Revised: 9/25/21; 0910 EST
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For many future GMs starting a campaign is a “bridge to far”, a “hill to step”, and a “task to daunting” and other such metaphors implying it can’t be done. I am not going to pretend to be a master of World Building and Campaign Building, there are countless blogs, articles, YouTube videos, and dozens of “GM Sections” in every RPG Core Rulebook, in addition to some excellent guides (which I will reference later) that can teach the basics. I aim to demonstrate how I put all of that reading/research into practice, and actually create something, with the goal of having a (hopefully) fun campaign that players in Central Florida, USA can participate in-person/meatspace in some FLGS and enjoy.
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I have run many a D&D, Pathfinder, Mechwarrior 4E (ATOW), Mutant Year Zero, and other RPGs over the last 20+ years, yet this is the first time I have ever created a FFG SW campaign, AND I HAVE NOT EVEN PLAYED THIS GAME ONCE! That is right, not only have I never played, but I have also never GMed in this system; a combination of hope, experience, and arrogance makes me believe I can do so successfully!
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I am here to show current and future FFG SW GMs an example of how it can be done, following a few simple rules that has worked for me over the years:
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1-Panic! There is no way I can do this, it’s too damn hard! Its overwhelming and I don’t know where to start! Like any journey of a thousand steps, the hardest part is always taking that first step. Once you start, and the more you travel, you will find that the journey gets less hard over time, and you learn to enjoy the view as you travel.
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2-Relax! Not only CAN it be done, but it has also been done for decades; if other people can do it, so you can you. Yes, it is hard work, but the rewards and satisfaction of seeing the light in a players eyes when they pull off a plan, overcome impossible odds, improvise/adapt/overcome, roll critical hits and failures, do stupid s**t that works, and laugh their asses off, is SO WORTH IT!
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3-Steal, shamelessly steal! There are no new ideas in the universe, just creative applications of existing ones. Take the inspirations for your campaign from those influences that you are passionate about, that fire your imagination, that makes you want to actively PLAY instead of passively watch someone else play or read about. What are your favorite movies, TV shows, books, comics, manga’s, graphic novels, PC games, Console games, Mobile games, Board Games, Card games, Miniature games, Dice games, musicians, actors, artists, writers, directors, animators, and any other form of creative expression? That is where the heart of your RPG campaign is going to arise from, the details and rules will follow afterwards.
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4-Player Types, choose wisely! Before you even put a single word onto a sheet or paper (or WORD document), carefully determine NOW who your target player audience is. Trust me, it will save (or minimize) your mental health a lot of stress, prevent heartbreak, disappointment, and a waste of your creative time (aka GM Lifeforce), money, resources, and most valuable of all, your time. One of the biggest problems in GMing is when there is a mis-match between the expectations of what the GM and Players each want from a campaign. If the GM creates a campaign with a certain theme and playstyle in mind, and that is not communicated clearly to the players, and/or the players are not interested in that theme or playstyle, then eventually everyone is going to be miserable, and the campaign will collapse. AVOID THIS AT ALL COST.
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There are multiple references for different “types” of players, for now I will borrow from the excellent “Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering” and select my choices of whom I am aiming this campaign for (aka, what Players I would prefer at my gaming table):
Yes: Casual Gamer, Storyteller, Method Actor, and Tactician.
No: Power Gamer, and Butt-Kicker.
(Not mentioned, but not wanted: Rules-Lawyers, and players who want to play in the Disney Cannon Movies and TV shows, and are not comfortable with “What ifs” and “alternative history/timelines”, they will not enjoy my campaign as I am NOT following what has come before.)
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5-Don’t think, write! Something I have seen over the years is that aspiring GMs try to create everything in their head before they put anything down in writing, they get overwhelmed with the shear amount of things that need to be created/addressed, and they give up before they even start. Don’t do this, it leads to madness and despair. Instead, just start writing. Doesn’t have to be in any particular order, no need to make an outline or list of topics, forget about creating all the NPCs, locations, weapons, armors, vehicles, starships, monsters, treasures, adventures and “cool scenes” at the start; just write. Things will fall into place and start organizing themselves as you go along, and the words flow out of your brain unto the sheet of paper or WORD document.
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Over the course of the next few months, I will be doing the above steps in this thread, openly so interested people can ask me questions, participate if they like, and slowly build out my campaign in real time as I develop it live. And yes, if any of my future Florida players read this, that is ok, feel free to jump in and contribute, we can work out later how your PC has knowledge of the campaign before the game even starts.