Building a campaign

[mips42]

I apologize in advance if this is not the place for this question.

I am trying to put together a campaign for a group of friends. I know I want it to end in a epic level 30 fight with some true nasties, but I don't know how to get a story-based campaign from 1st level to this point.
When you are designing your campaigns, how do you start and how do you "fill in the gaps" in your story?
All help appreciated.

 

[Grogg of the North]

Honestly, I don't think you'll find a magic bullet for detailing a campaign from start to finish. Some people like to have a lot of stuff planned and mapped prior to the session. Others do a lot of improvisation with only minimal prep. The trick, and this takes practice, is to find what works best for you.

I typically don't try to plan out the entire campaign in advance. I'll come up with something for the group to do currently; maybe make some small notes of "Kewl stuff!" to do later. After each session, I'll try to figure out where the PCs are going to go next and what they want to do. Letting it develop naturally also helps me to deal with burn out issues. The other reason for this is because back when I first started DMing, I had an adventure planned out, presented it to the PCs and they promptly rejected it saying "No way, she's scary!" and they went pirate hunting instead.

So if I had the PCs discover a goblin raid and deal with the aftermath of that, at the end of the session I'd see what the PCs were thinking. Do they want to go to the nearby town and raise the alarm? Track the goblins? Hold the children they just rescued for ransom? If I don't solicit this information at the table I assign it as homework for my players in the newsletter I send out after each session.

I hope this helps!

 

[Jacob Marley]

Check out this thread in the RPGs & Tabletop Gaming Discussion forum. It has lots of useful tidbits on how to plan a session. It contains a much longer post where I lay out how I do things.

 

[Yora]

Even with characters gaining a level every session, that's still 30 sessions, which would be a quite long campaign and it's very unpredictable if any started campaign will ever go for that long. I have made much better experiences with planning ahead for only 5 or maybe 8 sessions in advance, anything longer than that seems like work that is unlikely to ever see any use. And I rather have a wrapped up short campaign than playing just the first 10% of an epic storyline that none of the player is ever going to learn about.
If you want to run a high level campaign, then start at high level and go from there.

 

[Halivar]

Welcome to EnWorld!

A game only lasts as long as it is interesting. This is more important than having an overarching story. If the game is interesting, the players will want to dwell in your game world for as long as possible.

Random suggestions, not in order of importance:

• Do not get married to your story; the players will just ruin it.
• Embrace tangents.
• Learn how to spin expository tales.
• If you always say 'yes', you can't railroad; this is better.
• Know your world. Keep a moleskin notebook around with you at all times and jot down the most inane details. The players may never see it, but they will sense that it's real if it's real to you.
• Have a map. Don't stop drawing on it.
• Give each BBEG one defining trait that is not repulsive to the players. Extra points if you give them a laudable trait. An anti-paladin with an overriding sense of Honor, a lich-lord who, being a tyrant, still sees to his subjects' every need, etc.
• Revisit your NPC's, towns, and orgs often, and keep adding new things.
• Look for pictures on Deviant Art that inspire you. Maybe even use them as illustrations; print them out and show them to players.
• If a player gives you a cool backstory; use it. Reward creativity. This goes for in-game roleplay.

That's all I could come up with in 5 minutes. Probably more ideas later.

 

[LucasC]

Without trying to tackle the entire question of how to shepherd a party from level 1 to 30 along a predefined route I'll offer a skeleton of how I've been successful with this in the past.

1. Rather than try to detail out the entire story, create the personalities and/or events that are going to drive the story. Get to 'know' key NPCs and their motives. Understand what drives them and how they make decisions. Make sure you have enough to respond to unexpected PC events.
2. Don't define the ending. If your players feel like they are just running a treadmill to level 30 they will get bored. Instead know key events and the consequences that will follow them. Some will be unavoidable, others will be opportunities for your players to make a difference. Depending on how they do, your story could end much differently than you think right now.
3. Start slowly. Your level 1 PCs are not important people. There is no chance they will change the world. That won't be the case forever, but don't try to start them right off on the road to the end. Introduce them to the situation slowly and indirectly. You have lots of time to build this story up so make use of it.
4. Only plan a few weeks in advance. There is a very good chance you'll never make it to level 30 so don't try to write the entire thing out at once. Plan far enough ahead that you can foreshadow things a couple weeks out and handle the rest as the PCs get there.
5. Don't be afraid to listen to theories and ideas your players throw out while discussing your plot and weave them into future games. If you don't spill the beans there is a good chance they won't even know you did it.
6. Take a break from time-to-time. I learned this one only after one of my players started complaining that all they ever did was "try to save the world." As it turns out, once in a while they want to do nothing complicated, just a good old fashioned dungeon crawl for nothing more than treasure.

As you approach a long-running story recognize that in an RPG you are really reading a "choose your own adventure" book but instead of you picking the choice at the bottom of the page your players are. You need to give them choices and chances to make a difference. You can do this, and keep your overarching story on track, by not attempting to control it, but instead understanding it. In essence, the story is your character and you decide how it responds to the events the players do.

Hope that helps some! 30 levels with one batch of PCs is a big investment and can be hard to accomplish, I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

I apologize in advance if this is not the place for this question.

I am trying to put together a campaign for a group of friends. I know I want it to end in a epic level 30 fight with some true nasties, but I don't know how to get a story-based campaign from 1st level to this point.
When you are designing your campaigns, how do you start and how do you "fill in the gaps" in your story?
All help appreciated.

The best advice I can give you?

Don't aim for level 30: aim for, say, level 10. Few games last all the way to level 30 so aim for level 10 but make sure that, in the event you're all super-enthusiastic for an expanded campaign that there are major loose ends to tie up. And even then, aim for level 15 or even level 20: don't aim for level 30 yet.

Let's say your ultimate goal is to fight Orcus at level 30. Don't map that out. Think about what it means for Orcus to increase his influence in the PCs' starting region. That will require some sort of level 11-13 (or so) elite or solo creature/NPC as the principal threat. Defeating this threat should give your players a real sense of accomplishment but may also reveal the existence of a larger plot. If you and the players are still enthusiastic, you can sketch out a similar campaign but with national rather than regional implications and take that to, say, level 20. If need be you can repeat the same process for the Epic Tier, with a universe-threatening danger, if you're all still feeling enthusiastic.

 

[steeldragons]

LOTS of great advice here. I can really only reiterate them and offer, perhaps, a couple of specific tricks of the trade.

The "don't plan too far ahead" is well-noted. Simultaneously, the having NPCs prepared and clear in your mind, whether the PCs are engaging them or NOT

So, I guess, my #1: Sometimes, what's going on "behind the scenes" that the PCs may or may not be aware of, is just as important [to the overall story] as what the PCs are actually doing/aware of.

That is...if there's some huge ritual going down at this particular night/time of year...the PCs may or may not have become aware of the plot. They might miss all of your carefully laid out clues. They might find the clues and come to a completely different conclusion...go traipsing halfway across the continent...in the wrong direction. As the DM you can a) change where the ritual is happening so they run into it anyway...I wouldn't, but you [as the DM] certainly could. Or b) scrap that piece of story/plot in lieu of something that the players think they figured out. (not an entirely bad option). Or c) come up with something entirely unrelated for the PCs to run into that does not effect the overall plot. Any way you choose, if it were me, that ritual should happen, on schedule, at the appointed time...with whatever outcome/consequences for the world [and overall plot].

#2: Along the lines of "knowing" your NPCs motivations and personalities...your villains, especially, play them SMART! Unless, of course, they are stupid lackeys or something. But the "big bad's", whether its their 5th level immediate threat, a 15th level regional enemy or the 25th level arch-nemesis who's been behind everything all along...These guys aren't [shouldn't be] stupid. ALWAYS...always, always, have an escape plan ready for them. Did I mention ALWAYS?! A secret passage, a distraction to slip out the back door [i.e. they pull some hidden lever and rocks fall from the ceiling], magical movement spells or items (at higher levels "Contingency" is always great for this), a waiting enchanted hippogriff for them to dash to and fly away, whatever.

I have found over the years nothing will maintain interest and focus a party's aggression and thoughts [trying to "figure things out", which is what you want, right?] quite like 'hunting down that X bastard" who escaped them (preferably after doing at least some personal damage/harm).

Don't overdo it, of course. Not EVERY enemy can [or should] escape and the same enemy can't escape toooo many times before the party goes from "next time we'll get the bastard" to, "the DM's just being a d--k and saving his precious NPC". So it's a fine balance...but any villain worth their stripes is going to have an escape route/plan all set up...whether they make it there/get to use it or not. It should be there, in the plans/your notes.

{EDIT} Also, an additional thought on the topic of villains and lackeys...
A villain is only as good as his/her network. Sure, when the party is 30th level and they're going up against demon lords and lesser gods, the individual villain will/should be extremely difficult. But even Orcus will have unlimited undead at his disposal. Asmodeus has, literally, legions of devils to gate in. Lolth could/should have extremely high leveled drow and gigantic demonic spiders. The Fire giant king has his elite "honor guard" of giant warriors. At lower levels, the "Bandit King" has his gang or the mad cultist has his fanatical followers (probably a few spell casters included). And on and on.

The villain needs a "network." They will have a "right hand man/humanoid/demon/etc..." A yes man or two. Possibly a toady spellcaster. Then their "lieutenants" who each command a separate force of varying ability and force. Then the mass of soliders/minions/fodder. Taking on the "big bad" [whether 5th, 8th, 15th or 30th level] should not be just a "party vs. the individual"...unless, of course, the party has gone to great pains to catch/meet them alone, on purpose...and even then, help is likely an alarum away.

So thought/preparation/notes on those creatures/characters in place can be as important as the stats/prep on the "big bad" villain themselves. They don't all need to be fully fleshed out NPCs...though circumstances might bring the mid-level "lieutenant" into prominence in the story/make them a recurring foe. If this happens...and the party is then a few levels higher than their first meeting...the lieutenant should be as well. The PCs aren't the only ones gaining XP and increasing their power. To borrow from Dragonlance, suddenly facing Lord Soth [again] and/or taking him out becomes as important/pivotal as thwarting/facing Kitiara (or Takhisis, for that matter). Or from Hommlet/ToEE, taking out Lareth the Beautiful (who escaped when the party was 3rd level and is now/has become 10 levels higher than when the PCs first met him) becomes necessary to get to that planar portal to get to Lolth. etc...

I suppose, the point is, make sure the world setting is "living" and "breathing." The sun is rising and setting on the world, not just the PCs. The villain is organizing themselves, intelligent, and furthering their purposes at the same time the PCs are trying to figure out what those purposes are and/or stop them.

That's all for now...I'm sure the more I think on this, other stuff might pop up. But good luck! [/EDIT]

 

[steenan]

1. Craft the campaign to the characters.

Before you plan anything more than a single session, ask your players what they are interested in doing and have them define motivations, goals and weaknesses for their characters. Then, use this knowledge to create situations that directly engage the characters. This way, you don't need to "hook" players into your plot, because they gave you various plots and hooked themselves.


2. Remember that the PCs are the main characters and the NPCs the supporting cast.

Don't make any NPCs so important in your plans that you don't want them tricked, persuaded or killed by PCs. Your players may do something unexpected or just roll really well and it will destroy what you planned. You'll be tempted to protect "your plot" by blocking PCs. This way lays railroading.
Instead, stay flexible and focus on consequences of players' actions. Have each significant NPC play two or three different roles, so that messing with them can cause something interesting. For example, have the criminal mastermind be a well-known and generally liked person in the town (innkeeper? apothecary?), or have the necromancer's zombies also be the reason why goblin tribes keep away.


3. Push hard

Don't plan with the assumption that you need to get PCs from where they are to some pre-planned point and that you should keep them safe until they get there. When players notice that you're not really challenging them and putting them in danger, they'll be bored. On the other hand, if each encounter has a significant chance of TPK, it won't be fun either.
So give the PCs things to care for and put them in danger. Give them opportunities to achieve things they want and put obstacles on the way. To stay engaged during a longer campaign players have to lose a few times (due to poor luck or poor judgement, not a pre-planned "you get captured" event) and it needs to be painful, but not something that makes the characters unplayable.

 

[Mercurius]

Lots of good advice which I won't re-iterate, except for one point which has been made a couple times already but bears repeating. Very few campaigns actually make it to 30th level. Actually, most don't make it past 10th level, and almost none past 20th, so 30th? I wouldn't plan for it, or at least don't save all of your goodies until then!

I run into some of the same challenges when starting a campaign in that I find the "sweetspot" in terms of levels to be in the 5-12 range, and I'm tempted to rush through the first five levels to get to the "good part." But the early levels can be great as well, and also form an important staging phase for the rest of the campaign. In other words, even when you're not at that climax that you envision, you can still develop it earlier on - dropping story hooks and tidbits, which can be woven together into a larger story. But I would also re-emphasize what some have also said: expect the unexpected and grant the players autonomy. Don't "railroad" them towards where you want them to go; you can gently "nudge" them every once in awhile, but let their actions - along with your intentions - co-create the campaign.