Campaign plans

[Lanefan]

I have a couple of specific modules I want to start with, and a vague-at-best idea of where the (or one of the) story(ies) will end up, but no idea at all about how they're going to progress from a to b within that. I know all too well that the more I plan, the less of the plan will come together.

Lanefan

 

[palleomortis]

So how many of you who don't start RIGHT IN the campaign, have PC's that "ask around" for somthing that sounds adventure worthy? (IOW, drill the local bar-keep and other such gossip-ish people). This tends to happen in my games, wich would make it REALLY easy to have a pre-made campaign. I'de simply only have them get information realting to the planed game, and they'd follow it. But I tend to just give generic, almost random, responses to "What's new in Townsville?" type questions, and guage what to "set up" (mildly ponder) from their reactions to the generic responses.

 

[kensanata]

I usually have several ideas and ask players where they want to go next or provide players in-game choices to determine where we're heading. After playing in Crucible of Freya the players knew they could either fight more gnolls or pursue the half-orc cleric Tavik to Bard's Gate. They chose to pursue gnolls and we ended up in the adventure from Dungeon #145.

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

The real problems arise if half the party are pro-Drakness and half are pro-Arithia.

Naw, that's when things are just starting to get interesting. IMHO moral quandaries and difficult decisions add just the right 'edge' to the game. Sure, there's something to be said for party unity, and I don't mean to advocate pvp, but my group really thrives on subplots and cross-purposes. Give everyone the same clear-cut objective and moral high ground, and it becomes ho-hum.

 

[LostSoul]

I used to do that, then hope the players would really mess with my plans. Not so much any more.

In the 4e game that we will play, I will ask the following questions:

What's the Big Picture? What's going on in this setting that makes it ripe for adventure. What's changing, evolving, declining?

What's the world's culture? What are the cultural analogs? Analogs can be taken from historical earth, current events or fantasy works.

What's the conflict in which the characters are involved? What are the sides? What's wrong?

What physical place does this conflict take place in? What ecology, environment, place?

What's the name of the most important place in this setting? Not the capital or any dumb stuff like that, but THE PLACE where all the action goes down?

What's the name of a faraway place that folks talk about, dream about or mutter under their breath about?

Who are the antagonists? Who is opposing the goals of the characters?

Imagine all of the characters are standing a room/ruin/field with the antagonists or their minions. What do the antagonists want from that meeting? What do the characters want from that meeting?

Alternately, imagine the characters standing at the scene of some great disaster or calamity clearly caused by one of the antagonists. What's the disaster? How did it happen? What are the characters going to do about it right now?

What type of magic exists in this world?

What character stocks are in play in this world? Which are restricted and why?

What cultural traits apply to the characters of this game world? Pick three character traits for each culture.

What's your Resources cycle? 1 month, seasonal, 6 months, annual? What's the game world's currency? Who collects the taxes? What do people do for work? What's the major economy?

Material world: What weapons and armor are available? Are some weapons and armor restricted to certain cultures or character stocks? What property is available? Are resources and gear otherwise restricted?

 

[Gilladian]

I usually start a game with an idea (ie there is an evil wizard cabal attempting to gain political power in the area) and a few low level adventures in a particular campaign region.

What the region is and the basic tone of the campaign is has been discussed with the players several weeks earlier; ie do they want 1)dwarven kingdom in the war, 2)wilderness exploration, 3) Greenvale politics and old ruins, or something else entirely.

Next campaign is going to be an adventure path, but they get to choose between WLD, Savage tide and Pathfinder.

 

[TerraDave]

The storyline--basiclaly the adventures I want to run--are set.

But you have to let players make choices, and never plan on player X doing Y.

In a sense this is the social contract: players get to "do what they want", DM gets to run the adventure he wants, and then we all act like their is no contradiction.

 

[Flynn]

I tend to start a campaign with an overall story arc. This does not always survive contact with the players, but I like to have an idea around which to build adventures. Once the players are into their characters, they have the opportunity to direct the campaign by the choices they make, and by being proactive instead of reactive. Some groups respond well to that, while others prefer a reactive approach, taking what the GM hands to them. I'm okay with either, to be honest.

With Regards,
Flynn

 

[diaglo]

i ask the players to give me something to work with. before, during, and after each session.

 

[Pinotage]

I normally start with an idea. A theme or concept. Perhaps even as simple as war. I then design a simple introductory adventure, and incorporate elements that I think would entice players into a wider world where the 'idea' or 'theme' I had was predominant. Leave a few clues lying around, and work with how the players respond and what they do.

Pinotage