Starting Your Campaign - Running RPGs
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ค. 2024
- 12 tips for making a great opening scene to your game. How do the Characters meet? Where do they meet? What are they doing? What should you avoid? And why starting out in a tavern isn't bad, but might not always be the best.
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#ttrpg #DnD
Guest starring Mike, Todd, and Dweebles.
00:00 The Tavern Skit
00:53 Intro
02:08 Starting in a Tavern
03:53 How You Taverns
04:33 Give a Quest
04:55 Inciting Incident
05:32 Other Gathering Places
06:15 Introduce the PCs
09:30 Make them Coworkers
10:02 Meet in Jail
10:33 Shared Interest
11:02 Meet on an Adventure
11:57 They Already Know Each Other
13:39 Start in the Action
17:08 Don't Worry About Tropes
17:59 The Opening Doesn't Really Matter
19:37 Shameless Self-Promotion
20:42 Outro - เกม
I think Seth is the best RPG TH-camr hands down. I'm always shocked at how much exposure he gets compared to some of the bigger names.
You are right. He is easy top three of the rpg channels I've seen. I've even seen non rpg channels reference Seth and made Scott Brown apart of there world.
He's amazing, but I can see why he's not as popular as some, he's not quite as flashy as other TH-camrs, he's more like you're favorite uncle to me, awesome, but not necessarly as crowd pulling.
@Jeff Adamo Are you “Jeff: The greatest dungeon master of all time?”
Best videos. I come for the funny skits and for stay great content.
@@rpeterson9182 No I'm Jeff the worst DM of all time lol
“Maybe they’re all Juggalos”
I can’t stress enough how you just described my absolute nightmare of a party.
On a quest to discover how magnets work.
@@thebolas000 i laughed way hard at this
God sometimes is chaotic... deal with it
There's an official Insane Clown Posse TTRPG
Seth's banter with his characters is so on point I almost forget they're the same guy.
I mean, the DM is also a charcater
Things I appreciate in Seth's videos:
* The gang
* The insightful tour of our common tropes, misconceptions and the pitfalls in RPG gaming.
* The unsung Photoshop skills.
* Seth's awesome advice and suggestions.
* The gang!
* The sharing of experience from a veteran Gamemaster.
* Jack
* Seriously, how does he even get the GM screens into some of those pictures
* The realization that Mike ate Dwibbles' character sheet all along (ah, the classic adventure, "Betrayal at the Tavern!", where one of the PCs was eaten... By another PC!)
* Seth Skorkowsky
* THE GANG!
* The little "...You know..." segments at the end
I eagerly watch for the "You know..." segments.
Eating the character sheet had me laughing out loud for real. Way to commit to the joke, my man!
Seth is method, gotta respect that.
I would have to ditto this comment. 😂🤣😂
@@oz_jones How is it that I keep forgetting that all of those characters are just Seth in different outfits?
@@kirkkerman dude, i got the same problem D:
One of my players died in game so he just decided to eat his character sheet
My classic for a good surprise to a group is "You are in a tavern. It is on fire." It starts us off in a dramatic moment and we quickly see character's priorities. Some will try to help other patrons, some may try for the gold behind the counter before they run out, others will just leave caring only for their own safety.
My last one started with a cannonball crashing through the roof.
Love that. Might have to use it at some point.
That sounds like a cool way to do it. Though I’d extend it to “You are in a tavern. It’s on fire and it’s not your fault.” Mostly as a reference to how the opening line of one novel in *The Dresden Files* was “The building was on fire and it wasn’t my fault.” Yeah, the protagonist of that series has something of a reputation.
@@NoizeViolation Change that cannonball to a ship, and you have a VERY interesting open.
@@procrastinatinggamer Man, I love those books and the characters.
I love tropes. When introducing a group to their first DnD campaign, I try to cram as many tropes as possible into the first couple sessions because 1. They haven't played before so they arent sick of the tropes yet. 2. I believe EVERYONE should play the tropes at least once because they are part of the shared experience that all RPGers get to have, and 3. Tropes have been around so long and used so often for a reason... namely because THEY WORK. Tropes are often the easiest, most reliable way to tell a story and that's why they are used all the time. Dont make it harder on yourself... use the formula that works: Tropes!
“The reason that clichés become clichés is that they are the hammers and screwdrivers in the toolbox of communication.” ― Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
I cannot fault you. I’ve got some newbies starting out on their first adventure and they WANT that well worn fantasy experience. I’m happy to oblige.
I don't care how great this video turns out: best intro in ages. ❤
I started my current campaign by having a zero one on one session, with every player having their own small stories, related to their background. The trick was that they all have gotten a reason to go to a hospital, or were taken there by the end of each session. That way i had time to make them feel special, introduced NPC's and i dropped hints and easter eggs for the keen eyed one's.
Luckily my players are a great bunch, so i had no problem with them interacting with each other, especially when cancer patients went berserk and started swarming them. And yes, i forced my players to beat the cancer patients to death in self defense
What system? Call?
Doing the reasons for each to be there in session zero is a great idea which many DMs forget.
@@JamesSkemp No, Unisystems, more specially Witchcraft. It's a d10, skill based. All the players were new to it, so i decided to ease each with a session zero. Best decision i ever made. Got to see their play style, evaluate their weaknesses, see where they excel and tweak the gameplay to make sure they didn't die, while had challenges. Also tested traps i designed in a controlled environment, since it's easier to see how an unconventional trap works mechanically one on one. I honestly want to start all my campaigns like that, but the biggest downside is organization, which is a pain
@@TheDarkOne629 it also allows for spreading of clues that can be called upon in later session, making the players who paid attention in their zero session feel important, without taking spotlight away from others
I have a session Zero with each player for character creation. I guild, not railroad, by players in creating a character that is both optimized for the rules AND that meshes with character background. To often players who are left to their own devices pick abilities that don't work they way they think they work and I help them craft a backstory with goals and motivations that will suit the game world and upcoming campaign. I also do not run D&D so players need help to not create munchkin characters.
I’ve been struggling with this idea for years, so I’m gonna leave it here in case someone with actual writing talent comes across this comment and can make use of it.
A Cheers-style story about the regulars who patronize the tavern where all D&D adventures begin. They generally look down on the revolving door of heroes who only visit their local pub to start quests, until one day the heroes fail to defeat the BBEG and it’s up to the regulars to save the world.
One of my groups did something similar to this. The adventurers made a specific tavern/inn their base of operations, eventually having to rescue the place from some loan sharks snd practically owning it outright after. They didn't want to deal with running it themselves, so they handed it back to the original family running it and basically got free and permanent room/board for the rest of their careers.
I really dig this.
"Any minute a barbarian, a priest, and a warlock will come through that door so we can tell them about The Souleater."
"They haven't come yet and it's been days, Cliff."
"Well crap. Do ya have any spare knives, there, Sammy?"
A few years ago we did a short commoner campaign (like 5 or 6 sessions.) I was a door maker. My entire profession was just making good solid doors. And i loved adventurers, they kept me in business with all the doors they break down. I would brag about making 14g last month.
I love the Traveller method of tying in back stories. Makes for a great way to build stories around how they know each other!
I started the current D&D campaign with a kind of connections montage that built a connection between each character and two others in the group, as well as allowing the players to narrate what happened in a kind of "tall tale told after a few beers in the bar with friends" style. They rescued a hound from 40 goblins who were tormenting it, explored a haunted house, fought a huge giant rat that was raiding a bakery's basement, catapulted a bunch of drunken goats over the city wall and so on. And they loved it!
For other systems without such extensive background building in character creation, I'd also recommend the Year Zero method from the Free League games. Having each player describe how their character is connected to one or more of the others from the past. Collecting the listed options and letting them choose and do a short elaboration on whichever sounds good to each of them.
That works but “you were just hired on to this ship as pilot/navigator/engineer/super cargo/target in a red shirt” is almost as cliché as the D&D “you meet in a tavern”
Monster of the Week also has a baked in backstory mechanic.
I co-opted it into an L5R adventure, it works great.
I spent over 15 years working as the head of security in a seedy nightclub along with my right hand man, best friend, and long time companion at the DnD table. Seth, you hit it on the head, as usual. All of the necessary elements are there; locals, out of towners, people with hidden agendas, people on missions, people with secrets, and various substances on hand to loosen tongues and lower inhibitions are a good recipe for excitement.
Plus, medieval taverns (or at least their fantasy/sci-fi world counterparts) are/were more than just "bars." They were hotels, restaurants, local meeting-halls, conference-rooms-for-rent, stables, assembly points for local guards and militias and more.
@@OgamiItto70 Good point. The friendly local tavern tends to be one of the safer parts in a seedy city. Many travelers end up there out of necessity, no matter their business or social class. Modern day this is true as well.
@@OgamiItto70 taverns arent inns
I've always been a sucker for the group-of-prisoners beginning - probably The Elder Scrolls' fault. It has the added "benefit" of not needing to worry about starting equipment. My most successful instance was a low fantasy game that began with the PC's shackled to each other behind a caravan a la Mad Mardigan. When they made their escape each PC was shacked to a "partner," with one being shackled to an ill-fated NPC who caught an arrow and then had to drag the lifeless body into combat.
I also love a good in media res. Last week we kicked off an Alternity (sci-fi) game the PCs starting in a standoff - pointing weapons at each other in the middle of a terrace restaurant; while security drones are bearing down on the whole group and the NPC they're all after making a run for it.
Great advice as always ! I like to begin my games / campaigns with the players already knowing each other, or being given a job and being introduced to the other team members. And then, an action scene !
One introduction I liked was for a Star Wars game where we were tasked with extracting a noble from an Imperial base: half of the team was the extraction team, and the other was the noble in question and his bodyguard. What a great way to team up !
Sowing a false history in a session 0 is always a good idea. I do love the idea of the first mission being to protect one of the other PC's. The 2e dnd DM in me wishes they did that with a level 1 magic user (wizard) because of the d4 of hp.
Depends on the system, in most games action= combat and combat in those games is a tarpit of waiting rather than excitement.
@@jackmalin2528True ! I like games where the action is rather fast-paced, but that would not be a good solution if it was slow or boring
I use festivals and public celebrations a lot. Wherever the players arrive there's a big party going on in the streets. There's all sorts of reasons a character might be there, It's the perfect chance to bump into strange characters from all around the world. There's all kinds of curious items for sale, and a bunch of things that can go wrong. From pickpockets, to brawls, to t3errorist attacks, riots, assassinations of a public figure making an appearance and the reason for the festival or celebrarion itself is a great way to introduce the basic concepts of the settings, like maybe it's religious, or a coronation or the return of a triumphant army.
And hey, don't forget free food and drinks from shops giving out free samples! players LOVE free stuff.
@@MindOfGenius Pickpockets, grifters and whores, oh my!
Another thing to add- games of chance or skill are ways to introduce skill checks to the players, and how the difficulty influences the roll/result.
@@MindOfGenius Yea! I've done that! High striker for str. ring throwing for dex. shell games for wis. etc. Players have a lot of fun and they love winning make-believe prices that don't even give them much mechanical advantage. It's all just wholesome fun.
@@MindOfGenius Ooh, yes!
I once had a game where the whole campaign was set in a tavern. It was a lot of fun.
Oooooo tell me more
@@alejandrorivas4585 The House of Mystery is the setting of a dream. The dream belongs to one of the characters and the others are all bystanders from different settings and eras who are caught up during moments of confusion and strife. The House lies in a forest but all roads lead back on themselves. The creepy fey bartender is just as trapped as the party but the patrons come and go through their own dreams as they please.
Throughout the campaign the players explored the House and its backrooms, antechambers, cellar/attics and twisting book-lined corridors piecing together clues as to what exactly they are dealing with andhow to escape. As the party delve deeper into the weird regions of the house, the architecture gets more abstract and dreamlike and the rooms turn into a puzzle-filled nightmarish labrynth.
Eventually, each member of the party solved their own personal problems and found their own unique exit. All of my games that I have run since have been built on the backstory of one of the characters of that game.
So, the Gang managed to get through Mike's cheating phase, Todd's overly edgy characters, the debate about Kirk and Picard, basically everything from the "annoying player traits episode", and THIS is what crosses the line?!
God, I love this series.
My favorite start, to any campaign I've ever run, started on a space station that was intentionally struck by an incoming ship.
The characters were all in a "tavern" (more like a USO-ish club for spacers) and had to team up in order to escape the de-orbiting station. Along the way they had to fight a team of operatives that crossed paths with them and wanted no witnesses.
Another one was having the tavern be one of the mission locations where the priest and fighter characters were going to meet with members of resistance movement to pass on some strategic plans. The other characters were part of the resistance. Of course the meeting was interrupted by the security forces of the tyrannical regime that the Resistance was fighting.
Both good starts. Strange that neither campaign progressed along the way I had planned. The first one saw the player characters hugging the frontier worlds of the setting. The second became a more traditional "murder hobo" fantasy game with occasional appearances of the tyrants agents.
The first one sounds like a thing that would happen in SS13.
@@mrprogamer96109 SS13?
Seth, you rule. The eating of the character sheet was funny stuff.
Trust me on this one:
A character sheet is a dry food.
You better have some liquid to wash it down!
Taverns are great for first time DMs or players. Makes it super easy to get everyone together.
One of my favorite campaigns I've ran started by all the characters waking up on an island after a shipwreck. They are the only survivors, but they weren't alone on the island... 😏
Roll Perception. (consults notes)
You wring salt water from your sodden socks, staring forlornly at the wreck half-submerged on the distant reef. The hairs on the back of your neck begin to prickle, and you slowly crane your head around to look at the hazy dunes behind you.
Suddenly, throwing sand in every direction, a Dire Tavern bursts from its hiding place, foamy slobber flying from its fanged maw, and bounds down the dunes toward you and the other survivors.
Roll for Initiative!
So, you're saying that they wake up on an island, and there are no coconuts left...?
@@telemarkaeology Bard: I try to enlist the aid of the gazebo on the overlook.
Every @sethskorkowsky video, summarized:
"Be excellent to each other... and have fun."
Like a dice-rolling Mr. Rogers.
One of my openings was the players all arriving in a town separately during a festival and trying to get INTO a tavern (to establish what their character is like and show off skills) for the different plot hooks I made from their backstories. That's how much I don't mind taverns.
I remember my character starting out trekking through one of the largest deserts in our game's world, and he ran out of water and was found by another member of our party who dug him out of the sand and game him some of their own water... ahhh memories.
I agree with you on the tavern. Especially if the characters are the types to ever go in a group to a tavern, certainly seems reasonable to start off a story at one.
You can start the game with the characters already on their first quest. Like Phandelver starts with a transport quest
This video is spot on! When dealing with new GMs I explain the same thing. So many of them come with the, "I don't want to start it off at a tavern I heard its just too played out." Then you explain the fun of a tavern and why they can be some the best places to start. But after many years of running games of different types I found for me character creation is where I start forming things for the story along with my players. They can help each other and it feels like everyone ends up wanting to know one another in some way and it really helps with the introductions. There's something to be said to having a similiar destination, being hired by a mystery host, or them already a group who were on their fist mission at the start of it all.
Watching Dimension 20 and Brennon Lee Mulligan has done different types of getting to know the players while each intro leads to the other characters it gives each individual an interesting start. It helps the players see who they are as well was a small bit of their backstory so they can feel connected to the other players characters. Some have relationships some don't but ultimately he brings them together with a need waiting in the wings and they were all brought there due to some connection. It's not easy but it is brilliant. Just have to figure out what kind of starting point works for you and don't listen to reddit or facebook groups that try to tear it down....same with splitting the party, it's just a saying and a good GM can handle it and it can make for interesting play.
10:50 just choked on my coffee at Seth casually slipping in “MAYBE THEY’RE ALL JUGGALOS” among a bunch of innocuous backstories. Imagine a troupe of juggalos bumbling around Walter Corbitt’s basement, or gathering at Rupert Merriweather’s hospital room to hear his last words? Could make for a fun Halloween one shot!
Oh Man! I concur; do not let your characters wander into a bar separately and have them roleplay meeting the other players! That can and will NOT go as you hope. Definitely have them start already knowing each other.
It depends
The meet in a tavern "in the action" bait n switch:
"You four notice each other in the tavern. You notice each other because you are the only ones moving, surrounded as you are by dust, debris, collapsed beams and mangled bodies. Your ears still ringing from the blast, see the broad back of a hobgoblin dragging the limp form of the proprietor out the door."
It can work of the players have a connection to the plot hook that starts in the tavern.
@@dirus3142 that Connection is why even if i start them in the tavern I give them a reason for being there. Word of work to be had. A Town meeting being held there that sounds important, A Contact they need to meet. Or various other things based on how much the party might know each other.
This channel is honestly one of the best for RPG stuff around. Seth knows what he's talking about, and knows how to present these ideas with enough elaboration that you know why something is important, without dragging down the length of a video. Excellent stuff
I appreciate the attention to detail on both character sheets. Poor Willer Blufed, he was eaten before his time.
The first campaign i played (and ever got to experience) started in a tavern, and i thought that was so clever. Today I see that it wasn't that special, but I still think that unless you are starting the game in the middle of the story, starting in a tavern is still very clever. It makes room for the players to get to know each other, and it is also a good way to introduce them to roleplay. Maybe the bard is playing some music and the fighter and the wizard is playing some game or something. Also I think that hating on the tavern introduction is very unhealthy, as it sets a higher standard to the introduction, making the GM spend a lot more time and energy on the introduction that could have gone to plan the rest of the session.
Once I introduced the campaign with a combat against a small dragon. After the fight the characters went right into the tavern to tell about their encounter, and the real introduction of the campaign happened in that tavern.
One of my favorite game openings I ran was a funeral for a Dwarf were I asked all the players to tell me how they knew him and why they all came to this small personal funeral for a group of 10 people.
oh... im stealing this one!
@@Atariese For legal reasons, I can only say that my client is inspired by the funeral for a dwarf, and if my client ends up running a 75% similar campaign opening, it is only a matter of homage, not theft.
one of my all time favourite game hooks was in a shadowrun game. All the characters were in a street gang together as teens the player character all moved on to get the education and experience that made them full on shadowrunners. College, magical initiations, military, or corporate service, joining the mob etc. But they all get a message from a former gang comrade that another member of their gang who never left the hood has gone missing. So these big guns come back to the slum they all started out in which has gotten much worse since they left and they're working to find her. It was a total blast.
In this case, it is a "mission from the beginning" start.
As you have experienced: It can be a great way of starting out.
The tough part of such a start is on the GM, as the GM has to figure out that starter plot, that works.
The easy part is to look at the characters and then use what they have in common.
The hard part is (in far too many cases) to (not) run what the GM wants to run.
At least it is a quite common reason why campaigns die at the start-up phase: The GM wants a wargame (thus being a DM instead), but the players want to role-play.
I’ll be honest, I usually don’t love the skits, but the opening one here was so hilarious.
I was recently part of a very sad group of D&D players. The DM had us "meet in the tavern" and one by one, each character came in and "sat at a table by themselves, back to the wall, watching others" and my character came in and looked around and said "Damn! Not enough corners for everyone! Guess I'll sit at the bar!"
Okay, for real though, I could NOT keep such a serious face while shoving paper in my mouth like that. I had to re-watch the opening skit here about 6 times before actually watching the video. Major kudos!
I like to start a lot of games in the middle of a heist, either as the crooks or the ones trying to stop the crooks. I think the most important part is to have a situation where the characters get to showcase what they can do, that way everyone is jumping into what they want to do off the bat. This also helps weed out problems a character build might have in actually being able to do the thing that the player wishes to do with that character, rather than finding out 3 sessions in.
Some great tips. Thanks Seth!
The end skit made me laugh a lot, poor Dweebles 😂
I didn't realize you were an author. Then I was surprised to realize I'd already read one of your books.
I know I'm not alone or at the forefront in saying this video is one of Mr Skorkowsky's finest, despite this channel objectively providing some of the best RPG content on the internet since its inception.
Bravo, sir. Mandatory viewing for anyone in the hobby.
been waiting all day for a chance to watch!
I love this shit! As a grognard, I absolutely love an "in situ" beginning. Put them in a moving scene where it's easy to get them going. I like the idea of the PC's knowing each other for various reasons, and possibly being part of one of my canned adventures or being together, whatever it may be. They're in a slave pen, at a party, or a festival, in an arena situation, anything that will make them natural allies.
I did exactly as you suggested when starting my first Traveller campaign a few weeks ago with Flatlined as the start. We haven't played again yet (hard to get everyone together at the same time) but I'm thinking of running Death Station next, then Islands in the Rift, then High and Dry (to finally give them a ship). But I love how Flatlined starts out with the players waking up from low birth hibernation on a wrecked ship with claxons going off and water seeping in. I really played it up with the ship shifting and groaning once in a while to keep them moving and eventually the lights go out. It was a fantastic start to a campaign, so thanks for the suggestion!
There's lots of "system neutral" starts, and I've used a few. Having the players split off into groups of two, each "pod" knows their buddy. One of each "pod" either knows or is at least acquainted with one other of another "pod". The grants enough familiarity to hold a group together while still allowing for the freedom to have inner party drama.
Weddings and funerals are also great starts. As guests or mourners, they have shared reasons for being there. Simply place the PCs at the same "table" and let them improv how they know the wedding couple or deceased.
Then endangering the happy couple, or solving the mysterious death of their lost lived one sets the tone of the adventure.
I've done the "hot start" as well, having them transported in boxes as slaves under magical stasis. The vehicle carrying them crashes, breaking open these crates and releasing the captives in a pile, awakened.
Now they're figuring out how they were captured in the first place, where they were going and why.
Having them as the last survivors on a bus, train, sailing ship or plane is also good. They might awaken aboard a sailing vessel and everyone else is gone...no bodies, no signs of violence. The ship flounders in the wind, with an island in the distance.
Now they have to band together to survive and solve the mystery. Its imperative that you make sure at least one player knows how to operate the abandoned craft during character creation, especially if this craft is a flying vessel. This translates well for Sci Fi settings as well. A transport floating aimlessly with no escape pods and a missing crew as the PCs awaken from hypersleep.
A "Mary Celeste" start makes the vehicle the first dungeon, so to speak, and sets up the campaign as a mystery with any sort of antagonist force from something magical to disease, to murdering creatures or more.
In fact, my next campaign will start this way. Too many options not to. :)
This was awesome!!! Thank you
More interesting anecdotes, and good advice, thanks Seth
I started GMing a few years ago, and I've run a few campaigns (many of which fell apart, but that's neither here nor there), and by far, my *favorite* opening has to be from the 5e campaign Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.
It starts in a tavern, but it's an *adventurers'* tavern, which I felt was the perfect excuse for the PCs to have met and know each other - they're all starting adventurers, and this is the place where adventurers hang out. I even decided there was a "Looking for Group" board in one corner.
Can't wait for this set of dice :)
Love tavern starts
Great ideas, Seth.
Awesome!
I once started a campaign with the characters regaining consciousness in the ruins of a tavern surrounded by dead and wounded patrons. They had no memory of what happened, how they came to be there. They didn't even remember each other. All they knew is that they were sitting at the table together with a locked coffer of gold, and that the explosion originated on the far side of the tavern.
Thank you, Seth! Just the info I've been looking for! And I ordered the dice! Looking forward to them!
Ok pointing out that A Clockwork Orange starts in a tavern was the coolest thing. So well done.
Best episode I've watched.
Valuable messages, inspiring ideas and uplifting humour - another great video, Mr Skorkowsky
Nice! always good tips and suggestions :)
That was a great intro, well done!
Great acting!!
I literally wait until the weekend to watch and enjoy these. Another fantastic video!
Just discovered this page -- terrific advice and ideas, and what a great voice! Well done sir.
I love your videos. I also appreciate that you give tips for every system and mention a variety of games besides 5e.
All of Seth's books are awesome.
Thank you. This was one of the most helpful videos I've watched in a while. You've provided some very useful take-aways.
Even Gygax suggested you start the adventure after the characters have already met, just before they stock up and head out to the dungeon. I like in medias res, personally. A lot of tv shows and movies have used this as a hook, especially the ones that have a serial vibe to them. Like Sliders: they start near the end of some adventure, there's a quick resolution, then they slide into this week's episode, and have to figure out the new world from there. Hit the ground running.
Perfect timing Seth. I am starting a new CoC campaign next week (Children of Fear). Thanks for the guidance.
Loved this one. Great vid, Seth. Sometimes the classics are classics for a reason!
I'm glad you're finally promoting your stuff!!!
Great video!
The epilog was delightful:-)
Telling the players that the characters already know each other is something I always use. They can know the members from past adventure - "We killed rats in the sewer one time", or the classic "We are childhood friends". Communication is the key for a good start.
I run pf2e adventure paths mostly and I have had fantastic results running Decuma (golden lasso games) during session 0. It is really good at creating connections between all the characters and between locations and it’s a lot of fun on its own.
Yes. I had that scenario where a player actually conflicts with another player at the beginning of the session.
It is both the responsibility of the players first and then the DM to establish cohesion and comraterie
Always good stuff. :)
I'm just about to start another campaign. This video is perfect.
Listening to Damoren as an audiobook. Super hooked
I deeply appreciate the commitment to Mike's Character devouring.....
Great advice! Tavern openings are awesome, and thanks to your advice my next one will be even easier to run. You rule, Seth. Your videos are entertaining and helpful for those of us who like board games and group story telling
Great video. I’ve tried most of these openings to various degrees of success. Fortunately, my current group of players are all relatively new so I can recycle all of my favorites.
That opening bit was great xD
Great video, and the bit early on was glorious! 😂👏
I love starting my players miles away from one another, and gradually guiding the party together.
I admire both the writing commitment and the physical commitment to the eating the character sheet gag. While I"m under no illusion that you swallowed an entire character sheet, I enjoyed you eating it WAY to much. Made me laugh.
Some good points there. I think I might have to try the "introduced though car-chase" thing.
Started a game where the PCs were going to be members of a "company of adventure" (fancy mercenary organisation). Introduced the setting with several companies running a big recruitment event that had grown into a festival (described as a hybrid of comicon and a special-forces selection test). The PCs first met as they were standing next to each other on the queue to get in and things were taking a while.
Started my most memorable campaign as a GURPS GM in a tavern. It was a festival day celebrated with traditional drinks and wild stories from the crowd. The stories involved numerous adventure hooks and the PCs even joined in with a few tales of their own. Fantastic and still talked about 20+ years later even though the campaign ended in a TPK. LOL
That first two minutes... Subscribed 🕺
It's always a great day when one your videos shows up in my notifications! 👻😎👍
I really enjoyed that opening scene! It truly has to be watched twice to appreciate the nuanced brilliance. I may have enjoyed it even more the second time! Absolutely brilliant.😎
This is some of your best work, Seth! You're an inspiration to those of us just starting out on the platform, and still have great advice for those of us who have been running for years!
Always a joy to click on a non-review video by Seth. Specially featuring the Gang, these are my favorites.
Loved ashes!
Just a note on meeting and introductions. I've noticed in the recent games I've played in that players fail to have their characters introduce themselves to NPCs. I *suspect* this is a carry over from PC gaming where you left mouse click on the NPC to start the ball rolling. I've even had DMs often fail to have named (or a have a list of names) for their NPCs and frown when I have my PC introduce themselves and ask the NPCs name. It feels like a slide from role playing to tactical simulation.
As a DM, my favourite opening was tied into one of the PCs backstory where they and their brother were ambushed on the way to a meeting in a tavern. It was a small game (just two PCs at that point) but I could have involved additional PCs by them witnessing the ambush and having the option to get involved. The players were introduced to combat, and the party were now (in some way) comrades in arms.
It's honestly incredible how consistently amazing your videos are. Good subjects and SO WELL WRITTEN! Loved this!
Thank you very much.
That outro, what a twist!
Maddox Blackhammer is a pretty Badass name ...!
Hopefully you hit 100k real soon, Seth. No one deserves it more. Thanks so much for giving us such quality content.
Great video, as always, sir! A couple of months ago I ran a sci-fi one-shot for my players as a “palette cleanser” between arcs in our regular medieval fantasy campaign. The PCs were all independent notorious outlaws, roused from hypersleep on a prison shuttle after each of them had been apprehended when the transport vessel was forced to set down at a correctional outpost on a remote planetoid in order to effect repairs. During their transfer to the planetside cell block, the outlaws seized their opportunity to surprise and overpower their attending guards in a covert fashion. I started the game and allowed the players to introduce their characters by describing their “finishing moves” on their respective prison guards as they overpowered/murdered teem. Then, free of their cells but they are still weary from hypersleep, the group now had none of the belongings listed on their character sheets (presumably in evidence lockup somewhere back on the shuttle or around the outpost), and they needed to work together to find a way out of the secure cell block and devise a plan to get offworld gain their freedom before they were discovered and recaptured. It was a pretty fun and somewhat unusual “hot start” that led to some fun and memorable RP.
the kind of meeting I did for my cyberpunk 2020 campaign was like this:
Each character drinks alone in a bar across Night City, after another complete job. None of them know each other. However, one day, a man dressed in a black suit sits down across each of their tables, puts down an envelope and leaves. Inside the envelope are pictures of their families or things/people dear to them, taken from the viewpoint of a sniper, and an otherwise blank piece of paper, with a date, time and set of coordinates, printed out in its centre in Times New Roman. Obviously, they show up, and the guy that holds their families hostage forces them to take a job, poisons each of them and tells them to work together.
While watching another video I put TH-cam to AutoPlay and wasn't looking at the screen. Suddenly out of nowhere a familiar, beloved voice started talking and I immediately had to smile. What a wonderful surprise, I wasn't expecting you at all Seth! I was already cheerful but now I can't wait to watch this!! Though I don't play D&D and will likely never will, these instructional videos are very close to my heart.
The more I watch them the more they teach me about real life and real people, lessons and insight into not only the gaming world and around the table, but other aspects of real life as well. For example I've got you to thank for helping me understand unhealthy friend groups and their effects that I was part of in the past. Videos such as focused on the murder hobo, player/game master sins and the player compatibility especially.
Only recently did I start watching every module video and I have been having a blast, I may have already commented this. Thank you for your continued work. You deserve lots of recognition for all the heart and soul that you put into these videos. Cheers to the gang as well, I wouldn't want them to feel left out of my heartfelt thanks. Take care Seth! Greetings from Hungary.
This was way too enjoyable. Thank you. Lol. Plus you make very solid points as to the root cause of the "tavern problem".