How to Run a Fun D&D Campaign for Low-Commitment Players

There are some themes in our lives when we would love to jump into a game of Dungeons and Dragons but for some reason or another, it becomes a challenge to get everyone together to play. My group has run into this a couple of times through our years playing and I wanted to share some of the solutions we came up with, as well as the pros and cons we ran into, to help you better plan your next campaign and eliminate some of the stressors of planning and scheduling.

This article is broken up into the following sections:

• The Alternating Game Master

• Multiple Rotating Game Masters

• Playing Online

• Final Considerations

The Alternate Game Master

The very first game our group played started right after college. It was a rude awakening into the real world when I discovered how challenging it could be to run a campaign as a new game master for new players while starting a new career as a young adult. It quickly became overwhelming and I realized I did not have as much free time as I had hoped to run a stable campaign. We had another player in the party who was interested in Game Mastering (GMing) and we decided that on days when I couldn’t make our sessions, he would run a session designed in an alternate dimension with the players that could show up on those days.

Pros:

• The alternate Game Master did not need to know any of the main Game Master's secrets or plans for the campaign. Everything in the pocket dimension worked on GM2’s rules and allowed him to grab players where they left off in my session and enter his, then spit them back out where they left off for when it was time to play the main campaign again.

• Any number of players could come and go into the alternate dimension if GM2 allowed it, and people get to play while GM1 is away.

• Even GM1 could have a chance to play a PC in the pocket dimension if they just needed a break.

• It gives other players a chance to explore GMing if they have an interest but are afraid to start or run an entirely new campaign.

• The players get to use their existing characters in new ways and experience scenarios that GM1 might not be able to explore in the main campaign.

Cons:

• Relying too much on the pocket dimension might make your players antsy to continue the main storyline.

• Players might start to feel like the pocket dimension has become the main storyline.

• Players may not like the chance of pace if it takes away from their experience in the main campaign they are running.

Considerations:

• If this is a method you plan to use regularly, have a discussion with the players about it first to make sure you and the alternate GM(s) are on the same page with the players, how the swap is going to happen, and how to ensure everyone continues to enjoy themselves (since ultimately that is the goal of playing D&D!)

Ideas for initiating the Game Master’s Switch:

• An alternate dimension is created by a powerful sorcerer who is gathering strong or up-and-coming adventurers to test their strength in a series of challenges.

• Some actions your party members have made recently have caused a thinning of the veil between dimensions and occasionally they begin slipping through, running into adventures on both sides.

• One party member is subconsciously pulling everyone else into their dreams while they sleep, forcing them to fight off their dream state in order for all of them to return back to consciousness and their main mission.

Multiple Rotating Game Masters

Once that main campaign ended and some years had passed, our group came together to try and play again. This time, we did not want a repeat of what happened before. I knew I couldn’t commit myself to being a full-time game master like before, but I was willing to share the load. With several different creatives in our group, we decided to split the GM role three ways and created a campaign that could rotate each session to a new GM but allowed players the flexibility to keep or change their characters if they desired.

Pros:

• Each Game Master got a lot more time to plan each session.

• Because of this, sessions may be able to happen more frequently.

• You can play on days when not all members are available, or your number of players is regularly changing.

• One person is not stuck being the GM for an entire campaign.

• Players have the opportunity to try out characters that might be less practical or comfortable for long campaigns.

• Missions can (though they don't have to) be more guided, which could be great for new players.

• Sessions can achieve a beginning, middle, and end in one sitting if designed according to the time you intend to play, which could be great for tables that constantly change players.

Cons:

• It may be harder to achieve more complex backstories.

• Some players may feel like changing the GM is disruptive due to preferences and style.

• You may not always know how to balance your encounters ahead of time.

• Some players may feel like they are being railroaded from constant one-offs.

Considerations:

• For players who want to explore complex characters and backstories, make sure all of your Game Masters have a way to achieve this. Maybe each is able to provide a piece of the puzzle, or one Game Master really focuses on helping that player uncover their story.

• When executing these sessions, keep in mind the “yes, and…” method of improv which encourages the improvisers to accept input from the others involved and build off of it.

• You can avoid or reduce disruption to player experience by ensuring you set the grounds for a few constants in the game, such as locations, goals, and loot structure. But more importantly, understanding why your players play Dungeons and Dragons and what they want to get out of it will help all GMs plan sessions that their players enjoy.

• Use third-party tools or plan encounters for various numbers of players if you are unsure how many players are going to attend your next session.

• If you are worried about players feeling dissatisfied with constant one-off sessions or that they are being railroaded too hard, consider creating encounters with more flexible outcomes, or switching it up between combat and social encounters. Throw in some curve balls.

Ideas for Initiating a Rotating Game Master Campaign:

• Your players are all a part of a guild. Each mission starts at the guild headquarters and is assigned to the adventuring party the guild feels is best suited for the job (which is why party members are frequently changing).

• Your players are all a part of one big adventuring party that has a home base. They take on missions and can travel to nearby cities, but in the end, they always return to this home base where the rest of their party regroups with them.

• Your players have found an item that is disrupting time and space itself. While they are trying to come up with a way to shut it down, they are constantly being pulled into new locations and new adventures that they might have to talk or fight their way out of.

Playing Online

Sometimes the hardest part about getting a session started isn't the availability to play as much as it is the challenge of getting together in one place to make the game happen. Whether it is travel distance, unavailable accommodations, social anxiety, or something else, playing online is a great way to get a game started up with people no matter how far away they are.

Pros:

• There are a lot of really cool tools out there (free and paid) for playing online that include character sheets, immersive maps, have easy access to the rules online, will do the math for your rolls, and more so you can focus on playing.

• There is 0 travel time needed; players just need a device that can hook up to the internet and a mic to chat with.

• Players can join from all over; location is not a problem anymore.

• It becomes easier to "whisper" as a Game Master and a player to keep secrets and big reveal more exciting.

• If your players are trustworthy, you can still roll dice and do not have to rely on third-party software to do this for you.

Cons:

• You are not playing in person.

• You are not always going to be able to roll your own dice since there is not an easy method of accountability.

• There may have to be work done upfront, money spent, or both in order to get a third-party platform ready for players.

• There is also a learning curve on this technology and the potential for technical errors to occur.

Considerations:

• Try free platforms or free versions of a platform before putting money into it.

• Have a backup plan for if (and when) your video or mic platform bugs out.

• If you and/or your players want to roll real dice, come up with a method for accountability ahead of time (such as rolling important checks clearly in the camera's view).

Final Considerations

Ultimately, when deciding what kind of campaign to run make sure you design it and your sessions with your players in mind. What is it that you as an individual want to get out of the experience and what is it that each of them wants? Every player is different and their motivations might not be the same across the table but they can help drive your story, even from the creation point on why your players are together in the beginning, and what event is happening that causes the Game Master to change in a way that blends into the story.