Create an Immersive RPG Campaign Using These Two Principles Just Like Those Bastards!

For years now Nerdarchists Dave and Ted, Nerditor Doug, Robin Miller and I have been gaming on YouTube. It all started with a simple concept story: all of us were half-siblings with a human father. We needed to find him. Why? We didn’t know but we did have destiny on our side! This plot was a fantastic setup and just one of the many elements of what makes this game great.

How you play means more than what you play

Once in a while — if you’re lucky — you find that sweet spot gaming group with whom you just vibe. When this happens it doesn’t matter what game you play. To D&D and beyond you just know every game you play, it’s going to be one of the greats. It’s going to be one of the games you talk about for years to come, and you make a lifetime of memories playing it. The best part of writing all of this is, I have the privilege of experiencing that very thing with Nerdarchy.

I’m not just saying this because I’m part of Nerdarchy. I genuinely vibe with our live play group in a way you don’t get with every table. The fact that we’ve been gaming online for literally years and I enjoy it just as much as playing live speaks volumes, because I tend to prefer gaming in person.

Dave’s bold choices and portrayals pair well with Doug’s generally ardent, more compassionate characters. Robin’s mirth and pointed timing match well with Ted’s wit and perfectly-timed puns. Together we’re really a motley bag of personalities but our shared love of gaming brings us to the table and our love of sharing experiences brings us to the stream. I cannot convey with text how much I love gaming with these guys.

So, that’s it, right? End of the post: we just happened to gel perfectly? Not exactly. While we do get along there’s more at play than simple player chemistry. That’s why today I want to talk about a couple of lessons Those Bastards! taught me about cooperative storytelling and immersion.

When it comes to your party – build a mosaic, don’t weave a tapestry

It’s fitting, given our dynamics, that the game to kick it all off and really bind our player dynamics is the first to which we return for a season 2 (with the same group) on YouTube. Our game, fittingly dubbed Those Bastards! is (contrary to its naming implication) a family-oriented show about adult sibling bonds and developing connections with found family (a personal favorite trope of mine).

We created unique characters, each with a different upbringing, personality and worldview. This diversity, in tandem with our own diversity as players, really comes through.

Could we have a game with all half-elves using the same premise? Sure, but it would be a truly different experience. Could we have played this game if all of our characters had chosen the same class? Again, yes, but the difference in classes helps to show who the characters are and how they navigate the world.

In the same way, when we form our gaming groups I think there’s often a thought process that you want to game with like-minded people and to a degree I think that’s good. However, if you game only with people who are similar to you then you lose out on something special.

Every thespian needs a rules lawyer to keep them grounded in the game. Every power builder needs a dice goblin to borrow from for that epic fireball. Every murder hobo needs the thespian to remind them how actions have consequences in a living world. It’s so important for Dungeon Masters and players alike to play to the personal strengths of each individual member, both in the game with characters and with those sitting around the table. Every rogue needs their cleric, after all.

Instead of weaving a tapestry, deciding where each thread should go and shaping each element to be exactly what the DM wants, think about your game more like a mosaic. It’s a collage of pieces — all different shapes, sizes, colors and textures — that can be arranged in the grand scheme to form a truly beautiful work of art without so much structure and intricate control.

Robin does this in our game every step of the way, making sure to include elements for each player to enjoy. They also play to situations and obstacles that must be overcome in different ways and at different times. This ensures each of our characters feels useful. Instead of working to overcome what our characters can do, our DM makes sure they craft situations that specifically highlight and allow us to use our characters’ features. This mechanical boost increases our enjoyment of the story dramatically.

Collaborate with your players to build the story

Collaborating when building a story isn’t only about individual encounters though. Robin makes a point throughout the game to give us the reigns as players when it comes to worldbuilding. One example is in our first session of season 2, Robin allowed me freedom to make up lore about these trees with black leaves that are shadow-touched, and I decided they taste like black licorice and make a brilliant candy.

This level of trust and confidence in their players speaks volumes and it makes us as players care more about the world our characters inhabit, because we got a chance to influence a part of it beyond our characters.

Some DMs closely guard their worldbuilding to their chest, and I do get it. I’m the same way with some of my own worlds, such as Aulmn for Quill & Sword, but there’s definitely a magic to being given control of a part of the world’s history and traits.

I could wax on and on about the virtues of collaborative storytelling in gaming. Another friend of Nerdarchy, Brian Colin, employs this method of player immersion liberally. He does this even to the point of allowing us players to build the theme of the adventure for our most recent play of Over the Troll Bridge.

Suffice it to say giving players a hand in building your world is one of the best means of investing your players into your setting. It does bear mentioning how employing this technique requires a degree of flexibility on the part of the DM. If your players decide to come up with something wild or totally unexpected, you can’t take back the control and undermine their decision because that will always bitter the experience for your players.

To prevent this, offer control to players over things not immediately consequential to your setting. Alternatively, you can make a point of making one of their choices retroactively consequential to your plot, empowering the decision they made for your world. That demonstrates investment on your part in the decision they made and can work to invest your players even further in the events and world you’re building.

What do you think?

How do you build investment in your story and setting with your table? Do you have anymore tips to get your players invested? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube in the comments of our most recent episode of Those Bastards!

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