Saturday, August 31, 2019

D&D things I like

Things I like on the player side:

Dungeoneering
Following NPCs to see what they do and how they think
Picking my PC’s plans
Puzzles
Genuine open-ended overland exploration
Lack of a story
The results of battles and skirmishes - not so much the playing them out
The results of romance - not playing it out - loves? Loss? Children?
Diseases
Finding and losing henchmen
Weird magic, even silly magic
My own character nearly dying
My own character dying appropriately

Things I like on the DM side:
Players who pick up the ball and run with it re: any of the above
Playing cool monsters
Making up cool magic items to find
Making up open-ended situations and seeing what the players think.
World-building


What do you like?

3 comments:

  1. I recently put together a series of quick questions to ask what prospective players in a new campaign like/don't like and know/don't know about 1e and Greyhawk.

    In the survey, I included this Q:

    What kinds of D&D adventure activities do you enjoy? Please select all that apply.

    - Advancing your character in level/power
    - Conquering and/or destroying the world
    - Developing your character's history and personality through campaign play
    - Exploration into the unknown
    - Killing monsters and taking their stuff
    - Learning the setting/campaign mysteries
    - Mapping the dungeon, wilderness, city, etc.
    - Role-playing your character with other PCs
    - Role-playing your character with NPCs
    - Saving the world and/or making the world a better place
    - Other:

    Allan.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Grodog thanks for the vine.

      This is a great way to do Session -1 (negative 1). What great questions. Knowing what your players are into helps you to think up what kids or adventures to present.

      I give the players a short macro view of the setting and then pitch three campaign premises, saying what activities are most common in each one. It’s a different route to the same destination.

      That’s great work!

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    2. De nada, Scott.

      I forgot the next Q in the survey:

      What kinds of D&D adventures do you enjoy? Please select all that apply.

      - City and town adventures
      - Dungeons - small: 1-3 levels
      - Dungeons - medium: 4-7 levels
      - Dungeons - mega-dungeons: 8+ levels
      - Lairs: small groups of 5-10 rooms in a single level
      - Mysteries - murder or otherwise
      - Planar - exploring the multiverses, Elric-style
      - Quests - probably epic, or at least important
      - Wilderness - aquatic: islands, pirates, undersea, etc.
      - Wilderness - overland ("there and back again")
      - Wilderness - underworld: journey to the center of the earth
      - Other:

      These are the things I most enjoy in a campaign, as a player:
      - mapping
      - exploring/dungeoneering
      - being surprised: not knowing what the monster is, the NPC is, etc.

      As a DM, I like players who are proactive and engaged, who make my job easier as a DM by stirring the pot. After that the rest is gravy :D

      I'd be curious to hear more about your 3 campaign premises---how much are they variations on one another, or are they pretty distinct/different.

      Alla .

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