I keep fiddling around here and there with ideas for getting my real life AD&D campaign world in shape and organized to run as a successful online campaign.

The last few weeks I have realized that I do more talking/blogging about getting ready than getting ready. I collect neat ideas that I want to remember that I want to have ready for possible use in my campaign. Rather than just talk and haphazard idea collecting, I have resolved to actually do it.

To make sure that my actual preparation is on track, I will make a checklist of things to do and principles to guide my efforts. Since these are things I feel I need to do for me to run an online campaign, I through that I would share the list, in case others find it helpful. Better yet, you might have suggestions that I can use.

My list should be generic enough that even though I mention some specifics of AD&D/OSRIC, it can easily be modified for any genre. I also have interest in running campaigns for Metamorphosis Alpha and White Star, so the same steps, except there is no preexisting campaign to draw from, would apply. Finding the time to run one online campaign, let alone make preparations to do three won’t happen overnight. I could do one shots or once a month sessions for the other potential campaigns. I will get the AD&D/OSRIC campaign off the ground and running before starting another one.

First, what are the principles/guidelines for my online campaign.

RULES/GENRE: First Edition AD&D/OSRIC Fantasy with house rules, If players don’t have access to the Player’s Handbook, point them to the PDF and available print options for OSRIC.

STYLE: Sandbox & Theater of The Mind

TECHNOLOGY: Go with what I know and have experience.

• Roll 20 & Google Hangouts for play. (Free option, can pay to avoid ads.)
• A G+ Community to gather campaign information. (free)
• A Google drive location for shared documents.  (free)

CAMPAIGN: My existing campaign with the clock rolled back to the starting point of the in-person players. This gives me all the ideas I have already used and avoids having to re-stock all the locations that were cleared out. It also allows me to incorporate things that happened in prior play, especially polishing off the rough edges and filling in gaps that prior play revealed.

An added benefit of this is that all the work I do in preparation for an online campaign and actual play will add something to the in person campaign.

Second, the to do list needed to get ready. Remember the KISS method!

1. New DM map. My existing hand drawn map sections don’t line up right, and I just fudged it at the table. The PDF’s I found online with a section with hexes and an area to make notes were not quite right the way I filled them out.
   1. Note on all maps – they don’t have to be fantastic works of art, just good enough to get the point across.
2. Player’s Map. I haven’t worried too much about a player’s map in live play. I do have a rough map of the town where they have made their base. If the players online want to buy a map, I will need something in electronic format to give them. I will need the town map in electronic format.
3. Campaign Introduction. Short document to give a sense of the world and the current situation in the campaign the characters will enter.
   1. Have a TL;DR section at the top with bullet points.
   2. Race and Class specific notes. For example, magic users & illusionists would have knowledge of certain things that other classes would not know. There is a campaign situation reason that a starting player can’t be a half-orc in my game.
4. House Rules Document. Make it clear how I do things and what rules I use, don’t use, ignore, add, modify, etc.
   1. Have a TL;DR section at the top with bullet points.
   2. For example, I don’t hold to the level limits.  I also don’t use weapon speed.
   3. I only use the classes in the Player’s Handbook.
   4. Only some mundane items from the Unearthed Arcana, Wilderness Survival Guide, and Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide.
   5. Meta-gaming and out of character outbursts have a way of becoming reality….
   6. Silver standard
      1. Price Sheet with silver standard
   7. XP for session summaries and writing up people and places.
5. Review campaign notes.
   1. Town – Electronic map, place things that need placing, add businesses and NPC’s as needed.
      1. Both Player & DM version.
   2. Revised area map – Make it match what I envision in my head and not how it ended up on 4 or 5 different sheets of hex/note paper.
      1. 1. Both Player & DM version.
   3. Perhaps a map of the known world that might be available to the players.
   4. NPC’s – Organize list of NPC’s for online play. Add or modify NPC’s as needed.
   5. Add classed NPC’s for every class present in my game to save time. Ideas in my mind need to be written down and clarified.
   6. Add NPC’s for each race present in my game.  Ideas in my mind need to be written down and clarified.
   7. Review existing dungeons, lairs, scenarios, etc. to make them fit my revise area map.
   8. Review encounter tables – Tweak as needed.
   9. Method to track notes and ides generated by player outbursts, fears, ramblings, kidding around, and actual stated goals/desires of players.
      1. This will probably be as simple as a next session note pad. Perhaps even a separate pad or side of the page for future session ideas. A stenographer’s note pad had the line down the middle, so that might be simplest.
   10. Timeline/events – Stick to the major events that were pre-generated or that developed from the live campaign. Modify them as the players interact with the world. It will be possible for player activity to speed up, slow down, or stop pre-generated events.
   11. Make a note of anything that I think of as I go through and organize my notes so I don’t forget anything.
   12. Don’t mention any possibilities to players that I am not prepared to back up with preparation for the players to go in that direction.
   13. Longer list of rumors/rumor table.
   14. Generate more names to be ready to name NPC’s.
   15. Re-use weather events and other happenings.
6. Configure dice and other macros and documents in Roll 20.
   1. Have a document or links to tips for Roll 20 and how to do macros, etc. in case there are players new to Roll 20.
7. Write up description, etc. for Roll 20 campaign page.
8. Build G+ Community for campaign. Description, categories, etc.
9. Locate a good source of images to use for setting the tone for the site and each adventure. I really like how the DM to my weekly online AD&D game does this.
10. Invite Players & set time for the campaign to begin.
11. Schedule Time With Each Player to create a character and a backup character. Determine date and frequency of play. Day of week, and weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.
12. Prepare a better space for holding he materials – maps, notes, manuals, and a place to roll dice and take notes.
13. Technical – Get a cable so I can run two monitors.
14. Last minute stuff prior to first session.
15. First session.

Any other ideas or suggestions are welcome!