(Repost) Why Campaigns die

 The following was originally posted on The Tangled Web roleplaying forum in my blog section. but since it's thematic, I'm reposting it here, slightly edited and reformatted, so it has a second life on the internet.

--Why Campaigns Die-- 

    Hey Guys. Lake here again. I know that I promised to talk about NPC creation and building quests, but another thought has been rattling around in my mind. That thought is campaign death. Sadly, not every campaign created ends in long sessions and tight party members with lots of memorable moments. A lot shrivel up and die for whatever reason. But why? These are only my thoughts and opinions on why campaigns fold up and die.

Number 1: Lack of DM planning

    It very tempting to just whip up a campaign based on an idea that you had, but it doesn't always work out well. An example of this is my own Dragonheart Online game that I tried to run. I had a cool premise, trapped in a virtual world, and some ideas my players for sure liked. They definitely enjoyed the idea of basically playing two characters, the persona and the “real life” person. But...I failed to plan ahead. I didn't even create important NPCs or more than one or two quests. Even my world map was simply thrown together. And the players soon seemed to get bored, and even I lost interest in running it. In the end, rather than drag bored player through a campaign, I decided to shutter it.

Number 2: Player Drama

    Sometimes it's nothing you can do as a DM. Sometimes your players don't like each other for whatever reason. This can mean that instead of adventuring and doing cool quest, you party spends their time bickering and arguing. This can lead to a lot of players leaving, and if enough do, your campaign could die

Number 3: Unstructured Play

    It's important that you as a DM be clear with where you want your players to go and what you want them to do. While you should always give some wiggle room for player freedom, you need to be semi structured. If it's unclear what exactly the party should be doing, your players might get bored. I had this happen to a 5E campaign I was in. Nobody knew what to do, so everyone basically stopped posting and the campaign died. As of right now, no one has posted in that forum since late July.

Number 4: Real Life junk.

Sometimes Dms and players have to leave a campaign for whatever reason. I had a sci-fi campaign close down because of work schedules conflicting.. There's absolutely nothing you can do but grin and bear it.

Number 5: Poor Dming skills.

Whether it's railroading your players through your campaign or just ignoring posts and initiative. If your Dming skills are raw, it can hurt or outright kill a campaign. Not everyone is going to be the next Matt Mercer or Chris Perkins. Some people are simply better at playing the game than tryign to run it.

Number 6: Pacing problems

Pacing your campaign is key. This can encompass everything from how you handle dice rolls to quests. Keep in mind that things like Initiative rolls, Perception rolls. can take up to 48 hours to get out of the way sometimes, depending on what timezone you're in. Also things like side jaunts and complicated quests tend to slow things down. Streamlining is a must when running a play by post game.

Anywho. That's enough to chew on for now. If you have any thoughts, feel free to comment.

Lake.

RPG Etiquette: The Basics

 

RPG Etiquette

So you’ve been invited or started a game of your own! Congrats!

But before you sit down at the table or click join on your digital tabletop, there’s a few rules you probably should know. Don’t worry, this is a simple blog post, not Emily Post, so I’ll keep it short and to the point.

1. Be on Time

    This is pretty basic, but do your best to be on time when your DM or GM schedules a session. We understand that sometimes life gets in the way, and we understand about traffic, or roads, or sleeping in. Just do your best to be as close to on time as possible. It shows that you respect your fellow players and their time.

2. Be Prepared for the session

    Do your best to be prepared for the session. If you took notes, reviewing them before the session will help you start smoothly and easily into the session. You also need to make sure to bring your character sheet, writing implements and dice, at a minimum. If you forget something, we understand that it happens and often the DM or another player will have spare pencils and dice. Do your best to return anything you borrowed. If you’re playing digitally, make your whatever app or site you use for your character sheet is loaded and ready to go.

3. Share the spotlight

    Tabletop role playing is a social hobby. Each character around the table has their strengths and weaknesses. This means that sometimes that your character will be front and center doing cool things, but it also means that sometimes you have to take a backseat and watch someone else do cool stuff. There may be some overlap in some systems. For example, both a ranger and druid are likely to have skills concerning nature and survival. If its a check called for and you have an appropriate skill, you might both end up rolling. Be patient. Your turn to do things will come.

4. Be ready for your turn

    While it can be tempting to play on your phone or do something else when it’s not your turn in combat, you need to be prepared when your turn comes. Generally this involves the following: Knowing the position, number and condition of your enemies, Knowing where your allies are and what they are doing as well as their condition (vital for healers) , What spells and abilities are curently affecting the battlefield, and what abilities and spells are at your disposal. At least get a rough idea of what you want to do, especially if it involves a spell. That way people aren’t stuck waiting for you to decide what you want to do with your turn, and combat, which already tends to burn a l

5. Respect your fellow players and the DM

    Please do your best to have common courtesy when playing at the table. I know most of you learned basic manners in elementary school. Essentially, don’t interrupt your fellow players or the DM/GM when they are speaking. See the previous point about sharing the spotlight. If you happen to disagree on something, its not a big deal, don’t take it personally. Same thing if something happens to your character. At the end of the day, you are playing a game. It is only a game. The fate of the world does not hinge on the outcome of your game.

I know there’s a lot more to this, but I kinda want to keep it basic, at least for now. If inspiration strikes, I might make a part 2 to this.

Happy Gaming

Lake

Choosing an RPG for Dummies

So you’ve decided to take the plunge into the wonderful world of the hobby known as tabletop roleplaying games. Fantastic. Which one? 

  Why yes, there is more than one. 

  How many? A lot. A quick Google search says hundreds. DrivethruRPG, one of the main storefronts for rpgs and supplements lists several thousand. 

 There’s a chair right there. Take a drink of water and catch your breath. We’ll go through this step by step.

 When choosing an RPG there’s a lot to consider. I mean, you could just play Dungeons and Dragons like everyone else. 5th edition is pretty good, especially for new players, even if it is getting long in the tooth. It’s the gateway. Like if you pick up fantasy novels by reading Tolkien. Or if you get into trading cards by picking up Magic the Gathering. 

No, I wouldn’t use 5th edition for that. It’s built for medieval fantasy, and while you can stretch and tweak it, there are things that fit better. Its like using your Prius to carry home your new couch. You can maybe make it fit with some creativity, but borrowing your cousin’s truck or having it delivered would make things a lot easier and save you time. So, what criteria should you consider when choosing an RPG? 

1. What Genre do I want to play?

 The list of RPG genres is long and getting longer. While fantasy games are a staple (D&D, Pathfinder), you can also find games for cyberpunk futurism (Cyberpunk RED, Shadowrun), Horror (Call of Cthulu, Delta Green,), or even very specific genres like Magical Girls (Glitter Hearts) or 80’s kids doing adventures (Kids on Bikes). Chances are, even your favorite fandom has an RPG. Star Wars has several, both official and fanmade. Even more obscure or cult properties might have one. If they don’t at the moment, wait a few months. There are even some systems that don’t have a setting at al, if you wanna play in a settign that doesn’t have an official RPG. 

2. How much money do I want to spend? 

As someone that has struggled with funds in the past and sometimes the present, this is a very valid concern. RPGs can be very very expensive to get into. They can also be very inexpensive. A new copy of a players handbook or equivalent is often about $50. If you plan on playing with a mini, that’s an additional expense. Online resources can help ease the burden of entry, and in some cases, make it free or nearly free to play. Digital pdfs are often cheaper than their physical counterparts. Honestly really all you NEED to play at most tables is a character sheet, a pencil and some dice. Often the DM or other players will have the books you need to reference in order to play. Playing on a budget is a topic I may cover in future posts

. 3. How much time do I want to spend? 

 Whether its a oneshot or a longer campaign is also something you want to consider when choosing an RPG to play. I’ve been in games that lasted a single session and some that have gone on for years. Some systems are better for a single session or a short campaign of 6-8 sessions total rather than one that can last for hundreds. The progression and levelling in certain certain systems are not built at all for long games. You also want to consider the average length of your session. Some games can run for marathon all day sessions, but generally 2-3 hours for a session is a pretty good length of time. 

4. How much brainpower do I want to spend? 

 There is a wide range in complexity of RPGs. Some you can fit the whole rules system on a single sheet of paper and the character sheet on an index card. On the other end of the spectrum are heavy hardback books solid enough to be used as a deadly weapon with rules for every concievable scenario. The first edition of Pathfinder was an example of the latter, which is why it had the nickname ‘Mathfinder’. Some systems you can learn in an afternoon or less, others will take a lot of reading. Decide how much time and effort you wanna put into mastering your chosen system and whether or not a system is worth it or not. As a side note, you don’t have to memorize the entire rulebook. But, you at least should be familiar with the character sheet and how YOUR spells and abilities work. Your fellow players will appreciate you. 

 5. Can I get someone else to play this with me?

 At their core, tabletop rpgs are very social games, played with a group of other players. Solo games do exist, and you are welcome to give them a try. But no matter how cool your post-apocalytpic sand raider pirate system looks that you wanna try, if you can’t attract interest from you potential players, it’ll just collect dust on your shelf, real or digital. It may be better to pick something more popular at first, unless you know for sure that your friend group is into that particular type of game. There are other questions I could answer, but I have games to run myself.

 Later 

Happy Gaming, 

Lake.