D&D 3E/3.5 Creating D&D 3.5 Campaign

[anest1s]

Recently, I started to plan a campaign which I intent to DM sooner or later. I was thinking to plan as much as possible before I actually start playing it.


I have never done this before, and even though I have read the rules and guidelines of DMG I still think there are parts I do wrong (or I am in danger of doing wrong in the future). So here I am, asking for some advice


First of all, I have a general idea in my mind...what happens in the world, what the PC's have to do with it and what may be the ending of the story there are "bad" endings and "good" endings in my mind.


Notice, that by "story", I don't mean a short range adventure, but something longer (much,much longer).


So I have the "story", though its still flexible. I don't expect players to go trough a certain path which will lead them to the end instead I have thought of several points in the plots timeline, where the PC's will have to get involved (even by avoiding getting involved).


Now where is the problem; the problem is that I don't know where to start. I have thought some way to do this though.


First way, is to think of the overall plot, then divide it in huge parts (around the historic events that will happen).
For example: From the beginning until the war breaks out, from the start of the war until its end, from its end until the magic stops working etc (these were imaginary examples).


Then I am thinking of filling these parts with other, smaller events (like from when the players realize the cause of war, until it breaks out). I am thinking these sub-events as something that will happen during an adventure, or even an adventure themselves.


However I don't want the PCs to be forced into these events in a specific way- like to force them to join the city guard (just because I happened to make a background for every guard in the city). I want to leave them the option to join the assassins guild (or whatever they want) and be able to react to what happens from there.


I thought that by leaving the events between the beginning and the war undetermined, I can easily adapt that part of the plot to make sense and to work even if the players choose something entirely different.


However, and here is the problem- I can't actually plan the encounters if I leave the players to go wherever they want. Ok, sure; I can tell them "Ok you join the assassins guild, and they send you to infiltrate the city guard..." but thats not what I would like to do .


I know, I could just make a shorter story, and then plan the next one according to what the players showed interested in the first one. The two reasons I am not doing this, is because my story is big enough (before characters are made and after the end of the campaign) and I feel that by leaving it unplanned I make it vulnerable to not actually happen, or make sense. And because I feel that I can add subtle details if I know what will happen in the future, rather than being dragged by them.


So...any ideas about what should I do?
Thx for reading all this...

(and please tell me if I made some horrible spelling mistake or something )

 

[HoboGod]

Well, what most DMs do is build a series of encounters based on terrain and party level. For example, if you have a party of four 3rd level PCs in an urban environment, have them fight something like this:
2 human warriors and 3 dogs (ECL 2);
4 human warriors and 3 dogs (ECL 3);
3 halfling rogues 1st level (ECL 3);
1 wood elf druid 2nd level and 6 ravens (ECL 3);
1 half-elf fighter 3/wizard 1 (ECL 4).

Notice that these are very generic. Regardless of the player's choices, these unnamed NPCs can be evil assassins, noble town guards, or mercenaries for either side.

Now, how do you get your party to fight these encounters? Well, call it destiny. You don't necessarily have to force them into a job, the assassin's guild might hold a meeting and need this job done, but none of the NPCs you control step forward. The party will step forward to do the job or they certainly better when the assassin leader starts calling his men cowards. After completing the job, the party might be considered heroes and given special command in the guild and have more control over what the guild does.

 

[Gilladian]

In general, rather than try to build a campaign via adventures, I build a world, and then fit adventures and story arcs and campaign concepts into that world.

However, if I DID decide to work from "story arcs" out to a campaign world, what I would do is try to take a bunch of notes on WHAT KIND of world would "let" your story happen. In other words, if you're imagining a story based on a villainous necromancer king, against whom the pcs will struggle, you need to understand how he came to exist, why he hasn't previously been destroyed, what his motivations are, who his enemies and allies are, etc....

Then start jotting down ideas for places that a group of adventurers could "collide" with his plots. Give yourself plenty of freedom for these spots to shift, for pcs to avoid them or change them, but if your necromancer needs to conquer a city that houses a good temple that opposes him, then try giving the PCs plenty of reasons to BE there, to hear of the city's impending doom, and choose whether or not to aid it.

Just remember - the campaign is based not on YOUR perceived outcome, but on the player's interaction with your potential plots...

 

[anest1s]

Well, what most DMs do is build a series of encounters based on terrain and party level. For example, if you have a party of four 3rd level PCs in an urban environment, have them fight something like this:
2 human warriors and 3 dogs (ECL 2);
4 human warriors and 3 dogs (ECL 3);
3 halfling rogues 1st level (ECL 3);
1 wood elf druid 2nd level and 6 ravens (ECL 3);
1 half-elf fighter 3/wizard 1 (ECL 4).

Notice that these are very generic. Regardless of the player's choices, these unnamed NPCs can be evil assassins, noble town guards, or mercenaries for either side.

Now, how do you get your party to fight these encounters? Well, call it destiny. You don't necessarily have to force them into a job, the assassin's guild might hold a meeting and need this job done, but none of the NPCs you control step forward. The party will step forward to do the job or they certainly better when the assassin leader starts calling his men cowards. After completing the job, the party might be considered heroes and given special command in the guild and have more control over what the guild does.

Until now I have been trying to get out of the charts...you see as a player, I get bored fighting the same monsters all the time- however changing the creature and keeping the stats may work better than finding new creatures...
And destiny is indeed involved

In general, rather than try to build a campaign via adventures, I build a world, and then fit adventures and story arcs and campaign concepts into that world.

However, if I DID decide to work from "story arcs" out to a campaign world, what I would do is try to take a bunch of notes on WHAT KIND of world would "let" your story happen. In other words, if you're imagining a story based on a villainous necromancer king, against whom the pcs will struggle, you need to understand how he came to exist, why he hasn't previously been destroyed, what his motivations are, who his enemies and allies are, etc....

Then start jotting down ideas for places that a group of adventurers could "collide" with his plots. Give yourself plenty of freedom for these spots to shift, for pcs to avoid them or change them, but if your necromancer needs to conquer a city that houses a good temple that opposes him, then try giving the PCs plenty of reasons to BE there, to hear of the city's impending doom, and choose whether or not to aid it.

Just remember - the campaign is based not on YOUR perceived outcome, but on the player's interaction with your potential plots...

Yeah, focusing on the places is a good idea.
I figured I wont be able to predict what happens as a result of players actions- I am thinking of leaving some part of the story unconstructed, to make adjustments easier according to what the players will do.

Thanks for the advice so far!

 

[HoboGod]

Until now I have been trying to get out of the charts...you see as a player, I get bored fighting the same monsters all the time- however changing the creature and keeping the stats may work better than finding new creatures...

Aye, me too. That's why I build my own encounter chart. It's more work, but I comb through the Monsters by Environment pdf and Monsters by CR pdf on crystal keep to find new and interesting monsters. However, your players will still want to see some of their favorite monsters making appearances. The typical dnd campaign without goblins, orcs, and trolls just doesn't seem right to me.

 

[anest1s]

Aye, me too. That's why I build my own encounter chart. It's more work, but I comb through the Monsters by Environment pdf and Monsters by CR pdf on crystal keep to find new and interesting monsters. However, your players will still want to see some of their favorite monsters making appearances. The typical dnd campaign without goblins, orcs, and trolls just doesn't seem right to me.

Thanks, I found this one useful.