This thread is for the description of various styles of Dungeon Mastering. Please Share!!!
It is NOT for a huge i'm better than you becouse X. So resist the temptation.
My personal style is what I like to call the "sandbox of doom".
A map is layed out with preset encounters, adventure path points, and plot hooks. Now thies encounters have wildly varying ECL's so a smart/lucky PC learns to scout ahead and choose his encounters or run for his life.
And so their is no (this is a level appropiate encounter) going on in the back of the players heads.
I prefer running nonlinear games (I need entertainment too) that are randomized/improvised as the party progresses. I've tried laying out static encounters, but players often surprise me; this keeps me on my toes and keeps everyone invested in story development.
I roll up daily events, allowing for side quests, and slightly alter the central plot to appear as if I've adjusted for time spent elsewhere. This reinforces that the players live, work, and plunder in a dynamic world and jarrs them away from the Bethesda approach to gaming: "Don't worry, you've got plenty of time, the daedra will wait until you're good and ready" or "Sure, run off to Maryland for a little; Enclave personel can take a company cruise while you're out".
I'm accustomed to mature nongood/evil campaigns, so nothing is off-limits and I expect my players not to run screaming from the table as I describe the aftermath (remains) of underpowered/overconfident-elven-ranger-vs-backwoods-ogre-squad. Gritty and intense settings keep cell phones off and browsers closed.
I don't use maps outside of combat. Once the players decide on a character, I mold out a miniature from modeling clay that is left to dry; simple/rough models are used for enemies (unless I'm lazy, then I use pieces of paper with names).
I'm a huge fan of atmosphere soundtracks, so those are a must for my games.
I grew up on sandbox campaigns and I still love them, but since the release of 3rd edition / 3.5 / PF my group has primarily been involved in story-based adventure paths. Run as is they can be too linear at times, so I always make sure to throw in a few curveballs and sidetreks of my own. This keeps the campaign world more immersive and believable without losing the central plotline or allowing it to become the only focus.
We used to play without alignment restrictions, but I've found this is just a DM headache. My games now do not allow evil or CN aligned characters. Honestly, as fun as it is to play evil it gets old really fast.
I'm very big on music and visual aids in my games these days. Erdenstren or Sonic Legends downloads are my primary mood soundtracks, and there's always a lot of Reaper figs, dungeon tiles, and flip-maps on the table. For especially important boss encounters, I'll often make a setpiece from styrofoam.
I grew up on sandbox campaigns and I still love them, but since the release of 3rd edition / 3.5 / PF my group has primarily been involved in story-based adventure paths. Run as is they can be too linear at times, so I always make sure to throw in a few curveballs and sidetreks of my own. This keeps the campaign world more immersive and believable without losing the central plotline or allowing it to become the only focus.
We used to play without alignment restrictions, but I've found this is just a DM headache. My games now do not allow evil or CN aligned characters. Honestly, as fun as it is to play evil it gets old really fast.
I'm very big on music and visual aids in my games these days. Erdenstren or Sonic Legends downloads are my primary mood soundtracks, and there's always a lot of Reaper figs, dungeon tiles, and flip-maps on the table. For especially important boss encounters, I'll often make a setpiece from styrofoam.
I like sandbox with lots of problem solving that can be done without a die roll. I detest situations that can only be handled with die rolls. Sure I like the occasional skirmist, but I like RP to build up to it, and than the combat can go all wrong if players did the wrong things, like get clues, etc.
Like many others, I tend to run a very player-driven, sandbox style game.
I imagine a setting and describe it to the players, verbally or in writing. Then, I ask them to make characters with goals. The game begins with me asking them what they would like to do.
When they don't have goals, I'm frustrated, and they end up with a boring game. If they have goals and attempt to pursue them, we'll all have a great time!
I go with a 'Limited Sandbox' approach where my players can go where ever and do what ever and I will steer them to the level appropriate encounters for said desires.
I give them the worlds, Mystara, Greyhawk and now Golarion and let them pack up their kit bags and go get dirty. One of these games has been going on since the mid 80s (Mystara) the other since the mid 90s (Greyhawk).
They trust me to keep them entertained, challenged and looking for more!! So far, so good. While Golarion is my newest and weakest world, they all have been very entertained with the whole Kingmaker AP and have jumped in with both sabatons and look like they may take Ol Staggy soon! That is if they don't get distracted with Kobold Freedom Fighters!
~ Mystara Game is very detailed about armor and weapons and how they interact with each other. The game is very Roleplay heavy with combat being secondary even with characters in the 20s. I know that sounds backwards with the detail to armor and weapons but the players know that some weapons are gonna cut them down and with some very brutal house rules since the start, combat is nasty and can go south fast, so they like to think/ work around the fights. Some games, not a die is rolled in anger!
~ Greyhawk is very Tactical and Combat oriented with very little Roleplaying. This group doesn't like the details of the Mystara Game and prefers a simpler combat style. If this group is not in a dungeon or maneuvering on an enemy, it gets slow. Fast is the pace and action is the word of the day! Sometimes it feels like a Table Top Miniatures Battle Game, but everyone has fun and they keep sending emails about the next game so, they have to be having fun eh?
~ Golarion Game is under a Month or so old and is still getting its legs under it. Looks like a good mix of both the above games. We shall see how the sandbox plays out for them.
Sorry for the Ramble...
Have Fun out there!!
~ W ~
My DM style is...tricky. I love creating characters and I love spinning stories that makes out some characters to be the bad guys when they are absolutely not. Putting the players in situations to make very touchie judgment calls is a favorite of mine. Nearly all my villains are "grey area" villains in which they are not down right evil, and even sometimes absolutely righteous. My players are almost always somewhere in the neutral range, so I like putting them in questionable situations. I give them conflicting information in order to for them into touch choices.
For example, they were sent on a mission recently to kill a necromancer's apprentice. Upon checking things it, they discover the apprentice was a cleric in cover trying to unearth documentation in order to try to change some of the law regarding necromancy that were too lax for her order. AKA lawyer under cover. Despite being a good character with noble intentions, she almost found herself dead if not for a single party member really pushing to leave her be. Not to mention several deaths of innocent people because someone failed their sense motive a few times.
I'm also not the DM out to kill the players. I enjoy challenging them, and share in their successes, but my goal is not to screw with them at every turn. Just the occasional turn. But I will punish stupid.
Being a resent graduate of art history and archaeology my games are very historically rooted. I'm big on making props, and big on "fun" game items. Let's just say my players are going to have some fun with cursed items this week.
My players seem to agree I usually set up high fantasy games, although they think I have a knack for world politics and subterfuge (the former I wouldn't agree on, but if they think so, so be it!).
The world they play in I spent several weeks creating with full maps, towns, populations and such. Each "city state" in the world they are in has it's background and larger world issues, as well as customs. They can start anywhere, doing anything. I present them with a few options initially. If they take the bait, then they are in store for a planned story. If not, I will go with it and give them something else.
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I like to run meta-plot style games. Usually I'll do one-off and/or module play sessions, but I'll thread something into them that relates them. It's usually really subtle. Then later, as the characters have started to become regional figures, they start putting the pieces together and have the chance to change the world in some way.
The trick for me is to stay on my toes. Often times the players will create these threads for me:
P: Is this wizard from the same sect as the last wizard?
Me: Roll a perception check. ... At first you wouldn't think so, but from here you can just barely make out that he IS wearing the same medallion!
Note that that was an unrelated wizard only moments ago, but the players love to unravel the mystery on their own...
:)
My style tends to depend on the system, and has changed as I have grown older and have less free time.
In my early days, I ran Rolemaster, Champions, V&V, and Cyberpunk - all in a very sandbox style.
Now, I prefer to run well written adventures - Pathfinder and Call of Cthulhu are excellent for this.
In the past, when I ran Amber (diceless) - I was big time sandbox. I find sandbox to be a lot easier with systems that are not stat / number intensive (NOT Rolemaster).
Like many others, I tend to run a very player-driven, sandbox style game.
I imagine a setting and describe it to the players, verbally or in writing. Then, I ask them to make characters with goals. The game begins with me asking them what they would like to do.
When they don't have goals, I'm frustrated, and they end up with a boring game. If they have goals and attempt to pursue them, we'll all have a great time!
This is similar to my style as well. Old-schoolers call my style 'simulationist', some even say it is 'Gygaxian Naturalist'. My players know that I will provide them with an interesting world with all sorts of things going on, both obviously and behind the scenes. They also know that I'll make next to no effort to provide them with level-appropriate opposition or to tailor rewards to their needs (no, the captain of the bad guy's guards will not be using the weapon that you're specialized in with any greater frequency than do people in his job position throughout the overall world). Accordingly, they expect to have to pick their opposition carefully and do due dilligence on human and magical intel so as to get the risk-reward tradeoff that they're willing to accept. If you're looking for a better magical glaive guisarme, for instance, you better do your homework or find someone to forge it custom for you.
Here's the thing about simulationism though---the 'real roleplayer' crowd, once they get used to the fact that the GM is only interested in telling stories at the meta level at most, opting rather to simply create the conditions wherein stories can happen, frequently go gaga for simulationism. The reason is, because the world is internally coherent within the limits of suspension of disbelief, it becomes far easier to consider the NPCs of the world as being at least as real as, say, characters in a decent fantasy novel. Accordingly, they can actually achieve a reasonably high degree of immersion and can drive a story to a far greater degree than they are...
+1 Great explanation!
Like Wallsingham, I add to this some steering of the characters toward "level appropriate" challenges. As long as that steering is done in-game, the illusion of reality is not broken.
Contributor
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I tend to adjust mt style to reflect the group I'm running for. My current priumary group is very laid-back, just a bunch of people using D&D as an excuse to hang out. I'm running that group on a fairly rail-roaded version of Legacy of Fire.
I like to run the episodic version of sandboxing- let the PCs figure out what they're planning to do at the end of each session and work from there. That way I don't have to do a ton of work that just gets thrown out the window.
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As a GM, I tend to run games that are very story driven. I generally have major plot details already drawn out, but beyond the initial get everybody on the same page arc, I try to present a number of different 'options' to let the players develop where they want to go. Sometimes it may feel a bit railroady (my longest running game the PCs spent nearly all of their time doing missions for a patron), but everybody at the table (real or virtual) seems to be having a good time.
I've tried opening up some games to pure sandboxy, but I have found that many folks don't have the motivation to seek out adventure. This is especially true in the online gaming circle (which is where 99% of my gaming takes place). I may have 5 different players in 5 different time zones, and more often than not, it seems that just getting them all to show up is a miracle. I've had a few players who actively tried to develop plot events with me, but its not something I see as a whole.
That bothers me though, because as a player I like to develop my own story beyond whats going on in the main plot. I didn't take Leadership just to get a cohort, I took it to gain followers and I'm spending 3/4 of my loot toward building a base. I'm investing a good amount of my time into my character, which in-turn helps add a good feel to the GM's game. Having more players who tried to develop their persona in the game world beyond just a character sheet who kills the BBEG of the week would probably encourage me to try to spend more GM effort in a sandboxy environment.
Sandbox here as well, with the added note that i don't force (or even expect) the party to work together- I mostly just set up a background and let them have fun.
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My personal style is what I like to call the "sandbox of doom".
A map is layed out with preset encounters, adventure path points, and plot hooks. Now thies encounters have wildly varying ECL's so a smart/lucky PC learns to scout ahead and choose his encounters or run for his life.And so their is no (this is a level appropiate encounter) going on in the back of the players heads.
I like the Fluid Dynamics of Sandbox. Things are happening according to a timeframe, and the PCs wander through and they either miss or collide with the event on the larger event mesh. If they exert change then I adjust what happens next - maybe the BBEG sends more scouts to find out why his scouts went missing or the Fleeing Refugees settle at the PCs village because they saved them from the werewolf...
For me, it depends entirely on what I am running and how much time I have available to write and prepare. When I'm pressed for time or if I find a product I really like, I'll run prepared adventures that can at times be pretty railroady. Even in those cases I like to make it as dynamic as possible by allowing the PCs to jump the rails whenever it seems like fun.
I prefer to run kind of a modified sandbox when I have the time to prepare, meaning a dynamic campaign in which there is an overall story and lots of background plot going on, but the PCs have the ability to change the story in major ways through their actions. The PCs aren't the center of the universe, but they are significant actors within it, with the power to change history and reality at times. Of course, the more they do that, the more they are noticed by the powers that be, which is not usually a good thing. Bwahahahahaha!
This thread is for the description of various styles of Dungeon Mastering. Please Share!!!
It is NOT for a huge i'm better than you becouse X. So resist the temptation.
Well then, I am better than you becouse Y. X is for losers. Long live Y!
Anyway, my personal style is "Sandbox made out of Sandboxes". Basically, I enjoy giving my players all the liberty in the world to do as they see fit, but always making sure they are well-aware of where is the story going. Of course, I only do this with my usual group (we have been playing together for 15 years), because I know this is the style of game they thrive with, and I can count on them on not making my life hell and collaborating in order to make the story move forward.
The reason I like such a free way of DMing is because one of the things I like the most is being surprised by the players. I set up challenges and situations which I expect them to succeed at, consider a broad range of options, and most of the times they end up solving them in a way I didn't expect. The "It's a crazy plan, but it can work" is pretty much the motto of the group.
Preparation-wise, I use flowcharts. Back in the day I would write down even the slightest detail about everything in the game, but now I am more practical, dividing plot elements between "Must Happen", "Could Happen" and "Filler". The first are the things that need to take place for the story to move forward, such as meeting the count or finding the artifact. I try to be open-ended in regards of how they can happen, so as to be prepared for eventualities. The second are more specific in how they can happen ("If the players enter the inn, they will stumble upon a band of mercenaries led by Mad Bullet O'Bannon"), but they are not fundamental for the central plot. The third are usually short-term events that I use to fill up when the character stray off-course of when the flow of improvisation led me to places I hadn't really considered ("Fire-belching ogre escapes from the local carnival"). They are both non-necessary for the plot and not connected to it either.
Now, since I give the players so much freedom of actions, sometimes things that were supposed to be background end up becoming keystones of the story, such as that nameless NPC who somehow got dragged into the gladiator's battle and the luck of the roll made him victorious. For this, I keep a hefty compendium of pre-made backgrounds for all manners of NPCs, locations, forgotten deities and inns with sultry names, that are written so as to fit with just any kind of situation I can think of. I write these down whenever I get a new idea, regardless of whether I am currently running a campaign or not (technically I am always running some kind of campaign, but not necessarily D&D). This has really helped me make convincing backgrounds for stuff I hadn't considered on the fly, which I've noticed has a great effect on the players.
Preparation-wise, I use flowcharts. Back in the day I would write down even the slightest detail about everything in the game, but now I am more practical, dividing plot elements between "Must Happen", "Could Happen" and "Filler". The first are the things that need to take place for the story to move forward, such as meeting the count or finding the artifact...I keep a hefty compendium of pre-made backgrounds for all manners of NPCs, locations, forgotten deities and inns with sultry names, that are written so as to fit with just any kind of situation I can think of. I write these down whenever I get a new idea, regardless of whether I am currently running a campaign or not (technically I am always running some kind of campaign, but not necessarily D&D). This has really helped me make convincing backgrounds for stuff I hadn't considered on the fly, which I've noticed has a great effect on the players.
+1
I tend to create sandboxes that are tailored for my players. I use the back-stories they create for their characters to fill in plot points and create controversy. If a character is looking for his long lost dad or exact vengeance on a giant clan I try to work that into the story. Keeping that carrot dangling in front of the players and leading them down various paths.
I always try to keep players on their toes and rarely play my antagonists as pure evil. They just have goals or mechanization that are in conflict with my players. Additionally, I have no qualms about placing my players in situations that just can't win. I always offer an out but sometime just like in real life you get in over your head... I mean there are some places you should not be and some people or things that are just beyond your abilities. I offer as many hints as I can but far be it from me to stop the thief from trying to steal the arch-mages spell book.
I also always keep the clock running. Something that a lot of players are not used to. I keep a time-line going and stick to it. So that if my players are fighting a cult and then suddenly choose to explore a mine rather than assault the temple. When they emerge the cult has moved along in their plans and in one case slaughtered everyone in the town... I think some players who have played to many video games have issues with this.
Believe it or not my post was at least three times as big as this before my computer crashed and I had to start over. My DM style by category:
Flavor: Old school. And I was there, so I know.
Setting: 100% custom homebrew.
Story: There is no story but what the characters make. I have crazy stuff going on in the world around them, but how they impact and interact with that is up to them. Sometimes the PC's story is they died.
Death: Life is fragile. Don't become too emotionally attached to your character. I'm not trying to kill you, but dungeons are dangerous places. Never forget running away is an option.
Adventure hooks: My magic item generation process (given in excruciating detail before the crash) yields more adventure hooks than we could ever possibly play.
NPC Characterizations: I do voices but I have trouble keeping up with them all. As for monster/NPC actions, I strive to have them do whatever they would really do given the circumstances.
PC Characterizations: I require first-person interaction with NPCs, but I don't make anyone else do voices. From each according to his or her comfort level.
DM Persona: Maniacal glee. "He's trying to kill us," should be among the things I hear the players say.
Rules: We stick to them as best we can, except for magic items. Almost all magic items are flawed in some way. And every item is unique. Because of this, you can't just run around assuming you're going to be able to buy your favorite toys. BTW the players tell me they love this feature and enjoy working out the mystery of the items they find and what gotchas may be in store. Sometimes I let them suggest the flaw to me.
XP: No points for role-playing, and no hero points. I do assign points for overcoming obstacles and beating opponents, even if they get away. If you beat a monster to within an inch of his life, and if he flees, heals up, and faces you again later only to die, I give you the points twice.
Trust: It isn't me vs. them, and they know it. We're always keeping expectations out in the open.
Traps: I wrote three paragraphs on my approach before the computer crash. TL;DR: I recognize that a character can be better at finding and disabling traps than the player driving him, but I like designing traps, so finding and disabling them is rarely reduced to just a skill roll.
Overall TL;DR I'm the best DM ever! ;)
... I keep a time-line going and stick to it. So that if my players are fighting a cult and then suddenly choose to explore a mine rather than assault the temple. When they emerge the cult has moved along in their plans and in one case slaughtered everyone in the town... I think some players who have played to many video games have issues with this.
+1.
I do this too. Details like this make all the difference. Even minute details that add to the internal consistency of a setting go a long way toward player immersion.
I had a player two weeks ago espy a 4' hole in a ceiling 45' above their heads. He fired a crossbow bolt up into it and nothing happened. This week they were a few levels higher up in a corridor with a carpet almost but not quite covering a hole in the floor, and a broken crossbow bolt was off to one side. They approached it cautiously and checked for traps. They asked for a description, and without coming out and telling them it was the same bolt, I gave them every clue I could think of to indicate that it was. One player figured it out just before another burned his detect magic. It was like they had made this awesome discovery when they put the elements of the 3D dungeon together in their heads. "If that's true, then further along we should find the source for the poison gas we were hit with."
It would have been so easy to stick with the original corridor description and leave out the bolt.
In the past, I would use a world map, and stick adventure modules here and there with links to the players and it was them that decided where to go and what adventure to complete. They almost always had 3 to 5 options. I'd run the modules mostly as is, but tweak it just enough so that it made sense to the overall campaign. I'd occasionally throw in my own self-made side-quests from time to time to smoothe things out.
That was when I had tons of time and when we played at least once a week.
These days, it's different.
I buy/read adventure paths and pretty much play them as is, with a minimum of tweaking... Although I always make it look like I put parts of it in there. And, as we play maybe once a month now, I tend to use narration to get through the long parts that don't have a direct effect on the story (like three in-game weeks of travelling from one city to another).
The stuff that comes out of Paizo has always been great and, thanks to them, it leaves me with great adventures to throw at my players with a minimum effort on my part.
Ultradan
Back in 2nd edition days I would go completely freeform. I'd look at what the world notes are for Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms, the characters would do whatever they wanted and I played the World/NPC's accordingly. Often this resulted in a drunken riot and the characters being given a mission or be thrown out of town. The characters had no background and hung around eachother because they were drinking buddies and seemed to have the same bad guys attacking them.
Later on I tried large adventures like temple of elemental evil, undermountain etc, but found players got bored of anything longer than 3 sessions, so broke up those larger adventures with side missions and tied in their backgrounds into the plots more.
Back in the 2nd edition days I would combine world alot, in one game I had greyhawk across the sea from forgotten realms/kara tur, with mystara on the other side of the world and hollow world in the centre.
I had alot of games go sour due to players bring work frustrations into the game and using any excuse to fight in the game. I tried to interveen but sometimes people are determined not to be civil. After several years of this I made it clear that characters do not have to be buddies, but they can find in-character reasons to hang around eachother, or atleast seperate into two groups for safety-it's a dangerous world out there.
Dungeon magazine adventures were always well recieved, far more than published stand-alone modules. I also would take brothers grimm stories and make it into an adventure. Because the laws of physics and magic were often fast and loose in those adventures they were great for a break in the dungeon bashing/questing routine.
These days I generally have 2-3 plots going at the same time. If they choose to ignore events in one plot or campaign area then I will determine if those events are dealt with or escalate and have to be dealt with later. The PCs backgrounds are always tied into the plots, so they call get multiple turns in the spotlight over the course of the campaign. I stick to one world and let the players know of houserules at the start.
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I tend to run AP's a lot, and my players are usually on board with "Make the Adventure Happen" clues. We had a "No Plot Here" sign for one clueless fellow, after a while.
It works, and lets me concentrate on the most fun part of DM'ing...the voices. I'm bad with em, I know, but I try to at least get in the head of any NPC the crew ends up talking to (for once...). Then, the party talks/robs/kidnaps/ransoms/etc the NPC, they move along to the next encounter or encounter area, and the game moves along.
2nd most fun part of DM'ing is the CharGen stuff, monster creation or tweaking, and encounter design. I usually try to have at least 2 backup plans in order, even if I have to use bog-standard Bestiary stats. Then again, my usual crew of players is about 50/50 on "Kill It in One Hit" or "Make Friends With Everybody," so I'm never quite sure how a given encounter is gonna go.