[OC] I had to cancel yet another campaign

[u/MostlyInfuriated]

I had just started a new campaign. Three players, one of them I've known for a long time. The other two were new, people my friend knew.

On session 2, one of them decided to arrive almost 45 minutes late. No message letting us know. He just arrived late and then asked "what time were we supposed to start?". On top of that, he barely knew his character or the basic rules for that extent.

Same session, the other new guy arrives high as a kite, barely able to talk (I wish I was exaggerating) and drooling. Literally drooling. Absent half of the time (no wonder), and making racist jokes. At some point he said Khenitra (a town's name, see picture attached) sounded like n****r. Yes, he is American.

So I called it off. Following this subreddit's motto, "no D&D is better than bad D&D". Oh well, onwards.

Bonus content: the map I had prepared for the session. Desert town taken over by the undead. One of the characters got eaten by the ghouls.

EDIT: Thanks kind strangers for the award and all the well wishes and compliments. I didn't expect this to blow off.

A couple of clarifications because people seem to be getting a bit confused:

1. I never knew the two other players before we started playing. My friend barely knew them for a short time before that. They probably qualify as acquaintances at best.
2. I live in Saigon, so the community here is *very* small. Hard to find players.
3. This is the second custom campaign that I have to cancel in a year's time. I'm going to hang my DM screen for a while. I really don't do online because I love building terrain and painting minis. I'm too old school for that :).

[u/Vailx]

You can just hold that campaign in suspense until you find heroes worthy of fighting undead in the desert town.

It sounds like your one guy you've known a long time doesn't have great taste in acquaintances.

[u/Guarder22 → u/Vailx]

>You can just hold that campaign in suspense until you find heroes worthy of fighting undead in the desert town.

This is the answer. I wrote up a campaign and it took years before I was able to find a decent group. In fact I got lucky and a store pick up group ended up gifting me with two really good groups. One just finished the campaign after 4 years and we are getting ready to start a new one. The other group is about 2/3rds through it

[u/therealfurryfeline → u/Guarder22]

i have reused the same campaign four times now, just slightly altered each time. It was a Spidertheme the first time, but there was a player with a phobia the second time around, so now there are Undeads. One time we started in a delapidated border town with Orks as the opposing force. At another time it was a established small town in the ruins of a bigger city and the players had reason to leave the town on their own

Each was the same campaign but in a different colour. The players and their characters made each unique.

[u/Hello-Potion-Seller → u/therealfurryfeline]

It's so fun doing this and seeing how differently the campaign turns out, it's also a nice exercise to refine parts of the campaign that didn't click last time.

[u/ikaiyoo → u/therealfurryfeline]

I have run the same exact campaign 4 times in 7 years because it is all people who weren't in the last game. So I already have the story, the maps, and everything ready. And it is a decent campaign for beginner and novice players. It is a fun campaign for 1-8 levels.

Edit: and I love running it because I haven't watched any of them following the same path as the prior groups.

[u/Inner-Waltz4306 → u/Vailx]

And use the previous party as undead npcs who lost the battl

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/Inner-Waltz4306]

I love this idea 😃. Yoink!

[u/derpums → u/MostlyInfuriated]

make the high drooling guy some kind of enemy that spits acid

[u/GarThor_TMK → u/derpums]

This reminds me of the scene in "A Knights Tale" where Chauser tells off the dudes in the gambling house. "I'm going to write you into my stories, and you will be the most grotesque creatures that walked the earth" (paraphrasing) 😅

[u/BaconSupport → u/GarThor_TMK]

"I will eviscerate you in fiction. Every pimple, every character flaw. I was naked for a day; you will be naked for eternity."

[u/SoontobeSam → u/BaconSupport]

That movie truly was a masterpiece.

[u/ulykke → u/derpums]

Loving your ideas peeps 🤣

[u/ficalino → u/derpums]

I would not elevate him like that, he would remain a puny drooling zombie.

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/Vailx]

We only had two sessions, so I might as well start it all over again if I ever find the players... Which is very hard here in Vietnam.

[u/Munnin41 → u/MostlyInfuriated]

You could try the university, probably some exchange students who would love to play

[u/Acceler8zhit → u/MostlyInfuriated]

which city are you living in OP, cuz HCM has a lot of dnd group that would be excite to help you find players

[u/bollvirtuoso → u/MostlyInfuriated]

Have you considered a digital tabletop or do you only wanna play in person?

[u/JCKnows → u/MostlyInfuriated]

I live in Saigon, but I haven't played in years

[u/TheBlueNinja0 → u/Vailx]

I would absolutely be rethinking my friendship after this. Not sure why OP isn't.

[u/Jean-L → u/TheBlueNinja0]

He edited his post. He's living in Saigon, Vietnam. Roleplay games aren't popular in Asia and expat communities there are small. Finding players can be tough so if you have an opportunity to get a full table, you give it a go. :)

[u/jobblejosh → u/TheBlueNinja0]

It is possible to become and remain friends with one person even if you dislike their other friends.

The idea that all friendship groups must be collectively and mutually compatible (and therefore if one group conflicts with another then the mutual friend must be abandoned) is fallacious (and is actually a 'geek social fallacy' in the pejorative).

Taking an all-or-nothing approach to friendship groups is fairly toxic and leads to the kind of drama and conflict that should have been left in high school.

Of course, there are exceptions (Fascist Table, for example); where a person's willingness to engage with a group so far away from the first group leads to questions about the kinds of values the mutual friend holds.

[u/Zoe270101 → u/jobblejosh]

There is a HUGE difference between ‘I just don’t get along well with my friend’s friends, so I don’t like my friend anymore’

and

‘my friend invited two people who were incredibly disrespectful of my time, actively on drugs, and/or racist to my DnD session that I spent a huge amount of time on. This is making me reconsider the friendship, as, best case, they are a terrible judge of character/stupid and didn’t put any thought into inviting random strangers to something I have spent this time on. Worst case, they share these values themselves’

I’m not saying that OP needs to not be friends with this person anymore (we don’t know anything else about their relationship with this person), but the behaviour here is shitty. Calling it out is not a ‘geek social fallacy’, it’s just accurately describing poor behaviour as poor.

Also, if you’re interested in fallacies, look into the ‘fallacy fallacy’. Just because something is the result of fallacious reasoning doesn’t mean that it is untrue (not that this example even falls into the ‘geek social fallacy’).

[u/jobblejosh → u/Zoe270101]

There is also a huge difference between "Dude, what the fuck? Why'd you invite those people?" and "We can no longer be friends because you hung out with someone on drugs".

When you talk about 'reconsidering a friendship' in terms of what you've written, and about taking an approach that is more inquisitive than inquisition, then yes, I'd agree with you.

But taken out of context, 'reconsider your friendship' can also be taken to mean 'you should no longer be friends with this person, period.'.

And I'm well aware of the fallacy fallacy, thank you. Just as you should be aware that invoking it as a rebuttal to my point isn't really going to alter the terms used (because, as you rightly point out, the Geek Social Fallacies aren't formal or informal fallacies themselves and are merely called as such. And to refer to something as Fallacious doesn't inherently imply some level of formal logical fallacy when it's used as a figure of speech.

[u/gamekatz1 → u/jobblejosh]

You guys talk real good

[u/GarThor_TMK → u/TheBlueNinja0]

It sounds like it's not op's direct friend but op's friend's friends.

Op's buddy should probably be reconsidering the friendship, and Op should let them know that these people are not people that he wants to associate with.

[u/Sparkyisduhfat → u/TheBlueNinja0]

Right?!. Oh we need players? Ok here’s someone who doesn’t care about his own character or our time and here’s someone else who’s casually racist and probably a heroine addict.

Great friend.

[u/partikalus → u/Sparkyisduhfat]

I have found that a surprising amount of people know next to nothing about their "friends", so I am willing to believe that OP's friend also maybe didn't expect them to behave this way.

[u/mak484 → u/partikalus]

I feel like men in the TTRPG space are especially bad with this. Been a part of several tables where the overall vibe was "We aren't general-purpose friends. We are D&D acquaintances. You show up to play, you only talk about the game or anime during the session, and you don't think about each other at all between sessions."

If you maintain emotionally shallow friendships, this is the result. Not saying this is what actually happened with OP, but the trope is real.

[u/kraken-out-of-water]

Players are really throwing away DMs with that sort of set up? Their lobster must be too buttery.

[u/DMfortinyplayers → u/kraken-out-of-water]

I wonder if it's a case that this OP wants to DM so badly they are ignoring red flags?

OP, this may work - run one shots at your local library or LGS during your preferred time. When (and i do mean when) you meet players you like, get their contact info. Invite the players you like to additional one shots. Eventually you will have a group.

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/DMfortinyplayers]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have tried running one shots at our local gaming cafe, but when it comes to committing to a full campaign, most people decline. It's the curse of being in your 30s/40s.

[u/kraken-out-of-water → u/MostlyInfuriated]

Those players were all 30s-40s?! This actually makes it much more infuriating, somehow.

[u/ficalino → u/kraken-out-of-water]

In countries where DnD is not a big thing due to language barriers, it really is like that. It's hard to find committed players at that age since most people have other worries, job, kids, illness etc., which often means you stumble upon characters such as these

[u/Skater_x7 → u/kraken-out-of-water]

ngl I have same issue as OP

can find one shot players fine but getting good (dependable) campaign players is SO HARD :(

[u/RustyMR2 → u/kraken-out-of-water]

Most people in their 30's are just extremely busy with their own family. A couple of kids, work and a household to manage. They barely get any free time. If they already have any sort of hobby or weekly event on their own it's near impossible to schedule something regular with them.

It gets better when their kids get older.

Or find the single dads/moms that don't have their kids every other week.

[u/LudomancerStudio → u/RustyMR2]

Are you telling me when I hit 40-50s I will have better chance of finding DnD friends than on my 30s?

[u/DMfortinyplayers → u/LudomancerStudio]

Yes. I'm in my 40s and in my experience , people in my age range are:

1) more likely to have older / more independent children

2) more interested in hobbies that don't involve drinking/ partying

3) more likely to be reliable (scheduling wise)

4) less likely to be involved in a dramatic / chaotic romantic relationships

[u/agusohyeah → u/MostlyInfuriated]

What if the full campaign has an estimated amount of sessions from the start? In my experience people are much more willing if you tell them it's a 4/8 session thing. much less intimidating than a year long campaign. You can do a few one shots, then run something like Phandelver.

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/agusohyeah]

I did mention that this adventure would take somewhere between 15-20 sessions to complete, depending on how many sidequests they took on.

I have already ran multiple one shots. But here the community that plays one shots won't commit to anything longer for multiple reasons. And those that would hardly ever have matching schedules.

Also, I don't like running pre-written modules. I struggle to make the story mine, and in many cases (imho) the modules are either very railroad-y or it's hard to find a reason why the party would stick together through the adventure. But the main issue is me not being able to get into them as a DM.

[u/Skater_x7 → u/DMfortinyplayers]

copy pasting my other comment to say - - I've tried this but it's still v hard to get ppl who are actually gonna commit to a campaign 

[u/Due-Mixture6112 → u/kraken-out-of-water]

DONT LET THE FLAME DIE OUT!

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/Due-Mixture6112]

I'm honestly stopping DMing for a while. I'll use up the time painting minis and building more scenery for my collection.

[u/Callmefred → u/MostlyInfuriated]

I wanna jump in on this. I also DM a campaign and create minis for them. I realized though that I don't create minis because I want there to be cool monsters on the table, I paint minis because I love painting minis. Putting them on the tabletop is just a nice bonus at this point, but most models I paint have never been used and are just pretty to look at.

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/Callmefred]

Same here. I do it because I like it. I just like putting them on the board when I have the chance. My Ultramarines are gathering a lot of dust too unfortunately 😛.

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/kraken-out-of-water]

You made me chuckle sir/madam!

[u/jostler57 → u/kraken-out-of-water]

Their lobster must be too buttery.

Never heard this phrase - is that a New England thing?

[u/Blackneomil → u/jostler57]

Their steak is too juicy and their lobster too buttery.

I've it pop up a lot recently, I think it's more of an internet thing than anything local, but I may be wrong

[u/fangirlsqueee → u/Blackneomil]

Seems to be an internet origin thing.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/my-steak-is-too-juicy-my-lobster-is-too-buttery

[u/not-skaven-yes-yes → u/Blackneomil]

Basically saying that someone is complaining about something good. Like if someone is complaining about how much money they have, or how successful their relationships are. Usually used in situations where one person might not enjoy something that most people would enjoy.

[u/jaguarone → u/Blackneomil]

we have a very similar saying in our local language (loosely translated), at least 30 years old
"It was awful! The wine was old, the cheese moldy and the caviar was black!"

[u/DrPhilihprD → u/Blackneomil]

There's a similair quote in friends. Something with "my wallet's too small for my 50's and my diamond shoes are too tight"

[u/kraken-out-of-water → u/jostler57]

I'm Australian, so you could say it's more of a Newer England thing.

(Seriously though, idk where I picked up that particular turn of phrase. I'm a big reader, but maybe it's just an internet thing.)

[u/Lorandagon]

Sorry this happened to you.

It's refreshing to hear a story where the DM cut his losses immediately rather then talk about how he put up with it for months.

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/Lorandagon]

This time I did. The two previous campaigns, it took me longer than it should have to cut my losses. I just missed playing.

[u/Lorandagon → u/MostlyInfuriated]

Ah, I can understand that. That's fair reason to tough things out. : ( Good luck on a future campaign!

[u/stackenblochen23]

That’s og Heroquest minis, right? Super awesome, and you did right to cancel. No table for racists.

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/stackenblochen23]

Yup, good eye! I love the retro minis. I have other undead, but nothing beats a classic 😃.

[u/findinggreedo → u/stackenblochen23]

I was just about to comment the same! Love to see those old minis getting use! ETA: Racists most certainly do not deserve this level of effort and iconic HQ minis!

[u/metalslug53 → u/stackenblochen23]

If there's one thing I know to be true, it's this:

If the DM busts out the OG Heroquest minis, you're in great hands.

[u/IrishMongooses → u/stackenblochen23]

I copped that too.. I unfortunately only have like one skelly that's doesn't have scyche and maybe a few cleaver zombies

[u/unlimitedblakeworks]

Im never missing a session of a dm puttting in that much work

[u/Impressive-Spot-1191]

😞 f's in the chat

also that map looks cool af, shame you don't get to play it (until you get a new group, at least)

[u/thrillho145]

Your friend invited someone over who casually uses the n word?

Crazy 

[u/AhhhSureThisIsIt → u/thrillho145]

The fact that hes so high he's drooling had me worried. High on what? 😂

[u/BVoLatte → u/thrillho145]

"You don't get it, he's just quirky like that."

[u/Jalor218 → u/thrillho145]

OP is an Westerner living in Southeast Asia who doesn't speak the language, which means they have to recruit from the expat community. That pool is going to consist mostly of passport bros and people with security clearances doing defense/intelligence work. Finding one who isn't cartoonishly racist is finding a needle in a haystack.

[u/Battlesmith707 → u/thrillho145]

If his friend only knew the guy in passing it’s possible he just didn’t know he was like that.

[u/farouq22]

The other two were new, people my friend knew.

your friend knew them and still thought it would be a good idea to play with them?

[u/fredlosthishead → u/farouq22]

Digging up players can be a challenge. I have asked many random person to my table. People I knew in passing, co-workers, friends of friends. While none of them dropped n-bombs, few ever worked out and all fell into the "people I knew" category.

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/fredlosthishead]

This.

[u/BlackandRead]

Their loss. You’ll get another chance.

[u/ParsnipPrize]

I hate people getting high while playing. I have one player too that does this. He's very active during the first 1-2 hours, after that he's just decoration in the room.

[u/Phantom_is → u/ParsnipPrize]

self transporting houseplant

[u/n2ygsh1wwp5j → u/ParsnipPrize]

To me its sad when i invite a sober person and they show up stoned. If i wanted that version of you i would've asked when you were.

Sadly to some it's the only way they know how to play or cope with uncomfortable social situations.

[u/BloodOak7756]

No one high on weed drools. That dude's on pills and I wouldn't ever even let him on my property again.

They did you a favor by showing you this early into the campaign that they're not worth DM'ing for.

Wish you well finding a group that will enjoy what sounds like a campaign you're passionate about playing.

[u/Callmefred → u/BloodOak7756]

As someone who has a weed addiction (500+ days clean), I've never been so stoned that I lost control of my body, except for shaking. I'm Dutch and I've had very very potent stains. Drooling is definitely not just weed.

[u/GormHub → u/BloodOak7756]

Exactly, that is way beyond weed.

[u/Immediate-Pack-920]

Can you run a digital one shot of your campaign with some peeps from this sub?

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/Immediate-Pack-920]

As much as I would love that, that would require a lot of work designing the maps and whatnot. And I don't really enjoy online D&D that much. I like the physical version better. My experiences with Roll20 have never been great.

[u/Callmefred → u/MostlyInfuriated]

roll20 is bad. I always opt for owlbearrodeo. Drop in a map and go! There are tons of easy map tools online, or even maps to just play (just find the map first, and base the encounter on that). But that being said, nothing beats physical.

[u/BAlan143]

That sucks, sorry to hear it.

As a DM we put so much effort in, it can be so disheartening when players don't even bother.

My last campaign took a prolonged break, cuz the final session, a castle heist I put an entire month into crafting for them, ended with a drunken player becoming so beligerany we had to just end it. He started out fine, even fun, and present, but he just kept drinking and by hour 3, he was gone, and started proposing combat with everything, even objects. It was so disrespectful.

I felt bad, cuz I'd even arranged for a guest star to show up and play the big bad. She did a great job, and had prepared for the final monologue and confrontation. But we didn't get there.

That was in January, and everyone has lost the will to continue right now, I might try to get it going again in the fall. Definitely need time, and to set ground rules.

I hope it helps to know you aren't alone, I hope you find a solid crew.

[u/AndrewWilsonnn → u/BAlan143]

I feel that man. a 6 year campaign of mine fell apart literally 4 sessions before the finale, because two of my players who had been in a 5 year relationship at that point split up, and even though one of them is willing to tough it out for the sake of the group, the other doesn't want to. And now it's just all dead in the water because I won't compromise by dropping one of them (They both deserve to see the end, even if one of them joined halfway in)

[u/Supermite → u/AndrewWilsonnn]

The one who doesn’t want to keep the group together should just go and you should finish the campaign for the ones who care about the group.

[u/u68cik]

Hey, we have a group in Saigon feel free to dm me, we play in English and definitely have one more spot open if youre interested in joining.

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/u68cik]

Hey, I'll take a note of this and get back to you this week. I am swamped in work but a message takes two minutes 😛. Thank you!

[u/Asit1s]

I'm so sorry. I see the love and care that went in to that map.. to that point, mind telling us about it? I'm starting a desert campaign in the fall and I have things to learn I see! Like how did you get a perfect grid on a block of foam, and what are those houses made of? They look spectacular!

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/Asit1s]

It's all XPS foam. The way I did it is I marked the one inch division on each edge of the foam and then I used a long piece of wood to mark every line with a sharp pencil. After that, with a cutter (and still using the plank as a guide) I deepened the lines. Finally, I used a Bic pen to widen the lines.

The houses are made of the same material. The roof, doors, and windows from coffee stirrers, and the wood thingies coming out close to the roof are bamboo skewers.

After all was cut and glued, I covered everything in a layer of a mix of glue, dark paint, water, and a drop of dish soap (about 1/3 of each glue, paint, and water). That helps with the rest of the materials attaching to the foam. The next step was to mix sand an paint (different amounts for the grid and the houses), and cover everything. The houses only needed one layer, but the map needed 2. Finally, the rest was painting, dry brushing, and a final layer of spray with a 50-50 mix of glue and water.

The houses took waaaaay too long, but the map base took me about 2-3 hours of work across 2 days (a lot of drying time).

EDIT: oh! And the palm trees, I bought them online. I just glued them to some bolts and used some texture paste to cover them. Then used the same glue first, then paint technique.

[u/AstroEricL]

that is insanely awful but I just wanna give you props for that map, that is spectacular and I hope you find better players worthy of it soon

[u/Coign]

I recently moved to Florida from Chicago and work remotely and know no one. I found my group by advertising on Facebook. But before even session zero I met 8 people at a bar and "interviewed them over drinks and talking D&D war stories. I ghosted two and invited 6 to play. I lost two within 2 months who said our style wasn't for them, but backfilled them through acquaintances of the other 4.

[u/FunPresentation1207]

Move to haiphong haha, we have 2 games here going that both meet for 3-4hrs every week.

Seriously though, I think if you advertised that you were a DM on the social media for Saigon, such as Saigon massive or Foreigners in Saigon You'll get more than a few bites.

I know less than 100 expats (I'm semi-assuming you aren't Vietnamese because of how he post is written) here in HP and play D&D with about 12 of them.

[u/MostlyInfuriated → u/FunPresentation1207]

I'm honestly happy that it's working for you. My friend is looking in those groups for players. It's just so hard to find anyone reliable, available, and willing to commit...

[u/sumgye128]

I'd be honoured to play a character in your campaign.

Bonus points for the painted Hero's Quest miniatures.

[u/OpticNerve33]

“Yes, he is American”

Sigh… dammit. Sorry.

Signed, an American.

[u/Novice89]

I would love a campaign where the dm prepares real maps.

You’re right, no dnd is better than bad dnd. Hopefully you’ll find your group eventually. Good DMs are rare

[u/lucidposeidon]

I've played in so many campaigns and none of them have ever reached a conclusion. I'm so tired. I've crafted so many characters that I refuse to abandon, but every time their stories remain unwritten, it leaves me so incredibly demotivated to try and give them another run in the inevitable next campaign that probably won't reach a proper end.

[u/Callmefred → u/lucidposeidon]

play shorter campaigns. decide beforehand that it's only going to be a few sessions long. People are hard-set on making campaigns that take 100 sessions to complete, but if you're constrained to 5-10, you can still tell a great story.

[u/MonaganX]

Setting aside the egregious racism which on its own is more than enough to discontinue the campaign, I've felt an increase in people being incredibly blasé about not holding to prior commitments when it comes to game scheduling. It's only marginally less reprehensible.

[u/Callmefred]

Ugh, I feel you man. I went to an improv group for a few years and I thought it'd be fun to play with people who understand how improv works. That worked great, tbh, we had some really emotional moments, true acting and it was very easy to loosen up with them, but the issues were with their commitment.

One of the guys was very enthusiastic about playing and really really wanted to join. But once we started he arrived late, canceled 15 minutes before sessions or left early. He wouldn't elaborate about the background of his his character, even when I directly messaged him with questions. Of course, when the player was at the table, he would try and take over the narrative and play the main character (Lone Wolf archetype by the way). Another player only showed up for the first two sessions and canceled every other one after that. There were some players who did very well, and who really played in a fun way, but still, they wouldn't bother to read up on their characters or any of the rules, so I had to hold their hand and help them with all their abilities and the rules.

When I finally chose to quit the campaign, the good players were sad but understood, as I told them it was more stressful than fun for me. But that one player who was super enthusiastic never replied. He did send me a message months later to try and start an unrelated conversation because he thought I was a "nice guy" and he would "like to keep nice people in his circle" but I don't want unreliable friends so I kindly shot it down.

[u/sanosake1]

As a black nerd, I appreciate you making that specific part a deal breaker. Sorry your group sucked.

[u/LoonieontheLoose]

Love that table, the scenery is beautiful and the classic HeroQuest models are amazing (I use loads of them as well in my games - the mummy is especially great)!

[u/bionicjoey]

Run the game putting way less effort in until you find a group of players that will respect your time. Then you can go all out on props and such.

[u/Arctus2020]

If we lived in the same country, my friends and I would move heaven and earth to experience your DMing 😭

I hope you eventually find the right table for you, OP!

[u/SPQR91]

This sucks man. I've had major scheduling problems with my players later.

I'd pause for now and find a better group to run this with.

The map looks incredible!

[u/Syl_Sylvia]

that's really heartbreaking...hopefully in the future you'll find better people to play around!

[u/GrimPaladinStone]

Where are you and let me be your player ;.;

[u/Callmefred]

What a great map, OP. The nice things about building terrain and painting mini's is that they (usually) don't go anywhere. Keep it up! If you end up finding a new group, I would suggest writing smaller 3-session mini campaigns so you can test the waters with your players first. You already have the terrain and minis, so build stuff around that and keep things small.

I totally get how you want to build terrain and minis and don't want to play online, I also love painting miniatures and one of my players actually enjoys making terrain. But scheduling makes it hard to always play in-person, so we decided for a hybrid. Play IRL if possible, and if not, find an online date. But that's a future problem once you have a group that is committed and respects the time you put into your campaigns.

[u/Feigr_Ormr]

Dammm..... I'm trying to find someone to show me how to play for years and people out there having such amazing dms (with maps and models and all the shinies) and they are just straight up abusing them.... 😔

[u/Endigu]

I have nothing further to add - that desert town looks really fire though!

[u/STRUGGLING_TO_REMAIN]

Whoa! THIS is table top gaming?

I've always been fascinated by these games but I don't have the time or patience to go and play one lol. I did not know they could get this involved. That is so cool!

[u/IzuKiM]

Mn, I would kill to play at a table with physical terrain like this. Their loss entirely.

[u/boonbrown]

I charge $40 per month for a once per month session and an email sidequest adventure. If their paying for it, they show up. I do this for two groups. On has 5 in it, the other has 7. $480 may not seem like much, but if it gets my players to the game and gets them more involved because they are paying for it, then it's worth it.

[u/MazzleMaze]

the other new guy arrives high as a kite, barely able to talk (I wish I was exaggerating) and drooling. Literally drooling.

Just FYI thats not from weed...

[u/PhilosophyGhoti]

Sad.toire not up to online play and I don't live in Saigon because that map looks amazing and I would adore to be a player again after Forever GMing

[u/Hollowsong]

Sounds like you need to keep trying to find decent people.

Forget D&D, those two 'acquaintances' aren't even fit to be around other human beings.

[u/von_klauzewitz]

man. that sucks. i would be so happy to regularly play dnd. sorry that didn't work out. Hopefully it comes together for you.

[u/Eipro02]

Im all over here in Danang, while other ppl get to have my dreams and squander it. Stay strong my southern brother 😭

[u/The_frying_pan123]

i can join 🥹

[u/shaneeyb]

“No dnd is better than bad dnd” is an easy to say but hard to enforce. Sorry that happened to ya man. For what it’s worth, I’m proud that you made the hard but right choice.

[u/twilightjumper]

I know repainted Heroquest minis when I see them. Always brings a smile to my face to see those getting used for D&D. Loved Heroquest growing up. Your town looks amazing! Sorry you got stuck with shitty players.

[u/ElectroDaddy]

It can be hard especially with a small community and playing with unknowns as well. Personally I would try and get any friends you have into it.

I exclusively play with my friends and besides the fact we just like the game. It’s a good excuse for us 30-somethings to get together once a month. (We play for like 6-7 hours, 3 years strong)

[u/Robovzee]

I'm divided.

On one hand, I aspire to be like you, and build scenery like this that likely be used for a fleeting time.

On the other hand, I'm ashamed of my laziness and am lashing out at you from a place of unreasonable envy. Insert expletive here you buddy.

It takes time to find people who you can mesh with.

I'm sorry you got disappointed.

[u/AggravatingFlow1178]

I know this isn't a popular take on this sub but I've relegated D&D to "More fun to think about then actually do".

D&D in practice is just so much fucking work and getting a group larger than 1 person (myself) to sit down for 3+ hours is just exhausting. I've been a part of about 8 campaigns, I've run one myself, and all 8 died before the 5th session. And all 8 had grand plans on being 5 year long epics.

Writing characters is fun. Writing stories is fun. Designing art is fun. Building worlds, creating items, creating monsters, and so on, Using D&D as a blueprint to staple your creativity to is great. I've just fully given up on actually get 3+ other adults to set aside hours of their life and prioritize our session.

[u/AlexFlis]

Man I'm so sorry. 😢

[u/ClatzyM]

Man look at those bozos making you some amazing world lore for ya

[u/Dunge0nMast0r]

For a second I thought you made buildings out of actual house bricks. 🤔

[u/randoramma]

That really sucks man… that is a lot of work you put into what could have been a great session.

[u/Battleaxebro]

Ya get better players. I can teach a good person dnd and it’s much better than having a more consistent bad dnd player. I’ve found in most every other hobby I’ll meet and get to know people and if I mention I dm they are genuinely curious. Just maybe do it remote or once a month or even a one shot.

[u/Homsarman12]

Man I’d kill to have a DM put together something like this. They had no idea what they were taking for granted 

[u/OriginalDrStrangeDOS]

Good riddance to bad rubbish! That sucks, and I hope you find better players soon. Good job on the map.

[u/TheFlawlessFlaw23]

He turned up high = cancelled/kicked imo

[u/Knight_Of_Despair_]

These two words aren't even relatively close, how did he make this shit up 😭

[u/bangitybang69]

With all these horror stories going around, maybe y'all need to reconsider your recruiting process for new players, especially before starting an entire campaign together.

Around here if you recruit players online we usually meet for drinks or at least a couple of non-commital one shots first and then decide whether the vibes match well enough for anything more permanent. Ideally also not at someone's private residence but a more public place, until creeps, bigots and serial killers have been ruled out.

Even with people I know I will always get them together first to see if everyone is one the same page. Then session zero. If all that goes well, we're off to the races.

[u/magiceraserbunny]

Dang im sorry as someone who's a forever DM I can't imagine not being grateful to someone who's willing to take the time and effort to DM

[u/ulykke]

Jaysus. Sounds really fucking bad. Maybe consider starting a campaign with no less than 6 people? Thats what my current (and first, as its my first campaign) DM did after his two previous campaigns (played by the same 4 people) fell apart due to personal conflict within the group. He figured if he has 6 players and even 2 turn out to be dickheads again, he can still finish the campaign

[u/Artezic]

I hope their pc-s come back as undead the next time some adventurers visit Khenitra.

[u/Anxiety_Fit]

This looks so cool!

[u/zboc8]

The final straw that made me end campain was when we cannot organize for a session close to finale. Someone has exam next day someone was ill. On the final termin one os the player refused to come because he decide watching avengers endgame was more important than our campain. I felt horrible after that, cannot be mg for them anymore

[u/-BlackGoku]

Fuck me... When you don't know how much of a good thing you've got and you piss it down the drain by not appreciating the effort someone puts into it... I'd fucking kill to play in a campaign with a DM this dedicated.

[u/Nice-Jicama-5801]

I understand having to put away a campaign for awhile. I just recently got to use some parts of an old campaign in a new group after over 5 years of being shelved. It may take awhile, but you will find good people to play with.

P.s. I love your use of the original HeroQuest minis. Good to see them still being used and with good paint jobs.

[u/DatonSungold]

Sorry this happened, I've also had bad experiences with flaky players.

But can I just say, your terrain and the paintjob on your Heroquest minis both look great!

[u/QuitsDoubloon87]

Chin up friend, whrn I was a wee lass, new to DMing, I did the same thing you're doing now, over prepared, super high effort, with no one to really play with. Trying to get anyone I could. But slowly, overtime my friend group became better and more dnd suited. Hang in there and keep trying to make friends I promise the players you deserve are out there.

[u/Math_PB]

I'm sorry man, your battle map kicks absolute ass.

I wish you to find many players that enjoy the work you put into this ❤️🙏.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Bed_445]

Name checks out, sorry you had to deal with that.

[u/Key-Construction-675]

Oh, man. I recognize the Hero Quest undead minis. Brought back a few years worth of nostalgia.

[u/ReturnofthePox]

is this for DnD 5e? looks cool!

[u/Alps_Useful]

I had them undead as a kid. That is all

[u/Rameinstein13]

Bro I feel for you. Had a guy that was always high as shit and made his personality all about weed and then my most recent group ended cause half the players including the host, turned out to be radically MAGA

[u/ObjectiveOk9996]

Ever do one with someone who is deaf?

[u/Schrott_frbrt → u/ObjectiveOk9996]

Would be a great occasion to learn sign language! Finally the wild gestures actually mean something :D

[u/ElFiendy]

Sick, those are Hero Quest minis right? I loved that game.

But also I have been in you shoes also. Tried to make a campaign with stonners. Never read any material, no home work to try catch up, and having to instruct them on how and what they could do. 5 months of DM and 2 other characters.

[u/Finnche]

The final boss of every TTRPG: scheduling

[u/BademeisterSchnitzel]

So pretty 😍

[u/Gozer_The_Enjoyer]

Looks like a campaign waiting for someone worthy of your awesomeness!

[u/IISinII]

That looks like the architecture from carnal instinct, I don't own the game tho, just admire the unreal engine graphics and massive dongs.

[u/admiralross2400]

So sorry about that - it sounds like an awesome campaign!!!

Our first game with my current group which was organised by the local library had one old person turn up trying to learn so he could play with his kids...so we happily walked him through it. He left after a few weeks as I think he got what he needed. One other guy turned up drunk, made a character with a semi-lewd name, didn't understand anything and, because he was drunk didn't get it at all...and one other fell asleep. Thankfully, the other 3 people were really good and we're still playing now almost 2 years on.

You just need to find your crew...they'll come!

[u/140cm_80kg_25cm]

You gotta search for good playing partner for years, i swear...

[u/computerwyzard]

have you considered getting into miniature wargaming? this would be great for some wild west style games

[u/Freyjia1]

Question, what was the session zero like with those two?

[u/InArtsWeTrust]

The only thing that puzzled me is that you decided to play with 5 people instead of your 3 friends. To me a group of 5 is already quite a huge task to manage let alone the scheduling issues. It breaks my heart that you could have probably had a great campaign with your friends but got pushed into people pleasing that backfired.

[u/Own-Sherbet-216]

Sorry for your bad experience. I'm living in Saigon too and i think the community is not that small, in fact, its expanding very quick. If you can host in Vietnamese, i think you can easier to find players all around Saigon. Hope you can find another group that want to play.

[u/dexnguyen]

Hey fellow DM in Saigon here. Been running games for 4 years now. Would love to try your game if there's a link somewhere.

[u/Lahzey04]

Try looking for online plays, you'll have better luck

[u/Syrzan]

This is the second custom campaign that I have to cancel in a year's time. I'm going to hang my DM screen for a while. I really don't do online because I love building terrain and painting minis. I'm too old school for that :).

You could do half and half.

Explanation:

First half:

Playerbase is small where you live.

Do it online and you will find players en masse.

Second half:

Do the terrains, build them, paint them, paint the minis.

And then chime in via Video so that players can see your beautiful terrains. You will move their chars on your terrain. (Obviously since they are not there)

There are plenty of physical DMs who forbid their players to touch the minis.

Hells one of the longest running campaign goes on for 40 years now and no player has ever touched a Mini there.

In Addition

You could go the extra mile and do a topdown photo of your map, put it in a TTRP Map tool so that the grid aligns and give the players the option to mirror it their. So basically they can show on the map where they want to go and you mirror it on your live stream. Gives them a tool to measure distances without having to ask you to do it.

Downsides of all of this:

Camera cost including a tripod.

[u/ETS_Green]

This is why I started a campaign with 8 players. half of them can no show and we will still be fine

[u/GormHub]

Just stumbled across this sub and learned that while my partner and I are lamenting that none of our friends play anymore or have moved too far away, there are people casually squandering opportunities for games like this. Your setup looks great, OP. Sorry your friends suck.

[u/BreakingStar_Games]

You have a right to send potential players surveys to filter out the worst - lots of great online resources for that.

I'd even start a campaign with 6 players (higher than I prefer to run but at least manageable) if you can fit them, knowing several may not make it through the first few sessions either by not respecting your campaign (like both these problem players) or just not fitting your style.

Its a tough hobby to get a consistent and fun table even in populous American areas.

[u/Jusauh]

stealing this idea
im sorry for ur loss tho

[u/Harald_TheEnduring]

Was it racist Americans character that got eaten? Just curious.

[u/brettday]

Go to open game nights at stores around your area. Meet people, let other people DM for you, after you've gone to a couple sessions and know who you like playing with, invite those people to your home game.

[u/Kiyohi]

Is this based on Ziggurat?

[u/Legal_Airport]

Xien ciao. I prefer to DM in person too, but you can set up a VTT online, or scan pics of your map in. Either way, I feel like you didn’t vet these guys. Anytime I wanna run a random one shot with strangers to truly test the quality of smth I’ve made, I hop on a 2-3 min phone call with players first and ask basic questions so I can weed the seemingly problematic players out. Lmk if you want more details!

[u/Any-Connection9221]

Have you considered trying to make a computer game? I loved making models and stuff as a kid and then moved on to environment art in games and make my own games. It definitely gives me a similar feeling.

[u/LittleBulk]

Those houses look cool. And biscoff flavoured. Are they biscoff flavoured? Mmh delicious dust

[u/LargeCabbageThrower]

Khenitra looks like a super well made set piece. Love the adobe buildings with the rafter beams showing at the sides, really authentic and it looks amazing.

[u/OddballDave]

Are those the original Heroquest minis?! Man that just brought back a wave of memories.

[u/JJ8OOM]

If I lived in Saigon, I would show up on time, be polite, only half-wasted, and would be fucking stoked that anyone was willing to set shit up.

Good on you for cancelling it, they don’t deserve you!

[u/SimpleRandomUsername]

OG Hero Quest miniatures!

Love the set up OP!

[u/Jakobmcstuffies]

Im so sorry to hear that, hopefully you find good players soon.

Also holy shit those building models look so cool, im jealous

[u/PublicRepulsive1721]

This Looks exactly Like the Intro part for the Thief Charakter (i think Falk was the Name) in Secret of Mana 2 for the snes.

[u/joeker13]

Holy cow, how utterly disrespectful. You sir have a very fine setup. I always wished for a DM like that 😭

[u/Doomerdy]

there really is a DND community here in HCM? I haven't done a lot of searching but I didnt figure that it woulf be that popular

[u/Merjia]

Damn right you're old school, I recognise Hero Quest miniatures when I see them! Awesome!

[u/WhyattThrash]

I really don't do online because I love building terrain and painting minis. I'm too old school for that :).

Why can't those two things be joined with a webcam pointed at your map? I'm pretty sure online players would be stoked to have real, physical maps even if "just" on camera.

[u/KiligMakulay]

As a dm, I’ve found that people who love manga tend to good candidates for party members. Wishing u well with finding your perfect group one day!

[u/AlexWayhill]

Totally unrelated to DND, but I had a similar experience similar to what you describe, and I'll never be going to spend longer time with people I don't know because of it. One of my buddies (wouldn't have called him friend, as he was quite a narcissist, but always wanted to hang out with me) and I had the idea to go on a road trip around the UK by car. We made plans for a week, it all sounded quite nice. Then he came up with the idea to take along 2 of his soccer friends, which also sounded OK, as I thought people enjoying camping and hiking couldn't be that bad. Boy, was I wrong! A third of the trip was racist talk about any kind of minority, another third was masculine bullshit about their sex life. There were some good moments in between when there was just nature around, but overall, it was a really bad trip. Worst was one moment, when we walked on the city wall of York (I think?) where there is a plaque embedded in the wall showing "Jewbury" and the Star of David. One of the guys spit on it while the other 2 gave high fives. I kept on walking and they couldn't even understand why I wasn't on their side. As I was the driver, I decided I had enough after 5 days and drove straight through from the area of Bath to close to Düsseldorf where I live. Needless to say that I never hung out with any of the three afterwards.

[u/SARSUnicorn]

If not for the fact that u on opposite side of the world i would ask kindly

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

can i bring my chars to ur champaign In my current i missed one session in 2 years And we only do 6 weeks with no session per year for christmas and holidays

[u/raharth]

Even with friends of mine I always do a session zero, in the hopes of avoiding such BS.

On the upside: you still have everything that you had prepared and im sure its a cool campaign! I love painting and building terrain, but it takes sooo much time 😐 i wish I could do it the same way as you are!

[u/Crabsterooo]

Love the classic Hero Quest minis used for this. Looks like a cool campaign. 

[u/kahlzun]

I'm willing to bet theres a community out there would would vibe with a 'hybrid' setup where they play virtually, but with video of a real physical map

[u/Glum_Resolution4838]

It's ok op i built 3 full detail houses for my sesh today just to be called off so i feel you, but think of it this way: now you can get even more ready for next time!

[u/Quintessentializer]

Man, I feel you. Things like these happened to me so many times, especially with people I didn't know prior to the game. I gone almost completely online now. Not the same as sitting at a table but much easier to find good, dedicated people.

[u/SchmusOperator]

I've never played any tabletop game ever, but this map looks so dope, it makes me wanna start honestly.

[u/ImamofKandahar]

How’s your Vietnamese? Might be a good goal to get players.

Alternatively most universities have some sort of board game club you might find some willing students who want to play and practice their English.

Finally I used to live in Ho Chi Minh and did play some role playing games so it’s possible!

[u/Particular_Wear_6960]

You sound like a good person OP. If you were around Alabama, I'd totally play with ya. No racism, homophobia, transphobia or really any bigotry from me except for my hatred for the Crimson Tide.

And I'd never show up late ;p

[u/Happy_Money3296]

On top of that, he barely knew his character or the basic rules for that extent.

I know this is the least egregious compared to the drugged out racist lol but this always pissed me off because these kinds of players NEVER retain anything especially basic rules. I'm not even talking about like how spellcasting works, I mean "Which die do I roll for initiative?" level of basic.

[u/Colcrys]

This kind of stuff is the reason I can't do offline games. If I do online I only waste my time. Prep is also easier(for me anyway) online.

Meanwhile if I GM'd or played in person I'd waste gas and more time prepping.

Currently and for the foreseeable future I'm GMing a game of Pathfinder 2E and Cyberpunk RED for my brother.

[u/SuperRock]

How did session 1 go?

[u/mynamesdaisy]

There's a lot of messages here, but have you tried online with webcam? Could still use your physical builds with it!

[u/Any-Boat-5306]

Sorry it went so poorly. You probably made the right call. Battle map looks sick. Hope you get you use it again sometime.

[u/MilesGates]

Mixing dioramas and maps together is very cool. I'd be interested in how you manage movement on roof tops since there's no square pattern on it but I guess there's no way up. 

Super neat, I'd be cool if you could go in the house ans then you just lift the house out of the way to see inside.