I am starting a new campaign this week. I am a little torn about player goals. Has anyone tried doing a set of party goals as well? I am wondering about how to do player goals in a way that the whole party is invested in so that it isn't just a campaign of continuous side quests.

I'm introducing a monster into my campaign that is from a Fantasy Novel my players and I are fond of, (it's the Mortiwraith from The Door Within) and one of its abilities is that it can see the true intent of anything in its vicinity. They are often very wise, and relatively good natured, so it's normal for them to test the moral integrity of potential allies. I'm intending to run a small vignette between modules where they help a living skeleton fulfil a dying promise, and the Mortiwraith sees this, so it decides to test the party with a small moral dilemma to reveal their integrity. If they succeed, they will gain a strong ally (though not a party member since Mortiwraiths die in the sunlight) I'm just a bit strapped for ideas. I thought of having it lead them to a starving family of kittens but that's kind of an easy one. But I don't want to give them the trolley problem that most superheroes face either. Can anyone help?

I’d love to hear your experiences and advice… my group has recently started playing GMless and I’d like to get the other players to take more control of the narrative and mechanics. We’ve been gaming together off and on for 35 years, starting with AD&D2e and playing a PbtA hack more regularly over the last 10 years. I’ve been the forever DM but moved into a facilitator role in the past year, trying to play and avoid burn out. My group is great about being flexible and creative, but they don’t take the reins. I still need to prompt and manage the rules. One thought is for everyone to take specific responsibilities for aspects of the world or rules or roles, but I think that would need greater codification of when to do X. What tips or tricks do you have for running GMless or even sharing/alternating GM duties?

We just had our session 0 where we decided on the game we wanted, and it sounds like a D&D Western is where we are headed. I guess the Dark Tower series was the inspiration for one of the players. I am curious if anyone has any advice on running a western or if they have done so and what the take aways were.

Many of my players are struggling with meaningful failure of their goals, in the form of repeatability. - Kill my first undead - Steal 5 items - Find a lead about where my mentor went - Use runemagic to protect an innocent - Craft/upgrade a weapon in the party I feel like the root cause is no "why" or "stakes" attached. I don't want failure to mean my players are sad and repeat attempting the same goal over again. I'm trying to come up with some actionable guidance to give these players. Maybe attaching these goals to an ongoing conflict, either in the world or internally with the character would help? - Kill my first undead: So I can be inducted into the Order of Kellos - Steal 5 items: To pay off a debt I imminently owe - Find a lead about where my mentor went: because I need their wisdom to stop the blight - Use runemagic to protect an innocent: (from the undead plague) because if I don't, the undead army will grow - Craft/upgrade a weapon in the party: to prove my craftsmanship worthy and secure my entry to Grayhaven Am I being too hard? Would the suggestion to tie these goals to ongoing conflicts help you if you were in their shoes? Do you have any other recommendations for these goals?