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Message: <blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 8515874" data-attributes="member: 463">The 1e Dungeoneer's Survival Guide divides campaign types into Linear (railroad, in the non-pejorative sense), Open (ie sandbox), and Matrix:The Matrix CampaignThe matrix campaign allows the DM to create a detailed storywith a developed plot, while still allowing the players to choosewhere they go and how they deal with their challenges.The key to a matrix campaign design is to create a goal orseries of goals that the PCs are motivated to accomplish. Thematrix campaign is a very effective style of design for creating anepic or a string of connecting stories. In many ways it representsa compromise between the linear and open campaign styles ofThe PCs in a matrix campaign start out at a location choseneither by you or by the players. You then provide them with a shortexposition and some clues that open a number of differentoptions. For example, the characters may discover that a sect ofevil clerics has been gradually gaining control of the land. Theymay witness peasants being arrested by the clerics, or seeplaces of worship for good-aligned deities suffer raids and vandalism.The next move is up to the players, with a little bit of guidancefrom you. Perhaps one PC remembers seeing a temple to thenorth, emblazoned with the evil sect’s sign. To the east, recallsanother, is a great temple of good where the PCs could go forinformation. Meanwhile, a group of peasants are hauled off intoslavery to the south, and one begs the characters for aid. All thetime, you know that the headquarters of the sect lies to the west,but you bide yourtime in revealing this information to the players.With this technique, the players become involved in the story,yet are not railroaded into a specific task chosen by the DM. Youare prepared for a few courses of PC action: a raid on the templeto the north, an interview with the sage to the east, or a prisonerrescue mission to the south.Depending on the length of the story you wish to create, youmight have clues in each of the three locations point directlytoward the heart of the problem (the evil sect’s headquarters tothe west), or you might continue to expand the matrix. The playerswho rescue the prisoners might lead them as an army toreclaim their homeland. If they visit the good temple, perhapsthey are sent on a quest to gain some item of great power fromthe evil temple to the north. If that evil temple was their originalgoal, they might gain the magical item on their own initiative.The matrix can continue to expand for as long as you wish. Allof the different branches eventually steer the PCs toward theheadquarters of the sect, where the climax of the story takesplace. If you wish to move the plot along more quickly, you canschedule events that occur wherever the PCs are. Events can beencounters with significant NPCs, visions and dreams, social orpolitical changes, or quick scenes designed to show the PCs apertinent fact.A matrix campaign must eventually meet a border, beyondwhich the PCs are discouraged from passing. Borders can bedesigned as either soft or hard.A soft border is one that turns the PCs back into the storythrough their own motivations. Players who resist any pursuit ofthe evil sect, for example, might encounter a group of haplesswaifs whose parents are held prisoner. The children appeal to theplayers’ sense of decency. In cases where this appeal is fruitless(many DMs can predict this ahead of time), a mysterious strangermight offer a reward of valuable gems for evidence of the sect’sdestruction. Judge your players carefully to decide what type ofpersuasion motivates them best.Players who fail to yield to any kind of motivation can beallowed to occupy the story’s setting for as long as they like, evenif they don’t take part in it. If they attempt to leave the area, however,they must encounter a hard boundary. This can be a physicalobstacle, such as a high cliff, stormy sea, or trackless desert.Alternatively, it might be something like a huge army camped inthe PCs path, with a continually increasing series of encounterswith more and more troops. Quest or geas spells serve as hardborders, but should be used only as a last resort.The story matrix should contain several ways for the PCs toapproach the final encounter, and several means of dealing withthe challenge created there. Not all of these means must createthe same likelihood of success, but the PCs should not bedoomed to failure in the final encounter simply because theymade a wrong choice at some point in the adventure.You should also prepare for the possibility that your playersmay not have gained enough information about your story line tofigure out the next course of action. Despite a DM’s thorough anddetailed descriptions, an amazing number of players seem tohave no idea of what’s going on. If this happens in your campaign,you need to gently but firmly show them the path.Non-player characters can be particularly useful at such times.Perhaps a henchman speaks up as all the PCs stand aroundscratching their heads, and indicates your preferred course ofaction. Or the party might encounter someone very wise, such asan old sage, magic-user, or hermit. This NPC could providedetails on the next step of the adventure in language so plain thatall players should be able to understand it.Foreshadowing can be effectively employed to show characterswhether or not they are on the right track. Ill omens and portentsof great danger do not always discourage players-after all,these are some of the ingredients of good adventure-but theycan be presented in such a way that the PCs are able to figure outwhether they are going the right way or not.</blockquote>

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