The Anything Campaign Form

For No Actual Reason

I think it's about time I tell you what kind of DM I am. I nearly have a copy of every edition of D&D in my library, including clones (OCE, Swords & Wizardry, Swords & Wizardry Whitebox, Swords & Wizardry Complete, Labyrinth Lord, Lamentations of the Flame Princess Deluxe Edition, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition, Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition and Pathfinder), and what is missing I have in pdf (Holmes, B/X, Rules Cyclopedia, OSRIC™, Dark Dungeons, and Dungeons & Dragons 3.5.) And you know what? I like all of these editions, in varying degrees (read depending on the moment.) Also, I have pretty wide literary appetites (read Anything Related to Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror Except Shit like The Wheel of Time, Anything Salvatore wrote and so on, You Know What I'm Talking About.) And I know that I must curb my GADD, or I can easily switch between four different rule-systems during the course of 25 sessions (I know this because I did it.)

Therefore, despite the fact that, as a player, I generally find the question of the DM's Authority sacrosanct, especially when it comes to campaign design (i.e. if you DM then you can DM whatever you want, because writing campaigns is already a pain in the neck), as a DM I'm fine with running What Players Want (within limits, of course). Thus, during the last few weeks I have been thinking about putting together a questionnaire to submit to players in order to better comprehend their tastes. I would love to know if you get any use out of this (I would make use of it myself, but actually have no sessions on the horizon so...)

What ruleset do you most prefer?

• Original Edition (damn fast, still rather peculiar)
• Basic Edition (Races as Classes, simple rules)
• Advanced Edition (lots of rules, lots of options, definitely non-linear)
• Third Edition (as above except for non-linearity)
• Fourth Edition (you know boardgames, don't you?)

Would you mind playing a clone, such as Labyrinth Lord or Pathfinder?

• Yes, gimme the original or die
• No, I don't give a fuck
• As a matter of fact I'm pretty curious about clones
• What's this "clone" thing you're talking about? Can I still be a Tank Dwarf Warrior with n'nchacks?

What should the setting be like?

• Fantasy
• Swords & Sorcery
• Science Fiction
• Romance
• A combination of the above (specify)
• None of the above (specify)
• A mismatch of the above

Would you like to add some adjectives?

• Heroic
• Epic
• Fairy
• Pulp
• Weird
• Horror
• Planetary
• Drama
• Other (specify)

What should the campaign's primary terrain be?

• Desert
• Mountains
• Swamps
• Plain
• Forest
• Sea

And what about the climate?

• Arctic
• Sub-arctic
• Temperate
• Sub-tropical
• Tropical
• Equatorial

What should the campaign focus be?

• Exploration
• Acquire Knowledge
• Action
• Solve Mysteries
• Just Kill Monsters and Take Their Stuff
• A combination of the above (specify)
• Other (specify)

And what about plots?

• Just one, big plot (straight)
• Several linked plots
• Several unlinked plots
• Wilderness Crawling (Sandbox)
• Dungeon Crawling (Megadungeon)
• Other (specify)

What about me changing/adding to the available races/classes/options?

• Are you mad?! You mustn't touch the ruleset or you won't be playing D&D anymore!!
• I prefer the classics
• I'm fine, within limits
• I'm fine, but please don't touch (specify)
• It depends: can I play Spock?
• Yeah please do it, classic stuff bores me to death

Are you impressionable?

• Yes, please reduce splattering/gore
• Not much, just don't exaggerate
• Definitely not
• As a matter of fact I do want all the splatterism/gorism you can give me!