DM Style

Merin's DM Style

The DMG gives a list of several spectrums, right and left columns of extremes to either side of play-style. Using those lists I would describe my campaign to be run as:

Cinematic, Anachronistic, Serious, Intense, Bold, Preplanned, Thematic, Heroic.

It is my intention to see this campaign to be run as a role-playing game, with equal emphasis on game as well as role-playing. Speaking in-character will have its place, as will skill checks. I neither want this to turn into Warhammer (miniature strategy game) nor into improv theater.

I have four basic guidelines I am going to try to adhere to while running the gaming sessions:

1 - Keep the Action Rolling: I want the game to keep moving at a good pace and not get bogged down with in-character discussions and debates, nor with out-of-character joking and stories. While I will never resort to "what is your character doing? OOPS, you took too long, you do nothing!" methods, I will try to keep distractions, non-game related chatting and such to a bare minimum.

2 - Story Focused: While I will be using the published series of modules from WOTC as the background for the game, the importance to me is creating a story with the players. Combat is good, role-playing in-character is fine, but overall I'm most interested in forging a fun experience that develops an interesting story. To this end the plots will be, as much as I can make them, player-oriented and character-driven. I will create many Quests so every player can feel their characters are important to the overall story.

3 - 3rd Person over 1st Person: With a group of mostly Actors play-style this might seem counter-productive. Be that as it may I am going to be looking for far more "My character asks the innkeep for a room" than "Innkeep, what price do you charge for a warm bed?" Conversations will be the major exception to this rule - when seeking information, mostly, but also when meeting NPCs who are important to the plot and interacting with villains who take the time to gloat before attacking. Still, for Exploration and Encounters and Passing Time, I want short descriptions of actions and not lengthy RP'd out scenarios that take up most the night.

4 - Downtime is Brief and Mechanical: Long story short - short of Conversations, town time will be the quickest of game modes.