Set the Table With the Good China!

Alright, you as the Game Master/Dungeon Master/Story Teller/God in miniature have selected your game, arranged a playing schedule and gotten everyone started on character sheets. Hopefully by the time your first session rolls around you have had time to create your campaign.

Many well-run games have been created entirely on the fly and can last for long, long times provided that the GM and players have a very sharp memory. For example: my first real foray into non-AD&D gaming was an online version of the ROBOTECH RPG. I'd had the books for about a week but no one to play with here. Instead, I joined a group of friends in playing in a very off the cuff game which lasted years in some form (and is currently in its ninth year over at http://www.rdfrpg.com). The original GM of that game did nearly everything on the fly or from memory, keeping only a folder of our character sheets, a few quick tables for enemies, and a log of what we did last week. It blossomed from a group of 12 kids to over 65 active members in all age groups.

The most successful method of campaigning is still the most work intensive: writing it all out ahead of time. For a quick game not meant to last more than a few sessions, only a few notes may be necessary for memory's sake. A game that lasts more than just a couple of weeks may well require lots of set up, notation, and rolling of the dice.

So, now that you've got your system in hand, what is your setting? Is this going to be a short adventure, or the humble start to a long winding road for the players? The longer the game is going to last, the harder everything gets to be. Adventures, contact lists, histories and backgrounds all get more complex as a campaign evolves.

Start with the largest slice of your setting you reasonably can; let's assume one starts with a single planet. What color sun does it orbit? How are its seasons and temperatures? Does it have a moon, or multiple moons?

Next, move down a stage to the land the players will walk on: what kind of history does this world have? What are the major religious beliefs, the social climate? Are there other races about the planet? How do they get along? A brief history that can be expanded upon or referred to easily can answer all of those questions.

Is this game going to be combat intensive? Will anyone at the table need access to lots of dice, or writing space? If you play a power-gamer version of Vampire: The Masquerade, often the rolls can get very high very quickly. Some dungeon delvings may run so long or be so massive that an entire table could be devoted to just the map and any miniatures that are used. Once that has been completed, often everything is ready for the GM to pick the first adventure for the group.

If you want more depth, then by all means go into great detail! One of the more fascinating things about the Faerun setting for AD&D was the creation of a few minor races, and the alteration of some of the accepted fantasy races. The world was different from Earth in many respects, and not just topographically; entire species of plants and common animals were introduced and described, just to make the place seem different. Consider designing a map on a computer with some of the many software systems that are available for free use or direct purchase. Sometimes, these come bundled with free software that helps to create characters, situations, rewards, or even track an entire campaign.

Working out a map on paper with your own artistic talent can add to the overall experience as well. Hand drawn maps have an entirely different feel to it, something your players will notice right away. This is YOUR campaign, not some print shops! Maps for entire settings are best drawn carefully, and made permanent once you know what you want to include.

Maps of dungeons, military bases, pipe systems and what have you are best done on a per-game basis. The old stand-by of gridded paper usually works the best. With it, you can make a well regulated, even sided room, building or other structure, and know how far it is to what. Sometimes for combat systems (especially miniatures based systems like Battletech) the system is marked off in hexagons instead of squares. Depended on the combat system or your needs, either way can work so long as you know how you must use it.

Over time, extensive notes about non-player characters, settings, events, and scores are often key to the long-term success of a tabletop or online RPG. I'm not advocating that the GM has to have a detailed sheet for absolutely every NPC, town, and rock in their little universe; but if that GM has some basic stats and a quick description of the NPC on paper, and a flow chart showing where that ugly old man with the scar knows the players from the game may go much more smoothly.

I usually keep a little 3/4" binder for each campaign I'm running; inside will be character notes, an action order sheet (which will be posted eventually), game notes and maps, and copies of the player characters' sheets all go inside. The operating order of it is personal preference, but I like to keep all the character notes and combat sheets up front, with the group's progress directly behind them for reference. Any actual game notes I have will be sitting just beside the binder in case I need to check something.

One of the most important things to consider for your GM's notebook is use of flow charts. A flow chart can outline the entire campaign, the possibilities of an individual adventure, or who knows whom and why. They can take some time to craft, but are worth their weight in rare earth metals once they're completed. They're not for everyone, but they can be read by anyone and thus save some trouble.

Sometimes, I keep note cards in a tiny recipe box or check keeper for easy access. What is contained on those cards determines whether or not I'm willing to share them with the group I'm running the game for. The last stack of cards that I made was an alphabetical list of spells for D&D 3E; each spell was completely described on one card, front and back. This particular set of cards was kept around for both the players and the DM to use.

Using these few tools to your own liking may well help a new or failing GM to organize their thoughts and prepare their worlds for exploration by the players. No one says that all GM's must do it this way, but it seems to be universal that all the greatest hosts have done at least a few of the things listed here today.

Next time, something random!