Before you even decide to serve as Dungeon Master (or Game Master, or Storyteller, as the case may be) you need to take stock of where your group stands and what you hope to accomplish. According to Making the Campaign, our goal is to create a “series of encounters and/or adventures using the 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons rules which will provide a satisfying long-term gaming experience for your group.” Comprehension is the first of the Seven 7’s oc Campaign Design…but what do we mean when we talk about “comprehension?”

Comprehension involves knowing what you, as a DM, will be dealing with as you design a new campaign. Experience has taught me that the earnest campaign designer needs to comprehend his players–both individually and as a group–and that he needs to understand both the game he plans to run and the amount of work that will go into designing a campaign that “will provide a satisfying long-term gaming experience for [his or her] group.” Comprehension is about cultivating the fundamental knowledge which will let you know whether or not you have a chance of achieving your goals as a campaign designer. I’ve seen the best efforts of mice and gamers wasted because the DM (often myself) didn’t think about what he was getting into at the outset: I’ve crafted complex plots, powerful points of conflict and compelling NPCs, only to see my final product fall flat because I spent too much time in my own imagination and not enough time considering the milieu in which I was working.

While the DM/campaign designer will put more effort into his game than all of his players combined, those efforts will be for naught unless he understands the needs and goals of his players early on in the design process. Many words have been written about identifying player “archetypes,” and I defer to Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering as a canonical primer on the subject. It would make little sense for me to design the ultimate 500-room crypt crawl for my campaign if most of my players fit the molds of method actor or storyteller; likewise, my time would be ill-spent designing a Harlequin novel’s worth of personal intrigue for my new campaign if most of my gamers tend towards the “hack and slash” side of the spectrum.” Robin’s Laws is the magnum opus of one Robin D. Laws, a prolific game designer whose contributions to the 4th Edition D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide help make that tome one of the best books on role-playing ever published but it is best used as a set of guidelines than as a field manual for identifying gamers. We are all power-gamers, casual gamers, method actors and specialists, in our own way, but Mr. Laws sheds light on one fundamental principal of campaign design: we must recognize the different “buttons” the our games can push for ourselves and our players, and we must coordinate the pushing of those buttons if we are to pull off a successful campaign.

Crafting a campaign that scratches the various itches of your players is a big part of the comprehension process, but a DM who designs his own campaign must also understand the group as a whole, particularly with regards to “off table” factors. Is your group likely to stay together for an extended period of time? It would be a shame to weave plot hooks into a character’s backstory if that player’s character is unlikely to stick around long enough to nibble at those hooks. If the player group is likely to see a great deal of turnover then you might still put a lot of work into your setting, NPCs and metaplot, but you would be ill-advised to wager too much design time on a character who might be moving out of state before you can resolve his role in the story. Weigh the likelihood of group disintegration against the amount and nature of design work which you’re willing to put into your new campaign.

Another aspect of comprehending group dynamics is understanding the potential for group conflict: disagreements between PCs is fodder for drama and adventure, but if you see the possibility for player-on-player conflict–or even violence–derailing your campaign? If so then proceed with caution: the best campaign environment for PCs who often find themselves at crossed purposes is a “sandbox” style, but a group that is over-ripe with internal strife runs the risk of falling apart, and as DM/designer you should adjust your expectations and campaign goals accordingly. I, for one, would find little point in running a game in which one or more of the PCs involved constantly worked at cross purposes from the rest of the player group: such an arrangement almst always involves splitting the party, and has the added effect of pushing players away from the game so they can set squarely against one another. Comprehend the cohesiveness of your play group before you begin your design project and adjust (or abort) your efforts accordingly.

Rules comprehension is key to the success of your campaign. No DM is expected to quote chapter and verse from every rulebook, but a thorough knowledge of the game system with which you play your campaign is essential to campaign design. Not only will you be called upon to adjudicate rules disputes at the table, but you’ll also be expected to create combat encounters, skill challenges, etc.. which will challenge your players–such “crunchy” design cannot be achieved without a solid fundamental understanding of the rules. It’s safe to assume that one player in your campaign will no more about the rules than you do, but he or she should be the only “rules lawyer” whom you can’t handle quickly. Players will know a great deal about the rules regarding their character’s abilities but you should have a sound understanding of the rules frameworks which underpin those abilities. Never allow yourself to be caught flat-footed on a rules question: be prepared to run your game and to provide a sound response to those players whose knowledge exceeds your own on a specific topic. Never be afraid to seek advice or suggestions on rules questions at the table and never allow yourself to be seen as entirely ignorant of a rules concept. Amongst some gaming groups such ignorance can derail your rapport with the players and undermine your campaign.

The last area of comprehension which I’ll cover in this article is self-knowledge. Know your strengths and weaknesses as a game master. Design campaign elements which highlight your strengths and find ways to avoid or patch over your weaknesses. If you excel at improvising NPCs then make incidental NPC encounters central to your game; if you’ve never pulled off a successful large combat scenario then you might just avoid such battles, or you might spend a great deal of time preparing one and running through it yourself before bringing it to the table. Most importantly, know how much work you want to put into your campaign: the best campaigns require a great deal of work, much of which is never seen by the players, so be honest with yourself about how much time you want to put into your game and adjust your approach and expectations accordingly.

I hope that this discussion of Comprehension–the most abstract of the Seven C’s of Campaign Design–has been helpful to you. In my next post I’ll let you know how I’ve applied my own advice in the design of a brand new campaign which I’m working on. Until then, happy gaming!