Starting a new campaign, hoping I don't get the same problems

[Dagger75]

Seeing how I will be starting a new 3.5 edition game when it comes out; I want to stop some of the old problems I have been having.

Number 1 on my list- Record keeping. When I played I kept track of every copper piece and every arrow ever fired. When I went into a tavern and order a drink and the DM said 3 silver, I erased 3 silver from my character sheet. Fired 13 arrows in combat, adjusted my character sheet. I could tell you what pouch on my pack back had the flint and steel, I could tell you how much silver was in my belt pouch and how much was on my horse and which saddle bag, left or right that pouch was in.

Now I am not looking for that kind of detail from my players. Arrows I would kill for them to keep track of those. They complain about money but I can gaurentee that they haven't adjusted the total for when they made some minor magic items. I don't ever see them erasing anything when they go into a bar. Granted a few silver or even 1 or 2 gold is really no big deal to 12th+ level characters but it just irritates me.

Any suggestions on to how to get more record keeping? I don't want IRS type accounting; just keep track of arrows please type thing.

Number 2- Feats. After chosing a feat after a game or two I get "This feat sucks I am going to change it." Fow whatever reason I let them change it. Probably cause I for the last few months I haven't really cared at all about the game. I was misrable and the last thing I wanted was misrable players.

Number 3 Character backround. Nothing complicated. Lets just say 99% of them have been "I am looking to get rich." Thats the character backround.
And getting the groups together. Once all the players are in the same general area this is easy for me. For example in a FR type game, I am starting it in Waterdeep. The characters are from Thay, Cormyr, Chult and Ten Towns. All I ask them is how did they arrive in Waterdeep. Blank Stares all around. I even tell them straight off before character creation you are going to start in Waterdeep.
My Call of Chtulhu game may have given me an idea. I had each player secretly write down some sort of Occult thing that happened to them and not tell the other characters. Worked pretty good. I may do this for my new D&D game. Any other hints out there?

Number 4 - Ideas. Oh do my ideas ever seem so cliche. Evil wizard/cleric/warrior bent on taking over the world or becoming a god. Some sort of war. Isn't this problem in every game though

Number 5- Getting off my lazy butt and actually planning more rather than making it up on the fly. I work 3rd shift and have free time at work, I could literally get paid to do D&D stuff at work but don't

Thanks

 

[Plane Sailing]

1. As an option, you could consider the rule they suggest for this kind of thing in Star Wars d20: Don't keep track of arrows, but when you roll a "1" in combat you've run out (in that quiver). This could encourage them to carry more than a single quiver of arrows, but the main idea is to say "don't worry about it, but occasionally you'll run out". This might not mean an empty quiver, but one in which the few remaining arrows are slightly warped or otherwise useless.

2. Just say NO! Although it might be best to chat with them the implications of the feat when they select it, to get them to think why it might or might not be good for them.

3. You could dangle some prestige classes in front of them, so that they have something to aim for (might help with 2 as well?)

4. Read storyhours! Read Piratecat, Sagiro, Sepulchrave and other favourites. You could even read mine They are all chock full of great ideas.

5. Keeping planning simple works well for me. You could consider using bought modules, but I typically find that it is easier to write stuff yourself and have the info at your fingertips on the night.

Cheers

 

[Celtavian]

re

My goodness. I haven't had those kind of problems for along time.

1. Make them keep track of arrows, spell durations, gold etc, etc. Don't shirk. Get your players trained. It may take some time, but it will add a bit of realism to the game.

You don't want that old wester/cop show stupidity where the gun never runs out of ammo. It makes the entire story less believable and thus less interesting.

2. I occasionally let my players change feats if some errata comes out that changes the feat into something they can no longer use. Other than that, make them keep their feats. They should think about how a feat will affect their characters before choosing it.

3. No backgrounds? I can't stand it when my players make characters from areas that have no business being where they are. I won't allow it. Make sure they come from a reasonable area. Make them write a background.

5. I work 3rd shift too. I am at work right now. Get off your lazy butt and take advantage of the extra time to make an awsome, fun campaign.

 

[Hand of Evil]

A DM's work is never done.

As said put some of the work on your players. Something I do for both arrows and hit points is matches or game chips. The player places them on the table and as they are used moved into another pile. There are two reasons I do this, 1) I can see information from my chair and 2) my players feel it adds to the game.

Make time before starting the campaign to work on background. This is easily done by asking questions of the player before starting. Questions are; Who is your father and mother? Do you have brothers and sisters? Are they alive? What happened to them? Rich or poor? This simple approch can give you ideas for your game. Oh, ask the players to come up with a story on how they met!

As a DM you don't just run a game, you direct a story. This mean you sometimes have to point the players into a character they would not think about. Best way to do this is by having jam sessions with the players after the game. Just talk with them about what they see happening with their character. Priatecat uses a survey.

Homework - give it to the players. Ask for NPC's, file them away for use later, ask for 3 names of taverns from each of them.

The campaign notebook - 3 ring binder.

 

[Poltergeist]

1. Make them pay a monthly upkeep fee for various and sundries (ale at a tavern, a room for the night, etc). Make them keep track of rations and arrows as running out of these things at critical times can both add drama and have a huge impact on the game. We used a dry erase board to track initiative order and duration of "1 round/level" spells during combat.

2. I think it is OK to be flexible. Sometimes a feat does not pan out how a player hoped it would. Better to let them change it if keeping it will leave them miserable. Maybe institute a limit such as "you can trade feats twice in the lifetime of your character" if it is out of hand.

3. Use the carrot system. Give them minor rewards for completed backgrounds, such as allies, minor equipment, a skill with a few points in it, or a circumstance bonus to certain skill rolls based on a thorough background. Maybe you established that your family was very religious, so you get a +1 circumstance bonus on Knowledge: Religion checks, or perhaps you established that your wizard used to fantasize about being a ranger and spent his youth climbing trees and exploring the forest, so you get a +2 circumstance bonus to climbing rolls whenever you try to climb a tree. Perhaps your father was a hunter and bequeathed a long bow to you (that you don't have to pay for), or perhaps your mother was a city guard and gave you her chain shirt now that she is retired.

4. The difference between cliches and icons is nothing but presentation.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Backgrounds are more likely if the PC's see a reward to it.

I tell my players that if they give me a written background for the PC's (which ties in to two or more of the existing plotlines, since they are replacement characters in the campaign), they can get 1 or 2 bonus attribute points to place where they like.

Since you'll be starting a new campaign, tell them that their characters can get 1 or 2 bonus attribute points for a 2 paragraph background. The only restrictions is that the background must contain two secrets/plot hooks/mentors/enemies etc.

Bingo! PC's will fall over themselves to produce something for the extra points (some might take a go or two to get it right ) plus you get a whole bunch of useful plot hooks for planning future adventures!

Cheers

 

[Hand of Evil]

Also, don't overwork yourself, all tavens and roadside inns look alike, have one map for them. Use NPC templates, a city guard is about the same in every city, same for the inn keeper, the drunk, the local cleric, the wood cutter. You don't have to have them as full NPCs just stats and some descriptive adjectives.

 

[JoeGKushner]

For the last few years I've been playing, I haven't seen a real use for backgrounds of characters under 5th level.

This isn't to say that they have no family, friends, allies or enemies, but at that level ,what's the importance of knowing such information if they can be killed by a lucky kobold?

I guess part of that is that I minimize any fudged rolls as I provide players in my campaign hero points and other benefits so I don't feel the need to save them when stupidity gets them killed.

I generally tend to run into two problems. One, a guy who knows the ins and outs of the system probably better then me in many instances. This allows him to come up with some strange combinations. Fortuantely, he recognizes that as the GM, official or unofficial, I'm the final boss on what goes in the campaign. The other problem is a player who just doesn't work well with the group at all times. One week he 'retreated' from combat for something like eight rounds explaining that he thought we were following right behind him.

 

[Shallown]

Number one - For money I just assess a dasily/weekly whatever amount they owe for services and products of daily living. If they disagree then let them keep track. My players usually don't care enough to keep track. Ammo and charges are either kept track of or I just suddenly say they are out and leave it to them to prove otherwise. My players usually just toss off some coin in town and call it refurbish and resupply. Basically they replace any used or worn items. I don't want to do to much book keeping so I don't force them but Try to be realistic.

Number 2 - You choose you are stuck with it unless you have never used it. I let them change only if the feat has never been used so if they go a while and never use Combat reflexes then they can exchange it. Otherwise you are stuck so Choose wisely.

Number three - background and effort put into it vary from player to player. I make it as important as the player wants. So if they give me 10 pages of background first of all I tell them that is way to much and to stop it but I still use what they give me. even if to mention it once in a while and to sned them a letter from friends and family.


Number four. Cliche means little its all in how you do it. Hell beinga a sword swinging figter is cliche. Its all a matter of style. Yea your villian is a wizard bent on taking over the world but lend him some peronality and style and no one will care if it is cliche.

Number 5 - I spend more time thinking about my game then ever writting stuff for it. I write down the hard rules like stat blocks for encounters and such. I plan but don't write down my plans they float in my head. So I'm not much help in this. I think spending time thinking of maybes is more useful then writting down what you think are definates. Players always surprise you.

later

 

[Arnwyn]

Wow... IMO you are a serious push-over.

Number 1 on my list- Record keeping. /snip/ Any suggestions on to how to get more record keeping? I don't want IRS type accounting; just keep track of arrows please type thing.

Long ago, I just told them to do it, and then watched them. They're right in front of me, so I pretty much can't miss it. I also informed them that if they want to game with me as DM, then they had better get used to record-keeping. If not, then maybe my game isn't for them, and they should leave. Of course, we're all friends and we've been gaming for more than a decade, so it works fine with us.

Number 2- Feats. After chosing a feat after a game or two I get "This feat sucks I am going to change it." Fow whatever reason I let them change it.

I'm all a-gog. My mouth is hanging open. This is definitely not our style, to say the least - I have never, ever, heard one of my players say that he was "going to change" a feat he had taken. I can't even imagine this occurring. If it did, well, I'd tell him "tough. You took it, you aren't going to change it. Now consider it a learning experience, and now you know better for your next character."

Number 3 Character backround. /snip/ All I ask them is how did they arrive in Waterdeep. Blank Stares all around. I even tell them straight off before character creation you are going to start in Waterdeep.

I don't force character backgrounds unless some players come up with strange race/class combos and start in an inappropriate area. If that's the case, a character background to at least reasonably describe why he's there is mandatory before that character can enter play. My players consider this to be "common sense".

Now, note that these suggestions work for my group. I suppose I'm lucky that I have rational, mature, well-adjusted players, so they have no qualms about the way we play.