Maybe you’ve run some one-shots or even multi-night campaigns. But now you’ve made the decision to run a long-term campaign for many levels – maybe all the way to 20th. How do you make the jump? What do you need to know that will make the transition seamless? What are the differences between running a single session and many sessions that tell an epic, massive story?
In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down with our recurring special guest and player – the Monster Wrangler himself, Matt! Along the way, we discuss the tips, tricks, and pitfalls to making the jump to running a whole campaign.
For all you new DMs, check out Episodes 29, 90, and 113 for more tips!
If the podcast player below fails to load, click here to listen to the audio.
4:00 What made Matt want to take it to the next level?
6:40 Matt’s next level of immersive play: costume changes!
8:30 What are you going to run? Homebrew? Published? What made Matt want to run Tyranny of Dragons?
10:15 Tip #1: Published material is just information: use what you want.
14:10 Tip#2: Balance out the stronger and weaker play styles.
15:10 How to go forward when you have to have actions and consequences affect later sessions?
20:38 Tip #3: How the make-up of your table will affect how you run the campaign.
23:30 Tip #4: Let what the players offer to you about their character guide the campaign.
26:55 What did Matt take away from the first session?
30:00 Finding inspiration for the adventure hook and introduction.
31:50 The consistent lack of good adventure hooks in the early 5e campaigns.
33:50 How do you make a general campaign unique? Answer: The Players.
36:30 Where do we go from here? Weaving the sessions together.
42:20 Tip #5: Not every session will start as exciting as a dragon attack and that’s okay.
43:15 Tip #6: “I wouldn’t have changed anything.” DM Matt reveals the best tip. You didn’t mess up or ruin anything. Don’t carry things with you into the next session.
45:25 Final Thoughts.
Got a Question?
3 Wise DMs mission is to help DMs with problems that you can’t find answers to in the rulebooks. If you’ve got a question or a problem, visit the website and enter it in the “What’s Your Problem” field. Or reach out to us at 3wisedms@gmail.com.
Join the Conversation!
Be sure to LIKE and FOLLOW us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube as well, and please, feel free to share with your friends or anyone else who rolls funny-looking dice!
Need Dice?
If you’re in the market for dice (and who isn’t?) visit our affiliate link at FanRoll Dice and enter code 3WISEDMS10 to get 10% off your entire order.