Can someone recommend a resource that tells you exactly what to do to run (procedurally) a Fantasy RPG campaign?

I should never have complained (only on the internet) about having to run Arcanis, since at least that has a super-detailed world and pre-made campaigns. It turns out my players have decided that (1) I'm running Dungeon Crawl Classics; (2) I can't convert an Adventure Path from Pathfinder (or something similar). If I had any say in what I was running I'd (1) only run things in the real world+ (or failing that a provided setting) and (2) use an adventure path / campaign / plot point adventure (or failing that something with a clearly defined core activity like Delta Green or Werewolf the Forsaken). Creating adventures, settings, and campaigns is agonizing and unpleasant for me.

I know you'll recommend Apocalypse World, but, for whatever reason, it doesn't really make any sense to me. I just don't get how it really applies to anything, other than providing a few super vague outputs. I'm glad you like it but I don't get it.

I have resources that provide a bunch of tables, but it's unclear to me what I actually do with them. I've got GM advice (like the Lazy GM Book), but it's just a bunch of advice, nothing procedural that tells someone that's horrible at this kind of GMing.

Is there something that explicitly tells you what to do to prepare the campaign, then prepare for each session, that's more useful than what seems to be the vague outputs of Dungeon World?

No, I don't need to railroad my players. I'm happy to provide a situation where they get to do whatever they want to solve it. However, I need a lot more prep than "just a situation" otherwise my sessions are pretty empty (I need NPC's, locations, timelines, challenges prepared).

I am not familiar with DCC, but I know there are a shed load of adventure modules available for it. A pity your players won't let you use one of those, or adapt something from another game.

I'll give some thought to your question and see what I can come up with for procedures.

Quote from: PencilBoy99;932153C
I know you'll recommend Apocalypse World,

Wrong site mate. Know your audience.

As for aids, as Dave said there are tons of pre-written DCC adventures out there. Buy one, read it a few times.

Quote from: PencilBoy99;932153C
I know you'll recommend Apocalypse World,

Wrong site mate. Know your audience.

As for aids, as Dave said there are tons of pre-written DCC adventures out there. Buy one, read it a few times.

Gonzo fantasy, weird fantasy, Call of Cthulu, and Swords & Sorcery, the DCC RPG draw on all of them for it own unique mix.

If none of them grab you then run it as a grim and dark fantasy world were magic is hazardous and life is cheap.

And you are in luck if you want to shell out some buck as the DCC RPG has a ton of adventures behind it for you to use. And this weekend Goodman Games has a sale.

Also if you have a android or IOS device then run not walk and download the Crawler's Companion. It accessible from the web as well. http://purplesorcerer.com/crawler/crawler.htm

It is the single best RPG utility made for a specific game ever. It makes managing the mass of charts in the rulebook easily. And they prudently set it up so you can still have players make the rolls by having a look up mode.

Man, this is so freaking easy.  Just pick up a few DCC official adventures from Goodman Games.  Almost everyone agrees that they are up to an extremely high standard - I can think of no one publisher of FRPG adventures that is so consistently excellent.  You chose the perfect RPG for someone who doesn't want to write their own adventures, because there are tons of em out there, and not all from Goodman Games.

A little more specific?  Start with The Hole In the Sky.  It's a great funnel adventure to start new DCC players...I posted a review on this site.  From there, GG has a ton of first-level adventures.  I find that you don't have to railroad your players with enough material.  Instead, I start with a pretty simple sandbox, and seed it with hooks for published materials.  I always ask players why their characters are risking death and damnation for a handful of gold.  It doesn't have to be complicated - greed is sufficient.  But those answers allow me to customize those hooks to the characters.  Not that it matters much when they start dying...

Anyway, like I said, this is an easy one.

Quote from: PencilBoy99;932153Can someone recommend a resource that tells you exactly what to do to run (procedurally) a Fantasy RPG campaign?

I should never have complained (only on the internet) about having to run Arcanis, since at least that has a super-detailed world and pre-made campaigns. It turns out my players have decided that (1) I'm running Dungeon Crawl Classics; (2) I can't convert an Adventure Path from Pathfinder (or something similar). If I had any say in what I was running I'd (1) only run things in the real world+ (or failing that a provided setting) and (2) use an adventure path / campaign / plot point adventure (or failing that something with a clearly defined core activity like Delta Green or Werewolf the Forsaken). Creating adventures, settings, and campaigns is agonizing and unpleasant for me.

I know you'll recommend Apocalypse World, but, for whatever reason, it doesn't really make any sense to me. I just don't get how it really applies to anything, other than providing a few super vague outputs. I'm glad you like it but I don't get it.

I have resources that provide a bunch of tables, but it's unclear to me what I actually do with them. I've got GM advice (like the Lazy GM Book), but it's just a bunch of advice, nothing procedural that tells someone that's horrible at this kind of GMing.

Is there something that explicitly tells you what to do to prepare the campaign, then prepare for each session, that's more useful than what seems to be the vague outputs of Dungeon World?

No, I don't need to railroad my players. I'm happy to provide a situation where they get to do whatever they want to solve it. However, I need a lot more prep than "just a situation" otherwise my sessions are pretty empty (I need NPC's, locations, timelines, challenges prepared).

If you don't feel comfortable doing it tell them to fuck off. Or make one of them do it since they're so eager to voluntell you.

Quote from: PencilBoy99;932153Creating adventures, settings, and campaigns is agonizing and unpleasant for me.

Okay, sit down next to your old Uncle Gronan.

So.  Just say to your players, "Guys, creating adventures, settings, and campaigns is agonizing and unpleasant for me.  I don't want to do this and I'm not having fun."

If they do not instantly tell you that they don't want you to do anything you don't like, then tell them to eat shit and die.

Ha, Great advice. They have said no to using a random string of DCC modules, so that's out. One of them suggested using Red and Pleasant Land, but I'm not sure how I'd turn that thing into stuff for them to do

Quote from: PencilBoy99;932199Ha, Great advice. They have said no to using a random string of DCC modules, so that's out. One of them suggested using Red and Pleasant Land, but I'm not sure how I'd turn that thing into stuff for them to do

You are joking about your players right? If they really treat you like that, dump them.

If YOU want to run DCC I suggest you use the Shudder Mountains boxed set. Great sandbox with modules.

Quote from: PencilBoy99;932199One of them suggested using Red and Pleasant Land, but I'm not sure how I'd turn that thing into stuff for them to do

Our Tuesday group's GM has is currently using Red and Pleasant Land with DCC and it's been lots of strange weird fun. I'm not sure the extent of alterations he might have made (I own RaPL but stopped reading it till we're done). No overarching mission except to find our way home and steer clear of local politics. We've got things we're doing to curry favor with the vampires and Humpty Dumpty but we're also helping the poor humans raid a vampire bathhouse. It feels very dangerous but hasn't been wall-to-wall combat and we've managed to talk our way out of some really sticky situations.

Quote from: PencilBoy99;932199Ha, Great advice. They have said no to using a random string of DCC modules, so that's out. One of them suggested using Red and Pleasant Land, but I'm not sure how I'd turn that thing into stuff for them to do

Okay, this has now officially crossed over into "The whole god damned bunch of you need to fuck yourselves."

If they want you to be their dancing monkey and provide entertainment for them, they need to pay you.  Well.

Quote from: PencilBoy99;932199Ha, Great advice. They have said no to using a random string of DCC modules, so that's out. One of them suggested using Red and Pleasant Land, but I'm not sure how I'd turn that thing into stuff for them to do

Huh?  As the GM, you are supposed to tell them what kind of game you want to run, and they decide if they want to be in it.  If you're writing your own adventures from scratch, in toto, you are potentially putting in dozens of hours a week, unless you're great at running a Sine Nomine style sandbox.  Either way, you are putting in tons more work than your players, so your enjoyment is paramount.  If you're not having fun, then (A) what's the point?, and (B) you're going to burn out, make boring adventures, and quit.  

If one of them wants a specific kind of campaign, he or she can run it.  That's why you GM!  Why do you GM, anyway?

If my players start ordering me to author whole adventures from scratch, I will tell them to lick my nuts.  Gently (the licking, not the telling).

And who said anything about a random string of adventures?  Get a bunch of adventures, and start seeding your world with hooks for them.  Nothing random about that.  Let players choose what they want to undertake next, and make sure there are at least moderate barriers and sign-posting for higher-level adventures.

Tell them you're going to run the new game Uncle Gronan wrote for White Wolf:

"Pee Hole: The Tonguing."

Yeah.  Sounds like you get to be a player for a while.