Selecting a Campaign

August 7, 2009 4 comments

While I know that a good percentage of you reading this pretty much play one game, there are also a lot of you who are like me: so many games, so little time!

What Do You Want To Run?
I’ve given up on agreeing to run games for no other reason than people want to play but no one wants to run. While you may, occasionally, get a rewarding experience out of running a game you’re not particularly enthused about, you’re more likely to end up with a miserable disaster. If you’re not feeling it, your players will know. You’re better off asking what they want from a roleplaying experience, and trying to steer them into trying a similar game that you’re willing to run. They’re probably not as set on a system or setting as much as they are a style of play, a genre or a character type. Don’t be the only one to compromise; shoot for consensus instead.

What Can You Find Players For?
Many times, when looking for players for the New Hotness, you can’t find them because the players are looking for someone to run the Old Standard. My pet theory is that people play D&D because other people play D&D. That’s not a slam, that’s a social dynamic and a cultural reality. I know people that got into gaming because friends were playing GURPS, or World of Darkness, or whatever, but since most gamers play D&D, most gamers get introduced to the hobby via D&D, so most people continue to play D&D. New gamers get into it because it’s what their friends are doing, and it sounds interesting. It’s only established gamers that end up with system preferences, or at least comfort zones because they have a degree of familiarity. Try suggesting multiple games or campaigns to potential players. Not everyone will want to play every game, but if you can find enough players to try one game, that’s the one to run for the moment.

What are people available for?
This one’s a killer. You want to run Game A. You can find enough players to do a viable Game A campaign. Unfortunately, none of their schedules align in a way for a regular day and time to be established. On the other hand, the stars seem right for Game B, because the people you can find to run that are all available at the same time.

What do you have time to prep for?
Too many people overlook this. Everyone wants to play this really cool game, but there are no published adventures for it and prep time is a pain. You really want to run the game, but it really requires more work to gamemaster than you’re able to put into it. There’s no easy way to create NPCs, possibly, or you just have a difficult time coming up with adventures. Your work/school/family schedule doesn’t leave you tons of time to invest on getting ready. Your selection of a game to run may come down to what’s most convenient.

Tell players to bite the bullet
It may sound harsh, but sometimes you may have to tell players to suck it up. They want to be in a gaming group but they don’t want to run something. They need to accept that this is what you’re willing to run, this is when you’re willing to run it, and they’re either in or you’re not. All of the above considerations, except for the first one, go out the window because you’re the one stepping up.