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<blockquote data-quote="Maxperson" data-source="post: 8234393" data-attributes="member: 23751">Sometimes they even go outside the notes.&nbsp; The players are smart and come up with things to do and try that are not always covered.&nbsp; I love it when that happens.&nbsp; Keeps me on my toes.That's up to the players, really.&nbsp; If they set a goal to go to the bar and get drunk, there's not going to be a tremendous depth to it.&nbsp; However, if they set the goal to take over the northern Bear tribe and use it to unite all the barbarian clans in order to take over Waterdeep, that's a goal that will have a lot of depth to it.&nbsp; It's not the DM's job to set those goals.&nbsp; It's just his job to react to the players when they let him know what those goals are.That's why during session 0 I have every player in the group, including myself put in 3-4 campaign ideas.&nbsp; Now we have 15-20 ideas in the pool.&nbsp; Each person including myself can outright veto one idea.&nbsp; That way, ideally, nobody has to play a campaign that they really hate.&nbsp; Everyone then ranks the remaining 10-15 ideas from 1 to #of ideas.&nbsp; The top 3 idea point totals get separated out and everyone votes again.&nbsp; That makes sure that not only is nobody is playing a campaign they hate, but it's one of the ones everyone liked, because a very low total will sink that idea and keep it from top 3.&nbsp; Now I have a general campaign goal to work on that is for the entire group of players.&nbsp; They are on the same page.&nbsp; The players usually come up with individual goals that relate to that campaign goal.&nbsp; For example, if the group picked relic(artifact and relic) hunters, one player might write into his background that his father has been imprisoned in an unbreakable crystal and he needs to find an artifact or relic that will break it.&nbsp; Another might want one to help him become the ruler of his tribe.&nbsp; And so on.&nbsp; The group now has a general goal, and brought together by that commonality, the quest for artifacts and relics, and because of the bonds of companionship, one agrees to help the other free his father and the other agrees to aid Grumak in becoming chief of his tribe.&nbsp; And so on.&nbsp; The above takes care of this as well.&nbsp; The goals start from moment one as the focus of play.&nbsp; However, like I posted in my previous example, the group can decide at any moment that they no longer want to hunt down relics and instead become pirates, using the relics they already have to run ragged over the high seas.&nbsp; I don't negotiate with them, play mother may I or hand waive anything.&nbsp; They simply tell me what they are doing and I react accordingly.&nbsp; If they tell me that they are going to the port city of Athkatla to steal a ship, that's what they are doing.&nbsp; When they get there they will let me know how they go about it, and the game world will react to it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Maxperson, post: 8234393, member: 23751"] Sometimes they even go outside the notes. The players are smart and come up with things to do and try that are not always covered. I love it when that happens. Keeps me on my toes. That's up to the players, really. If they set a goal to go to the bar and get drunk, there's not going to be a tremendous depth to it. However, if they set the goal to take over the northern Bear tribe and use it to unite all the barbarian clans in order to take over Waterdeep, that's a goal that will have a lot of depth to it. It's not the DM's job to set those goals. It's just his job to react to the players when they let him know what those goals are. That's why during session 0 I have every player in the group, including myself put in 3-4 campaign ideas. Now we have 15-20 ideas in the pool. Each person including myself can outright veto one idea. That way, ideally, nobody has to play a campaign that they really hate. Everyone then ranks the remaining 10-15 ideas from 1 to #of ideas. The top 3 idea point totals get separated out and everyone votes again. That makes sure that not only is nobody is playing a campaign they hate, but it's one of the ones everyone liked, because a very low total will sink that idea and keep it from top 3. Now I have a general campaign goal to work on that is for the entire group of players. They are on the same page. The players usually come up with individual goals that relate to that campaign goal. For example, if the group picked relic(artifact and relic) hunters, one player might write into his background that his father has been imprisoned in an unbreakable crystal and he needs to find an artifact or relic that will break it. Another might want one to help him become the ruler of his tribe. And so on. The group now has a general goal, and brought together by that commonality, the quest for artifacts and relics, and because of the bonds of companionship, one agrees to help the other free his father and the other agrees to aid Grumak in becoming chief of his tribe. And so on. The above takes care of this as well. The goals start from moment one as the focus of play. However, like I posted in my previous example, the group can decide at any moment that they no longer want to hunt down relics and instead become pirates, using the relics they already have to run ragged over the high seas. I don't negotiate with them, play mother may I or hand waive anything. They simply tell me what they are doing and I react accordingly. If they tell me that they are going to the port city of Athkatla to steal a ship, that's what they are doing. When they get there they will let me know how they go about it, and the game world will react to it. [/QUOTE]

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