We think of things in terms of a movie. The process is something that looks like this:

1) Start with the tease: You need to know if the players will like what you want to play. I solve this by creating a number of campaign trailers. For every campaign I want to run, I create a “title” and some “copy”. The title is akin to a book or movie title. The copy is like a book blurb or advertising text for a movie, describing a bit about the campaign background and story it will (try to) tell. As a campaign is starting to wind down (before it ends or it will go on hiatus), I start presenting my troupe with these “trailers”. I can then judge their interest in various types of campaigns and build interest in the possible games. After a while, I tailor the trailers to match their responses (planning appropriate changes in the campaign). By the time the campaign stops, the players are excited about the new campaign, just as if they were excited about a new movie.

2) Poll your players I: While I am presenting various campaign trailers to my troupe, I start to work on the actual campaign we will run. I ask each player for one to five “bits” they want to see in the campaign. Each bit is a campaign element, character types, major NPCs (or type of NPC), types of story lines they want to see, the kind of settings, type of adventures they want to see, types of opposition, important elements (magic, tech, skills), genre and subgenre. From these elements, I can usually tell which campaign trailer they are most interested in. Sometimes, I will create new movie trailers based on their answers.

3) With a ruler and some tape: Armed with the various campaign bits the troupe wants to see, I start a vague outline for the campaign setting. I will work out outlines for each campaign trailer the troupe is genuinely interested in, modified for their responses.

4) Buy the Tickets. They have seen the updated trailers, the troupe begins to decide which campaign they want to play. In theory they should choose just one. It has been my experience they will waffle between two until the very last moment. Once the campaign has been choosen (or for each campaign they might want), I ask them for the 1-5 campaign bits based on that setting.

5) With a ruler and some tape II: I begin to build the game environment in earnest. For this I use a top down, bottom up method. That is, start with some conceptional ideas, and brainstorm every important part- noting the best parts. After deciding on the pieces to keep, I build the world up from the details selected.

I will also begin to work on the main storylines for the campaign.

6 ) World Pack: After creating the world, I create the basic world pack for the campaign setting. This will include the overview of the world, some details, and any special rules that we will be using for this game.

7 ) Casting: We have Casting Parties. In these group sessions, we work out all our characters together. Players help players with game mechanics and conceptions. The characters are woven together in terms of their mutual histories, so the group has a real reason to be together. As the GM I provide direction and information to the group. This casting party allows the players to create what will become a team with mutually supporting roles in the group, weave their backgrounds and story lines together, and get a good feel for the group.

8 ) Poll the characters II: In addition to any notes I make during the casting party, I ask each player for 1-5 things they want to see in the game, with an emphasis on their characters. This time they will give me actual roles they want to see in the game (love interest, evil wizard to be their enemy, etc), storylines they want, types of scenarios they are now intersted in, opponents or types of opponents, and so on.

9 ) Polish the work. The final elements of the world are created to support the characters and their conceptions. Plot lines are mapped out. Villains are created. All the final polishing of the game is done.

10 ) Start the game.

Originally posted: http://www.strolen.com/content.php?node=1461

Understanding players, especially those who have worn the DM hat before, will understand the need for campaign/story/DM adjustments. That said, it still needs to be treated like the first session of many and not a one-off. When a PC gets traded out for another, the players ought to suspend disbelief, or the DM can, at the very beginning of the next session, kill off or give reason for the old PC to abandon ship.

My policy is to have a nice set up for the world (sent in advance and then reinforced in person) and include one combat encounter and one social encounter. Set the scene, include a few overtones if possible and bring ‘em back for more.

The only time I’ve done this so far, the one-shot was totally unrelated to the plot of the main campaign, and mostly introduced the system. In terms of achieving that, it went great, and the players still talk about all the shenannigans that ensued. I plan to run 4e for my next campaign, which my players will be more familiar with, so I’ll probably start with a related one-shot.

It won’t necessarily be a prelude to the campaign, though – I might set something in the far past, which later becomes part of the mythology of the setting. I’d say more, but I already have.

I do like the idea of being able to retool the plot/setting a little bit after the first few sessions. After all, if you let the players iron out bugs with their characters (as apparently most of us here do), why shouldn’t you get the same chance?

I’d also like to add that, for me at least, the pilot should convey the unique flavor of your system and/or setting – it helps it to stand out from any other pilots you might run.

I prefer to jump right into the action with a pilot. A dump truck full of backstory is a campaign killer, and I find it easier to learn the rules as they come up (as a player, anyway).

I know we’re all going to make our share of regrettable decisions with the new edition of D&D, so retooling won’t be limited to “pilot season” in any 4E campaign I run. I’m thinking I might break the three tiers into “seasons,” to facilitate introducing new things and revamps between them.

And if your group doesn’t like your pilot, don’t be afraid to scrap it. In some cases, you might get to try again later, with a fresh perspective (or a new group of players) – heck, it worked for Star Trek.

In my current D&D campaign, we’re much further in and still accepting character rewrites (and a player substitution). That’s an intentional change, since it’s an homage to 3.5’s complexity and choice… with all those options, people will misstep or find a better option later. The rewrites have weakened characterization a bit, but it still feels like the sendoff I was hoping to craft.

More generally, I’m a big fan of letting players start a new system/game with a one shot. Other than my current PTA game, we’re more likely to strip a few elements from the one-shot for reuse… but it’s not as cannon as a pilot episode supposes. If I had a great one-shot and the players really wanted to continue the campaign with the same characters, I’d probably follow your advice and treat the one-shot as a pilot and roll with it. [I'd also be very pleased that it went so well...]

Someone thinks a Paladin is for them, but after getting the gist of where the story is going to go decides a Fighter would be a better fit. Rewrite.

Three sessions in, and the Cyberarm with built-in submachinegun just isn’t as spiffy as you hoped? Not getting enough mileage out of Power Attack? Ask the DM, and get a small rewrite.

The “retrain” rules in 4E and late 3.x were a nice touch, but I on’t see myself ever doing away with this custom. It works for every televison show out there, and it works for my game.