Using the Hero's Journey to make a campaign

>>48133196
best girl

>>48133196
Well, I have trouble imagining the PCs I've known refusing the call. Death and rebirth seems harder to pull off with more than one protagonist. Otherwise it seems feasible, if not exactly original.

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>>48133468
i agree
but what you do you think of my idea?

>>48133515
Well for one it's too railroady, your dudes would most likely rebel against it, you would need brilliant and deceptive storytelling to get them to do it and not realize they're doing it.
For two the Hero's Journey is usually a one-man sort of thing, a TTRPG grounp would need to work as a well-oiled and synchronized machine for it to work out, instead of a bunch of dudes each wanting to do their own thing.

tl;dr It can be done, but it would be very challenging for you

Now dump more Hazel

>>48133196
The Hero's Journey is the narrative equivalent of the Four Chords of Pop, and using it as a step-by-step guide will only make you the narrative equivalent of Nickelback.
It's an interesting formula because it shows up in so many different stories. It's not the reason why those stories are good, and few of them actually follow every step in the same order.
But hey, I don't expect high art from a tabletop RPG.

>>48133508
>refusal to call
Maybe there can be a conflict? Also like some anons said i could skip a step or two
>death and rebirth
Could be symbolic, maybe take something away from the PC's? NPC everyone likes, gold, have them literally reborn?

>>48133196
As a backbone to the plot? of course. just don't let it be a one note gimmick. be sure to actually flesh everything out around it. if it's a large party consider that you might well be juggling several monomyths all at different phases of their development. and when they fail the elements of their journey's don't just recycle it, let that facet haunt them until they can come to terms with it but in new and outwardly relevant ways.

Personally I used to do tarot card readings for all my players after each session and I used those general themes to chart their individual plot lines.

>>48133196
no to rail road.
rags to riches is beter for D&D

>>48133196
If you are using Campbell's original version with his original notes, sure.

If you are using the 12 Steps garbage peddled by that hack Chris Vogler as decribed by >>48133621 , no.

Read The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Do not read The Writer's Journey.

>>48136444
Campbell's version is the same level of garbage, if not moreso, and both he and his ideas are a laughingstock in academia.

>>48136485
>Campbell's version is the same level of garbage
You are mistaken.

>both he and his ideas are a laughingstock in academia.

Only by pathologizing Materialists in their endless quest to drive all things good from academia.

>>48136511
You mean by scholars who actually understand how to do research.

>>48136562
No, I mean pathologizing Materialists.

>>48136572
Congrats, you've successfully convinced me I don't want to talk to you anymore.

>>48136587
And yet you replied. Test time - can you actually stop?

Campbell's research was thorough and extensive, involving hundreds of cultures and thousands of stories. The similarities between what he observed have academic and intellectual merit.

My god, the both of you are pretentious as fuck.

>>48136622
Not really. Someone who's never read Campbell beyond blog posts thought they would shit all over the thread. Couldn't resist.

>>48136603
I'm willing to bet that you haven't read anything on this subject besides Campbell

>>48136837
So you're just here to troll the thread then?

>>48133196
what do you mean? aren't all campaigns with a central bad guy more or less the hero's journey?

if you mean following the circular model as accurately as possible you NEED a central bad guy and world threatening plot to give the players direction so they don't spend all game killing goblins and shit

also if you can gracefully make one pc the "main character" (ie someone of importance) that helps too although some players can't accept not being the guy in the spotlight and will shit their pants

as a forever DM trying to set up a plot to the game is really frustrating because you need to make it compelling and build it up to the players to get their interest very gracefully which is not always easy because everyone at the table has a different idea of what they want to be doing and of what the campaign should feel like

>>48136879
>you need a world-threatening plot
why does the whole world need to be in danger? Why not a single country, or a single city-state, or a single pub? "Saving the world" is done out of dull and blunt heroic duty - it's an obligation, not a motivation. Why do the stakes have to be objectively high for them to be subjectively-to-the-player-characters high?

>>48136934
ok then change it a little who cares

>>48136859
I'd just like to say that it was another poster who likewise disagreed with you. I wouldn't want you to go away feeling as smug as you undoubtedly do.

>>48133196
>>48133515
Who's the artist for those? Google gives me nothing

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>>48138329

Bryan Lee O'Malley, the Scott Pilgrim guy.

Those pics are of Hazel, a supporting character in his newer book "Seconds".

>>48138721

Nice. Thanks, bro!

>>48136444
What is the essential difference?

>>48133196
You can, but you either need to use it very loosely, or make it clear to your players that you're running a narrative-driven campaign and they should expect some railroading (or make it clear that this isn't standard murder-hoboing at least).

As for everyone saying that the problems arise from having multiple heroes, you could instead treat the entire group as the hero for the purposes of the story. Rather than having all of the steps happening to members of the group individually, have them hit everyone as a team.

>>48142802

In other words, make sure your players are OK with not having any agency and enjoy reading from scripts you provide for them.

You know how literally everyone says "don't try to run a campaign in the setting you're using to write your 25000 page fantasy novel cycle"? Well, this is that.

>>48136485
i suspect you don't actually understand the hero's journey or its point

>>48142955
Not necessarily. You can run a narrative-driven campaign without taking away the character's agency. You just have to work with the players to make sure that the story and their characters mesh well. You're not providing scripts for the players; they're still roleplaying their characters like normal, you're just making sure that the plot flows in a way that works with those characters. This also helps keep the plot from devolving into the GM's fantasy novel as it forces the GM to center the plot on the players.

more hazel

>>48145947
>>>/co/