Asking Players for a Wishlist at the Top of the Campaign

Did you know that you can just ask your friends what they want to do in their D&D game? It’s true!
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:52 - Magic Items
03:03 - The Bucket List
07:54 - What About New Players?
08:30 - Discussion Question
09:30 - A Word From Our Sponsors
12:04 - Outro
Sinfonia Number 5 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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[@SupergeekMike]

What other totally real moments in D&D History would you like to hear Artivus Gleem discuss next time Dscryb sponsors the channel? Thanks so much to Dscryb for sponsoring this video! Visit dscryb.com/supergeek and use the term SUPERGEEK at checkout to get 10% off of your first subscription payment. dscryb.com/supergeek

[@kelpiekit4002]

I addition to a wish list like this you can also get an aesthetic list. This is a list of a few words that connect with how a player wants their character to look or feel like. For example they may say "poison, rats, sailing" which may inspire very different items than "Arabian, moon, fairy". Because while it is good to get what you wanted it also is nice to be surprised by something you never knew you might want, whether magical or mundane.

[@SupergeekMike]

Oooh I like it

[@kyleward3914]

I know there are commas, but I'm choosing to read that as "poison rats sailing," and now I want to know where they're sailing to.

[@samcarter565]

As the Forever DM, I’d love to play a campaign to completion 1-20 with an overarching story that actually wraps up

[@morganmcinroy4211]

I would have said that too! Might be able to reach that with my current game

[@agsilverradio2225]

Playing a campaign with a satisfying ending is absolutly on my bucket list.

[@annak1042]

As a DM, one of my favourite things is when my players start talking unprompted about things they'd like to see in-game. Recently one of them posted in our group chat asking if anyone had ever come across an immovable rod in a campaign before, and noting that they "sounded awesome". They were coming up to an encounter with a character who's obsessed with keys & locks, and who I already knew would offer each PC a magical item as thanks for helping them-so I made sure their offerings included an "immovable padlock", functioning the same way as an immovable rod but with slightly different flavouring.

[@redknight808]

I GMed a couple players in historic 12th century England using Hero System. It started out as a prequel story arc for adult underworld-types, but they enjoyed playing 8yo and 9yo street urchins so much, we just kept going. These were 5-pt characters in Hero, so level 0 (at best) in D&D. One of the players was a longtime D&D player and he said the experience of being small and penniless in a land of "giants" who gave them no credence was something challenging. Every encounter--a wolf bite or a priest's dagger--was a life-and-death event decided with a 1d6. One time they broke into the house of their little village's resident knight and stole two silver. As they hid later on and discussed what they would do with their treasure, I reminded them how something like this would probably never happen in a D&D game. They agreed, laughed, and continued their adventures in a land where no monsters lived and no magic (that they knew of) existed. Simple things like a vagrant who believed that he was a werewolf, or a flash flood, or a waylaid French agent, or a power play by the local religious leaders were all food for their imaginations and felt more visceral and exciting because of the fragility of their characters. This kind of adventure isn't for everyone, but they said it was the most profound RP experience they had ever played in. This isn't anyone's power fantasy, but might make for an interesting story arc for a small group of players.

[@sandyrogers1375]

To find a lasting game that not only survives adult schedules and life but continues until it reaches, as your friend said, a satisfying conclusion. But also for that game to be one that is plot and story driven.

[@NickMunch]

I'd love to play in a higher level campaign starting around level 10 and going all the way to 20. Almost all of the campaigns I've played in have ended around level 10 or 11, so higher tier play sounds fun to me.

[@miss_skynet]

These campaigns can be awesome. The character I've had most fun with was an eighteenth level sorceress.

[@Dalenthas]

I've been playing D&D off and on for more than 20 years, I think I've gotten above 10th level fewer times than I can count on one hand.

[@CharlesBlazer]

The last campaign my group played, we agreed to level up after every session, so we could get to those higher levels. It worked great. (We slowed down around level 12, and probably spent half the campaign at 17-20.) Some say high level D&D is unbalanced, but it worked fine for us.

[@MogoPrime]

This is not something a DM can provide, it's something the players have to all willingly open up to, but I want a campaign where I feel like the characters develop real connections with each other. It takes a surmounting of shyness to open up and reach out to other people to make connections, and it can feel like making yourself vulnerable when you give them the option to rebuke your attempt at friendship or trust-building. That is hard, it is not always successful, but when it goes well it is the best thing in life. In this way, the game is no different than real life.

[@SupergeekMike]

Totally true! But that’s an awesome one for sure

[@GregMcNeish]

I always include this question in character creation, including when I'm a player, and usually fairly early in the process. It becomes more of "what is the fantasy I want to play out WITH THIS CHARACTER?" That's great for a DM to incorporate and build into their campaign, as you say here, but it's also important for the player to incorporate into both the statistical and story build of the character during creation. If your big fantasy is to slay a dragon, you'll build a character that would fare well in a dragon fight, but you'll also create a character flavour (backstory & personality) that will lend itself to BEING put in that situation. It's by marrying these two perspectives, the players and the DM, that puts everyone at the table in the best position to have the amazing, incredible, memorable campaign we all want.

[@SupergeekMike]

Indeed!

[@manueltorresart2345]

So many layers of good comedy in this video. You sure take your good time in the writting process. Up until this moment, my highest wishlist is playing, because job/family/adulthood is making it quite complicated and it takes a lot just to meet.

[@richardproper8682]

I'd love to play in a more grounded, drawn out campaign that stays in one area so that players can get invested and put down roots. Players build their characters together and establish familial and personal ties to each other, like a small farming family, their hired hand, and a close cousin who lives in town and works as a blacksmith. One day while chasing off the local group of goblins, something routine enough to be considered a "chore", the group chases one into a cave that leads to a series of pre-built tunnels and eventually a tomb, or long hidden sacred site to a particular deity. The party never strays farther than the farm or town, but in addition to further exploring the ruins and other areas near by, they have to deal with outside influences and politics as others try to take advantage of the new find on their property. Maybe the sacred site is a place where strong magical weapons can be blessed or crafted to slay the deities enemies, unscrupulous persons sneak into the ruins into ruins in the dead of night to bless their own weapons to sell on the black market while the established church of the deity claims that the site is legally their property and tries to evict the family, all while the deities enemies are establishing their own plots to utterly destroy the sacred site, leaving no one alive . . .

[@mentalrebllion1270]

Ok so when I started my first ever campaign we did go over these things. First, I found it online, a listing to for the module I wanted. That was already something I did on my own. While I didn’t read in detail the campaign I knew enough about it to have an idea on the general premise to know it was a type of story I was interested in being part of. So from there session 0 starts up. I make it clear that I have one particular class in mind, gloomstalker, and that I intend to play a drow for it (I had other race options also in mind but my previous skim of the module made me realize there was enough Underdark references for the drow to be easier to fold into and justify in the story, plus I had a better idea of the backstory for him and only a vague of the others). So that was what I made clear of my wishlist right off the bat. I also decided my character would be cripplingly shy and so the adventure for him was more centered around making these friends and finding the courage to step up more socially because of those bonds. That was something my group took to heart and quickly helped in a way that made sense. I also made it clear this was my first campaign so I really wanted help understanding mechanics and asked the group if they would be ok helping with that part and explaining. They were. In fact, there was several other players that were forever dms who had signed up for this game because they wanted to play. They didn’t mind one bit giving me a hand alongside our dm for this game. So that’s how session 0 panned out on my end. We were asked to provide a wishlist of items we liked but I was so new I didn’t really put anything there until recently and I’m level 6 now. Even so it’s mostly for the snakeskin armor and a general request for interesting longbows and arrows. Otherwise I was open. I did also post an idea for an item that would need custom homebrewing which is for the message earring to become a sending earring, namely, just replacing the spell for of message for the original item to be a sending spell instead. This is more because I wanted an item that would allow my character to check in with their inn they own and still adventure. So over all, not many things were added to wishlist and all items I was comfortable with not receiving or allowing the dm freedom to choose what he felt suits the narrative. I did also recently talk to my dm about some general symbolism I wanted my character to have, namely snowdrops, praying mantis, plum blossoms, bow and arrows, and Eilistraee (his goddess he worships). For those who get the snowdrops and plum blossom reference, the setting of the story takes place in an arctic environment which is why I chose these symbols. Since he is a drow I chose the mantis as it’s a predator that even spiders fear. Plus…got inspiration from the trinket table for the module that mentions a “brooch with an insect encased in amber” which I decided was a gift from his mother. After much research I had settled on mantis to be the insect. Now as for the bow and arrows, that’s easy, he is a ranger and his role in the group is to be the longest range fighter. I put a focus on dexterity for him for this reason. So that’s pretty much it. I dropped some other backstory stuff to explain his habits, like having an artificer sister to explain his caution with magic items, and so on. But this was over all. I don’t see getting many magic items and I don’t mind that. It’s not a campaign that was advertised to have a lot, the opposite in fact. I’m quite comfortable with just getting a few low rarity magic items. Actually, weirdly, my dm has been giving me potions which is hilarious to me. The one suspicious of magic items has a ton of different potions in his pack. Lol. Anyway, that’s my experience. I think wishlists are a good thing but should be discussed what you mean by them and why and also discussed on how important it is to the person requesting an item or circumstance or whatever on how much they want it and if it can be incorporated in a fair way for all players. It’s a group experience after all.

[@aquamage10]

I have always wanted to reach a high enough level with a Wizard or Cleric to try and become a Lich or a Mummy Lord. (Or even homebrew like an undead dryad like creature for a druid)

[@EmB856]

I've always wanted to cast Revivify or Raise Dead as a cleric. I want those high risk high reward situations.

[@honoratagold]

Honestly, I think my main D&D wishlist is based on my experience in my current campaign, but I really want to play in a campaign where there is a significant amount of downtime implied between adventures and the game is more player-directed. I think I'd really enjoy a West Marches campaign if I could find one. [TBH, I think I want to play one so badly, running one -- maybe with my fiance as co-DM if the group is large -- is also on my DM bucket list.] Also, asking your players what they want to play or what their wishlist is is really cool! I did it for the first time just recently because I'm running a duet, and since a duet is basically tailor-made for a single player, I just asked my player what he wanted to play. He loves to play martials and he wanted to play a private investigator who solved mysteries, and I was thrilled I asked -- because now I can run a bunch of mysteries I couldn't in a traditional campaign because low-level magic might instantly solve the mystery. We're going very noir with it and it's been a lot of fun. And I'm glad I asked, because a duet campaign could just as easily be something Elric-inspired -- which is what I would probably ask for if I'd been in my player's shoes. The regular campaign I play in is run in my DM's persistent world, so a lot of campaigns are based on stuff we mention might be cool in the previous campaign. We know as players that the world his campaign is set on is slowly dying -- although our characters don't. "Is that something we could do a campaign about trying to fix?" we asked, and got the answer: absolutely. It's going to be the premise of our next campaign.

[@MorningDusk7734]

I've always played frontlines in the few campaigns I've actually been in; it would be nice to do some more magic than just as a Paladin tank-healer combo. I also think that playing a Rogue that uses hatchets instead of daggers would be fun, since I think they both have the same properties.

[@LyrictheFilthyCasual]

Pretty sure hatchets don't have the Finesse quality, so you'd have to do a strength build, but sneak attack does play nice with strength! Learned that when brainstorming the viability of a Roguebarian. Sneak attack works with Strength, but Rage does NOT play nice with Dex.

[@ryanthomasjones]

More conversations with Future Mike please. I didn't know I needed this.

[@faithfocals]

I’d like to play a long campaign where the characters experience arcs that challenge the players as well. So far all of my TTRPG experience has been one-shots.

[@ONAROccasionallyNeedsARestart]

I've had the rule of "Every player gets one wish for something to be in the campaign" since the early 2000s. Integrating the specifics of a player's wish is probably my favourite part of developing a campaign.

[@Xhalph]

I often think of a moment or tableau that I think would be fun and/or fitting. For a drow character I want to play, one item is "watch the sunrise while overlooking some ancient elven ruins in the High Moor". 3e's Oriental Adventures had rules for being "tainted" by spending too much time in the Shadowlands. IIRC it manifested as corruption (physical) and depravity (mental). Getting rid of this taint requires a lot of downtime at some sort of monastery or place of healing. I have a mental image of my character floating on his back in a hotspring-fed pool at a monastery, slowly letting the taint leave him.

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

A while back Zee Bashew did a video titled "How I DM." One of the later points in the video was to have players submit encounter scenarios. When traveling between cities or major locations, write 4 encounters with clear negatives in them on 4 pieces of paper. Players may submit however many encounters they want in pairs of two. One good. One bad. I like taking this as a way to let players help generate random tables. I also ask for different things during character creation. Don't ask for "backstories." Ask for one paragraph detailing the PC's inciting incident, and a list of at least 5 npcs your character is tied to. Family members, rivals, love interests, exs, stalkers, your "Linear Guild" mirror match counterpart. It doesn't matter who or what they come up with so long as they give me plenty of carrots and sticks to jab them with.

[@parrarowlife2196]

A thing on my bucket list as a player is to play in a long run campaign starting at level 1 like I've run for others in the past. Another thing is that I've always wanted to play in a campaign where we the players get to choose what we want to do, kind of sandboxy but still in an established world.

[@Xob_Driesestig]

I have always wanted to encounter an anti-meme monster, like in the book: "there is no anti-memetics division".

[@SupergeekMike]

I don’t know the term but I’m down for it 👍

[@Xob_Driesestig]

@@SupergeekMike Those are monsters that mess with your memory/perception, so the players might e.g encounter a monster that they've (in game world reality) fought many times but (both the characters and the players) don't know it because the monster causes you to forget it's existence after it leaves your field of vision. The players might have even had another party-member (in game world reality) that they've forgotten because the monster has eaten them. You could sprinkle in that they have an extra horse and an extra tent which the players could slowly piece together belonged to a party-member which they have now "forgotten".

[@CharlesBlazer]

I'd like to experience an old-school dungeon crawl, where we spend multiple days underground, have to barricade doors to sleep, solve traps and riddles, and have many small(ish) combats.

[@SupergeekMike]

Heck yes!

[@johnforgrave7125]

As a player I really appreciate when the DM asks about long-term goals, but I do think it's worth either waiting a few sessions or for it to be a recurring question being asked to players. Both a player and a character's motivations and goals might change over the course of a campaign, or their desires might be directly influenced by the events of the campaign itself. My DM recently asked us in Discord to share a long-term goal we as players have for our characters. Some folks' answers were based on the backstory they've had from the start of the campaign (reunite with long-lost family) or their character's personality (the haughty Drow wants a noble title), but my answer was based on some of the events of the campaign so far. My Swashbuckler Rogue recently took a dip into Hexblade when he found a fancy magic sword on a ghost ship. Turns out the sword contains the consciousness of the captain of said ghost ship and now he's my Warlock patron. So when the DM asked for long term goals for my character I told him I wanted to eventually be the captain of my own ship and follow in my patron's footsteps. If he had asked me the same question before the campaign kicked off I'd have probably come up with a much less interesting goal.

[@danielmetcalfe5589]

I’ve never played before, but from watching Actual Play shows, I already know what’s number 1 on my D&D bucket list. In these games, it always seems like every enemy is perfectly suited to the level of the party. Sometimes you might see an episode where the party runs into something that is beyond their abilities and have to run or retreat. Those are fun episodes, but if you want the game world to feel real, where is the opposite? Not every criminal syndicate or warlord’s army is equipped to deal with a party of six level 12 badasses. Just like the party gets in over their head sometimes, the same should be true of the bad guys occasionally. Specifically, my bucket list item would look something like running into a bunch of evil cult members or slavers and absolutely decimating them because they weren’t prepared for a special forces team to show up at their doorstep. I mean, it’d have to be a LOT of enemies to make it worth it, but every once in a while I think it’d be cool to be reminded how unbelievably powerful a band of adventurers can be when compared to the average evil Joe.

[@Dalenthas]

Love the banter between Past Mike and Future Mike.

[@justwungo]

Only one thing on my wishlist: I really want to have a thematically appropriate subclass change that isn't just Oathbreaker. I really like the idea of a character really questioning their position in the world, and feeling like they may need to realign themselves.

[@toddgrx]

That’s neat… I might offer this to my party

[@SupergeekMike]

Ooooh that’s a good point

[@Ocicat93]

I did this for the 2nd campaign I'm running for my players. They're all newish so I got a lot of vague answers unfortunately. Mostly they just wanted items that helped them hit harder in combat, 1 person wanted a deck of many things and another wanted a legendary dagger. When asked what they'd like from the campaign they basically mentioned all the pillars, traps, puzzles, cursed items and chaos XD On my wishlist is wild beyond the witchlight. I'm currently playing cos and while I love my group it's exactly the opposite of a campaign I'd want to play in.

[@gandolf7777]

My wish list item is pretty simple, be a PC in a campaign. I'm still new to D&D and since no one else was willing or able I've been the DM for both of my campaigns. I like the idea of just getting to be the player who experiences the world not create it.

[@phatcavy98]

My usual deal is to tell my players the campaign concept and ask what kind of stuff they would like to do in it aside from the main plot. Example "I would like to create my own thieves guild in the main town and maybe usurp the current one" now I can build a proper thieves guild and work towards that goal for that player. I also ask each player to explain what kind of unique magic item they would like. I then give them a personally custom made item early based on their character concept and every tier of play it gets buffed. Example, "I want a fancy red hat that gives my barbarian access to magic". Now I create an intelligent magic hat that casts a random rolled spell X times per long rest, and maintains concentration and an individual Spell Save and Spell Attack for the barbarian. Now my barbarian can ask his hat to cast a spell and hopefully it helps the party. (this was a real thing and it was fantastic) the hat was half senile is why the spell choice was random.

[@steegen101]

the Future Mike bit is really funny. I'd never considered a "bucket list" for D&D before! I want to fight a huge powerful monster and potentially sacrifice myself to save the party/world! I want to play in a passionate, knowledgable group who are all at similar skill levels. I want to get comfortable roleplaying without judgement.

[@michaelday6870]

I'd like to try and establish taxonomy in a DnD world, researching how different races may be related to each other.

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

I want to play in a sandbox campaign… I like making cool items for my players. I don’t love asking for magic items as I love the discovery of cool new things I wasn’t expecting. I do ask about “what do you want in an RPG campaign that you haven’t seen yet?” Whether that’s a new system or a setting we haven’t done or a high level campaign or what have you.

[@lkriticos7619]

Honestly I think my big D&D wish is to find a group I could trust to handle dark stuff in game. Because I *love* dark stories. And I'd love to lean into that more when I play. But I'm not from the West and most people here (best will in the world) regard some of the real violence and atrocities I was around growing up as purely fictional. (Hell this stuff is built into the game and is a big reason I don't gell with the official lore.) It's a lot easier to say 'no x' then spend weeks trying to communicate across cultures and experiences. Especially when after all that effort, there's a good chance the others will forget or just not understand what you were saying anyway.

[@2o7o7dragon]

8:36 I haven't played at all yet, but doing my D&D research I think I've thrown together a character idea that I really wanna play... assuming I can find a DM that can integrate it into their story. I think it could be really fun to play a 'prince' that's run away from home to just learn about the world. Their family wants this character back, but can't just post a bounty for their missing prince 'cause someone else might want them for political leverage (or other reasons). The character knows this and spends the entire campaign assuming there are people looking for him trying to end his adventure. The last wrinkle that I think could would make it extra fun is the character having a "teleportation stone" that they got from their favorite uncle when they were younger. The stone is essentially 1-time use but instead of teleporting the character, it will teleport the uncle (a high level character) to the PC. What I think can really make this item fun: while it is potentially a 'get out of jail free card' for any encounter for the party, if the PC uses it, they are choosing to end their campaign 'cause the uncle's going to take them home. Also if I get to play it, I'd want the prince to be a metallic dragon wyrmling hiding polymorph A cause that's an extra party interaction wrinkle and B I like dragons.

[@SupergeekMike]

That sounds awesome!

[@davos6129]

Just wanna point out that when you said "comedy" and "mystery" at 4:48 my mind immediately went to Clue.

[@starsapart9311]

Oh hey, this is a thing I've been doing ever since I started DMing! Score! I have this as part of my session zero checklist: I'll ask players what they're most excited about (combat, social interaction, exploring, puzzles, etc.) and then I'll ask for wish list items. For the game I've been running for about 1.5 years, I've had players ask for pirates, dragon fights, political machination, cute NPCs to flirt/actually develop long term romances with, heists, and pets. I've so far managed to deliver all but one of these (dragon fight is coming soon!) in the same campaign. Thankfully my players are really good about getting engaged with story lines requested by others - so one player who DOES NOT like heists will still play along and be a good sport and hype up heist storylines for the players who DO like them, knowing that they'll get their desired type of storyline soon. And I ask for new wishlist items every time we cross one off the list as well, and that informs my adventure planning. Everyone seems to like this model a lot. I also will let players vote on the campaign I'm running. After picking the group, I'll offer 2-3 campaign ideas that I'm excited about running and let them vote on which one they want to play in next. So in January, I'm starting an Isekai-type campaign with heavy anime influence in which regular college kids from a normal town in somewhere, USA get thrown into a fantasy world and discover they have powers and are the Prophecied Ones Who Will Save Us All. My players who picked this concept are SO excited. They are even letting me create their character sheets so the type and focus of those powers is a surprise to the players as well as the characters when they arrive in the magical world. As for my personal wish list items...... Gosh. I just want to play at high levels, geez. I have never gotten to play above level 11, NOT EVEN IN A ONE SHOT. I really want to. Also, I'd love to play through a character who really focuses on crafting and magic item creation and lets me live out my inventor fantasies..... I think I have a game upcoming where I get to play an artificer with a DM who will lean into this for me!

[@SupergeekMike]

😁

[@Neophoia]

I usually ask my players if they have a plan for how they *think* their character is going to develop, like if they are think of sticking to a certain class or multiclassing, if they have any ideas for themes they want to be brought up, ect. . Also, checking in every few sessions to see if that "plan" has changed, there is no fun if a player had an idea at the start that they aren't feeling a few sessions in and want something different but don't wanna speak up because they don't wanna bug the DM. If the players aren't having fun, I as a dm won't enjoy the game either. All my players love "high magic" settings, which means the players get to play with tons of magic items, and I as a dm get to give the NPC's more magic too. Communication is the most important thing to make sure the game stays fun. I actually have a co-dm, we share a game world we have cobbled together and in some games I'm a player, in some I'm the dm. Both of us are quite good at checking in with eachother about meta-gaming, in a "ok do our characters know this info, or is this us as dm's knowing the info?" way and having somebody to check you for those cases is great. We do long form campaigns, and we have merged campaigns. But mostly we make sure players are enjoying the adventure. If we start something, and the players aren't enjoying it, both me and my co-dm will go into "ok, you aren't enjoying this. What parts are it that are ruining the fun? let's fix our game so we're having fun". Sometimes it has been a focus on combat, when they wanted social interaction, sometimes it has been a player not enjoying the character class they picked, so they get to make a new character (or a few). But as said before; communicate with your players outside of game.

[@TheSpartin01]

I would love to play in a game where A.) We as players had access to a library with the lore of the world and B.) the downtime and foreknowledge to actually be able to research and plan for our enemy. Every game I play in it ends up as a big fast paced quest to save the world that leaves no downtime what so ever.

[@RobKinneySouthpaw]

One of my players chose to retire her character at level 6, healthy and happy helping her long-lost family build a new village. We hadn't talked about it before, other than saying her character was actively looking for signs of her people's whereabouts. But it turned out retiring a character with a completed story arc, regardless of level, was something she hadn't known she wanted until it started to look like it would become possible. "Can I just have her quit adventuring since she has so much going on, and play a different character?" "Sure!" "Wait really?"

[@parrarowlife2196]

One last thing on my bucket list! I want to play in an adventure where we're adventuring across a large world trying to get from one place to another but we don't know whats in between each location while slowly uncovering the true nature of the world. And each location we arrive at is a small adventure with small plot threads that are slowly built up over a long period of time. Very much like a certain pirate themed anime if you know what I'm talking about

[@SupergeekMike]

I don’t actually get the reference but I do love that approach as well :)

[@Stephen-Fox]

The wishlist item - the only real wishlist item - I have for D&D specifically rather than TTRPGs generally? (Although it would work in Pathfinder as well) - I want to play a Kobold Shadowdancer. I don't even know if Shadowdancer is still a thing in 5e by that term, but it's a character I built for a 3.5e campaign that never happened when our DM was encouraging us to think ahead for what prestigue class we wanted to aim for and it fit a specific power fantasy I had at the time and a general I was just into the Kobold aesthetic as well, and as a result I really want to play a Kobold who can teleport from shadow to shadow in a D&DFinder style game, however that would be built these days. I'd also note that there are a lot of games I've read that basically assume you'll be doing something like this as part of the session 0 process, including some more modern trad designs - The group setting details together, rather than the GM coming up with one by fiat, style of things. Not necessarily the same sort of wishes you're talking about, but if someone really wants to play in a setting where magic is common and sometimes the wishes people make in wells come true, they get the agency to at least pitch that to the group as an idea on the smaugusboard we're all building together. I've also seen this concept of asking the players what they want to see baked into some tools - The Wish part of Stars and Wishes, for example, has everyone state something they want to see happen as part of the campaign going forward at the end of each session.

[@elfbait3774]

I have tried this but minimal success. This is one of those things, like so many others, that comes down to your players and the DM. If players are not the sort to advocate for themselves you aren't likely to get a whole lot of feedback. The best thing to do, in those cases, is to listen to things they say on a more informal basis during play and in the space between sessions. I remember once having set up a campaign, set in a homebrew world where dragons had all been hunted to extinction by a now fallen empire who's leaders consumed dragon flesh as a delicacy and for its power. I was all set and then asked my newest player (also my work supervisor) who had never played D7D what he really wanted in their game and he promptly said, "A dungeon...and a dragon". . I had already written dragons out of the game. Yes there were wyverns and drakes, but proper dragons were all gone. But were they really? I later ended up having the party encounter signs of a dragon which was, for this world, a HUGE deal. I then even had the player's character, while alone, glimpse a blue dragon, dancing around in a thunderstorm.

[@SupergeekMike]

I like it!

[@jesna4768]

Getting to 20 is something I'd love, but more abstract I'd like to gain influence in a game. I'd want to play a game where my character has social influence. This might be a level thing, but the closest I got was a king granting us all individual plots of land. I chose one in the city for an Inn, I wanted to trade secrets and get people jobs and whatnot between adventures. The game fizzled before the next adventure and being able ot do that kind of stuff. I probably explained it bad but it's the best I got.

[@SupergeekMike]

I totally get that!

[@octo448]

I've always wanted to play in a campaign with wildly varying environments (sorry Rangers!). Something where, due to the story or world, you could be playing in a tundra one session and then a mushroom forest the next session. And the biggest biome on that wishlist is an underwater adventure- the party somehow goes deep beneath the ocean and has to battle giant sea creatures on their home turf, handle nefarious beings trying to drown them, and finding cool stuff like shipwrecks or whalefalls at the bottom of the ocean.

[@toddgrx]

Get in a Storm King’s Thunder campaign

[@octo448]

@@toddgrx I'll check it out!

[@hannasophia18]

This reminds me of when I first started playing in 4E. I'm not sure if this was an actual rule or homebrew, but we rolled for loot and the higher you rolled the better the reward. I rolled a nat20 on my first loot role and got to role again which was a 16. I then got a Staff of Storms, I think it was something along the lines of a +1 weapon, plus it did an additional d6 lightning damage or something. It was so awesome that I build my whole character around it, I was a mage but switched to War Cleric for Kord with some wizard multiclass for extra lightning spells. It was so cool, still love that character so much. I now only play 5E because it makes more sense to me, but man 4E was so epic in some ways.

[@SupergeekMike]

4E knew what it wanted to be in a lot of ways that made the design really strong

[@jayiinmistaya]

My bucket list is odd: I have always wanted to have a Winged Snake (from AD&D) as a pet/familiar. I've wanted to have a Paladin with a triceratops mount. And I've always wanted to play in a game where NO PC was evil, chaotic neutral, or out to steal from the party. I've been playing since 1989, and EVERY DM has said 'no' to the winged snake...even though it's not powerful or game breaking. They just don't want pets or 'odd' familiars. I get it; I do. I've been a DM since 1992, so - I get it. But seriously? It's been a few years, and I would love the chance to play that in a long term game.

[@iPivo]

My D&D wishlist has 3 items: • Play a meaningful campaign with my Drow Warlock • Play a low/no magic campaign • Play a feudal Japan fantasy campaign

[@patricks2645]

I'm still not convinced you're not a simulacrum/clone of Matt Coleville that he made in order to keep up with youtube posting. I mean that with the utmost respect and gratitude, love the vids

[@dolphin64575]

At this point I just want to play D&D as a continuous story, not a one-shot here or there. My friend is planning a Percy Jackson flavored game for myself and 3 other friends, the DM and half the party love PJ, I and one other know close to nothing about the universe. I'm so excited to get everyone's schedules figured out.

[@SupergeekMike]

That sounds amazing!!

[@zenitram514]

On the flipside, if I as a DM want to run a very specific style of game, I will write a campaign pitch for a specific flavour I want to run. Sometimes I as a DM have a wishlist too :)

[@SupergeekMike]

Oh, definitely - I’m spending a LOT of time prepping a campaign right now, and I have no idea who my players are gonna be but it’s gonna be a campaign I run at some point lol

[@TwilitbeingReboot]

I would love to go through a convoluted process to craft a unique magic item. Thinking of Vakama with the Kanohi Vahi.

[@DaSkwire]

Ok that's my favourite outro so far 😁

[@SupergeekMike]

Haha thanks!

[@ImGlassy]

Since I've started playing DND I've had a bit of a personal bucketlist, make one character of each class and try not to repeat races. All I have left to make is a bard and I have one thing in mind for ceratin: he will play a hurdy gurdy.

[@SupergeekMike]

Hahaha I love it

[@mxsnowdrop]

I don’t think you even mentioned anything that related to my upcoming campaign but somehow this triggered a couple brainwaves for plot hooks and tying the characters in to the adventure better! I’m attempting to run the yawning portal dungeons into one campaign and linking it all together has been difficult so far - but this just sorted at least the first three!!

[@SupergeekMike]

I’m so glad I could help! 😁

[@emmathomas2832]

I have two - make it to level 20 with a character, and be in an in person session with some epic roleplaying. I just really like the roleplaying ok

[@xMEGALUCASx]

My personal wish as a player is to play in a heist campaign. Just a bunch of folks stealing from museums and such.

[@SupergeekMike]

Heck yes!

[@CluelessPigeon]

... this is a really good idea I'll try it and see how it turns out

[@clockwork_mind]

I'm a DM, and have a really hard time playing a PC for some reason, but I'd really love to play a psionic character someday, at least from low to mid-levels. MCDM's Talent class (yet to be released) has been a particular obsession of mine recently. But of course, it's hard enough to find someone DMing a campaign I'd want to play in, it'd be even harder to find a DM willing to go through all the buy-in and extra baggage the Talent brings with them.

[@Angela-hn6mb]

I'd like to play past level 5. All three of the campaigns I've been in have fallen apart pretty early.

[@MySqueezingArm]

I've always wanted to play in or run a hex crawl/sandbox game. Possibly Shadow of War inspired, but definitely using regional politics/strongholds/etc.

[@zayfiastarfire7370]

Player, and I've always really wanted to play in a Feywild or a Shadowfell game. I designed a character for a game that fell through and their patron/god was the Raven Queen, and they'd fit perfectly with a Shadowfell or maybe Curse of Strahd game. I'd also love to play a hexblood and navigate having connections to a hag, I think they're super cool monsters.

[@SupergeekMike]

Heck yes! I love hags and I love the Raven Queen, you’re speaking my language

[@nonya9120]

Geezer here... My approach for some time has been.... Forget the backstory bill.... Here's a questionnaire. Dread game comes to mind. Gaming on.

[@orionspero560]

The top of my bucket list as a player is a long campaign of at least 100 sessions with no more than 50 combats and no player character came. Within a crit of dying in the entire campaign. My g m bucket list is to run a action/tension light west marches campaign where the most dedicated players got a 100 sessions for their character. Again the fantasy includes the notion that a player who forgot their dies wold not necessarily need to borrow dice because the g m would not necessarily know if there is going to be a role in the session. I guess that's the reason besides anxiety that I am averse to significant risk to characters because for me the most fun is the long character story arc. This is also why I start to worry if a character is moving from act 1 to act 2 of a three act story arc in the first ten sessions. My other bucket list campaign really from both sides is the new divine powers campaign. That is to say the characters start as A0A level gods and end up as the major players in the pantheon again over a couple of years of weekly games.

[@jonsumner5899]

99% of the time I've only gotten to be a DM but here's what's on my bucket list. 1. a. I want to actually complete an official campaign b. I want to play through boulders gate into a avernus 2. In terms of non-official books at some point I want to play the Stargate RPG. 3. And in terms of adventures based on a classic book I've always thought it might be cool to do in an adventure based on Jules Verne's 20,000 leagues under the Sea.

[@miss_skynet]

I'd like a campaign with an important mystery or courtly intrigue. My group was really fond of just kicking down the door and punching answers out of people. It would be nice to need to use subtler means. And magic, a high magic setting is essential for me.

[@The214thRabidFangirl]

I want to play a survival heavy campaign where we have to track the resources and encumbrance because it matters.

[@parrarowlife2196]

I see this happen more often in 4e because the balance of the system relies on magic items but I didn't like asking for certain magic item because then I would have to read every single item and that didn't sound very fun to me.

[@toddgrx]

@0:15 I think I heard it from Sly Flourish but maybe he heard from someone else

[@SupergeekMike]

Ooh it might’ve been him, that does sound like something he might say

[@lefterismplanas4977]

5:30 ! Yes!!! THAT would be me !! Hahaha!! ! Level up every other session or smthg. I know critical role is long and playing for years is hard. But playing in a fast pased campaign would feel really Nice! And i would be in to even change group if need be. As you said With that said. Here's MY Bucket list I am anew player even if I have have in the community for some years now. I would like to play sever characters. One that hangs out with the party for the heck of it and has a grate hoke and responsibilities to return to. A bard that's searching for a legendary instrument. A dragonborn warlock born under a silver dragon and tasked with expanding their benevolent rein (domain/rule/area of control) an expiramented on monk that's that's searching for revenge on the lab they escaped from(here I'd like an u expected ending.) And I have many more :D

[@aaronghunter]

As a player, it is hard to pin down. I want to play in a long, satisfying campaign with deep emergent relationships and experiences, alongside close friends who are similarly invested and capable. I can't pin down themes or details beyond that, not sure who I would play.

[@Keovar]

The Level Up: Advanced 5e rules kinda cover this in character creation. You select a Heritage for your biological origins, a Culture for how you were raised, and a Background for pre-adventuring job(s), but also a Destiny for where you hope the adventuring life will take you. It’s not assumed that most will achieve that destiny before becoming owlbear chow, but it acts as a basic wishlist. Like my wizard might hope for a Knowledge destiny, seeking to learn every spell in the book(s), even the ones that will probably never be cast.

[@SupergeekMike]

Ooh I have been wanting to check out Level Up 5e, everything I hear about it sounds pretty cool.

[@Keovar]

@@SupergeekMike - It's pretty good! Now if they just had a character builder and something like Avrae to link it to Discord...

[@foolishsparky]

I asked my friends for a wishlist of stuff they would like to see and get out of the campaign, and potential items they might want to come across. I've noted down a lot of things with each of the plot points but my big worry is I may have tipped my hand a bit too quickly with magic items. Hopefully not as they aren't anything extremely powerful, but it's still a thought nagging in the back of my head.

[@morganmcinroy4211]

I would love to play in a horror dnd game. I love the epic fantasy ones I have played in, but I think a horror one would be really neat (hard for a DM to pull off).

[@SupergeekMike]

Hell yeah

[@kameronkinsey4454]

I've been tossing around the idea of a boss who can alter thr rules of the game. Like for one round Advantage and Disadvantage are swapped, or you have to roll under AC instead of over, or damage heals and healing deals damage. Just to mess with things and make players think on their feet.

[@SupergeekMike]

Heck yes! I definitely recommend you check out Matt Colville’s video about how he’d run Vecna, if you haven’t already, he’s got some great ideas along those lines: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3O9cp2wiqeMo7c

[@BucketPls]

My wishlist is to be in a campaign where the players experience small things just as much as big things! I want to have a little home for the party to rest at and do something small while also going to fight a dragon and having a pit stop on the way to do some carnival games or a full fledged tournament. Just nothing to feel railroaded by. No world destroying God we need to fight or the need to follow a single path, just a bunch of things to pick and choose with other things to pick and choose on the way!

[@kyleward3914]

Been playing D&D since AD&D, sometime in the 90's. I keep wanting to play a necromancer, but the times I've tried, the campaign hasn't lasted very long, or I've had to leave for other reasons.

[@FiveEyedRaven]

In DnD, I have never played a campaign above level 6. I'd love to play a character from 1 to 20 once.

[@SupergeekMike]

I think everyone should get that chance, and it’s such a bummer that so few people ever get to do it :(

[@FiveEyedRaven]

@@SupergeekMike I'm hopeful I'll still get there, though atm I seem more doomed to be a forever DM (but tbh I'm okay with that prospect. For now.)

[@evanjohnson3478]

I’ve always wanted to play a Paladin (I have now made 3 in case someone starts a new campaign) and I’ve always wanted to play to level 20

[@dmit.yurenev3710]

My dnd bucket list is fairly simple: - I want to play out a prisonbreak as a low level character with either no equipment, or with a quest to get my old equipment while prisonbreaking! - I want to play as a player in an Eberron campaign and start as a character in Droaam!, and i would love to explore daelkyr threat as a player that has to deal with it, that would totes be awesome (For some reason in local communities of fellow dnd players in my region i can never find even one Eberron campaign with even one spot left, those rare moments when there are posts about it they instantly get enough players :( ) - I want to PLAY AS A PLAYER FINALLY PLEAAAASE i miss being a player - A spelljammer adventure would be awesome - I want to be a player in a campaign that is DMed by me. No, not solo ttrpgs. No, not a DMPC. I want a clone of myself that will dm for me because i'm the perfect DM for myself and i would love playing in my game so very much along with my friends who i, as an actual DM, make sure are having a great time. - I want to play in a campaign with plane hopping and various cool planar environments and uniqueness (Exploring Eberron does Eberron planes justice and fills them with awesome stuff) - I want to be a player in a campaign where a DM has enough mapmaking skills to make awesome maps of a homebase for the party, and to focus on making the greatest castle/house/airship/mansion/cave/whatever!!!!!! - I want to play a goblin artificer

[@SupergeekMike]

These all sound amazing :)

[@kelseyweber1791]

I feel like my answer is a bit of a cop out, but I just want to get the opportunity to play DnD for the first time. I’d like to play as a Tiefling Rogue or maybe Druid (which I don’t know if that even works 😅) but it’s not anyone’s fault I haven’t played, I just need to find the time!

[@SupergeekMike]

Heck yes!

[@urktheturtle2988]

I want to paly a bard, with more wizard-like flavoring that is a pure scholar, and in a campaign where a DM is willing to let me use a Staff of the Woodlands. and is open minded with spells I can take... I want to make a wandering hedge mage, a scholar with no borders, who studies all sorts of magic, and is able to engage in conversation with people...

[@rebeccacurtin3787]

I want to play in a mini adventure that's just a big dungeon crawl. I've played in some really amazing adventures but haven't really got to do a proper dungeon crawl.

[@SupergeekMike]

Ooh yeah a solid dungeon crawl would be dope

[@amberdaze7892]

all of the campaigns my friends and I have done fizzled out after a few sessions, wayy before I got any of my abilities that inspired my character. So I'd like to start at at least level 5 (we always start at level 0 or 1). and I'd also like a roleplay heavy campaign, maybe with pc romance?

[@SupergeekMike]

Heck yes!

[@mistaree8394]

I would like to play in a game where my character believably falls in love and enters a realistic but epic relationship.

[@SupergeekMike]

Ooh I do like that, that’s awesome

[@LyrictheFilthyCasual]

I want to do a Heroic Sacrifice using a portable hole and Galder's Speedy Courier. I want the party to be in an unwinnable battle (Maybe it didn't start out that way, but bad rolls or bad tactics made it a TPK in the making) and I want my character to yell out to the others "Get in the hole!" as she unfurls said hole. If anyone questions it, she'll say, "I can get everyone out. Trust me, I have a plan, just get in the hole!" then the party books it to The Hole, which my character will fold up and then cast Galder's Speedy Courier, sending the hole, and thus the rest of the party, to safety. My character then faces whatever danger is coming, knowing damn well that if the group together couldn't take this thing down, she certainly can't do it alone, but she can do as much damage on her way out as possible. Fade to black, looks of horror dawning on everyone's faces around the table as they realize what I just did. Then I calmly pull out a new character sheet. This is a very elaborate fantasy, and it HAS TO be organic and not pre-planned so it's unlikely to even come up, let alone work out how I want it to, but it is on my D&D Bucket List.

[@SupergeekMike]

Hell. Yes.

[@LyrictheFilthyCasual]

@@SupergeekMike Bonus points if the DM then takes my Sacrificed Character and turns them into an eventual BBEG.... But then again, that could just be me fangirling for Mollymauk.

[@Kuribohcoast]

I would like to play exactly one session at level 20, fight A Tarrasque and/or demigod, and save a princess. They don't all have to go together or happen at once, but that's it. Cliche maybe, but I'm a sucker for the classics.

[@SupergeekMike]

Nice!

[@OpenWorldAddict0]

I would love to be able to play in a Alexandrian Remix of Waterdeep Dragon Heist campaign, I would love to play in low to mid level campaign set int Sharn, the city of towers on Eberron. I have a number of character concepts that i would like to play as, such as Sorlock Fake Wizard, the Ranger/Blood Hunter Curse Hunter, Hexblade Rogue Warrior Prince, Divine Sorcer/Create Bard Divine Bard, etc I would love to play a campaign in Exandria (Wildemount or Taldorei). I would love to play in a mystery sandbox adventure/campaign

[@SupergeekMike]

Heck yes!

[@searchforsecretdoors]

Oh for the days when the only corporation past-Mike and future-Mike needed to talk about was Twitter

[@RyanZibell]

My player really wants a giant space hamster (he is a plasmoid) and I'm going to try and make it a part of the story. I already have an idea for them

[@ElwoodGaming]

Hell.....I just want to be able to play on a regular basis...😅😅

[@jasonreeves1826]

I would love to play a campaign in a published setting in which the DM actually understands, cares about, and follows the setting lore. None of my friends who DM do this which is why I prefer to DM.

[@SupergeekMike]

Right on!

[@chadledgerwood8818]

I have asked these questions for years now. The most common answer is “I want to play as a dragon”. At least seven times my response has been to help them DM.

[@narvalin5905]

I had an idea, where I would be a young gold dragon masquerading as a gold scaled dragonborn in search of arcane knowledge. He is essentially the runt of the litter but very intelligent, so his stats would focus more on the mental than the physical. Have him roll his own stat block, but allow him the abilities of the young gold dragon. However, warn him that a young gold dragon is a HUGE black market commodity, so revealing his true nature may have dire consequences.

[@SupergeekMike]

More DMs is always good!

[@jkbscopes1233]

iv never had the chance to play or DM starfinder (pathfinder but in space) or shadowrun, not exactly D&D but its TTRPG so close enough

[@SupergeekMike]

Definitely! I default to D&D a lot, but there’s no reason we should all limit ourselves :)

[@jkbscopes1233]

@@SupergeekMike exactly, every time i try and get one started my party doesnt want to and i havent been able to find any other parties that want to either

[@mattewald9378]

I’m DMing for the first time for 2 players that have been playing for years and playing with me for years and 1 who’s never played before and during the session zero I asked them to give me a top 3 list of monsters they want to fight and I got things like mimics and gelatinous cubes things I thought were too “overdone” to include

[@Sicara91]

I haven't played DnD in a long time, my ongoing long term game is in Ars Magica, but my wish would be to simply play a game that lasted longer than a month. All my DnD groups always fell apart so quickly. I love that my Ars Magica game has been going on for years and years, but the ruleset is just so different and not like DnD at all

[@TheSurjoshie]

Mid level game start to play a kenku ranger rouge who is a master thrower dart and daggers aloft

[@BackyardFilms2]

I just want a longer term game. or really at this point I would take any DnD. friends fell off when covid hit

[@retu3510]

I'm not a fan of asking what magic items the players want. It kills all the wonder of getting a freaking magic item! I think it should be a complete supprise.

[@SupergeekMike]

Yeah that’s obviously the other aspect of this, it’s really nice to be able to surprise players.