All these great ideas... How do I start?

[Trit One-Ear]

The same darn plotline I've been outlining for the better part of a year now is reaching launch date (finally) I have pages of notes, plot ideas, characters and backgrounds, and finally what seems to be a group that all has time to play it.

So how do I start?

When working out the opening "scenes" of my story, I have some combat and roleplay mixing up the very beginning. The heroes have banded together to raise a young prince, the son of their fallen ally. They hide out in a small village for years before the story kicks off when an old foe discovers them. After defeating this chance encounter, they are forced to move on, else bring down unwanted attention and danger on their small-town friends. Luckily, word comes from an old ally that he is willing to house them and protect their young charge in the city he rules. Some encounters on the road to this city to add flavor to the world and...

then I hit a wall of narrative. Introducing characters, the city, plotlines, etc. feels natural, but lacks an interactive element I enjoy. This is my first heavily story-driven plot (not just "you meet in the tavern and hear about gold, yay!") and I'm struggling with how to both set up the world and plot while still making my players want to play again! Thoughts?

Trit

 

[Rechan]

Before even starting, you do understand that your players might not follow your script, right? That they may zig where you anticipate them to zag, or completely go off road - instead of going to the city of the friend, they could hide out in a cave, etc.

First, you have to make the players give a damn. You can't just say 'Ok you guys care about this prince and you're taking care of him and along comes this old enemy of yours'. It won't feel genuine.

So this would mean starting with a scene where the PCs encounter that "old enemy", and establish the old ally. The next scene involves the ally, on his death bed, asks the PCs to take care of his son. Then a scene or three of them just roleplaying living in the town, taking care of the kid, etc. Here, you can introduce world elements through NPCs in the town.

You got to make the players feel attached/care, and then they'll be motivated.

 

[OnlineDM]

It sounds like you've written a cool story, but not a roleplaying campaign. I'd suggest trying to think of presenting the players with situations and then reacting to what they do.

I agree with Rechan's advice; saying, "Okay, you all love this little prince and have to protect him as you've been doing for the past few years" probably won't work especially well. What if there's an assassin or a warlock or another "darker" character in the party; what would that character's motivation be to protect the prince?

If you just have a very amenable group that will go with the flow, I'd suggest maybe handling this setup via email or some other way outside of the game before the first real session. Explain that the PCs have been caretakers for this young prince. Ask them what motivates their particular character to participate. Provide some of the back story.

Then at the table, get things moving. You'll still want to let them role play with the important NPCs they meet, but if the campaign requires a big background info-dump, I'd recommend handling it away from the table if possible.

 

[Quickleaf]

The same darn plotline I've been outlining for the better part of a year now is reaching launch date (finally) I have pages of notes, plot ideas, characters and backgrounds, and finally what seems to be a group that all has time to play it.

Hey I remember when you were working on this story before, wasn't there a sizeable thread back then? I seem to remember a similar question about player choice choice vs. narrative, and feedback overwhelmingly saying you needed to allow the players more freedom. IIRC.

So how do I start?

Do you mean what should you prep for the first game session ?
Is this a new group playing new 1st level PCs?

When working out the opening "scenes" of my story, I have some combat and roleplay mixing up the very beginning. The heroes have banded together to raise a young prince, the son of their fallen ally. They hide out in a small village for years before the story kicks off when an old foe discovers them.

That sounds like your campaign opener right there. Or am I missing something?

After defeating this chance encounter, they are forced to move on, else bring down unwanted attention and danger on their small-town friends.

A bunch of assumptions...you may be spot on the money predicting your players' actions, but assuming PCs go on the defensive/flee is never a safe bet IME.

Luckily, word comes from an old ally that he is willing to house them and protect their young charge in the city he rules. Some encounters on the road to this city to add flavor to the world and...

Funny my first thought was "don't trust him!" Is he a sincere ally, I a wolf in sheep's clothing, or a compromised friend?

Introducing characters, the city, plotlines, etc. feels natural, but lacks an interactive element I enjoy. This is my first heavily story-driven plot (not just "you meet in the tavern and hear about gold, yay!") and I'm struggling with how to both set up the world and plot while still making my players want to play again! Thoughts?

My hunch is your method of prep pigeon holes the story into something linear. For example, rather than establishing a sequence of encounters the PCs will face, you could set up a timeline of events which occur independent of the PCs interference...but which can be prevented/changed by the PCs.

I could offer a lot more advice in this vein, but im not sure what you need.

 

[S'mon]

The best way to do it is to set up the start conditions, don't pre-write the story. You and the players will write the story in play, as they decide what to do and you react.

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

I would like to add that I think your plot needs a little more to it. Sure, protecting the prince is a good start, but where do you go from there? This is precisely where your own plans have stalled - okay, you've kept the Prince safe, and taken him somewhere safe... now what? What keeps driving the story forward.

As I see it, without having some other plot hooks, I basically see the plot as a series of "badguys of the week" finding out about the Prince and the PCs fighting them off. Trust me, if that is how it pans out, any goodwill the PCs have towards the Prince is likely to dry up... they'll likely become bored and wonder why they have to keep this proverbial dead albatross. There's a reason why videogamers tend to dislike escort missions... Additionally, there will be frustration that, for the story to progress, none of the PCs attempts to hide the kid can ever work.

Eventually you could have the baddies will kill/capture the kid and the PCs have to fix/avenge that... which has the same danger of the PCs thinking "is this worth it for this snot who is continually almost getting us killed."

So, your story needs to give the PCs something else to do other than just hide out and guard him... and in large doses.

 

[Dragon Sin-Camealot]

Why kid yourself? DnD is all about overcoming the monster.

 

[Trit One-Ear]

I guess I wasn't as clear as I had hoped at first. My problem is less content based and more structure/gameplay based. First a few clarifications.

The prince is himself a PC (now at the ripe age or 18 or so). The main goal for the other PC's is to restore him to his father's position of power/discover the truth behind the attack in which his father was killed (This was all suggested by two of my players, tired of playing the classic adventures out for money and xp). In order to achieve these goals, they will need to collect both financial and political support, as well as reliable allies and information. To me this means if I can convince them that doing a Lord's dirty work (clear out that cave of monsters in my country-side, help rescue my daughter, find the spy in my council) they have a personal stake in the adventure more than simply "we get gold and some treasure."

Some of the comments above were already helpful; I hadn't thought what I would do if the PC's decided to remain in the small town they've been hiding in, instead of trekking off to a supposed ally. That I will have to plan for.

Once things move past the initial set-up phase, I have a separate plot-point I've posted a bit about before. The return of an ancient cult and it's attempts to gain power through infiltrating the political system of one city, then possibly the kingdom. This should be the immediate "monster" threat the heroes will no doubt be looking for. This (hopefully) will play out to a point where the heroes learn there is a greater foe involved (Glasya, Asmodeus's daughter), and could span all three tiers of character levels.

*But.* In order to get to all this I need to establish the start of the adventure. My real question comes down to this more or less: How do I avoid essentially having an old man approach them in a tavern and give them their adventure. *Or* how do I make that experience interesting? When/if the heroes arrive in the city Lisbon (ruled by an old friend of the father's) they will get to meet a slew of supporting NPC's, potential allies, foes, or resources. I will spread this out as much as possible, but my fear is in getting them settled into the city, they'll get bored or overloaded with exposition or world-flavor. I would like them to make connections with the captain of the city guard, the Duke of the city, his advisory council and some other various city personalities. But knowing my group, I see a big lack of conflict and combat there that might bore them. This is the problem I'm really looking to address.

Is that any clearer or more helpful?

Trit

 

[Dragon Sin-Camealot]

It's simple. Your party usually solves the problems there. It could happen at any moment and/or you could be hired to do so.

This is part of 'avoiding your common set-up'. We have to believe whatever you write about if you write anything at all.

To do your best avoiding the typical old man, you could have it actually be a woman magically disguised as an old man.

That woman could be spying on you by anyone and/or be the person you're actually trying to find.

Like I said, DnD is mostly about overcoming the monster. Whomever you recruit is most likely to help you fight a dragon in the town square 90% of the time imo.

To be original my best advice is to alter the origin of the character.

 

[S'mon]

*But.* In order to get to all this I need to establish the start of the adventure. My real question comes down to this more or less: How do I avoid essentially having an old man approach them in a tavern and give them their adventure. *Or* how do I make that experience interesting?

Always start with combat! Eg: the PCs see the old man being attacked by a group of thugs/assassins, he's defending himself surprisingly well but it's clear he's badly outnumbered and if they don't intervene, he's dead. The thugs might be BBEG-related, but if you're starting at 1st level I would not have them be the BBEG's Elite Assassins, instead make them a street gang working for a local crime lord. Or make them low-grade cultists. 5 2nd level Skirmishers would be about right, assuming the old man can assist the PCs. If you're ok with fiat maybe don't stat the old man, but he can soak up attacks and kill a couple of the bad guys etc during the fight.

Edit: If the PCs are cowardly/selfish and refuse to help him, do follow through and have the attackers kill him. You can always use a different plot hook.