Calling all GM's

[mps42]

okay all you creative types out there, I need your help! My creative juices are plain froze solid right now and I am lookiing for suggestions on how toy get 'em flowing again.
Every time I try yo come up with a villain or a plot or, really, anything game-related, I "lock up" and I get nothing.
I've tried looking at pre-built games, online games, news, free-association, anything I can think of and I get noithing.

HELP!!!

 

[Henry]

More data required, please!

Party composition? Level? Motivations of the characters?

Where did they last leave off? What did they last face? Have you left any plot hooks dangling from the past that you can pick back up on? The more we know, the more we can help, AND the simple act of you stating these things out MAY get your own creative juices flowing again! Sometimes re-stating the facts can get your mind working.

 

[mps42]

Party composition? Level? Motivations of the characters?

Party Composition : NONE
Level : 0
Motivations : NONE
Last left off : City Morge
Last Faced : a group of toughs and a flesh golem.
Plot hooks available to the pc's : NONE
Why? THEY ALL DIED IN THE FIGHT! Thats right. Every last one of them fought to the death. Needless to say, I am starting from ground zero and can go in ANY direction, really and pretty much do any THING. So where do you go and what do you do when there are no limits adn how to start?

 

[Fieari]

TPKs can actually make interesting plot hooks. What are the ramifications of the heros losing? Who was relying on them to succeede? Was this a "save the world" kind of deal, or save the town? If so, the next party might exist in the fallout. I've found that players love these kinds of quests... because it means that what they were trying to do was something WORTHWHILE. And even though they failed, it was big anyway, because it had all these lasting effects.

The new party needn't even know that it's the same campaign world, really. A couple subtle clues dropped here and there later on helps though.

 

[Telperion]

Every time I try yo come up with a villain or a plot or, really, anything game-related, I "lock up" and I get nothing.

Take a week off. Every GM/DM/ST locks down sooner or later, and you just have to give yourself a bit of time to unwind. Personally I detest having writer's blocks, but it's how life goes. You can't always be pouring out great new stuff at top speed. After a TPK a natural GM reaction is to feel a bit burned out, because all those lovely plans you just laid out went into recycling. Not into the trashbin, mind you, but the ideas need some recycling before they can be used again.

So, take a step back, take a small break and then start over.

Naturally we are all individuals, so what works for me might not work for you. If you haven't experienced a serious writer's block before then it might take you a while to figure out how to get rid of it. Good luck and hopefully you'll get back to your hobby soon.

 

[Greatwyrm]

If you're starting from the ground up, ask the players what they want to see. When I was getting ready for my current campaign, I sent out a series of surveys about what kind of game they wanted to play. What types of adventures? How much magic? How powerful is religion? I got some interesting answers, but was able to make things work out pretty well so far.

 

[mps42]

So, figure out the pc's defeat would have effected teh game world / town? Hmmm...
Lessee... the toughs return to the one who hired them, a local corrupt priest, with their bodies and the flesh golem. The priest continues blackmailing the town mayor to get him promoted from father to deacon in the capital.
THe town mayor, then is left with the shame of having helped the father get promoted to save his own hide.
nothing real earth shattering there...

 

[Deadshot]

Another idea is to have the party try to solve the 'murder' of their old party. Who created the flesh golem? Maybe the old party's bodies are gone and might return in the form of more flesh golems or some other necroctic device. This way you could keep some old plans together or take a tpk and turn it into something to spin the next group into.


Deadshot

 

[mps42]

Take a week off. Every GM/DM/ST locks down sooner or later, and you just have to give yourself a bit of time to unwind. Personally I detest having writer's blocks, but it's how life goes. You can't always be pouring out great new stuff at top speed. After a TPK a natural GM reaction is to feel a bit burned out, because all those lovely plans you just laid out went into recycling. Not into the trashbin, mind you, but the ideas need some recycling before they can be used again.

So, take a step back, take a small break and then start over.

Naturally we are all individuals, so what works for me might not work for you. If you haven't experienced a serious writer's block before then it might take you a while to figure out how to get rid of it. Good luck and hopefully you'll get back to your hobby soon.

Its been 4 months... nothing.

 

[mps42]

Another idea is to have the party try to solve the 'murder' of their old party. Who created the flesh golem? Maybe the old party's bodies are gone and might return in the form of more flesh golems or some other necroctic device. This way you could keep some old plans together or take a tpk and turn it into something to spin the next group into.


Deadshot

I thought about that but in the scheme of things, this was kinda small potatoes that I had no real plans for. It was a one-shot that led to this adventure where the TPK occured so I don't really have a "world" behind this.