation / excitement pushing party momentum forward.
This is my favorite video of yours so far! your work is really shining through as you continue making more content! I remember watching your first videos when I was running the starter kit, and have been using these videos to grow my own DM skills.
Just a thought..... 1. If everything is connected/tied to some direction/place you would like the players to go, it's not an sandbox. 2. If you ask you players where they are going and they find something what sparks their interest even more, it needs improvisation and it comes an sandbox (complete freedom of choice). When you tell them that "This time I have this one ready, now you should go here and next time there..." that's ultimate railroading. 3. Getting player involved to game, more like an DungeonWorld style...I can see the idea behind it...but then again that doesn't mean they actually play their character. They just tell lovely fairytales stuff. Everything is basicly just railroading, it comes to the point how well DM can....hide his/her agenda and give the feeling of freedom. I would say that nowdays (last 10+yrs) games have been going to another direction. Too much haven been chewed ready.
I think we need to make a distinction between open world and sandbox. A lot of people who play video games know that open world has a bunch of areas with pre-planned encounters but a sandbox does not need to be such a fixed narrative because open world in the video game sense can be very railroaded. A sandbox should be a more dynamic type of gameplay where your encounters are not completely fixed. If you planned on your party to go north to Red Vale to go after the evil baron and confront him and his henchmen you may have planned that they will come across a group of 6 henchmen (bandits) threatening a shopkeeper for his "taxes"/"property insurance" but the party decides to go to south to Freehaven instead. In such a case there could still be 6 of the baron's henchmen in the next town roughing up a shopkeeper and trying to steal from him. There are always encounters that can be in any location and if you have a bunch of these from the beginning, they can be repurposed into different contexts so no matter where your players go or what they do the encounters can stay the same but the context can change to fit the player's choices. If you do this completely seamlessly then the players might start to feel that the DM really is preparing for all possible choices when really you need to only prepare for 2 or 3. Get a feel for what your players are looking to do and mold what happens to what they want to do. If the players have no idea what to do then put something in front of them to help give some direction and/or give them something to do. A random encounter could be used but remember that random encounters do not need to be combat encounters and they also don't need to even be random so if one fits the situation then use it. If the players want to do something that you feel completely unprepared for then you could do a random encounter or a "transition scene", where the players describe what they are doing on the way to where they are going, hopefully can buy enough time for you to put something together or to delay what the player's want to do until the next session. This is something that might take some practice though and being able to improvise could help a lot if that is something you are comfortable with. I feel the DM really needs to create a problem for the players to solve and it is up to the players to figure out how to solve it but it is a good idea to make sure that there are at least 3 solutions to every problem so if they get stuck there could be a direct but inconvenient solution to encourage them to be creative. I feel the important part of the sandbox is making the players feel that everything that happened was their choice.
Important to remember not all random encounters need to be combat. You can encounter a traveling merchant, a bard who was kicked out of his party for being "to awesome", some people out hunting or whatever.
This makes reminds me of a conversation I had years ago with another gamer. She said "I need to know where you are going so I can lay the rails" I would vehemently disagree with you on asking where are you going next session. You as World Builder should already know what is in every nifty place. You should have built it and fleshed it out beforehand. I am a massive supporter of an outline. I believe in playing in a game where the world is in motion. That makes *Time* a major factor in my games. Things are going on even when the players are not there. Furthermore what the players do in one part of the area should have repercussions across the whole area. I hate random encounter charts, I do not dislike random encounters. I see random encounters as reading the room. When players start to go glassy eyed, 'random encounter' mysteriously happens.
Step one is like how the islands in One Piece can be their own fantastical adventure and the crew in the show rarely knows what lies next on the horizon. Which is a great way to build that feeling of adventure for me atleast when being a player or thinking about possible scenarios as a DM.
In my 40 years playing ttrpgs this might be the best campaign/world building advice video I've ever seen (though videos were different in the 80s 😁). Keep it up Bob you've just gone to the top of my TTRPG watch list.
Thanks for the tips, Bob! I'm working on my world and there is a island with multiples biomes and plot points. I'm trying to make the island a Darkest Dungeon like, where players have freedom for trying new characters often but can be really powerful and unique when stay for a while, and this this will help me to make more interesting for the players to stick with a character! Also, i love your videos, keep with the great work!
As someone trying to start figuring out DMing from Icewind Dale, the more experienced take that it has a bit too many options was very much the validation of the issues I was facing that I needed. So thank you for that 👍
Coming to this video a particularly messy session. My party discussed going to the next town over in the session before, and I had a couple ideas - a town name, a few potential NPCs, the general atmosphere - but I didn't flesh it out in the coming week AT ALL. I've been flying by the seat of my pants for the first 4-6 sessions, and it's actually suited me pretty well so far! But here, the party didn't have much guidance and were messing around out-of-game for ages and I ended up with one player going rogue and trying to rob a bank solo, which (I'll be honest should have been more foreseeable given the current story circumstances! but nonetheless, ) I had no clue how to handle the situation. I made a lot of questionable improv decisions in the session itself, and didn't do great with focus, but I'm sure everything would have gone WAAAYYY smoother if I gave myself an outline, even if I were to deviate. These tips are really useful because they're not just about "changing your attitude", they're concrete and actionable and actually pretty simple. I'm not DMing again for another good while so I've got plenty of time to use this advice and prep for next session. If I remember, I'll update to say if these tips help or not (I imagine they will).
My game takes place in a small town that the players have been forced to stay in until they play an enormous sum of money to the sheriff, and that makes it both easier because all of the plot points and npcs are connected, and also harder because there’s not enough space to have new whimsical lands, the town needs to remain interesting
I like to do a session 0 and work out what each player wants their McGuffin to be. Then you pepper a three clue encounter arc peppered around your board. as each character gets higher up in their arc the clues begin to all lead ot the same place. Thsi way the players can decide which clues they track down on their own, and the DM is prepared for each wnever they happen.
If you aren't good at wittling down random encounter table, you could also just roll 2-3 random encounters beforehand and just work them in, in a way that makes sense.
My first outting as DM has gone pretty smooth so far. Started with the 3-part play test of The Hunt For Haldraxis, and since a lot of the characters are loosely connected to the shadowfell, so we went there next. The end of that session included a combat with a hook, as you had mentioned in the video, so good job me. The hardest part for me is the between adventure 'what to do next...' all the players are pretty new, so I want it to be a great experience for them, and they seem happy with it so far.
As far as transportation analogies go, I shoot for more of a sailing ship... There are ports they may hear of, but can sail where they like... Some places may be closer than others, and sometimes the wind just blows the ship off course.
Sandbox style of play has more prep to it when done right then storyline style of play . In a proper sandbox style of play the DM creates the setting and fills it with adventure locations then give the players a map of the setting without the adventure location on it . The map has all the major and minor areas that should be known to the players while leave somethings unknown . As a rule I have always followed in my 40+ years of Dm'ing I always write my adventure ideas down in index cards and number them as such (A1 ) and I'm always creating maps that I can pull out for one of the adventures I've planned to use and fill in . D&D is about story telling but not about the Dm's story because that just regulates the players to mere actors like in a novel that are railroaded without any control over their characters direction . Going fill railroad by the DM telling his story take away the excitement of discovering new things in the game for the players . By giving the players the freedom to choose what to do you allow them to mould the campaigns history so they are part of it not just look in at it . Another thing having a campaign set on one massive adventure with plot lines that eventually lead to a major boss fight ( hate that term ) is railroading to the extreme because not all adventures need to be tied together or even have a major enemy to deal with because those are all things that came from video games and were never apart of d&d's history . Sure there were a few adventures that tied together but it wasn't every single adventurer made or thought up . D&D has always been about player freedom of choice to go where they want and to explore new places and not of the Dm's story that's basicly forced upon the players where they have to take roles in his " book ". Like I said even though the players have the freedom to go and do what they want you as a DM have to have at lest somethings planned out for them to discover by rumors , information found on scrolls in a treasure hoard or how ever you choose to give them the info . I have seen railroad games turn the players into murder hobos because they got bored and never said anything to the DM and then the DM wondered why his players went murder hobo on him . There are 2 ways to stop that from happening . 1 is is to talk with your players and ask them what they expect from you for the game . 2 learn to read the players body language so you have a clue when things are getting boring for them and adjust your game for them . Remember you are creating the setting for their characters to tell their own stories that can have an impact on the history of the setting , you aren't telling your story to them expecting them to be actors in your story. A small amount of railroading is ok but when it's all you do to tell YOUR story it can and will lead to problems down the road at some point hence players becoming MURDER HOBOS
Ya like any one type of prep would work for all the different groups of players. Ultimately the best prep is the one that gets the most detailed content explored by the player while the players and you are both having fun. And for some groups that could mean not doing anything this video says is the best method.
I'm still watching this but already what i like about this idea is it removes the need for a bbeg immediately. After all your players are only level 1 and there's still time for them to just be mercenaries and see the world.
My basic strategy: *Step 1: the Matt Mercer Effect.* Matt is great at making political plots, and allowing the players to choose a faction or side. Choose a few major players-good, evil, or in between-give them a goal or an authority, then let your players decide who is friend and foe. *Step 2: the CR Cast Effect.* The cast then provide their backgrounds and some roleplay banter, which you use to make them more connected to your world. They should feel like this is their home, to the point where during campaign 2 somebody asks “is that _my_ mom” instead of “is that my prior character’s mom.” *Step 3: The Plinko Triangle.* Guide your players, allowing them to say no to any plot hooks. Anything and everything they do will have consequences. If they don’t escort an ambassador between kingdoms, then strain relations between them, possibly because of bandits along the border that both kingdoms blame the other for. Depending on how their story branches, adapt or change who the BBEG is to still give a deserved and satisfying ending.
If this actually works for you then more power to you. That said, this isn't the type of advice that the average DM can or should attempt to utilise. Matt Mercer is a very singular DM in respects to his achievements with critical role which few if any can hope to match. Further which critical role is more a show with charismatic personalities that can banter for hours on end (generating the story hooks you refer to). Yeah, there is significant differences between a show using d&d as a framework for storytelling, and a bunch of people just playing d&d for fun. What you describe doesn't work even fractionally as well with a DM who is Matt Mercer and without a cast of trained voice actors who can riff off each other endlessly. To suggest otherwise does a disservice to the community.
@@schemage2210 I’m not sure if you read my comment or not. I sarcastically said “Matt Mercer effect” because everybody thinks he comes up with the most memorable moments and plot lines, when in truth he makes two countries fighting over a dodecahedron intriguing, or a fake god who wants to transfer his followers fun to watch. His players make the more personal plots, and we all love those much more. If you want to simplify what I said: 1. The DM makes any continent-wide plots. 2. The players make city or location plots. 3. The DM fills in a few gaps in the world; either before session 0 or as it comes up. 4. The players tackle the story how they wish. Is this too hard? Here’s an example of this in action, based on my campaign shared on the channel _All Things DnD_ as The Iron Golems. 1. There is an emissary from the kingdom beyond the mountains, who wants to bring order to the lawless lands and protect any dangerous artifacts. 2. (Just for my character:) There is a colosseum, and I escaped it alongside an Orc. 3. Said Orc has returned to his tribe, and is convincing 2 tribes to attack the Colosseum. Meanwhile, the emissary heard about their merging, and was afraid they were attacking his home base city; also they had gold which could be used to reinforce said city. 4. A diplomatic attempt, then during the night we stole the gold.
Gonna keep plugging this because it's litterally changed the game for me, but: Step 1 - read return of the Lazy dungeon master by sly flourish. Step 2 - do what it suggests as best as you can within your style. Step 3 - profit
