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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 1712922" data-attributes="member: 9254">First thing is to have a grand concept with lots of substeps possible.  Mine (a Dragonlance variant) is "Dragons take over world after gods are leave; players should fix this."  This involved getting them information on earlier gods, making contact with various pre-cursor races, learning the new religion, releasing trapped individuals who may be allies but are definitely enemies of the dragons, and generally getting them enmeshed with the world and the overall plot.  My goal was a) immerse the players in the world and b) advance the plot, in that order.  If they aren't involved, the plot is moot.  I put off several adventures for months to let the group develop bonds in the game.  Here's condensed campaign notes starting at 11th level:party goes to visit friendly town (through a swamp) and encounters a lernian cryo-hydra, which escapes.  The existence of a hydra seems abnormal, but they continue on.  When they reach town they learn the town has been able to keep the hydra at bay, but just and would *really* appreciate an assist.    Defeating hydra involves a running chase through the swamp (it tends to freeze the water their in and then swim off when too injured) with numerous other critters getting in the way.They are rewarded with coin by local noble and given letters of commendation.  On their own initiative they go to visit a friendly dragon, knowing they will be fighting evil dragons in the not-too-far future (DragonLance).  They train with the dragon for several weeks (several almost die when the dragon overestimates them, so there is real risk).   The cleric & paladin both start having dreams about similar things and the group heads off to find out what nasty is forming.  They find a town where a child-murderer's body is missing except the skin (Mmorgh) and several strange people were seen in town.  They pursue (landing squarely in my masterplot) and find themselves trailing a necromancer who is in the process of ascending to the currently-unclaimed position of death god.  Much chaos and hilarity ensues when they release a super-monster, but they decide the necromancer's not a bad guy and do not stop him at the end.  The deathgod has to deal with the supermonster, interfering with his duities as guide to dead souls.  A massive plague is starting in a distant city that will wipe out 40% of the populace on that side of the continent; without the deathgod many will be come ghosts/spectres/wraithes and ravage the world.  So the players now have to go and prevent the plague (which is being caused by a barbarian horde sieiging a city.)After their return there is a renewed attack by a longstanding foe (not really their enemy per se, but they have something he wants).  A series of pitched ambushes followed by negotiations where they decide the item they have will either prove he's not bad or destroy him, so they give it to him.  Repurcussions from the monster they released cause several high-HD undead to rise up and several liches are suspected of returning from their extradimensional exiles.  The party has to go and find the most powerful lich's hidden fortress and destroy/befriend the army he has entombed within.  Lastly, and most recently, they had to find a relic that will enable them to contact the lost gods and get help to prevent the great monster from releasing a horde of undead across the world.  At the moment they are trying to gather information about an elven land that has been taken over by undead that possess a potent artifact that enables them to blot out the harmful aspects of sunlight.  One of the characters is *very* hyped to stop this and is the driving force for this arc.You'll note a lot of the situations were player driven and many of the ones that weren't involved previous player actions.  That is part of the immersion.  If someone gets away, they may hold a grudge.  If they let someone go, they might gain an ally.  In at least one case, their actions had consequences they never figured out (one insulted a high ranked official, who arranged for bandits to attack the party and focus on the offender)  To them it was a random encounter, but it's a plot ripple that may yet come back to haunt them at a bad time.</blockquote>

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