rpg

4807 readers

29 users here now

This community is for meaningful discussions of tabletop/pen & paper RPGs

Rules (wip):

Do not distribute pirate content
Do not incite arguments/flamewars/gatekeeping.
Do not submit video game content unless the game is based on a tabletop RPG property and is newsworthy.
Image and video links MUST be TTRPG related and should be shared as self posts/text with context or discussion unless they fall under our specific case rules.
Do not submit posts looking for players, groups or games.
Do not advertise for livestreams
Limit Self-promotions. Active members may promote their own content once per week. Crowdfunding posts are limited to one announcement and one reminder across all users.
Comment respectfully. Refrain from personal attacks and discriminatory (racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc.) comments. Comments deemed abusive may be removed by moderators.
No Zak S content.
Off-Topic: Book trade, Boardgames, wargames, video games are generally off-topic.
No AI-generated content. Discussion of AI generation pertaining to RPGs is explicitly allowed.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Avogadro@ttrpg.network

sirblastalot@ttrpg.network

TripHammer@ttrpg.network

Primarch@ttrpg.network

BrentTaylor@ttrpg.network

What surprised you most when you ran your first full campaign? (ttrpg.network)

submitted 1 week ago by realmkithq@ttrpg.network to c/rpg@ttrpg.network

23 comments fedilink hide all child comments

What honestly surprised you most when you ran (or played in) your first full campaign?

I've been talking to a lot of indie TTRPG creators lately — people designing their own systems, running campaigns, preparing Kickstarters — and one thing keeps coming up: the gap between what you planned and what actually happened at the table.

For some it's pacing (sessions ran 2x longer than expected). For others it's player attachment to NPCs they thought were throwaways. For some it's the opposite — a carefully built villain got ignored completely.

As someone who builds tools for TTRPG creators, I'm genuinely curious what the community thinks:

What's the one thing you wish someone had warned you about before running your first campaign?

Could be prep, could be player dynamics, could be the mechanics themselves. No wrong answers — I'm here to learn from people who've actually been at the table.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] shimminbeg@masto.ai 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

@juergen_hubert @realmkithq absolutely. I run high-level Pathfinder (by accident) and creating monsters and NPCs for the party to deal with takes enormous amounts of time, if they're going to be remotely challenging.

[–] juergen_hubert@ttrpg.network 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Pathfinder 1E or 2E?

I don't have much practical experience with the latter, but it did move away from the notion that NPCs must be created with the same system as PCs.

[–] shimminbeg@masto.ai 2 points 2 days ago

@juergen_hubert I'm in 1E. I still haven't tried 2E at all. Someone proposed running a game, so I made a character, but it fizzled before even starting.