I just finished my first campaign as a DM. We ran 5e for 3.5 years from level 1 to 11. I was starting to hit burnout at the end, so I'm glad we finished, but already my appetite for D&D is returning, and I'm spending more time on forums and streams and YouTubes. I don't think I want to jump right back into DMing and get burned out again, so what are some good things to do between now and the next campaign?
- Read a campaign module? Which?
- Learn a VTT? Which?
- Acquire minis and terrain.
- Read a D&D novel? Recommendations? I might like to run in the Forgotten Realms next time, and I'd like to familiarize myself with Forgotten Realms lore at least as well as I knew my homebrew world.
First of all, congrats! Finishing a campaign is an achievement worth celebrating. Well done, DM.
When I finished my first one (mine was a year shorter than yours), I took about half a year off and went back to being a player....and quickly realized I preferred DMing. So I started planning my next campaign, and took my time with it. I also did some one-shots (that my players DMed), read a lot of fantasy books, and watched fun movies and tv shows. Sometimes, being a fantasy consumer rather than creator for a while is the refresh you need.
Another thing I did in what I'm calling my off season was play non-RPG tabletop games: Pandemic, Forbidden Desert, Spirit Island, Bunny Kingdom, Villainous, Mysterium, etc. Some are collaborative, some are competitive, but hey, I like games and these didn't require me to come up with plot and encounters. I just got to set up the board and have some fun. My home game group does this on occasion, too. Instead of playing D&D, we play Jackbox games, go axe throwing, or watch movies together. Just something to get outside the TTRPG mold for a little bit and enjoy each other's company.
I'd suggest either the VTT or minis/terrain (nothing stopping you from doing the other stuff though! They aren't mutually exclusive by any means). Obviously, which depends on how you play. No point getting a ton of minis and terrain..****y to then play exclusively on Roll20.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I have one simple piece of campaign advice: Don't try to make the new one grander than the old one. You run out of space to expand into real quick!
Instead, take one thing from your past campaign - like a kingdom that fell, or a merchant house that got new business, or a noblehouse that was exiled, or a religion that decided to build a new church in the wilderness, or literally any damn thing that can lead to a story, and ... lead it to a story. Build a new tale that's about something entirely different, but springs from something that happened last time.
In other words, if you killed the Ur-God Xantofax in your first campaign - avoid anything even remotely related to Xantofax in the next. If you went to the outer planes during that campaign, don't try to go to the even-more-outer planes in the new one.
Also, if at all possible, try to have real human stories. If Xantofax was universally good news, someone better have a seemingly sane reason for wanting to ally with him. I don't want to draw any illegal parallels to real world things, but let's say a desert nation somewhere had a wish to their strength and fearlessness, and for that reason provoked a much stronger nation, which in turn squashed them like an annoying flea. There's a lot of human ... stuff in there. That's useful. Xantofax, and his desire to crush all things, isn't - in and off himself. Too crude and 2-dimensional.
It seems I'm incapable of brevity. Oh well. It's not like anyone ever reads my stuff =D
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I have one simple piece of campaign advice: Don't try to make the new one grander than the old one. You run out of space to expand into real quick!
I don't plan to run another campaign in the same world any time soon. I'm thinking I might take a break from homebrew for a while at least. It's a lot of work. But if I did, that's good advice. I have some ideas about what might be the major world-shattering events that would follow from the first campaign, but I might keep those working deep in the background, only tangentially related to the challenges the PCs face in the early levels. In the first campaign, I had an idea for a BBEG early on, but the PCs never met her, although they saw artistic depictions later in the campaign. The actual final boss turned out to be a random name from a wanted poster that they took an interest in, so I built up a story around him.
It seems I'm incapable of brevity. Oh well. It's not like anyone ever reads my stuff =D
I read it all. Brevity is overrated. I enjoyed hearing about Xantofax.
I'd suggest either the VTT or minis/terrain (nothing stopping you from doing the other stuff though! They aren't mutually exclusive by any means). Obviously, which depends on how you play. No point getting a ton of minis and terrain..****y to then play exclusively on Roll20.
Yeah, I'm leaning toward learning a new VTT. We played most of the first campaign virtually using Roll20, but I find it very clumsy. I don't know if the next one will be in person or virtual, but I figure a VTT covers both bases as long as you have laptops and maybe a big screen to share.
I don't plan to run another campaign in the same world any time soon. I'm thinking I might take a break from homebrew for a while at least. It's a lot of work. But if I did, that's good advice. I have some ideas about what might be the major world-shattering events that would follow from the first campaign, but I might keep those working deep in the background, only tangentially related to the challenges the PCs face in the early levels. In the first campaign, I had an idea for a BBEG early on, but the PCs never met her, although they saw artistic depictions later in the campaign. The actual final boss turned out to be a random name from a wanted poster that they took an interest in, so I built up a story around him.
I read it all. Brevity is overrated. I enjoyed hearing about Xantofax.
Hm. You're much better at formatting this stuff than I am. Anyways, I'm touched you read all of it, thanks =)
And if you can, running official stuff is way easier and more efficient. I'm a stubborn old goat, so I always find inexcusable and irreperable flaws in published materials. Not in my own, obviously, heavens forbid! =D
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
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I just finished my first campaign as a DM. We ran 5e for 3.5 years from level 1 to 11. I was starting to hit burnout at the end, so I'm glad we finished, but already my appetite for D&D is returning, and I'm spending more time on forums and streams and YouTubes. I don't think I want to jump right back into DMing and get burned out again, so what are some good things to do between now and the next campaign?
- Read a campaign module? Which?
- Learn a VTT? Which?
- Acquire minis and terrain.
- Read a D&D novel? Recommendations? I might like to run in the Forgotten Realms next time, and I'd like to familiarize myself with Forgotten Realms lore at least as well as I knew my homebrew world.
- Other?
Have someone else take over DM’ing for a bit. Maybe they run a full campaign, maybe just something that lasts a 5-8 sessions. Give yourself a break.
Try out a different system. Often between campaigns, my group will run a few 1-shots of non-D&D as a bit of a palate cleanser.
And, you can always combine the two — have other people run 1-shots in another system.
First of all, congrats! Finishing a campaign is an achievement worth celebrating. Well done, DM.
When I finished my first one (mine was a year shorter than yours), I took about half a year off and went back to being a player....and quickly realized I preferred DMing. So I started planning my next campaign, and took my time with it. I also did some one-shots (that my players DMed), read a lot of fantasy books, and watched fun movies and tv shows. Sometimes, being a fantasy consumer rather than creator for a while is the refresh you need.
Another thing I did in what I'm calling my off season was play non-RPG tabletop games: Pandemic, Forbidden Desert, Spirit Island, Bunny Kingdom, Villainous, Mysterium, etc. Some are collaborative, some are competitive, but hey, I like games and these didn't require me to come up with plot and encounters. I just got to set up the board and have some fun. My home game group does this on occasion, too. Instead of playing D&D, we play Jackbox games, go axe throwing, or watch movies together. Just something to get outside the TTRPG mold for a little bit and enjoy each other's company.
I'd suggest either the VTT or minis/terrain (nothing stopping you from doing the other stuff though! They aren't mutually exclusive by any means). Obviously, which depends on how you play. No point getting a ton of minis and terrain..****y to then play exclusively on Roll20.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I have one simple piece of campaign advice: Don't try to make the new one grander than the old one. You run out of space to expand into real quick!
Instead, take one thing from your past campaign - like a kingdom that fell, or a merchant house that got new business, or a noblehouse that was exiled, or a religion that decided to build a new church in the wilderness, or literally any damn thing that can lead to a story, and ... lead it to a story. Build a new tale that's about something entirely different, but springs from something that happened last time.
In other words, if you killed the Ur-God Xantofax in your first campaign - avoid anything even remotely related to Xantofax in the next. If you went to the outer planes during that campaign, don't try to go to the even-more-outer planes in the new one.
Also, if at all possible, try to have real human stories. If Xantofax was universally good news, someone better have a seemingly sane reason for wanting to ally with him. I don't want to draw any illegal parallels to real world things, but let's say a desert nation somewhere had a wish to their strength and fearlessness, and for that reason provoked a much stronger nation, which in turn squashed them like an annoying flea. There's a lot of human ... stuff in there. That's useful. Xantofax, and his desire to crush all things, isn't - in and off himself. Too crude and 2-dimensional.
It seems I'm incapable of brevity. Oh well. It's not like anyone ever reads my stuff =D
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I don't plan to run another campaign in the same world any time soon. I'm thinking I might take a break from homebrew for a while at least. It's a lot of work. But if I did, that's good advice. I have some ideas about what might be the major world-shattering events that would follow from the first campaign, but I might keep those working deep in the background, only tangentially related to the challenges the PCs face in the early levels. In the first campaign, I had an idea for a BBEG early on, but the PCs never met her, although they saw artistic depictions later in the campaign. The actual final boss turned out to be a random name from a wanted poster that they took an interest in, so I built up a story around him.
I read it all. Brevity is overrated. I enjoyed hearing about Xantofax.
Yeah, I'm leaning toward learning a new VTT. We played most of the first campaign virtually using Roll20, but I find it very clumsy. I don't know if the next one will be in person or virtual, but I figure a VTT covers both bases as long as you have laptops and maybe a big screen to share.
Hm. You're much better at formatting this stuff than I am. Anyways, I'm touched you read all of it, thanks =)
And if you can, running official stuff is way easier and more efficient. I'm a stubborn old goat, so I always find inexcusable and irreperable flaws in published materials. Not in my own, obviously, heavens forbid! =D
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.