D&D General Transitioning Campaign Style

[Reynard]

My players are about to finish up Avernus. Presuming all goes as expected, they will save Elturel and escape back to Faerun at 12th level. Once they do, the campaign is going to be free of adventure path rails and settle into more of a player driven thing, leaning on play built around "companion tier" elements like domain management, magical research and so on.

Tell me about your experiences transitioning campaign style. It doesn't expressly have to be transitioning from railroad to player driven. I am curious what challenges changing focus and reframing play have presented and how you and your groups dealt with those challenges.

Thanks.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

When starting a player-driven campaign, many DMing failure to provide players with enough information for them to make meaningful choices. When I start a new campaign, I provide each character with a number of rumors equal to 1 + the character's Charisma modifier, plus one more if the player can make a DC 12 skill check. The player can choose any skill and the rumor provided will be related to that skill. I like to include 3 to 4 rumors about each major adventure location I have prepared.

Likewise, I will prepare a two paragraph description of the player's immediate surrounding. The first paragraph introduces the town or village in which the game begins. The second describes the geography surrounding it.

When in doubt, keep a list of encounters in your back pocket. These don't need to be combat encounters, though some might be. Others might provide the seeds of further adventure. Others still no no more than add color to the world. Here's the (current rendition) of the encounter lists from a major cities in my game:

1. A bird trainer desperately tried to hock a talking parrot. The parrot refuses to repeat profanity.
2. A perfumer hocks his wares by claiming his scents will attract the attention of any man of woman.
3. A hat maker wanders the streets, wearing a dozen hats all at the same time.
4. A young man bends down to shine shoes, then demands a fee for his services.
5. A bower sets up an archery contest on the street. 5 GP to enter. 25 GP prize for a bull’s eye.
6. A sculptor offers to carve a marble bust of handsome or beautiful citizens
7. A toy maker sets up a race of wind-up toys. A crowd gambles on the winner.
8. An animal trainer shows off his new pet tiger. The tiger is only partially trained.
9. Two sword makers slice watermelons to test who makes the better weapon.
10. A she-troll chef offers free samples of a roasted white meat with an unusually smell. When asked, she insists the meat is chicken.
11. A weaponsmith’s stall is filled with strange and unusual weapons of his own design. He claims they are the best in the world.
12. An absent-minded alchemist sells unlabeled potions at a reduced cost.
13. A butcher is interested in purchasing monster meats to sell to eccentric customers.
14. An armorer offers to test in own wears in a duel to the death.
15. A rope maker proclaims to weave the world’s best nooses.
16. A slaver announces the selling price of his latest catch starts at 2 GP.
17. A glassblower is selling a pixie trapped inside a glass bottle for 100 GP.
18. A burly florist berates a young woman for upending his table and demands she pay for the damaged goods.
19. A trio of brew masters argue over whose beer is better. The whole argument, however, is staged and merely a ploy to sell more beer.
20. An elderly man bookbinder claims to sell ancient books I foreign tongues. The merchant, however, is not aware that the books are filled with meaningless gibberish.
21. A street performers juggles while his companion to cuts purses.
22. A fire breather gives a marvelous performance. Pickpocket takes advantage of the distracted crowd.
23. A troubadour plays the lute wonderfully, but sings horridly.
24. A magician polymorphs townsfolk into animals and back again.
25. A stage magician performs card tricks using a Deck of Many Things.
26. A serial killer posing as a magician requests a volunteer to be sawn in half.
27. An immature illusionist turns a young woman’s dress invisible.
28. A trapeze artist balances upon a rope above the city street.
29. A makeup artist offers to paint passerby’s faces for 5 GP. She is capable of crafting a convincing disguise.
30. A young man pulls small furry animals out of a black top hat. It is not the top hat that is enchanted, but his glove.
31. An attractive harlot scours the streets for wealthy men. If taken up, she will attempt to rob her victim.
32. A trio of beggars prowls the streets.
33. A charlatan wanders the streets selling "dragon coins" which ward away dragons.
34. A thief hocks jewelry at exceedingly cheap prices.
35. Two men dressed in black cloaks exchange goods in a side alley.
36. A well-dressed scribe offers to sell forged certificates of nobility.
37. A pickpocket dashes through the street holding a stolen purse. A young women runs and after him, shouting for someone to stop the thief.
38. A local man warns townsfolk that pickpockets are about while his companion cuts the listener’s purse.
39. An aging crone pokes townsfolk with her walking stick.
40. A charlatan sells cakes mixed with a sleeping drought for unusually cheep prices, but follows buyer to rob them once the elixir take effect.
41. A constable drags a criminal through the street. The criminal claims to be innocent.
42. A slaver drags a runaway slave through the street.
43. A tax collector harasses a nearby shopkeeper for overdue payments.
44. A bouncer throws a drunk man out of a bar.
45. A young woman is dragged naked through the streets as punishment for theft.
46. Three men hang from the neck in a nearby square. A crowd gathers to ridicule their misshapen bodies.
47. A squad of 24 spearmen patrols the street.
48. A slave owner chastises a young woman in public for dropping an expensive teacup.
49. A horse runs through the street pulling the body of a murderer scrapping along the cobblestone behind it.
50. Constable wanders the streets collecting information on a blue haired man with pieced eyes and bright green eyes.
51. A fortuneteller, who is also an acolyte of the Sun Lord, offers to read palms for a small fee.
52. A threadbare prophet, devoted to the War Bringer, announces the end of the world.
53. A trio of young, nubile acolytes scours the streets for strong, handsome men and beautiful young woman to invite to a fertility rite in honor of the goddess Gaia.
54. A scarred battle-priest wanders the streets beating a drum and calling to the Storm Father for rain.
55. Two middle ages priestess dressed in flowing white robes offer to take confessions and bestow the White Lady’s forgiveness.
56. A line of thirteen druids bound in hooded green cloaks marches through the streets chanting and burning incense.
57. Two acolytes of the Madgod sell hallucinogenic elixirs for the low price of 50 GP per vial.
58. A towering, bare chested warrior shouts he praises of the Mountain King while challenging passerby to a drinking contest. Loser pays.
59. Four monks for the Temple of Ancient Knowledge announce a martial arts tournament and seek additional contestants.
60. A young prophet declares the world a dream and encourages townsfolk to wake up from the illusion.
61. An exotic prince, Temerand of Nerith, parades down the street riding an elephant and followed by dancing girls.
62. Two young noblemen duel in the street, surrounded by a crowd. One young man is soon injured and attempts to flee, but the crowd prevents it.
63. A young noble woman runs through the street, perused by a hideous ogre.
64. A naughty middle-aged man rides down the street atop a white horse decorated in gold barding encrusted with colorful jewels. He appears to be looking for something.
65. A veiled noble woman walks through the streets, followed by six terrified maids in blue dresses. The veiled woman’s hair moves as she walks. Removing her veil will reveal her to be a medusa.
66. Five young men celebrate their companion’s upcoming wedding by harassing local women.
67. An unbelievably gorgeous young woman is follow by a crowed of men, crawling over one another to purpose marriage.
68. A nobleman tosses a handful of gold coin onto the street. Townsfolk rush to squabble over them. The man, then, darts into a nearby building.
69. A young nobleman rides through the streets, admiring a pixie trapped in a copper birdcage.
70. Two drunks pummel each other outside a bar.
71. Teenage ruffians challenge passersby to a duel.
72. A caravan driver seeks replacement guards.
73. A local guide offers to lead tourists to the ruined tomb of the Dragon King, Xerix IV.
74. A cloaked figure offers to buy a group of mercenaries a free round of drinks.
75. A magic mirror hanging from an unattended cart begs passersby to return it to its former master.
76. Runaway carriage clatters through the streets. Market stalls are splintered. Townsfolk dive out of the way.
77. A chamber pot is emptied from a second story window.
78. Dishwater is emptied from a second story window.
79. A brick falls from a roof. Two repairmen reply apologetically.
80. An alchemist's cart hits a bump in the road. His chest of vials drops to the ground and explodes, showering nearby townsfolk in elixir. One man is poisoned. Another turns invisible a begins stealing. A third transforms into a dragon turtle. A fourth gains giant-like strength. A fifth starts to fly. And the last goes completely insane, muttering to himself and attacking people at random.
81. Crocodiles emerge from a ditch and begin to devour the townsfolk.
82. The cobblestone cracks, unearthing a small crevasse in the road. Inside is a velvet purse containing an emerald, a ruby, and a sphere.
83. A dragon flies overhead. Townsfolk flee inside nearby buildings.
84. A drunken ogre drives a warclub through a nearby building.
85. An efreet appears and begins devouring the townsfolk and burning down buildings.
86. A djinn appears and begins granting wishes to everyone who asks.
87. A water elemental appears, flooding the streets as it desperately seeks a body of water.
88. A hydra escapes from the tyrant’s menagerie.
89. A gang of wear rats shake down shops for perfection money.
90. A cloud of smoke appears. Wicked laughter follows.
91. An entire building disappears at the blink of an eye.
92. The inhabitants of an entire street have all simultaneously fall asleep.
93. Role twice and combine the results.

 

[Reynard]

Thanks, but more asking about experiences specific to transitioning campaign style and focus.

 

[BookTenTiger]

The campaign I play in (2 plus years and 9th level) experienced this. We all started out in the Sunless Citadel just doing classic dungeon crawl, then followed that with Forge of Fury. The DM then switched to player-driven stories, but the transition was... a little rough.

One problem is that most dungeons present a few obvious options. You can go through door A or B. You can search for traps or open the chest. Now obviously characters have far more options than that, but they can always fall back on A or B.

Once you start running a character-driven campaign, the choices may be obvious to you as a DM, but they are not necessarily obvious for the players. Our DM has said, in exasperation, "You can do anything!" which doesn't really help because it's not actually true! We still have limited choices, but the problem is they are not presented clearly.

Let's take the example of building and maintaining a fortress. As a DM, I might think that the characters will want to go back to that friendly town, or explore that canyon, or rebuild that ruin... But if I just ask "Where are you going to build your fort?' often players will not have enough info to make a decision.

I'd recommend planning out your character driven adventures like a dungeon! You can use a flow chart to prep some obvious A or B choices, while also giving players the freedom to choose their own ideas.

For me as a player, it would look like this:

DM: Okay, you said your character wanted to build a fort. Over the next few days, you see two promising sites. There's Friendlyville, the town you freed from goblins, and there's Old Castle, the ruins you found that magic sword in.

Player: What about those mysterious canyons we fought the lizardfolk in?

DM: Oh yeah, that would be a great location. However you're not sure it's entirely cleared of threats. To be honest, you'd want to travel to any of these places and get a lay of the land before building your fort.

Player (checks with others): Alright, let's start at Friendlyville and then go to that canyon.

And so on.

Oh, one more thing. As a player I've found that the way we play out decision making has changed with the scale of our game. We used to try to play out decisions in character ("Aye laddies, let's go through Door A!") during adventures. But when we transitioned to the more abstract time required for fort building, etc, it was much more useful to talk about what we, as players, wanted for our characters.

So we went from "I want to search the chest for traps" to "I want Sir Garbogool to find a secure location for his new fort."

Hope this helped!

 

[BookTenTiger]

As for neat things that happened when we transitioned to a more character driven style...

My wizard started a series of museums about the weird stuff they'd encountered.

The dwarven fighter started training in forging magical weapons.

The druid fought against his gods.

It was pretty fun!

 

[Ancalagon]

I think that the party needs a goal - something they want to accomplish that is heroic. If it's more mundane like "open an inn"... then I guess they are retiring as adventurers?

The efforts in accomplishing this goal can then point to further adventures - a rival or foe, discoveries (the canyon has an ancient tomb full of undead!) etc.

For example, in my (on hold) 5e campaign, the party made a fortune - well over 100 000 gp. So they are thinking of starting a new slugman house (the slugmen are the nobility in the Yellow City). But they have rivals that might wish them harm in the city. Will they buy them off? Declare war on the cult? We'll see.

Another transition is a new "mission/purpose". They are notable heroes now, and they might get approach with another major quest - maybe planar stuff?

You basically need a new "session zero" to talk with your players about future avenues for this campaign, see what they are interested in, and what you are interested in. It may be that this is the end of this campaign... and that's ok!

 

[THEMNGMNT]

In my experience, most players need a path to follow. Not a railroad, necessarily, but at least a trail. From the one path available in Descent Into Avernus, I suggest expanding your campaign into one path per player character. Have each one of those paths in some way tie into a specific PC. For example, maybe the wizard is presented with a path involving the fate of his former mentor, the paladin seeks out a relic from a fallen holy order, etc. The players have the freedom to choose the order in which they take on each quest...or the freedom to refuse a quest. I would be very, very, very transparent to the players about how this would work simply to avoid any confusion. Finally, I would counsel against transitioning into a full sandbox, hexcrawl, or open world experience. It's just too jarring of a transition from the previous adventure. And for many players that much freedom is simply not fun. I think it's less about letting players drive the story and more about giving players agency within the story. Hope that helps.

 

[Reynard]

So I have laid some groundwork for future Big Events (Tiamat escaping Avernus, in particular) but i don't want to just move immediately into another Epic Quest. I think the idea of having a new Session 0 is great, to get everyone on board and talk about goals etc. The question is how directed it should be.

 

[Tonguez]

Talk to the players and tell them explicitly that the play style will change and they will be expected to lead.
Youve got to level 12 so I assume your group gets on well and has some good banter, but the biggest issue Ive faced when changing from a set path with a predefined goal, is trying to get everyone out of the GM led “take me for a cool ride and let me react” space to the proactive “This is my characters life, now make it complicated”

on that note get the PCs in a session 0 to define their life, how do they fit in the setting, what is their area of influence, who are their NPC allies, peers, enemies.

theres even the option of multiple GMs -take turns as GM and challenge each player to include their downtime life in the adventure space...

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Some players cannot play in a player-driven campaign. They enjoy reacting to things, they don't mind getting railroaded a bit if it's not done too bluntly, and they get completely lost if you ask them to be proactive. I've never managed that kind of transition successfullly with my players.