DON'T make these D&D campaign MISTAKES

[@DougCoughler]

My group was all over the place and weren't really invested in the world or the story. So, I took the BBEG, and set it up in a situation where they would predictably get in WAAY over their heads, and TPK'd them. A favorite NPC had the ability to revive them, so they were given a choice whether their character would come back or not. One player left her character dead, and brought in a new one. Now, the players all have a common goal, be it revenge or redemption. It was a VERY heavy-handed strategy, and I would not have tried it if we hadn't been playing together for 5 years but it worked. I'll never do it again, but at the time, it worked.

[@DianeHicks]

This is outstanding! And I have EXACTLY the same issue with tooooooo much detail. I was resolved to fix it, but didn't have a real plan in mind...this is perfect. Thank you!

[@Gemlin300]

This was good stuff. I'm at a point where I myself am starting to burn out on the campaign I'm running, so there were some really needed things here

[@-Samx]

I recently wrapped up an almost 2 year in-person campaign and it was the most stressful experience I've had where I almost unalived the campaign multiple times 💀 My good friend wanted to play some dnd so I took my day off to run a campaign for her and her friends of an evening, we had 1 experienced (my friend), 1 intermediate and 2 complete newbies, the session 0 was a little concerning but I figured since my friend vouched for them that they must be passionate.... 3 of the 4 were complete wet blankets that were horrendous at combat and lukewarm at roleplay but I figured with time and leading by example my friend and I could elevate the experience so the game could be enjoyable for all us involved. After a while I realised this wasn't working so I messaged all the players privately to ask how they're feeling about the campaign and they all seemed genuinely happy and excited to play...so I changed my perspective. I dumbed everything down; the combat became easier, the narrative was spoon fed and even the roleplay had more goofy npcs that the group found endearing or funny. I lowered my expectations to accommodate for the lowest common denominators and I, along with the party started to have way more fun...except for my friend who wanted more - she wanted more deep and meaningly interactions with her fellow players but they just weren't ready for that type of play. I sat her down and explained that she didn't vet her friends at all 😅 and that sometimes good friends aren't always going to be good players but we can still have fun if we lower our expectations and have fun with what we've got - they're good people, good vibes and we always have a laugh. She begrudgingly agreed but a few weeks down the track she was back to constantly complaining - she couldn't lower her expectations for her friends and wanted more out of the game but she wasn't willing to confront them to talk about making changes. This went on for so long that she started to be the problem now - whilst everyone else was having fun she was just being rude/short with her friends till I had to openly tell her off. Things simmered down for a while after that but it didn't take long for the same old complaints to start rolling back in so I decided to finish the campaign earlier than expected but on a high note at least, with peeps shedding some happy tears.

[@JynksterDM]

❤ this and I appreciate you!! Engagement is everything and communication is everything and i needed to hear a lot of these less is more approaches. I was lore bombing my players and making things excruciatingly complex and in depth when it comes down to it they wanted less pressure and more laughs and more attention to their own desire to play and try things out. Thanks for the consistency and the feedback and the very real ways to make our play better! You’re awesome

[@paulstasiak9658]

This came at the perfect time. I’m three sessions in and feeling overwhelmed. I have lists and lists of NPCs, dozens of plot hooks, and pages of details. It’s to the point where I have to keeping asking for pauses to re-read stuff during the game even though I’ve thoroughly prepped. “Less is more” and “representative NPCs” are great pieces of advice. Love it. Thanks some much and good luck. Plus, shooting for your mustache this Movember.

[@perrygrosshans8537]

I relate a lot to some stuff in this video: in particular the over prep of countless NPCs, so that was a great tip! I'm at the start of a new campaign right now, and I'm dealing with the "too many players" right now (ten!!). Trying to think of a good way to handle it, and right now running two consecutive games might be the answer. A little more work, but doable I think. I perked up at the thought of an episodic campaign, and the "first 6 come, first served" rule, but I'm not sure how well that will be welcomed. Also...we play on Wednesdays, so hard to get a one-shot in sometimes in 3 or 4 hours of play! But perhaps the session 0 will help with that, lol.

[@454Wilson]

DM here, I did not realize how much I needed to hear that last bit!

[@ronitabick961]

Great advice here! Worth remembering that this is a collaborative game. Sometimes the motivations I give the villains don't make sense or there are holes in the plot. If the players spot them, they will try to justify them around the table (as long as I don't let on that they were unintentional). Listening carefully can help fill in the gaps, as you decide that a player's random idea is canon. Hope you manage to end your campaign well!

[@Maguspunk]

I relate so much too talking too much about dnd to my family i talked to my brother and he’s probably sick of all of my campaign plans i tell him LOL

[@richardirons584]

I absolutely love playing online. Especially when someone just wanders off for half hour or more without saying so and when they finally come back someone else walks off. Just like having smokers at a in person game. Currently have 8 players in my current in person campaign and its so much better then an online campaign. You get through alot more with less players whether online or in person but it is what it is

[@codyforet8394]

Wow, thank you for this video. I'm a few months into my first campaign as a DM. I've recently noticed and started to worry about each of these issues. Thank you for sharing your experience and solutions. Please let us know how it plays out for you. I'll be adapting and implementing some of your strategies as well. You're awesome!

[@Frederic_S]

This is the most profound TTRPG-video I have seen in weeks! Thank you!! ♥♥♥

[@timgezale5596]

Great video and great advice ! I have one campaign running that is currently at a very similar point as yours and another one that is running very well but some of your comments made me realize that I am kind of steering the ship towards some uncomfortable problems. Your advice and examples however gave me some great ideas to improve both, so thank you very much !

[@QuickSilverAdventuringLeague]

I too find session zero to be extremely important and almost at the level of required to help ensure that you and your players have the best experience. I prefer to work through big picture items in my session zeros like what kind of game would everyone like to run, what characters each player is interested in playing and what scheduling will look like. I do not mind players working together on their backstory but I also enjoy working 1v1 with the players so that they can surprise their friends during play. I realize that everyone's perspective of combat vs RP focused is different but we view our game as bit of both slanted towards RP. To keep things interesting I will weave the players backstories into the campaign and overlap them where I deem appropriate without sharing with anyone for a delightful surprise. This goes along way for the RP piece we enjoy. I have 4 players in my group and we decided that if one player would have to skip everyone would because we enjoy having everyone together. Together can mean physically, virtual or bit of both. We try to meet weekly but it usually ends up being 2-3 times a month which works for us and everyone is happy. Each table is different. Talk to each other and continue to communicate. The more you do the happier everyone will be and odds are everyone will be less stressed.

[@hamsmcham3238]

It's a really good point that your home game isn't D20 or CR. They have teams of people behind the scenes getting it right because it's a TV show and they are professional storytellers and improvisors. It doesn't need to be that level as long as it's fun!

[@CoolBlackification]

That whole section on DM burnout and putting too high expectations on myself is something that I definitely needed to hear. Thank you 🤙🏿

[@RUlNA]

Man, this could not have come at a better time for me; my group just put the campaign I dm on hiatus and my friend picked up a dif campaign so we keep playing. Excited to watch.

[@LuiGuiShi]

Great video, I totally agree with all your advices. Shared backstories is a must at my table. I don't want to waste the first hour of a campaign (be it one shot or a long one) with my players "getting to know each other", and it promote team work before session 1. Your point on NPC is great as well. Before creating an NPC, the first thing I ask myself is what does that NPC brings to the story. If the NPC doesn't have a role in the story other than just interacting with the players, I don't bother. My group isn't that big on roleplay, so they're fine with less NPC but impactful one instead. Clear objectives to beat the final boss might be considered railroading to some players, but I usually share what I call the "milestone objectives", so this way players have the feeling they still have some agency on the story while knowing roughly what they have to do. btw, what pre written sources are you using for your pirate campaign? I want to run one after the current campaign, so I'm looking for any useful sources.

[@chrisg8989]

Good stuff! This is my advice for struggling DMs. 1) Have a session 0. Find out what kind of game you and your players want to play. Then make it happen. 2) Don't expect the players to care about your Lore. If they ask questions, then elaborate on it, but don't monolog. 3) Plan 1 session at a time, let the players dictate the story. You can have an over arcing story laid out, but be prepared to change your plans. Nothing will stop your players from coming back faster than taking away their agency and limiting their choices. 4) Keep encounters fresh. Use different monsters, add environmental effects, throw in a timer or a puzzle. Some players don't care about a story, they want to play a Game. Making good encounters will keep them coming back. 5) This isn't critical role. What I mean by this is don't expect too much from your players and temper their expectations of you. DnD is a board game to play with your friends. Laugh, make jokes, eat snacks, your not on a TV show, this is real Life. You don't need to do voices, you don't have to have actor level performances or production quality mintures and battle maps. Do what's fun for you and your friends. The second it starts feeling like work or too much pressure, take a break. No DnD is better than bad DnD.

[@joshhighburger8869]

Another great video as always, thanks for the super useful and practical content! Super random question, what's the first background track you used after the DM/MD section in this video? I know I've heard it on other videos/channels and love it, but can't seem to find its origin

[@thecommenttater7026]

The way my campaign is structured is semi episodic. Basically they have a list of jobs that people have offered them. Each job includes one/two paragraph description, potential earnings, and a number of days before it’s taken by another group or dropped by the employer. Each player is allowed 1 question to the employer per job. When they finish a job they all vote on what job to do next. For me this is cool because I can basically list any potential idea I have for a job but I don’t need to actually plan it until they choose to do it. Since the jobs aren’t fleshed out until they choose I can always flesh out each job to further the plot in some way. It’s been really useful so far

[@Ifandorbut]

Parallel, I too am running a pirate campaign, entering our third year. Three different Pirate factions: The Empire, The Smuggler’s ring and the Silvan Sails (fey ships), plus player families, a cult and the BBG. I agree, having a clear enemy helps drive the campaign (introduce in session 1). I typically only have 30+ unique NPCs that the players know (although I just introduced 18 new ones last session). My advice, sink the ship. A shipwreck united the players. Now trying to survive, get another ship and recruit a crew whilst avoiding the various factions.

[@powerwordspill]

I love that idea!

[@benjiguth]

Woo dscryb!

[@Scorpious187]

I very rarely make NPCs ahead of time. For whatever reason, when I make NPCs ahead of time, nobody seems to connect with them, but as soon as I have to come up with Town Guard #63 off the top of my head, *_everyone in the party will protect that man at all costs._* And then I have to remember to write him down so that I can bring him back again and again. To fit with your point about NPCs, though... I have taken to just coming up with NPCs on the fly and letting the party decide who they want to be the recurring NPCs, like you said with the goblin example. It's so much less prep work that way.

[@theuglywolf2536]

I'm glad to see more D&D channels turning away from professional for-profit company-run actual plays as inspiration and models for games. Seems AP fatigue is finally kicking in like superhero movies and all the people that got into the game because of professional APs, or got into YT content creation because of pro APs, or got into the game because they got got into YT creators who got into the game because of pro APs are starting to realise that it's not how D&D is supposed to look all the time. The curtains are being parted and people are realising that normal D&D games aren't made of paid, professional actors with teams and companies to support them, tens of thousands of dollars of art/terrain/minis/costumes etc, all made by company design to make money. My generation of real D&D is a bunch of mates around a dining table, whiteboard or paper with crude maps, slaying goblins and orcs for fun. No roleplay, no session zero, no trigger warnings, no 30 page backstories. Just "I hit it with my sword" (roll dice) "Does 16 hit?"

[@bradcraig6676]

Our D&D group came close to cracking during covid when we had to play online, but we toughed it out until in-person play was possible again. I personally HATED playing online. I know not everyone has the choice, and I know some people actually prefer it, but you NEED a smaller group to play online successfully. Very good players will help, but only so much. If you are ever in a situation where people not showing up is "better," then something is seriously wrong.

[@colmbright9822]

Cancelling because everyone can’t make it will kill your game

[@Grambo58]

You get a bonus thumbs up for the John Wayne clip. I'll share this video with my nephew if you've watched it. :)

[@pranakhan]

Great ideas here. Interesting how you went from p.137 in the DMG to page 15, within the span of a 4 minute coherent discussion on the same topic..

[@EricMesa]

I love that you didn't just tell us how you're going to save this campaign, but how you'll prevent the same issues from happening next time

[@GenuineMattyC]

Are those page references for the new DMG or the 2014 DMG?

[@raff3486]

Great video.

[@nathanschmaltz672]

I legit need more details on the pirate campaign. I am running a pirate campaign and struggle with all of this as well as what to do next. What direction to go.

[@DMofBriseras]

I think I'm slowly realizing that because the narrative is changing week by week due to players actions, it's impossible to always have perfect story archetypes in D&D like you would if you were, say, writing a novel. There's a lot of mind-reading and guesswork and general chaos as you try to anticipate player's actions and steer them towards plot. Too much steering, and their actions feel meaningless because they don't take agency of them. Not enough direction though, and it loses meaning anyways as players wonder what's the point. It's a hard balance, and we can't expect perfection. Sometimes things just don't come together, or don't make sense, or don't have the meaningful payoff we wanted. When they do, it's cool, and you should always strive for that; but you can't count on it and your self worth shouldn't be reliant on it. (Sigh) Best of luck to all the DM's out there crying into our notes this week. We're doing our best!

[@knaz7468]

My micro prep is bonkers long ... takes me dozens of hours between sessions. I enjoy it, but I just wish it wasn't "all encompassing".

[@craigmac2000]

I disagree with only playing when everyone is there. During session 0 I tell my players they are expected to attend regularly with games every other week. I start with a largish group and when I see that a player is missing games regularly I talk to them and give them an option to show up more regularly or bow out of the campaign gracefully. I’ve been doing this for years and it works well

[@craigmac2000]

I still like you though

[@Piqipeg]

You can have a session zero at any point of a campaign, just make it clear that you need to have one to make sure the rest of the campaign goes better moving forward

[@Hari-du6pt]

Professional DnD players still sounds so funny. Some things about the current world are just great 😀

[@MossyAntler]

I'd guess that some of these issues are connected to a single source: 5e's rule's don't support the game you're trying to run. 5e has no mechanics for any of: Creating & maintaining varied/multiple important NPCs, connecting PC backstories to the story, and (related to your no Session 0 / player expectations issue) running a Pirate-themed game. IMO a ton of DM burnout is directly due to doing a ton of extra work because 5e doesn't have the mechanics or procedures to support the game, and a lot of it would be solved by playing a system that more closely matches the feel that the group wants. That said, scheduling and including everyone is always a difficult thing to work around!

[@theuglywolf2536]

It's not that 5e doesn't support your game, it's that your game doesn't support 5e. You don't play Monopoly and try to introduce NPC mechanics and ship building rules. You play the rules as they are. It's why D&D has become worse since 3.5e; it's trying too hard to fit with the expectations of a generation of Critical Role fans whose expectations are far too high

[@MossyAntler]

​@@theuglywolf2536 I mostly agree with you! You can absolutely try to lean into the game that 5e is set up to run, but I've found that much more often GMs want to expand beyond those borders into new themes and gameplay types (like Kelly here is doing). There's 100% nothing wrong with folks playing a system and being happy with it though

[@Dachusttin]

1:50 6:00 8:00

[@caseycrow4000]

“ as a guy who played DND one time and then decided to make it his whole personality…” LMAO ME

[@perrygrosshans8537]

"So for the next campaign we'll only play if everyone is present." Spoiler alert: It's been 84 years and The Next Campaign still needs to meet for session 0. :D

[@perrygrosshans8537]

This is a lofty goal my friend, and I wish you nothing but good fortune in making it happen.

[@MrSeriousDude13]

Nice, first comment :)

[@fredbell9759]

Hate to say it man but honestly, it sounds like the biggest issue with your campaign isn’t the story or the setup-it’s your players. They seem barely invested, and that kind of lack of engagement will kill any campaign, no matter how well-designed

[@Hari-du6pt]

You speak with a a very very low quantity of redundant words. I couldn't quite put my finger on why your videos seem so dense.

[@GagePeterson]

Highly disagree, lots of useful info and I find the words very entertaining. Naturally you’re entitled to your opinion