How to Build Intermediate Arcs (Step by Step) | TTRPG Campaign Planning Guide

[@KettleHatt]

these hands on walkthrough videos are phenomenal seeing someone actually go through the process in real time is so much more helpful than just presenting the concept and telling people to use it

[@ziikaman123]

It's so sad to see that the most insightful videos has only 10k ish views. These have been tremendously helpful for me, thank you!

[@mikec64]

I'm going to sound like a fanboy but this is 100% the advice I needed to bring my campaign to a more dramatic conclusion. I had this feeling of the story beats just from watching lots of TV and movies, but I didn't know how to do it. Thanks for your step-by-step with a detailed example. Essential!

[@randydettmer1159]

This is just awesome! I watched your earlier video on 3 Act Structure and became a follower after seeing it and wanted more. This is a great follow-up. I would really like to see how you put them all together into one campaign; Immediate Arc, Narrative Arc, Campaign Arc.

[@juliegaming3541]

I agree

[@ssconeson1189]

Love the advice to stick to fundamentals! Have played in campaigns where the DM prioritized twists and reveals and it really impacted the players' ability to get invested, because we often didn't understand what was going on, or what was coming up.

[@ethanhorn6093]

Obviously, I hope this doesn't come off too needy, but I am really looking forward to you continuing your "Why you should play" series. I hope very much that we get the next part soon (again, when we get it is when we get it... I hope this doesn't come off too... insistent). I've really come to enjoy the body of your work though. It's good stuff.

[@paladinprime3743]

Honestly... same

[@jetsonpitsch4293]

Yes! I just asked for this on the Q&A post.

[@mcsherman18]

Me too!

[@suraine]

This is top-tier content for campaign design.

[@richardgist1330]

Really enjoying your videos on plot webs and campaign arcs. I would love to see an example of using all 3 arcs with a campaign.

[@artisan_cane]

Great content here. Thanks for the insight and helping folks like me be better DMs!!

[@CaliforniaPaladin]

I find your videos very informative and useful, not so much as a step by step instruction, but more as an example to help spur my own thinking and process. Personally, I think 8-12 sessions is way, way too short for players to 1) understand who their characters are; 2) grow attached to their characters; and 3) foster the sort of deep relationships that happen between characters and forge an identity as a party. Every session doesn’t have to further the plot. Shopping sessions, planning sessions, reconnaissance sessions, etc. are all super valuable and not necessarily about checking off the next point. I have never had a campaign conclude in under 2 years.

[@ChristinaSwaguilera]

These are the videos I have been needing. I always have so many ideas for campaigns but never feel prepared enough to keep everything in order. Most of the time I feel like I could improv my worlds. Now I feel as though I can run a successful campaign and actually have the plot points down. Thank you for the video on this. I hope you do more expanding on narrative and campaign arcs as well. Thanks for all this information!

[@VICHEL1]

I love your videos, been watching since the beginning. Keep up the good work!

[@mariaj1702]

You and your videos are amazing really, having a walkthrough of how to do it, step by step, makes it not only so much more simple to understand, but to actually leaarn how to do it. Thanks a bunch! Look forward to more videos like this. And especially one about campaign arcs, not sure if those would follow a similar structure to the Intermediate Arcs, but just longer and bigger, with the steps being completed in between / within Intermediate Arcs

[@captainnolan5062]

Good writing advice. IT appears that we disagree on our basic RPG philosophy.

[@Shka_maru]

Great video. Reminds me of Dan Well's method but I like how you go through your thought-process. How could this used in conjunction with the Plot Web you talk about? Would love to see more videos on the Plot Web. Are more examples only in your Patreon?

[@jasonnguyen350]

Love the campaign and arc building videos love it love it love it!!!!

[@JoshuaHenson-h5g]

Awesome video! Thanks

[@wirbuss4849]

Great video. Good work.

[@Pleasant_Boredom]

Extremely helpful. Thank you

[@yaboi3955]

Thank you so much, I'm pretty sure you can just use this for the campaign arc as well, making intermediate arcs within it, but I'd love to see a campaign arc video from you

[@the-juan-and-only]

First off, thanks for another great video! You've an excellent process, but it's made even more impressive by the clarity of your explanations. Second off, and this is a bit of an open question, but do we think a similar process could be mapped onto other layers of the "3 Act" system? I've been trying to retool this for a campaign I'm in the middle of right now, and my instinct was: Campaign Arc follows the graph, with Narrative Arcs as the connecting lines (i.e. set-up, debate, etc.), and then the Immediate Arcs as described in the video, forming the connecting lines and beats of the Narrative Arcs. Of course, that would lead to more of a "6-Act" system than anything, but that's semantics. Doing so would ensure that the Campaign Arc always bleeds down into the Narrative Arcs, whether overtly or simply because we know that, for example, the "set-up" Narrative Arc would necessarily lead into the Catalyst of the Campaign Arc, which then in itself informs the "debate" Narrative Arc. My only immediate concerns are the length -- in such a format, an entire campaign could only be around 60 - 72 sessions, which is twice as much as is entertained by the "3-Act" method -- and the amount of work. It seems to me you would have to work out the entire Campaign Arc, from its End to its Middle to its Beginning, as done in the video, and then "zoom in" to each Narrative Arc in the same order, meaning you're spending a lot of time working on stuff that isn't going to be actionable for many, many sessions.

[@samscrimshaw6023]

Amazing video. I love your content. Could you explain the Red Hand of Doom using this structure, please?

[@NitoNine]

Just to echo every other comment here, this is great and super helpful. Your videos have changed the way I'm prepping my first homebrew campaign. How would you feel about doing this sort of thing during a livestream? Also, which video has all the plot prompts?

[@tombmie]

hey i’m not sure if you help people in comments but maybe for your next Q&A video(?). i’m building a plot web but it feels like one of my players has given me very little to work with (they were a eladrin noble before their whole family was wiped out by a class uprising (their family was doing a shit job) and they are now in the material plane). they don’t have much to connect them to the other players so in a situation like this, should i ask for more plot threads from them? what kind of elements do you like to ask players to include in backstories.

[@enterthedungeon]

I've already recorded the Q&A video but I answer a question similar to yours in it. Quick answer: use lateral thinking and find connections. Weave together NPCs, locations, and themes in their backstory into the campaign. If you cannot do this, meet with your player and help them build plot hooks that you can use.

[@trequor]

Keep in mind different players have different levels of engagement. It's dead common for a table to have one or two players that show up every week and have fun, but arent driven to make personal stories for their character

[@antonychames3327]

Awesome!!! Why do you call them Intermediate arcs? They sound like the Campaign Arcs from your tagged video at the end. Am I wrong?

[@enterthedungeon]

Yep, they are narrative arcs in that video. I've started calling them intermediate arcs because it has helped my students grasp their roll. They aren't immediate (quest level) and they aren't super long term (campaign arcs). Intermediate (narrative) arcs are the seasons of our campaign. These arcs keep the story moving and the pace healthy!

[@antonychames3327]

@@enterthedungeon Oh, I see! Thanks for the clarification!!

[@tomaspinho6785]

⁠@@enterthedungeon I think you should alter the title of the video so you it be clearer that you are talking about the narrative arcs, putting the narrative in parentheses. Personally I was pretty lost at the beginning of the video because I didn’t understand what were the Intermediate Arcs!! Just a suggestion, great video.

[@richardgist1330]

How do you apply intermediate arcs to a plot web?

[@tinselxd1309]

This is useful... But all I could see with this example was the original intro to ESO... My soul taken, stuck in another dimension etc... just like ESO and Molag Baal 😂😂 which just shows it works!

[@NeuralNotes5]

Hi me from future..., excuse me, you've just seemed so nice, like you were an INFJ just trying to help and I couldn't resist calling that out. Was I right? Quite new to this channel, haven't watched all videos yet, so excuse me, if I ask questions already asked and answered, but I got some for you. 1) What were you like when you started with this hobby? 2) What do you think is the easiest and most straightforward and fastest path to follow to get to be a good player/GM. 3) Do you have a record of good/bad session (and post-game talk about what and how some things could have been done better/right)? 4) What is your education if you could/wouldn't mind sharing? (I think you've mentioned you've graduatied from theology major or something similar, is that right?) 5) How did you get into the hobby? 6) What fulfills you the most in it (from either side PC/GM)? 7) What were the most diametrically opposed campaigns you've been in that were mostly/fully resolved? Is there anything that they taught you? 8) What is your bare minimum you need for a game you and everyone else would enjoy as a PC/GM (both physicaly and mentaly). 9) What is the game/campaign/session/moment you loved the most in all of your experience? 10) Please tell me more about that (the good, the memorable, the ugly yet forgiven, the afterthoughts). Thank you. I've more or less learnt all about TTRPGs for the past 2 years and 10 000+ hours, but played as a player for like 3 3hour long sessions and as a GM for modified and simplified 5e 3 6+ hour sessions in 1 campaign. Knowing nothing much of me, what is your wisdom? I enjoy listening to you sharing your wisdom very much, wish you all the best. Much love, take care and bye. 😃😇❤️

[@juliegaming3541]

I’m confused is this the campaign arc or the narrative arc?

[@jannevalkeapaa]

"All is lost" is the worst plot point. So predictable! So many times in a movie, you see the heroes to succeed in the middle of the movie, so you just KNOW that next "all is lost". And then you know that next they will win. I'm so tired of seeing this again and again. Yes, the formula works, but too many times, it's simply badly used. Including in Marvel movies.