New Campaign Survey for Player Likes/Dislikes

Dax Doomslayer · Jul 19, 2006

Hi Folks,
I've seen some threads similar to this but not quite what I need. I'm in the beginning phases of trying to create a new D&D 3.5 campaign. However, prior to doing any heavy lifting I really want to give the players a 'questionnaire' to find out what their interests are so that it is 'tailored' to their styles and likes. My group is a veteran group to D&D and I have known them for quite a while. I was wondering if anyone has anything like this or if not, what would be some evocative questions which will elucidate some tendencies. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Rel · Jul 19, 2006

I haven't pimped it lately so I'll specifically mention that it has been invaluable to me to understand (and have THEM understand) what sorts of players they are according to the categories used by Robin Laws in his excellent book Robin's Laws of Good Gamemastering. Great book in general but that bit revolutionized how I GMed. The same general information can be found at the start of the DMGII if you have that and not the Laws book (Robin Laws wrote that part of the DMGII anyway).

If you're not familiar with the concept in general, it is basically an analysis of how and more importantly WHY the player play the game. The motivations for a Buttkicker and a Method Actor (for example) are VERY different and require different sorts of adventures, hooks and sessions.

Dax Doomslayer · Jul 19, 2006

Thanks Rel. I do actually have the DMG II and did read that Chapter (good stuff). I'm looking more about what they are interested in doing; what types of adventures/areas they want to go etc. The type of player definitely does matter so it does touch on what I am asking so I guess I could ask what they felt was their 'play style' as one of the first questions.

Thanks for the suggestion!

RisnDevil · Jul 19, 2006

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=163144

This MIGHT help a little.

Dax Doomslayer · Jul 19, 2006

Nice Link - it looks like this is something similar to what I am trying to do. Thanks for that RisnDevil! This is a good start. Hmm - I wonder what the OP ended up with for a survey document . . .

Whizbang Dustyboots · Jul 19, 2006

Do come to them with ideas, otherwise you're likely to get wildly contradictory input and/or something you have no interest in running.

But ask about house rules, adherence to core rules, power level, magic level, whether it's about kicking butt or intrigue or what, preferred environments, preferred settings and monsters they're tired of. (Don't let on which you might want to use.)

Emongnome · Jul 19, 2006

I always like to know about the characters' histories and how the players sees it affecting the campaign, both short-term and long-term. Is there some arch-nemesis out there that you will want to have the group encounter later on? Also, ask them what they want for their characters with respect to treasure, wealth, land, titles, etc. Of course, as mentioned before, what type of gamers they are will greatly influence how the campaign is built. Is it one with lots of traps / puzzles / etc. and the like or just a horde of monsters to slay? I'm in the process of building a campaign myself through a series of interconnected "adventures" that I've done from scratch, using a war as a "setting" so to speak. As you can figure, my characters like a good backdrop story, but so long as the story doesn't interfere with all the combat. I knew my players well enough to not have to do a questionnaire, but it was very important that I knew what kind of campaign they would enjoy.

Lanefan · Jul 19, 2006

Not that it'll help here, but one thing I did in my current campaign is put together a player survey once it got nicely underway, about 12 adventures in, to find out if the game was living up to expectations and-or what could be done better. The results were pleasantly surprising, in that for every player who wanted "more" of something, another would want "less" of the same thing, with most saying "about right". (the one exception was treasure; nearly everyone wanted more even though it was already a fairly rich campaign...players will be players.)

Unless you've DM'ed these players before, your pre-start survey might be only of limited use as they're not used to your style...and that can make far more difference than you might realize. But, good luck with it anyway.

Lanefan

Wraith Form · Jul 20, 2006

Dax Doomslayer said:
Thanks Rel. I do actually have the DMG II and did read that Chapter (good stuff). I'm looking more about what they are interested in doing; what types of adventures/areas they want to go etc. The type of player definitely does matter so it does touch on what I am asking so I guess I could ask what they felt was their 'play style' as one of the first questions. Thanks for the suggestion!

This may, at first, appear to be too "basic" for you, but the Dungeon Master for Dummies book actually got me up off my a$$ and at the helm of a group of players. It also talks in depth about the types of players and how to deal with them.

Some overlap between Robin's Laws, DMGII and DM for Dummies occurs, but I found DM for Dummies to be...inspirational.

Dax Doomslayer · Jul 20, 2006

Hmmm - that is interesting about the DM for Dummies book. I thought it was more of a 'how to get started' as a DM type book. I may have to check that out. Thanks Wraith Form!