I love building campaigns in any game system or genre.

I have so many campaign ideas for any given system, genre, and setting, it’s not even funny. That’s one of the first questions I ask myself when I pick up any new game. What kind of a campaign can I build with this.

That’s why Dragonbane RPG was such a breath of fresh air for me. It’s got one canon setting so far: The Misty Vale. I would love to build multiple worlds and many campaigns using this very simple system. Here’s my affiliate link to Dragonbane RPG Core Set on DriveThruRPG.com if you’re interested in trying it out. (Path of Glory is coming for Dragonbane and it looks absolutely amazing!) Shadowdark RPG is another solid basic rule set that is wide open for worldbuilding, and I can’t recommend it enough, either.

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

I have files and notebooks full of campaign ideas.

Some of them are pretty good. Others I’m not as sure about. This is also why I have shelves full of generic or open license systems. New game, new world, new campaign, new adventures. I’ve been doing it this way since the early 1990s when I got into Mekton 2, GURPS and BESM. It all starts with the question, “As a Game Master, what would I expect my players to do in this world?”

As a very 80s kid, I grew up watching a lot of regular network television. I watched a ton of episodic TV, because long term recurring characters and long form plots were only really a thing in soap operas. Star Trek, Gilligan’s Island, Hogan’s Heroes, The A-Team, Knight Rider, and later Space: Above and Beyond were all very episodic where everything wrapped up in one or two part episodes with a little bit of deeper character development every week.

Then Babylon 5 came along, and everything changed. Suddenly long form plots came back to sci-fi/fantasy TV with season long and even series long plot arcs. About the same time I also got heavy into anime, which several series there are interconnected. 12-24 episode series or seasons are often connected to one or more stories within the season.

The same applies to RolePlaying Games. A campaign can be laid out in 24 episode seasons with an overarching theme or metaplot. The characters can explore subplots and side quests of their own making interwoven within the overall story. That way everyone is doing some storytelling. This is incredibly evident in the Critical Role series Legend of Vox Machina.

Do I intend to railroad my players into the campaign plot?

Here’s where things get interesting. I can design an entire comic book series for ICONS RPG that is slated for 12 issues (adventures) or about 20 sessions. My main BBEG might be working on eventually holding an entire city hostage with nuclear ter🦆🦆, but his minions and lieutenants constantly finding themselves getting foiled by the heroes. Eventually one of the good detective characters should theoretically figured out what was going on enough to go stop the BBEG.

Alternately, the characters can goof about making wisecracks and chasing down bank robbers all the while missing the whole main plot, but eventually Mr. X is going to have built his own Tsar Bomba, then they’re probably going to have to step in. Either that or some other group of heroes steps in and gets all the glory. Alternatively, the campaign world is changed forever and there are now a supervillain mastermind and a bunch of his overpowered minions running around and a radioactive crater where a major city once stood.

The characters always have choices for the players to make. The story can progress sorta the way I have it laid out or the group can go “off script” and do their own thing while I salvage whatever NPCs, locations, and campaign events whenever/wherever possible. It’s a balancing act. No plan ever survives contact with the players anyway.

I think one of the ultimate GM truths is that no plan ever survives contact with the players.

One of the most famous DMs on YouTube says he never plans more than one session ahead. I think there is wisdom in that, but it’s not how I’ve done things for 30+ years. I usually have my eyes on more long term goals and surprises. Sometimes things can seem like monster-of-the-week episodic shenanigans right up until about Episode 20, then we get into some serious story arcs. Sometimes NPCs encountered earlier in the season come back to haunt everyone and that dungeon they skipped seems a bit more important.

I’ve had entire season long campaigns get blown to pieces because I forgot druids could cast a certain spell in Dungeons & Dragons. I’ll get into specifics some other time, but basically my big bad as a vampiric dragon and the group managed to drop the entire building on her while she was sleeping. It was such a great idea on paper, though. It was a learning experience afterward. (*I’ll explain more some other time.)

Sometimes the group goes southwest instead of north. Time to come up with some characters and plot that isn’t just quantum ogres. Player choices do matter. It’s just up to us Game Masters to react. Sometimes encounters are salvageable, other times we just have to wing it. (*Yay, random charts!)

Next time we’ll talk about unscripted, unplanned sandbox style games. The main advantage is there’s no plot to mess up and the group is just kinda dangling there. Some groups love that sort of thing. Others do not.

There’s never a wrong way to do it. What works best for you and your table is always the best solution for your game. If they’re cool with linear, plot driven story, great. If they want to just bash monsters in the face and explore, that’s cool, too. If players want a bit, world-spanning dramatic campaign with Shakespearean quality roleplaying and your group is down? Do it! You can’t get it wrong.

Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.