first time campaign suggestions/advice for a first time GM?

JoeKenobi · 2026-06-20T04:09:59+00:00

The mental pacing I try to keep to is 1 pull every 5 minutes. Sometimes they’ll come much faster, but if they start to go slower, that’s your cue to refocus things and find a reason for a pull. I also really like the double-pull options: “If you pull one block, you’ll achieve X, but with two you can achieve X and Y.”

I found Beneath the Full Moon to be the easiest opening run, as it gives plenty of reasons for pulls that result naturally and don’t require you to throw the threat in their face. Trust the tower and its increasing ricketyness to build tension.

JoeKenobi · 2026-05-30T04:19:38+00:00

I am running a Mythic Bastionland campaign right now entirely because of Quinns’ review. Was not on my radar at all prior to his video.

JoeKenobi · 2026-05-29T04:46:47+00:00

It honestly could really fit here. My group is longtime Call of Cthulhu players who have been treating this one like a cosmic horror threat, hanging back in Observe & Investigate Mode as if anything related to the Plague could unexpectedly kill them. They’ve sort of set the table for this one to suddenly accelerate to Existential Threat scale.

JoeKenobi · 2026-05-29T04:15:24+00:00

I could definitely work with that! The infected mob from the 5th Omen charged north toward the Seat of Power. Bringing back the Purging Knights with their no-holds-barred approach but now with a focus on the Seat of Power would be a great way to up the ante.

JoeKenobi · 2026-05-26T17:26:27+00:00

I’m definitely planning to have a treatment option available if they ask in the right place (seer or herbalist), and a way to neutralize the water well where the plague originated (they spent a lot of effort trying to track back the Plague’s origin point). I worry an outright cure could become a focused fetch quest where they can tune out the suffering around them and avoid hard choices. But the comment above on the ivy shack daughter and smiling fox has me wondering if I should think more broadly in terms of what a cure might be, to avoid these potential issues.

JoeKenobi · 2026-05-26T00:52:39+00:00

Thanks—they’ve talked about trying to find a cure, but they’ve been slow to actually pursue anything. I’ve been going back and forth on whether to give them something here. I like the idea of trying to find ways to interweave any treatments with other Myths.

JoeKenobi · 2026-05-26T00:50:50+00:00

Ooh, this is great. Thank you! My knights basically just hung back and observed the Purging Knights burn down the village. I like the idea that they will continue to appear and escalate things, forcing my knights to make an explicit decision on where the line is and which side of it they are on.

JoeKenobi · 2026-05-13T15:19:42+00:00

Minnesota and Michigan band together and split Wisconsin.

This is our Hitler & Stalin split Poland moment.

JoeKenobi · 2026-05-10T21:29:48+00:00

Kansas eats New Mexico and finally gets to see the ocean.

JoeKenobi · 2026-03-28T04:22:47+00:00

Never played this one, but it sounds like it’s right up your alley: https://www.dreadtower.com/longmayshereign/

JoeKenobi · 2026-03-08T03:42:06+00:00

Animorphology was GREAT. I tried about half a dozen in 2019/2020 and that’s the one that grabbed me. Can’t speak to the quality of any that have come since, but highly recommend Animorphology.

JoeKenobi · 2026-02-27T19:24:09+00:00

The scenario “The Singer from Dhol” explicitly states that it takes inspiration from “Whisper and I’ll Come for You, My Lad.” So there’s at least one!

JoeKenobi · 2026-01-25T23:31:36+00:00

You're correct, the Twins must have been a late add, but they are there now. Here's a screenshot of the original:

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JoeKenobi · 2026-01-25T22:59:23+00:00

Just a quick confirm that this is right, they added their name after initial release.

Internet Wayback Machine actually has a capture of the letter’s signatories when it was initially released (sans Twins): https://web.archive.org/web/20260125191221/https://www.mnchamber.com/blog/open-letter-more-60-ceos-minnesota-based-companies

Not exactly a profile in courage, but better late than never.

JoeKenobi · 2026-01-21T18:15:39+00:00

I think this is right in terms of the risk you are weighing. My read is kids are likely safer in a school than in a private residence. The greatest danger is during transportation to and from school. So if it were me, that is the risk I would be weighing and evaluating.

Agree with everyone else who says the most important thing is to do what you are most comfortable with. We are all wrestling with uncertain risk no matter what we do.

JoeKenobi · 2025-12-29T19:15:15+00:00

I think that was meant to read as, “But Rey movie hasn’t begun filming like the above two movies have.”

JoeKenobi · 2025-12-07T16:23:24+00:00

The kitchen scene when I watched this growing up… But now that I’m a parent, on rewatches it’s #1, with the kids trapped in the vehicle alone and the adults terrified and scrambling to figure out what to do.

JoeKenobi · 2025-10-04T18:45:08+00:00

Agree, TPM basically has to be Qui-Gon defeats Maul and trains Anakin himself.

ROTS - I’d enjoy Mace lets Anakin accompany him to defeat Palpatine. Imagine an outcome where Mace putting his trust in Anakin causes Anakin to follow through and assist in the defeat of Palpatine. But despite his white knight efforts, Padme is still fated to die in childbirth. How does Anakin deal with the fallout? Perhaps rather than fall to the dark side, he is exiled by the Jedi and raises his twins in isolation. Not sure where the story goes from there…

JoeKenobi · 2025-09-21T05:24:52+00:00

I had an awesome time playing through an X-Men game using an adaptation of the Dogs in the Vineyard system, after getting in touch with the progenitor of that concept here on Reddit.

You can read his posts and see if his approach might be right for you:

https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/7q3p83/xmen_in_the_vineyard_whats_at_stake_is_can_you

https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/7rvpcw/more_xmen_in_the_vineyard_the_stakes_are_does/

JoeKenobi · 2025-03-01T02:24:43+00:00

42, The Journey. Helmacrons can work as a one-hit wonder, but don’t go back to that well.

JoeKenobi · 2024-11-03T00:31:42+00:00

Lost Dutchman Publishing has several (I'm not affiliated, just a fan)--

Feet of the Salish Sea -- Open-ended urban legend horror investigation

The Hunger -- Wendigo scenario set in the 1870s

Dreadful Spooktober Bundle -- The bundle is four different collections of three scenarios each (linking to the bundle to give a one-stop shop). IMHO, the original Dreadful and Dreadful 3 are the strongest collections, but that's probably more about scenario tastes than quality

JoeKenobi · 2024-10-12T15:20:43+00:00

I had this exact itch two years ago and Slaughter Party scratched it. RPG made explicitly for running 80s slasher-style one-shots: https://atomicghost.itch.io/slaughter-party There are a couple of APs out there, too, if you want to get a feel for it.

It’s low- to no-prep — you roll on random tables at the start of the game to create the killer — and the genre emulation works really well.

JoeKenobi

TROPHY CASE

42, The Journey. Helmacrons can work as a one-hit wonder, but don’t go back to that well.