When considering which way for your D&D or OSR campaign to go next, consider just… like… voting on it.

Everyone likes to be in control of their character’s actions, but nearly everyone also likes to be surprised by events that are beyond their character’s control. At the same time, the players will have preferences they may not always feel comfortable expressing, because they’re afraid of offending the DM or overstepping their limits with the other players. You can alleviate that by offering them choices but keeping the results secret until the events start to play out.

The Earl’s Boon

Take this example: the party has grown to 8th level, and the DM decides this would be a good time, narratively, for them to get a stronghold (the players have expressed an interest, and they are owed a reward by a noble). Should the earl give them a tract of wilderness on which they can build a stronghold that they design from scratch? Or should the earl give them a small, run-down castle they can just renovate? In one case they’d be clearing a wilderness area, and in another they’d mainly clear the abandoned castle itself. Which would the players prefer?

You might have the earl make the offer in-world, but the players would debate and possibly argue. Alternatively, you as the DM can ask the players to check one or the other on a ballot, and the winner is the path the story will take. (If it’s equal, you can cast the deciding vote.) Not only do they not have a drawn-out discussion, they all get to be a bit surprised by what actually happens.

Monsters & Play Style

You can do this with all kinds of things, like what monsters they’re interested in facing. That could be “select up to 3” and could even offer a “fill in the blank” option. Some of their choices, especially those that got multiple votes, get included in an upcoming adventure. Because they aren’t discussing it and comparing notes, they won’t be able to debate endlessly, and they’ll still be surprised by which creatures they encounter.

Or you could poll them on play style. Maybe three of them vote for faction play, so your campaign takes a political turn; or they were split between dungeon crawl and foreign exploration, so you send them to the distant desert to spy and, by happenstance, they discover an ancient pyramid.

Rumors

Not everything needs a vote. For normal adventures, you can just offer the heroes a few rumors, and they can choose which to follow up on. And you can have them interact with multiple factions, and let them decide whom they like–and whom they will fight with their last dram of blood.

Fortunes & Oracles

For major developments, a secret ballot vote can give the players a modicum of control while also surprising them with the outcome. Think of it as offering the players a preview of different movies they can watch.

Do your players want foreigners to invade the kingdom, or the king to die childless (creating a crisis of succession), or perhaps the Sleeping One to awaken? Have an oracle relate cryptic visions or a fortune teller offer cards of fate. And they can choose from “The Plague Swarm”, “Empty Cradle on the Grave”, or “The Sleeper’s Opening Eye”.

Whichever they choose was fate, of course, but you might have a d6 die roll randomly determine the heroes’ degree of involvement in the events.

Your Choice is My Choice

Here’s another example. You use rumors of magic items to be had if the heroes delve into the Broken Abbey of Horndale versus raiding the Hag’s Crag in the mountains. But you’ve already created a rival adventuring company or a small villainous faction, and whichever adventure the heroes choose, the opponents will take the other. Now the bad guys have the Helm of Reptiles while the heroes wield the Axe of Ten Blows.

This can take multiple forms. The heroes must choose between a magic item or a big gold treasure. Or they can take on a task that ensures the baron’s gratitude versus a personal quest to get a flying mount.

Using this technique, you let the players largely decide future events. If the party has the Axe of Ten Blows, the Staff of Storms, and use of the baron’s men-at-arms, they face off against villains with the Helm of Reptiles, a wyvern mount, and enough gold to hire a troop of mercenaries. They are in a very different position than if it were some other mix.

The players may even strategize about going on a particular adventure specifically to ensure their opponents don’t get that particular treasure. “When we got the Staff of Storms, the Scabrous Hellions captured a huge treasure and used it to hire mercenaries. If we don’t help the baron and earn his gratitude, they will, and they might get to borrow his men-at-arms. Then they’ll have an army!”