"A Campaign is like a Tree" - Using Cause and Effect to Enhance Your Roleplaying Campaign

By James H. Jenkins
Designing and running a roleplaying game campaign is a labor of love. One way to reduce the amount of
work involved is to use published adventure modules.
Using a module has positive benefits for a Game Master pressed for time or lacking in experience; since a
module takes a long time to produce, you get the benefit of the time spent by designers (who may have
spent weeks detailing maps, encounters, and twists in the plot). Module designers also usually have many
years of experience, with considerable skill at crafting an exciting plot, with interesting events and
characters. Therefore, you get the benefit of a lot of designer effort and experience (in exchange for a few
dollars) that may last for a few adventures. However...
After some time spent in running a purely module-based campaign, the enthusiasm that spurred the
selection of the early campaign setting in the first place tends to fall off. After a while, a steady supply of
modules that may or may not have been designed for your campaign setting may make play seem boring.
This is because the need to make the module fit generically into many campaigns is a great strength, but
also a great weakness:
Because a module designer tries to make the material fit into nearly every campaign, it specifically does
NOT fit in to YOUR specific game. To fit a published module into your campaign, you will usually need to
change or revise it (sometimes drastically) because past events in your campaign are different from the
module as designed (even if your campaign is based on the same setting as the module). In particular,
aspects of the module's setting may clash with your established timeline, locations of previous adventures,
or featured Game Master Characters.
In addition, running a module properly takes time (better spent before, Not [GASP!] during the game
session), reading the whole thing to see how the plot works, what is likely to occur, and studying intricate
details of possible encounters. Many groups (and Game Masters!) like to play a module "on the fly," but
this almost misses the point! With this style, a lot of effort by designers usually ends up wasted, with the
game session satisfying, perhaps, but still lacking...something.
When you design your own campaign, (and the scenarios for it) you have a better "feel" of what is going on
than if you use published adventure modules, and you gain a lot of valuable design experience of your own
along the way. Each scenario is then a critical part of the campaign and the character's history in it, instead
of unconnected, isolated incidents that the characters become involved in, but never return to. In the long
run, this leads to a richer campaign, and more meaningful player involvement. After a time, YOU will be
designing scenarios where heroic deeds and narrow escapes are the rule rather than the exception.
This article suggests ways that the Game Master can use the seeds of campaign material already developed
with players to keep them engaged and involved in a challenging saga of epic proportions by re-working
old material already generated by the campaign:
The campaign should not be static. A thriving campaign continuously grows and evolves from the seeds of
past events, based on a general understanding of the laws of Cause and Effect. However, to remain
interesting, the stories of the campaign should not be linear. Instead, an exciting campaign has "branches"
in the ongoing epic story based on critical choices that the players make for their characters (and the
campaign) by their actions, guided by the Game Master's overall plan for campaign growth. The Game
Master then uses the critical "branch" taken to determine all future events, from that point on. Consider this
basic, but powerful statement about reality:
Once an event is determined to have happened, it then slips instantly into the past, becoming a part of
history. The world of Now is continuously changing and evolving, but is always based (in some part) on
what was. In turn, what Will Be is determined by the Now.
In other words, selecting a branch in the campaign simulates the real-world effect of time, and at the same

time, "makes" history. In the real world, if you know the past, you can usually determine some general
trends about the future.
As Game Master, developing the background events, details and history of the campaign before play
enhances your understanding of what past events have already occurred, and how those events served to
shape the present, and helps you greatly in determining possible future events, based on your previous
choices for the past.
Realize that in an ongoing campaign, a lot of "background" events should continue to happen, whether or
not the adventuring party decides to intervene. This adds detail to the setting, and keeps the campaign
constantly moving forward. The characters must take action, or they will passively watch as events flow
onward. Some if these events will have little significance, while others (based on your direction for the
campaign) will grow in importance.
Try to link the storyline of your scenarios to events on a larger scale, so that the characters can do things on
a small scale that have an effect on the overall campaign. This also helps with scenario continuity, because
each game session is then linked to a larger goal, which ties them all together. A continuous series of these
linked stories quickly takes on an "epic" feel. The players may meet setback after setback, but they still
make slow but steady progress through each scenario toward the final goal.
Introduce a returning nemesis for the characters. This is good, because of the familiarity that the players
develop for the personality and actions of the nemesis charachter. Players grow to loathe and despise (if
not respect) a challenging bad guy. It helps if the evil that this person does is not general in nature, but
directed specifically toward one or all of the characters.
Make challenges to the characters affect them on a personal level. Suppose Baron Doobad is out and
about, with his army demanding excessive taxes. The peasants want to rebel, but have no leadership.
Maybe the adventurers step in, out of their "inherently good nature," or perhaps they develop a what's-in-itfor-them attitude. This leads to a lukewarm motivation, at best.
Contrast this with scouts or messengers reporting that one of the Player Group Character's holdings are
aflame, and the Baron is now moving in on the mining operation that each character has a stake in, most
likely to seize it for his own use! Confronted with such a challenge, the characters most likely will not
stop, until this threat is neutralized.
For this to work, things that the Player values for the Character must be threatened. Any poor player can
say, "So what?" when the distant cousins of the character are threatened with the axe. But if the Player has
drawn maps of a keep, detailed guard rotations, and mapped out terrain for the character's holdings for an
area 100 miles around, you can be sure that this is a good "hook" to motivate them to take action, before the
Character's keep is lost to enemy action.
As you work out the details of a scenario, try to make a guess as to where and how Characters might take
an alternate path to the goal, or other ways that they might interrupt the flow of the storyline. When the
story you want to tell becomes disconnected, steer it back onto the track by determining other plausible
paths to your desired events. Do this by figuring out the most likely result that leads toward what you want
from what just happened, and apply it to the game. (Although it's true that rare events can cause dramatic
shifts in history, it's also true that things of such a dramatic nature should only occur in your campaign
when you, as DM, plan them to occur.)
Stay flexible in the minor details of the story, and do not leave it up to the "One True Way" of solving any
specific problem, trap, or difficulty, no matter how "cool" you thought it was when you dreamed it up.
A roleplaying game is not designed to be (and should not become) an intelligence test of Game Master vs.
Players. By sticking to a single solution, the game comes to a crashing halt when players miss it, or it
seems unrealistic when the Game Master has to resort to obvious "nudging" to move the party along.

By staying flexible, you can recover your story, and put things back on track, without missing a beat. Or,
you could have SEVERAL ways in which specific puzzles, or challenges could be solved, with each
solution leading back to the same overall plot. If you do it right, the players will think that THEY came up
with the story, and will brag out loud about how they "outsmarted you." Let them have their fun, keep
smiling, and hit them with the next obstacle.
It's generally a good idea to keep the story "branching" in unexpected ways that seem obvious later on,
when the players learn more about what is really going on.
Surprise the players with the twists and turns of the plot, but do not overdo it by constantly introducing
unrelated events that might serve as an exciting sideline, but will only become a lengthy distraction in the
overall story.
Everything should happen for a reason, even if the players only dimly understand the reason. Almost
everything should point toward a well thought out, unpredictable, but satisfying ending for the scenario that
is based upon all that came before it, in a logical, or as-near-logical fashion as you can manage. If you do
not do this, your game will quickly descend into random silliness.
It's necessary to point out here that in Fiction (which RPGs are a heightened form of) everything should tie
together, woven tightly, making sense on some level. Real life is random, stupid, and pointless at times;
with the interactions on even the simplest of levels so complex that it is difficult at best to predict what will
happen next.
Fictional (read: Player) Characters can at least predict, on some level, their chances for success or failure,
and fictional stories are about "what happens next," but after the story ends, it can be seen how the whole
story flows together, with each event from the beginning affecting the next, and so on, until the conclusion.
Always consider the things that the characters are doing, planning, working on, and how the success or
failure of these plans will affect the overall campaign.
Make sure that the players are challenged, at every turn. When they seek out aid from Game Master
Characters, make them struggle to convince their benefactor exactly WHY aid should be given. Do not set
it up so that the characters cruise in to a hireling's shop, and pay X gold pieces, credits, or dollars for
services. This is way too easy. Realize the potential for roleplaying, in even simple situations. Maybe
their services are in demand, and the aiding character realizes that players have a lot of cash, so the fee is
now on a sliding scale. Or, they have steady work from more "Important, Influential" customers, so that
players see that status and influence have value in the campaign.
Above all, avoid giving away anything freely. If something is given away, it is not valued as much as
something that is EARNED, whether it is respect, riches, experience points, credits, or status in the local
temple. This is true in almost all cases, EXCEPT when it is time to reward heroic deeds at the conclusion
of the adventure, when all of the hard work really pays off. But beware of giving away treasure, artifacts,
or weapons out of proportion to the risk. Consider using experience points, medals, social status, or favors
from important game characters instead.
When Player's Characters petition for aid, do not automatically give it to them, based on past good deeds.
Let them know via the aiding character that they are calling in their last favor, or that helping the group is
making things "Difficult" to give them aid, financially, socially, or for whatever other reason seems
appropriate. This gives the players one last chance to convince their benefactor. Even then, leave the
decision in doubt, up to the last second. Let the players think that the aiding character may in fact, reject
their plea (as they sometimes SHOULD!)
What happens when the players call upon aid, only to find out that it won't appear? They must rely on their
wits, or other resources, and the story takes a new "turn." Perhaps they argue with their former ally, forever
ruining the relationship, with larger effects in the future. Perhaps the aiding character knows other
characters in the same profession, and the adventurers will be shunned, everywhere they go, because of

their thoughtless actions toward a single character.

It will stun the players, the first time they realize that game characters "talk about them behind their back!"
Of course, this requires real suspension-of-disbelief on the part of players, but if you as Game Master play
it out correctly, you'll often be surprised at how quickly good role-players will fall into line with this sort of
reasoning. They may even go so far as to have their characters do "Favors" for characters, so that they "get
back on the inside" of whatever social group they're trying to impress!
It should also be pointed out here that although the players may try to predict the far-reaching effects of the
actions of their characters, it is hard to determine what will happen, because they lack the behind-thescenes-information that every good Game Master has developed for the background. If the Game Master
does not set out such information in notes or a planned possible future, at least there should be a rough
mental sketch of possible future events, based on current activity.
Players should be compelled to make tough choices for their characters, based on guesses about what may
happen. Perhaps they even express their ideas to the Game Master, as hints as to how they'd like to see
things go. The Game Master should then take control, and decide the campaign direction, and how future
events will be shaped by the past. It is more interesting for the players and the campaign if the Game
Master gives the players what they want, but not in the way they expected it, or to introduce unforeseen
complications that make achieving character goals that much more difficult, challenging, and exciting.
When using pre-published modules, use the buds of "seemingly insignificant" encounters to expand the
growth of encounters or subplots into full-bloom adventures based on the material in the previously used
module, by working with direction, goals, and motivations of game characters. Game Master Characters
encountered in the module (such as a Sage, Sorcerer, or Alchemist) might need specific material
components, or old documents for their research. In a more technological setting, a Scientist might need
transportation to a field research site, or access to high-speed computers. Since the game character has
worked with the adventuring party before, (in at least a non-hostile capacity), the Player Characters are
natural choices for such a mission, especially if they are seen as successful, or especially effective in
dealing with troublesome creatures or situations. This works on a few levels; the characters get something
else to do, and they expand their relationships with the game character, thus enhancing roleplaying.
Develop a follow-on quest to continue the story of a previous scenario. If the adventurers have raided a
pirate's lair, their job is not over; when an area is depopulated, there is almost always another threat to
occupy the power vacuum. Other bands of pirates will surely expand to fill the void left by their missing
comrades. These threats will constantly spring up like weeds, and may move in on the friendly group from
land, sea, or air, and will usually grow relentlessly until stopped. This type of advice also applies to
marauders, raiders, bandits, or an extreme example may also be linked to creatures of the air: When a
dragon is slain, this leaves a void of territory that is now open for draconian expansion. Perhaps a younger
dragon who was relegated to second-rate status because of lack of territory, or being too weak, or just not
powerful enough to take on the elder dragon now has a once-in-a-lifetime shot at grabbing territory, with all
that that implies; Gathering their own hoard, being able to mate, ensuring a steady food supply from raiding
or tribute from farmers.
Revisiting the site of old ruins: the adventurers have cleared an old ruined castle, once haunted, of
supernatural forces. There are many things that can be done with this:
PCs can petition the local ruler to clear the surrounding area, repair the castle, and set up a their own fief.
Perhaps the ruin is far away from the central campaign area - in this case, the castle is taken over by bandits
or raiders who use it, (and perhaps repairing it) as a base for their operations (in effect, becoming the local
rulers themselves, by demanding tribute for their "protection").
A local religious order friendly to the adventurers uses funds from their church to repair the place, and add
it to their growing religion, until a rival religious group, or local armed force that dislikes the new religion
lays siege to the place, requiring an open field battle or a dangerous rescue mission by adventurers.

In all of the previous situations, the added complication of the discovery of secret rooms, or underground
tombs or passages can add spice to what was formerly considered a 'tamed' castle.
This allows you to use, and re-use old maps over and over, requiring less work, overall. In addition, if new
parts or defenses are added to an old castle, and copies of the old maps are kept separate, you now have a
graphic record of the historical development of the place. This is vital if you use things such as time travel
in your campaign. In addition, another use of such maps is to track the settlement of an area, or the
migration of tribal or nomadic social groups.
Roleplaying is also enhanced when Players face moral dilemmas and tough decisions for their Characters
or impossible choices between Worse and Worse outcomes. Each of these situations promises to transform
the characters, and the campaign into something different, serving as another possible "branch:"
You could use an ancient conflict as the focus of a current political struggle, with an interesting potential
for drama as follows:
Hundreds of years ago, a race of dwarves inhabited the area, until driven underground, after being nearly
wiped out by the human settlers (who now dominate the area). There is a nearby cavern where (unknown
to the current inhabitants), dwarves secretly plot their return, in a wave of bloodshed to retake "their"
ancestral lands. The current "surface" ruler won't sit still for this, but both sides have claim to the area!
Who is right? Roleplaying this situation out can be of great benefit to the campaign, especially if the
adventurers have ties to BOTH sides of such a conflict and the adventurers must choose sides. They do not
want to make enemies, but the opposing sides force the choice upon them.
As always, do not let the players get off too easy by allowing them to make their choice based on simple
economics. Make sure they gain from allying with a side, and lose an equal amount by opposing the other
side of such a conflict. If you set it up correctly, players will tear their hair out in frustration while trying to
decide whom the characters will ally with!
Surprise turns can also occur in the story when Game Master engineered plot twists strike without warning:
In a strange twist of fate, the raiders from a previous scenario that adventurers defeated return, but this
time, the characters are asked to JOIN the forces of evil, instead! Perhaps a messenger, or "Ambassador"
from the pirate, bandit, or raider camp is sent with tribute, in the form of gold, or even a minor magic item!
When the characters return to the site of the old camp, the Group finds that they are now trapped,
surrounded by much more powerful forces, and the characters have no good escape route! In this situation,
the commander of the enemy force sees the adventurers as powerful, effective warriors, who may be turned
by greed, or (in a darker scenario) threats to loved ones of the characters as a tool to compel Player
Characters to do their bidding. What will the characters do, when they realize that they are UNABLE to
defeat the bandits in open battle, because they are now vastly outnumbered? If they stay, they will have to
commit evil. If they try to leave, they will be killed, or enslaved! What will they decide to do? Tough
choices here will drastically affect the future campaign, and thereby serves as an effective "branch" in the
lives of the characters, and the history of the campaign.
Detailing a Specific Location - Select a region, city or small town that is currently only a dot on your
campaign maps. Flesh it out by zooming in on the scale, and adding mysterious marshes, forbidding
forests, or a haunted battlefield from ancient days. Virtually any area in the campaign can be expanded
with the ruins of the past, even if it is only a small shell keep from the first settlers, four hundred years ago.
Were there rampaging bands of mutants, or monsters in those days? Maybe there was a settlement of an
ancient race, with the local woods having a marsh that is the last remnant of a great Faerie Forest (with lost
magic perhaps?) that covered the land? The "rediscovery" of an exciting past can generate many interesting
adventures.
The current political details of a region should be shaped and influenced by the past events of the
campaign, with both good and bad consequences for the campaign in general, and the PCs in specific.

Under the right conditions (and some work from the Game Master), an encounter (with an item, event, or
game character) that is initially seen as small and insignificant (a "seed" event) can grow into something of
monstrous proportions. If for example, the initial event is of a negative nature, such as the establishment of
an evil, power hungry minor lord in the region, it may seem to be of relatively minor significance in the
larger scheme of things, but (if left unchecked) this type of leader could grow in power and status until his
actions overshadow the campaign with gloom and despair, that MUST be corrected by character
intervention, before everything surrounding them withers and dies. The real-world historical figures of
dictators (pick an era) readily come to mind in such cases.
To add to the continuity of the campaign, it's a good idea to design events and encounters of future
scenarios based (at least in some part) on present actions. Show the consequences of both positive and
negative actions of Players by introducing events that reflect the long-range effects of the past. This gives
the campaign a sense of internal consistency, since the future is based on the past, just as in real life (and it
makes the lives of the characters integral to the campaign.).
Game characters, Items, or Monsters encountered in an adventure can also branch off into further
adventures, forming a never-ending "adventure tree" of ongoing story lines that can be continued along one
branch for a while, going back to previous "root" adventures, and continuing there, or combining two or
three story lines together.
Set up the hook by foreshadowing events early in the adventure, and then pay it off by introducing the
foreshadowed event at a critical branch in the plot. This allows players to predict some of what is going to
happen, but they receive the effects, only not in the way that they expect.
Take a critical look at the big events going on "behind-the-scenes," that only YOU as the Game Master
know about. How can they be re-worked to generate new information, by adding detail? It's amazing how
much detail can be added, by just focusing in on the specific details, and critical choices of previous
adventures. Because the characters decided to do A, what is the likely response B of Game Master
Characters, Rulers, or Monsters in the region? How can you make this response an immediate, pressing
situation, that the characters MUST deal with, or suffer loss of items, prestige, or status? This leads to
characters choices (branches) C, D and E.
In this way, nearly every single item, encounter, character, or town encountered in a previous scenario can
in some way be expanded into a detailed future scenario! Along the way, the enterprising Game Master
discovers that the world of the campaign has taken on a "life of its own," as future events of the campaign's
"branches" grow from the "roots" of the past, guided by the loving touch of the Game Master.
When generating material for the background, beware of detailing information just to have it available for
reference. Make sure that the things that you work on are likely to be used, or the time spent on such things
risks being wasted.
In my early days, I ran a Traveller science fiction campaign that had whole sectors mapped out, with
planetary maps in color. I detailed seismic fault lines for dozens of worlds, travel times between planetary
systems, trade tables for cargo, and mineral resources for planetary maps on a hex-by-hex basis. It was lots
of fun, and I stroked my own ego with the wondrous "Universe" that I had created, but I was always so
busy generating detail for the setting that it never got played. Even packing it up to take to a game took up
four milk crates of books, binders, etc. It was not a waste, but valuable time could have been spent playing,
instead. Share your work with the world, or you will surely perish as an unknown, a might-have-been
Game Master.
In the end, I scrapped the whole thing, when GDW (producers of Traveller ) went out of business. I
traded in all of my books to collectors at the local hobby store, and used the cash from those transactions to
buy everything then available for the Birthright AD&D setting. Using all of the material as reference, I
changed many aspects of the setting to suit my preferences, including reworking the magic system for rarer,
but more powerful spell casters, plugging in the Vikings , and Charlemagne's Paladins sourcebooks,

substituting aspects of Ravenloft for Birthright's Shadow Realms, and using Al-Qadim as a sourcebook
for the Arab lands. I started running it almost immediately, without so much time spent in detail, and slowly
but surely, players returned. After the initial launch using the Endier sourcebook, I then just designed
scenarios by using Cause and Effect to rework the plot, using elements of every technique that I've shared
in this article.
Remember, it's YOUR campaign. Do whatever you want with it. As a Game Master, YOU are the caretaker
responsible for the care, upkeep, and, if necessary, removal of the parts that no longer work. Make
campaign maintenance a habit, not something that you rush through, two or three hours before your regular
gaming session. As you work on it, you'll find that it gets easier, day after day. You'll also probably
discover that your campaign and your technique as a story-telling Game Master will both benefit.
Remember, A Campaign is Like a Tree:
Use your rules manuals and other sourcebooks as the basic tools to break new ground. Dig deep into
everything you've already designed. Plant new seeds in the form of chance encounters, legendary items
and places, and expansions of interesting areas. Nourish with a fertile imagination, and maintain a regular
flow of new ideas to keep it from becoming stale and dry. Once it takes on a life of its own, be strong and
firm in the guidance of its growth, and carefully trim when necessary. Once it starts growing, the only
limits are those that you set on its expansion.
Using these tools, the character's lives and their adventures can become the roots of a campaign that if
cared for and managed properly, should last through season after season, for years of adventuring. If you
do all of these things with loving care, you're sure to grow a breathtaking, and wondrous creation: An
Enduring Roleplaying Game Campaign.