Epic Quests are Dangerous: Equip yourself to run your First Campaign with these Tips!

Exciting News! (well, exciting MAY be relative, but…) You’ve opted to run your first homebrew adventure!

Before you get to drawing maps and rolling for initiative, there are several things you can do to help you set yourself up for success.

Hi, I’m Zia, and I’ve been a Game Master for over 10 years, mostly in the realms of D&D and Pathfinder, and I’ve been homebrewing adventures for nearly 6 years of that time. This is the first in a series of articles I’ll be writing. Each one in this series is designed to help you gear up for writing and running your own adventures. Which will hopefully set yourself up for campaigns that will form lasting memories and friendships (rather than table flips and dice jails).

In this article, I’ll go over what I like to call TTRPG Overhead. These are the broad real-world considerations to take that, when ignored, spell disaster, but when heeded, lead to campaigns with stories told around a campfire for decades to come. And the cornerstone of success, the holy grail if you will, comes down to communication.

TTRPGs are interactive by their very nature, so discussing your ideas and concerns with your players will set you up for a long-running adventure. Running a campaign is a team sport, and works best when everyone’s on the same page, including you. Don’t think you need to bend over backwards for your players. Voice your concerns as much as you would want your players to voice theirs. I try to encourage my players to give me criticism at the end of every session, and while it took time for them to feel comfortable doing so, it has led to catching many potential disasters while they were still only minor quips.

Speaking of these wonderful players, let’s talk about “Who” they are and how you’ll find them. 

Finding the correct players for your campaign and your play style is the key to adventures lasting more than one or two sessions. In a future article, we’ll discuss how to write the actual adventure itself and tailor it to your party, but first, let’s find a group of people.

It’s always best to vet who you invite to your table, regardless of the adventure they come for. On a broad scope, I look for people who are punctual, communicate well about their ability to attend, and seem to be dedicated to the adventure. I often suggest running shorter, ‘trial’ adventures before assembling a group for a long-haul campaign. These small-scale campaigns are how I test how well players interact with each other and work together. It also allows the players to see if they like playing with each other and with you as a Game Master, and shorter commitments mean people are usually more willing to take a chance on you.

Alright. You’ve vetted some players and have a group. When are you all going to meet?

I can already hear your fear at the prospect of scheduling your sessions. Yes, it can be difficult, but what if I told you the schedule is not the issue? There are plenty of tools, modern and ancient, to coordinate a time everyone can meet, and several articles explaining how to use them, so I won’t go over them in too much detail. But I will reveal the secrets of how a group falls apart because the people in the group put the priority of the campaign low in their scheduling hierarchy until it takes a back seat.

People make time for what they find important. The campaign is always going to take a back seat to school and work, but you want to make sure that after those priorities, your campaign is worth investing time in. That is partially dependent on your skill as a writer and as a campaign master, but it is also dependent on how you present yourself as a person and communicate with your crew.

Be as responsive to scheduling questions as you expect your players to be, and be as flexible as you would hope they be. When posting your schedule, give more options for days than sessions planned, and have backup plans ready to go. In our discord group, I usually post 4 or 5 days that work for me as a DM, and ask everyone to tell me two that work. I then pick those two that work for the most people. Remember as well that you don’t need to adhere to the standard of weekly sessions. Maybe a longer session every two weeks is a better schedule, or even a whole day event once a month (with pizza, of course).

And remember, not everyone will make every session. Life happens. But if you discuss a plan ahead of time on how to handle these absences, it will make for smoother sessions when you’re down a player. Consider if you want a quorum before cancelling a session or to simply run with an absent member. My group has occasionally used these sessions to play fun one-offs outside of the campaign’s canon, so we can have our game day without anyone missing anything important.

Make sure everyone’s on the same page, and scheduling will be a breeze.

You have a group. You have a time. But where the heck will you be meeting?

If you’re an online group, the answer becomes simple. On everyone’s couch, logged into Discord or Zoom or Hedron, at the appointed time. But let’s assume you’re meeting in person.

There are a few considerations for a meeting place, but they are vital to success. Make sure wherever you decide is central to all players, easy to get to, and a comfortable place to play in. I once ran an adventure in a garage with no Air Conditioning. Suffice it to say, we decided to wait for the autumn. The second fold of comfort is a place where people feel comfortable being. Someone’s house may not be the best choice for a new group of people who barely know each other. Remember to check Wizards of the Coast’s Store and Event Locator to help find stores near you to meet at. Check out my setup for my Actual Play series which not only had to meet a comfortable location, but a location suitable for filming: The Secret of the Kleva Magica

And remember, a local game store may not be your best option in some cases. Don’t overlook other resources for community in your area, like library meeting rooms and community centers. If you’re a student at a school, you may even be able to rent a room on campus somewhere to run your game. Often, these places are amenable to a campaign, as it encourages people to use their facilities, and libraries may even have books for your system available to loan.

And above all else, make sure your location has enough space at the table. Adventures can fail because of something as simple as there not being enough space to place the map.

I’ve answered Who, what, when, and where. Which brings us to the Why?

The biggest key to a successful campaign is a passion. Passion on behalf of you, the writer, and passion on behalf of the players in your world. If you treat your game like a second job and feel equally drained by it, odds are your players will feel that frustration. Make sure, at the end of the day, your passion for what story you want to tell doesn’t die. Take breaks when you need them, and take the help of your players with planning where possible. Keep that fire going, and I guarantee the rest will fall into place.

These above tips may seem like basic common sense for running a campaign. FIND players first (the Who?), PICK a campaign to run (the What?) GET them to agree on a time (The When?), FIND a place to meet (the Where?), and Plan for a good times all around! (The Why?).

But if you write these down and solve the logistics BEFORE you start worldbuilding and get a group together, you're far more likely to succeed. Too many people ignore what I hereby dub Tabletop Overhead. I realise you may be eager to writing your adventure, and in my next article I will start to talk about crafting your campaign itself, but for now, I’ll leave you with a simple reminder: Plan. Out. The. Logistics. First. Who, What, When, and Why! Write them down. And succeed!

That’s all for now, and until next time, may the rolls be ever in your favor.

Zia Ellithiel is a game artist and forever Game Master, who has been running D&D fifth edition adventures for over ten years.. You can connect with her on bluesky at @spacegothprincess.