Chris Perkins' final Dungeon Master Experience column
Nemesis Destiny
Adventurer
I honestly think that his sample "setting bible" may have been one of the most useful campaign-building tools he has ever dropped in this column. I like his ideas for this game - it's the first time that Arthurian-themed roleplaying has seemed appealing to me at all - but that's beside the point.
I think the kind of things that he put in there can really help with player buy-in to the setting you want to create. Tell the players what kinds of cultures are available, what they name themselves, what they look like, how their culture operates, etc. The maps and brief history lesson certainly help bring things to life as well.
I also like that he forces players to think about how their characters were affected by the catalyst for starting the game off. Right from the word go, every player has something to talk about, something to relate to each other with, and a built-in mystery to solve, regardless of cultural background.
Doing a setting bible has been a formula that I've accidentally stumbled across a few times in the games I've run, but I hadn't always used one, and I can certainly say that the games I've run that were most successful were the ones that had the players in on the conceits of the game from the beginning. Nothing helps a game move along quite like characters that are built to be part of the world.
It's less of an issue in kitchen-sink settings like Forgotten Realms, where everything has a place, by definition, but even then, you have people who know the setting inside out, and they want to make sure their characters make sense for that setting. It's also potentially less of an issue in deliberately vague settings like PoLland, but I find that can lead to less player investment in their characters and how they relate to other characters in-game.
I think the kind of things that he put in there can really help with player buy-in to the setting you want to create. Tell the players what kinds of cultures are available, what they name themselves, what they look like, how their culture operates, etc. The maps and brief history lesson certainly help bring things to life as well.
I also like that he forces players to think about how their characters were affected by the catalyst for starting the game off. Right from the word go, every player has something to talk about, something to relate to each other with, and a built-in mystery to solve, regardless of cultural background.
Doing a setting bible has been a formula that I've accidentally stumbled across a few times in the games I've run, but I hadn't always used one, and I can certainly say that the games I've run that were most successful were the ones that had the players in on the conceits of the game from the beginning. Nothing helps a game move along quite like characters that are built to be part of the world.
It's less of an issue in kitchen-sink settings like Forgotten Realms, where everything has a place, by definition, but even then, you have people who know the setting inside out, and they want to make sure their characters make sense for that setting. It's also potentially less of an issue in deliberately vague settings like PoLland, but I find that can lead to less player investment in their characters and how they relate to other characters in-game.
mgeriksorensen
First Post
Where is Chris Perkins The Dungeon Master Experience pdf?!
Hello,
I am a DM and I have enjoyed what Chris Perkins has said in his old 'The Dungeon Master Experience'. Sadly Wizards of the Coast does not have it any longer. At least for what I could find. I also can't find a complete pdf of it any longer. I used to have one but that was on my old computer that I can't get running. So I was wondering, does anyone know were a complete pdf of The Dungeon Master experience by Chris Perkins is? Does anyone have one they could e-mail me or know of a site that has the complete version? I have found one site that has some of it but not all of it. After looking for so long this is my last hope on the matter. (Sorry about any grammar problems I just got my wisdom teeth pulled so I'm a little out of it.)
Hello,
I am a DM and I have enjoyed what Chris Perkins has said in his old 'The Dungeon Master Experience'. Sadly Wizards of the Coast does not have it any longer. At least for what I could find. I also can't find a complete pdf of it any longer. I used to have one but that was on my old computer that I can't get running. So I was wondering, does anyone know were a complete pdf of The Dungeon Master experience by Chris Perkins is? Does anyone have one they could e-mail me or know of a site that has the complete version? I have found one site that has some of it but not all of it. After looking for so long this is my last hope on the matter. (Sorry about any grammar problems I just got my wisdom teeth pulled so I'm a little out of it.)
mgeriksorensen
First Post
Thank you so much!!!
has anyone done this?
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