D&D Revolution

(I think it was player Marco who wrote this?)

Over the last three years (geez, time goes fast) I’ve been a regular player in many of Alex’s campaigns, I’ve run my own campaign (which is about to peter out), and also participated in various D&D experiments such as M20 or 4th edition playtests. I’ve participated in many D&D related discussions, had the opportunity to bounce a few of my own ideas around, and formed some of my own opinions. I read Alex’s post on 2009-09-04 DM Profile this morning. A few pieces of the puzzle fell into place and an idea formed on a new revolutionary way of running DnD campaigns. I mentioned my idea to Moni who bounced off the walls with enthusiasm. Summed up, the idea can be called Communal GMing. (I also like D&D communism, but that’s less PC - and nobody wants to be an NPC).

=> 2009-09-04 DM Profile | DnD

The Pieces Some observations (through my own faulty eyes, of course):

1. Alex likes simplified combat rules and easy-to-prepare games. I like well prepared games full of detail and strategic battles. Different people like different styles, and there are many camps to please if you’re DM.

2. Alex prefers to play than to DM, but since nobody else will run the games he runs them because it’s better than not playing.

3. I’m reluctant to take on the burden of preparing a game once per week. I think I’m less efficient at it than most, and sometimes I loose sleep and have weird dreams from thinking up plots and details for the next game.

4. Other people don’t know how to do it, don’t have the time, or aren’t motivated enough to run a game. Honestly, it’s quite a commitment and one has to know most of the rules intimately to keep the game flowing.

5. However, there’s a lot of creative enthusiasm from within the group. There’s also a lot of fun to be had building dungeons, monsters and plots. Storytelling is very fulfilling; the devil is in the details.

6. Alex has introduced the idea of ’replaceable characters’, where you bring in a follower which could be a replacement to your main character should he/she be irreversibly killed. I like the idea of a backup, but also prefer the attachment to my character.

7. Peter’s Grenzmark campaign is a concept I found interesting.

The Picture

The big, fuzzy picture is that the DMing responsibilities divided among the group. Each player takes a hex of a map and builds a dungeon there. Then, when the group adventures into that hex the player who designed it assumes role as DM for the session. It becomes a player-created one-shot. Everyone works together to nut out the finer details, flesh out the monsters, traps and handle the rules within the game.

The Puzzle

The finer, sharper picture has some issues getting the pieces to fit. Here’s my take on how it could work but there are any number of ways to do it. It goes like this:

1. Kill the DM.

The position is dissolved and replaced with three roles: The Overseer, Story Tellers and Rule Lawyers. The Story Teller is the person whose dungeon the party is in, and must focus on the story. Rule Lawyers are just players who know the rules. In times of conflict, the Story Teller has authority over the Rule Lawyers. Rifts in the Matrix may happen for unexplained reasons. Earth magic may flare out of control. Provided the universe re-rights itself it is of no consequence (otherwise it becomes a plot thread).

2. Player created content.

During the world building phase, the map is divided into areas. Some areas are given to players to build dungeons and adventures within. If necessary, entire valleys, rivers, oceans or airspaces could be handed over. The players come up with the ideas and story elements, but don’t reveal anything about them. Rules are unnecessary at this point; just storyline, visual details, maps, monsters, traps and plot. They work with the overseer or maybe as a pair to refine the ideas and flesh out the details.

3. Character Pool.

Imagine the party as a company of heroes, and the players are a board of mangers. Each player creates a PC at the start of the game, but doesn’t play that same characer for the whole game. Players can swap PCs around from session to session. This way when the party enters into a player-created hex, the new Story Teller hands control of his character over to the old Story Teller. There are no NPCs lagging behind, and no risk of the Story Teller’s character ’somehow’ finding all those secret doors.

4. Enter the Overseer.

The Overseer is kind of like the project leader. With all these player-created hexes, there are several one-shot adventures lurking about the map but not much cohesion between them. The Overseer works with the Story Tellers to create plot hooks for each area and to put the word out that the dungeon exists. Each Story Teller drops some hints to the Overseer about the general theme of their dungeon. The Overseer plants clues in the region, and even in the dungeons of other Story Tellers to create a story which may span several dungeons. In this way, two temples may be linked or opposed. A tribe of lizards may be the remnants of a race which once occupied an abandoned disaster site in another area.

The second purpose of the Overseer is to create a running campaign story which will build into a climax at the end of the game. To this affect he will involve the Story Tellers in the campaign story, planting hooks and clues as to the overall goal of the campaign. The Story Tellers create the adventures, and the Overseer is the glue that binds them.

5. Integration and Scalability.

I can imagine a sort of a trial in the Alder King game. Alex could give someone a dungeon to create or take over, and we could trial a one-shot with someone else taking over as Story Teller for one session. If it worked, we could start integrating more player-controlled areas into the map or even start thinking about world-building for a new campaign entirely. The concept can be trialed and integrated in small steps.

And that’s it. I’m just throwing ideas around, but it’s something I’d be keen to try. I think I’d also enjoy building dungeons as a team rather than individually, and I think there’d be a lot more ideas and creativity bubbling if we all helped each other.

​#RPG ​#Thoughts

Comments

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We should try it! Sent you some mail…

– Alex Schroeder 2009-09-07 22:00 UTC

=> Alex Schroeder

Cool idea. I’d be interested in trying this cooperative DMing thing.

– Adrian 2009-09-08 09:48 UTC

Hehe. In our Grenzmarken game, we did not have many volunteers for cooperative dungeonmastering. I can only speak for myself, but I guess I always felt that Peter had something planned and therefore anything I would introduce had – by necessity – to be unimportant. Plus there were one or two players saying that obviously other dungeon masters would have to “uphold the original vision of the Grenzmarken” – and instead of trying to figure out what that meant, I just never volunteered for anything.

Conversely, we now need to find a way that encourages other dungeon masters to contribute eye to eye. Contributions must be allowed to have an impact on the rest of the campaign, must be allowed independence from existing plots – should we create a page on the campaign wiki were everybody can brainstorm future events and quests?

– Alex Schroeder 2009-09-08 10:33 UTC

=> Alex Schroeder

I think sandboxing lends itself very well to multiple DMs – since each hex, locale, or dungeon is relatively self-contained, there is less concern that one DM might introduce something that messes up the campaign.

I think episodic games, where the same cast of characters deal with unrelated plots each adventure (like a TV show) also lend themselves to such a game.

I think you could even do something akin to an adventure path – but you’d need to two things: (1) outline, in at least vague terms, the trajectory of the campaign (or at least a reasonable segment of the campaign), and (2) be willing to roll with whatever your co-DMs come up with in their adventures. Instead of crying over why it doesn’t fit your plot, use the threads they do provide to weave a cool, new storyline.

– Adrian 2009-09-08 14:28 UTC

Absolutely. And the Alder King game doesn’t have a plot per se; it has some potential plots beyond character development, all equally valid – beat Purdell, revolt against the Alder King, kill dragons, defeat lizards, wage war on Lenap; later I added defeat beholder, free dwarves, settle gnomish hills, various elements of Orcus themed dungeons by Necromancer Games; players added finding a secret shadow elven city, find an equilibrium between men and forest dwellers, and use Hieronymous to replace Purdell.

I don’t think it’ll be problematic to add more plots to the list, or to pick one or the other and develop it – most of these are actually not developed beyond the first two sentences.

– Alex Schroeder 2009-09-08 14:47 UTC

=> Alex Schroeder