Dragon Forum

Basically, I have a lot of ttrpgs I want to play. I have friends whose only way for them to play is if theyre guided by a Gamemaster, which would have to be me.

I understand that, and I accept that! I was the one who found the rpg, hence the responsability falls on me to guide my players through at least their first few games.

I'd be fine, if I wasn't a big round zero at improvisation and keeping to a narrative line. Things you NEED to be a gamemaster. Not to mention coming up with a story that allows the players to get a feel for the engine, interesting enough to keep 'em hooked and not too challenging.

When it comes to THE ttrpg, THE dnd, it is easy enough to find premade oneshots you can macgyver together into a sort of campaign. But when it comes to smaller, indie ones like - to mention a few ive been meaning to try out - Interstitial, Wanderhome, Land of Eem or Icon, the choice of free (can't really spend money on these things...) premade oneshots is nearly zilch.

Asking for suggestions for plot points or stories they would like? Nope. It's like asking what they'd like for dinner. "Oh I dunno, anything you want, anything's fine!" Geez, you people!

I've decided then, my best choice is plagiarism. Or put in a better way, take dnd oneshots, perhaps choose-your-own-adventure stories, and adapt them into my engines of choice. But I'm very unsure of how to go about it, so I'd like to ask for tips!

How do I keep my players hooked? Perhaps enough for someone else to take the gamemaster mantle? I'll even ask for oneshot suggestions!

(I'd tell you what type of stories they like, but seriously, all they answer is ANYTHING!! Gosh, these guys...)

Hey! Fellow GM here that's dealt with a very similar situation before (Especially when starting out)

Plagiarism (As you've put it at the very least) is unironically a good way to get used to things and get the ball rolling if you can't think up anything of your own, it'll also let you get a feel for what your player will ACTUALLY want out of a campaign. Throw those friends into a situation™ and I think they'll probably be able to find out whether they like it or not so you can get a more definitive idea on what you should aim for!

As for how to go about that, that really depends on the ttrpg's mechanics and systems more than anything, it's easy to give it a new coat of paint aesthetically it's just hard to figure out how to transfer over the systems that really make each game.
For example: You got a 5e oneshot about a group of heroes finding a labyrinth with unique treasures inside. The course of the oneshot follows a formula of getting into weird or difficult encounters till you finally make it to the end where a minotaur has been guarding things the entire time, but instead of fighting you you have to tell him why you believe you're most deserving of the treasures of the labyrinth.

Now let's transition that same scenario into LANCER.

Mission control has called our group of ace pilots to check out a disturbance on the moon that seems to be interfering with expansion of a colony.
Our pilots get to the rendezvous point and find a weird old abandoned structure and go in to investigate.
They look around and can't seem to find anything out of the ordinary but when they turn back...
The entrance is gone.
You now have an excuse to throw our party into a weird more puzzle heavy scenario or some kind of combat gauntlet with smaller mechs to fight their way out of the facility. At the end revealing the someone was piloting a MINOTAUR mech to create an illusionary facility due to it's unique abilities.
From there you can take that a lot of directions: Why was the pilot doing that? Is there even a pilot or is this mech acting of it's own volition? Maybe it can be acquired after it's defeat.

That's just a random idea I got off the top of my head, I hope it helps! If you like that scenario feel absolutely free to use it btw!

Gotenerd wrote: ↑July 16th, 2023, 9:38 am Hey! Fellow GM here that's dealt with a very similar situation before (Especially when starting out)

Plagiarism (As you've put it at the very least) is unironically a good way to get used to things and get the ball rolling if you can't think up anything of your own, it'll also let you get a feel for what your player will ACTUALLY want out of a campaign. Throw those friends into a situation™ and I think they'll probably be able to find out whether they like it or not so you can get a more definitive idea on what you should aim for!

(Trimmed a bit for length)
Thank you for the tips! I'll try to organize a few test sessions to get a feel for what they actually want out of a campaign - hehe, maybe even use the minotaur idea!

I'll start with some of the systems more similar to 5e, since most of my players have played at least a few games of dnd already.

The one that troubles me most... It is like you said - giving an new coat of Aesthetic isn't as hard as adapting to the system. Going from a 5e oneshot that calls for rolls every other step (who can blame them, rolling dice is fun) to a system like, say, Wanderhome that is exclusively narrative and has no rolls nor math is one tough cookie to crack.

How does one replace the challenge offered in 5e by the "higher number" gates? Replacing all the locked chests that require some dex number to open with a "ages 5 and up" puzzle is tempting, but I doubt my players would put up with it for very long.