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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fba827" data-source="post: 4756246" data-attributes="member: 807">One thought before I toss out some ideas ...Try for something that is a different "tone" / "feel" than your just-now-ending campaign.  Otherwise it will ultimately feel the same with just different characters.Plus, as a DM, you'll find that if things are setup differently, you'll be inspired to try things you didn't in the last campaign.As for some plot ideas ..1) Start off small, the PCs end up finding (or hired to find) some small item or whatever.  After a couple levels they realize that item they retrieved is one part of several (maybe part of a set or maybe they are pieces of a bigger item, etc).  And some bad people are trying to collect these different parts, so it turns in to a race to locate and retrieve the parts.  In the end, the PCs will have some and some bad guys will have some.  Just make sure that individually each part can do 'something' or else the PCs "win" at the start of the campaign just by getting the first piece.  So each piece has to pose a potential minor threat, while all the pieces together are a potential bigger threat.Did you ever see the first season of Jackie Chan Adventures (cartoon, from early 2000 i think).  They collected talismans, each with their own power.  Or, together, they were used to summon an ancient evil spirit.2) If all the players like a certain "flavor" of PC (no, not talking chocolate or strawberry, but if they all like magic inclined, or combat style, etc) then you can start it off as a wizard school or a military unit etc  (that doesn't mean just one class, just of that mind set - a cleric of magic or battle could fit in either of those two examples)3) go for some sort of post-apocolypse.  the PCs are at ground 0, day 1.  No yet-established civilization area, though over time people will start to work together for mutual saftey if there are still threats out there (scavangers seeking the survivors since food is now much more scarce, etc).  Maybe the PCs start to uncover what the "nuke event" was, or maybe they already know.  In any case, the campaign, or at least the first part of it, will have to deal a lot with survival.  And then getting supplies to help ensure the survival of a building community.  and the PCs could be in charge of that new town, etc.4) Do a small twist on a common fantasy element.  What if non-divine magic is outlawed (or heavily controlled - must be registered or be part of the military, etc). Thus wizards and all would need to keep their craft a secret.  Or (as an added variable extension of that) don't allow arcane style classes for PCs _but_ give each PC a bonus multiclass feat to an arcane class (if using 4e, or just give them a bonus minor wizard spell if using another system)... thus, it becomes about the party hiding what they can do or face penalties, etc.5) If you're willing to "deal with" water (and the eventual underwater situation) have a boat.  And day 1 of the campaign is the PCs getting (individually) hired on to the crew.  And the adventure is in going from place to place6) The current kingdom can not sustain itself.  So the king hires out adventurers to journey out (possibly by boat? or on the other side of some great environmental hazard) to explore possible expansion territory.  So the campaign is about exploration and then dealing with any cultures they find while there7) War. PCs are in it. The who what where when why all can vary...8) PCs are apprentices/hired hands at a noble (either minor or major)'s keep/castle/estate.  But there is treachery of some kind and the mentors, and possibly the noble are missing.  What are the PCs (and possibly noble) to do? Who to trust?  How do you get back the missing key figures while keeping things running?  etc.9) (slightly similar to something earlier in this list, but different).  The PCs know something is different about them, but don't quite know what/why.  Each of them is divinely touched (possibly with a divine class multiclass - or each PC just gets one per encounter use of some channel divinity feat as if they had channel divinity) - just be sure that each of them has a different divinity power. of course, that would step on the toes of actual divine classes, so you'll want to fiddle that idea depending (such as it doesn't count towards channel divinity use for divine PCs).  Anyway, they can all realize eventually that they're touched by the gods or prophets, or children of the gods who at one time mated with mortals, etc.  And maybe they have to prove to themselves or others... and of course, this just begs for other NPC villains who are also similarly divinely touched and corrupted by the power (starting cults or bending communities to their will through fear, etc).yes - lots of typos here and i know it is just one giant ramble. I'm just tired. sorry. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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