so last week I ran 6 games. In the moment it sounded like a good idea but by the end I was exhausted lololol. With some time to process Iv put out an article with 6 tips from these 6 games!
6 games?! Assuming 3 hour sessions, that's up to 36 hours running & prepping and running - throw in another 6-8 hours for transit and setup/tear down.
Woof.
I like your points - I think all of them are good take aways.
As a humble disciple of the way of the Lazy DM - I think points 1-4 can be swallowed up if you went a purely improv style - ( working out very detailed setting, NPCs, and Factions, a very detailed central conflict, and then basically role-playing all the NPCs and Faction is the conflict in "real time", just as the Players are doing - no pre-plotting whatsoever, but very definitely a story direction and not a rambling sandbox ). You might have a look at it :)
As for point 5 - I agree wholeheartedly that "Rooms can not be blank" - but don't forget that the players' imaginations are going overtime as well; you don't have to micro-detail everything, but you do need to put in leading details. You can even cheat and make your opening sentence the conclusion you're trying to lead them toward: "It's a bustling chaotic open market. The hot afternoon sun beats down on the bumping bustling noisy crowds, the sounds of the stall barkers and the murmurers of the crowd creating a wash of sound around the. The smell of exotic spices, cooking, animals, and the crowd waft over you. What do you want to do?" Did you picture the sights, sounds, smells - the motion - the impatient shoppers - the haggling merchants? ;) I once had Players describe details back to me - and was surprised at the diverging images I got from what I thought. No practical differences - we were all still on the same page - but lots of variation in unimportant details.
I do like #6 as well - get out of the mold, try new stuff, invert expectations - have the horrible princess kidnap the beautiful monster ( I actually did write a conflict/story-line on that motif; haven't tried to play it out yet :D ).
Oh - and in last campaign there was a Dragon Turtle as a guardian keeping everyone trapped on an island :)
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so last week I ran 6 games. In the moment it sounded like a good idea but by the end I was exhausted lololol. With some time to process Iv put out an article with 6 tips from these 6 games!
Give it a read if you have some time! 🖐 🤚
https://link.medium.com/vXch9T73JV
6 games?! Assuming 3 hour sessions, that's up to 36 hours running & prepping and running - throw in another 6-8 hours for transit and setup/tear down.
Woof.
I like your points - I think all of them are good take aways.
As a humble disciple of the way of the Lazy DM - I think points 1-4 can be swallowed up if you went a purely improv style - ( working out very detailed setting, NPCs, and Factions, a very detailed central conflict, and then basically role-playing all the NPCs and Faction is the conflict in "real time", just as the Players are doing - no pre-plotting whatsoever, but very definitely a story direction and not a rambling sandbox ). You might have a look at it :)
As for point 5 - I agree wholeheartedly that "Rooms can not be blank" - but don't forget that the players' imaginations are going overtime as well; you don't have to micro-detail everything, but you do need to put in leading details. You can even cheat and make your opening sentence the conclusion you're trying to lead them toward: "It's a bustling chaotic open market. The hot afternoon sun beats down on the bumping bustling noisy crowds, the sounds of the stall barkers and the murmurers of the crowd creating a wash of sound around the. The smell of exotic spices, cooking, animals, and the crowd waft over you. What do you want to do?" Did you picture the sights, sounds, smells - the motion - the impatient shoppers - the haggling merchants? ;) I once had Players describe details back to me - and was surprised at the diverging images I got from what I thought. No practical differences - we were all still on the same page - but lots of variation in unimportant details.
I do like #6 as well - get out of the mold, try new stuff, invert expectations - have the horrible princess kidnap the beautiful monster ( I actually did write a conflict/story-line on that motif; haven't tried to play it out yet :D ).
Oh - and in last campaign there was a Dragon Turtle as a guardian keeping everyone trapped on an island :)
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.