Calling all GM's

[Emiricol]

Start a new campaign! "And now for something completely different..." as they say.

Which is good advice. Try something new, and not like what you did last time, or a new setting. Alternate DM role with the other players each week in a collaborative plotline. Try handing out contacts like candy the PCs can use as get out of jail free cards. Dare I say... run a module? SO MANY OPTIONS!

I was burnt out a few months ago, actually, and haven't done much DMing since, though my creative juices are starting to bubble again I imagine you'll do the same.

 

[mps42]

well, see, that's the problem. right now I have no group so I have no "stimulation". I have started playing in a PBP here on enworld and that's helping a bit. I was starting to go through gaming withdrawls.

 

[ivocaliban]

Maybe I'm just a bit mislead, but what level were the characters going up against the flesh golem? Was it mere bad luck that brought them down or were they simply outmatched? Seems to me like it might have been the latter. One way to avoid outmatching your players is to make copies of their character sheets and, in your spare time, do a "sparring match" against the creatures you have in mind. If you suddenly realize, "Hey, no one here has a weapon that can even hurt this thing and there's no other way around it..." well, you've just saved everyone a great deal of time.

As for storylines, plotlines, etc. search out novels, movies, or the endless number of resources online. If you're really stumped for ideas look through the Adventures section of www.wizards.com/dnd for one that seems to suit your interests and needs. Try to find ways to incorporate each character into the adventure and use it to bring them together. If you find the right adventure and have the right connections between the characters you should be able to give them reasons to stay together.

I recently ran a game with two rangers and used a WotC adventure to bring them together. One, a gnome ranger tracking a kobold chieftain and his bodyguards who managed to elude him...tracked them right into the hills where the elven ranger was travelling. The elf was on his way to visit a dwarven alchemist, looking for a cure to a strange sickness afflicting his village. The kobolds are dispatched, and the two rangers share their stories. The elf discovers that the gnome was once the dwarf's errand boy, fetching various herbs and ingredients for his potion. This was before the gnome's entire family and home was razed by kobolds. Basically, the elf realizes that he is more likely to get the dwarf's help if the gnome goes along with him. The gnome, having gotten the last of the kobolds he was after has no other immediate direction, and agrees to help.

So, try a pre-made adventure and see if it generates any ideas on where to go next. Use the character's backgrounds if possible. I always flesh out the characters by asking them questions before we begin play. Questions about their families, their loyalties, their ideas on religion, their prejudices...it provides plethora of possible plot elements. And, if none of this works, just find another pre-made adventure that works...and go with that. Eventually, hopefully...the creative juices will return in time.

 

[Asmo]

You can always pick up WotC adventure-path serie that starts with Sunless Citadel and go from there. I´ve run the two first and will start the third one soon and I´ve loved every minute of it. Good luck!!

Asmo

 

[Rel]

What I'd do in your situation is this (in order):

1) Round up the people who you intend to game with. Tell them you're up for almost anything and ask what sort of game they're in the mood for. If this sparks some ideas, you're back in business.

2) If it doesn't spark any ideas then write down what they told you and post it in this thread.

3) If they say, "We don't care. We just want to game." then get yourself something pre-published and go with it. I recommend Freeport as a setting with a solid set of starting adventures and an environment that seems to breed plot hooks like mad. But you could do worse than simply following the Adventure Path.

Good luck.

 

[Hand of Evil]

For bad guys go here: http://www.enworld.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=19

You also need to give your players homework, ask them to provide you with NPC background or stat blocks or names or...

For game ideas, the news is always a good place to start, just say what if...

Hurricane Ivan, What if the storm was magica in nature? What if the rain that fell from the storm rasied dead? What if the players were in a storm?

Background, I always ask my players a number of questions, adjusting my next question on their answer. It gives me ideas.

What did your father do? Is he still alive?

What if the player answers that his father was a adventurer? What if the player answers no? What if the player is exploring a dungeon and there on the wall is RIP and it is the players father?

 

[the Jester]

A new group of pcs? How about a trap-filled kobold warren that has been cleaned out long ago, but which a few (maybe six?) kobolds have reinhabited and are trying to reacquire access to [insert resource in town or warren here]. They need to keep their presence hidden, but a few of the townies have seen suspicious stuff going on.

That way you only have a few monsters (plus maybe a few scavengers that have moved into the old warren), plus a few minor traps and maybe one or two fairly deadly ones. It's a good starter.

 

[mps42]

Maybe I'm just a bit mislead, but what level were the characters going up against the flesh golem? Was it mere bad luck that brought them down or were they simply outmatched? Seems to me like it might have been the latter. One way to avoid outmatching your players is to make copies of their character sheets and, in your spare time, do a "sparring match" against the creatures you have in mind. If you suddenly realize, "Hey, no one here has a weapon that can even hurt this thing and there's no other way around it..." well, you've just saved everyone a great deal of time.

As for storylines, plotlines, etc. search out novels, movies, or the endless number of resources online. If you're really stumped for ideas look through the Adventures section of www.wizards.com/dnd for one that seems to suit your interests and needs. Try to find ways to incorporate each character into the adventure and use it to bring them together. If you find the right adventure and have the right connections between the characters you should be able to give them reasons to stay together.

I recently ran a game with two rangers and used a WotC adventure to bring them together. One, a gnome ranger tracking a kobold chieftain and his bodyguards who managed to elude him...tracked them right into the hills where the elven ranger was travelling. The elf was on his way to visit a dwarven alchemist, looking for a cure to a strange sickness afflicting his village. The kobolds are dispatched, and the two rangers share their stories. The elf discovers that the gnome was once the dwarf's errand boy, fetching various herbs and ingredients for his potion. This was before the gnome's entire family and home was razed by kobolds. Basically, the elf realizes that he is more likely to get the dwarf's help if the gnome goes along with him. The gnome, having gotten the last of the kobolds he was after has no other immediate direction, and agrees to help.

So, try a pre-made adventure and see if it generates any ideas on where to go next. Use the character's backgrounds if possible. I always flesh out the characters by asking them questions before we begin play. Questions about their families, their loyalties, their ideas on religion, their prejudices...it provides plethora of possible plot elements. And, if none of this works, just find another pre-made adventure that works...and go with that. Eventually, hopefully...the creative juices will return in time.

They were only slightly overmatched, the pc's could have delt with them if things had gone differently. Also, once I saw things starting to go downhill for the pc's I tried giving them "outs". The NPC's offered surrender and the pc's didn't take it! I did everything I could to save them and they still plowed on to death...

 

[ThoughtBubble]

I draw inspiration from other things. Typically, I see something and go "Hey, that's cool. Can I make it into a game?" For example, my current game started with the iday of playing something based off of the Legend of Zelda, but with a few stipulations. See, it appears that Gannon keeps getting more powerful as the games progress. So, what if, in an extention of The Wind Waker's theme, the world was drained of magic because it was the only way to stop him? That led into thinking about a modern game (also helpful because one of my player's requests was "something with guns"). And the items from the game appear as the aincient artifacts used to battle evil, which have all been forgotten. So then we've got dungeon raiding. And that's a lot like Raiders of the Lost Arc. The final result is a fast paced, action packed, dungeon adventure. And, of course, there's a princess out there that needs rescuing.

Another thing that helps me out is music. I have a set of CD's for each game I'm thinking about. And, in my main game, each character has a theme song. So, if I'm ever short on something, I grab the music and check it out.

And, if you post partial ideas on the boards, I'm sure a lot of people will be willing to help you out.

Edit: And I just had to comment that Indy is really high level.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

I'm keeping my eye on this thread. This week I hung up my DM hat because I'm so unmotivated and burned out I can't do anything.