Instant Campaign Builder VII: Planting
Written by Yax - Published on September 7, 2007

Instant Campaign Builder Part VII: Planting

This article is part of the Instant Campaign Builder Project.

Planting makes everything better

So you’ve been preparing a brand new campaign. You have an outline, you drew up a few interesting scenes, and you might even have a cool prop for an upcoming game. What now? Well, it’s time to plant some information, clues and hints.

Going over the scenes that are likely to be played first and adding information that the characters will need later in the campaign is called planting, and it can make good games great, or great games unforgettable.

Why is planting great?

• Your players will feel that you have everything planned and under control.
• Your scenes will be rich and detailed.
• Your players will feel good about themselves when they work their way out of a tough situation or solve a puzzling enigma thanks to some “random” item, or clue they found 5 games earlier.

How do I plant?

I think there are 2 main elements to planting effectively.

• First of all I try to plant a lot of information the PCs might use, but none they have to use. A lot of time might pass between games and I don’t want them to die horribly because of an out-of-game factor (time).
• I try to plant some information, items, or clues that are useless. Sometimes the PCs actually find a way to use them! Sometimes it remains what it what meant to be: just a diversion so the actual clues don’t stand out too much.

The positive side effects of planting

The planting phase of the campaign planning is one of my favorite. I usually think of dozens of cool scenes or events as I go back over the scenes I have already designed and add details.

Have fun planting and I hope you wow your players thanks to this technique.

8 comments so far » read the comments or leave a comment (1 pingback)

8 Comments

1. Phil
   2:46 am on September 7th, 2007

   Hot Damn Yax are you spying on my gaming room?

   Yesterday night, just before I wrapped off my game prep for tonight, I put up ‘Rumors & News’ on my gaming whiteboard where I outlined 3 near-future secondary plot lines !!!!

   I like the way you think man!

2. Yax
   3:02 am on September 7th, 2007

   DMs are omniscient! But one DM’s omniscience stops where another DM’s omniscience begins! Does that make sense?

3. Phil
   6:02 am on September 7th, 2007

   No but it impresses the chicks!

4. Pal Mercy
   11:48 am on September 7th, 2007

   Ladies man, eh? That’s why I play RPG’s too.

5. Vanir
   1:58 pm on September 7th, 2007

   Based on this conversation, it is quite clear that I played in the wrong D&D games in high school.

6. Yax
   2:24 pm on September 7th, 2007

   High school was so great. I miss picking on the jocks with my nerd posse.

7. Vanir
   3:53 pm on September 7th, 2007

   DEFINITELY went to the wrong high school. :)

8. Phil
   10:09 pm on September 7th, 2007

   Schools in Quebec are very French Vanir. Very French :)

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