One of the great things about role-playing games is that they are a shared story-telling experience. No matter what the DM might have plotted out as a story arc, as soon as the players get their characters into the action things are going to change. This is an expected part of the experience. The outcome is not set (although it’s a pretty good bet that the heroes will be victorious). But what if the players and DM set the end before the game ever begins?
Imagine that five players and a DM get together to begin a new level 1 campaign. Before anyone talks about character concepts or story ideas, the DM begins with the end. He gives a very high-level overview of how he sees that campaign ending at epic level. The players are then encouraged to help shape this final battle. They each get to talk about their character (the ones they’re about to create) and how they see these characters participating.
Before anyone even opens character builder or fills out a character sheet, this final epic battle is described in great detail. The heroes save the world and defeat the evil on the very first night. Now they’re ready to begin.