Ryder from The Brew Crew talks about the three Tenants of enjoyable adventuring in tabletop campaigns.
You fiddle at the lock, hearing the final tumbler fall into place. You are weary, exhausted, having spent hours in a game you just wish would end already. Your party is showing each other pictures of their pets, the DM is still drawing the next map, and you stew in the knowledge that you canceled other engagements for this. But you can take solace, dear adventurer, for in your callused hands is the key. Coveted by the archmages whose names are etched in the pillars of the Greatest Games, is the Scroll of Enjoyable Adventuring: the three tenants of enjoyable gameplay. You open the wax seal, unfurling the parchment in your grasp.
Tenant the first:
Set your expectations, such that you may achieve them.
Before embarking on a quest, suss out the abilities of your collaborators. Is everyone able to commit to a regular schedule? How long will sessions run? In these desolate plague times, does everyone have a reliable stone of far speech that doesn’t drop discord every ten minutes? With the knowledge of your potential companions abilities, you can determine if your own powers find synergy with their’s. Like, some groups talk and hang out for like, an hour before starting a game, but you might like to be right on time. Clever curators of adventure will lay out guidelines of expectation for their expeditions into the fantastic realms, and this ensures a standard of behavior to be held in rapture by all involved. Be upfront in your expectations, adventurers, lest you be soured to play by incompatible desires…..
Tenant the second:
Explore options available, so you may be aware of your disposition towards them.
One cannot be sure the arcane lifestyle is suited for them without trying it. A self-encapsulated adventure is a fine solution to try out new things. The stakes are low, the preparation minimal, and the casting time is paltry at worst. If you commonly materialize as a fighter, maybe try a cleric this time. If your goal is experimentation, then the conclusion that a role or environment is unsuitable to oneself is not a loss, but learning!
This is not to say, however, that one experiment can encompass all of experience. A spell once bringing joy may bring sorrow when cast again and again. Fear not- contained still is the final tennant to achieve the greatest of games.
Tenant the third:
Change is the essence of magic and time, as such it must be welcomed into aspiring hearts.
Sometimes, things that seemed like a good idea at the time turn out to not be. No adventuring party wants a member to be unhappy in weaving a collaborative tale, so removing the veil and speaking truthfully to your leaders and friends is vital to maintain morale and gaiety. Fear that your woes will not be taken seriously or viewed with empathy is unbecoming of brethren of the table, and respect for the people behind their avatars must take precedence over any one person’s quest for glory.
You hold the parchment in trembling hands, its contents coursing through your mind. Set Expectations. Learn your playstyle. Be flexible in the face of life. With these tenants in your heart, you stand up, and your journey leads on….
As always check out more articles from The Brew Crew here, and while you’re at it check out Volo’s Guide to Monsters for some inspiration for your 5th edition DnD homebrew campaigns.
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