Advice for GMing a Plotted Campaign?

[Ariosto]

This last section seems somewhat contradictory to the plan you have laid out thus far.

I see the tension, but I am not thinking of things that could derail the whole plan. "Character of the character" choices might make the players' way easier or harder, but they are more likely to form sub-plots than to make major branches in the main story (which should also be fine).

The narrative at the top of each session should be clear about the campaign plot goals and how any individual goals might interlace with them. It should also be clear about what the session or immediate mission is, so that players know roughly what their goals are likely to be.

Yes! This has been a problem with the past few campaigns. In a player-driven game, we would know our goals because we had chosen them. In the "story lines", we have too often found ourselves wondering what we are "supposed to do". In the current one, we are pretty confused as to what is going on.

 

[Ariosto]

Think about how many levels you want it to run before you continue the campaign with a new story or start a new campaign.

Advancement is probably not a big issue, as I shall start the PCs with some levels (perhaps 7 or 8, although I will settle that after looking at what sort of foes I want to deploy).

That aside, your example gives me food for thought. Thank you!

 

[Ariosto]

I favor the episodic style, with vague future plot hooks. I map out a series of plot points and tie them into whatever choices the PCs make. I tend to go for a web of different plot lines that tie loosely into each other and decide which are the main plotlines and which are subplots or sideplots, depending on which the players are most interested in....


Whatever the final destination ends up being, the key is making it seem like it was the plan all along.

Considering our experience over the past couple of years -- and my lack of experience at this style -- I think I ought to go for something more coherent from the start.

The "episodic" focus, though, is something I will keep in mind.

 

[Ariosto]

In most D&D games the PCs are reactive, don't let this happen. Each player should have a goal that ties into the arc you have sketched out. You can do this by creating a short list of backgrounds that will tie into the plot...

Again, the clues for the PC should be paced appropriately with main arc. Do this sort of thing for every character and then decide how best to pace their own story plots. The goal is to make the PC proactive in your story arc by giving them clues which will engage them in their own story which in turn ties into the arc...

Now each player has a goal, remember to plot significant challenges around that goal. It doesn't always have to be arc related but the PC should feel accomplished after a session or sessions which developed their story.

Thank you both for confirming my intuition that "character development" themes should figure, and for the advice about how to implement them.

 

[Ariosto]

My main advice would be to go simple. A nuanced and many layered plot is incredibly hard to pull off unless you have thoroughly planned everything. Just pick one simple theme and present adventures that tackle it from different angles. In this way the world will feel rich and not railroaded, but everything will still be pointing in one direction. Don't worry, players will imagine up all sorts of complexities to make it seem more complicated than it really is.

I would also plan as much of the story as possible at a very high level before you ever begin. Reduce an adventure to a simple sentence and then make sure that when you read them in succession it makes some sense. If it is confusing written out in concise sentences, it will be incredibly confusing played in 4 hr chunks separated by a week or more.

Here's an off the cuff example of the sort of thing I have in mind.

1) The King's Palace: There is an assassination attempt, to foil which is the players' immediate objective. Successful or not, they find that the Princess has been kidnapped.

To rescue the Princess and bring the Villain to justice is the overall goal of the campaign.

2) Through the Forbidden Forest to the Seer's Home: This worthy can divine the captive's destination, but demands a price first.

3 a, b, c) The Three Aids: The players need at least one of these to get the Seer's price, and they can go for all three.

4) The Giant's Lair: Herein lies the Seer's price (as well as other useful booty).

Then it's back to the Seer, who reveals that the Princess shall be found in the Western Isles.

5 a, b, c, d) The Isles: The players can visit these in any order, although nearest to farthest would seem most convenient. In any case, a grand tour shall be necessary to acquire all the knowledge and other resources they should have before daring...

6) The Villain's Fortress: Here the issue of the campaign is resolved. After this climax, the denoument is probably brief.

It may be that that the first attempt at an objective fails, yet it is possible to try again. Naturally, I would have backup plans in case the players get stuck at any point.

 

[Ariosto]

I hope I answered some questions, but these are some of the things I found to be useful when DMing a long term plot oriented campaign.

Thank you!

 

[Ariosto]

I'm a big fan of story, but I don't advocate heavily plotting an entire campaign.

What do you think of the outline I posted above (post #15)?

 

[AeroDm]

I think it looks pretty good. One other common pit I fell into a bunch of times in my earlier years was to reveal the end too early. What I found was that if the players knew that the Chancellor was secretly evil and manipulating the king by, say, adventure 5 and my plot expected them to not actually face down the Chancellor until, say, level 12, they got anesthetized to the climax of the campaign. Worse, they started to feel not heroic because they knew what they had to do (go kill the Chancellor!) but were off hunting goblins and letting him do evil.

I'm not saying your outline has that problem, but it could depending on how you flesh out the details. You want the game to have as many revelations as possible because revelations make things feel fresh.

 

[Janx]

Here's an off the cuff example of the sort of thing I have in mind.

1) The King's Palace: There is an assassination attempt, to foil which is the players' immediate objective. Successful or not, they find that the Princess has been kidnapped.

To rescue the Princess and bring the Villain to justice is the overall goal of the campaign.

2) Through the Forbidden Forest to the Seer's Home: This worthy can divine the captive's destination, but demands a price first.

3 a, b, c) The Three Aids: The players need at least one of these to get the Seer's price, and they can go for all three.

4) The Giant's Lair: Herein lies the Seer's price (as well as other useful booty).

Then it's back to the Seer, who reveals that the Princess shall be found in the Western Isles.

5 a, b, c, d) The Isles: The players can visit these in any order, although nearest to farthest would seem most convenient. In any case, a grand tour shall be necessary to acquire all the knowledge and other resources they should have before daring...

6) The Villain's Fortress: Here the issue of the campaign is resolved. After this climax, the denoument is probably brief.

It may be that that the first attempt at an objective fails, yet it is possible to try again. Naturally, I would have backup plans in case the players get stuck at any point.

Probably the big danger is your key hook. Are the PCs high enough level (socially?) to be involved with a king yet? I have a vague expectation of social level, meaning 1st level PCs hear about 1st level problems, and high level NPCs find them to be beneath their notice.

Your challenge then is aligning the party to have the opportunity to be there. Kinda like the dr. who allegedly killed Michael Jackson. He was a high level doctor, not a kid out of med school. He had the social contacts to get that job in the first place.

Your progression from there seems fine enough. I'd probably run it as 4-5 sessions (the murder session, the seer session, then the 3 islands).

You might want to smart with some "starter" adventures, that may introduce the PCs to the court, and reveal them in a good light (your grace, these are the brave men who took care of that discreet matter last week...).

I'd also advise placing the PCs starting point in social situations that lend them to make contact and be given an initial request. Basically, avoid orphans who just wandered into town and want loot, and try to get socially driven PCs with some sort of duty to the kingdom.

I always use the first session to hook the PCs together in some common generic threat (like orcs attack the village y'all are in. work together or die). This lets them get used to their PCs and builds a quick bond.

You mentioned the players often "don't know what to do next." That's a little trickier to handle. Asking for PCs to start off working for somebody might help (because then you can ask them to do stuff). Whether the PCs stick to that role is up to them.

With this in place, I look to see if PCs want to rebel a few sessions in (become pirates?) or move up, and use the leveling process to justify rising in social/job level as well.

 

[S'mon]

Probably the big danger is your key hook. Are the PCs high enough level (socially?) to be involved with a king yet? I have a vague expectation of social level, meaning 1st level PCs hear about 1st level problems, and high level NPCs find them to be beneath their notice.

These days I strongly feel that if a DM has a high-level plot in mind, he should start the PCs at suitably high level. If dealing with kings & princes is a Paragon-level affair in your campaign world, start the PCs as Paragons.

I started my current 4e Wilderlands campaign at 3rd level, because I wanted a 'swords & sorcery' feel where PCs were badass hombres out the gate. I think it was one of the best DMing decisions I've made, and really helped set the right feel for the campaign. By contrast I'd started my first 4e game at 1st when the adventure I was running really needed higher level PCs.

These days, if I were starting a courtly affairs, kings & princesses type game, I probably wouldn't start at Paragon, but I wouldn't start at 1st either. I think around 5th would be right, this would allow me to stat things so the PCs began as more powerful than many of the NPCs, but with plenty of room for growth, while the leading NPCs were tough enough to defend against mundane threats.