Ever! …Or at the very least, at this point, we are going to pretend so. Why? Because, even if you still don’t know it, this is going to be the best campaign ever. Eventually, connections between all these things might start to emerge: perfect, write these connections down too! Give it your all, write absolutely everything that gets you pumped up and that you think is going to rock. Even a one-liner you think sounds really badass (not kidding: one of my latest Master Sheets had a dumb one-liner that I eventually ended up using during improvised combat). An alien species you once drew while bored in class. A character trait that you think could be cool. What goes on the Master Sheet? Literally anything that you’d like to see on the table, anything that gets you excited, no matter how abstract or how specific. I personally find that a text processor doesn’t work as well for this “solo brainstorm” session but, unlike me, you are probably not a Luddite, so have it your way. I like to call this my Master Sheet (because I’m a blowhard) and I basically dump on it everything I want to accomplish during the campaign, every single thing I want the players to experience. This is something that I don’t know if any other GMs do, but I think it’s always a good starting point. Then get a sheet of paper and just start writing and sketching whatever comes into your head when you think of your pitch. (I will happily read your campaign pitches and give you feedback, by the way.) Read it aloud, see if it makes any sense, see if it sounds like something you would like to play. What kind of story motivates you? What themes? Write an “elevator pitch” describing your campaign’s purpose and goals in just a few lines. I’ve already suggested in this column that before starting a game it’s always a good idea to figure out exactly what you want to say. I’m a Game Master with twenty-five years of experience, and I’ve successfully run more than twelve campaigns in several systems and settings, three of them at least five years in length. If this doesn’t scare you, great: let’s take a peek at how we can try to make the process as painless as possible. But I’m going to be frank: if you thought that writing your first adventure (if you didn’t use a pre-published one!) was a daunting prospect, you will find out that building your campaign can end up being a real odyssey. Excellent! You got the itch to create a long-term storyline, and that’s all you need to start playing. Now your head is exploding with possibilities: you want to make a sequel to your last adventure, you think that this one character could become a recurring antagonist, and you’ve even started thinking on how everything fits within the vast Sith-Ithorian conspiracy. You’ve read the manuals, you’ve found a gaming group, you’ve played a character in the game, and you’ve probably run your first one-shot adventures. Let’s say that’s the point where you are. Unsurprisingly, most GMs would eventually prefer to create a series rather than one individual episode, so we all end up at that point in due time. “What’s a campaign”, neophytes ask? Well, to use a television example, if an episode is an adventure, the campaign is the whole TV series. This time we are going to be talking about that exciting point in the life of a Star Wars RPG Game Master where they decide to bite the bullet and start their own campaign. They often rise to make excellent leaders in the galaxy.Hello and welcome once again to The Force Does Not Throw Dice, our feature devoted to running tabletop roleplaying games in the galaxy far, far away. These species often find themselves catching what others don't, seeing the bigger picture under pressure. One enters a negotiation against these at a disadvantage. These species hold strongly to their decisions and traditions, considered immovable in an argument. They are generally sneaky schemers that are looking to get something out of every interaction. These species have a different type of expertise, filled with street-smarts. Taking the time to think before approaching a problem, they are often the ones bringing the efficiency to a team. These species have great expertise in what is technical and which requires study. These species are coordinated, capable of swift action and expert handling of finicky or unwieldy weapons. These species are large and strong, having Brawn as their primary characteristic - at the disadvantage of another. While their characteristics may appear as bad or unimpressive, they provide a bunch of experience and additional skill training - molding themselves to the career set you want.
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