Surveying my players to get just the right campaign style

[arcady]

I'm going to send my players an email with a series of questions in order to figure out what part of my setting to run the upcoming campaign in, and which of my various preferred styles of game to use...

 

But first, I thought I'd post the list as I have it so far here and see if anyone thinks I need more, less, or other changes to get a good feel from them.

 

So, here it is:

With the new Fantasy Hero campaign coming up, I need to start thinking about the structure of the actual game we will play.

 

To that end, I need everyone to –privately- answer these questions for me (so that it doesn’t become a debate where someone’s preferences get pushed over others). I also need to know who is staying with the game when it moves to Fantasy Hero and if anyone is not going to do so.

 

 

Fahla is a big world, and I have a lot of flexibility in how I structure a game within it. It is also my creation, giving me even more added flexibility. So here are the questions:

 

What structural theme appeals most?

• Urban Intrigue
  
• Exploration
  
• Political Struggle
  
• Struggle versus the forces of ‘darkness and villainy’
  

Which cultural motif appeals most?

• Mercantile empire with a Roman like culture
  
• An industrializing India / Dragon lands. Where steam locomotives help to build nations of men in a land of dragons.
  
• Feudal broken kingdoms in a state of constant war.
  
• Nomadic peoples living on the ocean – sailing cultures.
  
• Nomadic desert people.
  
• Tribal cultures in the ‘wilds’ – think plains Indians to jungle natives.
  
• An ancient land about culture, honor, tradition, and family.
  
• Classical ancient world (like ancient Egypt) –sorcerer kings among an African-like people.
  
• A fascist state in the grip of dark forces – an isolated land where tyranny won out long ago and has become the norm as daemons and foul creations walk openly in the courts of the aristocracy.
  

Class roots of the PCs:

• Social elites – PCs are the idle upper class and aristocracy.
  
• Rising class – PCs are from a class rising up and challenging their betters in a changing world.
  
• Peasantry – PCs are from common stock.
  
• Underclass – PCs are from the oppressed – workers, slaves, non humans, etc.
  

Opposition Overall:

• Themed – a constant meta villain or struggle from which they come.
  
• Un-themed – the ‘villain of the week’, no unified structure in the enemy.
  

Opposition Morality:

• Clear cut bad guys, they even cackle. PCs are heroes.
  
• Clear cut good guys, they even help little old dragons across the street. PCs are villains.
  
• Grey – morality is never clear, there is no idealism, and it is all individual issue based.
  
• Grey – dark idealism, what suburbanites call ‘real’, which really just means everybody is dark in motive and we all wear shades and trench coats.
  

Opposition Power:

• Overwhelming odds – the PCs fight a hopeless battle, but they do it because they have to.
  
• Roughly Equal – the PCs and their opposition are roughly balanced and it could go either way.
  
• We have the edge – the PCs run around slaughtering the natives with glee – the opposition rarely puts up a challenging fight.
  

Species:

• Human centric – at most one PC will be non human. This is what 95% of the globe of Fahla looks like.
  
• Weirdo’s game – the PCs are the freak squad, composed of everything, and yes, they get carded everywhere they go.
  

Now, from here name up to five but at least one of your favorite fantasy stories, and why you like them. I need at least one to gauge your preferences, but if I get more than five I’ll be unable to pull a solid understanding from it – I’ll be overwhelmed.

Thoughts?

[dbsousa]

Re: Surveying my players to get just the right campaign style

 

I think the opposition power leaves out my favorite option: The heroes are a small part of a larger force for good, and battle opponents that occupy a similar position in the force for evil. As the characters rise in power, they become a more integral part of that force, as do the opponents they attract.

[Markdoc]

Re: Surveying my players to get just the right campaign style

 

I dunno about your players, but our RQ GM used to do these survey things regularly and it used to bug the hell out of me (probably not just me, because most players simply ignored them). If I don't like the game, then I'll discuss it with the GM or find something better to do.

 

As noted, perhaps your players are different, but have they asked for a survey? Maybe it'd be better to just discuss this with them after a game...

 

cheers, Mark

[gauss]

Re: Surveying my players to get just the right campaign style

 

In my experience, the players who don't answer the quiz or survey (especially if it is relatively brief and painless) are the ones whe don't really care about the world or rules because they will roleplay the same character in every game.

 

The thing I would do if I wanted to have maximum response is basically make sure that it is a "Multiple Choice" style form, but with room to write in more specific suggestions for those who want to. That way, the buzy/lazy folk can just choose what they would like to see, and those with more time/interest can detail more specifics.

 

I have found surveys to be very useful in the past, and so have several GMs in my group, so I think it is a good way to go.

[arcady]

Re: Surveying my players to get just the right campaign style

 

A player who doesn't give feedback deserves to get no game at all.

 

 

What do people honestly think fuels GMs anyway?

 

 

And this isn't a post game survey, so I couldn't ask them afterwards anyway. It's a pregame survey, so I know what kind of game to create...

 

Without it, I have no guidance as to what I should be running.

[gauss]

Re: Surveying my players to get just the right campaign style

 

Yeah, I don't do post game surveys either. I do pregame ones, and my group calls 'em quizzes. Ours came from playing Amber (where it is pretty much a part of the rules) and got imported into a lot of the other games we play.

[Markdoc]

Re: Surveying my players to get just the right campaign style

 

>>>A player who doesn't give feedback deserves to get no game at all.<<<

 

Well, maybe. That would have ruled out three of the most enthusiastic players in our last game, including two who were heavily into "roleplaying" as opposed to metagaming, which I think would have been a big loss to the group.

 

There are some interesting ideas in the survey - it's just that, well, you know.... surveys? That's something that people ring you up to interupt your dinner with.

 

Still, if you like the idea and your players like the idea, more power to you!

 

cheers, Mark

[arcady]

Re: Surveying my players to get just the right campaign style

 

If your not willing to help me give you a good game, why should I bother with you?

 

I follow a very 'this is a shared two way process' philosophy, and people who just come and leech my energy are not welcome.

 

I expect people to tell me what they want, and I also expect them to tell me if I am delivering it. Not just when I fail, but also when I succeed.

 

I can trace almost every single failed campaign I've run to the point when players stopped telling me if they were having fun or not anymore.