The Right Fit

[LordGraz'zt]

I am thinking about running a long term campaign for my gaming group - I was in the middle of putting together a detailed homebrew world and a loosely plotted adventure path when it hit me - maybe the players dont want to play in a homebrewed sandbox type campaign - maybe they want to play an evil campaign, or a Dark Sun campaign or a campaign based around them being part of an organisation etc.

What is the best way to find out what sort of campaign your players want?

Obviously asking them is a good start - but I want a bit more structure to the conversation - any suggestions would be great.

I have come across various player questionairres and the like - if you know of any feel free to link them.

Another idea I had was to put together a number of blurbs for possible campaigns and then ask which ones they prefer and why.

 

[Crothian]

I found starting the coversation in e-mail works well. This way I got answers from everyone and no one was pressured by what the others had to say. What I did was start with some geernal ideas. I did not limit my campaigns to one game so I talked more about genre people wanted and less on the specific games people wanted to play. Once I got some good feedback and knew basically where people stood we had meeting on it. Basccically it was the day and time that the campaign would happen. If a decision was reached quickly I was ready to work on character generation but that didn't happen.

Once a specifc game and campaign and genre was choosen I did not stop asking for input. About eight to ten weeks into the campaign I wanted to get player input to see how they were enjoying the campaign and their characters.

 

[Verdande]

Your question about how to start the conversation going is a pretty good one. Honestly, you might be nuking it. Just up and ask them.

"Hey, I'm writing a homebrew campaign world for our game next week and was just wondering whether you guys would like a Dark Sun sandbox or a Forgotten Realms adventure path or hey I just picked up a couple of classic AD&D adventures of eBay, you wanna fit 'em in there too or just play them as one-shots or what?"

That sort of thing. Once you open the door, you'll find that players will tell you more about the game, since they know you won't take it personally. I find that the session after I asked that, the game worked a lot better since they were not only asking me "Hey, can we fit this in the game?", but were offering feedback.

For example, when I was playtesting my Temple of the Plague Orcs location-based adventure, I straight out asked them what they thought of the place, and the plague orcs and the castle and all of that. I made adjustments based off of what they said, and ran with it. And you know what? My module is coming out 100% better than it would have if I'd guessed what they thought from their reactions.

Playing D&D is the same as playing any other board game, after all. If something comes up, you all talk it over as equals to find a solution that's right for you.

 

[IronWolf]

What is the best way to find out what sort of campaign your players want?

Obviously asking them is a good start - but I want a bit more structure to the conversation - any suggestions would be great.

I have come across various player questionairres and the like - if you know of any feel free to link them.

I think just getting the conversation started is all that is needed, let the players know it is open for discussion. Once you get them talking you will likely do best from a somewhat unstructured dialog than one that involved questionnaires and such.

Now you may need to get them started talking, so throw out some ideas - do they prefer a long, arcing campaign, isolated adventures, short scenarios with a somewhat defined beginning and end that maybe only spans a handful of sessions instead of an entire campaign, etc.

Once you get them talking, take notes and see what the overall common ground seems to be.

 

[benjamin]

Assumed common ground!

I have always been amazed at how much we can assume and be surprised when it comes to what our players might want.

I was all ready to run a campaign that started with the actual players beening sucked in a DnD game world... and having to start at Level 0, with stats that represent our actual selves. I was going to get the players to distribute a standard array on themselves. I was thinking this would be hard for me to do... cause I think I'm brilliant at so many things... <cough>

...Turned out one of my players would find it really hard to do because he is usually quite down on himself. And worst of all... he would HATE to play himself. The whole reason he does fantasy role-playing is to get away from the him he's not so fancy on!

So yes... some sort of conversation can be VERY useful.

I'm sure I saw a campaign-interview-form-thingy somewhere, where players fill out heaps of info... high level magic vs low level magic... gritty realism vs fantastical heroics... horror vs love... on a scale...

...I'll see if I can hunt it down...

Ben

**************************************
Want incredibly atmospheric background
soundscapes for your gaming table?
Go to: www.syrinscape.com
Download for free!
See a program demo, and listen to mp3s
of Syrinscape in action.
**************************************

 

[TarionzCousin]

Here's something I found, stolen from someone many years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the person's name or website.

Questions to Ask Your Players Before You Begin

Here are some questions to ask your players before you begin playing. Keep in mind that you should feel free to add in your answers to these questions as you go. It's not fun for anyone if you end up running something you hate! Also, you can skip whatever questions are a given. For example, if you all wanted to talk about a Star Wars campaign, you've already figured out the genre and actual setting, but not necessarily the setting's era! Finally, you don't have to read off all of these questions like a checklist, and you can add in your own specific questions. This list of questions is here to invite conversation and comments about the campaign you want to start. If a conversation is going a bit off of the path you thought it would, but is still relevant, let it go that way until it is no longer relevant to you, then gently but firmly steer it back on track with another question.

1. What genre of campaign do you want to play?

2. What setting in that genre do you want to play? (This could also resolve which rules you want to play with, but see question 7.)

3. What time period or era do you wish to play in?

4. What type of campaign do you want to play? (Examples: wilderness, city-based, political/intrigue, hack-and-slash, dungeon-based, mixture, and so on)

5. What types of characters does each player want to play? (You can talk generally at first, but be sure to emphasize that a player should bring a character he or she feels comfortable playing and not feel forced to play that cleric simply because the group has no healer.)

6. What are the goals of your characters?

7. What home rules or optional rules do you want to allow or forbid? (Also, bring up any other unusual campaign-based things here, such as you don't have elves in your campaign.)

8. Do you like lots of battles and combat, or do you prefer to solve puzzles, or do you like to learn about the people and the world around you? (Some people love combat. Some people love to roleplay with NPCs for hours. Some players love a healthy balance (and will tell you what "healthy" means to them). This question helps draw out the different types of players in your group.

9. Why do you roleplay? (This question can come up earlier, but you can also use it to resolve some lingering questions you have about your players and their roleplaying styles.)

 

[Insight]

One thing to avoid is the impression that you are already working on something.

If you mention this, at least in my experience, the players' minds shut down and they just accept whatever it is that they think you're working on. The premise here is that players just want to play and few will rock the boat. They don't want to upset their GM whom they think has already spent time on an idea, so they just go along with whatever you've started, even if it isn't something they necessarily like.

The best way to start is with, "I'm thinking of starting a new game, but I haven't created anything yet." ... and then start asking your questions.

 

[fba827]

Another idea I had was to put together a number of blurbs for possible campaigns and then ask which ones they prefer and why.

IF your possible campaign blurs include a variety of serialized vs episodic / sandbox vs non / various themes/flavors, etc. Then, this is what I believe to be the best option (since it also gets YOU (the DM) to figure out what types of campaigns you would feel inspired by ... because if you don't feel inspired by a blurb that you write, you should take it off the list and not even offer it).
Though when you send the list, don't leave it as a 'yes/no' question. Ask players to comment more as to why they would like or not like a particular idea -- you may see a pattern emerge and offer up a little mix of your different ideas as the final thing.
And also consider doing it via one-on-one emails (rather than one email to everyone in case someone will hold back for fear of group analyzing the individual opinions)

However, baring that. I'd go with an emailed list of questions.
1) what type of campaign world do you want to dry (post apocalypse like dark sun, high fantasy like forgotten realms, water world island jumpers by boat, etc)

2) do you want something serialized (over-arching connected story lines) or something fairly episodic (where quests are wholly limited to a couple sessions and you don't need to remember things from 10 sessions ago)

... and so on.

 

[Mallus]

My experience is the best way to find out what kind of campaign the players want is to start playing. Set the basic campaign parameters --system, setting, tone-- create some characters, then see where it all goes. Above all, be flexible. Accept the players may tell you they want grim-and-gritty, when actual play reveals they want 'Marvel-comics-magic-and-silly'. Adjust according.

The players will tell you what kind of game they want. Unfortunately, they may not do it prior to the campaign start. People are notorious for not knowing what they want beforehand, and for changing their minds. Fortunately, RPG's are ideally suited for on-the-fly customization.

(Don't get me wrong, open conversations with all involved parties are always a good idea, and questionnaires can be useful conversation starters. But neither are as revealing as actual play)

 

[the Jester]

Well... it's really important that YOU have fun, too, so I'd pick a bunch of elements that sound fun to you and run them by the group and ask for feedback on each one. You might find out that your group wants a game that is political, with heavy roleplaying but a fairly episodic nature; or you might find out that the group likes then idea of playing an exploration based game in a desert. What you don't want is to get the party set on playing a heavy immersion low-combat game when what YOU want is mindless hack & slash.

In other words, make sure that everyone's happy- and don't put your own preferences after those of the players', or you may lose interest in your own campaign.