Create a Homebrew Campaign | #16: Final Tips and Thoughts
Wow. I cannot believe we’re here. The sixteenth and final part of my homebrew campaign series. What an adventure; this has virtually been a campaign in and of itself! I knew when I first set out to start a YouTube channel that even if I didn’t feel like sticking with it after a while, I wanted to at least get this series finished. I always hate it when I find a tutorial series, learn a lot, and then find out that it was never finished and the creator just… gave up. So, here I am, sticking with it, and I’m so glad that I did! If you’ve been watching the whole thing, you have probably noticed the drastic increase in quality since the very first video that was… super orange and incredibly muffled. I’m where I am now largely because of this series, which prompted me to keep going and learn more about the video editing process, so… I guess what I’m trying to say is that this series has been educational for me and (hopefully) you both!
So, in today’s post, I really just want to do a little chat and wrap-up. I’ll touch on some points I might have missed during this series, give you some final tips and suggestions, and just generally… wrap this up. Wow. I still can’t believe it. This series is over. Who would have thought? Not me.
Okay, enough gushing, let’s get to the content.
Tip #1: Take Notes
As dungeon masters, we often hound our players about taking notes. They need to take notes. They don’t have your collection of scattered ideas, concepts, settlement details, word history, and session beats. They have nothing but what you tell them and what they hear from the other players, and they can only retain so much. Your players absolutely must be taking notes, for so many reasons, but did you know that you should be taking notes, too? Just because you’re the dungeon master doesn’t mean you know everything. Your players are going to have some information you don’t have. Yeah, I know. Shocking!
You should have a notebook available, or a notepad open on your computer, just in case your players drop some information that you think could be useful in the future. Most commonly, this is going to be something about their backstory. They might make an off-handed comment about something they experienced or someone they met. Sometimes, they’ll also propose some theories about your world and its events that interest you enough to make you consider them. They might imagine a better course of action for your Big Bad than what you had originally envisioned. Bonus for you!
I’ve drawn entire sessions up based on some off-the-cuff remark that a player has made during a session. Most memorably, I wrote a nightmare session based on the lies told by one player’s character about having slain a white dragon many years back, which he claimed had slaughtered a family he’d never actually had. The session was a lot of fun for everyone involved and is, to date, one of my favorite sessions. It was only possible (and believable) because I secretly wrote down everything that the player said during his tirade just in case I wanted to use it later.
Additionally (and this is probably office), but it doesn’t hurt to take notes on what happens during the session. Your players are taking actions that can affect the story. Note down everything that may have an impact later on—interactions with NPCs, evidence left behind during a break-in, or anything else that happens during the session which will change the story in a way you need to take into account. Plus, it’s just fun to do a callback to something the party did months and months ago. They may have forgotten that they stiffed a waiter on a tip when they visited this tavern last year… but you didn’t.
Tip #2: Have a List of Names
My word, have a list of names. This is so vital. Seriously. Listen to me. If you take nothing else away from this entire series, take this: keep a list of names. Any time I’ve forgotten my list of names, it’s been a nightmare. I always try to have a sheet that is filled with different possible names for NPCs just in case I need to come up with an NPC on the fly or the players ask the name of an NPC I hadn’t actually planned on being important enough to warrant a name in advance. When your players ask you about the name of an NPC, it can be pretty comical when you fumble your way through it, but it can also slow the game down. By having a list of names prepared in advance, you can both limit this and have an easier time keeping track.
My list of names is broken down by region and culture to ensure that if I do have to pull a name on the fly, it’s consistent with the nomenclature of my world. I don’t really want someone who comes from a region and society where names are things like Grelbok and Korgonn to have a name like… Tim. Again, it’s funny when that happens, but it slows down the game and it’s ultimately just not desirable compared to coming prepared.
Tip #3: Rule of Cool Consistently
Commonly, game masters are told to be in favor of the rule of cool. Essentially, that means that if your player wants to do something cool, you should allow it. I am generally in favor of this myself. I love it when my players come up with something unique and awesome—something that could really only come from this player. It’s what makes the game special, and I’m always willing to work with the players to approach the desired result. But, the problem with the rule of cool is consistency. When your players want to do something cool, there’s a question you should ask yourself before you decide on how to approach the player’s request: “What result am I okay with repeating in the future?”.
Even if something seems cool in the moment, most players have a habit of tucking that sort of thing away for later in case they want to achieve the same result in the future. It’s not very creative, but it’s also not malicious. Your players want to succeed and if something worked once, it should work again. So before you decide on how to approach a ruling when it comes to the “rule of cool”, ask yourself if you’re okay with this being repeated in the future.
An extreme example would be ruling that if a player calls a headshot against an enemy, it’s instant death because the player wants to aim right between the eyes. You say, “Sounds cool, if you hit, it’s an instant kill”. That sounds cool in the moment, early in the campaign, when the enemy only has a Max HP of thirty or something. But if it worked then, why can’t it work at higher levels? The player is gonna want to keep trying, and the character is getting more powerful, so why did this only work once?
So when a player asks to do something and it sounds cool, great! But think of a way to approach it that you’d be okay with repeating in the future. I love the rule of cool and the way that it encourages creativity, but we are playing a game here and that game is governed by rules. It’s best to at least consider those rules once in a while, even though the story is more important (for most homebrew games, at least).
Conclusion
Gosh, I’m really trying to think if there’s anything more that I really need to say, here. This is the last post of the homebrew campaign series! I want to make sure I’ve done enough. There’s probably so much more that I can and should say, here. In fact, I know there are some things I wanna add, but… well, maybe I’ll save those for a future post. I do have a couple more tabletop RPG posts in my plans, so… the opportunity will present itself!
Thank you so much for checking out not just this post, but my homebrew campaign creation series! I hope that you’ve learned as much as I have during these past sixteen weeks. I’m both sad and relieved that it’s over because while I did enjoy creating this series, I’m also excited for the future of my website and channel! I’ll be continuing to create advice content on Mondays, though I’m planning to talk more about storytelling in general for a while instead of exclusively tabletop roleplaying game content.
Anyway, thank you again for being part of this series. I really appreciate the support, in whatever form you’ve given it. If you would like to support me, the best way to do so right now is to subscribe to my YouTube channel! Additionally, you can follow me on social media. I’m @TLBainter on most platforms and will have links for all of my profiles below!
Happy playing, and until next time, bye!