Hi folks, time to change gears for a moment and talk about something outside of the Grim Dark. Recently I started putting together some elements for a D&D campaign which takes inspiration from several sources, and mixes them together into the core ideas that make up the setting and the mechanics for my party. One of my favorite parts of Dungeon Mastering is the sheer freedom of creation available to you before you even have the party members selected. Creating a world, often from scratch, is such a test of creativity that I find fascinating each time I delve into it. I myself tend to take bitz and pieces from one source or another and merge them into a whole new universe for my players. While this can have it's own challenges, it can often have heightened rewards. But it's a delicate balancing act no matter which way you slice it.
This campaign marks the first one I have officially run in quite some time, and if you don't count the last one, which was more or less a last minute decision, it's been a solid few years since I have had the joy of putting together a full blown campaign of my own. But unlike my previous adventures into the realm of DM'ing, I thought I'd challenge myself with something different this time, and it's the source of my thoughts here. The challenge is that while I have put together a fair number of background elements and an exhaustibly large amount of time into mechanics alterations (which I feel are necessary for any DM wanting to introduce their players to a unique world of their own creation), I intend to run this game off the cuff. Sessions won't be planned, nor will the layouts of buildings or the consistency of enemy ranks for combat. With the exception of a lose, somewhat ad-hock plot that will be seen more and more as the game progresses, the goal here is to produce a game without really planning ahead. It's an endurance test of pure imagination, where the possibilities, and of course the pitfalls, are endless.
But before I go on, I want to stop for a moment and compare these styles of Dungeon Mastering, both of which I have utilized to some extend or another. However, no matter what conclusion I reach, or the pros and cons I find with each... I don't think there is a right way to DM. These methodologies of approach will not fit everyone's taste, as everyone will tweak things differently for a variety of reasons. I'm merely presenting the methods I have used over my many campaigns, and commenting on what I enjoyed and didn't care for along the way. So with that, let's jump behind the screen and see what awaits us there.
