Story First Campaigns

Streamline Your Storytelling and Create Immersive Adventures

Campaign Creation Process

Storytelling lies at the heart of every engaging campaign, bringing adventures to life. Weaving player choices into a dynamic narrative makes D&D sessions immersive and unforgettable.

This campaign creation process is what I use to provide a clear set of actionable steps to transform ideas into a cohesive, dynamic adventure. Designed for RPG Game Masters (GMs), it helps craft, plan, and run engaging campaigns with AI assistance, guiding you from creation to your first session.

Interested in learning more about leveraging AI to create engaging campaigns? Schedule a free demo to learn more.

This process will generate a campaign planning guide that you will feed to AI tools like, ChatGPT, NotebookLM, The Game Master Platform or Gemini, to train the AI on what your campaign is all about. By doing this, you will create an AI assistant helping you to build and run a story first campaign.

Key Benefits

Build a Cohesive Campaign: Organize story arcs, acts, and encounters into a logical, engaging progression.
Enhance Player Engagement: Tie character backstories to the overarching narrative, local conflicts, and global stakes giving the players agency within the campaign.
Create Engaging Encounters: Create encounters that are memorable, taking players from highs and lows as they make their way through the campaign.
Streamline Session Prep: Simplify encounter design, NPC motivations, and the integration of player actions.
Adapt to Player Choices: Incorporate flexible elements to respond to player agency and dice-driven outcomes.
Create an AI Assistant: Leverage AI tools to automate campaign management, generate ideas, track player progress, and enhance storytelling with dynamic NPC dialogue and flexible scenario generation.

By now you should have a solid campaign idea. If not, you can use this Campaign Idea Generator to generate ideas.

3 Steps to Creating and Running Your First Campaign

To keep your campaign immersive, balance encounters and emotional beats. Alternate between high-stakes action and moments of discovery to maintain pacing. Mix combat, exploration, role-playing, and resource management. Guide players through emotional highs and lows by leveraging external, emotional and philosophical stakes that are tied to evolving character arcs.

Step 1: Complete Campaign Planning Document
- Establish the campaign's structure: Use the document to organize the narrative and focus on the core tension driving the story. I often build organizations with opposing views to build the tension.
- Define the main problem: Build tension by creating a central conflict or challenge for the campaign.
- Develop secondary problems: Tie these directly to player backstories, giving each character personal stakes in the campaign.
- Build Organizations: Create organizations with their own goals and objectives that reside on either side of the tension.
- Determine key antagonist(s): Identify who or what opposes the players and define their motivations, goals, and methods. You can have multiple types of antagonists; external, emotional, or philosophical, each at odds with your players.
- Create player hooks: Design compelling reasons for the players to join and remain invested in the story. Do this by creating emotional stakes for them to be involved. These should tie into their characters’ motivations and the overarching narrative.
Step 2: Outline Key Encounters (4-7 encounters)
- Identify encounter types: Balance combat, storytelling, and exploration encounters to keep gameplay dynamic and engaging.
- Plan a strong start: Design a memorable opening encounter or scenario that draws players into the world and conflict.
- Anticipate player actions: Use "What if?" planning to prepare for the 5 possible outcomes the players might take for each encounter.
- Incorporate the Rule of Cool: Plan encounters that allow players to perform epic, cinematic actions that feel rewarding and impactful.
- Add twists: Introduce unexpected turns in the narrative or encounters to keep the players on their toes and invested in the story. Change their goals mid-way through the story, kill a mentor, or have a close NPC betray a player.
Step 3: Prepare, Run and Wrap Up Session 1
- Preparation is key: Organize all maps, NPCs, encounters, and rules references in advance.
- Be flexible: Adapt to player choices and improvisations, keeping the session fluid and engaging.
- Use “Say Yes, but...”: Acknowledge player creativity while adding complications or consequences to maintain tension.
- Apply the 5 W's (Who, What, When, Where, Why): Use these questions to guide your preparation and keep the session focused and coherent.
- Write session summaries: Document key events, decisions, and outcomes to maintain continuity and inform future sessions.

Here are a few excellent videos on storytelling. While they focus on movies, many of the lessons can be adapted to create high-quality, engaging campaigns.

Story Telling

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Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories

04:37

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Endings: The Good, the Bad, and the Insanely Great

01:30:13

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The Game Master Platform Overview Final

07:12

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Step 1: Campaign Template

Step 1

The main purpose of the first step is to get a strong understanding of your campaign by creating a campaign planning guide. What the AI produces will not be final, but a starting point. You will need to edit the content to get to a final document.

We will use ChatGPT to help us create our campaign template. Use the prompt to create your template. If you want to see what is in the template check out the Campaign Template tab.

1. Campaign Overview

Campaign Title:
Name your campaign to reflect its themes or central story arc.
Campaign System:
(e.g., Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, etc.)
World and Setting:
Describe the world where the campaign takes place. Include the tone, theme, major regions, and notable features.
Themes and Tone:
What are the central themes (e.g., redemption, betrayal, survival)? What is the tone (e.g., grim, hopeful, epic)?

2. Story Structure

Story Arc

Primary Conflict:
What is the central conflict or problem driving the campaign?
(Example: A cursed heirloom must be restored to save a dying village.)
Secondary Arcs:
What additional storylines or subplots exist? These can involve key NPCs, player backstories, or side quests.

Story Spine

Use this structure to outline your campaign's progression:
- Once upon a time, there was...
- Every day...
- Until one day...
- Because of that...
- Until finally...

3. The Assemblage of Heroes

Key Characters:
Who are the players' characters? What motivates them?
(Example: Ronan Stormheart, a paladin seeking redemption for his family's sins.)
Backstories:
Tie each character's backstory to the campaign. Select or create archetypes like “The Restless Dreamer” or “Bound by a Promise.”

4. Important NPCs

Key NPCs:
Who are the critical non-player characters, and what motivates them?
(Example: Greta Thornwillow, a weary village elder guiding the heroes.)
Antagonists:
Who are the main antagonists, and what are their goals?
(Example: Lord Alaric, a noble seeking to exploit the heirloom’s power.)

5. Problems

Global Problem:
What is the overarching problem affecting the world or setting?
(Example: A powerful artifact has been shattered, spreading a curse across the land.)
Local Problems:
What smaller, act-specific problems exist?
(Example: The first shard of the heirloom lies in a forest guarded by hostile spirits.)

6. Catalyst for the Quest

Triggering Event:
What event starts the adventure?
(Examples: A bandit attack, a vision from a restless spirit, or a plea from the village elder.)

7. Campaign Acts

Act 1: Introduction

Level Range: (e.g., Levels 1–3)
Sessions: (e.g., Sessions 1–3)
Focus: Introduce the world, NPCs, and primary problem. Tie player backstories into the story arc.
Key Encounters:
(Example: Encounter with bandits holding a shard of the heirloom.)

Act 2: Escalation

Level Range: (e.g., Levels 4–6)
Sessions: (e.g., Sessions 4–6)
Focus: Deepen the stakes with secondary arcs and challenges. Introduce moral dilemmas or conflicting goals.
Key Encounters:
(Example: Confronting the corrupt noble seeking to keep the curse active.)

Act 3: Resolution

Level Range: (e.g., Levels 7–9)
Sessions: (e.g., Sessions 7–9)
Focus: Conclude the story arc, resolving global and local problems.
Key Encounters:
(Example: Final battle against the spirit of the shattered artifact.)

8. Resolutions

Possible Outcomes:
What are the potential results of the campaign?
(Example: Success: The heirloom is restored, and the curse is lifted. Failure: The village succumbs to darkness.)

9. Rewards

Physical Rewards:
(Example: The reforged heirloom.)
Character Rewards:
(Example: Ronan’s Redemption Shield, tied to his backstory.)
Narrative Rewards:
(Example: The players gain the trust of the village and its allies.)

Organizations

Step 2

Please read the following content [Insert World Overview Document], reply with “Ready to chat” when done.

Persona: "Imagine you are a Game Master who is building a new world called [Insert name], for an RPG campaign and looking to create the primary organizations in your world."
Context: "Your goal is to build different organizations that have opposite goals to begin to build tension in your world. The organizations can be one of the following groups. Religious Organizations, Criminal Organizations, Trade and Crafting Organizations, Academic and Scholarly Organizations, Military and Defense Organizations, Political and Government Organizations, Arcane and Mystical Organizations, Guilds and Associations, Maritime and Transportation Organizations, Miscellaneous and Hybrid Organizations."
Task: "Generate a list of 5 different organizations, their name, primary goal, and a short description."
Example: "
- Organization Name: The Radiant Order
- Primary Goal: To spread the teachings of light and purge all darkness from the land.
- Short Description: A zealous religious group that worships the divine light, seeing themselves as righteous crusaders against all that they deem unholy or shadowed.
Tone: "The tone should be [structured and accurate], with each organization feeling real, capable of working within your world."

Persona: "Imagine you are a Game Master who is building a new world called [Insert name], for an RPG campaign and looking to create tension between organizations."
Context: "Your goal is to build unique and detailed tension between two organizations."
Task: "Generate a list of 3 different tensions between two organizations."
Example: "
- The Radiant Order vs. The Veilbound Covenant
- Tension: The Radiant Order seeks to eradicate the use of shadow magic, believing it to be inherently evil, while the Veilbound Covenant argues that shadow magic is a necessary part of maintaining balance in the world. Skirmishes erupt over contested artifacts, sacred sites, and public opinion, with both groups vying for influence over local populations.
- The Black Talon Syndicate vs. The Gilded Watch
- Tension: The Black Talon Syndicate thrives on smuggling and black-market trade, undermining the legitimate commerce overseen by the Gilded Watch. The Watch imposes harsh tariffs and sanctions to root out illicit activities, prompting the Syndicate to retaliate with sabotage, bribery of officials, and targeted attacks on caravans.
- The Iron Guild vs. The Verdant Wardens
- Tension: The Iron Guild’s relentless drive to industrialize and exploit natural resources puts them at constant odds with the Verdant Wardens, who sabotage factories and deforestation projects to protect the environment. Each action by one organization escalates the conflict, leading to a cycle of retaliation that threatens to engulf nearby communities in their feud.
Tone: "The tone should be [structured and accurate], with each organization feeling real, capable of working within your world."

Instruction: Write out: "Copy the tensions you are interested in into your world overview document."

Step 2: Encounters

The main purpose of the second step is to outline the Big Rock and Transition Encounters that will make up the acts, with the goal of creating, in detail, the encounters for Act 1. Big Rock Encounters serve as the pivotal, high-stakes moments that drive the story forward, while Transition Encounters provide the connective tissue that deepens the narrative, enriches the world, and builds atmosphere. For each session, I plan between 4-7 encounters for a 4-5 hour session, ensuring a balance between impactful story-defining moments and smaller, story-building interactions. Once you play your first session and know what happened, you can revisit and flesh out the details for the next session’s encounters.

Encounter Planning

Encounters are the building blocks of your campaign. Sometimes, an encounter can be as simple as a brief idea or bullet point outlining what might happen. Other times, it can be a fully detailed plan, complete with an integrated storyline, crafted NPCs, designed maps, written dialogue, and well-thought-out strategies.

Regardless of your approach, starting your session with a strong foundation is key. Consider brainstorming a few "what if" scenarios, applying the Rule of Cool to enhance player enjoyment, and introducing an unexpected twist at the right moment. These elements will help bring your campaign to life, immersing your players and making them feel like a vital part of your world.

The first five minutes of your session are crucial for grabbing your players' attention and setting the tone for the game. Whether it's revealing a surprising piece of information, introducing a compelling new NPC, or launching straight into an intense combat encounter, your goal is to engage your players right from the start.

Here are some additional ideas to ensure a strong opening:

Flashback or Vision: Begin with a brief flashback or vision tied to a character’s backstory or the overarching plot. This can provide context while drawing players into the narrative.
In-Media-Res: Start in the middle of an exciting event, such as a chase, a heated argument, or a mysterious discovery, to throw players immediately into the action.
Puzzle or Dilemma: Present the players with a quick puzzle or moral dilemma that they must solve or address before proceeding.
Character Highlight: Focus on a single player character by spotlighting a moment related to their personal arc, like a message from a mentor or a memory surfacing in a tense moment.
Unusual Setting: Open with the party in a strange or unexpected location, such as awakening in a dreamlike realm or stranded in a precarious situation.

No matter which approach you choose, the key is to make the first five minutes memorable and engaging. Hook your players early, and they’ll be eager to dive into the adventure ahead.

When planning encounters, it’s helpful to consider five possible what if outcomes. While some are more likely than others, preparing for each ensures you're ready for whatever your players decide. Using AI can streamline this process, helping to generate detailed notes for each possibility.

Here are the five encounter outcomes I prepare for:

Parley: The players attempt to talk their way through the encounter, whether by negotiating, persuading, or intimidating.
Trick: The players use cunning tactics, such as stealth, ambush, or creating a distraction, to bypass the encounter.
Combat: The players choose to fight their way through, engaging directly with the challenge.
Discover: The players uncover or leverage information—like clues, lore, or weaknesses—to navigate the encounter successfully.
Avoid: The players decide to skip the encounter altogether, using ingenuity or circumvention.

In the Game Master Platform, I use an AI assistant to prepare notes for each of these outcomes. This ensures I’m ready to adapt to my players' choices, keeping the session dynamic and engaging.

The Rule of Cool: Putting Players First

The Rule of Cool is a guiding principle for GMs, designed to keep the focus of the game where it belongs—on the players. It serves as a reminder that the heart of any campaign lies in creating memorable and exciting moments for the group.

The Rule of Cool states:
"Wouldn't it be cool if {insert player name} was able to {insert something awesome} during this session?"

By thinking in these terms, the GM can craft or adjust encounters to set up scenarios where players have the opportunity to shine. It’s not just about tailoring the experience but ensuring the players feel like heroes in their own story.

Expanding the Rule of Cool

To take this concept even further, consider these approaches:

Spotlight Moments for Each Player: Actively think of ways to let every player have a moment to shine. Whether it’s the rogue pulling off an impossible heist, the wizard bending reality with a well-placed spell, or the fighter smashing through a barricade, build scenarios that play to individual strengths.
Encourage Creativity: When players propose bold, creative, or unconventional solutions, lean into the idea. Even if their plan isn’t in the rulebook, find ways to reward ingenuity and make the attempt epic.
Foreshadow Opportunities: Drop subtle hints earlier in the session about something the players could use later. For example, if you know the bard loves dramatic speeches, plant an NPC who needs inspiring at a critical moment.
Big Payoffs: Create setups for those "legendary moments" players will talk about for years. Maybe the barbarian leaps from a burning airship to bring down a dragon, or the paladin uses divine intervention to stop an undead army.
Collaborate with Player Backstories: Tie "cool" moments to a player’s backstory or character arc. Did the ranger lose their family to marauding bandits? Set up a chance for them to confront their nemesis in a cinematic showdown.
Break the Rules (When Necessary): Sometimes, the rule of fun outweighs the written rules. If bending or even breaking a rule makes for a better, more memorable experience, do it—provided it enhances the game for everyone.

Making the Rule of Cool Practical

When preparing your session, take a few minutes to brainstorm, with the AI, scenarios where each player can do something extraordinary. Think about their abilities, personality, and what they might enjoy most. Keep these questions in mind:

What unique skills or traits could this character use in an unexpected way?
How can I set the stage for an epic or emotionally resonant moment?
Are there challenges or conflicts they could solve in a spectacular fashion?

The Rule of Cool isn’t about making the game easy; it’s about making it unforgettable. It helps players feel empowered, engaged, and like they’re the stars of an epic tale.

The Power of Twists in Your Campaign

Introducing a twist at the right moment can elevate your session, turning an ordinary encounter into a memorable event your players will talk about for years. Twists add intrigue, challenge expectations, and keep players engaged by encouraging them to think on their feet.

While twists are powerful tools, it’s important to use them sparingly. A well-timed twist that feels organic to the story can enhance your game, while too many can dilute their impact or frustrate players.

Using Twists Thoughtfully

To make a twist impactful:

Tie it to the Story: Ensure the twist feels like a natural extension of your world and story. It should surprise players, not feel out of place.
Focus on Player Impact: A twist should create opportunities for your players to act or make decisions, not just serve as a plot device.
Time It Right: Introduce twists at moments when the players are fully engaged—during climactic scenes, tense negotiations, or just when they think they’ve solved the puzzle.

Examples of Twists

Here are a few ideas to inspire twists in your game:

Revealed Ally or Foe: An NPC the players trust turns out to have their own hidden agenda, or an apparent enemy is revealed to be an ally working undercover.
Shifting Objectives: Just as the players think they’ve achieved their goal, circumstances change. For example, the artifact they retrieve begins to corrupt them, or the rescued villager reveals critical information that changes the stakes.
Unforeseen Consequences: An action the players took earlier comes back to haunt them. Perhaps they spared an enemy who now returns with reinforcements, or a forgotten choice leads to a new challenge.
Environmental Change: The battlefield changes dramatically during an encounter. A raging storm, collapsing ground, or rising floodwaters force the players to adapt their strategies.
Mysterious Interference: A new faction or entity suddenly appears, disrupting the encounter. This could be a rival adventuring party, a powerful monster, or even a deity making their presence known.
Deceptive Victory: After defeating the "big bad," the players realize it was just a puppet for a greater villain pulling the strings.
Personal Connection: An NPC or creature involved in the encounter has a personal tie to one of the characters, such as a lost sibling, former mentor, or someone tied to their backstory.
False Threat: What appears to be a dangerous enemy or situation turns out to be harmless—or even helpful—but only after the players take actions based on their assumptions.
Magic Gone Awry: A spell or magical item used during the encounter produces an unexpected effect, altering the situation in ways the players must adapt to.
Unstable Ally: A companion aiding the party turns out to have unpredictable behavior or hidden motives that surface at a critical moment.

Enhancing Your Sessions with Twists

By introducing thoughtful and well-timed twists, you can create dynamic, engaging sessions that challenge and delight your players. Remember, the goal is to keep them on their toes while enriching the story and providing opportunities for creativity and role-play. When done right, a single twist can transform your campaign and make it truly unforgettable.

What is "Say Yes, but..."?

The idea behind "Say Yes, but..." is to avoid outright rejecting a player’s action or idea (which can disrupt the flow of the game or frustrate players) and instead acknowledge their initiative while introducing a consequence, limitation, or complication.

This keeps the game dynamic and ensures that player actions drive the story forward, even if they don’t achieve exactly what they intended.

How It Works in Play

Acknowledge the Attempt:
- Instead of saying "no," you accept the player’s idea as a valid action.
- Example: A rogue wants to climb a slick water-soaked wall to escape pursuing guards.
Add a Complication:
- Introduce an element that adds tension, risk, or an unexpected twist.
- Example: "Yes, you manage to climb the wall, but as you do, you dislodge a loose stone that makes a loud noise, drawing the guards’ attention."
Preserve Player Agency:
- The player still succeeds in part or in a way that feels meaningful, but the complication keeps things interesting and prevents actions from feeling too easy or predictable.
- Example: A wizard casts a spell to calm an angry crowd. "Yes, the crowd calms down, but a group of agitators in the back begin whispering conspiracies about the magic, sowing seeds of distrust."

Why It’s Effective

Encourages Creativity: Players feel empowered to try bold or unconventional actions.
Keeps the Game Moving: Avoids the dead-end of outright failure by introducing a partial success with consequences.
Maintains Challenge: The GM can escalate stakes or add complexity without undermining player efforts.
Enhances Narrative Flow: Complications can lead to unexpected and engaging story developments.

Encounter Creation

The Encounter Template is a structured framework designed to help Game Masters (GMs) plan dynamic and engaging RPG encounters. It organizes key details like the encounter's purpose, type, tone, and player interaction options, ensuring each moment in your session contributes meaningfully to the campaign.

This template also distinguishes between Big Rock encounters (major, story-defining moments) and Transition encounters (smaller, connective scenes that build atmosphere and narrative depth).

Using ChatGPT, you can generate and refine encounters for Session 1 by following this structure, ensuring a balanced mix of action, exploration, and storytelling. To see the full details of the template, check out the Encounter Template tab.

Let’s plan your first session with encounters tailored to your campaign!

Prompt: Read the following webpage https://www.the-enchanted-scribe.com/encounter-template

Reply with "I understand. Would you like to begin?"

Wait for a response.

Instructions: Ask the following questions one at a time, waiting for the GM's response before moving on. Wait for the GM’s response to each question before moving on to the next.

Question 1: We are now going to work with you on creating your encounters, are you ready to begin?

Wait for a response.

Instructions: Suggest 3 high-stakes, attention grabbing, starting encounters. For each provide their name, a short description, theme and tone. Then explain why this is a good encounter to start with.

Question 2: Which encounter would you like to start with?
Question 3: Based on the chosen direction, I will build out the encounters for Act 1, Are you ok with this?
Wait for a response.

Instructions: Create for me 7 encounters that use the following template.

Once I have my different encounters determined. I will move to The Game Masters Platform to build out the details for each encounter. Sometimes the encounter is just a few notes, but most of the time it is a detailed throughly thought-out encounter.

Step 1: Create Campaign

I start with inputting the campaign outline template found in the campaign planning guide into the campaign overview section and I build out the first act.

Step 2: Encounter Creation
I begin building out the encounter details in TGMP. It is in this step where I leverage the AI trained on the campaign to help me create NPCs, items, determine encounter difficulty, write descriptions, dialog, and do my what if, rule of cool planning, and twist planning. I save separate chats around each one of these topics for reference when I am running my sessions.

This makes me extremely efficient, reactive and allows for me to focus on the story and not the mechanics.

Step 3

Step 3: Session Planning

In this last step we will cover session preparation as well as session summary notes. We will provide you with a 7 step process to prepare and a session summary template that you can leverage AI to complete.

7-Step Session Prep

The first step in preparing for your next session is to reflect on what’s already happened. By reviewing the previous campaign summary and player feedback, you can ensure continuity and align your plans with the group’s interests. This step sets the foundation for the session by defining clear story goals and identifying opportunities to spotlight individual characters or advance the narrative.

Review Previous Campaign Summary: Use your notes or the GMP to revisit the highlights and key moments from the last session, ensuring you’re building on the story cohesively.
Review Last Session Feedback: Check GMP’s player feedback to understand their goals, preferences, and play styles. Incorporate this input to create a session tailored to their interests.
Story goals: Identify 1-3 key objectives for the upcoming session. Collaborate with AI tools for suggestions on advancing the plot or creating moments that shine a light on individual characters.

The Game Master Platform

Session Summary

Player Feedback

In the NPCs and monsters step, this is where I build out my antagonists, figure out how difficult the encounter might be for the players, think through important dialog that I might want to create to move the story forward and finalize the stat blocks.

Converse with AI: Ask the AI to play the roles of the different NPCs or Villains - this is so powerful, having the AI play the role of your villain in the encounter. It can help you think about battle strategy, develop their personality and/or help write dialog.
NPC profiles: Use GMP to generate names, motivations, quirks, and dialogue prompts for key NPCs.
Stat blocks: Pull pre-generated monster stats or request custom creatures tailored to the encounters and build out my NPCs and Monsters in TGMP.
Behavior prompts: I save a separate prompt for each important NPC, asking the AI for roleplay or combat strategies for NPCs and monsters.

The Game Master Platform

Encounter 1 AI Assistant Preparation - I have the AI assistant at my fingertips as I run my sessions.

Encounter Difficulty is easy with TGMP for D&D

Create your own NPCs or Foes or pull from the library.

Maps are an essential tool for immersing players in the world and setting the stage for dynamic gameplay. Whether it’s a sprawling regional map, a bustling town square, or a tense battle map, well-prepared visuals and environmental details bring your session to life. During this step, I focus on creating maps that are not only functional but also engaging, with rich features and hazards that encourage creative player interaction.

My favorite map making tools are:

Inkarnate: Perfect for creating detailed battle maps, regional and town maps with stunning visuals.
Dungeon Scrawl: Ideal for quickly designing buildings, rooms and dungeon layouts with precision.

Map Preparation

Build maps tailored to the session’s needs, including:

Regional Maps: Highlight key locations, travel routes, and areas of interest.
Town Maps: Detail important buildings, streets, and gathering points for social interactions.
Battle Maps: Create encounter-specific layouts with tactical opportunities.

Environmental hazards:

Add dynamic elements to maps to make encounters more engaging:
- Traps, collapsing terrain, or unstable bridges.
- Weather effects like fog, rain, or wind that influence movement and visibility.
- Vertical spaces or 3D features that allow for creative strategies and movement.

Points of interest:

Use AI tools to brainstorm unique features tied to the session’s theme:
- Hidden areas or pathways to encourage exploration.
- Lore-filled landmarks that deepen the world’s story.
- Treasures or artifacts that provide narrative hooks or rewards.

The Game Master Platform

I will insert maps into the encounters for both my reference as well as my players.

The planning step is where I build new encounters, update existing encounters and put the final touches on those that will be most prominent in the next session. I will also create random encounters, these encounters are not rolled off of some chart, they are random from the sense that they may or may not happen.

Since the AI knows about your encounter, ask it questions. Have it help you flesh out further encounter details.

Strong Start: Request a vivid opening scene description with stakes or tension to engage the players. I want to engage all 5 senses if possible. I use this opportunity to try and build an emotional connection with my players and with the story.
Review Each Encounter: Here I review the different pieces of the encounter and if need be complete those pieces for the upcoming session.
- Name - Name of the encounter
- Overview - This is the overview of the encounter and any GM notes that I might save. It also talks about how it relates to the story.
- Images - I save off different images that I will share during the session to help me with storytelling. Not to be to cliche, but a picture is worth 1000 words.
- Items - I prepare any interesting items that the players may come across, like books, artifacts, or anything that helps move my story forward.
What If Planning: For each encounter collaborate with the AI to outline major combat, social, and exploration encounters, including key objectives and what if potential outcomes. The purpose is to be prepared if things go sideways.
Here are the five encounter outcomes I prepare for:
- Parley: The players attempt to talk their way through the encounter, whether by negotiating, persuading, or intimidating.
- Trick: The players use cunning tactics, such as stealth, ambush, or creating a distraction, to bypass the encounter.
- Combat: The players choose to fight their way through, engaging directly with the challenge.
- Discover: The players uncover or leverage information—like clues, lore, or weaknesses—to navigate the encounter successfully.
- Avoid: The players decide to skip the encounter altogether, using ingenuity or circumvention.
Sideways Thinking: Use the AI assistant to quickly spin up other NPCs, dialog, descriptions when the players go in a direction you are not ready for.

The Game Master Platform

Helps you prepare for each encounter through the AI assistant.

Outcome Planning

The Players step is about tailoring the session to ensure every player feels engaged and invested in the story. Archetypes, which represent the core of a character's narrative journey (e.g., transformation, redemption, or corruption), are a powerful tool for aligning the session with the players' characters. By focusing on personalized elements like character hooks, player goals, roleplay opportunities, and archetypes, you can create a session that resonates with your group and keeps them excited to return. This is also the time to think through the Rule of Cool, ensuring players have moments to shine and make bold, memorable moves.

Character hooks: Use AI tools to weave personalized connections to the session’s events or NPCs based on player backstories.
Player goals: Reflect on what each player hopes to achieve, whether it’s a personal milestone, solving a mystery, or progressing a character arc.
Roleplay prompts: Prepare questions, dialogue, or situations for NPCs to naturally engage the players and encourage interaction.
Foreshadowing: Add subtle hints or teasers to build anticipation for future storylines, giving players a sense of progression and mystery.
Align Archetypes with the Campaign: Identify each player’s archetype (e.g., redemption, transformation) and align it with the session’s events, challenges, or NPC interactions to enhance personal growth and engagement. Learn more about archetypes in this blog.

The Game Master Platform

Understanding where your players want to take their characters makes it much easier for the GM to help get them where they want to go.

Here is the player characters page with a focus on their backstory and story telling.

A successful D&D session isn’t just about the story and encounters—it’s also about having the right tools at your fingertips. Preparing both digital and physical resources ahead of time ensures you’re ready to immerse your players in the game world without interruptions. From digital aids like the Game Master Platform (GMP) and ChatGPT to classic props like miniatures and dice, organizing your toolkit sets the stage for seamless gameplay and creative improvisation.

Here’s a checklist of essential tools and resources to get you session-ready:

Digital Tools

The Game Master Platform (GMP):
- Session Page: Ensure GMP is open and ready on the GM screen, so you’re prepared to run the session.
- Whisper (Group Chat): Use this built-in chatbot to secretly message players and keep track of actions and outcomes. Whisper makes summarizing the session at the end a breeze.
ChatGPT: Keep this tool open for quick access to rule clarifications, story inspiration, or generating supplementary content like maps or NPC dialogue.
Midjourney: Use this for generating custom images if DALL-E 3 isn’t producing the desired results, adding visual depth to your campaign.

Resources

Miniatures and Figures: Ensure all characters, enemies, and environmental pieces are ready to enhance tactical encounters.
Music: Leverage TGMP’s built-in music options to set the mood for different scenes or use external playlists for more variety.
Game Mat: Have your mat ready for drawing maps and tracking combat.
Core Rulebooks: Keep physical copies of rulebooks within reach for quick reference.
Dice: A well-organized dice set is essential for both the GM and players.
Pens and Notebooks: Use these for jotting down notes, tracking initiative, or sketching quick diagrams.
GM Screen: Even with digital tools, having a GM screen allows you to manage physical notes and dice rolls discreetly.
Props and Terrain: Add depth to your game with immersive props like trees, walls, and boulders for setting the scene.

The Game Master Platform & Props

In the below screenshot you can see what one of the first encounter looked like for me. The session occurred on 12/7/24 and lasted for 6:50 min. During the session I would set the theme by playing music from my computer

The final step in session prep is all about reflection and mental rehearsal. This step allows you to visualize the flow of the session, anticipate challenges, and ensure all elements are in place for smooth gameplay. With the help of TGMP and AI tools, you can refine your planning, track your progress, and gather feedback for continuous improvement.

Play Through the Session in Your Mind
- Visualize how the session might unfold, imagining key scenes, player decisions, and interactions. This mental rehearsal won’t predict every outcome but will prepare you to adapt when things inevitably go sideways.
- Focus on key story beats and think about how the players might approach them, considering alternate paths they might take.
Encounter Pacing and Balance
- Think through how encounters will flow during the session. Aim for a balance between combat, exploration, and roleplay.
- Use TGMP and the AI assistant to analyze encounter difficulty, ensuring that challenges are appropriate for the party's level and abilities.
- Adjust pacing as needed to keep the session engaging, with moments of tension followed by opportunities for player interaction and discovery.
NPC Perspective
- Consider what the NPCs are doing at this moment in the world. What are their goals, motivations, and current actions?
- Use the AI assistant to refine NPC behaviors and dialogue, ensuring they react dynamically to player actions.
- Think about how players will interact with the NPCs and prepare roleplay hooks or complications that drive the story forward.
Schedule the Session: In TGMP, when a session is scheduled, all players will get a reminder email 24 hours before the session starts.
Start the Session: I use TGMP to keep track of session start and end times, total hours spent in a campaign.
Ending the Session: When a session is ended, all players will get a session feedback email. Where they can rate the session from 1-5 stars and answer one question about how the session went for them and what would they like to do next.
5 W's: I use the 5 W's, (Who, What, When, Where, Why) to prepare for the next session.
GM Profile Page: Every GM will get a running history of all of the sessions they have run and the campaigns they have run them in. If they want, they can make that information public through their own personal GM page.

The Game Master Platform

Here is what a session page looks like in the GMP. It has session date and time, the PCs that played in that session, all of the possible encounters, the preparing of the session with overview/outcomes, strong start, rule of cool and lastly a summary that gets written to both the GM notes and the players notes.

Session Summaries

Session summaries are an invaluable tool for GMs, players, and campaigns alike. They help maintain continuity, ensure that no key details are forgotten, and give players a clear record of their progress and choices. Summaries also help the GM track story arcs, NPC developments, and player-driven goals, ensuring the campaign feels cohesive and engaging. With tools like the Game Master Platform (GMP), these summaries are seamlessly integrated into character memories, keeping everyone aligned while adding an immersive layer to the storytelling experience.

Generic Session Summary Template

[Date] - [Campaign Name] - [Act and Session Number]

What Happened in the Last Session?
Provide a brief narrative style recap of the previous session’s key events to set the stage for the current session.

Summary of the Session:
Summarize the events of the session in a few concise paragraphs. Highlight major decisions, encounters, and developments.

Encounter 1 - [Encounter Name]:
Describe the setting, key actions, player contributions, and outcomes of the encounter.
Encounter 2 - [Encounter Name]:
Follow the same structure as above for additional encounters.
Encounter 3 - [Encounter Name]:
Add as needed for all major events in the session.

Key Learnings:
Summarize critical information revealed or learned during the session.

Example 1: [Key detail or clue related to the campaign’s main plot.]
Example 2: [Important player discovery or NPC interaction.]
Example 3: [Development related to the world, characters, or conflicts.]

Player Character Directions:
Highlight personalized story hooks or future opportunities for each player character based on their actions or goals.

Player 1 Name: Outline opportunities for growth or challenges to explore in future sessions.
Player 2 Name: Suggest encounters or developments tied to their personal arc.
Player 3 Name: Provide a potential path for furthering their goals or skills.

The Game Master Platform

Both the GM (Top) and the player (Bottom) get the session summary at their fingertips.

With The Game Master Platform, when the session is running. I use whisper to document what has happened during the session. I encourage my players to use it as well. This chat session becomes the history of what happened. At the end of the session I grab a screen shot and feed the image to ChatGPT to summarize.

This summary content is then added to the summary section for that session. This information is written to the players "memories". This way, during the next session, their characters will remember what happened during the previous sessions.

10/2/24 - The Shattered Heirloom - Act 1, Session 1

What Happened in the Last Session?
The party embarked on a mission to help the cursed village of Hallowstead, encountering betrayal and earning the villagers' reluctant trust.

Summary of the Session:

The adventurers found themselves on the outskirts of Hallowstead, where a skirmish with bandits unfolded. Amid the chaos, they rescued Thorne Ashvale, who had been betrayed and left for dead by his former companions, and a lone town guard struggling to hold his ground. Though the bandits fled with a piece of the shattered heirloom, the group’s determination to aid the cursed village only grew stronger.

Upon entering Hallowstead, the adventurers were met with an eerie scene of barren fields and hollow-eyed villagers, all suffering under the weight of the heirloom’s curse. Greta Thornwillow, a respected elder, explained the dire toll the curse had taken on the land and its people. Resolving to help, the party accepted her guidance and made their way to The Weary Willow tavern, where they hoped to uncover more information.

At the tavern, the adventurers encountered a mix of caution and hostility from the villagers. Tensions peaked when Rurik Farrow, a bitter local, confronted Ronan over his ties to the infamous Stormheart family, whom many blamed for the curse. Despite the initial mistrust, Ronan’s calm explanations and the party’s collective resolve began to sway the villagers. With support from key figures like Garen Hollow and Elda Varis, the adventurers secured reluctant allies for their quest to recover the shattered heirloom and restore hope to Hallowstead.

Encounter 1 - Bandits’ Betrayal:
The party rescued Thorne Ashvale after he was betrayed by bandit companions. Although the adventurers fought bravely, many bandits escaped with a piece of the heirloom.
Encounter 2 - Entering Hallowstead:
The village revealed its suffering, and the adventurers pledged their aid. Greta Thornwillow shared the curse’s impact and directed the party to The Weary Willow for more information.
Encounter 3 - The Weary Willow Tavern:
The party diffused tensions stemming from Ronan’s family ties to the curse, earning some villagers’ trust and gaining critical information for their quest.

Key Learnings:

The Heirloom’s Curse: The shattered heirloom has devastated Hallowstead, affecting crops, health, and morale.
The Bandits and Heirloom Piece: The bandits hold a crucial piece of the heirloom, complicating its recovery.
Tensions in Hallowstead: Ronan’s family history creates distrust, but the party can earn trust through their actions.

Player Character Directions:

Ronan: Explore opportunities to delve deeper into his family history, potentially through an heirloom artifact or ancestral connection.
Lyra: Provide magical clues about the curse’s origins, perhaps through a vision or interaction with an ancient druid.
Thorne: Offer skill-building moments with daggers, including finding a set of enchanted blades that align with his growing proficiency.

Story First Campaigns

Campaign Creation Process

​​3 Steps to Creating and Running Your First Campaign

Story Telling

Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories

Endings: The Good, the Bad, and the Insanely Great

The Game Master Platform Overview Final

Step 1: Campaign Template

Organizations

Step 2: Encounters

Encounter Planning

Encounter Creation

Step 3: Session Planning

7-Step Session Prep

Session Summaries

3 Steps to Creating and Running Your First Campaign