You can always stay in the High Fantasy they like, but maybe try to tweak or change the tropes aroudn in a way that would make it original or at least not boring.
A good inspiration would be the Witcher, it took the classic tropes and while not completly tirned them on their heads, changed them enough that it gave birth to an original and fresh take on Fantasy tropes.
Or like in Divinity original Sin II, Where Elves have cannibalistic customs( they eat their deads as a way to "gain" their strength and memories and pass it on) and such.
Slowly adding some Dark/Pulp material to the High fantasy can work and make it more interesting and unexpected.
Now do remember that as a DM, you are not the one that should enjoy the story, you make the others enjoy the story, and you enjoy their reactions and interactions.
The reactions of my players to things happening in Curse of Strahd is something i love.
I agree with you completely, and I think that’s the problem. They’re enjoying the game Way more Then I am at this point. I don’t want to change too much because I want them to have fun. But recently one player has noticed that I’m not enjoying it as much as I used to. I want to make sure that they’re having a good time and I’m not cheating them out of having fun by me not being into it.
I just want to thank everybody who’s replied. You have given me a lot to think about and a lot of great advice. Still not sure what I’m gonna do, there’s a lot of different options that I have now that I really haven’t thought about. Thanks to all of you! 😁
I just want to thank everybody who’s replied. You have given me a lot to think about and a lot of great advice. Still not sure what I’m gonna do, there’s a lot of different options that I have now that I really haven’t thought about. Thanks to all of you! 😁
I just want to thank everybody who’s replied. You have given me a lot to think about and a lot of great advice. Still not sure what I’m gonna do, there’s a lot of different options that I have now that I really haven’t thought about. Thanks to all of you! 😁
I wish you luck, and sincerely hope you can figure out what you want to do. If you need any more help, I'm happy to help, either in this thread or a PM.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
I just want to thank everybody who’s replied. You have given me a lot to think about and a lot of great advice. Still not sure what I’m gonna do, there’s a lot of different options that I have now that I really haven’t thought about. Thanks to all of you! 😁
I wish you luck, and sincerely hope you can figure out what you want to do. If you need any more help, I'm happy to help, either in this thread or a PM.
Hi! Could sound like you have a little bit of "GM-fatigue" (or whatever you'll call it). You started your campaign, your players really enjoy it, but you don't. Happens to me also from time to time.
Like you, I'm quite "new" ti D&D, but unlike you I came from fantasy, and have never really cared to much for sci-fi.
One thing that might work is to "reboot" your campaign with some cataclysmic event. Have the sun stop to shine, have the sea start to rise or an ancient power from the stars awaken somewhere. Something that might change the story into a story that you find interesting. I know it is a very "standard" fantasy trope, but it can work to get you back into the campaign. In my experience if you start to suffer from "GM-fatigue" its better to either try to do some radical changes that might get your interest back on track, or just decide on an end play. Create a funny finale that might take a few sessions, but start to plan for the end. Both you and your players will enjoy that most in the end I believe - I at least can only fake interest for so long.
If you want to mix up with magic a little bit or make magical items less easy to attain, make your players work for their items. I’ve always been intrigued by loads of guides people have home brewed to building their own towns and homes, or hunting creatures that provide magical benefits to the equipment they make from the pieces they manage to scavenge from the bodies.
That way your campaign retains its magic side but not so heavy to make it so there is a magic shop around every corner. Make them work for their healing potions by gathering up the herbs in a myconoid lair that has sprouted up near a poor village.
Story reason being some big evil dude has corrupted some kind of magical connection to the land, insert evil reason here, woe and fear across the land; followed by awesome adventures who require to crawl their way to the top of the food chain but hunting creatures that still inherently hold on to their magic by nature alone and using their essence.
Yeah I think I would like ravnica. From what I’ve read so far that seems more my style of fantasy. unfortunately the group doesn’t want to do that.... yet. As the DM it’s not about me and the group wants a classic D&D game.... at least for now. Until then I need to find a way to get into game. I keep telling myself since they’re all new players, that overtime, they will wanna explore other Stuff. I just don’t wanna get bored and ruin it for my players in the Meantime.
Don't forget though, you're a player too, and if you're not having fun then that is a real problem. Especially if your party isn't willing to make the kind of changes that would make it so everyone has fun. Sometimes the answer is just maybe don't play THAT game with those people and do something else on game night.
I do wanna give you major props for how open-minded you're being about this. Reading your earlier comments I definitely get the sense that it isn't fantasy necessarily that you don't like, but convention. That's completely understanding and there definitely is a component to D&D that appeals to fans of "generic fantasy", but bear in mind that fantasy can really be anything you want it to be, just like sci fi. You can even borrow themes you like from other genres to make it more interesting to you as others suggested, which various other settings already do. But again, if you truly don't enjoy a game, I would say the best advice is not to force yourself to play. That's the surest way to go from mild dislike to straight up hatred.
Honestly Spelljamming looks like it might solve some problems with the only caveat being your players who realize what is happening (basically "we wanted D&D experience but the DM snuck in space exploration and sci-fi themes to the game anyway").
I think some discussion of a compromise is needed - so that they can say what exactly are they enjoying about current campaign and how much can you push stuff that interests you without them feeling like you just slapped a D&D label on another sci-fi campaign.
I'll go a different direction - read the Acquisitions Incorporated book. Don't change your campaign, but you can pull in some of the flavor.
Maybe the bad guys aren't just your standard "necromancer raising an army of undead that your heroes have to defeat."
Maybe the bad guy necromancer is head of HR for an evil megacorporation and he's really just trying to cut down on their health insurance premiums, you know? This just seemed kind of... efficient? And employee productivity is WAY UP in terms of their Evil Per Capita metrics. Next quarter is looking great! Which means bad for everyone else. Which is great!
And then your players can still be the dwarven monk who's losing out on ALL of his monk-ish mechanical benefits by insisting on wearing armor and using weapons. They're just battling a different kind of evil threat. You know, like maybe the dragon is out to... control the countryside's water supply with a scheme to dam off the source, and then bottle and sell all the water! Mwah-ha-ha... wait. What?
I did actually try that. I told them dwarves were kind of like the eastern culture. Being more like Shaolin monks and samurais. One of the players decided to play a Dwarven Monk. But very quickly they’re wearing heavy armor and fighting with a Warhammer. So that didn’t really work. Unfortunately, good advice though.
Well, player choice is player choice, and unless they're being disruptive (which I'm assuming isn't the case) then it's better to let them do their thing.
With that said, you did lay out early on that dwarves in your world are based on Asian cultures, and you can still stick with that theme for yourself. Next time your players head to a dwarven settlement, the road to the mountain fortress could be lined with cherry blossoms, the settlement could be marking the celebration of a lunar festival, and the local daimyo might have heard of the player's exploits and invite them to a tea ceremony, and from there tell them of the oni that's been plaguing the mountain, or there could be an attack by "shinobi" (which could be reflavored assassins or something similar) or by cultists of Orochi the seven-headed serpent king (or anything really, but this would be a great way to introduce demons from Asian mythology).
If you want to mix up with magic a little bit or make magical items less easy to attain, make your players work for their items. I’ve always been intrigued by loads of guides people have home brewed to building their own towns and homes, or hunting creatures that provide magical benefits to the equipment they make from the pieces they manage to scavenge from the bodies.
That way your campaign retains its magic side but not so heavy to make it so there is a magic shop around every corner. Make them work for their healing potions by gathering up the herbs in a myconoid lair that has sprouted up near a poor village.
Story reason being some big evil dude has corrupted some kind of magical connection to the land, insert evil reason here, woe and fear across the land; followed by awesome adventures who require to crawl their way to the top of the food chain but hunting creatures that still inherently hold on to their magic by nature alone and using their essence.
I brought something similar up to two members of the group and got major interest from one (he loved the idea of hunting and gathering resources to make your own magical items) but the other play “ Wants to play the campaign. Not spend all of our time hunting for stuff they might not even want.“. I’m thinking a compromise might be in order.
Yeah I think I would like ravnica. From what I’ve read so far that seems more my style of fantasy. unfortunately the group doesn’t want to do that.... yet. As the DM it’s not about me and the group wants a classic D&D game.... at least for now. Until then I need to find a way to get into game. I keep telling myself since they’re all new players, that overtime, they will wanna explore other Stuff. I just don’t wanna get bored and ruin it for my players in the Meantime.
Don't forget though, you're a player too, and if you're not having fun then that is a real problem. Especially if your party isn't willing to make the kind of changes that would make it so everyone has fun. Sometimes the answer is just maybe don't play THAT game with those people and do something else on game night.
I do wanna give you major props for how open-minded you're being about this. Reading your earlier comments I definitely get the sense that it isn't fantasy necessarily that you don't like, but convention. That's completely understanding and there definitely is a component to D&D that appeals to fans of "generic fantasy", but bear in mind that fantasy can really be anything you want it to be, just like sci fi. You can even borrow themes you like from other genres to make it more interesting to you as others suggested, which various other settings already do. But again, if you truly don't enjoy a game, I would say the best advice is not to force yourself to play. That's the surest way to go from mild dislike to straight up hatred.
I think you’re completely right. It’s the generic trope fantasy that I find boring. Since it’s there first experience with D&D I don’t want to home brew too much. I want them to learn the rules and get into the idea first. I might have to suck it up this campaign and introduce a new world in the next session zero. Hell I’m hoping one player (who is a great player by the way) will “retire their character” and roll up something more interesting. Since they have bought a ton of book’s researched hybrid classes and clearly want to customize this world up as well. We will see.
I did actually try that. I told them dwarves were kind of like the eastern culture. Being more like Shaolin monks and samurais. One of the players decided to play a Dwarven Monk. But very quickly they’re wearing heavy armor and fighting with a Warhammer. So that didn’t really work. Unfortunately, good advice though.
Well, player choice is player choice, and unless they're being disruptive (which I'm assuming isn't the case) then it's better to let them do their thing.
With that said, you did lay out early on that dwarves in your world are based on Asian cultures, and you can still stick with that theme for yourself. Next time your players head to a dwarven settlement, the road to the mountain fortress could be lined with cherry blossoms, the settlement could be marking the celebration of a lunar festival, and the local daimyo might have heard of the player's exploits and invite them to a tea ceremony, and from there tell them of the oni that's been plaguing the mountain, or there could be an attack by "shinobi" (which could be reflavored assassins or something similar) or by cultists of Orochi the seven-headed serpent king (or anything really, but this would be a great way to introduce demons from Asian mythology).
Ironically they’re heading towards some Dwarven cities in our campaign right now. So reminding them using the flavor you mentioned above might go a long way? Thanks for the advice!
I brought something similar up to two members of the group and got major interest from one (he loved the idea of hunting and gathering resources to make your own magical items) but the other play “ Wants to play the campaign. Not spend all of our time hunting for stuff they might not even want.“. I’m thinking a compromise might be in order.
If that’s the case then, maybe a checkpoint system would be in order? So they do a quest, gather whatever materials from creatures they killed along the way and then turn them in weapons/armours/potions at the next resting point.
The fellow in the group wanting to just play the game and do the quest will be satisfied; the other who wanted to go the monster hunter route and gather materials can leave all the rolling at the very end when everything is completed.
Quest>Fight>Complete>Gather
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I agree with you completely, and I think that’s the problem. They’re enjoying the game Way more Then I am at this point. I don’t want to change too much because I want them to have fun. But recently one player has noticed that I’m not enjoying it as much as I used to. I want to make sure that they’re having a good time and I’m not cheating them out of having fun by me not being into it.
I just want to thank everybody who’s replied. You have given me a lot to think about and a lot of great advice. Still not sure what I’m gonna do, there’s a lot of different options that I have now that I really haven’t thought about. Thanks to all of you! 😁
Just play Starfinder...
<If it didn't die the first time, you didn't kill it hard enough> and <If percussion maintenance isn't working, you didn't hit it hard enough>
Good luck and have fun!!!
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I recommend against this. D&D can do anything you want to do. If your players enjoy D&D, and you want to enjoy it, keep playing D&D.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I wish you luck, and sincerely hope you can figure out what you want to do. If you need any more help, I'm happy to help, either in this thread or a PM.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Yeah I cannot just change games on my players.
Thanks! I will take you up on that offer.
Hi! Could sound like you have a little bit of "GM-fatigue" (or whatever you'll call it). You started your campaign, your players really enjoy it, but you don't. Happens to me also from time to time.
Like you, I'm quite "new" ti D&D, but unlike you I came from fantasy, and have never really cared to much for sci-fi.
One thing that might work is to "reboot" your campaign with some cataclysmic event. Have the sun stop to shine, have the sea start to rise or an ancient power from the stars awaken somewhere. Something that might change the story into a story that you find interesting. I know it is a very "standard" fantasy trope, but it can work to get you back into the campaign. In my experience if you start to suffer from "GM-fatigue" its better to either try to do some radical changes that might get your interest back on track, or just decide on an end play. Create a funny finale that might take a few sessions, but start to plan for the end. Both you and your players will enjoy that most in the end I believe - I at least can only fake interest for so long.
Ludo ergo sum!
If you want to mix up with magic a little bit or make magical items less easy to attain, make your players work for their items. I’ve always been intrigued by loads of guides people have home brewed to building their own towns and homes, or hunting creatures that provide magical benefits to the equipment they make from the pieces they manage to scavenge from the bodies.
That way your campaign retains its magic side but not so heavy to make it so there is a magic shop around every corner. Make them work for their healing potions by gathering up the herbs in a myconoid lair that has sprouted up near a poor village.
Story reason being some big evil dude has corrupted some kind of magical connection to the land, insert evil reason here, woe and fear across the land; followed by awesome adventures who require to crawl their way to the top of the food chain but hunting creatures that still inherently hold on to their magic by nature alone and using their essence.
If you want to start blending in sci fi, look at the module lost laboratory of kwalish or any barrier peaks content as a starting point.
Or Ebberon
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Don't forget though, you're a player too, and if you're not having fun then that is a real problem. Especially if your party isn't willing to make the kind of changes that would make it so everyone has fun. Sometimes the answer is just maybe don't play THAT game with those people and do something else on game night.
I do wanna give you major props for how open-minded you're being about this. Reading your earlier comments I definitely get the sense that it isn't fantasy necessarily that you don't like, but convention. That's completely understanding and there definitely is a component to D&D that appeals to fans of "generic fantasy", but bear in mind that fantasy can really be anything you want it to be, just like sci fi. You can even borrow themes you like from other genres to make it more interesting to you as others suggested, which various other settings already do. But again, if you truly don't enjoy a game, I would say the best advice is not to force yourself to play. That's the surest way to go from mild dislike to straight up hatred.
Honestly Spelljamming looks like it might solve some problems with the only caveat being your players who realize what is happening (basically "we wanted D&D experience but the DM snuck in space exploration and sci-fi themes to the game anyway").
I think some discussion of a compromise is needed - so that they can say what exactly are they enjoying about current campaign and how much can you push stuff that interests you without them feeling like you just slapped a D&D label on another sci-fi campaign.
I'll go a different direction - read the Acquisitions Incorporated book. Don't change your campaign, but you can pull in some of the flavor.
Maybe the bad guys aren't just your standard "necromancer raising an army of undead that your heroes have to defeat."
Maybe the bad guy necromancer is head of HR for an evil megacorporation and he's really just trying to cut down on their health insurance premiums, you know? This just seemed kind of... efficient? And employee productivity is WAY UP in terms of their Evil Per Capita metrics. Next quarter is looking great! Which means bad for everyone else. Which is great!
And then your players can still be the dwarven monk who's losing out on ALL of his monk-ish mechanical benefits by insisting on wearing armor and using weapons. They're just battling a different kind of evil threat. You know, like maybe the dragon is out to... control the countryside's water supply with a scheme to dam off the source, and then bottle and sell all the water! Mwah-ha-ha... wait. What?
Well, player choice is player choice, and unless they're being disruptive (which I'm assuming isn't the case) then it's better to let them do their thing.
With that said, you did lay out early on that dwarves in your world are based on Asian cultures, and you can still stick with that theme for yourself. Next time your players head to a dwarven settlement, the road to the mountain fortress could be lined with cherry blossoms, the settlement could be marking the celebration of a lunar festival, and the local daimyo might have heard of the player's exploits and invite them to a tea ceremony, and from there tell them of the oni that's been plaguing the mountain, or there could be an attack by "shinobi" (which could be reflavored assassins or something similar) or by cultists of Orochi the seven-headed serpent king (or anything really, but this would be a great way to introduce demons from Asian mythology).
I brought something similar up to two members of the group and got major interest from one (he loved the idea of hunting and gathering resources to make your own magical items) but the other play “ Wants to play the campaign. Not spend all of our time hunting for stuff they might not even want.“. I’m thinking a compromise might be in order.
I think you’re completely right. It’s the generic trope fantasy that I find boring. Since it’s there first experience with D&D I don’t want to home brew too much. I want them to learn the rules and get into the idea first. I might have to suck it up this campaign and introduce a new world in the next session zero. Hell I’m hoping one player (who is a great player by the way) will “retire their character” and roll up something more interesting. Since they have bought a ton of book’s researched hybrid classes and clearly want to customize this world up as well. We will see.
Ironically they’re heading towards some Dwarven cities in our campaign right now. So reminding them using the flavor you mentioned above might go a long way? Thanks for the advice!
If that’s the case then, maybe a checkpoint system would be in order? So they do a quest, gather whatever materials from creatures they killed along the way and then turn them in weapons/armours/potions at the next resting point.
The fellow in the group wanting to just play the game and do the quest will be satisfied; the other who wanted to go the monster hunter route and gather materials can leave all the rolling at the very end when everything is completed.
Quest>Fight>Complete>Gather