DM-ing babble: My first homebrew setting... oh dear.

I've been playing D&D for close to seven years and DM-ed for maybe three years(?), but they've been pre-written campaigns or one-shots (usually crappy ones with little decent motivations in them). Homebrew in any form has always been a bit of a mountain I haven't dared climb. Well, sort of. I did try a homebrew setting once. It didn't work out well. It was an email campaign... which is mostly why it failed because time zones suck.

Anyhoo, I admire those who do have homebrew settings because I struggle with proper motivations for characters and getting a story that pops. I have similar challenges with writing stories, so it doesn't quite surprise me that this would be a hurdle I face in the TTRPG sphere. 

But... I've found a story... Uhm, no. Let's call it an fledgling idea. So I've found a fledgling idea that I like. I have victims to try it on. And I have ample enough time to plan the crap out of it. 

This is already sufficient motivation to try it out.

And then, the key ingredient, I have committed myself publicly to try. Guilting me into action is always key. Sadly. Damn.

Future post will probably include more detail as I figure it out and ramble about it. 

What I can say now is that I have a starting world map thanks to Inkarnate, Roll20, and Mythic Portal Games' Cartographers Guild tokens. I have both a city and a town that's slowly taking shape, and I have maps for them thanks to Medieval Fantasy City Generator by watabou.

So the resources are in place. Now to populate the world and make it interesting. That's the next challenge.

I don't know how much I will share of the world here. Perhaps a bit, depending on interest. Perhaps only vaguely in case the only interested parties are my players. Tricksy players.

So here's my question for those game masters out there. How would you start off a level 1 party? How does one work towards levelling them up and making those experiences meaningful without it just being a goblin slog? That seems to be something that's done to death. 

Podcasting babble: Guesting for Dragons & Flagons

So I did it. 

I shifted my mic boom arm closer, kept a close eye on my notes, and participated in a podcast. The subject matter was something everyone who has had experience with playing roleplaying games could add their input on:

'What makes for a bad player?'

The previous podcasts the team of Dragons & Flagons did had to do with what makes for good players and good DMs. This conversation was the inverse of that and had us listing some pet peeves that you can get from players. It was an interesting conversation. 

At some point, I had forgotten that I was supposed to be adding to the discussion and listened mostly because I was reminded how, several years ago before I stumbled over D&D, I barely found people whom I resonated with. And while the countries, cultures and even language are different, I still felt that sense of resonance during the conversation. Which was kinda cool. Not necessarily a thought to occupy one's time while recording but still cool.

I've been invited to record the next podcast with them as well. This will be about what makes for a bad DM. My notes are ready and I'm eager to be a part of the discussion.

Hopefully this time I won't get too distracted!