~ Starting a New Campaign ~ Every roleplaying game you pick up includes a section of “GM advice.” Usually it includes tips on dealing with difficult players, adjudicating the rules, running encounters, coming up with adventures, and the nitty-gritty of running a game. That section usually appears pretty deep inside rulebooks. Another section that usually appears near the front of the book and is typically pretty short, is the “How to play a RPG” or “Things you need to play”, and they include a bullet-pointed list that includes things like: dice, pencils, character sheets, and some friends. In this column, we’re going to talk about starting a new campaign and offer some tips on getting a group together, setting expectations, and being prepared for what you have in store as the gamemaster. This advice will be most useful to players who are interested in running or participating in roleplaying games with their friends, but never have — but there should be some interesting tidbits in here for the veterans, too. Read on! #1. Now’s a Great Time With all the great games and adventures out there, now is a perfect time to start a new game. There are now five big adventures available for D&D, including this month’s Storm King’s Thunder, and dozens of adventures for Pathfinder, especially when you include their campaign-long adventure paths. Whether you’re looking to run a one-shot or a few sessions to see how you like gaming, or you’re committed to diving into a long-running campaign, there’s resources available to you that make it easier than ever. That being the case, figure out what you want to do and then get a group together. #2. Sit In On a Game Now that you know you want to get a game started, if you haven’t already played, find a group and ask to either watch or sit in and play for a session or two. Watching a game can feel a bit odd, because everyone else at the table is participating while you’re just observing, but it’s just as informative (or even more so) than actually playing because you can pay attention to everyone and not concentrate on what you or your character is doing next. While at the table, pay attention to the GM and how they run the game. Note how much time they spend on answering rules questions, how much time they dedicate to each player, how much help they offer the players if one stumbles over the rules or can’t figure something out, how they describe the locations the characters are in and the actions being taken, and just about everything else. There’s a ton of things you can learn to do (and avoid) in your own games while watching other GMs. If you can’t locate an active game to watch or sit in on, check out YouTube, Geek & Sundry, or Twitch and find video recordings of sessions of the game you’re interested in running. Some of the groups that post games on the Internet have excellent GMs that everyone can learn from. #3. Invite Your Friends Once you know you want to get a game going, figure out which of your friends to invite. Maybe you’ve all talked about gaming in the past, so the decision will be easy. If the decision isn’t, the best course of action is to email, text, or talk to your friends and field their interest. If you’re all new to roleplaying, it’s better to stick to a smaller group, say three or four players plus the gamemaster. That will give you enough leeway to help players when they need it, give everyone plenty of time to think about what they want to do, and keep the action moving quickly because the other players don’t have to wait a lengthy time between actions. Plus, a smaller group is much easier for the you as gamemaster to handle. There’s a fair amount of rules wrangling and questions that fly around the game table and the GM is usually the one who knows the rules best and has to handle how they’re implemented. Do yourself a favor and keep your group small to begin with and expand from there. As a side note, when I was gaming as a teenager, the games were almost exclusively myself and a single friend, so no game is too small. #4. Use email Ahead of Time Readily communicate with your new game group via email. That’s the easiest way to get information to everyone at once. Plus, if they have questions you can answer them so everyone sees the answers, which should head off repeat questions later on. Over email, you should discuss what game you want to play (if you haven’t already agreed), what sorts of characters that will work well in the game, the method you want to use for character creation if your game offers multiple options, and quickly inform everyone where and when you’re meeting—and if they have any other responsibilities, such as bringing drinks or snacks. The preparation you do ahead of time is important. It sets the players expectations for what you’ll be running, but it also gives you a glimpse into what they’re looking for. If one player delves into his character’s background and has ideas for NPCs and story hooks the character is connected to, then you know that player is interested in expanding on those elements in the campaign. On the other hand, if another player is all about the numbers and making the most efficient character, that tells you there’s probably going to be a combat monster who’s interested in hacking and slashing their way through encounters. Which also tells you that they crave challenging combats. Pay attention to what the players reveal without actually telling you. The more you can provide them with what they’re interested in, the more fun you’ll all have at the game table. You could also get everyone together and hash out these sorts of details, but that’s another thing to coordinate. When you finally sit down at the table together, concentrate on playing, not on these sorts of things. Unless, of course, your group works better that way. #5. Have a Place to Play This one is obvious, but if you’re inviting people to game, you’re going to need a place to meet up. If you or one of your friends has space in their home, great! But there’s also schools, libraries, game stores, parents’ businesses, and other locations that might be better for you if someone’s home isn’t an option. It’s also possible you may have to host games in a round-robin fashion, with one player hosting the game one week, a different one the next, and so on. It doesn’t really matter where the game is held so long as everyone can get there, it’s well lit, comfortable, and has a space in which you can all see, hear, and converse with each other. #6. Use the Tech Ahead of Time If, instead of getting together in ‘meatspace’, you’re meeting online—and there are some excellent online game tables (such as FantasyGrounds.com, Roll20.com, d20Pro.com, and more)—do some research ahead of time and figure out which virtual tabletop you want to use… purchase the software and test it out prior to the session. It would also be very useful to play in a game online to see how the process works. These sites can be tricky to master, but they make virtual gaming possible and eliminate the need to have a physical location for everyone to gravitate to. Skype and Google Hangouts can also work well for online games that don’t require much in the way of maps, miniature figures, and the like; plus, they’re free. Game On! You’ve planned your game, got your group together, have a place to play, done your research, and can finally sit down at the table to play! And that’s all the space we have for this month. Come back next month and read about the next steps to take, now that you’re all sitting around the table and about to embark on thrilling adventures!
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