How much do you experiment in your games?

[Ry]

How much do you experiment in your games?

I'm talking about using new rules, new methods, to prepare, and so on.

In my case, basically every new campaign has been a new experiment in something I've designed, with the exception of my very first campaign (Dragonlance Saga system), one-shots testing a new system, and my late 2e / early 3e period which were experiments in things I saw others designing.

(BTW, to qualify as an experiment you have to actually play through it with real players.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

What is an experimental prep method?

 

[Ry]

I would think "I'm going to follow Dungeoncraft articles religiously" as an experimental prep method, as would Matrix plot design (from the old Complete book of Villains) as would making a plot tree, organizing your campaign into "zones" and putting everything into those zones, and so on.

My PTRR prep idea is an example of a prep method I designed myself that I've also experimented with.

 

[SpiderMonkey]

I pretty much play RAW, though I have adopted some house rules regarding death, dying, and raising. Otherwise, the only "experiments" have been including the occassional variant from Unearthed Arcana.

BTW, the next real experiment I'd like to try is E6. Looks good!

 

[megamania]

I do very little experimenting. There is enough in standard rules to get myself into trouble. When I do experiment, it is usually ideas from Dragon or building multiple templates. "X" template goes to humanoids only. As a DM I sometimes will instead place the temnplate on a giant instead or outsiders.

 

[el-remmen]

The whole thing is one big experiment as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I've got D&D rules, unearthed arcana and other d20 stuff, and plenty of rules I just made up. I institute things at the start of a campaign and keep them unless they don't work or I find something better.

As for prep methods, I just stat up some monsters, come up with some plot hooks, and let the PCs do what they want.

 

[Ry]

As for prep methods, I just stat up some monsters, come up with some plot hooks, and let the PCs do what they want.

Ever tried something different, like prepping a session from a random generator?

 

[Kapture]

I've used non-core classes that are definitely experiments: the warlock has been a consistently unbalancing force in my game, and I've been using the classes from Tome of Magic for villains. I have yet to find an instance in which a truenamer does not suck, but binders are hell fun and shadowcasters are cool.

In my current game, I'm experimenting with rules I culled from other places to make the game "soft death." I've mucked with feats to consolidate them. I would overhaul item creation, but nobody's interested in my current game. For the next campaign, I think I want to change grappling.

I have homebrewed rules for : the effects of planar rifts and magical firearms. I've built rulesets for modular familiars/companions (yet to be used), and for awarding social capital as treasure, which doubles as a leadership/organization resource. I've built a prestige class for one player, and a kind of tech-arcana class for a player who never joined the game.

If I can finish reading the rules in time, an upcoming adventure will see the PCs translated into True20 rules so that we can see what the rules are like.

I fuss with new ways of pricing magic items all the time.

All in all, it's too much work. I keep telling myself that the next set of adventures won't have any goofy rules. But they always do.

 

[Kapture]

Ever tried something different, like prepping a session from a random generator?

I've been relying on that alot lately. Mostly, it makes me grit my teeth. Not precise enough.

It's a form of congenital stupidity that I have.