Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 9763154" data-attributes="member: 177">My advice: Do not worry about giving an &quot;exceptional&quot; experience.&nbsp; Do not plan obsessively.&nbsp; Do not write up your entire campaign before your second session.The basic goal is not &quot;exceptional&quot;.&nbsp; The basic goal is &quot;fun&quot;, or &quot;entertaining&quot; - having a good enough time that they want to come back next time.&nbsp; Aim for that, reasonably achievable goal.&nbsp; Hit that mark reliably.&nbsp; Then aim a little higher - hit the higher mark reliably.&nbsp; Then aim a little higher still.Much of having great experiences at the table has to do with skills applied at the table, when you are running the game.&nbsp; You can't plan those skills into existence.&nbsp; They come with practice, and may take years to develop.&nbsp; So give yourself some space to develop them.You note you don't know what's good or not - that's also a matter of learning what works for you and what doesn't.&nbsp; You won't know it at the start.&nbsp; So, don't worry about it.&nbsp; Don't plan an entire campaign.&nbsp; Aim for one adventure.&nbsp; Then another.&nbsp; Then another. Then work in come callbacks.&nbsp; Then plan an adventure that is based on some events from an earlier one.&nbsp; Have a villain show up again.&nbsp; Have someone they helped pass the party's name to someone important, or something.&nbsp; Do that a few times, and it will, after the fact, look like it all hangs together, even if there were no central concept at the start.Learn your own voice.&nbsp; Find some things that you're good at, and things that challenge you.&nbsp; Use the former to your advantage, and think around and practice to shore yourself up on the latter. Be kind to yourself.&nbsp; Allow your players to be kind to you.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 9763154, member: 177"] My advice: Do not worry about giving an "exceptional" experience. Do not plan obsessively. Do not write up your entire campaign before your second session. The basic goal is not "exceptional". The basic goal is "fun", or "entertaining" - having a good enough time that they want to come back next time. Aim for that, reasonably achievable goal. Hit that mark reliably. Then aim a little higher - hit the higher mark reliably. Then aim a little higher still. Much of having great experiences at the table has to do with skills applied at the table, when you are running the game. You can't plan those skills into existence. They come with practice, and may take years to develop. So give yourself some space to develop them. You note you don't know what's good or not - that's also a matter of learning what works for you and what doesn't. You won't know it at the start. So, don't worry about it. Don't plan an entire campaign. Aim for one adventure. Then another. Then another. Then work in come callbacks. Then plan an adventure that is based on some events from an earlier one. Have a villain show up again. Have someone they helped pass the party's name to someone important, or something. Do that a few times, and it will, after the fact, look like it all hangs together, even if there were no central concept at the start. Learn your own voice. Find some things that you're good at, and things that challenge you. Use the former to your advantage, and think around and practice to shore yourself up on the latter. Be kind to yourself. Allow your players to be kind to you. [/QUOTE]

Verification