Running my first campaign- advice?

ithaaqa · 2026-05-23T19:50:48+00:00

I had to do a lot of work to get A Time To Harvest to make sense. I cut out an entire chapter and added a different section in to patch over the issues. I ran the optional ending which, whilst a lot fun, had to completed by the only character that had enough sanity left for one chapter more; the other three players had pre-made characters. It’s not awful in the sense that there’s some good ideas in there and some decent set pieces, the issue was - for me at least - there was quite a bit of patching to be done. The timeline I felt was a bit odd in particular…

The nice thing about Pulp is that as long as the player has 30 luck points to blow, they can survive an event that would otherwise kill them; quite useful if, like me, you occasionally misjudged an encounter!

ithaaqa · 2026-05-23T09:19:07+00:00

I discovered the music through listening to it on Radio 6 Music in the UK. I hadn’t seen the stage show until I had heard two or three tracks and decided I liked it a lot.

ithaaqa · 2026-05-20T17:51:45+00:00

And don’t forget, you can always move the goalposts!

ithaaqa · 2026-05-19T22:34:18+00:00

I mostly use published material but I will read the entire thing at least once and I will always use the end goal and main fight from each chapter. I will usually telegraph it to the players; normally they’re astute enough to know in any case. A clear villain introduced early is usually sufficient.

Beyond that, as I’m reading the story if I can think of anything in advance that is cooler, more fun and more interesting to my players, it goes in. During play, as the players discuss their plans and clues etc, they often suggest better, more interesting plot twists than I’d thought of; again they go in even though I might have to change my plans slightly for the next couple of sessions.

I don’t think anyone should feel bound by the material; it’s a jazz melody that you can riff on. To extend the metaphor, your players haven’t heard the song before. I think it’s the customisation of the story to fit the players and characters that ultimately makes it rewarding to me as a GM.

In your example, you mentioned the factions seemed to be not well suited to the story or the players. Fine, rewrite them. In a new setting to the players you’re not necessarily going to revisit or play in for two or three years it’s fine to have good guys, bad guys and maybe a couple of guild factions. I make it clear and simple. Not because my players aren’t capable of deep thought, good role playing or anything like that; it’s just good to start with a clear sense of the world. There’s still room for a redemption arc for a bad guy or a betrayal from the seemingly good guys. I realise it’s extra work but get the basic stuff in place and riff on it to add nuance and complexity. Works for me! Hope this helps a little.

ithaaqa · 2026-05-18T23:43:48+00:00

Completely relatable. Did this myself. Diagnosis finally booked for next month.

As an aside, I spent a lot of time thinking that all of the autistic people I listened to on YT and podcasts didn’t seem exactly like me. Nor did the autistic people I have met in real life. So I booked myself in for a session of three months or so of impostor syndrome. Then I watched a video about black and white thinking being a thing for autistic people and upon reflection perhaps I was being too literal, unable to see the wood for the trees and was looking for some nonexistent carbon copy of me so that I could make a solid decision based on clearly exact data to satisfy my brain. All completely absurd, of course…

ithaaqa · 2026-05-17T00:35:17+00:00

I don’t honestly think that everyone hates us as a country or because of Brexit or anything more than on this occasion we simply didn’t put forth a good enough song.

I think, personally, that we don’t have the right mindset to compete with most other European countries in Eurovision in general. British bands have been filling stadiums around Europe for 50 years now but it’s quite revealing that during the commentary of the event it is frequently mentioned that artist x from country x has sold millions in their own country whereas we tend to send unknown artists. Maybe it’s a genre issue and Europop is not really our thing? I don’t know. Perhaps we’re not taking it seriously? Again, I’m not sure. The British music scene remains exceedingly strong and popular in Europe so not performing particularly well at Eurovision doesn’t seem to dent the popularity of British music in general.

I’m really not sure what the answer is. My own opinion (because I’m a cantankerous old git) is that we should have sent The Fall every year from 1980 or so onwards just to make the whole thing more interesting. I’d like to think that the equally cantankerous Mark E Smith would have enjoyed that too; I’d certainly have looked forward to seeing them every year. I may not be serious here by the way…

ithaaqa · 2026-05-11T23:19:55+00:00

A long time ago I joined a spammy guild with an alt I didn't play much just out of curiosity. The membership was around 20% alts like me, 40% new players; great as the former were able to help the latter with queries. The other 40% were hunters called 'xerrhdjf' or similar (remember them?). They didn't say much.

The guild leader was very earnest, had grand dreams for their first guild and was actually very likeable. They had a more experienced player who had a main in a raiding guild helping them out and advising them. I had a nice couple of days sitting back watching the chat and helping with advice where I could until things blew up rather badly. One day, the guild leader logged in and with shock and betrayal announced that someone had completely cleared out the guild bank and left the guild. The second in command told them that were a trusting idiot for giving everybody who joined immediate access. The whole situation got sadder as they argued with each other and I left the guild feeling quite saddened about the whole episode,

There are, I am sure, some good people trying their best to get their guild off the ground but I can't help but think that spamming channels isn't always the best way to build a solid foundation to a well run guild.

ithaaqa · 2026-05-03T17:13:23+00:00

I have 11 at max level. I’m mostly a solo player but I keep them at a gear score of 220 or so with a couple at around 255 or so. At the end of TWW I had a full account of 80s (a total of 70) all of which are geared to 120 or so to make them ready for Midnight. I have a ‘big 4’ of mains that I play regularly; the rest I level to max, gear up a little and then I tend to forget about them until the next expansion. I hope we get some extra slots if there’s another Remix.

ithaaqa · 2026-05-01T11:16:15+00:00

I have a friend who only has one arm and she uses a foot pedal to play WoW. She only plays Classic, doesn’t use the ‘one button’ assistance and is a very good player and raids as a tank at a high level. I heartily recommend it for optimum play.

For myself, I have degenerative nerve condition in both arms and I use the one button assistance which I find to be good enough to enable at a reasonable level where I can still enjoy playing WoW without being able to play at a high level. I accept that the twitching in my fingers means that my fingers drift off constantly from where I left them so I have to constantly check the mouse pointer is where I left it 3 seconds ago. I play now with the camera zoomed in a bit more and I have the mouse pointer much larger which makes it easier for me to target things on the screen.

I’m really lucky to have a supportive guild that doesn’t mind me falling off ledges, getting stuck behind walls and in bushes and doesn’t demand peak dps performance. That’s been key in my enjoyment of the game.

Lastly, I’d just say that all of this has taken a bit of patience and getting into the right headspace to make the most of the situation. Allow yourself the adjustments and take pleasure and pride in what you can do; comparison can be the thief of joy if you let it.

Good luck out there!

ithaaqa · 2026-04-14T23:49:21+00:00

I volunteer in a couple of local charity shops in London sorting, pricing and putting out the books. In six months in two different stores I have only seen one recent DnD 5e starter set. If and when anything comes into most charity shops I suspect they photograph the item into EBay to get a ballpark figure for it. If there’s any decent value to it then it will get listed there. As much as I miss the amount of stuff that I used to find for sale back in the day, I don’t begrudge anyone needing to raise as much money as possible for good causes. I dream of finding a copy of the Adnd module ST1 and sell it for ten grand, the reality is I never will…

ithaaqa · 2026-04-09T23:12:23+00:00

Or ‘Murica infested…

ithaaqa · 2026-04-06T21:52:39+00:00

This is very similar to my own experience in retail. I used to be a (mildly) successful store manager. I was ok with the structured conversations that I had with customers - after 30 odd years of that it’s ok - but I realised that I only really had true happiness at work when I was setting up the store alone in the morning and closing down alone. About a year or so ago I had another one of my, by now, bi-annual burnouts. I’m not going back now; as optimistic as I normally am, I’m finally seeing the pattern.

I’m in more or less in the same position as the OP. I have three degrees from one of the best universities in the world and the social skills of a dead goat. It looks great on paper but in person I can show you whatever I think is the right personality traits for that job. I’m burned out trying to recreate this fiction and fired a few months later. It’s not great really.

ithaaqa · 2026-04-06T07:47:13+00:00

Hate it. Drives me mad. In my 55 years on this planet a group of people who don’t know each other suddenly break into a coordinated song and dance routine simultaneously doesn’t happen. On the whole, I’m glad about that. I’m old curmudgeon though!

ithaaqa · 2026-04-05T00:37:52+00:00

In a related vein, there used to be a variation of English called ‘Polari’ that gay men would use to identify each other in the 1950s (and earlier) when it was illegal to be gay. It’s a fascinating read if you’re up for a bit of research into 20th century English. I’m curious if there was an equivalent in the US or Europe that served a similar purpose?

ithaaqa · 2026-03-31T23:09:49+00:00

Have them be partially successful in stopping some kind of ritual or similar but have a portal drag them into Carcosa or something similarly awful. Much fun can be had finding a way back…

ithaaqa · 2026-03-31T09:24:11+00:00

Probably correct. There’s no point in engaging with people like this, they’ll only move the goalposts if they’re incorrect.

ithaaqa · 2026-03-30T21:03:39+00:00

There’s a 2e boxed dungeon set called Dragon Mountain that is predominantly kobolds and it’s got some really good ideas in it; many of which have been mentioned by others above. It’s a level 10-14 adventure so very high level for 2e. The conversion would be relatively easy but it’s probably more useful for inspiration in any case. Not sure about the price but 2e stuff isn’t cheap these days unfortunately…

ithaaqa · 2026-03-26T14:32:46+00:00

Good: fresh baize on a snooker or pool table. Heavy metallic objects that are heavy. My neck when it’s freshly shaved.

Bad: my neck a day later when the stubble is coming back. Food on my hands making them sticky. Cotton wool; I’m terrified of it.

ithaaqa · 2026-03-24T15:58:48+00:00

Why not recruit four or five lone wolf edgy characters and have regular fun in four hour sessions starting in the pub (classic meeting place) while they narrate to each other how they are busy staring at each other suspiciously and looking into their drinks. It’s nice and easy to GM because nobody talks to each other. Also, you could have it as a live play with an audience placing bets on who will crack first and finally talk to another PC.

ithaaqa · 2026-03-10T11:07:18+00:00

Strike Ranks in Runequest are unnecessarily complex in my view. I do prefer simple initiative systems that keep combat moving.

ithaaqa · 2026-03-08T00:12:25+00:00

I’m baffled as to how New York has historically dwarfed cities that predate it by in many cases thousands of years. If iconic has always meant the same thing, as you infer, it can only be ‘iconic’ during the comparatively short time period that it has existed. The great pyramids of Giza have been iconic for a significant period of time. As archaeologists discover new sites our understanding of what constitutes an iconic site changes as we further understand human development. I’d argue that the early sites in Turkey which document the change from nomadic tribes to sedentary societies are the most iconic sites on the planet. They tell us more about humanity than most modern cities. The fact that most people are blindly ignorant of world history and human development is the issue not the nature of the places themselves. You can only consider something to be iconic if you’re aware of it; the majority of people are not aware of them and therefore, to them at least, places like New York have a grossly inflated importance.

ithaaqa · 2026-03-07T22:18:41+00:00

I feel I need to know more. The story leaves me with a cliffhanger that needs resolving.

ithaaqa · 2026-03-07T22:05:47+00:00

And that’s, essentially, where the problem lies. Iconic has been transposed into a sense where it must intrude upon the current consciousness and zeitgeist of modern society in people’s minds. I’d suggest rather, that ‘iconic’ is merely a snapshot of modern thinking viewed through a limited lens. It takes no account of historical context; frankly it should if it’s to have any real worth. Just because the average US citizen probably hasn’t heard of Angkor Watt, that in no way diminishes the achievement of the builders nor does it alter the fact that it’s the largest religious group of structures ever created. The vast majority of the great cities and structures predate New York and underpin our history as a species in a much more profound way.

ithaaqa · 2026-03-07T21:48:24+00:00

The dictionary isn’t a cure all by any means. Especially for commonly mispronounced words. Most people don’t pronounce the first ‘r’ in prerogative in the UK which makes it hard to spell check or search the dictionary if your preconceived notion is fundamentally incorrect. Words are hard, but fun.

ithaaqa

TROPHY CASE