3 Ways to Design RPG Campaigns: Railroad vs. Open World vs. Dave - a podcast by Thorin McGee

How do you create your own RPG campaign from scratch? Do you build a railroad straight through the story, or an open world for the players to explore in their own way at their own pace? Or do you do what DM Dave does, and try to split the difference between a tight story and an open world without getting lost along the way?

In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about how they build their campaigns, from what they want to accomplish to how they prepare week to week. Along they’ll way, we’ll look at how the different styles affect the players and their game experience. And we’ll discuss whether or not, in the end, they’re really all that different?

2:00 3 Different styles of campaign building

3:00 Building Dave’s Halloween railroad to Weird New Jersey

5:00 Adjusting BBEGs for player level

10:00 Building Woodstock: A border town on the edge of MADNESS

12:00 Is there really that much difference between paying in an open world and tight story-focused adventure?

17:00 How players must find their way in an open world (and some freeze up)

24:00 Can player characters REALLY have agency in a pre-built adventure?

33:00 The “No” reflex: How DMs react when players try to do big, cool (campaign ruining?) things

41:00 The limits of memory: One advantage straightforward, story-focused games have over open worlds

44:00 How even open-world games see their paths narrow to a railroad as the game goes on

48:00 Gaming outside the box: What does a truly player-driven campaign look like?

52:00 Pacing, technology and the great fear of coming up short

59:00 Who defines a PC’s role in the story, the DM or player? (i.e. Who wants to be a sidekick?)

63:00 Player agency on the large scale: How the campaign unfolds, not just encounters

68:00 1st level to 20th in 3 months: RPG timelines are weird

76:00 How we build our campaigns and prep for sessions week by week

85:00 Final thoughts

Further episodes of 3 Wise DMs

Further podcasts by Thorin McGee

Website of Thorin McGee