The Homework Never Ends Marking off my legacy of worldly deeds

How to Start an RPG Campaign Step 3 – Choose Story Type and Genre

Before you progress in planning your campaign, you need to decide how long you plan to make it last and what sort of structure it will have. As John Shaffstall wrote on storyline types, there are only a few basic types to choose from:

• One-shot: Though a game that only lasts a single session sounds like the best way to start out, it isn't usually as fun as a full-blown campaign and can therefore squash your dreams a little.
• Episodic: The characters' condition resets between sessions, as if they rested and healed, possibly even travelling.
• Finite Serial: The story continues as one long string between sessions, so that sometimes, characters start a session with disadvantages and in situations established in the previous.
• Infinite Serial: You create a setting and basic storyline; the adventure can keep going as long as your players are willing to follow it.

Making this decision early on will affect how you plan out your campaign.

The next decision is about atmosphere. How do you want your players to feel as they play? There are many kinds of session:

• Adventure: The majority of campaigns are built around a swashbuckling, exploring theme; you try to get your players a little excited and eager to press on.
• Horror: You confront the players with terrible things and force them to make difficult choices. Might be difficult to pull off for first-time GMs.
• Drama: Tip the balance of gameplay toward roleplaying and making the players get into their character's head. This is sort of like putting on a play.
• Puzzle: Get the players discussing how to beat a puzzle or solve a mystery.
• On and on: There are many more possible moods to set.

Once you've made the above decisions, you should have an idea of what genre you want to use. If not, try the Genre Masher.